Forty-Five

He tightens his arms around me as I try to move. Instead of looking at Rania, he looks into my eyes as he replies,

"You are right, Rania, I never wanted a mate, but the Moon Goddess had other plans for me..."

I tense in his arms and he moves his hand and places it gently on my cheek, and continues

"I wasn't expecting to find a fiery Yasmine, hiding in one of the many bunkers the elders in the village had built..." I gasp and whisper,

"You knew about the bunkers?"

"Of course, I knew about the bunkers, I also kept an eye on you, as I do with all the females growing up in my villages! It was how I knew you were different from all the others. I was, however, surprised when I entered your village that night and I could smell the scent of my mate telling me that she was about to or had just reached her 18th year. I followed my mate's scent through the village and it lead me straight to you... My Lycan wanted you then and there, but then you attacked me..