Word Count: 3501

~Evoni

Rhenn and I run side by side through the forest.

The group immediately splits off into different directions, vanishing into the dark. I keep by Rhenn, although I struggle to keep up with her long strides.

Behind me, I can hear the wild howls of the hunting group as they await the instruction to follow us.

It's terrifying, keeping me moving despite the burn in my lungs.

Suddenly, Rhenn stops, a thick wall of bracken rearing up before us. We shared hurried breaths, delight dancing across her face as she turns to me.

"Where do we go?" I ask desperately, bracing my hands on my thighs as I fight to catch my breath.

"We have to split up." She sweeps her hair off her shoulders, tying it back with a piece of dried grass.

My eyes widen. "What? No..."

"That's the game!" She insists.

She grins wildly, overtaken by the fun of the chase. I imagine she's done this several times now, and is familiar with how this will play out. For me, this is all new, and being chased by creatures that despise who you are is utterly terrifying.

I shake my head. "It's a strategy to have our scents mingle like this. It will confuse them."

Rhenn grabs my arm, stopping my wild gesturing.

"Evoni, we want to be found," she says, lowering her voice.

"That defeats the entire purpose of the game."

She giggles into her hand. I'm struggling to figure out why she finds my fear so humorous, when I think it's well founded.

"No, the purpose of the game is to make out with someone you want to bed." She looks off into the shadows. "Some even take it further out here."

"But—"

She gives me a little push. "Go, Evoni! You will have pursuers!"

Before I can say another word, she slips off into the night, leaving me stranded.

She's right. I can hear that the hunters have been released, now allowed to find us. If I stay here, many will find me, and I doubt they will have the intention to take me to bed.

I take off in the opposite direction to Rhenn. Without her assuredness of foot and better seeing ability in the dark, I move at a slower pace. I jump over fallen trunks, weave around dense brush and step into thin rills as they snake through the forest.

The sounds of shouting spur me onward. One foot in front of the other, I move, guided by the dappled path of moonlight as it breaches the canopy.

Eventually, I have to stop for breath.

I brace one hand against a tree drunk, grimacing against the ache of my lungs. My skin is hot, the cool forest air soothing the heat.

I find myself in a clearing. Above me, the canopy has given way to the sky, and nestled into the darkness is the moon. It's fat and full and glowing a brilliant alabaster white.

For a moment, I can't help but stare, transfixed. It makes sense to me that the werewolves worship it.

The shouts and howls sound distant now. Did I get far away enough to evade being found?

Others have clearly been found. I can hear their laughter splitting through the air, amused that they've been found.

Something in my stomach twists.

Why don't I miss home? Is it because I know I won't be going back to Rowan, or because there was never anything there for me to begin with?

I can't stay here. I know that for certain...I just wish I were more eager to leave.

Shaking the thought from my head, I go to leave the clearing. I may be safe for now, but that could at any—

A hand suddenly reaches out from the shadows, grabbing me.

I scram. So loudly, I hear animals scatter.

The hand yanks me toward a tree, pressing me against it. My back hits the solid bark and I yelp, clawing at the muscled arms of my captor.

"Shh, Evoni. Unless you want all those around to hear you've been caught?"

His face appears from the dark at the same moment I register who the voice belongs to.

"Maric..." I shove his grip off me, letting out a breath. "You scared me."

He smirks, backing up to give me some space. It's a relief, because I thought he was another member of his pack, coming to kill me or claim me.

If he hunted me, that means he wasn't going for someone else. Someone he could have taken to bed tonight.

"You came after me." I wipe my hand with the back of my mouth, breathless. "Why?"

He pauses for a moment, smile fading.

Bracketed by moonlight and embraced by shadows, he looks different. He looks a little feral, closer to his truest self than I've ever come to know in the confines of the settlement.

Something in me aches. It's deep down at the very core of me, responding to his obvious appeal.

I must remember that we aren't of the same species, and that I shouldn't be so attracted to him.

"I chased you for two reasons," he says.

My arms fold over my chest. "Okay, what are they?"

