Elara POV
The guards threw me into a cold, isolated guest room at the back of the estate. The heavy wooden door was locked from the outside.
I curled into a ball on the dusty floor, wrapping my arms around my freezing shoulders.
The mate bond demanded closeness. Being in the same house as Kaelen but unable to touch him felt like being starved while sitting next to a feast. My soul violently craved the peace only he could provide.
As midnight approached, something terrifying began to happen to my body.
My skin grew impossibly hot, burning as if I were standing too close to a raging bonfire.
I gasped for air, tearing at the collar of my dress. Sweat dripped down my forehead.
My body was reacting to the proximity of my Alpha mate. This was the biological drive of a female wolf, an ancient cycle forcing my body to prepare for bonding and bearing pups.
My scent, which had always been a faint, unnoticeable whisper, suddenly exploded.
A thick, sweet aroma of wild roses and fresh snow filled the small room, leaking out under the door. It was an impossibly pure scent, something ancient that defied my lowly Omega status.
I writhed on the floor, losing my mind to the primal instincts. I needed his touch to calm the fire.
The doorframe gave a great crack of splintering wood before the door itself flew inward with a deafening crash.
Wood splintered everywhere.
Kaelen stood in the doorway. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling in rapid, jerky movements.
His human eyes were gone. They were completely replaced by the glowing amber of his inner beast.
The sweet scent of my wild roses had driven him mad.
He moved faster than I could track, and suddenly he was on his knees beside me, his massive frame blocking out the cold light. I knew, with terrifying certainty, that the Alpha had lost control.
And in that split second, as his teeth grazed my neck, a strange warmth bloomed deep in my belly—a warning, or maybe a promise. I knew, with sickening certainty, that if he took me tonight, I would carry his pup.
