“Who are you?” Aiden demanded to know, while mentally preparing himself for the fight that was sure to follow. He was merely stalling till his mate got in the car.
“I was just wandering the woods my woods when I sensed your presence…” the man announced before seemingly zoning out.
Aiden raised an eyebrow at that, mildly unnerved by Karen who hadn’t gotten in the car, and who was no doubt intrigued by the stranger, but also wildly unnerved by the man’s response which, in fact, didn’t answer his question at all.
“What about my presence?” Aiden decided to play by the man’s rules for the time being while shielding his absurdly and endearingly curious mate.
“Well, you do ooze off a certain amount of power. I have always been drawn to power,” the man went on, almost in a daze, “And let’s just say that I want that power as my own.”
That sentence was the breaking point of the discussion, for the man, who had gotten his wits back together it would seem, lunged at Aiden. He shifted mid-air, and snarled at the unmoving Aiden.
Aiden was unable to do anything but brace himself for both the impact and the attack, seeing as his mate was still standing behind him.
“Get in the damned car, Karen,” he hissed at her just as the peculiar rogue’s claw slashed his chest, even though he had tried to bend backwards, out of reach, at the last second, while still protecting his beloved.
Karen, snapped out of her shock-induced state, and started fretting over him.
“Oh my god, are you okay? What the hell is his problem?”
Had the circumstances been different, Aiden would have been elated to have her worry about him so much, so soon after she had declared hating his guts. As it was, he could only push her softly in the direction of the car.
“Get in the car,” he instructed her one last time before his wolf took over.
Under the resounding growls of the rogue, this time around, she obliged – whether it was out of fear for herself or for him, he didn’t know.
Aiden snarled back at him viciously, even if his fur was tainted red with blood.
He knew deep down that that first attack had been nothing but a warning. He could tell that had the rogue attacked him seriously, he would have been done for already. Indeed, this rogue was a far cry from the usual ones he had been trained to fight and defeat. He was strong but in a little bit of a daze. Aiden was no weak wolf, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t affected by that chest wound… for he was.
Nevertheless, after a couple of minutes which seemed to drag on and on, he managed to get the upper hand or paw. The rogue submitted by baring his neck, seemingly welcoming death should it come.
Aiden had to stop and wonder whether it was a good idea to end the rogue’s life in front of his dear Karen, and ended up deciding against it.
As to be expected, that proved to be a mistake. No sooner had he gotten off the other wolf, did this latter bare his teeth anew.
Aiden was tired from both the fight and the blood loss, and also beyond unnerved… at himself. Why had he decided to let the rogue live? Oh yes, to spare his beloved from seeing him kill someone.
Again, he was too naive, it would seem.
“Never show mercy to a rogue,” his dad used to tell him while training him. “They won’t thank you for it. They’ll only attack you the moment you set them free.”
How could he have forgotten his dad’s teachings so easily? How whipped could he be for his mate?
Tapping into the last ounce of his power, he lunged at the growling rogue, and then ended his life in a sickly satisfying display of supremacy.
He trudged to the car as quickly as possible, needing to see for himself that his mate was safe.
Karen flashed him an uncertain smile.
“You truly are a werewolf,” she said, almost as if she had just realized the fact at that given moment.
He changed into his human form and didn’t bother to cover his privates. She averted her eyes while sporting an adorable blush.
“Get dressed!” She all but yelled at him.
“Let me just call my bodyguards so they’ll bring me a change of clothes,” he offered softly as he tried not to grimace from the pain of his chest wound.
“You do that,” she nodded, still not meeting his stare.
He had to bite back a chuckle. If he had believed she was beautiful when angry, he had missed that she was absolutely adorable when embarrassed.
Good god, he loved her.
All he wanted to do was to gather her in his arms and pepper her face with kisses. But he couldn’t do that, not at the moment. He wasn’t above begging for forgiveness though, and he’d spend his life making amends so she’ll try to overlook his cowardice.
But before that, he hoped he’d live long enough for that to happen, seeing as war was looming threateningly in the horizon, like the Damocles sword over their heads.