You didn’t expect to see anyone else on this stretch of the warehouse district—not this late, not in this fog. The distant hum of streetlights buzzed overhead, and you kept your pace steady, keeping to yourself.

Then came the sound—boots against pavement, slow and deliberate.

You turned and froze.

Tall. Smirking. Tail swaying lazily behind him. The wolf towered over you, amber eyes glowing faintly, like coals in the dark. Muscles rippled beneath his dark fur, and a low growl—almost a purr—rumbled in his chest.

“Well, well,” he said, voice like warm asphalt and danger. “Didn’t expect dessert to walk into me tonight.”

You blinked. “Wh—what?”

But he didn’t answer. His grin widened.

And then his jaw opened.

You barely had time to gasp before you felt your feet leave the ground. Warm breath washed over your face as the world tilted—his maw stretching, impossibly wide, over your head. Slick heat pressed against your skin as you were shoved inward, swallowed in slow, greedy gulps. His throat rippled around you, squeezing tight in waves as he devoured you headfirst, arms pinned at your sides, your knees scraping against his tongue.