Chapter Four - Alessandro's Pov

I leaned back and stared at her small frame, at the way her eyes darted from one place to another. She looked so timid and pathetic. But then just as I was about to kill her, my wolf that had been going into a rut had quieted and called her mate.

Mate.

This little human that had no power or anything else to write home about.

I hated humans as a whole. They took my family away and I was left as the only one standing from the werewolf clan. All the other paranormals, vampires, shape shifters and witches had either gone into hiding or blended with humans as I had.

And yet of all the species to call mate after two hundred years of living in pain and with a dying wolf, he had chosen to call a human girl wolf.

I studied her while she sat there trembling in that chair. Her hands were clasped together in her lap and she was trying so hard to look brave. But I could see the fear rolling off her in waves. I could smell it. l

"Do you want the truth or a deviation?" I asked instead.

She blinked at me. Like she'd always done. Unable to act, she only reacted. She was weak.

"I want the truth."

But yet she had a kind of fire in her that made me want to fan it until it blew up in flames. I would do just that. And also make sure it burnt her to ashes.

"Are you sure you can handle the truth?" I said and stood up. My wolf moved restlessly in his chest.

Claim her. Claim her. The only thing he had been chanting since calming her mate. And to hell if it wasn't already taking all my self control not to pin her underneath me. To mark her and stake claim on every part of her.

I walked over to her and she shifted back in her seat. Her body pressed against the chair like she was trying to disappear into it. I wrapped my hand around her waist and carried her to sit on my desk. I stood between her legs. She gasped and her eyes widened.

"Do you really want to uncover the secret of the most feared Don in all of Sicily?" I asked her, my voice dropping lower. "Are you able to handle it?"

She opened her mouth but no words came out. Her scent filled my nostrils. It was intoxicating. Sweet and warm and it made my wolf howl with desperation inside my chest. I could feel my control slipping with every second she sat there, her legs parted around mine, her eyes wide and frightened.

She finally swallowed and said, "I would think about it."

I was losing control. I walked to the window where I would not be able to get her scent because it was driving me crazy. I blinked and swallowed. I ruffled my hair, trying to focus on anything other than her.

My hands were shaking slightly. I clenched them into fists at my sides.

"You don't understand where you are already, little dove," I said, keeping my back to her.

"You say no, I'll take you. You say yes, I'll take you. Thinking about it is not an option. So sign for the benefits in that contract."

I turned to face her again. She was still sitting on my desk, her legs dangling over the edge. She looked so small and fragile against the dark wood. Her hands were gripping the edge of the desk and her knuckles had gone white.

"Your sister's disease is not ordinary," I said and walked toward her. "It's a curse." She stomped over to me immediately, wide eyed.

I saw tears filling her eyes. I was stunned by it. My eyes moved to her lips. They were soft and slightly parted. It would even be more beautiful with blood trickling down her lips. I pushed that thought away and forced myself to focus on her words.

"You wrote in the contract about my sister's sickness," she said, her voice shaking. "I only assumed you overheard it when you came to my house. But how did you know about the curse?"

I could see the desire to save her sister in her eyes. It was desperate and raw and it made something shift in my chest. Something I didn't want to acknowledge. I had spent two hundred years feeling nothing but pain and rage. I didn't want to feel anything for this human girl.

"What if you agreed?" I said. "Then I would tell you."

"You already gave me no choice."

"Yes, but I still want you to agree."

She swallowed and nodded. "I need to know what you know."

"Your sister is ill because you have a cursed fate," I said, my voice low and measured. "And she can only be cured by an Alchemist doctor. Your bad energy can only be fixed if you're next to me. Ever heard of yin and yang?"

She looked confused. Her brow furrowed and her lips parted slightly. She shook her head slowly.

"You're yin," I said. "And I'm yang. We need each other to balance."

That wasn't true. I was yin. The misfortune and the badness. She was yang. Pure light.

That's why my misfortune was already following her since she was born. She was born for me. And my torment and misfortune had made things difficult for her. But I wasn't going to tell her that. I wouldn't. Maybe not ever.

"Sign the document," I said instead as I walked to the table and brought out a pen.

She swallowed and took the pen from my hand. Her fingers brushed against mine and the contact sent a jolt through my entire body. I felt my wolf surge forward, desperate to touch her, to claim her. I forced myself to stay still.

I watched as she lowered the pen to the paper. Her hand trembled slightly. She paused for a moment, her eyes scanning the words one last time. She was looking for a way out. I could see it in the way her eyes moved across the page. But there was no way out. There never had been.

She signed it.

The moment the pen left the paper, something pulled low in my chest. A connection that hadn't been there before. It was thin and fragile but it was real.

I could feel it pulling at me, drawing me toward her like a magnet. My wolf howled with triumph in my chest.

She looked up at me. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. Her lips were parted and her breathing was shallow.

She looked terrified and hopeful all at once. I could see the war going on inside her. Part of her wanted to run. Part of her wanted to believe this could save her sister.

I couldn't stop myself.

I pulled her close and pushed her back against the wall. Her body hit the hard surface and she gasped. I pressed myself against her, my hands gripping her waist, my face inches from hers. I could feel her heart pounding against my chest.

"You just sealed your fate in mine," I said, my voice low and rough. "And now we would have to bear the consequences."

With that I crashed my lips down on hers.