The Scent on the Wind

Zev's POV

The morning run is supposed to clear my head. Three miles along the eastern border, pushing my wolf form to its limits, trying to exhaust Fenris enough that he stops raging about the refugees arriving today. Thomas's family. I should be thinking about pack politics, about how to integrate them, about Victor's likely retaliation.

Instead, I'm thinking about green eyes and the way she flinched when I spoke.

'Go back,' Fenris demands for the hundredth time. 'Check on her. Make sure she's safe.'

'She's with her family in guest quarters,' I argue internally. 'Guards posted. She's fine.'

'Not fine. Not ours. Not marked. Not claimed. Unprotected.'

The fog rolls in thick this morning, turning the forest into a maze of shadows. I leap over a fallen tree, using my enhanced strength to cover thirty feet in one bound. The Crimson bloodline makes me faster than any normal Alpha, stronger, more lethal. It also makes my wolf harder to control.

Andrea's mental link touches my mind. 'Alpha, the refugee family is approaching the main gate for official processing.'

My heart stops. 'Now?'

'Yes, sir. Elder Thomas requested early morning to avoid pack crowds.'

I'm already turning, racing back toward the compound. 'Tell them to wait. I'm coming.'

'Sir, with respect, James can handle—'

'I'm coming,' I snarl through the link, and she immediately withdraws.

Two miles. I cover it in three minutes, my massive paws eating up the distance. The fog parts around me as I run, and then I smell it.

That scent.

It's stronger now, carried on the morning breeze. Honey and winter pine and something uniquely hers. My mate. The word rings through me like a bell. After three years of emptiness, of believing I'd never feel whole again, she's here.

The car comes into view through the fog, that same beat-up sedan from yesterday. They're driving slow, following Andrea's wolf form. I should hold back, maintain distance, let James handle this.

Instead, I find myself running parallel to the road, hidden in the treeline but keeping pace with the vehicle. She's in the backseat this time, window cracked slightly for fresh air.

The breeze carries her scent directly to me, and Fenris howls in my mind. 'So close. So perfect. OURS.'

I see her profile through the window. She's pulled her hair back, revealing the elegant line of her neck. There's a small scar on her jaw, barely visible. Her hands twist in her lap—nervous. Scared.

Of me. She's scared of me.

The memory of how I spoke yesterday, cold and harsh, makes me want to slam my head into a tree. But what choice did I have? What choice do I have now?

'Show her,' Fenris urges. 'Show her we're not a threat. We're hers. We'll protect her.'

The car slows as they approach the main gate. I circle wide, coming around to the front. I could shift, greet them properly, be the diplomatic Alpha I'm supposed to be.

But if I shift, if I get within ten feet of her, I'll do something stupid. Like fall to my knees and beg her to accept me. Like confess that her scent makes me drunk. Like admit that I haven't slept since yesterday because all I can think about is her.

So I stay in wolf form, sitting precisely in front of the gate. Waiting. Watching.

The car stops twenty feet away. Through the windshield, I can see Marcus's hands tighten on the wheel. The brother—Ryan, I learned his name—leans forward from the backseat.

And her. Diane. Thomas told me her name is Diane, after her grandmother Diana who died before she was born. Diane looks directly at me, and even from this distance, even through glass, the connection hits like lightning.

'Go to her,' Fenris pleads. 'Please. Just closer. Just to smell her better.'

I take one step forward before I can stop myself. Then another. I'm supposed to be maintaining distance, but my paws move without permission. Ten feet from the car now.

Her eyes track my movement. There's no fear in them now, just... curiosity? She tilts her head slightly, studying me. Like she's trying to figure out a puzzle.

'She feels it,' Fenris says desperately. 'Some part of her knows.'

But she can't. Her wolf is dormant. The mate bond is one-sided torture until she comes of age. Which, according to the file James pulled, is in two weeks. Fourteen days of this agony.

Marcus opens his door slowly. "Alpha Crimson?"

