Falling For The Demon Wolf-Chapter 35: His Undoing

ZAIN

I skidded to a stop at the base of the ravine, claws digging into moss-slick stone. The river roared below, but even that sound couldn’t drown out the storm inside my head. I threw back my head and howled, long and guttural, letting it all out—rage, desire, confusion. The trees trembled. Birds scattered.

And still, the pull toward her remained.

My mate. My enemy. My undoing.

A rustle to the side caught my ear.

Gerald stepped out of the shadows, already in wolf form, his eyes gleaming in the dark. He shifted mid-step, landing hard on two feet as he straightened.

"You alright?" he asked gruffly.

"No."

"Figured."

He waited. Didn’t press. That’s why I trusted him more than most.

"She’s Hawthorne’s blood," I said finally. "Did you know that?"

His eyes flickered. "Cian told me."

"And no one thought to mention that before?"

"You were already spiraling, Zain. We didn’t want to send you over the edge."

"I’m there now," I growled. "Right over it."

Gerald nodded slowly, then looked toward the distant flicker of lights from the packhouse. "What are you going to do?"

"I don’t know," I admitted. "My instincts say mark her. Claim her. Lock her to me before she slips through my fingers."

"But?"

"But she’s still waking up. And if I brand her before she’s ready..."

"She could die," Gerald finished for me. "Or worse."

I looked down at the river below, the moon’s reflection warping in the current. "She’s not like the others. There’s something inside her—older than me. Older than this pack. Something watching. I felt it earlier... like a whisper inside her skin."

Gerald was quiet for a moment. "You think it’s tied to the mark?"

"I know it is."

"Then maybe the answer isn’t in claiming her." He paused. "Maybe it’s in understanding her."

My jaw tightened. "Hard to understand someone when all you want to do is rip the clothes off their body and bite their throat."

He smirked slightly. "Yeah. That’s mating for you."

I let out a dry, humorless laugh, then shifted again and turned toward the trees. The wind carried her scent to me once more, like a cruel reminder. Faint. Beckoning.

My wolf whined in frustration.

I couldn’t go back yet.

But gods help me...

I wouldn’t be able to stay away for long.

The wind was colder at the ridge. Sharp. Biting. It lashed against my bare skin like it wanted to strip me of every weakness I was trying to bury.

But she was still under my skin.

Violet.

Even saying her name in my mind made my wolf twist with longing.

I dropped to my knees at the edge of the clearing, breathing hard. My claws dug into the earth. I needed to stay here. To root myself to something other than the sound of her breath echoing in my head. Other than the memory of her lips parting as she gasped under my touch.

And the way her body leaned into mine like it already belonged there.

Like it had always belonged there.

Damn it.

I was Alpha. I’d fought wars. Led hunts. Broken the spines of traitors. I’d faced silver and fire and every twisted thing this cursed forest could throw at me—

But nothing had prepared me for her.

She was chaos wrapped in fire. Soft, unsure... but beneath all that? A storm waiting to be unleashed.

And I’d seen the first flickers of it tonight. The way the mark pulsed when I touched her. The way her voice trembled but never broke. She didn’t even know what she was becoming.

But I knew.

Not the full truth, not yet. But my instincts were screaming.

That power inside her—it wasn’t human.

And maybe that’s why I wanted her even more.

I heard the shift behind me before I smelled him. Gerald again. The bastard never knew when to leave well enough alone.

He was gone for only a second, follow scent of what I suspected was his own mate, his own undoing.

Well at least his is a wolf that isn’t tied to the enemy.

"You’re not calming down," he said, voice low.

"No shit," I muttered.

He didn’t say anything at first. Then, "It’s stronger than just the mate pull, isn’t it?"

I nodded once. "It’s something else. It’s like..." I hesitated. "Like something ancient in her is waking up, and whatever it is—it recognizes me."

Gerald stepped closer, arms folded. "You think she’s part of the old blood?"

I didn’t answer.

Because that was the problem. I didn’t think.

I knew.

"I saw something," I said slowly, the memory still burning behind my eyes. "When I touched her, just for a second... there was a battlefield. Blood. Screaming. A voice calling my name—but not Zain. Another name."

Gerald’s eyes narrowed. "Like a past life?"

I growled low. "Don’t say that."

"Why not? You’ve always said we carry the blood of our ancestors. That memory runs deep. What if you’ve crossed paths with her before, in another form?"

"That would mean she’s part of something older than even my line."

Gerald looked at me then, really looked. "What if she is?"

I clenched my fists.

If she was...

Then marking her wouldn’t just tie us together.

It might awaken something neither of us could survive.

"Then I need to know the truth," I said. "Before I make her mine."

Gerald nodded slowly. "And if the truth is worse than we thought?"

I met his gaze, my eyes burning with resolve. "Then I’ll burn the world down before I let it take her from me."

He didn’t challenge that. Just turned, shifted back into his wolf, and loped into the woods.

I stayed there a while longer, the moon high above, its pull tugging at my skin like a phantom chain. I closed my eyes.

Just a little longer.

One more breath without her.

Because once I went back...

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold back again.