Lorien’s POV
The storm wasn’t letting up.
I stood at the edge of the large window, watching the heavy downpour with narrowed eyes. Rain lashed against the glass, blurring the view outside. Thick, dark clouds churned across the sky, and the occasional crack of lightning illuminated the wet landscape. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, and I knew there was no way I’d be flying out tonight. Even if I wanted to risk it, I needed clear skies to navigate.
Not that I had a destination in mind.
The truth was, I had nowhere to go. No home to return to. No family waiting for me.
The cabin where I had spent the last month was out of the question. That place was haunted-tainted by memories I couldn’t afford to hold onto. Kamrynn’s scent was probably still embedded in the sheets, lingering in the air, in the walls, in every damn corner. If I returned, I’d drive myself mad.
I exhaled sharply, turning away from the window. The tension in my chest tightened like an iron grip, suffocating and heavy. I had spent years alone, and it had never bothered me before. But something had shifted. Maybe it had started when Kamrynn came into my life. I didn’t want to admit it, but for the first time in decades, I felt… lonely.
I shook off the thought and decided to pass the time by exploring the packhouse.
The halls were vast, lined with polished floors and towering ceilings that made everything feel open yet suffocating all at once. The scent of wolves clung to the air, layered with the faintest hint of rain from the storm still raging outside. I walked with slow, deliberate steps, my gaze sweeping over the pack members that passed by-those who dared to be in the same hallway as me, at least.
Their reactions were predictable.
Some stiffened as I neared, gripping the straps of whatever they were carrying a little tighter. Others quickly averted their eyes and stuck to the opposite wall, putting as much distance between us as possible. Some whispered to each other in hushed voices, their words just barely audible over the sound of my boots hitting the marble floors.
They feared me.
As they should.
Dragons were creatures of power, destruction, and dominance. I had been alone for years-ever since the fall of Solaria, ever since my people were wiped out. I had never needed the company of others, had never craved attachment. And yet…
My fingers flexed at my sides.
A quiet thought crept into my mind, one I had tried to crush down every time it surfaced.
What would it feel like to have someone?
A mate. A partner. A soul tethered to mine.
The idea had never appealed to me before. I had always seen it as a distraction, a weakness. But after Kamrynn… after losing her, after knowing what it felt like to have warmth and then having it ripped away…
I exhaled sharply, my jaw clenching.
It was foolish to think about things like that.
And yet-
The scent hit me like a strike of lightning.
My entire body locked up.
The most intoxicating, addictive aroma I had ever encountered flooded my senses, knocking the air from my lungs and setting my nerves on fire. It was floral, yet earthy, with an underlying sweetness that curled around my insides and sank its claws into me. It was temptation and hunger wrapped in one, a scent that didn’t just call to me-it claimed me.
My pupils blew wide as I breathed it in, as it filled my head and stole my thoughts.
I had never smelled anything like it before.
And I had never wanted anything more.
Lust slammed into me with the force of a tidal wave.
A deep growl rumbled from my chest, my muscles tensing as something primal, something unstoppable unfurled inside me.
Heat spread like wildfire, licking up my spine and pooling in my groin with a sharp, insufferable ache. My cocks twitched in my pants, straining against the fabric as my rut-the rut I had kept under control, the rut I had forced down with that cursed concoction-flared up with a vengeance.
My breath hitched. My vision darkened at the edges.
Fuck.
What the hell is this?
It felt like I had been drugged, like I had taken the most potent aphrodisiac known to man and injected it straight into my bloodstream. Every inch of me throbbed, my skin burning with an ache so fierce I nearly doubled over.
I gritted my teeth, my fingers curling into tight fists as I struggled to think past the haze consuming me.
But logic was slipping.
Rationality was gone.
There was only one thought left in my mind.
Follow the scent. Track it down. Take. Claim. Breed. Now.
The words repeated like a chant, ringing in my skull with every breath I took.
Before I could question what was happening-before I could even attempt to fight it-my body had already moved.
