"Where is it? Where's your little human?" The male is surprisingly calm or seems to be, as he questions me—those dark eyes never leaving mine.

I'm aware that I smell of Bryce, had I known I'd be coming face to face with a crazed Lycan throwing the 'M' word at me I may have worked harder at scrubbing his existence from my skin. For a moment I worry about the adorable male still sleeping in my room, he'd probably gotten up by now to roam around—eat something.

He certainly needed it after the blood I took.

The strange urge to wrap me around his solid frame and sink my teeth deep into his throat holds any semblance of an answer from leaving my lips. I want the only thing he lives for to be the feeling of my bite, the pleasure I can bring him.

"You're confused..." My shaking voice has me silently cursing myself for showing the small sign of weakness, and I'm beyond aware of how hard it is to hold myself back from him physically. "That's impossible."

The calm façade he holds still falls with my words, his eyes burning into me with rage as his large hand reaches out and wraps around my throat. When I'm lifted into the air, feet hovering above the ground and he's holding me at arm's length, I watch him eye me up and down. I kick my legs desperately.

I hadn't felt this vulnerable in centuries.

"I'm going to skin the male that laid hands on what was mine." The words are vicious as they come from him, and I drag my nails across his arms to try and loosen his grip. I should've used my little ability to speak to say something that wasn't just me poking the big Lycan.

"You'll have a lot of men to destroy if you're referring to me." I'm thrown to the ground, my head bouncing off the hard Earth while he roars above me.

"You're testing my patience." It's a breathy threat as he turns towards the male running this land, or the one who's supposed to be. "I need a private residence; we'll be spending the next five days there."

The Alpha looks at me with something resembling pity, and I hold back the groan as I try turning over to begin standing. He'd never have me. Someone stupid enough to put their hands on me would never find themselves in my good graces.

"Her room in the packhouse should suffice, is that good—"

"I won't be spending any amount of time with this disgusting mutt." I glare up at the Lycan and finally get to my feet. "You're delusional, so while you spend the rest of your visit getting your mental health checked I'm heading to my room. The next time you use that hand on me, I'll bite it off. " I snap at him with my fangs, hissing slightly with the movement.

The step he takes forward has his skin touching mine, I jump back once more with a gasp at the spark between us. Barely holding back, a moan, his scowl turns into a devious grin.

"My name's Alarik, sweetheart, not mutt." My body jolts as the sound of his name settle in and I imagine it rolling off my lips with ecstasy.

This male was going to cause me some major issues if I didn't get my raging lady boner under control. The place between my thighs was begging for his touch, to be cooled by the rough thrusts of his hardened body.

I see the moment my desire seeps into the air and reaches his overly sensitive nose. There's a long moment of shock as he looks over me once more, clenching his jaw and taking in heavy breaths to get every drop in the air.

"I think it's best we get going, you know—rooms to see and big men to stay away from." His shock doesn't entirely dissipate, but he's amused by my awkward phrasing as I attempt to get away without causing too much of a scene. I had no doubt this brute of a man would try to caveman style me into my room and do gods only knows what.

Something I probably wouldn't be too upset with. But still, it's the principle.

Leslie is by my side quickly, arm wrapping with mine as she glares at the male most would cower in front of, causing him to smile wider.

"You won't be able to run for long, Mate." His voice taunts me with the last word. I fling my hair over my shoulder and give him a smirk as we make our way towards the packhouse.

"It's Eira, not mate."

----------------

"I cannot believe this is happening." Leslie stresses, she's pacing back and forth all the while throwing random items back into my suitcases.

I do my best to not roll my eyes at her crazed behavior, Bryce had been sent downstairs as soon as we'd arrived because my little prodigy seemed to be in the middle of a meltdown and I didn't want him to receive any of her wraths. There were a lot more humans than in past years and I had no doubt he'd find a group to mingle with, all creatures needed some type of social interaction—even out blood bags.

While she's losing her mind, I've been racking my brain for the answers to this impossible question that's been randomly placed Infront of me. Is that male my...mate? Or was there a simple answer that involved my need to be beneath the sexiest man I'd ever laid eyes on? Surely, I was just attracted to him, and those endless butterflies were just the hormones of desire.

He's confused, I conclude.

"You don't look freaked out enough, that worries me. There's a monster out there declaring you're his mate, how is that not—"

"The Lycan is crazy, I see no reason to lose my mind over something that's not even real." I see the disbelief in her eyes, the simple look has my mind reeling once more as I realize just how nervous this woman is.

"They don't just get that wrong! Their bodies know, and by the way, you were gasping and practically cumming in your pants, I'm guessing you felt something as well. He'll be stealing you away before we know it."

