Alpha's Pregnant Mate

5 - Feral

The sound of water running was louder than anything he heard before. And he heard a lot. Things he would never forget, but wish he could. They would play various sounds cranked up to the max. Sounds that kept him from falling asleep.

But this was a different kind of noise. Especially when he heard her sigh in contentment. He wished he could offer more than a few minutes of hot water, but he wasn’t sure how. Ethan was not the most social creature. Not to mention romantic.

Was Lila?

He shook his head and headed to the bedroom to grab a set of his clothes for her to change into. He could say it was because he wanted to do something nice for her and get her something fresh and less smelly to wear, but the truth was he liked the idea of his scent all over her. Since he couldn’t touch her without freaking her out, this was the best way to claim her.

He knocked once on the door before he stepped into the bathroom, “I got a fresh set of clothing for you,” he announced. “I’ll put them… over… here.”

It wasn’t a secret that smells intensified in humid weather. Tracing something was easier on rainy days than during the dry summertime. Ethan didn’t take into account that his human mate under a steaming hot shower would have a similar effect. That it would intensify the scent he craved with his entire body. The one thing that made it very hard for him to keep his wolf in check and pretend to be just as human as she was.

“Uhm, okay?” Why wasn’t he leaving? “Thank you?” She added waiting to hear the sound of his footsteps retreating, but a thick silence hung in the air that made it hard for her to breathe.

“Are you still there?” She dared to ask not sure what to think of his odd behavior. She should probably hear all the alarm bells go off in her head, but nothing. There was just silence and a tender hopefulness that he would say something else.

“Ethan?” She wrapped her arms around her body. The water was turning cold and she was desperate to keep warm. She was sick of the cold.

A soft breath somewhere between relief and disappointment left her lips when she finally heard the door click behind him and she could turn off the lukewarm water.

Was it a red flag that he carried her to his bed and let her sleep? Was it a red flag that he didn’t seem to care that she broke into his home? Filthy and wet like a dog? His lingering too. She should know better, but then again… what the heck did she know? She spend years with Buck and he has always been a mean drunk. She was not a very good judge of character and that meant she shouldn’t stay here longer than necessary, because Ethan was dangerous in every sense of the word.

But he was also kind. He left her a set of clothing on the toilet, and when she lifted them to her nose, she could have sworn she felt her heart make a backflip. He smelled heavenly. Like something she has been looking for but never found until this very day. The day a giant wolf chased her through the woods and lead her right to his doorstep.

Heck, the beast even showed her where the keys were hidden. That can’t be a coincidence, can it? It almost felt like she was supposed to be here. With a stranger named Ethan. A stranger that could potentially make her blood boil. Literally. He could still turn out to be a psycho, but she didn’t care anymore. Where would she run anyway? She has reached her limit. She was tired of running. So, either she ended up dead or she ended up in a city far away from here.

“Thanks for the clothes,” she found him standing in the kitchen, cutting vegetables that look like he got them fresh from a farmers’ market. They were slightly smaller than the stuff she used to buy at the grocery store.

“Can I help?” she offered, because she felt it was the right thing to do. Ethan glanced at her considering the offer, but finally, he shook his head.

“Go sit over there!” he pointed at his couch, he couldn’t stand working next to her. Not when she smelled fresh and dangerously delicious. If he thought catching her scent in the woods was mind-blowing, he didn’t reckon with what would happen once the dirt and the sweat were washed off. He needed her as far away from him as possible. At the same time, he wanted her close. But that was not an option. Not without scaring her away.

The thought that she literally had nowhere to run crossed his mind, but he knew how it felt to be trapped somewhere against his will. He wouldn’t put his mate through that. In fact, he felt a strange need to comfort her, he just didn’t know how.

“How long have you been out here?” she asked, glancing outside the window. She couldn’t decide whether it was creepy or just beautiful out here. The golden hues of autumn created a cozy kind of atmosphere, that made her want to lie down in front of the fireplace, read a good book, and just enjoy the quiet for once.

“Six years,” he answered.

“Isn’t it awfully lonely?”

“Maybe that’s what I want,” he dared to glance over his shoulder to look at her. The shape of her figure was hidden by the baggy clothes, her brown hair wet from the shower leaving wet marks on the fabric. None of that mattered to him, she was still stunningly beautiful.

“It doesn’t sound too bad,” she chuckled, “people are strange!”

“They are!” he agreed, but with people he meant humans. Her soft sigh at his words made him curious about what she was thinking.

“What are you doing out here? All by yourself?”

“I got lost,” she shrugged. She wasn’t about to tell some stranger her tragic life story. But he stopped what he was doing and turned to face her.

“Don’t lie to me!” he said with such authority, that it made her flinch. He wasn’t aggressive. Not like Buck, but still, the change in his posture and the way he oozed power scared her for a moment. “What are you doing out here? The truth this time!”

Her throat worked as she was looking for the right words, “I left my boyfriend!”

Boyfriend? The thought of another man in her life caused him to shiver with rage. She was his and his alone! There was no room for anybody else. Not even a recent ex. Recent meant she might still have feelings for him. Recent meant, she wasn’t fully his.

“Actually-,” she continued letting go of a deep breath, “-I ran away from him. I rather took my chances in the woods than stay with him another minute. Not-,” she stopped herself and wrapped her arms around herself. It was a protective gesture. Not a defensive one. He saw it and it only made it so much harder to control himself.

“Continue!” he hissed through gritted teeth, his jaw clenched, and his fingers curled violently around the knife in his hands.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters! Is he looking for you?”

“I don’t know. I think so, but I am not sure. He is not your problem. I promise I will be gone before he shows up. If he shows up.”

“No!” he growled. A sound that rather reminded her of a wild animal than a human being. “No!” he repeated, trying to calm down. He could see that his reaction was making her uncomfortable. But only because she didn’t understand. She didn’t know that she was meant to be with him. She was his to protect.

“He’s… he’s not someone you want to deal with. Trust me. I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“Did he hurt you?” he asked putting one and one together. And as her head slowly bobs up and down in a nod, his anger took over. His wolf was raging inside of his soul. Snapping and biting. Ethan turned away from her to grab onto the kitchen counter, trying to gain back control.

“He wasn’t-,“ she started, giving into the need to explain herself, “always that bad. He just liked to drink and-,”

“Do not defend him to me!” He said, anger evident in his voice. “There is no excuse! None!”

“Okay,” her voice turned into a whisper. She wasn’t sure what to make of this. Why would a stranger react like that? Was he familiar with the kind of abuse she lived through for years? Was that the reason he lived out here? Isolated. Alone.

“How long have you been with him?”

“Too long,” she answered, “years. And no, I don’t have a good excuse for that. It just took me longer to realize what was at stake.”

“And what’s that?”

“Me,” she answered and he finally turned back around to face her, “about four or five days ago I found out that I was pregnant and I was not going to have him tell me what to do. Either way. Get rid of it or raise it with him. There was just no way I was going to let that happen.”

Pregnant? No! That couldn’t be true. She was his mate! She was supposed to have his pups. They were not supposed to be human. That was just too much for him to handle. Too much to deal with on top of everything else.

He stormed passed her and left the cabin. He didn’t bother to take off his clothes this time. He just waited till he was out of sight before he let go and gave in to his feral instincts.