Chapter 6

Ren

It was the same. Every night. A routine that came as natural as breathing.

As I walked the forest, my big body glided almost soundlessly over the terrain—a supernatural gift for all species of the supernatural world. We were—and always would be—stealthy predators. Beasts to be feared in the Otherworld.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my waist-length wool coat, the night air warm enough that I didn't need it, but it had become a routine, it seemed.

My dark boots took the same path I did every night, over fallen branches, snapping the occasional twig, because I didn't care who or what heard me. I wasn't dressed for hiking, not with my dark slacks or my white, pressed button-down shirt. I was more aptly dressed for a meeting in the city than I was walking my grounds.

My Lycan was content for the time being, as content as a centuries-old supernatural creature who was impatient and desperate for his mate could be, that was.

A breeze picked up, pushing the short strands of my hair over my forehead.

And that's when I froze. My body tightening, my Lycan rising up faster than it ever had in my entire existence.

The scent. That smell that was so glorious, so sweet, so instantly addicting that my body went tight, my cock punching out, hard, demanding, only ever getting this way with thoughts of my mate.

Mine. Mine. Mineminemineminemine.

Oh God, it was her. My mate, her scent flowing through the breeze, surrounding me in the sweetest way.

I closed my eyes and inhaled. And kept inhaling, drawing it all into my lungs, needing it inside me.

I need her. Only her.

My Lycan pushed forward, the need to claim her so strong, but the moon wasn't full yet—a requirement for him to have enough strength to overpower me completely. I pushed him back and swung my head in the direction of town. Dobravina. She was there. So close. So fucking close to me.

Before I could stop myself, I let the creature in me have a little of the upper hand. Just a little, a fraction, enough that I was slightly bigger, harder, more primal and aggressive.

I ran through the woods, my feet pounding on the hard terrain as I went closer to Dobravina. I had one goal... find her.

Finally. She's here. I've found her.

I was all instinct right now, any rational, coherent—human—thought vanishing the closer I got to town... to her. My mate.

And when the trees started to thin out, and I could see the lights of Dobravina up ahead, my pace quickened, the very animalistic side of me taking control. I was just about to break through the trees and stumble into town when I forced myself to stop, slamming my hand into a thick trunk of a tree, my claws digging into the bark. That was the only thing that grounded me in that moment, helping me still, stay immobile.

I swung my head back and forth. Left and right. I tipped my chin up and inhaled deeply, closing my eyes, groaning, growling. I still smelled the sweet albeit faint scent of her. And then I located the direction of where she was.

My feet were moving before I realized it was happening, my big body lumbering toward her, staying within the tree line, within the shadows. I knew I was more animal right now despite still appearing human. My canines were fully distended, my body bigger, taller. Thicker. My claws replaced nails, my eyes no doubt glowing that iridescent, neon-blue of my Lycan.

And then something pulled me to a stop. I stilled, staring at the small cottage just ahead of me. There. She was there. Her scent, although faint, was strongest here.

Go to her. See her. Touch her. Mark her. Make her ours. My Lycan growled and snapped, repeating those words in my head over and over again. Demanding them.

And then I was moving toward that house, my heart racing, my fingers curling and unfurling, my claws scraping into my palms and slicing the flesh. I stood just feet from the front door, staring at that closed wood that I could splinter as easily as if it were a toothpick, a fragile branch off a tree.

But then my instinct was pulling me around to the side of the cottage, toward a small window in the back. The glass was cracked slightly at the corner, and a low, rumbling growl left me as I inhaled again, her scent so concentrated right then that I actually swayed.

My cock was thick and hard, my hips rolling on their own. I needed her desperately. I needed to mark her, claim her. I needed to spread her thighs, hold her in place as I feasted between her legs, as I sucked at that sweet honey that would no doubt spill from her. For me. Only me.

Sweet Jesus, I was losing my mind with need.

I moved closer to the window and peered inside, the light from the moon and the open curtains allowing me to see her clearly, my night vision acute and crystal in clarity.

Gods… there she was. The ground shook, rumbled again beneath me. No one would ever be able to feel it but me, the very world shaking because I found her.

She slept on a small bed across from where I stood, her dark hair fanned over the stark-white pillow. The blanket was pulled up to her chest, the perfect swells of her breasts rising and falling evenly as she slept.

But then her brows furrowed low, her body starting to shift under the sheet. She sensed me, knew I was near. But her fragile mind couldn't understand why she felt this way.

Who was she? Where did she come from? She wasn't from the village. I knew that just from looking at her, just scenting her. I would've known she was here if she lived in Dobravina.

No, she was new, probably having just arrived. I'd have sensed before now if the case were any different.

I had my hands on either side of the cottage, my claws digging into the stone. It crumbled easily under the onslaught. I was doing everything in my power not to crash through that window and throw her over my shoulder, take her back to my castle… back to her home.

Ourhome.

And then her eyes opened and she glanced at me, the sharp intake of breath coming from her. I groaned anew, rolled my hips again and again, my body swaying back and forth from the intensity of my need for her.

Her eyes. So blue they glowed. The color of mine… of my Lycan's. I knew she was still deep in sleep, her focus unseeing, her body knowing what I was and being inexplicably drawn to me.

"Sleep, iubirea mea."

Her eyes closed easily on the command, as if she'd heard me, as if I whispered those words intimately against her ear.

I wanted to desperately go to her. I'd waited three hundred years for this female, and here she was, just feet from me, only that fragile rock and glass keeping me from the one who was meant to be mine.

But I'd only frighten her, the intensity in which I needed her so strong she'd be terrified. And that was the last thing I wanted to do. My sole goal, the only thing my instinct demanded of me, was that I protect her. Make her happy. Keep her safe. Above all else, I needed to make her happy and giveher anything she wanted.

So I could wait. I had to. Just for a short time. I'd learn about her and pray that she came to me of her own free will before the full moon. And it was quickly approaching.

Because once it was full and high in the sky, my beast would take over, the need to mate and mark her so strong there would be no denying it.

Gods. She was here. I'd finally found her.