Moon Marked

4| Mark of Restraint

Adriel

The light of the moon showered her with its favour, clinging onto her body and shining down its divine ordinance over her drenched skin. The night sky was clear, the stars reflecting in the rippling water as I watched the way she reacted to the bird that had swooped in at her side, flapping its wings in a frenzy as its beak went in for the kill.

She straightened her body with the suddenness of it, the water crashing in waves at the edges of the celestial spring as she struggled for a secure footing.

Her nightdress was sheer all the way through as she fought with the fright of the sudden intrusion. Every inch of her body dripping water and on display for me, even as she had spent so much time trying to hide it from my view.

Something feral twisted inside my gut at the sight of her chest heaving from the exertion, and for once—it did not feel like the moon hated me.

Her skin mimicked the paleness of it, glistening with temptation as I devoured every part of her. She was a dainty little thing, standing a foot shorter than me even at her full height, her body a lot smaller than I had imagined. Her slender form dusted with freckles, starting on her face, and then sloping down her shoulders, sprinkling across her collarbones before they dipped between the valley of her breasts.

And that's when I caught sight of it, my heart flailing in response to the truth that now stood in front of me.

Her mark sat at the crest of her breastbone, the lines of it a match of my own, drawn together into jagged triangles that embodied the view of the mountainside that surrounded the pack in which I ruled. It shimmered in recognition of me, and if I were to pull my shirt from my skin in retaliation, she would see that I was no longer here to play a game—she'd know that her mate was standing right in front of her.

Her pupils were dilating at the sight of me taking in her body like a starving man, the bright blue colour of her gaze darkening like the night sky above us.

My wolf howled in acceptance of the bond that sparked between us, wild with his need to have her—to dive into the sacred spring and bless the holy water as I spread her thighs and buried myself right where I belonged.

I'd felt the pull towards her as soon as I'd seen her, the desperation that dug under my skin finally making some sense. There was no denying the truth that stood before me now. She was beautiful, and I had risked the wrath of the witches who had blessed me with this fate to look upon her before my time to claim her as my own had come.

The seconds ticked by as she slowly realised her mistake, the both of us caught in the battle of our gazes as I fought with all my strength to restrain myself.

The longer I watched, the harder it was going to be for me to leave, but now that I'd seen her I couldn't get enough.

She gasped loudly when her logic caught up with her emotions, pressing her palm over her mark in a flimsy attempt to guard it from my view.

"It's too late for that now, little moon." Her body shuddered from my words, my voice hardening with my overpowering need for her.

I let out an irritated growl at her movement, my wolf angered with the way she had dared to cover herself in front of me, my heart rate spiking with my need to dominate her, but then I saw the terror that covered her face.

She moved further when I took a small step towards the spring, pulling her arm over her chest as she intentionally covered her breasts from my prying eyes. The soaked fabric of her nightdress bunched together and gathered at her front, hiding the colour of her thighs.

The anger of my wolf spurred my next words knowing that she would be guilted by them.

"What would your mate think of you if he saw you right now, flaunting your body to an unmated Alpha who hadn't come here to claim you?" I moved over the threshold of the spring now, the water rippling from her nervous movements and pooling at my feet.