"I wanted to ensure you were safe. Several males started in your direction but I turned them away. I warned them against pursuing you," he explains roughly.

My brows rise. Once again, he's protecting me. It makes me feel a little stupid for being so attracted to him, knowing he sees me only as another member of his pack who is obligated to look out for.

Yet, I get the feeling that there is more to it than that.

"Why? That's the game," I remind him.

"You're human. I'm ensuring you don't encounter a male who gets...carried away." He glances up to the sky. "It's the full moon, after all."

The dreamy moonlight dances along the sharp arc of his jaw. It drenches his front, illuminating the etching of his muscles into his stomach.

"You have perfect control over your faculties," I mutter.

His eyes fall to mine. The silver circle around his iris is unbelievably bright.

"It is my obligation, to maintain control," he says quietly. "The closest I come to that control fraying is on the full moon. It's energy calls to my bloodline. It demands an heir."

My mouth dries. "An heir?"

"It demands I fuck," he clarifies, holding me still with a steady gaze.

I should end this conversation here. I should demand he walk me back to the settlement—and he would...

"And do you?" I whisper.

He nods imperceptibly. "Usually."

A shiver cools my spine. I hate the images he's conjured in my mind, of him utterly naked as he claims some beautiful female.

"Who will it be tonight?" I ask breathlessly. "The one you...you know...."

He takes a step closer, angling his head. "Who says I'm fucking tonight?"

The air between us has suddenly turned hot. I lean into the sturdiness of the tree so my legs don't give out beneath me.

"Well...aren't you?" Why wouldn't he? He has his pick of anyone around here.

"No, I'm not." He moves closer still. "Even as the need calls."

I'm starting to forget where I am, why I'm even out here. I'm starting to forget that he is a werewolf, and that we're supposed to be avoiding each other due to the prophecy.

"What is your second reason for following me out here?" I ask, fingers curling into the bark.

He's so close to me now, our breaths could bring out chests together. He bows his head to look at me, eyes dark and searching as they meet mine.

Then, slowly, painfully slowly, they drift down to my mouth, where I'm struggling to drink in air.

"Are you going to let me kiss you?" He asks softly.

All my thoughts eddy from my mind. I don't want to deny him, because to deny him is to deny myself. And I want, so badly, to know how it feels to get my hands on him, to have his undivided attention for even a few moments.

"You want to kiss me?" I wet my lips. Maric watches the movement, muscles tensing beneath the weight of his desire.

"Yes," he murmurs.

My fingers itch to touch him. He's so close I can scent the forest on him and the berry wine on his lips.

Surely my University professor would understand if I returned with a tale of kissing an Alpha? Surely it would be encouraged, just for the experience...

"But I'm human. You hate humans." I say it so softly, hoping he doesn't hear my doubts.

He breathes out slowly, a measure of control.

"Has anyone ever told you that werewolves have attuned senses?"

"Not exactly."

He reaches out the brush his knuckles down the side of my neck. It's a featherlight touch, carving a delicious path along my skin, leaving fluttering sensations in its wake.

"Your scent, is intoxicating. I hear every stuttering breath and held gasp. I watch your pupils flare, your lips part." His voice doesn't sound like his own. "I can scent your arousal right now. It is maddening."

I go to press back, flushing with embarrassment.

"You—"

"Shh, don't be afraid," he tuts, flattening his palm against the side of my neck, holding me still. "I understand you're not accustomed to us, to me."

I relax into his touch. His abilities don't disturb me, they only force me to confront the truth about how I feel about him, and about how my body reacts to him.

"I'm not afraid." I raise my chin.

"What are you, then?" His thumb brushes along the column of my throat. Back and forth.

"I'm curious," I admit, leaning into his touch.

"You want me to kiss you."

Distantly, a moan rents the air. Maric smiles, while I shiver.

"You want to know what it feels like, to covet a werewolf. An Alpha, don't you?" He murmurs richly, leaning closer.

There is no stopping this now. I want to indulge in him, regardless of the prophecy, of what it might mean to give into our attraction.

"It's just one kiss, right?" I raise my mouth up a touch, a mere hairsbreadth from his.

