Chapter 9

A few hours ago. The forest had quietened, and the rest of the rogues had scampered away, leaving me standing among the scattered remains of the ones I killed. I saw as she stared at me, eyes widened in horror after I set her car back on the path, but I couldn’t blame her; I was a frightening sight to behold. My chest heaved with exertion as blood matted every part of my fur, proof of the battle I just fought. But it was far from over. My eyes locked onto the retreating form of her car, and a primal need awakened within me. I felt so excited. My mate. She was so close yet fleeing from me in terror. I couldn’t blame her; anyone would have been surprised at the display I had going on. My muscles bunched as I crouched, ready to go after her. The thrill of having her in my hands coursed through my veins. Hud! My wolf was such a show-off, and right now, all it wanted to know was to prove his worth to our mate. I could smell her fear, masking her tangy but delicious scent. As I chased after her, wondering how she was driving that old car so well, I wished she would stop. The car swerved dangerously to the side... I could see she was panicking. My heart clenched, torn between the urge to catch her and the fear that she might hurt herself in her desperation to escape. “Stop running,” I wanted to call out. “You’re safe now, you’re mine,”. But in my wolf form, all that came out was a rumbling growl that only seemed to spur her to drive even faster. The chase continued for what felt like hours, but it was only a few minutes. I could sense her exhaustion; I could almost taste it in the air. But good news, I was closing in, ready to make my move when the darndest thing happened. Already, her car had been pushed beyond its limits and couldn’t react as fast as it should when the path suddenly curved. It veered off the road, My heart stopped as I watched her car careen off the road and straight into a tree stump. In an instant, I was by her side, ripping apart the driver’s door. The scent of her blood filled my nostrils, igniting a protective fury that I didn’t think I was capable of as I changed into my human form. With great care, I nudged her limp form. I panicked when she didn’t respond to my nudging. She was alive – I could hear the steady thrum of her heartbeat – but the sight of her unconscious and bleeding tore at my soul. Satisfied that she wasn’t in immediate danger, I removed her from the car and laid her on the soft grass by the lake. I have to stop the bleeding. I dashed into the small bush by the lake, grabbing a few herbs I knew that could stop the bleeding before rushing back to her. Squashing them in my hands, I squeezed out the juice and poured it directly at the source of her bleeding. I repeated the same process more than once until I saw the blood begin to dry off. Why wasn’t she healing like a normal wolf? I backed away after I was done with stopping the bleeding. I needed to clean myself up, to wash away the blood on my body so I could tend to my mate properly. The last thing I wanted was to frighten her further when she awoke. With one last long look at her, I padded to the edge of the lake and dove in. The cool water sent a chill through my system, instantly clearing my mind of the rage from those rogue wolves trying to attack my mate. As I scrubbed the blood from my body, I couldn’t stop thinking of her. My mate! How long had I waited for her? How many nights had I spent wondering if I’d ever find the one meant to complete me? And now here she was, my perfect match in every way. If only she weren’t so terrified of me. At least, I wouldn’t put up with my mother’s nagging about getting a mate. I had one now. A soft groan from the direction of the car made me look up. She was stirring. Present Moment I stood waist-deep in the cool water, watching her stir. The night air carried her scent to me, making my wolf howl with desire. It was the most tantalizing scent I’ve ever smelled. It was different from all the artificial perfume all the other she-wolves I have been with wore... her scent was pure, intoxicating, and felt so natural like it was meant originally for me. I watched as I saw her figure moving cautiously towards the edge of the water. She seemed to be looking for something. Even in the dim moonlight, I couldn’t help but appreciate the gentle curves of her body and the way she moved with an unconscious grace and goddess! I groaned... that scent. I wanted her... Though I couldn’t see her since the light of the moon wasn’t piercing through the tall trees, I found myself mesmerized by the little details I got from the streak of moonlight shining through the leaves. I longed to move closer, to see her, to memorize every detail of her face, but I remained still; I didn’t want to startle her. Then, our eyes met. For a split second, time seemed to stand still. I felt a jolt of electricity course through my body. My wolf surged forward, eager to claim what was rightfully ours. But before I could act, before I could even speak, I saw fear flash in those beautiful eyes, and then to my utter dismay, she turned and entered her car, turning on the ignition. “Wait!” I called out, my voice husky. But the sound of her trying to start her car’s engine drowned my voice. I didn’t expect that she would be running away from me like a sheep running from a wolf. Couldn’t she feel me too? Frustrated, I made to go after her. Perhaps, an explanation would reassure her that I wasn’t going to hurt her and that she had nothing to fear from me. But as I moved, a new problem presented itself. My body had reacted to her presence. I looked down, embarrassed to find myself fully aroused. My erection strained proudly despite being in the cool lake water. “Damn it!” I growled, running a hand through my hair in exasperation. I couldn’t chase after her like this. Not only would it likely terrify her further, but I had no clothes to put on, and I was painfully aware of my beta Liam, who could still be in the forest, and my sister’s little birds. If they saw me naked and erect, they would report to Celeste immediately. The last thing I wanted was for my men or my sister to see me naked. I watched as her car disappeared into the night, every fibre of my being screaming at me to give her a chase, but I held myself in check. Pursuing her now would only drive her further away; besides, who knows what she would run into next? Cursing out again, I mind-linked Liam. “Liam, I need you to track that girl. She’s in a wrecked car and she’s heading towards the opposite direction of our pack,”. “I thought you got her,” Liam questioned. I sighed, “She got away again,” I said. “Dark hair, curvy, petite...” I trailed off, knowing I sounded stupid. It was the arousal doing the talking. “Just find him, but don’t approach. Keep her safe until I find a better solution,". “Okay, Alpha,” Liam responded. I could feel he had many questions for me, but I ended the mind link before he had the chance. This was not how I’d imagined meeting my mate would go. Twice now, she’d run from me in terror. My wolf whined, desperate to give chase, to prove himself worthy of her attention and affection. But I knew I had to be smarter than that. She was frightened and confused. Chasing her down like prey would only make her fear him the more. No, I need a different approach. One that would allow me to get close to her without sending her running away from me again.