The lycan seemed tense now. I’d never seen one before, and he was incredibly gorgeous. I’d thought that no male could be more beautiful than Devon, but this lycan was breathtaking.
He had such beautiful auburn hair that seemed to call for my caress and amazing hazel-orange eyes that looked like little fires.
He was huge and heavily muscled as if he’d trained his whole life, and he probably had. I could feel the power roll in waves out of him, but he was only gamma? I wondered what his alpha was like.
“I’m your second chance?” he asked with a deep voice that made me want to shiver.
“Yes.” I nodded, blushing and trying to avoid his gaze.
I found I didn’t want him to reject me. I felt so good and safe in his arms. I never wanted him to let me go, but he would.
I was weak, and if I remembered all my lessons about lycans, they were fierce warriors who lived for battles. He would never want clumsy, submissive me.
“Who’s the dumb fucker who rejected you? They clearly had shit in their eyes,” he said, somehow annoyed.
I shot my eyes to his, and he was clearly confused.
Really? Could I dare hope that this time I would finally have a mate?
“Alpha Devon…,” I answered softly.
“Devon?” he asked, surprised. “Devon was your mate, and he rejected you?”
“On my birthday.” I nodded. “Turned me into the laughingstock of the whole pack.”
“Fucking retard.” The lycan chuckled. “His loss and my gain. Come on, let’s not stay here. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”
“I’m a werewolf. I can’t catch a cold.” I frowned.
“You’re shivering, Puppy,” he said, amused.
“My name is Ciara,” I pouted.
It wasn’t because he was a giant that he could call me a puppy. I was an adult, and just thinking that made me feel like a pup throwing a tantrum.
“Ciara,” he repeated. “I like it. I’m Wade, the Lycan of War.”
“Wade,” I said softly to taste the name. I liked it too; it suited him. “Where are you taking me?”
“To Harold’s pack. I’m staying here while I’m on a mission for Sirius,” he explained.
“What?” I asked, completely confused.
“I’ll tell you about it when we arrive at the pack house. I don’t know who’s listening here,” he said before shifting into his huge russet wolf.
He cast orange eyes on me, waiting for me to shift. I did and followed him through the forest.
I could see he was trying to match his pace with mine because with those long legs, he could have easily outrun me.
A village soon replaced the forest, and he motioned for me to follow. I’d never been outside my pack before, but this one looked nice.
I wondered what the wolves thought about their alpha here. We walked through the streets until we reached a huge building that I thought must have been their pack house.
“Wade!” A girl’s voice called.
She was older than me and had big boobs that were bouncing as she waved at the lycan.
Her black hair was tied in a loose bun, and she had enough makeup on for us to notice that she wore some but not too much either. She looked beautiful, but Wade didn’t even seem to care.
He noticed that I’d stopped walking because I was looking at the girl. She called him Wade and she seemed happy to see him. Who was she to him?
He nudged me with his nose, and I resumed walking.
The girl looked between us, then ignored me completely, turning enamored eyes to Wade.
Somehow, I hated that deeply.
“Where were you? I thought we could have some more fun tonight. Who’s that? She smells like…a rogue?”
Wade growled lowly as he put himself protectively in front of me. He made the girl back off and turned back to me to let me in.
I followed after him inside the pack house, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. He’d defended me twice tonight. It felt good to finally have someone who had my back.
He led me to a door on the third floor of the pack house. He opened it, letting me into a living room furnished with the bare minimum.
Where were we? I’d just kind of followed a complete stranger, just because he was my mate. It wasn’t very careful of me, but somehow, I couldn’t think that he’d ever hurt me.
I felt like I could trust him. I knew the bond was responsible for that. It felt nice.
He shifted and went down the corridor to the bedroom, where he took some clothes out of the closet opposite the bed. He put on sweatpants, and they looked…mouthwatering, hanging low on his hips.
He handed me a shirt, and I took it before shifting. I put it on, and I was engulfed in his scent. It made me want to sigh and roll in it, but I refrained. I didn’t want him to think I was weird.
“Do you want to take a shower?” he asked. “Or eat something? We can always go. Harold knows I’m working late tonight.”
“I’m good. Don’t worry,” I answered, shaking my head. “Thanks for offering.”
He smiled at me, and it was so beautiful I couldn’t help but blush.
My wolf growled at me.
“Let’s get to bed, then. I’m beat,” he said as he went to the bed.
Should I join him? Would he be expecting things from me? Did he…actually want me for my body?
“Relax, Puppy.” He chuckled. “I won’t eat you. I promise, lycans don’t eat werewolves.”
“Stop calling me that.” I frowned.
“Never.” He smirked.
“Bully.”
He pulled me into his arms and onto the bed so fast that I yipped in surprise. My face was buried in his muscular chest, and I had to stop myself from nuzzling him.
He smelled so good, and he felt so…warm. It was enough to help me relax.
He sighed in contentment and buried his nose in my hair.
How could I have deserved such a perfect man? Surely, there must have been something wrong with him if he was my mate. Now that I thought about it…
“What were you doing at the border of my pack?” I asked.
“Hm? I was working. You see, we discovered a few weeks ago that some alphas have been working with vampires in order to kill Sirius.
“Those alphas need to be brought back to him so he can find out where the Vampire King is hiding. I was trying to lure your alpha out because he’s on my list.”
“What?!” I shot my eyes to his in pure shock. “Alpha Devon wants to kill Alpha King Sirius?”
“Yes.” Wade nodded. “I get that Sirius can be annoying, but this is bigger than him being a lycan. The traitors are threatening the balance in our world, and we can’t let the vampires do that to us.”
“Oh boy…”
What was wrong with Devon? Working with vampires? Was he insane? I kind of knew that he was, but damn, this was beyond what I could have ever imagined.
The pack would turn on him if they knew what he was doing… What would his father think? Was it because of me? Had he gone mad when he’d rejected me?
“Don’t worry,” Wade said softly. “I won’t let him. I’ll take him back to Sirius, and he won’t hurt you anymore.”
I jolted and looked again into his eyes. He was serious; I could see his resolve. He would catch Devon, and he seemed strong enough to do so. He was a lycan, after all.
Had he figured out that most of my scars had been made by Devon? I hoped I’d never see him again.
“He wasn’t always like that,” I muttered, thinking that he was my fated mate.
“People change,” Wade said. “What matters is the decisions they make. Devon decided to ally himself with vampires, so he has to face the consequences.
“We all make choices, and we have to be ready to accept them, even when they come back to bite you in the ass.”
His eyes seemed distant now. What had happened to him? He’d said that he was the Lycan of War. Had he meant… Damn, I could be so slow!
