#6 The Name in the Trees

I didn’t stop running until the forest finally sounded like itself again.

Not wolves. Not footsteps. Not four alphas hunting me like I was a prize carved from moonlight.

Just wind, leaves, and my own breath dragging through my lungs like it was trying to escape too.

I slowed near a massive pine whose roots curled from the earth like claws, forming a natural hollow. My body dropped into it before my brain caught up. I was shaking and buzzing, and my muscles were still twitching with leftover adrenaline. Sweat clung to my spine, damp hair stuck to my cheeks, and my heart refused to settle.

But under all of that was something worse.

Heat. Not from fear. Not from exertion. From them.

Every last one of them. I ran a hand down my arm and stared as the shimmer rippled over my skin. Greens and browns bled into my body, my outline fading. It wasn’t perfect camouflage unless you looked straight at it, but gods, it came so easy. Like instinct. Like breathing.

“Who the hell am I…” I whispered.

The forest didn’t answer....but my head did.

Pain exploded behind my eyes, sharp and bright, my vision tunneling until the trees dissolved and a memory slammed into me like a gunshot.

Crystal chandeliers. A ballroom of predators in suits and gowns. A hand on my shoulder. A voice like velvet and iron: “Ryanna Varelli, my daughter, my heir…”

The world snapped back into focus with a soundless crack. I was on my knees, my palm flattened against the pine roots, panting.

Ryanna.

The name felt like a blade in my hand. Familiar. Correct. Unbreakable.

But something else surged with it. Something darker. Fiercer. A queen’s pulse, pounding through a body built for ruling, not running.

“Ryanna,” I tested aloud.

The trees rustled, as if the forest approved.

A distant growl rolled through the wind, one of theirs, and my lips curved despite myself.

“Good,” I murmured. “Now I know what name to make you curse.”

But the smile faded almost as quickly as it came.

Because thinking about them, any of them, sent a wrong sort of heat curling between my ribs.

Silver eyes with the voice like a sin I wanted to commit. Black eyes who pinned me like he’d been born to dominate me. Golden wolf with that slow predatory smile that made my thighs press together.

The massive one whose silence touched places inside me I didn’t have words for.

I dragged both hands down my face. “Why the hell do I want all of you?”

It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t logical. It wasn’t allowed, even by their rules.

But my body…my scent…my pulse…They had reacted to all four of them like they were meant for me.

My stomach fluttered, a horrifying, traitorous sensation.

No. Not fluttering. Burning. That was worse.

I pushed up from the roots, ignoring the tremor in my legs. The canopy overhead swayed invitingly, the branches whispering secrets I shouldn’t know but did.

My body knew exactly how to move up there, how to run, how to hide, and how to hunt. And tonight, for reasons I didn’t understand, I needed the height.

Needed the distance. Needed the control.

I scaled the nearest tree in seconds, my fingertips and toes finding holds without effort. Leaves brushed my cheek. Bark scraped my palms. The forest welcomed me in like I belonged to it.

From up here, the air sharpened. The scents separated more clearly. Silver—cold metal and moonlight. Black eyes—smoke and shadow. Golden wolf—cedar and heat. Fourth—wild earth and storm.

And gods help me… all four scents tugged at something deep, low, and primal. Something mine.

But that shouldn’t be possible. One alpha, one mate. That’s how their world worked.

But I wasn’t theirs.

So why did my pulse jump every time I sensed them? Why did my thighs clench when silver eyes licked my throat? Why did a sound escape me when black eyes held my jaw? Why did golden boy’s voice make heat roll down my spine? Why did the silent one’s presence feel like gravity itself?

Why did something inside me whisper yes to all of them?

No answers came. Just more confusion. More unwanted hunger.

I moved through the canopy, seeking distraction. The shimmer rippled over my skin again, easier now. Like I’d finally remembered how to breathe in a language the forest spoke.

Below, silver eyes entered the clearing, moving slow and sharp, sniffing the air like he could feel my gaze.

His head tilted. Eyes narrowing. He felt me.

The thrill that shot through my stomach made me furious.

“Stop it,” I muttered to myself. “Stop wanting all of them. That’s not how this works.”

Except… it was. At least for my body. For whatever I was.

I crouched on the branch above him, letting the shimmer thicken until my skin disappeared entirely. I could drop onto him right now. Pin him. Freak him out. Get a little payback.

But before I moved, the wind shifted.

A new scent slid in, warmth, cedar, amber, heat.

Golden wolf.

Stronger now. Closer. The smell was so damn intoxicating my breath hitched.

No. No, no, no. Not again.

Except I was already turning toward it, my body leaning forward before my mind caught up.

Damn it.

I eased across the branches, ghost-quiet, the leaves brushing my arms. Every breath, every heartbeat, every instinct dragged me toward him.

Silver eyes faded into the distance behind me.

Good. One less problem. Because cedar and amber deserved my full attention tonight.

Then I saw him, moving through a strip of moonlight, his golden hair haloed, muscles rolling under his shirt like he hunted for pleasure. His scent washed over me in waves, heat blooming under my skin with every inhale.

My hand tightened on the branch until bark crumbled beneath my fingers.

“What are you doing to me…” I whispered.

He paused. Lifted his head. Sniffed.

His golden eyes glowed like he’d just scented a miracle. Or prey.

Or… something in between.

My heartbeat stuttered.

Not fear. Not lust. Both. Too much of both.

I crouched lower, my breath shaking, and my heart pounding as heat pooled deep in my belly.

Every part of my body screamed the same insane truth.

I didn’t want just one of them.

I wanted all four.

And I had no damn idea why.

My fingers dug into the branch.

“Fine,” I breathed, fire sparking in my chest. “If you want me, golden boy… come earn it.”

I shifted my weight, ready to drop.

Ready to strike.

Ready to hunt the hunters.

The Hunt wasn’t over.

It was just beginning.