Chapter 3: His

Lukas, 29

I smelled it before I even saw her.

Fuck.

I smelled her, the intoxicating scent of cedarwood, vanilla, and something sharp, like a thunderstorm brewing over the Swiss Alps. It was the scent of a being I had been searching for through a decade of agony.

Warm, sweet, alive and mine.

Mine.

The pain cut through me again, harder this time, ripping a demeaning groan from my chest. I was cursed. Since the age of eight, I had been subjected to this heart-breaking torture every night from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

 I had endured the inevitable struggle of watching my own skin break as my internal beast tried to claw its way out. The only antidote was finding her. Only then would the worst of the pain subside, though unless I claimed her fully, I would never be free of the cycle.

And I smelled her.

A loud groan escaped me just as the door ripped open and the annoying, brilliant, sharp-tongued and too observant for her own good Katlyn walked in. She was dressed seductively in a black dress with spaghetti straps, her brown hair flowing over her shoulders, her almond-toned skin glowing under the dim lights of the office and her lively river blue eyes hidden beneath her lashes. 

She looked ravishing. She looked like mine.

The pain tore through me, and I snarled, overturning the heavy oak table. She screamed, the shock of seeing her boss turning into a monster frozen in her wide eyes.

 A human. The goddess had made a tiny human, the one I hadn't realized I’d been watching all along, my mate?

A bitter, almost disbelieving laugh clawed its way out of me. Out of every possibility, she chose the one woman who had never once bowed to me. She had chosen the annoying assistant who was a little too good at her job, the one with the audacity to mutter insults when she thought I wasn't listening.

So, the reason I had left Switzerland and the politics of my kind was this tiny woman who looked like she’d crush under my weight.

"What are you doing here?" I ordered, my voice a beastly rasp.

She responded by running. A costly mistake. 

What a wolf loves most is a chase—especially when the prey is a mate long overdue to be marked.

My abilities surged in her presence. My hair lengthened into an Amber mane, my body covering in the obsidian skin of my shifting form as I caught her scent again. This time, it wasn't just fear. Her body acknowledged me even if her mind hadn't caught up.

With the speed of a predator, I intercepted her at the elevator and threw her stubborn tiny body over my shoulder. She beat against my back, pleading for me to let her go as I hauled her back into the office. I threw her gently onto the leather sofa, hovering over her like a shadow.

"What do you mean 'mate'?" she asked through her tremors. "Sir, please, just let me go. I... I only came to give you the original file... I didn't come here on purpose."

“You expect me to believe that? You think I don't know you've always wanted to dare me?” I asked quietly, my jaw aching from fighting the urge to snap at the air.

“I’m telling the truth!”

She tried to move again, but I was faster. My hand caught her wrist, pulling her back to the sofa, though I kept my grip loose enough not to bruise her. I was terrified of my own strength breaking her.

“If you want to play this game, I've got all night, Katlyn.” I murmured, enjoying her name on my lips. 

“I want to go home,” she snapped, though her voice trembled violently. She was glaring at me now, a flash of her usual stubborn anger cutting through her panic. “Please let me go.”

My lips curved slightly.

“No.”

Her brows furrowed in pure confusion and disbelief. “Why not? I promise I won't tell. Why won't you let me go? Are you going to kill me?”

“No.”

“Then let me go, please.”

This little woman. While she pleaded, she was wet. Terribly wet—I could smell it from afar. But her fear and utter denial didn't give her the luxury of noticing. She was fighting her own body’s responsiveness.

“Not when your body doesn’t agree with you.”

Her breath hitched.

I leaned down, my face inches from hers. The scent was dizzying now. "You can't lie to a predator, Katlyn. Your mouth says fear, but your delicious arousal tells me everything I need to know. You want me."

Her eyes widened, her face flushing a deep crimson. "I do not! I just want to go home. There's no way I would be attracted to you. Please, let me go!"

She pushed against my shoulders with a sudden burst of frantic energy, and I purposely released her, wanting to see what she would do. She tried to scramble past me, her movements desperate. I let her get just far enough to feel a spark of hope before I lunged, my hand catching her waist and pinning her firmly against the wall.

A small moan escaped her lips as my hands touched her bare back. A dark, satisfied expression crossed my face; her helpless reaction to my touch drove me completely over the edge.

“There it is.”

Her face flushed a deep, burning red as she shook her head frantically, clearly horrified that such a beautiful, traitorous sound had escaped her.

She resumed struggling, her small hands shoving against my chest, but it was like trying to move a mountain. My wolf roared at the contact, fighting for dominion, desperate to take over and claim every inch of the skin she was using to push me away.

And her breath. Heavens. It hit my face in ragged, uneven hitches that nearly undid me.

I leaned closer, my control tightening as my wolf pushed harder, demanding more.

“Claim her Lukas. Mark her and make her ours.”

I clenched my jaw, veins bulging along my neck as I forced my head back.

“Not yet.”

