Chapter 11

She couldn’t do it. Her father had always warned her about humans and trusting them. She would be a fool to put her faith in Kane, to ask him to choose her, a person he’d just met, over his family. “I’m sorry, Kane. I don’t think this can work.”

She made to turn around and leave but the sound of something falling to the ground had her pausing. It was a leather book bound with a leather strap that wrapped around the it several times. Ophelia reached down to pick up the book, raising her head to look at Kane. His expression was tensed and she sensed there was something in here that he was reluctant to show her.

“Can I?” she whispered, the memory of his telling her that he drew at his free time flooding her mind. She suddenly wanted nothing else than to see what was in the book.

When he nodded, she released a sigh of relief she didn’t know she had been holding. Unbounding the strap, she flipped open to the first page. It was a drawing of a house that stood as a majestic and tall with a wide an imposing façade. Its appearance was slightly obscured by Kane’s skillful use of shadows. The shutters were meticulously drawn, their details captured with precision like he could close his eyes and picture the house as though he was in front of it.

“It’s the house where I grew up,” he said in a low voice. Ophelia could tell he wanted to say more but held himself back. She would not push. He would tell her when he was ready.

“It’s beautiful,” she replied, smiling. A finger flipped another page, a drawing of a bird. Another, trees under the sunlight. He was really good. Could’ve made a career out of it if the prospect of killing wolves had not occurred to him for some reason.

She kept flipping the thick pages until she got to the last entry, her breath hitching. It was a drawing of her. The drawing was to the last detail, each stroke accentuating her facial features perfectly. Her nose was straight and he had even captured the mischievous gleam her father always said she wore correctly.

Her drew her lips in a bow shape and it made her chuckle. “I look… amazing.” He’d drawn her. Ophelia fought to calm her excitement. Something told her he did not draw just anything but she did not want to be presumptuous.

His hands were on her face so quickly, she had to look up to stare into his eyes. “You’re so beautiful, Ophelia. I would never use you. It’s only been a short time but I don’t regret coming here, being with you. I don’t. You are like a tiny speck of light in my darkness.”

His eyes shown with sincerity and Ophelia knew in her heart that Kane felt for her what she did for him. Her vision blurred. Damn it all. It was just them here and now. She wanted to give him what she had never given to anyone before, wanted him to see her in her most vulnerable.

“I want you to draw me,” she whispered to him.

“I already did, love.”

“No.” She licked her lips. “I want you to draw me in my wolf form.”

She felt his sharp intake of breath, touched her forehead to his as her eyes drifted close. If he said no, she would finally accept that they were not meant to be. Being a wolf was her at her core and she would not be with a man who couldn’t understand that.

But when he opened his mouth and said, “I would love to,” she released a breathy chuckle. It seemed there was hope after all.

They headed back into to the cave where she waited eagerly as he lit a fire with two stones. When the fire began to grow and illuminate the dark opening, she gestured for him to sit.

Once he did, she began to undress.

Ophelia saw Kane’s eyes darken with every piece of clothing she threw off, the pit of her stomach curling with a foreign sensation. Was it wanton that she liked the way he was staring at her body like a predator? Or how his eyes seemed to glaze over when she took off her dress to expose her breasts to the cold air? Kane’s gaze was focused on her nipples, which were hardened from the effect of the cold air and her arousal.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered so quietly that Ophelia thought she’d imagined it.

They were the first words Kane had spoken to her. Until the day she died, she did not think she would ever get tired of hearing them.

He took out his sketchbook and a pencil when she was finally naked and she saw the effort it took him to peel his gaze away from her body. She transformed, and when his gaze met hers again, he was staring at her wolf form. Wonder filled his eyes and his mouth was parted in a small O.

She liked the way he took her in with his eyes, like he had not seen a wolf this close before. It pleased her greatly that he was not afraid. Still, staring at her, his hand began to move haphazardly. It surprised her that he did not look way from her as he drew, even egged her on to move forward so that the fire burned directly in front of her to give him more light.

It didn’t take long for him to finish drawing. Ophelia transformed back to her human form, shivering as the cold air bit her skin. Leaning down to reach for her dress, Kane was suddenly in front of her. “Don’t.”

They gazes connected as the air electrified. Ophelia’s mind throbbed with all of the things she wanted to say to Kane. She wanted to tell him that they were mates, destined for each other by the moon goddess. That fate had brought him to the Blue Hound kingdom because they were supposed to meet. But right now, with the crackling tension in the air and the delicious feeling in her abdomen, words were not needed.

Instead, she longed to show him with her body all the ways she needed him, wanted him. When she reached forward to touch his face, he didn’t refuse her. Taking that as permission, she slammed her lips to his.

Kane did not hesitate to angle his head and deepen the kiss. Licking her lips fervently, Ophelia opened her lips for him and his tongue swiftly dived into her warm mouth, exploring, bruising, promising. He took as good as he gave, their tongues dancing a sweet rhythm.

Ophelia let him lead. When he took off his shirt and spread it on the hard ground, pushing her onto it, she did not object. Then he threw off his pants and underwear, standing naked before her. She roamed her eyes over his body, down to his manhood.

The feeling in her abdomen multiplied. She’d never done this before. But here, with Kane, it felt so right. She would give herself to him ten times over if he let her. He laid over her, carefully keeping his weight on his hands to avoid smashing her into the ground.

Their lips connected again and they kissed with a fervent need. Ophelia had never felt this kind off high in her entire life. When he finally entered her with a deep thrust, tiny burst of stars exploded behind her eyes.

This was it. They were in tune with each other. Their bodies, their minds. They had mated, and nothing could separate them anymore.

However, so engrossed were they with themselves that they did not notice Fiona staring at them from a distance.