My legs carried me forward with deadly precision, my senses honing in on the source of the scent like a predator locked onto its prey. My heart drummed against my ribcage so terribly fast I thought it would collapse. Suddenly I couldn’t seem to get enough air in my lungs as I stalked through the packhouse, no longer caring who was in my way.
I needed to find her.
I needed to have her.
I barely registered my surroundings as my feet kept propelling me forward, my body burning with fever, pupils dilated, mouth dry, fangs aching. This need was absolutely unbearable, all my senses were heightened, following the scent like a hound drawn to blood. My breaths came in ragged, uneven pants. Every step made the hunger worse, the ache unbearable.
Within moments, I reached a door.
I stopped short, my entire body trembling with the effort it took to stay upright.
The scent was thickest here, so rich and overpowering that I nearly came undone on the spot.
I braced a hand against the wall, my fangs aching in my gums, my claws digging into the wood as I struggled to catch my breath. My instincts screamed at me-rip the door off its hinges, take what’s yours, make her yours, make sure she never leaves.
Just as I reached for the handle, the door opened.
And the world as I knew it ceased to exist.
She stood there, framed in the doorway like something out of a fever dream.
Perfect. Exquisite. Mine.
My breath hitched, my lungs seizing as I drank her in. She was small, fragile-looking, yet something about her presence made my entire being snap to attention. Her hair was a cascade of soft brown waves, tumbling over delicate shoulders, catching the dim light of the hallway like strands of silk. But it was her eyes that stole my breath away-scarred over, hauntingly white, and yet so impossibly beautiful.
Blind.
She was blind.
But that didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered except her.
Her eyes might not be functional but that didn’t stop her from seeing me.
From acknowledging me. I could tell.
And it sure as hell didn’t stop my body from reacting to her in the most primal, undeniable way possible.
A shockwave of need slammed into me, so violent and consuming that I nearly staggered. Heat coiled in my gut, thick and oppressive, surging downward until my cocks throbbed with unbearable urgency. My fangs ached, desperate to sink into the soft flesh of her neck, to mark her, claim her, bind her to me in every way that mattered.
Everything inside me screamed at me to take her. She was so small, so delicate. My mind flooded with images-pinning her down, tearing off the flimsy excuse for clothing she was wearing, making her take me, all of me and knotting her so thoroughly she’d never know anything else but my touch.
Fuck.
I clenched my jaw, my nails digging into my palms as I tried to rein myself in. It was impossible. The mate bond had wrapped its chains around me, pulling me under with no escape. Is this how it is? I could never have imagined it was this visceral, fully and completely encompassing.
I clenched my jaw, fists curling at my sides as my vision blurred with unfiltered, molten hunger.
I had never felt this way before.
Never.
This wasn’t like the fleeting attraction I had known in the past, the meaningless dalliances that had left me cold and disinterested once they were over.
This was different.
This was instinct.
This was fate.
She was the only one.
The only female in the world who could satisfy this indescribable ache, who could soothe this raging inferno inside me.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
The word thundered in my head, drowning out every rational thought, every lingering restraint I had left.
She took a shaky breath. Her lips parted and in a voice so soft, so devastatingly perfect, she uttered the word that shattered the last remaining pieces of my control.
“Mate.”
A guttural growl ripped from my chest.
Hearing her say it made everything ten times worse. My blood boiled, my need sharpened into something carnal, uncontrollable.
I dragged my tongue over my bottom lip, my body humming with tension. She smelled so damn good. My instincts urged me forward, demanding that I take her, mark her, claim her so deeply she’d never belong to anyone else.
She was blind. She couldn’t even see me.
But I could see her.
And gods help me, I wanted to ruin her.
She was trembling, her small hands clutching the doorframe. Not out of fear-no, it wasn’t fear. It was something else. Something raw, hesitant. She felt it too. The bond. The pull.
I took a step forward, inhaling deeply, my entire body vibrating with need.
She was so tiny. So breakable.
Would she be able to take me?
Would she be able to handle what I needed to do to her?
A shudder ran down my spine at the thought.
Fuck, I needed to leave.
I needed to turn around and walk away before I lost what little control I had left.
But I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
Because she was mine.
And she had nowhere to run.