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.
She whimpered—the sound full of apology and grief as it shot down my spine and pooled at the base of my most dangerous thoughts.
She didn't know I was hers yet.
Since I had stepped foot in her presence she had been steadfast in her will, protecting her body with the belief that only her mate could lay his eyes on it. She had begged me to leave, pleaded with me that I was not hers to demand—and yet here I was, fated to her and she didn't even know it.
My jaw clenched as I watched her arms tighten around her chest, my wolf preening with the knowledge of her unwavering loyalty to me.
The spring soaked me to the bone as I started towards her again, closing the distance between us. The water pooled at the tops of her thighs where it barely reached my knees.
Her breath fluttered in alarm, and she gasped when I lifted my hand to her head.
Her heart rate spiked at the determination of my touch, my hand moving to her hair, threading through her dark, wet locks. She mewled when I pushed my fingers against her scalp, grabbing a fistful of her as I forced her to look up at me.
Her eyes were wide with torment, unable to understand the pull of my touch when she hadn't been claimed by me yet. She submitted to me easily despite her resistance earlier and fuck—I loved the sight of her looking up at me like this.
The freckles on her cheeks made her look so sweet, but the fullness of her lips made me want to push her to her knees.
Touching her was a bad idea, but even at the expense of losing my control and angering the witches past the point of being able to redeem myself—I had imagined of her for so long and I needed to know that she was real.
My other hand moved to her chin, my thumb brushing over her lips just so I could feel how soft they were.
"Please." She pleaded, her voice rasping with the desperation I felt tearing through me as I watched her eyes fill with unshed tears.
The conflict of my touch was flooding her with feelings of guilt. She liked how I felt, but at the same time, she knew that she shouldn't—not when she didn't know if she was mine yet. I imagined the way her body would relax when she found out the truth, the way she would melt against me as she used that same voice to beg me to touch her all over again.
"Please, what?" I taunted her further.
"Tell me that I am yours." She said in barely a breath, begging me with her words and her eyes and her body.
I wanted to tell her, to please her in every way that I could.
I wanted to tell her so that I could take her where we stood. I'd grab her by the hips and tear straight through her flimsy nightdress, pushing her down on her front against the muddy bank of the spring as I filled her up with everything that was meant for her, taking her for everything that she was.
But I wasn't going to repeat the same mistakes as my father, and I didn't want to take everything from her and give nothing in return.
I dropped my hands then and a soft sounding whine pushed past her lips. But with clenched fists and my corroding strength—I pulled away from her.
"The claiming ceremony is tomorrow, you should return to your bed and get some rest," I said coldly, barely looking her in the eyes now.
Once I stepped out of the spring, she began to panic again.
"You can't leave," she said definitively—her words suddenly a demand even though everything she had said before had been the opposite of her request now.
I turned when I returned to solid ground, her arms splashing in the water as she moved towards me this time.
"A moment ago, all you wanted me to do was leave."
"I—"
She could feel the pull of our bond and she was struggling with the conviction of it. A frown settled between her brows as she tried to sort through her confusion, but my heart twisted at the disheartened look on her face.
By tomorrow night she would be exactly where she was supposed to be, but tonight we'd have to spend one more night alone.
"What were you doing in the water before I interrupted you?" I asked instead of leaving as I should have, but my need to know every little thing about her was permeating through the little defences I had left.
I had seen her before I had dropped the candle, and watched as she spun and stretched her body in a sequence of movements. I was so mesmerised by the show of it that I had let myself get caught spying on her.
Her cheeks flushed as I watched her pull herself out of the spring, moving quickly to the robe that was on the floor a couple of metres away from me. She covered herself and I couldn't help but grit my teeth against the disapproving growl that wanted to release itself from the base of my throat.
"I was asking the witches for their favour." She answered simply, much too simply for me to be satisfied with her response.
The witches were three women who had been blessed with power that had been handed down to them by god. They used their magic to bring order to a chaotic world—they used it to keep the supernatural world in harmony, otherwise the world would be strife with wrath and war—just like the old ways were blood paid as penance. Asking for their favour was the most a supernatural being could do, but the way my little mate had said those words had felt desperate and defeated. Two emotions I knew like the back of hands.
"And what kind of favour were you asking of them?" I carried on.
She inclined her head, staring up at the moon that was full in the sky. She sighed softly under the sight of it, and as I watched her I knew I would give anything for her to look at me like that one day too.
Her gaze dropped and she chewed nervously at her lip, unsure of the words she wanted to say.
"As an Alpha, do you think it is possible for you to forget about your fated mate?"
I shook my head even as the words struck my heart with the agony of her tone. "We are all servants of the moon; we are in no position to refuse its gifts."
"Oh." The frown settled between her brows again and I wanted to take it away.
"Why do you think your mate has forgotten about you?"
She shrugged, unwilling to tell me.
"You're right, I should get some rest before the ceremony tomorrow. I wish you and your mate the best for the future, and I hope that you will be kind enough not to tell the matrons about the time we have spent together tonight." She bowed slightly, and this time it was my turn to frown as I watched her hurry away.
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