Bound To My Protector Mate

The night when my whole life changes! Something changed the night I met him. I was just a regular guy, drifting through a predictable life, mostly without a stable job and income and also an orphan without any inheritance, until a single encounter shattered the calm and plunged me into something I couldn’t understand.

It started on an ordinary evening, in the heart of the city, when a sharp wind picked up, carrying a sense of unease. The streets were nearly empty, and I was on my way home from my job as a professional sleeper. My mind was preoccupied, when I felt it—a presence. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as if someone’s gaze was digging into me.

Turning, I found a man watching me from across the street, standing under the flickering glow of a streetlight. Tall and still as a shadow, his eyes locked onto mine, intense and unnervingly steady. My heart thudded hard against my ribs. He was beautiful, but there was something… otherworldly about him, a quiet power radiating from his calm stance. And despite my fear, I couldn’t look away.

Our eyes met, and in that single instant, I felt a pull—magnetic, like he was drawing me in, seeing straight through me. Every nerve screamed to move, to leave, but my body betrayed me. I was rooted in place, helpless.

Before I knew it, he was crossing the street, each step measured and deliberate, his gaze never breaking from mine. And as he got closer, the air grew colder, sharper, like he carried winter with him. I took a breath, steadying myself, but he was already close—too close.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he said, his voice low and smooth, each word dripping with an odd sense of authority.

The way he said it made me bristle. “Mate, I can take care of myself” I replied, though my voice came out weaker than I’d intended. I was a man, I needed to act like one.

He tilted his head, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips, like he found my answer amusing. “I’m not so sure,” he said softly, and his eyes seemed to darken, drawing me further into the depths of whatever spell he was weaving.

I swallowed, unsure whether to be flattered or unnerved by the way he looked at me, like he knew every secret I’d ever kept. “Do… do we know each other?”

“You tell me.” His stare lingered on my face, searching, assessing. “Sometimes we don’t recognize what’s right in front of us, Daniel.”

My heart skipped a beat. “How do you know my name?”

He chuckled—a low, rich sound that sent a shiver down my spine. “There’s much I know about you, more than you might imagine.”

It was such a ridiculous statement, and yet coming from him, it felt… true. My mind raced, searching for logic, for an explanation, but he was already stepping back, his face half-hidden by shadow, leaving me with the unsettling sense that he’d told me more than he’d meant to.

“Wait,” I called, but he shook his head, a soft smile brushing his lips.

“We’ll meet again, Daniel,” he murmured. “Sooner than you think.”

And before I could say another word, he turned, fading back into the darkness, leaving me standing there, alone under the obscure glow of the streetlight, heart pounding.

---

That night, his face haunted my thoughts, every detail etched into my mind as if he’d branded himself there. I couldn’t shake the way he looked at me, how he’d said my name like it was a song he’d been waiting to play. Exhausted, I finally fell asleep, tossing everything off as I assumed he was some weirdo stalker. Unfortunately, my peace didn’t last.

I found myself back on that empty street in my dream, the same shadows pooling around us as I caught sight of him—watching, waiting, like he’d never left. The air was cold, sharp enough to slice, but his gaze… it burned.

I could feel him, every part of him—his closeness, his presence, his beauty, the brush of his fingers along my cheek, icy yet electrifying. I tried to speak, to pull away, but I was frozen, caught in a web of tension, desire, and fear.

“You’ll see me again,” he whispered, his breath ghosting over my skin, leaving me breathless.

When I jolted awake, his touch lingered, as real as the sheets tangled around me. I gasped, looking around the room, but it was empty, save for the chill that clung to the air. I still tossed it off, it was obviously my mind playing tricks with me after sleeping the whole day as a professional sleeper, or was it not?