"Leave me alone," I growled, stepping away from the male and the blueberry bush.
"You're the first female I've found," He huffed, following me as I backed away, "I'm not letting you go."
I laughed loudly, throwing my head back, "You're settling for the first female you find? How sad."
"What do you mean?" He asked, stopping his advances.
"I am just surprised that you're settling for a commoner," I explained, "Wouldn't it be better for you and your family if you found someone of noble ranking?"
"Of course," He replied with a frown. "How am I supposed to tell which female is a noble?"
"I work for some nobles," I replied, "I know for a fact that noble females will just be sitting and waiting for someone to find them. Have you ever seen a noble actually put in effort for something? They always wait for someone like us to do it for them."
The blue eyed male nodded, "You're right, thank you. Good luck in here."
With that he jogged away, believing all of my lies. I let out a loud sigh, shoulders sagging as I relaxed. First run in with a male went far better than I had expected, I can't believe he fell for that.
"I can't believe he fell for that," A deep voice rumbled from behind me.
I turned again, my view immediately blocked by someone's large, muscular chest. Slowly tilting my head to look at the behemoth of a male standing very close to me. Silver eyes met my blue ones, the male smirking down at me.
"Does that mean it won't work on you?" I asked, stepping back from him and averting my eyes to keep from seeing anything untoward.
"Sadly not," He replied, "Who are you?"
"Who are you?" I repeated, taking another step away from the handsome male.
"Azrael," The male said easily, "And you?"
"Aslin," I took another step away, my eyes finding his as I plotted my escape.
"Where do you think you're going?" Azrael asked, his gray eyes tracking my movements. "I'd advise you not to run from me, Aslin."
"Why not?" I stilled, muscles tensing.
"I'm a predator," He growled, "You running will just make me want you more."
"But there is also a chance that I could escape," I countered, butterflies fluttering to life in my stomach as he shifted his feet.
"Unlikely," Azrael replied with a grin, "You're welcome to try, but when I catch you I won't be letting you go again."
"I think I'll take my chances," I shivered with excitement, letting the shift roll over me so I might have some advantage.
"I'll even give you a head start," He rumbled, eyes darkening. "Ten-"
I spun on my heel, sprinting away from him as fast as my legs could carry me. Zagging through the trees, my feet slipping on the wet leaves covering the forest floor. There was no way I'd be able to outrun him, my only hope was to go somewhere he couldn't.
I leapt onto the nearest tree, heaving my tired body onto its lowest branch. There was a loud thud from below, and I peered down to see the gray eyed male looking up at me. Squeaking in surprise I quickly climbed higher out of his reach. Peering down once again to see his annoyed face. He hadn't shifted completely, but his gray eyes had turned black as he looked up at me.
I shivered again as I met those dark eyes, the more beastly part of me quivering in unchecked excitement. I had lived a very sheltered life up until this point and had never had a male look at me like that. Like he needed to have me.
"Get down," He growled, shoulders tensing.
"I think I'm perfectly fine up here thank you." I replied, biting my bottom lip to keep from giggling.
"Either you come down or the tree does," He threatened, aware that he would be unable to climb high enough to grab me.
I snorted, "I doubt you'll be able to tear down a full grown tree without any tools or someone to help you."
He didn't reply, a loud cracking noise sounding through the still forest. The tree shook violently and I regretted being so confident about being safe up in its branches. Azrael shook the tree again, grunting with the effort. I clung tightly to the trembling tree trunk, my claws digging into it.
"What are you doing?" A new voice called.
"Getting my female," Azrael growled.
A male appeared below, his body dwarfed by the size of Azrael's lycan form. His brown eyes were lit with amusement when he saw me, naked and clinging to a tree. Azrael grabbed the male's neck, forcing him to look away from me.
"Mine," He growled, using his hold on the male to shove him away.
"I got it," The other male huffed, "I was just looking."
"Look somewhere else," Azrael growled, stalking towards the other male.
My body flushed uncomfortably as I watched Azrael tower over the brown-eyed male. His teeth were bared threateningly and the male submitted to him, tilting his head to expose the delicate flesh of his neck. Azrael wrapped his large hand around the smaller male's throat, pulling him closer and whispering something to him. The male blanched, his brown eyes widening as he glanced up at me. He replied quietly and Azrael released him, sending him dashing off into the woods.