He nods, almost drunkenly. "One kiss."

I'm barely breathing as he captures my mouth with his.

The surging pressure of it sends me head back to bump against the bark, but before it can, his hand is there. It sweeps into my hair, cupping the back of my head with a gentleness so unlike the way he kisses me.

He's ruining me. I feel it, yet I don't have the power to stop it.

His tongue immediately sweeps into my mouth, claiming my breath, my last gasp of surprise. His body crowds me, pressing me into the tree, his other hand cradling the side of my face.

He tastes like blackberries and a need that so deeply mirrors my own. I feel it in the desperate way he kisses me, the way his body moves against mine, hard and insistent.

Kissing him is unleashing a part of me I didn't know I was hiding. A part of me that must have been reserved only for him.

I cling to his massive form, pulling him closer still. One hand curls in his hair, gripping the strands for purchase will the other drags shamelessly across the muscled planes of his back, over his shoulder and down his chest.

He groans into my mouth, the deeply masculine sound making me ache with unanswered need.

No matter how well he kisses me, my body chants for me. I need more.

He's so close, his arousal presses against me, feeling just as how I remember seeing it. Thick, long and hard. A monster in its own right, and one I was once afraid of, yet want now with aching desperation.

I know it is wrong, I know I wouldn't be able to take it, but I want it anyway.

His hand trails down from my face, along my neck and over my arm. It sweeps into the angle of my waist, where he pulls me closer still.

I want to drown in the pleasure of kissing him, and for a moment I am, until he pulls his mouth from mine, kissing the corner, and then across my jaw.

His hand glides over my hip, his teeth grazing down the line of my neck. I arch into him, chills trembling across my skin.

He licks where his teeth were a moment ago, before he kisses over my throat, forcing my head to dip back.

I need him. It's unbearable.

Barely thinking, I grab his arm. His mouth pauses at the base of my throat, breath held. He doesn't move as my hand slips to his wrist, and I adjust his hand to move from my hip to between my thighs.

He growls against my skin, reaching up to cup the centre of me in a proprietary move that has me gasping.

He doesn't move his hand, pressing it up into me. I know what he wants from me, as he kisses back up to my jawline, taunting nips against my skin daring me to take it further.

Fuck it.

I roll my hips into his hand, a surge of pleasure searing through my middle as my clit bumps against his palm.

He groans against my skin, keeping himself still as I work myself against him.

His self-control doesn't last very long. He only gives me a few moments of my touch before he rips his hand away from me, making me gasp.

My mind is spinning as he grabs my face, forcing me to meet his gaze.

"I need to taste you," he growls, breath ghosting across my mouth. "Please let me taste you."

I nod frantically, even though I know I shouldn't. We've taken it too far already, yet the thought of stopping makes me want to be sick.

He kisses me again before pulling back, falling to one knee, then the other in front of me.

Excitement and anticipation thrill through me. He's really going to do this.

He glances up at me one more time, checking for hesitation. He finds none on my lust addled face.

Gripping the waistband of my pants, he tugs them down roughly. I steady myself against the tree as he encourages me to step from them, followed by my underthings.

The darkness means he can't see between my legs in any vivid detail, but I still feel a flare of nervousness regardless.

I'm letting a male, a werewolf, do something to me only one man has done before, and he never really did it very good to begin with.

He takes me in, a look of pure agony on his face. It's as if his need for me is hurting him.

"Just one kiss, right?" he breathes.

"One kiss."

Grabbing my hips, he pulls me close, his head bowing between my legs. He licks from my entrance to my clit in one smooth motion.

I jolt at the sensation, hands clawing the tree on either side of me as pleasure almost makes my knees buckle.

Holy fuck that feels good. Too good.

Still holding my hips, he kisses my clit once then backs his head away a bit. I'm breathing harshly as he looks up at me, waiting for me to tell him enough. One kiss, one taste. It's all we need to sate our curiosity.

"You taste divine, Evoni," he murmurs silkily.

This needs to stop here. This was a bit of fun, and it's done now. He knows what I taste like, and I know what an Alpha looks like between my legs. We're done here.