My eyes narrow at her, her arms are thrown in the air and she looks exhausted as if telling me I was the mate of a newly found Lycan was the most stressful part of this day. I pinch the bridge of my nose.

I'm wishing I'd never come to this territory. What if I did have a mate and had to uplift my entire life to follow him and stand by his side for all eternity. The thought of losing my freedom disgusted me, and I felt myself hardening to the thought of the handsome male I couldn't seem to get off my mind.

Alarik, oh such a lovely name, had choked me and thrown me to the ground. I'd never seen a male treat his mate in such a manner, perhaps he'd just been smelling his mates' scent on me. That made more sense. Surely.

All my overthinking comes to a quick end as a male scream draws both of our attention; we're out of the room and at the base of the stairs before another can be released. I'm taken back as I see Bryce digging his nails into the floor, and eventually gripping the doorway as he begs for help. The Lycan has him by one leg, the expression Alarik wears is boredom—something like what I look like when I'm about to brutally murder someone. It's a switch of humanity that you must turn off.

I jump into action, my arms going under the humans as I fight to pull him from the beast's grasps. Alarik doesn't fight me long, and soon enough I'm pulling the male into my chest and giving him reassuring sounds as I stare at the angry man. He's pissed.

Black orbs hold my blue ones as I push the human in Leslie's direction, he clings to me with hard sobs racking him—the boy is confused. These humans have been trained to obey and receive pleasure, to be almost murdered at the hands of a stranger while in the coven leader's protection? I don't blame him for showing his fear.

"You find that weak male more appealing than me?" Alarik's tone is powerful, mind-blowing, and entirely frustrating as I feel the offense taken by my protection of the male, he'd smelled on me.

Could today be any more messed up?

"Who do you think you are?" I yell, swiftly making my way to the man taking up the doorway as I hear Leslie dragging the shocked human to safety. I place my hands on the broad chest before me, his scent overwhelming me as it moves through my nostrils and fogs my mind.

I've never wanted someone so badly in my life—in every way imaginable. Every inch of his being calls to mine, no matter how hard I try to fight it, and for the first time, I think that his talk of us being mates might be true. What else would feel like this?

"I've waited centuries for you, my entire life spent searching for my mate and you come to me smelling of a human male? My scent is the only one you should carry and-"

"I feel nothing for you!" It's a desperate plea, less of a statement but I see the words hit home as he takes a surprised step back. I want to say so much more, to accuse him of ruining the event and how stupid he was for thinking I'd ever accepted him even if by some wild chance we were mates. Instead, I feel all my energy leg, my hands falling to my sides as I tilt my head to the floor and try to control myself.

I was exhausted.

This entire day had ruined the amount of blood taken, no matter how many humans I drained it wouldn't matter. The fighting between me and the Lycan seemed to suck the energy from me. Right, when I think I'm gaining control I'm lifted from my feet, another gasp escaping as his skin sits against mine and causes the most pleasurable sensations.

Oh, that's not good at all.

I push at Alarik's firm chest, his arms only pulling me closer as I fight him, and he begins his way up the stairs all the while sucking in deep breaths.

"Let me down you oversized dog!" His only response is a hard glare, I receive nothing else from my captor as he cages me against him, and I do my best to seem entirely unpleased.

Lying little vampire, I am.

Nothing has ever felt so right in my life, but he doesn't need to know that.

Alarik sniffs around the packhouse, knowing full well I wouldn't give up the location of my room, and it's only a few minutes before he's come to a stop at my door.

I hold back a curse.

When we get inside, I begin the real fight, scratching and biting at him with sounds of anger and frustration, he does little to fend me off before I'll let go and deposited less than gently on the floor. He doesn't get out whatever smart words he'd planned on spewing, because I'm back on him in a breath—my legs wrapped around his thick waist and my fingers digging into his deliciously fine hair.

My teeth sink into his neck, the taste of heaven and hell filling my mouth and making me release a naughty moan as I gulp his essence down. Alarik hits his knees with a hiss from between his full lips, those large hands digging into my sides while I tighten my hold. I'd fully expected him to pull me off him, to hit me and yell about how disgusting I was for taking his blood.

For forcing a bite on him.

Instead, he's running his palms over me, the hardness of his cock pressing against me in the best of ways. There is no controlling my body when that deep groan reverberates through us. I'm going to drink every drop of him and remember this moment for the rest of the time—but he can't live. I won't let him take my life away, to trap me in his little fairytale and control my future.

I take a few more gulps, my plan going smoothly, and I enjoy my little victory dance at its expense. When he begins pulling my head away, that rough hand tangled in my hair and using it as leverage, and only when my face is towards the ceiling does, he stops his movements.

