Katu Wolves, 10
Rescued from the Hunters, Aria wakes terrified in Katu Pack territory—unaware she’s one of the last leopard shifters left.
Silas, a Dire Wolf warrior, feels the truth the moment he touches her: she is his mate.
Traumatized and unable to shift, Aria slowly learns to trust the wolf who refuses to leave her side. But when the Hunters strike the pack with deadly precision, instinct finally breaks free—and her panther awakens.
Now Aria must face a new truth: the hidden leopard clans are still out there, and they’re being hunted.
And she won’t let her people fall.
With Silas and the entire Katu Pack at her back, Aria steps into her power—not as prey, but as a predator ready to fight.
Excerpt:
I hear boots. Voices. A woman crying. Metal screaming. Then a roar so deep it vibrates inside my bones. I try to move but I can't. My limbs respond like they belong to someone else, or no one at all. Pain flickers across my nerves in thin, electric threads. I breathe in … and gag.
The air tastes like bleach and rot and the metallic bite of my own blood.
I’ve learned to identify those smells. Months inside this place trained me well. Maybe years, I’ve lost the rhythm of time. The Hunters are always careful to keep us disoriented.
Except tonight … something is different.
There’s shouting. Panic. The sharp thud of bodies hitting the ground. Someone is fighting them. Someone strong.
I try to focus, but the drugs drag me back down. They dull my instincts, bury my leopard under layers of fog until she barely stirs. She hates it. I hate it. But she sleeps because she’s forced to. Because I’m too weak to help her.
Footsteps stop in front of my cage.
A growl, deep, furious, and familiar in a way that terrifies me.
My pulse spikes, frantic. I crawl backward until cold metal bars scrape my spine, my breath leaves me in shallow, shuddering gasps. I don’t know who’s out there. I don’t trust anything that sounds like power anymore.
Power has only ever brought me suffering.
The footsteps come closer.
My vision flickers—the shadows bending, light cracking through them. And then a figure steps forward, broad shoulders blocking the weak overhead bulb. He crouches, bringing himself level with me.
I blink and the world sharpens around him.
His eyes, Goddess, his eyes are like storm clouds over steel. Hard. Wild. And when they lock onto mine, something inside my chest twists violently. Heat pulses between us, bright and sudden. Then just as quickly, it fades and flickers out like someone blew on the flame.
I inhale sharply as pain stabs low in my stomach. It’s not physical but something else. Something … elemental.
The man, no, the shifter, flinches at the same time. A tiny hitch of pain across his jaw.
His voice is rough, cracked with worry and something too gentle to belong in a place like this.
“Easy,” he says. “I’ve got you.”
Liar, I want to say. No one has had me for an exceptionally long time. Not in the way that means safety. But my lips won’t move. The drugs keep my voice locked inside.
He hits the cage door with his shoulder, once. Twice. I flinch with every impact, and he curses under his breath, bracing his feet like he’s about to tear the world apart. Another man appears behind him. Smaller and around the same age. He moves like a warrior, but my shredded nerves don’t care. Another male in the room means more danger.
My ears ring.
My pulse hammers.
They’re Hunters, my mind insists, too slow to process the difference. They’re going to hurt you again.
But that’s not right. Their scents are different from the Hunters. Not harsh. Not chemical-soaked. But warm and earthen. They’re wolves. I haven’t smelled real wolves in … I don’t know how long.
The lock snaps with a metallic crack. The man in front, the one with storm eyes, pushes the door open.
He waits.
He doesn’t rush me.
Doesn’t bark orders.
Doesn’t grab me like I’m a thing.
He waits.
My fingers shake as I crawl forward. My muscles burn as though they’re tearing from my bones. I move because I know staying in this cage means death. Not freedom. Just the next phase of suffering.
My leopard stirs faintly under the drugs, like a whisper. Go. Move.
- Series:
- /series-katu-wolves/