I couldn't… not like this. Even if I wanted it badly enough to die for it, I needed her acceptance. I groaned, fighting a losing battle for control as I kept her caged against the wall, my gaze locked on her as she struggled to break free.

Our eyes met, those defiant, terrified eyes, and Katlyn made the gravest mistake she could: she bit her lip.  

Good heavens.

A low, struggling growl escaped me. “Don't, Kat… Don't…”

She raised those pretty eyes to mine and pressed her hands harder against my chest, subconsciously biting those plump lips again. My hand snapped to her neck, pulling her shaking, warm body flush against mine. 

Another soft sound slipped from her—uncontrolled, unaware, and utterly devastating.

  

Fuck.

That was it. My control snapped.

I hauled her closer, my grip firm on her waist as I buried my face in the curve of her neck. Before she could even process what was happening, my teeth grazed her skin, then sank in deep.

Her body tensed instantly, a broken sound escaping her as the bond took hold, sharp and immediate, before she let out another sharp, involuntary moan—a sound of pure, unadulterated pleasure that cut right through her terror. My beast surged forward, completely satisfied, as I held her there, feeling the connection snap into place.

Mine.

As if finally surrendering to my claim, another moan broke from her throat, this one more rasped, more broken, as she silently breathed my name against my skin, calling my name without a 'sir' for the very first time.

“Lukas. Did… did you just bite me?” Her shaky hands flew to her neck and she gasped, flinching violently as warm blood trailed down her finger. She stared at her stained hand, her breath catching in her throat. “You actually bit me... Oh my God, what are you? What are you?!”

Her gaze raised at me as she broke apart right in front of me, her small fists slamming into my chest with frantic, desperate strength, trying to claw her way out of my space. "Get off me! Let me go, you monster!"

The sound of her weeping, mixed with the wild, frantic beating of her heart, set my beast completely on edge, demanding I pin her back down and complete the bond right then and there. I clenched my jaw, fighting the brutal urge, my face burying into the crook of her neck as a dark, heavy satisfaction washed over me despite her resistance. How had I not seen how perfect she was for three long years?

   “Katlyn.”

   “Leave me alone!” 

I pulled back just enough to breathe, my chest heaving as I fought to steady the predator roaring inside me. 

  “I don't want to.” I smirked as I slowly leaned back in, but she didn't make it easy. Her hands flew to my face, trying to stop me while she cried harder as I licked the wound clean, my tongue tracing the jagged mark I had just claimed.

Katlyn moaned amidst her struggles, her body stilled at the shock of her own reaction. Her head fell back against the wall in total disbelief at her body's responsiveness despite her panic, and suddenly, a sweet, intoxicating release filled the air. My little assistant was giving in, her body reacting to me in ways she couldn't hide even if it killed her.

Every sense I had screamed at the scent of her, and fuck, I wanted nothing more than to taste every bit of her.

A low sound escaped me as I forced myself to pull away completely, stepping back before I lost what little human control I had left.

She shoved against me, breaking out of my grip.

"You… you're a monster!" she gasped, her chest heaving as she clutched her neck, her eyes wide with deep denial.

"And you're mine," I murmured, my voice returning to its authoritative baritone.

She didn't wait. She bolted out the door, her heels clicking frantically down the hall until she was gone.

The moment she left the floor, the agonizing pain vanished. My form began to recede, the obsidian skin softening back into the pale, tailored perfection of Lukas Varlor Hart. The prophecy was right: the mate brought ease. But I knew that marking an unwilling mate was dangerous; the relief would be temporary until she was fully claimed as mine.

I stood naked in the wreckage of my office, the broken glass glinting like stars. I picked up my phone from the floor and dialed Kael.

"Lukas," Kael answered instantly. "What's going on? I saw a woman run out of the building just now. We identified her as your assistant. Did she see anything? Should we silence her?"

"I dare you to touch her, Kael, and I'll skin every bone in your body while you watch," I growled, my voice cold and lethal. "That human is to be protected at all costs!”

There was a stunned silence on the other end. "No way... Fuck. Is she the one? Your mate?"

"If you had a sixth sense, you'd have scented her from miles away."

"You marked her already?"

I let out a low groan, thinking of the way she had tasted. "She left me with no choice."

Lukas, that's dangerous," Kael warned, his tone shifting to professional concern. "An unwilling marked mate is a liability. She’s open to threats from anyone wanting to weaken you."

"Don't remind me of what I already know," I snapped. "She ran out before I could cover my scent. I need a tail on her tonight.”

“Okay,” he replied, a little breathless.

My gaze flicked briefly around the room. “Send them to clean the office.”

“Yes, sir.”

There was a pause before he spoke again. “Do you want me to inform the…?”

"No," I said firmly, looking out at the skyline. "The Silverclaw elders are looking for any reason to challenge my seat, and Rafael is already breathing down my neck. I will shield her from them until she understands what she is."

"And?"

"Prepare the car," I said, a slow, predatory expression tugging at my lips. "I’m paying my future in-laws a visit.”