Blaidd
I blinked at the insult. She came on my dick. Twice. Gloriously. I mean—sure, I might have been a little heavy-handed… but how was I to know?
She doesn’t look happy. Are you sure she’s our mate? I asked Fenrir, keeping my eyes on Lielit.
I never thought it could happen to me, he said quietly.
But yes. She is ours, he added, more determined.
He didn’t say it—but after last night, we both knew.
We trailed behind her beast. Railed inwardly when she kept watch on the dock. Her escape route. Then Fenrir watched her sleep.
We knew we’d fucked up.
“Feel your neck. Does it hurt?” I asked, though I didn’t move any closer.
She frowned and touched the mark.
“That’s beside the point,” she snapped.
“And look what you did to my beautiful face,” I muttered. “You don’t see me complaining.”
I didn’t understand the mate aspect—the bond. No matter how Fenrir explained it, it felt foreign.
I enjoyed aspects of her. But only on my terms.
Did I find it attractive that she carried an animal inside her?
Hell yes.
Did I want this bonding business to disrupt my way of life?
Fuck no.
You said if we keep her close, we can trigger a heat?
Fenrir pressed hard against my chest.
I couldn’t tell if it was a warning—or anticipation.
Yes.
In the end, the mating bond was inconsequential.
It only proved that Lielit Tolera was mine.
I was about to step toward her when Fenrir spoke again.
She could be the only one for us in this life.
I scowled at the thought and kept moving.
She growled—deep, repeated sounds torn from her chest. Shorter than ours, but no less fierce.
“I want off this island,” she hissed.
“No.”
“Fine,” she said, sitting back down. “Come and get me—if you’re brave enough. I’ll claw off what’s left of your face.”
Are you really going to let her speak to us like this? I demanded.
He never answered.
Fucking coward.
“Fine. Freeze your ass off—again,” I snapped. “And this time, don’t blame me.”
I walked away, pointedly ignoring Fenrir.
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She didn’t come home.
No one had seen her at the boathouse.
She was out there—wandering the land.
I paced the house, stopping in her bedroom more than once, but her scent had thinned, faded to a ghost of what it had been.
I glanced at the window. The smudges from her hands were still there.
Proof she’d stood there. Touched it. Then there was the way she’d taken me from tip to knot—the supple give of her flesh, the way she’d drawn me in.
There were so many things I still needed to do with that woman.
Mate, Fenrir cut in.
Sure, I replied, pacifying him.
Dammit.
Could she swim to one of the other islands?
Her beast might give her that kind of strength.
I bolted downstairs and out into the open air, dragging in sharp breaths and scenting hard.
Play the game.
Lure her back.
Keep her.
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We caught her scent—hers and her animal’s—leading us to the small stream. From a distance, I saw her stretched out in the sun. The sleek lines of her hyena form were utterly beautiful. She was large, built for the hunt, those teeth made for prey. Powerful—but not of the gods.
Sunlight warmed her fur, bleaching it lighter, making it glow. The dark stripes along her body drew my gaze down to her paws. My cheek still throbbed.
This was why her scent had driven me mad.
I touched my face.
My very own personalised sex toy.
No, Fenrir huffed. A mate is equal and—
Yeah, yeah, I muttered, moving closer just as the hyena’s ears pricked up.
She didn’t even look at me as she rose. She stretched lazily, head dipping low, spine rolling as her back arched. Then she turned and bolted through the bushes, vanishing into the trees.
Fuck. She was fast.
Fenrir hummed—pride and something dangerously close to happiness bleeding through him.
I, on the other hand, went to the docks and burned the boats.
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Friday came and went, but the stubborn little bitch still didn’t come home. Fenrir refused to force her. He could easily enlarge, overpower her—but no matter how much I pushed, he flatly refused.
In fact, whenever I slept, he shifted and stayed close to her.
Outside.
Leaving me naked and lying in filth by the time I woke.
Her scent grew more alluring by the day, each note deepening. It was as if Fenrir knew exactly why—and refused to tell me.
From childhood until my mother died, he was always there in the background. When he stepped into the light, he aligned himself with me. We built our empire together.
Yet now, we were drifting apart.
His silences stretched longer.
The changes didn’t sit well with me. Against his approval, I ordered the helicopter to take me back to London.
I had business to attend to—and I needed time away from her.
The staff came with me and the phone line disconnected.
Let her stay there alone.
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I opened the door and dropped my keys into the wooden bowl. The hollow clatter grated on my nerves. I’d thought coming home would be a relief. It was the opposite.
The cook had dinner on—filet mignon. The smell did nothing for me.
I went upstairs and into the dressing room.
Nothing smelled right.
Not the colognes I’d worn for years. Not my bedroom.
Humans stank, as always.
I folded my tie with care and hung up my jacket before stripping off my shirt. Then I rolled it up and tossed it into the basket.
I would not be controlled by anyone.
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I sat at the dining table alone.
Fine wine. Perfectly cooked meat. Silence.
The clock ticked.
I cut into the steak and forced myself to chew. The food tasted right. Everything else didn’t.
The chair across from me was empty.
It always was.
I frowned at it anyway.
I drank, swallowed, and checked my watch. The house felt too quiet. Not peaceful—hollow. Like something had been removed without my consent.
I ate the rest quickly and stood, irritation coiling tight in my chest.
This place wasn’t supposed to feel like this. It was my sanctuary, yet somehow she had polluted it.
We need to go back, Fenrir murmured. Soon.
Why? I demanded.
But he’d clamped up again, refusing to answer me.
The fucking world was working against me.