To Be Claimed

✙ Chapter 8 ✙

Hey!

I reached 4,000 followers, which is why I'm updating early for all you amazing people!! And, just an FYI, I am not a nurse, so I have no idea how the human body works. But, for this story, I made these werewolves different - like how their body functions! So, no comments about 'that isn't possible' or 'it's this hot actually' because werewolves aren't human! Thanks!! :)

~Lissa

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In my entire life, I had only been in one car accident.

It was the day after my sixteenth birthday and I was driving into town with my brother, Ethan. Everything was okay with the two of us singing along to some songs from the radio and talking about the latest gossip. I wasn't entirely sure what happened, but one moment, we were cruising down the highway and the next, we were swerving off the road. I swear, I wasn't distracted, even though my brother was singing at the top of his lungs in the passenger seat. I hadn't been eating nor texting; the steering wheel jerked underneath my hands and we went flying off the road. While we suffered from major whiplash, the two of us walked away without any injuries requiring immediate attention. I was told the accident could've been worse and we were lucky - the front of my car smashed into a small tree. Apparently, if the tree was larger with lower branches, it could've been ugly.

As the SUV went flipping off the road, my mind flashed back to that day. I heard screaming and I wasn't sure if it was coming from me. The sound of crunching metal and smashing windows filled my ears as my seatbelt bit at my chest. I felt shards of glass slice at my skin, followed by blood splattering before my eyes. My feet kept flying up and I assumed it was because the SUV was still spinning, flipping multiple times. My head was forcibly jerked from side-to-side, creating a pain in my neck. One of the pillows on the floor ended up smacking my face as everything in the truck flew around. I heard Ryker shout my name over the crunching metal and I released a scream when a shard of glass from the windshield stabbed my shoulder. This was beyond worse than the accident with my brother; this was terrible.

The seatbelt knocked the breath out of me when the SUV stopped with a loud crunch! Feeling dizzy, I sucked in deep breaths, trying to remain calm. It took me a moment to realize that I was hanging upside with the seatbelt holding my body weight. Frantically, I blinked a few times, clearing the dark spots in my vision. With a wheeze, I turned my head, seeing Ryker hanging upside down, too. Blood covered his forehead and the scraps on his skin were already beginning to heal. In the front, his pack members were groaning, assuring me they were still alive. I heard some shuffling, before Noah came crawling from the backseat. He suffered from some minor scraps, but nothing serious - with a look of pity towards me, he crawled out of the SUV from the small space underneath me.

"Ryker," I moaned, hurting.

Next thing I knew, hands were shooting through the shattered window beside me. Oh no, I thought, feeling tears stream down my cheeks. They're going to kill me. The hands yanked at the seatbelt until I fell onto the roof of the SUV with a grunt. Ryker looked my direction and his emerald eyes narrowed, followed by a growl. He pulled at his seatbelt in an attempt to get to me, but I was already being pulled out of the SUV by the hands. I found myself being jerked to my feet where I was faced with an unfamiliar guy. His curly, blonde hair hung in his hazel eyes that were narrowed at the sight of me. He stood tall, like most werewolves, with broad shoulders and sun-kissed skin. Even though, I wasn't a werewolf, I sensed some power coming from him. After being around werewolves for so long, it was obvious to me when one held power in a pack - he wasn't an Alpha. Possibly a Beta.