I snarled and ripped away from the cottage, tipping my head back and inhaling again and again, finally picking up on which direction she’d gone.
I turned and followed her trail, passing a drunkard who got in my way, slurring and murmuring incoherently. I shoved him out of the way, snarling in annoyance. My aggression was too high—the Linked Connection making me even more territorial and possessive.
No one and nothing would keep me her from me.
The hunt was on.
I loped through the village, following the trail of her scent. It was faded, hours old, but it didn’t matter. Now that I had it I’d never lose it. Her aroma was forever ingrained in me, and I’d find her anywhere.
Once out of the village and in the woods, I picked up my speed, allowing my wolf to burst through marginally, heightening my senses even more. My sight was crisp, clear, my nose picking up on the smallest of scents… the earthworm tunneling through the ground, stirring dirt. Color burst all around me vibrantly.
But only one thing mattered.
Her. She’s mine. Only mine.
I had one focus, one purpose. Get to her.
And that’s what I did.
Her scent started to become stronger and more concentrated the deeper I went into the woods. And then I found myself standing at the base of a mountain and staring at the entrance to a cavern, knowing that’s where I’d find my little vampire mate.
I felt more animal than human right now, feeling every bit the Lycan beast my kind was known as in the Otherworld.
I stalked toward the entrance, my hands coming down on the hard, unforgiving stone, digging into my callused palms. I leaned in close and groaned as her scent was so concentrated right here that my cock throbbed, my bullocks drawing up right to my body, pre-cum dotting the tip and no doubt dampening my trews.
I’d never felt arousal before, never touched a female, thought of the fairer sex in that way. I’d saved all of this—all of my firsts—for my mate. For over two hundred years, I’d gone without a mate, living my existence in this almost stasis where I was alive but not truly living. Because until an Otherworld found their mate they were never whole. Never truly happy.
Once I gathered enough control, I could think of other things than fucking my mate until we were both so satiated neither of us could walk, I opened my eyes and went toward the entrance.
It was difficult getting my big body through the jagged, too-small entrance, my arms getting scraped from the rocks digging into my flesh and tearing my tunic, but I didn’t give a shite. The pain was so minimal with the adrenaline and anticipation thrumming through my veins.
Once through the opening, I stood there a second and inhaled deeply. I could smell dirt and moss, fresh water and other natural aromas from the untouched caverns. But the one aroma that stood out was… her.
Ah Gods. Yesss. There she is. Perfection.
I was moving before I realized I was doing it. The scent of fresh water was powerful now, the sound of dripping water echoing all around me. And then the narrow tunnel opened up to an intimate cavern.
The rocky walls were jagged, and the ceiling and dirt and pebble-covered ground were scattered with stalagmite and stalactites. A small pool was up ahead, an equally small waterfall trickling water into the recessed area.
But the only thing I was focused on was the female currently floating in the pool, her arms out, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. Her long blond hair was fanned out around her, wild strands floating on either side of her like a halo.
Gods… she’s more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen in my life.
The sound of my heart pounding drowned out everything else. I couldn’t think clearly, and as I took a step forward, I felt on edge, unbalanced. The only thing I could focus on was her and getting as close as possible until we were fused together, until nothing on this planet or in the ether could tear us apart.
The water from the fall fell into the pool and splashed along her cheeks, seeming like little gems on her alabaster skin. She wore a white shift, but she might as well have been naked for as transparent as it was. The material was plastered to her body and showing me the rounded swells of her breasts, the tight peaks of her rosy nipples.
I was a voyeur as I watched her without her knowing, but I couldn’t seem to tear my focus away and give her the respect and privacy she deserved. In fact, my eyes would have had to be gouged out for me to stop watching my mate.
And so I let my gaze travel down her tiny abdomen, her belly flat, the small indentation of her navel having my cock jerk. And gods… between her thighs, I could see the small triangle of blond curls that covered the sweetest fucking part of her.