#8

HIS POV
I came to with a sense of total peace. The sky was still dark the rain had ebbed to a drizzle outside our small sanctuary. I had shifted in my unconscious state and I found myself with my arms, cradling the young woman’s bare back against my chest. My hand held hers over her heart. My nose snuggled into the crock of her neck, taking in the aroma of lavender and lemongrass which invaded my senses, waking my instincts to the undeniable bond that linked us.
I never even wished to find my other half. I had never enjoyed the excitement around the day of my birth and my ability to force any Alpha to kneel before me. She was unexpected, and I cherished that. A part of me wanted to push her away to let her go live a free life beyond the telling of my birth. She was exquisite. I did not deserve this blessing from the Moon Goddess. She did not deserve to be caught up in my destiny. I had never planned this out, not even imagined it, so here I was cradling her practically naked form against my completely naked one, and deciding my stance on our fate. "Follow your heart and what will be will be,” famous words of my mother came to mind.

Well, my heart got me here, and now I wasn't sure what to do. It was clinging to her, unwilling to take it’s claws out. While my soul egged it on, curling around her protectively. Now it was up to my mind, the wolf and the man at odds for the first time in my life. I had always been one mind with my more instinctual side. The wolf wanted to claim what belonged to him. The human wanted to push her away, to save her from the vague destiny that was set before us. As I breathed deeply, the scent of heady lavender mingled with the earthy tart lemongrass destroying my senses. I wanted this. I wanted the hope that came with it, not the hope of accomplishments, balance, and the happiness of others, that I had always thought would be enough. Not the destiny that our lives would be wrapped up in, without our say. It was a hope that boasted love, companionship, shared leadership and joined memories. I wanted 'her'. I wanted that as my future. However complicated and messed up and innately beautiful it could be. I was insane. I didn’t even know her, but the wolf in me could sense the purity of her soul. The strife in her heart sent a pang through me. There was anguish there I couldn’t read.

But she wasn't like me. Wolves have this instant instinctual draw to the soul set on this earth for them. Not all wolves followed this divine intervention of souls. This would be a tricky slope from the instant she woke. I could not mess this up. Waking to the hum where our skin was fused, there was no denying who she was to me. She was mine if I could just coax her into keeping me.

Looking down at my mate. I realized everything I was already doing would be better with ‘her’. Any moment in my life from here on out was better at her side. Every ounce of my being would bow to defend her. That was the shocking part. My gift was so precious I’d protect her with my life before even knowing her.

I tried to take steady breaths. I Attempted not to feel how arousing it was, where her skin connected with mine. My heart, soul, and wolf needed her close. It was the man in me yelling to push her away. I couldn't do it. Maybe it was selfish of me, but I had to at least try. If she rejected me, then so be it. But I wouldn’t give it up without going all in.

I flexed my leg, feeling no pain, surprised I hadn’t come out of that incident unscathed. The way we were able to be aware of one another's consciousness was interesting. I hadn't heard of that ever happening in history before a bonding. Usually, we could sense each other and instinct pulled us together. But, then again, she was special. Testing the bond, she seemed comatose. Her breathing was shallow, ever so slightly labored. I chose to relish in her closeness and wait to see if she would soon wake. Her vitals were fine, but I was still worried as this was also more than simple sleep. There was a void there. As if she was tethered to her body, but she was not there.

I took the time to think about how to approach her with the revelation of what I was as well as who we were to each other. Our kind had melted into the facets of civilization. Blending in and losing who we are to the changing world. My brother is one of those. Our pack was a blend of my father's notorious business means and my mother's earthy hippy vibes. It was obvious from a young age that my baby brother and I were both Alphas. However, I was by far the stronger. Though I favored my mother's “hippy” ideals, in contrast, Dominic was the epitome of a new age of stereotypical Alpha wolf. I could take him in a fight, but he could beat me in an argument. My brother and I had the understanding to agree to disagree and my more subtle and less domineering Alpha vibe made us able to work together for a while when other Alphas could barely stay in the same room with one another. Although they were the oddest of matches, my parents brought together two very different packs during a troublesome time. They never belittled each other and held each other accountable for shortcomings. Yin and yang work harmoniously together. After my parents’ death, we agreed that Dominic would be best to take over the city business of father’s pack, as I didn’t have the cutthroat boardroom mentality needed to sustain what that pack required, even though, as the oldest, it was my right. There was more to that choice that even Dominic didn’t know about. The other weight on my shoulders but they were broad enough to endure it.

My dream was loftier and many of our pack members chose to follow me out of the city and into the wilderness, bringing with them the heritage my mother's pack had safeguarded for centuries. Over time, supernaturals choose to blend in and their reality turned to myth even among different sects of each other. Our culture barely remembered, let alone practiced anymore. For me, it was time to be one with the wolf again. Able to run free and live off the land. But how would my little witch fit into that dream? I hoped we would have a happy ending. I wonder if she even knew we existed anymore. Diablo was also a witch and certainly had no clue we still lurked around in society until he stumbled across my sister in a forest fire. He was blindsided, and I knew we threw a lot at him, but he stayed true to the Moon Goddess's blessing.

I just hoped I could win her love and not her wrath. Thinking back to the moments before sleep cocooned me with her lullaby. I had gone from the terrifying panic that I had been so stupid not to keep full tabs on my surroundings to absolute shock. I had pushed my animal side back, trying to understand her movements with human logic. That cost me some of my senses and I had noticed the stink of rusted metal too late as the trap shut on my leg I felt not only panic and shock but the thin line I had been holding so close to her consciousness broke as I lurched forward. It shouldn’t have been possible. That’s when I called her, the wolf howling out with need.

Seeing her up close for the first time, the rain dripped down her pixie-like features. Her long hair stuck to flush cheeks. Her braid had unraveled, the wet lengths sticking to her. I couldn’t feel the pain anymore as those searching orbs roamed over me. Those eyes were like a mossy ocean held at bay by navy rings of an impending storm. The flecks of brown then flickering like a combination of firelight and lightning as a song so languid and sweet curled around my soul suddenly locking in on how right this could be. The way she wrapped those soft, glowing tendrils around my panicked mind soothed me in more ways than my current predicament. If I had wanted to fight it, I doubt I could have. This had to be something special, something unique.

I subconsciously ran my nose up the back of her neck to her earlobe and she shivered. She breathed in a lungful, her breath catching as her brain registered my scent. Even It was the first sign of movement from her in hours. She would be coming too soon. I braced myself, waiting for my blessing or my doom.