"Are you ready to get down yet?" Azrael growled, his black eyes narrowing at me.
I remembered the words of my father, find someone to protect you. Gritting my teeth I began to carefully climb down the tree, my hands trembling as I gripped tightly onto the wet branches. I could feel his eyes stick to my rump as I moved, frowning at the thought I dropped the last couple yards to the forest floor.
Warm arms immediately wrapped around my waist, and he hoisted me over a well-muscled shoulder. I struggled against him, trying to wiggle my way out of his grasp. He reacted quickly, slapping my rump.
"Ow," I growled, the sharp sting irritating my skin.
"Behave," He growled back.
"Put me down," I snapped.
"I warned you what would happen," Azrael huffed, "You chose to run from me and now you will deal with the consequences."
"Where are we going?" I asked, giving up on moving. He was at least three times my size and clearly had no intention of letting me go.
"I found a cave last night," He replied, "We are going to be staying there until the week is up. It isn't too far from here."
"Lovely," I huffed. "Why am I not allowed to walk on my own?"
"I don't trust you." He replied gruffly, "You'll probably run as soon as I set you down, and I don't feel like playing chase again today."
"I am not going to run," I huffed, "This is very uncomfortable, please put me down."
Azrael huffed out a laugh, "No, you're mine now and I'm not going to let you go. I have to make good on my promise."
"What promise?"
"It's not important," He replied with enough of a growl that I decided to leave that topic alone. "Here."
Azrael placed me gently on the ground, one of his hands wrapped around my wrist to keep me from fleeing. He had stopped in front of a large cave mouth that looked like it would house a bear. Considering the mountain of a male next to me planned to sleep in it, my thoughts were quite accurate.
"In," He growled, the sunlight shining off of his messy black hair. "The longer we stay out here the more likely it is we will encounter other males."
Letting out a long sigh I trudged into the dark, surprisingly spacious cave. Azrael released my arm once I was inside, looking around suspiciously. I sat down on the cold damp earth, pulling my knees into my chest to try and maintain some semblance of modesty.
"If you are going to keep me captive can you at least feed me?" I huffed, "I had just found a blueberry bush before I was interrupted by you and that other male."
"We can go out tonight," He replied, sitting down opposite from me and shifting back to his normal form, "Everyone is roaming around right now and I don't care to run into anyone else that might enjoy seeing a naked female."
He gave me a pointed look and I tightened my hold on my knees. I pulled my still damp braid over my shoulder, fiddling with the strands. His light gray eyes tracked my movement with undisguised interest.
"What do you do?" Azrael asked, "You clearly aren't a commoner."
"My father is a viscount." I replied stiffly, "I don't do anything, just sit around with my maids and have them wait on me."
He snorted, rolling his eyes, "I'm sure you frolic in fields as well."
"Of course." I agreed, "What else is there in life?"
"Even if you are a noble you don't look like the type to sit around all day." He mused, "Especially after you tricked that poor boy."
"I grow herbs for the village healer." I shrugged, "I'm not allowed to do much else and I find the work interesting. You?"
"I'm a knight," He said simply.
"Really," I perked up thinking of the soldiers that had escorted me here, "Do you know anyone named Dran?"
Azrael clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing, "Why do you ask?"
"One of the soldiers that escorted me here got hurt on the journey." I explained, "Dran was their commanding officer and I was hoping if you knew him it would be easier to find Casi."
"Why do you need to find him?" He asked curiously.
"He refused to see a healer until after I arrived. I want to make sure he actually went to see one." I dropped my braid, frowning, "Is that unreasonable?"
"Not unreasonable," He replied, "It's unusual. Why do you care so much about some soldier?"
"He got hurt protecting me," I said firmly, "It is my responsibility to make sure he recovers."
"A view not shared by most nobles." Azrael commented.
"Then perhaps I am not like most nobles," I snapped, glaring at him, "Why do you care anyways?"
"You are to be my mate," Azrael said calmly, "I am supposed to care about what you do and who you take interest in."
"How unfortunate." I mumbled, looking away when he glared at me.
"Try to get some rest," He said, "I doubt you were able to sleep well last night with all the noises those males were making."
I nodded, curling up on the ground facing away from him. I brushed the dirt off my rump and could have sworn he let out a soft groan as I did so. Frowning I tucked my arm underneath my head, attempting to sleep as the cold sunk into me.
Anyone else want a hunky man like Az?