Once Upon a Time(24)

“It doesn’t matter if you know me, or my name. I am here and so are you. You are my mate. I can smell it.” He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, as if he derived pleasure from the act. “And I can’t let you go because you are mine.”

“And if I decided I do want to leave?” The truth was right here and now I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I wanted to be with this male that declared me as a mate, as if we were these wild animals needing to breed or something.

“Then I’ll follow you. This is my home, these trees, mountains, and wilderness what I know. But you’re mine, and I won’t let you go. My inner wolf won’t let you go, and I meant what I said… I’ll chase you until there isn’t anywhere else for you to run.”

But right now I wanted this moment with him, wanted to be with him as I had never been with another person. The world was frozen, waiting for me to leave this forest, and then it would start back up as if nothing happened. I could be in here forever and nothing would change. My mother would still be a basket case, my father still absent in my life, and I’d still be working at my shitty little job.

I inhaled deeply. He smelled wild, fierce… and mine. Yes, he was mine as much as I was his, and although this was the craziest fucking thing that had ever happened, I wasn’t ready to leave just yet. I stepped closer, paced my palms flat on his chest, and knew that whatever happened this was my choice, my decision, and I was making it now.

Neither of us said anything, but he lifted me in his arms and carried me back into the forest. Whatever happened in the future didn’t matter because I was living in the here and now, and that was all that I cared about right now. This man was half wolf, had just admitted that to me, and I was willingly deciding to stay with him. It was crazy, but I wanted to experience it.