Chapter 2.:

Ariana looks around, searching for the alluring scent which hits her nose. She can’t decipher where it comes from. The sweetest scent she had ever smelled in her life caught her entire attention.

“What’s wrong?” Her father asks her, watching his restless daughter abruptly scanning the entire hall. She searches for something, yet he can’t say what it is.

“Nothing.” She replies to him, pretending everything is alright. Ariana couldn’t focus as the sweet scent filled her nostrils, but she couldn’t bring the matter to her parents. They would take her back home right away. Ariana understands the meaning of the scent. Her mate should be somewhere in the room. She wasn’t expecting to meet him at the ball, especially since she hoped to meet the Lycan king and become his potential mate, but it didn’t matter anymore. Her mate is there as well.

Ariana almost instantly forgets about the Lycan king and focuses on the sweet, woody scent which fills the entire room and restricts her from thinking about the rest. She can’t sense anything else but the scent, which drives her crazy. The only voice she can hear in her mind is calling for her mate.

The music begins, people pour onto the dance floor when her parents finally find a place to sit. They are sitting in the corner, watching the guests of the ball slowly dancing in the middle. Daria specifically chooses this place to stay hidden, hoping no one would ask her daughter for the dance. The longer Ariana remains unseen, the better the chance they will leave this place unharmed and without the Lycan king taking a liking to their daughter.

“May I have this dance?” The tall man offers his hand to Ariana, asking her for a dance. Ariana lifts her eyes, only to meet with the most beautiful blue eyes she has ever seen. It is him. Her mate. She recognizes the sweet, woody scent coming from him. He looks at her with the same interest and Ariana knows he felt the same as she did. He smelled the same alluring scent coming from her body, binding them together.

Daria’s eyes widened. He found them. From all the girls in the hall, he had to go ask Daria's daughter.

“Of course, your highness.” Daria stands up the same as her husband, and they both bow their heads in front of the Lycan king. Ariana’s father isn’t short. On the contrary, at one hundred eighty-five centimeters in height, he belongs to one of the tallest guards in the capital. Yet, in comparison with the Lycan king, he looks just like a boy. Daria is way shorter than her husband.

Ariana stands up and accepts the offered hand of the Lycan king. He leads her into the middle of the dance hall where they dance. Every set of eyes looks at them, but they are ignoring them. His eyes locked on Ariana. She wishes to talk to him, claim him, but in the presence of his greatness, she can’t bring herself to say a word. She completely drowns in those icy blue eyes, which keep staring at her with no words.

The skin where their hands locked tingled. They both sense it, but he says nothing about it. He should claim her by now. Announcing that he had finally found his mate, his true queen, yet they were just dancing in silence.

The song had finished, and another one exchanged it. They dance to two more songs before he finally asks her to join him on the balcony outside, away from the crowd. Ariana forgets to account for the time as they are standing on the balcony in the fresh air, lost in those eyes. She isn’t feeling cold. Her werewolf blood keeps her warm while the snow softly lands around them. Ariana couldn’t hide her excitement. Her lasting wish finally came true. Not only does she meet the man of her life, her mate is no one else but the Lycan king himself.

“Be mine.” The Lycan king pulled her closer to him. They are still standing on the balcony, but Ariana notices the surrounding silence. The balcony door is closed and soundproof. Not even a single note escaped the hall. They are there entirely alone. She didn’t find it strange. Who would like to attack the Lycan king? It is already a suicidal mission trying to attack a werewolf, not to mention Lycan himself. No one in the entire kingdom and in his right mind would try to attack the king. Not without a proper army, and even with the army, there would be little chance of winning the fight.

“I am already all yours, your highness.” Ariana bowed to him. She can’t stop staring at him. Those eyes staring at her are enchanting. The hunger in his eyes screamed her name, and she had no will to resist him. She wishes to be his forever.