I kept that to myself, though. It was very clear Mini believed what she said wholeheartedly, and I was in no position to correct anyone and tell them I was nobody special. I didn’t have a great destiny in front of me. I was simply here because I needed to get away, because I felt some kind of lacking in my life… some kind of pull to explore and move on.
I realized I needed to get away, how I felt so at home when I decided I was going to Dobravina, how I felt it was exactly where I was supposed to be. And that feeling intensified when I landed in the country, and even more so once I got to the village.
I stayed for another half hour, the conversation being steered in a more neutral, “safer” direction by Andrei. But all I could think about was what Mini said.
After thanking her once again, I headed next door but stood outside and stared at the thick line of trees I could see just up in the distance. The moon was high, not quite full, but casting a silvery, glowing light across everything. Shadows snaked between the trees, and it was pitch-black deep within those woods, so dense I saw nothing but that inkiness.
My skin felt tight, hot. My heart beat a steady rhythm, and I actually found myself moving closer to the woods, some unforeseen event almost drawing me closer. But I shook my head to clear it and forced—yes, I had to force—myself to go inside the cottage.
I found myself in my room and leaned against the wall, my mind even more confused than ever.
I went through the motions of getting ready for the night, my mind thick with the tale Mini delivered.
And then I lay in my bed, the lights off, the sound of the night right outside my window doing nothing to lull me.
I knew there wouldn’t be a restful sleep for me. Not when it felt like I’d touched a livewire.
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.
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.