Tuesday
11:32 a.m.
Zachary's POV
"What did you say?" I asked coldly.
I could feel the beast inside me pushing to come out, wanting to show her who she should truly love.
Did she really love that weak boy?
I barely managed to control myself.
She spoke in a broken voice,
"I loved him… The berry pastries I was making were for him! I was going to give them to him as a way to ask him to be my boyfriend. But now… I guess none of it matters anymore…"
So he was the reason I found her.
Him.
Everything happened because she loved that bastard.
Good. It will never happen now.
I'm glad he's gone.
He deserved everything the beast did to him.
I'm the only one who deserves Lilian.
No one else.
I pulled her into my arms and said gently, hiding the truth,
"Calm down… it's okay, shhh… let it all out. I'm here."
As much as I hated it, I had to comfort her and make her believe I truly cared about his death.
It was the only way to make her fall in love with me.
She would never discover my dark side.
She would never know that I was the one who tore his flesh between my teeth…
If she knew, she wouldn't be resting so peacefully in my arms.
She started crying harder, pressing closer to me,
until I had to suppress a groan slipping from my lips.
Her touch gave me more pleasure than anything else.
This… this was what I had waited for so long.
And the wait was worth it.
I had never touched a woman in my life.
The only one I would ever be with physically was my mate.
I found it disgusting when werewolves didn't wait for their fated mate.
A mate is chosen for a reason,
and sleeping with someone else is disrespectful to the Moon Goddess.
She cried loudly,
"Why did he have to die?! He didn't do anything wrong!"
Oh, you're wrong, little one…
He made many mistakes. But it's fine. Cry now.
You'll learn about them later.
I didn't want to pressure her.
I said softly, pretending sympathy,
"I know… life isn't fair. But this was his fate. All we can do now is accept it and, sooner or later, move on."
She kept crying against my chest until I felt her warmth seeping into my skin—
the heat of pain… and the heat of possession, awakening the beast inside me again.
She screamed,
"I don't care about anything! Damn it, I want him back! I want to hug him again! I want to hear his voice one last time! I want him to know how I felt!"
Her voice was breaking…
and with it, my patience was wearing thin.
I loved this girl more than myself,
but could she please stop cursing and talking about loving that bastard?
I was close to marking her now, making her mine forever,
but I didn't want to do it without her consent.
She was making it very hard for me to hold onto my principles.
Her sobs slowly faded into quiet, broken breaths.
She wiped her tears and said,
"They said it was a large animal… but how? Every time I go into the forest, nothing attacks me. I once met a huge wolf, and he was very gentle! How could a wolf who's afraid of spiders kill a human? It doesn't make sense!"
That was… a little insulting.
"And how did—"
I was about to defend myself, but suddenly stopped.
"…Oh my God, I found fur in my room this morning…"
I swear the beast inside me needs to learn when and where to shed his damn fur.
And when to stay within his limits.
She whispered shakily,
"Why didn't it attack me?"
I didn't even know how to answer that.
What could I possibly say?
I replied calmly,
"Maybe it liked you… or recognized you and didn't want to hurt you. I've heard of things like that. When wild animals form a bond with a certain human, they never harm them… but they don't hesitate to hurt others."
She stared at me with wide eyes.
"Wait… are you saying this is my fault?! That it recognized me and chose to kill someone else instead of me?!"
Damn it.
"No, no, no, of course not! It probably came to you after what happened. I'm almost sure that if it had seen you first, it would've gone straight back to the forest. Don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault."
She slowly shook her head and rested it against my chest.
"I think I'll try to take a nap…" she said quietly.
"C-can you… come with me? I know it's strange, but I really don't want to be alone right now."
"Yes!" I answered too quickly.
"I mean… of course."
Damn it. I sounded way too eager.
She led me to her beautiful bedroom—the one I had seen before—
then lay down on the bed, gesturing for me to lie on the other side.
I lay beside her, breathing in her scent…
it felt like breathing heaven itself.
I watched her try to sleep.
Why wouldn't she come closer and hug me?
Did she want to? Because I did—very much.
I asked softly,
"Do you… do you want us to cuddle?"
She lifted her head slightly and said shyly,
"Huh? Oh—no, it's okay like this. Having you beside me is enough."
Her face turned red after she said that.
What was wrong with hugging? We had done it before on the couch.
I reached out, held her arm, and gently pulled her toward me until her head rested on my chest.
"You need a hug…" I whispered.
"Sleep now."
She didn't resist. She relaxed in my arms.
I knew she felt the bond at that moment—the mate bond.
It's very hard to resist, especially for humans.
I closed my eyes with a smile, thinking I would fall asleep too…
holding my mate.
Nothing could be better than this—
well, maybe one thing. But not now. Not yet.
For now, I would enjoy my sweet mate in other ways.
And if anyone dared to stand between us,
or even try to touch a single hair on her head—
They would be dead before tomorrow morning.
I always keep my promises.
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