Roman's pov
The forest had been restless for nights, winds shifting, shadows stirring.
The scent of fate woven into the air.
I had ignored all the signs at first.
Dismissed it as the Moon Goddess's games.
But tonight... something snapped.
A pull.
Sharp.
Violent.
Unmistakable.
A summoning I had no power to refuse.
I shifted before I could think, bones splitting and reforming, fur erupting along my skin until the Lycan-my true form-stood on two massive paws. The forest bowed beneath my weight as I ran, driven by instinct older than any crown I wore.
And then I stopped. The scent of jasmine and sandalwood drifted in the air. It wasn't just any scent, it was the scent of my mate.
The word thundered through me, I pushed through the trees and halted when I saw her standing in the clearing.
She was small, delicate.
Wrapped in a faded cloak, trembling beneath the silver glow.
Her eyes gods help me her hazel eyes met mine, and everything inside me roared awake.
There was one problem.
She's human.
A Human. No this cannot be.
The Moon Goddess was playing a cruel joke.
But I couldn't just turn away-not now, not after the years I spent alone. I've been patiently waiting for this moment to arrive and it's finally happening.
I slowly stepped forward.
And she froze like prey.
I could hear her heartbeat stutter, wild and frantic.
Her scent spiked with fear.
Fear. She feared me. My own mate fears me.
The reaction pierced deeper than any blade ever had.
I had been feared before by my enemies, my pack, the entire kingdom recoiled at the sight of me.
But her fear...
No.
I did not want this. I don't want her to ever be afraid of me. I'm her mate, her equal.
With wide eyes, she stumbled back, breath catching as I emerged fully into the moonlight-towering, monstrous, my fangs bared not in aggression but in desperate instinct.
I slowly lowered myself, chest close to the ground, head bowed.
A Lycan King kneeling. I've never kneeled before anyone before but now I am, for her, my mate.
There's nothing I wouldn't do for her.
I watched as her lips parted in shock.
But her fear didn't fade.
I could smell it in the air.
Taste it on my tongue.
Feel it scraping against my bones.
The beast inside me snarled at the goddess for daring to bond me to someone who shook at the very sight of me.
I forced myself to shift-bones grinding, fur retracting, the agony of the transition grounding me. When I rose, I stood before her in my human form-taller than any mortal man, scarred, deadly... but less monstrous.
Still, she trembled.
Her knees weakened.
Her breath hitched.
Her eyes shimmered with terror.
"Mine," I growled, the word rough, unfamiliar on my tongue after years of silence.
Her shaking intensified.
She stumbled away from me as though my voice itself was a threat.
It hit me like a blade to the chest.
She feared me-truly feared me.
And I had no idea how to make her understand.
I took one step toward her.
She took one back.
I froze.
Slowly, carefully, I raised my hands.
"Do not run," I said, voice low, controlled-though the beast in me howled for her to come closer. "I will not harm you."
Her eyes glistened with tears.
"But you're... the Beast," she whispered, voice breaking.
I closed my eyes for a moment, swallowing the centuries of hatred that title carried.
Then I opened them and let her see-not the king, not the monster, not the legend.
Just the man fate had tethered to her.
"I am Roman," I said quietly. "And you... are?"
"Au.... Aurora," she murmured.
"Aurora," I said, my voice low but firm. "You are mine, my mate."
The wind circled us again, whispering fate's truth.
She shook her head, terrified.
And though she didn't run, she looked ready to.
I had found my mate.
And she feared me enough to flee into the night.
The beast inside me snarled, desperate to reach her.
But I stayed still, fighting every instinct I possessed.
_____________________________________________________
Aurora's pov
The moment the beast said mate, something inside me snapped.
I didn't think.
I didn't breathe.
I just ran.
My feet hit the forest floor in a frantic rhythm-clumsy, desperate, fueled entirely by terror. Branches whipped against my cheeks, roots threatened to trip me, the cold wind burned my lungs. I didn't care.
I had to get away from him.
From his golden eyes.
From the power rolling off him like a storm ready to consume me.
From the truth I felt deep in my bones.
I stopped to catch my breath and
looked behind me, the clearing was silent.
Too silent.
Then-
A loud growl shook the ground.
I started running and didn't dare look back.
I pushed harder, tears blurring my eyes, breath coming in sharp gasps. My cloak snagged on a low branch, nearly yanking me backward-no, no, no-
I tore free and kept running.
But the forest changed.
The air thickened.
The shadows shifted.
I felt him moving.
Not running.
Not chasing.
Hunting. The Beast was hunting me.
The predator closing in on what belonged to him.
I suddenly stumbled over a fallen log and nearly fell, but I quickly caught myself and kept going. My heart pounded so violently I felt sick.
Then, in an instant, everything stopped.
The world blurred.
A rush of wind-
A shadow-
A deep, cavernous snarl-
And then...
Arms.
Like iron bands.
Before I understood what was happening, my back hit a solid, unyielding chest. Strong hands clamped around my waist and pulled me off my feet as if I weighed nothing.
I screamed.
"Let go! LET ME GO!"
He didn't. His grip tightened not cruelly, but with terrifying finality pinning my arms to my sides as he hauled me against him.
The forest spun.
My lungs seized.
His heat seared through the fabric of my cloak.
I thrashed, kicked, clawed, wild with panic. "Please-please-don't-"
"Stop," the beast growled in my ear.
The sound vibrated through my entire body.
I froze for a heartbeat from pure shock-
-and then fought harder.
He lowered his head beside mine, breath warm against my neck. His voice was low, dangerous... fraying at the edges.
"Aurora," he said, "if you run from me again, I will chase you. And I will catch you.
His hold tightened as if proving the point.
"I will always catch you."
Tears spilled down my cheeks.
"You're scaring me," I whispered, voice shaking.
His breath hitched-barely, but enough that I felt it.
For a moment, just a moment, the iron in his grip softened.
His hand slid from my waist to my wrist, holding firm but no longer crushing.
Then his other arm locked around my upper body, strong enough that escape was impossible.
"Aurora," he said, voice rough, "you cannot run from a bond like this."
I shook my head violently. "I'm human! I'm not meant for- for you!"
His chest rumbled behind me, a low, frustrated sound.
"You are meant for me," he said, lips brushing the shell of my ear. "Fate does not make mistakes."
My breath hitched, and I stopped struggling-not because I accepted anything he said, but because exhaustion and fear tangled together until I could barely stand.