The beast is breathing heavily, breathy groans escaping him as he runs those silver eyes over my body—I see the pleasure he gets from being pressed against me. I must look a mess, blood covering my mouth and chin as my tongue desperately searches for the remaining drops.

I'm doing everything I can not to whine, to show him just how much I crave him. I almost laugh at the new position, surely my attempt to kill him could've gone much better.

"You look like a goddess right now, Eira." The beast declares gruffly, those eyes burning as I refuse to break the gaze shared between us. "But you smell of that human's pleasure."

He's standing before I can get a word out, my legs still wrapped around him as he makes his way into the bathroom and turns on the shower. Only a few seconds go by before we're standing under the running water.

At first, my body goes still, watching as the blood and grime from the day wash from both of us and swirl around his feet. I'm gasping with the cold water, only settling down once it begins to warm and the male, I'm wrapped around grips me harder. The bite on his neck has healed almost entirely, making me want to put another one there—a mark of sorts. I shouldn't want to.

I want to fight him.

To yell at the top of my lungs and express my displeasure for his forceful behavior, for the way he's making me...feel. Instead, I settle for a slight tussle, pushing against him and scratching until I fall to the shower floor. When I make impact the water splashes, I let out a grunt but hold back any signs of pain as I begin trudging through the water on my knees.

Desperate to create space between me and the man who is ruining my train of thoughts, my constant state of sureness becoming endless questions and I dislike it. Nothing about this is okay to me, but there seems to be nothing I can do.

I'm helpless.

I push his hands away as he reaches for me, disappointment clear on his handsome face and something inside of me tightens painfully at the expression. Quickly I find my way out of the shower, the cold air only making me uncomfortable as I crawl into my room and scold him. He's following close behind, that large frame shadowing my every move.

"You n-need to stop being so pushy." Not as badass as I had hoped, but it gets the point across.

Our soaked bodies are making trails of water along the floor, but neither of us seems to mind as he waits to see my next move. I reach for my suitcase, digging through until I find clothing that'll hide most of my body from the raging Lycan. When I finally get to my feet, I'm supported by shaky legs.

"I can smell him here, it's physically painful to know you fucked him in the bed, right there-" He stops himself from finishing the sentence, and it feels like a knife piercing my chest as I hear him trying to calm himself.

The Lycan is closer to losing his mind than I am, and that says something.

"Who said it was only on the bed." I snap, stupidly. I can't stop my gaze from following his enraged frame as he throws the window open and begins chucking bedding and rugs from the area. Those words shouldn't have left my mouth, but I couldn't help myself because even this close to death I sought to irritate him.

Long growls and short curses leave his perfect mouth, the one that's currently moved into a sneer. I'm exhausted from the day, from the constant tension sitting between us, and whatever strings he seemed to be pulling within me. A change of clothes and a quick nap in the tub would do me some good—he wouldn't throw out the tub if I'm still in it. Right? I'm quickly making my way back into the bathroom.

"We need to talk about this." Alarik seethes. I sigh, turning to him with as much interest as I can muster up, and shrug.

"I'm a vampire, if we are mates then you need to come to terms with the fact that over the past few centuries, I've slept with more men than you can count. My future probably holds many more it's just who-" He growls and takes a menacing step towards me, so I don't bother going on. "Just, please. I'm tired, I'm full of your blood and I need bedding to sleep on. I think it's best if you leave before I come back."

He seems to ignore my little speech, only considering what he dislikes. It's like talking to a brick wall.

"Are you rejecting me?" Alarik's voice is full of raw emotion, and I feel that stabbing pain once more that makes me more than uncomfortable. I groan at his question, rolling my eyes and trying to keep my patience in check.

"I'm tired. I'm confused. Remember to turn off my lights on the way out, will you?" I give him one last glance before I put the door between us and calm myself down.

I don't come out for a while, listening as he releases a long sigh and begins walking in and out of my room. Our room? Dammit, I don't like being unsure of situations. By the time I've brushed my teeth, redressed, and gotten myself together the door opens to a dark room.

My gaze stays on the bed as I stumble towards it, more excited than I should be to get rest after spending the entirety of my immortal life not needing it. It's impossible not to notice the big Lycan stalking me from the chair in the corner, those silver eyes watching my every move. Everywhere they go I feel a whisper of cold air as if he's breathing on each part of my body. Oh yes, my baggy clothes were surely a turn on for any male.

I hit the bed with a moan, crawling and tucking one of the fluffy pillows beneath my head as I give a small look towards the male watching me. It takes a lot to ignore the aching inside of me, the urge to move him towards me strong.

The new sheets and warm blanket deserve at least a thank you, but I can't bring myself to force the words out and instead allow the darkness to pull me under. Perhaps when I wake up this will all be a dream, and I won't be dealing with such a pushy Lycan.