Chapter 4
1009 Words
Ethan
The days away from home were killing me. Being far from my pack, in a country that is not mine, feels like torture. As if the Goddess herself wants to punish me for my sins.
I took a slow breath while the human men kept talking about money, business, and more money.
I will never understand their obsession with lifeless things. I know it is necessary to maintain a decent existence, but they are so arrogant, so small, that I often feel the urge to crush them every time I am forced to exchange words with them.
It may be old fashioned, but I hate humans.
The only ones I tolerate are those who work for me, the fated mates of my pack members who live on my land. That is all.
The rest are insignificant. Weak creatures driven by greed and lust.
Although I cannot deny that lust runs far stronger in our kind, especially under the full moon and during mating season.
Heat is the best time of the year. It always comes with the first full moon of spring. It is sacred to our species. Essential for reproduction.
I remember when I was finally old enough to shift. After that, everything became sharper. More intense. I felt alive in a way I never had before.
Most shifters begin fully transforming at sixteen. Our senses heighten. Even in human form, we can smell females from a considerable distance, especially when they are in heat.
My first spring after reaching maturity was a battle. The urge to take every unmated she wolf in my pack nearly overpowered me. Luckily, my father, my mother, and even my younger brother stood by my side.
Zion was younger, yet stronger than me. His transformation came early. Too early. Perhaps that is why he eventually distanced himself from the pack and renounced his position. He could never fully control the wolf inside him, no matter how much I tried to guide him.
A few years later, my parents died in a plane crash.
The only thing that kept me standing after that was Dandara.
Deep down, I knew she was not my true fated mate. I was certain of it. But she understood me. She felt what I felt. She always said the right words at the right time.
I convinced myself that she was meant for me. That she would make me whole.
And for eight years, she did.
She was intense. Devoted. She fulfilled every expectation I had of a Luna.
I marked her. I made her mine.
Our union was sealed beneath the first spring moon. Then came the mating seasons.
But Dandara could not conceive.
A Luna who cannot carry her Alpha’s pup can be replaced. Or she may choose for the child to be conceived in another womb and raised as her own.
I would never allow another female into my bed. Never allow another to carry my heir.
I tried to reassure her, but as the years passed, Dandara became obsessed with the idea of giving me a pup.
Eventually, she succeeded.
After countless attempts, she carried my child.
And then fate struck.
Our son, Victor, was born prematurely. Dandara fell ill after childbirth and left me alone with that child.
I know I should love my pup above all else. Protect him. Guide him.
But every time I look at him, I remember that my Luna is gone.
Because of him.
I tried for an entire year. I tried to raise him. To bond with him. But Vic does not like me, and I do not know how to like him.
He bites. Growls. Scratches whenever I approach. That is a sign of discomfort in a pup.
I gave up everything to raise him. I wanted to see Dandara in him.
Instead, I see pain in his eyes.
And anger.
I do not know how it is possible, but I am certain my one year old son hates me.
Sir Ethan.
One of the human males called my name, interrupting my thoughts.
Approve it. It will be a good investment, I said as I stood.
He frowned. His heart rate spiked.
The feeling is mutual, human.
I turned my back and walked out.
A few hours later, I boarded my flight home. Back to my land. Back to my pack.
And I hope Valeria finally hired a nanny for the pup, because the last thing I want right now is to see him.
...
When I stepped off the helicopter onto the private helipad of the Black Wolf mansion, I inhaled deeply.
Flowers. Grass. Earth.
I hate flying. I prefer the ground beneath my feet. But sometimes time demands otherwise.
I walked slowly toward the mansion. When I entered, the house was dark.
Four in the morning.
As I passed the office, a scent stopped me cold.
I inhaled again.
Cinnamon.
Roses.
Pepper.
The fragrance wrapped around my senses and slid beneath my skin.
My wolf stirred violently inside me, howling in my mind until it drowned everything else.
Damn.
My bones ached.
I followed the scent through the halls. It was everywhere.
Stronger near Vic’s room.
I stopped at the door. I had no intention of entering.
The scent lingered there. Warm. Tempting. Dangerous.
Then it began to fade.
Someone had been here.
Someone whose scent drove my wolf into madness.
Energy surged through me. I ran toward the edge of the forest, stripped without thinking, and let the shift take over.
My body broke and reformed into the massive black wolf.
My senses exploded outward.
The earth beneath my paws. The night air. The lingering trace of that intoxicating scent.
I ran.
Branches snapped beneath me. Damp soil pressed between my claws.
When I finally stopped before the waterfall, the moonlight reflected clearly on the water’s surface.
My reflection stared back. Dark fur. Golden eyes.
A howl tore from my throat, echoing across the territory.
Even in wolf form, the same question burned in my mind.
Who does that scent belong to.
- Writer
