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Mikalina whipped around to stare at the estate, her eyes wide, the scent of her fear coming through sharply.
“It’s nothing,” I said low, my Lycan rising up at the scent of her fear. My inner animal wanted to protect her, even though I knew what the “threat” was. “Wild animals litter the forest surrounding the estate. They won’t dare come close.” Because one is already inside the manor. One is deep inside me. “After you, sweetling.”
She didn’t comment on the endearment, probably still too shocked by what she’d heard.
But the farther we walked from the manor, the more her fear abased and her curiosity of her surroundings—and me—intensified.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. The way the sun streamed through the branches and hit her dark-brown hair, showing me the golden-red highlights. The way the breeze picked up every once in a while, teasing those strands, and sent the most luscious scent up to my nose had every part of my body tightening.
I was drawn to her, her body every single thing I could’ve ever wanted. It was like she was plucked for my very fantasies, no part of her undesirable to me. I meant it when I said she was perfect.
“Your house is gorgeous,” she said again, and I liked that she kept mentioning it. It made me proud and had my chest puffing up at the fact that my mate was pleased with our home.
And it was ours.
She might not know it yet, but she would. Very soon.
“It’s been in my family for generations.” I left out the part that I’d been the one to build it centuries ago... in preparation for when I finally found her. I was pretty sure that little bit of information would probably shock the hell out of her.
We were silent for a few more steps, but I could’ve stayed like this forever.
Both of us quiet.
Both of us speaking.
Or hell, just listening to her talk was enough for me to be happy. It didn’t matter what we were doing as long as she was with me.
And her voice... gods, her voice was calming, soothing.
“Do you have family here? Do they live with you?”
My chest swelled with pleasure that my female wanted to learn about me. I cleared my throat and glanced away, wanting to tell her everything. I wanted her to know about me and my life, that for the last three centuries she’d been the only focus of mine. I wanted my mate to know everything I had was here, that I created my life with the sole reason to please her.
“It’s just my older brother and me now. He lives with me.” Slowly losing his mind in the pits of the manor. “Our parents passed some time ago.” My mother died in a tragic accident, and my father couldn’t live without his mate. He passed just a week after of a broken heart.
“How much older is your brother?”
He’s nearly four centuries old, sweetling. “He’s a good bit older than I am.” We walked for a while more, the silence not uncomfortable, but I wanted to hear more of her voice. It calmed me in more ways than I could ever describe. “My brother isn’t… well.” I didn’t know why I told her that; maybe because I wanted her to know all there was about me.
She stopped and looked at me, her eyes conveying her sympathy. “I’m sorry your brother is sick.”
Although I didn’t want to talk about Luca, and didn’t want to bring a shadow of darkness to this moment I had with Mikalina, connecting with her on this level had me feeling even closer with her. But I would never keep anything from her, never lie. So, I exhaled slowly and thought about how I would broach the subject. I couldn’t very well tell her the whole truth at the moment, about why Luca lost his mind, but she would know in due time.
“He lost someone," I responded. “The most important person to him.” It wasn’t a lie, but not the whole truth. He had lost someone... his mate, in retrospect to him, because he hadn’t found her yet. “And he’s not handling it well, as can be expected.”
She looked at me then, and her blue eyes could have brought me down to my knees for the empathy that shone in them. “I’m really sorry to hear that.” She held my focus for a moment and then looked forward again, her throat working as she swallowed, her expression and the tone of her voice so damn genuine and sincere that I wanted to pull her in and kiss her until this darkness was gone.
The fact that she showed sympathy toward my brother—a total stranger to her—made me fall in love with her instantly.
“I’ve never experienced that kind of loss—the kind that sucks the very life out of you, but I can imagine it’s very crippling.” Her voice was so low, so meaningful.
She had no idea how debilitating it truly was to lose hope that you’d never find your mate.
“I hope he finds peace soon.”
And once again, I wanted to pull her in close and just hold her, whisper words of endearment in my native tongue against the shell of her ear. I wanted to thank whoever was listening that I had this extraordinary female as my mate.
And I nearly did reach out for her and do just that, but then she lost her footing and started to fall over from a large root that erupted from the ground. I had her in my arms just seconds later, her body pressed to mine, every part of me humming and singing in pleasure at how good this felt.
