The girl had yet to awaken...

As the male crept closer to her bed, the shadows doing little to conceal his features, he couldn't help but reach a hand out, his fingers nearly grazing her dark tresses...

Her scent...

Her mouthwatering, lavender scent was growing stronger with each passing hour, calling forth the instincts that ran through his very blood.

Growling.

Hissing.

Howling.

They clawed at his bones, tearing and churning against every tendon, muscle, and internal organ.

It refused to be ignored, especially since the woman they had been waiting so long for, was right in front of them, her soft, vulnerable neck bared to him.

The flesh called to him, urging him to lay the only mark that had the right be on her neck; the mating bite that would connect their souls, binding his soul to her, and vice-versa.

His canines descended, pressing against his lower lip with tips as sharp as razors. It'd be so, so easy to lean down, turn her head to the side, and bite her-- sinking his teeth deep into the place where her neck and shoulder connected.

But, even if he was her soulmate, he didn't have the right to her soul, not yet at least.

And he certainly didn't have the right to bite her while she was still seventeen! She wasn't even of mating age yet!

She hadn't even sensed their bond yet-- and she wouldn't sense it, not until she turned eighteen.

Finnian jerked back his arm, a hiss escaping his lips as he pressed his back flat against the wall, his hands fisted at his sides.

Males did not bite their females without their consent; it was one of the first things they learned as pups.

And he would follow that rule until the day the Moon called him home.

Even if that meant he'd never bite her...

He would never put her through an unconsented mating bite, especially knowing her history, even if they were mates.

Though it didn't happen often at all, most males were aware of the consequences of biting a female without her consent. They knew what it did to the female's mind, and what it made her do...

Finnian had seen it happen once, many years ago when he was a young loner, wandering the vast expanses of the Great Plains.

He could still hear the female's wails of pain as she harmed herself with anything in sight-- her poor, young mate trying so desperately to subdue her, to stop her from continuing to hurt herself.

The young male had just found her minutes before, and, in his state of shock and ecstasy, his wolf had taken over before he had even realized what he was doing.

And, just like that, he had lunged forward, sinking his teeth deep into her neck.

Every now and then, when the early morning hours took over, refusing to offer him the relief of sleep, he'd hear her screams and the wails of her heartbroken mate; the endless stream of blood flowing from his mind, and right behind his eyes.

Later, right before he had disappeared into the Great Rocky Mountains, he had heard that the female had ended her life with her own claws. And her poor, poor mate had witnessed it right before being put down by a traveling Enforcer-- stopping the massacre that would've happened, had the male survived long enough to lose control.

If a female was bitten without her consent, her own mind would turn on her, like a...

Like a rabid animal.

The poor females were nothing more than rabid animals, their bodies merely a foaming, bloodied husk that yearned to harm anything that crossed its path... including itself.

Finnian would sooner gut himself than do that to Adeline.

Nothing.

The room that they were in now, was clean and void of the blood and gore that was now Clyde. Finnian didn't know what they were going to do with the male's corpse, but, he was thankful that the trembling doctors had transported Adeline into another room, laying her down on a portable, stretcher-like bed.

But, even now, he could smell the scent of Clyde's blood emitting from that room.

The mansion was completely silent, its inhabitants still reeling from the sudden death of their beta.

The male that had helped them recover after the reign of the previous alphas; the male that had attended every birthday, every celebration; the male that had fought beside them, laughed with them... Cried with them.

But, now, he was no more.

Clyde Amole would always be remembered, but not as a faithful, honorary man, but as the Southern Pack traitor; the male that had tried to kill a young female, the future heir of the East Coast.

His Addy.

Finnian's upper lip curled as he stared down at the unconscious female.

Even though her ability to heal quickly had cleared up most of the bruises, it hadn't healed all of them. Wolves could heal at alarming rates, broken bones repairing themselves within a matter of hours, but the internal aspects of injuries always healed first, taking priority over the visible wounds.

The damage that Clyde had done to Adeline's neck, was tremendous. It had nearly been an hour since Alexandra had killed the damned male, and, even now, bands of bruises sat just below her jaw, the purplish red color standing stark against her pale skin.

Blood dripped from his hands as his claws sliced into the flesh there, his knuckles going white from the force he was clenching his fists with.

He should have killed him...

He should've ripped Clyde to shreds, spilling his innards onto the cold, tile floor.

But, as Finnian watched the mysterious female, making sure to count each rise and fall of her chest, and thanking the Moon for each one, he couldn't help but feel relieved that the alpha pair had found Clyde, instead of him.

Finnian hated that male with all of his heart, but, as the faint scent of death tickled his nostrils, his heart couldn't help but sink a little, taking his shoulders with it.

Before everything went down between them, they had been close friends, best friends probably. They had chased each other through the woods, they had fought other young males together, then, after getting their asses handed back to them, they had sulked off, licking their wounds with filthy curses and vulgar gestures.

But then, everything had changed. Clyde had betrayed him... he had betrayed the whole Vogel family.

And, just like that, Finnian had lost any and all respect that he had installed into Clyde.

Finnian snarled, his eyes shooting up to the ceiling as if he were looking directly at the moon.

He snarled, his eyes flashing with an unspeakable rage. "I always knew you'd make a check your pathetic ass couldn't possibly keep. After everything you have done to me, Gabriella, and, now, my mate, you're damn lucky that I wasn't the one to catch you. Noorali's eternal punishment would've looked like a joke, compared to the things I would have done to you. And that's a promise."

Somewhere deep within his dark and lonely soul, he had a feeling that Clyde had indeed heard that.

The door swung open, a hand shooting out and wrapping around the handle moments before it would've slammed into the wall.

"The potion is in Sasha's room. Get the hell out." Dillon barked, his cold, deadly eyes trained on him.

Lifting his lip at his mate's father, Finnian looked down at Adeline one last time, his eyes drinking in the sight.

She looked serene... peaceful. Her dark hair splayed across the pillow her head was resting on, her eyelashes brushing the top of her cheekbones.

Adeline usually scowled and glared at him whenever she was awake, and, during those times, he hadn't truly looked at her. All he had seen was an emaciated, pitiful female that was practically knocking on the door to the underworld.

But, back then, he had been in denial; trying to deny the feelings of hope and excitement that came with the matebond.

And, now, he saw her differently. He saw her as his mate.

She was truly a beautiful creature, and would be astonishing-- only if she would put on the weight and become healthy again.

He would make her healthy; he was going to make it his mission to feed and take care of her for as long as they lived.

She would never be shunned again, never be alone. He would be patient, moving at the pace that made her the most comfortable. Many mates, once they met, completed the mating immediately afterward, but for her, he'd wait.

He'd wait for her, even if she wasn't ready for a relationship; he would wait weeks, months... years for her.

Just being in her presence was enough for him.

Stalking from the room, fighting against every cell in his body that demanded to stay at her bedside, he was stopped at the doorway by a rough, harsh voice.

"We leave in fifteen minutes, with or without you." Dillon snapped.

The lock on Adeline's portable hospital bed was released, Alexandra gripping the headboard as she began to push, the bed's wheels clicking as they rolled over the tiles.

Finnian flashed the male a dark, wicked grin. "It's a shame that I am already packed and ready."

And, with that, he slipped out of the room.