But I don't say anything. Neither of us do, for a moment.

Slowly, he lowers his close to my middle again, breath gusting against the sensitive flesh.

"Just one more..." I whisper tensely, body coiled with anticipation.

He obliges me, leaning forward to capture my clit with his mouth. He's not gentle as he sucks, flicking his tongue against it. I gasp and moan, hand clinging to the back of his head.

He pulls away again. I almost choke out a desperate cry. This is addictive, painful madness.

He looks up again. "Just say the word, Evoni."

I know what he wants me to say, but I can't...I can't relinquish control to him like that. I cannot be awarded pleasure from his talented mouth. It's something we cannot come back from.

"One more. For real this time," I force out.

A soft growl vibrates beneath his breath as he lifts my leg and hooks it over his shoulder.

When his tongue delves down to my entrance and through my folds, I know this time, he's not going to stop. And I'm not going to ask him to.

I press myself greedily into his face, into his mouth, trying to stifle my moans behind my hand. No one else can know about this, about the Alpha and the human.

He worships my clit with single minded intent. Sometimes with open-mouthed kisses and other times with precise laps of his tongue.

I'm dissolving in the pleasure. It's become all I am, all I feel. I didn't know it could feel this way.

"Maric..." I moan into the air, unable to help myself.

The absence of fullness inside of me is distracting. I want more of him, but this is only supposed to be a kiss, and by the way his dark eyes track my face, he's aware of it too.

So he doesn't touch me beyond where he holds my hip and thigh. He only devours me, eddying the thoughts right out of my brain.

So soon, too soon, the pleasure to the point I cannot hold back. My moans rise into the air, unkempt and wild, my fingers pulling on his hair to the point it must be painful.

But he doesn't not relent, holding my gaze as he sucks and licks and sends me into mind-melting oblivion.

My climax crashes into me in long, aching waves.

I keep his head pinned between my legs, but I don't need to. Maric pleasures me through every blissful second of my orgasm, groaning into my flesh as if he's experiencing it too.

Eventually, I come down, slowly, softly. Maric gives me a final kiss at my centre, making me shiver, before he rises to stand again.

I don't move, leaning into the tree, trying not to collapse into a weak heap before him.

"Just one kiss, right?" He smiles teasingly, brushing the hair from my damp skin.

I'm too tired to respond with defensiveness. He just gave me the most incredible orgasm of my life, and I'm busy trying to understand how I can continue living on after being exposed to this.

I look over him appreciatively, until my gaze snags on his achingly hard cock, and the patch of wet right over it.

My eyes widen. "You came?"

He laughs lowly, roughly. "I did."

"You were touching yourself?" I look up at his face. How did I not notice that?

He shakes his head slowly. "No, I didn't touch myself. It just happened."

I blink, stunned. He found his pleasure just from bringing me mine. Just from tasting me...

"You werewolves are something else..." I breathe in wonderment.

He laughs again before stooping to retrieve my underwear and pants. He helps me back into them, muttering something about not wanting to risk anyone stumbling our way and seeing.

Soon enough, clarity has chased its way into my mind.

"We should head back to the settlement separately," I say. "It will cause less talk that way."

Something flickers across Maric's face. Hurt? Disappointment? I can't tell, but I also can't dwell on it.

He knows about the prophecy, what it could mean if it pertains to us. We have to do what we can to ensure it doesn't come true, or at the very least, not give his pack members false hope about it.

He clears his throat, nodding. "Fair enough. I will follow behind you, to ensure you make it back safely."

I almost thank him for the incredible orgasm, but decide against it. We probably shouldn't talk about it anymore.

So I walk off into the dark, legs still weak, mind still racing. I can only focus on one thing...

What if the prophecy is true?

🤎••🤎

If you want more, this story is available 10 chapters ahead on Inkit at all times! Just search for Midika Crane (Sophie) and you'll find this work under the stories tab.

I appreciate everyone who supports my work and continues to read my stories. I'm so grateful for you!

If you would like to read more of my work, check out my novel The Three Alpha King's!

~Midika 💜🐈‍⬛