I should shift. Should speak. Should do anything other than stand here staring at his daughter like a lovesick pup. But if I shift now, naked as all shifted wolves are until we can get to clothes, she'll see... everything. Every scar. Every mark. Including the rejection scar across my chest that still looks fresh even three years later.

Andrea shifts beside the car, professionally ignoring her nakedness as she grabs clothes from a hidden stash. "The Alpha is maintaining security protocol," she says smoothly, covering for my weird behavior. "Please follow me to the administration building."

Marcus gets out first, then Ryan. They're both tense, ready to run or fight. Protecting her. Good. They should protect her. Even from me.

Diane exits last, and the morning sun breaks through the fog at that exact moment, lighting her up like something divine. She's wearing simple clothes—jeans, a worn sweater—but she might as well be wearing royal robes for how beautiful she looks.

She takes three steps toward the gate, then stops. Her eyes find mine again, and she does something that stops my heart.

She bows. Not a submissive omega bow, but a respectful acknowledgment between equals. Like she's thanking me for the sanctuary.

'Respond,' Fenris demands. 'Show her respect back.'

I lower my massive head in return, and surprise flickers across her face. Then, impossibly, she smiles. Just a tiny quirk of her lips, but it's like the sun coming out after three years of darkness.

"Diane," Marcus calls. "Stay close."

She moves to follow her father, but keeps glancing back at me. Each look is a knife to my control. Fenris is practically vibrating with the need to follow, to protect, to claim.

They disappear into the administration building, and I finally remember how to breathe. But her scent lingers, coating my tongue, filling my lungs. I'll never be free of it now. Even if she rejects me like Melissa did, even if she runs when she learns the truth, her scent is carved into my soul.

James approaches from the main house, and I shift, not caring about my nakedness. "I'll handle their processing," he says, but he's studying me with concern. "You okay? You look..."

"What?" I snap.

"Different. Your eyes are glowing."

I touch my face, feeling the heat there. The mate bond is affecting me physically, making my Alpha characteristics more prominent. My eyes probably look fully silver now instead of gray, and I can feel my canines extending slightly even in human form.

"The girl," James says slowly, understanding dawning on his face. "Diane. She's—"

"Seventeen," I cut him off. "She's seventeen, her wolf is dormant, and she has no idea what she is to me. And that's how it stays."

"Zev, that's insane. You can't just pretend—"

"I can and I will." I grab clothes from another stash, dressing quickly. "She ran from an Alpha who tried to force himself on her. I won't be another threat."

"You're not a threat. You're her mate."

"A mate she can't feel yet. A mate she might not want when she can." The rejection scar burns at the thought. "Melissa felt the bond fully and still chose someone else. What if—"

"She's not Melissa," James says firmly. "And you're going to drive yourself insane trying to stay away. Look at you. You're already showing physical signs of mate separation, and you've known her for less than a day."

He's right. The bond is already affecting me. My wolf is louder, my instincts sharper, my control thinner. And it's only been hours.

"Two weeks," I say. "I just have to last two weeks until her birthday. Then she'll feel it too, and we can... figure it out."

James snorts. "You really think you can stay away from her for two weeks?"

"I have to."

But even as I say it, I'm calculating how to keep her safe without her knowing. Guard rotations that ensure she's always protected. Patrol routes that let me check on her without being seen. Maybe I can watch from the forest while she's outside. Just to make sure she's okay.

'Stalking,' Fenris says with satisfaction. 'We're stalking our mate.'

'Protecting,' I correct. 'We're protecting her. From a distance. Like a normal, not-at-all-obsessed Alpha would do.'

James shakes his head. "This is going to end badly."

He's probably right. But as I stand there, her scent still filling my senses, I know I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Even if it means driving myself insane in the process.

Two weeks. I just have to last two weeks.

The sound of her laugh carries from the administration building, and my knees nearly buckle. Two weeks feels like a lifetime.