Chapter 28

Ren

After we'd gotten dressed and ate a light breakfast of fruit and juice, homemade bread, pastries, and jam, I felt my female sigh contentedly in my arms. She was happy, because of me, and damn if that didn't please me to no end.

It was as if she couldn't be parted from me, and because I was more animal than man and was possessive of her and her time, this also fucking pleased me immensely.

The servants had been moving around the castle with purpose, and I could see she wasn"t used to having people wait on her, but the more she saw them and how much they enjoyed their job, how well I treated them because I saw them as an extension of my family, the more I felt her get used to the idea.

I led her out of the manor and toward the house, wanting privacy for what I was about to show her. And I couldn't help but look at her constantly, smiling at how fucking lucky I was. I found myself continuously thanking whoever listened that I'd been granted my mate after waiting for so long.

But even my happiness for her couldn't dim how tense I was. My body was tight, because a part of me dreaded this. I worried about what she'd think about me after I showed her my wolf.

"I care for you, Ren. So much." We stopped, and she rose on her toes to place her palms on my shoulders, smiling up at me. "Your inner animal is an extension of you, so your fear isn't needed, because I'll love him as much as I love you," she said as if she read my mind.

I leaned down and kissed her for long seconds, continued to kiss her until she was breathless and I had to force myself to take a step back or I'd take her right up against a tree.

We walked for another ten minutes, my hand wrapped around her, keeping her close. Finally, I stopped, exhaling, feeling my wolf pacing in me, desperate to get this going and show our mate what he was. He wanted her to see how big he was, to know that he could protect her no matter what.

I stared at Mikalina, gathering my courage to do this. Although this was the most natural thing for me, to show her this side of me, frightening her when I just found her went against everything in me.

But our connection was undeniable. Unbreakable. Irrevocable. And as the years passed, it would grow. And I wanted my female to see me in all ways, to know what she was truly getting herself into by mating me.

I'd taken her to a secluded place in the woods on my property. Did she know all of this was hers, ours? For as far as the eye could see, from the edge of one town to the border of another, it was ours.

And today, I'd show a female—my female—my Lycan for the very first time.

I pulled her in close, kissing the top of her head and closing my eyes, just inhaling the sweet scent that filtered around her. She tightened her arms around me.

"I'm ready," she whispered against my chest, and I nodded, even though she couldn't see me.

I leaned down and kissed her once more before taking a step back and going for my shirt. I kept my eyes on hers as I started unbuttoning it before shrugging it off my shoulders. Then I stood there for a second, letting her gaze roam over my chest, smelling her heightened arousal coating the air. I couldn't stop my body from reacting. My cock thickened, and a growl erupted from me.

Then I turned, showing her my back, hearing her gasp. I looked over my shoulder to gauge her reaction. She was staring wide-eyed at the wolf tattoo that covered the entire expanse from shoulder to waist.

"This is my Lycan." During the claiming, I hadn't been in a position to allow her to actually see my back, so frenzied and wild in the mating. But now, I let her look her fill.

She stepped closer and reached out, but before she touched my flesh, she curled her fingers toward her palm.

"No, love. Touch me. Touch him."

She traced the outer edge of the marking, and my Lycan rubbed against her touch, whether she realized it or not.

"It's incredible," she said with awe in her voice. "The artistry is amazing. So lifelike."

I slowly shook my head and turned to face her, taking her hands in mine and bringing them to my lips to kiss her knuckles. "It's a part of me. I was born with it, as is every male Lycan. That is, in essence, our inner animal, always with us even when it can't be seen by the naked eye." I gave her hands one more kiss before stepping back and going for my pants. I saw her eyes glaze over with arousal once I had them off, and couldn"t help but smirk. My female was insatiable.

And then I closed my eyes and let my human side fall back, let my wolf come forward.

The change happened far too fast for me to feel anything but immense power claiming me. But I was aware of my skin changing to fur, my bones breaking and realigning, and my nails turning to claws. The shift didn't bring me anything but pure, unadulterated freedom as I gave into everything that I was and let my other half rise up.

When I opened my eyes again, it was to see my female staring at me with shock on her face. I scented the air but smelled no fear, only astonishment and wonder. Her heart was racing, a thunk-thunk, thunk-thunk rhythm that had me tentatively taking a step forward. Although my Lycan was now the one in control, my human side was still very much present to rationalize and observe. I was always with her, no matter what.

In my wolf form, I was triple my weight, the size of a horse standing tall. I was the most powerful creature on the planet, strong and unstoppable, and with my mate, nothing and no one would ever defeat me, because I"d always have the fire burning in me to protect her at all costs.

Come to me.

She couldn"t hear me, wouldn"t understand the noises my wolf made in pleasure because of her very presence, but she did walk forward, her breathing erratic, this no doubt another shock to her system.

My beast took a step forward, his massive body dwarfing her.

"God," she breathed out as she tilted her head back to gaze at me. "You're so big."

My wolf dropped down to his hind legs so we were more eye level, so she didn't feel so intimidated by his size.

Her pulse was beating so hard at the base of her throat, and she licked her lips and reached her hand out.

You own every part of us, our female.

"This is all so… unreal."

My beast made a sound deep in his throat, a soft growl to encourage her to touch me. And then she touched the creature, and he closed his eyes, snuffling out a deep breath as if he'd been holding it in.

Yes, that"s right. She is really here with us. She is really ours.

She explored the wolf for long moments, touching his ears, his paws, running her fingers over his snout, along his jaw. If he could have purred like a feline, I knew he would have for how good her touch felt.

He'd been waiting for this for over three hundred years too.

Feeling her acceptance of me and my animal was a shock to my senses, one I'd never take for granted.

"I love you… all of you. Every single strange and magical part of you, Ren." She smiled and shocked the fuck out of me by kissing the tip of the great beast's nose. And the bastard melted for her right then and there all over again.

He was putty in her hands, a potentially violent, aggressive killing machine that would only ever submit its dominance to this one female.

"I've never seen anything as beautiful," she murmured to my beast, and in return, he growled low, the pleasure not one of aggression but immense love. "So big and strong. I bet you won't let anyone or anything ever hurt me, isn't that right?"

The beast butted his head up against her hand, and she made a soft sound.

My Lycan rubbed its massive head against her, wanting his scent all over her. And she let him. She closed her eyes and sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. Although he'd never let anything take that kind of dominant stand, with her, we were putty at her feet, willing to do anything she wanted as long as she looked at us with love in her eyes.

He was as possessive of her as I was.

We stayed that way for long moments, her holding my animal, the beast becoming calm and comforted, at ease in her presence for the first time in its life.

We both knew one thing for certain, my wolf and me.

She was ours.