Chapter 12 - Tyler #2
As if I needed more proof that she's my true mate, I let my inner wolf guide me forward, drawn toward her until I drop to my hands that quickly shift into the paws of my wolf.
A wave of liberating sensations washes over me as I fill my wolf lungs with more of Arianna's scent, following the air like breadcrumbs that spur me into a jog that takes me to her.
When she nears the lake, she finally slows down enough for me to catch up, my steps slowing too as I approach her. The gentle whisper of leaves when I brush by a bush sends her ears perking up, her wolf head turning as her hazel eyes glow when they meet mine.
Her surprised intake of breath is audible as she tenses, backing away in her petite wolf form.
“Don't, Arianna…” I tell her telepathically, using the mind link to communicate only with her as I block out the rest of the pack. “Don't run away.”
A gentle push vibrates through my eardrums, signaling an attempt to make contact. I let her in, and notice how broken her voice sounds, the connection faint as she tries to connect.
It must be because she's been out of the pack for years, and she's been disconnected all this time.
But I don't need to hear her voice fully to know what she's saying. It's written all over her wolf's beady eyes, the accusation, the fake indifference she tries to maintain to block me out.
“What do you want, Alpha?” comes the question through the distorted mind link, prompting me to approach her slowly, cautiously, as if to strengthen the connection. The ringing vibration stops as if she's too tentative to speak, her wolf frame tensing as I near her.
“Stop this, please,” I plead, stopping half a meter away, allowing her the opportunity to run away if she chooses.
It can't be that she's heeding my request because I'm the alpha. She's already shown me twice that she doesn't care about that—once when she slapped me, and another time earlier this evening when she didn't go back to my house like I'd told her.
She's choosing not to run away. In her wolf form, her defenses aren't as strong as they are when she's able to use her logical mind. In wolf form, our mate bond becomes undeniable, the air between us turning electric without even touching her.
That air is filled with her pheromones, like we're standing in a field of jasmine flowers, prompting me to keep my eyes closed before I blink, only for a moment, only long enough to fill my airways with her addicting scent, my wolf reacting when my fur prickles with attention, heat spreading over my body.
When I open my eyes again, Arianna is still standing there.
“We can't go on like this,” I continue, whimpering and lowering my wolf head to signal my surrender.
“I don't know what you're talking about!” Arianna snaps and wheezes, shaking her furry head before spinning on her back paws and sprinting back toward town.
My wolf won't allow her to escape so suddenly, and I quickly give chase, running after her through the forest. Just as she's about to exit the forest, I leap forward, crashing into her and knocking her to the ground.
I tumble with her, the impact sending us rolling toward a tree.
My instincts kick in to protect her, so my front arms close around her to shield her from hitting the tree trunk.
My back crashes into it, but it isn't painful. Not when I'm focused on the way she pants in wolf form, our bodies touching so closely, I can't make out where I end or begin.
Everything about this moment feels right, and I'm compelled to shift into human form, my eyes never leaving hers, even when she does the same and shifts.
She's still panting uncontrollably, her lips parted as her chest heaves. To my surprise, she doesn't remove herself from my proximity, staring at me expectantly while she rides out the high of the adrenaline pulsing through her veins because of her sprint.
Because of her hormones, too. It's everywhere, but nowhere near where it needs to be. Riding the wave of my own high, I waste no time when I close the distance between our faces and crush my lips to hers.
As I expected, she pulls away, and I flinch, bracing for another slap. But it doesn't come. Instead, she returns her lips to mine, mewling on the kiss as if she's as relieved as I am.
I slide my hand to the back of her head and pull her closer, deepening the kiss. Every nerve ending heightens with the sensation, the sexual chemistry between us undeniable.
The kiss is hot and passionate, our tongues fighting for dominance as if we're both hungry, desperate, famished for this kiss that's long overdue. A kiss that would have happened earlier if we were alone.
That's the only reason I pull back, her swollen, moist lips forming a pout to protest the break as her brows furrow.
I know what she's thinking, recalling that moment I rejected her as my mate, so I keep my hand on her nape to reassure her that this isn't like the last time.
I'm not the same man I was back then.
Gulping to clear my throat, I stare deeply into her eyes when I ask in a hoarse, breathless voice, “Is Noah asleep?”
Arianna confirms that her son is asleep with a timid nod, her cheeks flushed from the intensity of the kiss we shared.
In her eyes, I can see a million thoughts flashing through her mind.
The pain I'd inflicted in the past, her inner wolf's desire for its one true mate, and the fear of being rejected again.
“I'm not gonna hurt you again, I promise,” I whisper, and it's all I need to say for her to come leaning in, hungrily devouring my lips as we kiss passionately.
I sigh on her plump lips from sheer relief that I wasn't the only one going insane trying to hold back and stop myself from plunging into the madness of this true mate bond.