She shook her head as much as she could with him holding her chin. “I am nearly sixteen. So you see there has been a mistake. I cannot possibly be what you are suggesting; I am not of age.”
Her experience with the males in her race had taught her that when they began to snarl, growl, and slam things around, it was best to leave them be. The dominants especially lived on the edge of violence at all times as the beast inside of him yearned to take over. But as she watched the male in front of her go very, very still, she realized that there was something worse than seeing a male lose control. She knew without a doubt that the carefully contained rage before her was much more dangerous than any growling or snarling he might do.
“Vasile,” one of the males called out. “You are frightening her. Is that what you want?” She figured he must have stepped closer because his voice was louder though he had not raised it. When Vasile’s head snapped up to pin the wolf with his gaze, Alina nearly groaned. Surely, this male knew his Alpha better than that. Surely, he understood that when the wolf is peering out of the man’s face it's typically not an invitation to have a reasonable conversation.
“Nicu, do not come near her,” Vasile said coolly, not raising his voice, not snapping his teeth but with completely composed wrath that promised reprisal if not obeyed instantly.
Nicu must have submitted because the Alpha’s attention was once again on her. Fabulous, she thought.
“You will not deny me, Mina. I have waited a century for you. You are young, but not so young that you do not know what is happening. Sixteen? Many human females are married with a babe on the way at this age.” Her eyes widened in surprise at his bluntness. “However, we are not human are we? We are Canis lupis; we have one true mate designed solely for us. Some of us wait hundreds of years before they find their mate. I can wait a little longer if I must. Do not use your age as an excuse to avoid what is. You are mine. Something tells me you are not a fool, but if you think that I will let you go, then a fool you have become.”
“You certainly know how to make a woman feel revered,” Alina bit out. Her tone of voice shocked him, and it gave her the opportunity to knock his hand away and step out of his reach. He started for her but stopped when her father’s voice boomed through the air.
“Alpha! Welcome.” Petre and his wife walked over to where Alina and Vasile stood. They both bared their neck to him and then were careful to keep their eyes anywhere but on his. “I see you have met our daughter, Alina.” When Vasile did not answer, her father glanced up to his face, blanched, and quickly looked away. “Perhaps, we will take your warriors in and give them a drink.”
Alina started to call out to her father but her mother caught her eyes and shook her head one time. The stern look and tight lips told her that her mother meant business. As she watched her only hope of getting away from the wolf at her door, so to speak, moving further and further away, she bit her lip trying to think of an excuse to follow them. Her thoughts were interrupted when a large, warm hand enveloped hers. She looked down and saw her fingers interlaced with Vasile’s, and it felt so good, so right. He pulled her over to a bench where she and her mother often sat to talk after the day’s work was done. He sat and nodded for her to sit next to him. So she sat; what else could she do?
“Tell me why you do not want me,” he said bluntly.
Her brow drew together as she looked up at him. “I never said I did not want you. I am just young.”
“That is not enough of a reason to turn your mate away. Tell me the true reason you deny me?”
She looked away, not wanting him to see the shame on her face. She wished desperately that it was not there. “We are not the same,” she finally admitted.
“I would hope not,” he chuckled. “I very much like our differences and hope to enjoy them more in the future.”
She blushed at his insinuation. It was as improper as it was bold.
“It is not improper for me to desire my true mate,” he told her hearing her thoughts. “Bold, perhaps, but not improper.”
“You should not say such things to me.”
“I assure you that it is better at this point that I say such things instead of do such things,” Vasile said smoothly.
“Are you always so brazen with females?” She glared up at him attempting to use her anger to cover up her embarrassment at having such an Adonis of a male so very interested in her.
“Would it make you jealous if I was?” He grinned wolfishly at her.
She wanted to scream yes. She wanted to tell him that if he ever looked at another female again she would―
“You would what?” he purred.
Somehow he had moved without her noticing. He bent down closer to her face with his lips only inches from her own. He was reading her thoughts again.
“What would you do to a she-wolf, if I looked at another female?”
Alina’s eyes dropped to his full, sensual lips and clamped her own together to keep from leaning forward and seeing if his were as soft as they appeared. She looked away quickly out into the forest where there was not a desirable male staring back at her. She cleared her throat before she answered. “Nothing, I would do nothing. You are free to look at whom you wish. There are no mate marks on you.”
Vasile gazed at the beautiful steel eyed beauty sitting beside him. She didn’t know it but he had seen her before in the market place about a year ago. He had been drawn to her, but he had chalked it up to the fact that she was exceptionally beautiful. She had been arguing with a merchant, her fierce eyes flashing as she demanded the merchant give a fair price to the older woman who had been trying to buy fruit. He could tell she was still fairly young so he had not allowed himself to dwell on her too long. Now, a year later, she had matured quite a bit. She was perfect with shiny brown hair, fine delicate features, and a mouth that called to him as a siren called for her next victim. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and carry her off to a den and bed down with her and make her his, blood, body, and soul. His wolf was pacing inside of him snarling at him to claim her, she was right there, just claim her. Age did not matter to the wolf; as far he could tell she was no longer a child. A child could not bear children, a child would not stir the man in him, and she definitely did not act like a child. The only thing that stopped him from taking her then was the look in her eyes. It was one of longing but also of doubt. She truly did not believe she was his mate, and he did not think it had anything to do with her age. Despite the mental bond, she continued to deny him. He released her hand and did not miss the slight drop in her shoulders that revealed to him her disappointment. She need not have worried. He reached up and brushed her hair over her shoulder revealing the elegant line of her neck. As he leaned closer Alina stilled; even her breathing stopped. His lips paused only centimeters from her ear and he took in a deep breath. Her scent hit him like a runaway carriage, and his hand slipped under her hair and wrapped around the back of her neck.. The skin to skin contact steadied and grounded him and kept him from doing something rash, like sinking his teeth into her.
“Breathe, Mina,” he whispered when he realized she still had not taken a breath. She inhaled sharply and then began to breath normally but somewhat unsteadily. Not quite sixteen, Vasile, he growled to himself. The reminder helped him to tone down his influence over her. Being near your true mate for the first time, especially one as dominate as he, could be overwhelming.
“Do you know that a female has a scent that only her true mate can smell?” he asked her quietly. She nodded. “Would you like to know how you smell to me?” She shook her head making him grin at her obstinately. “Good thing I do not usually do as I am told,” he murmured as he breathed her in again. “You smell of the calm morning air when the dew still rests on the leaves and the grass, pure and untouched like the dawn, before any has awoken to taint it.”
Vasile absently rubbed with his thumb just below her ear with his hand that still held onto her. He felt her lean into his touch and the movement flooded his senses with another smell, one of desire and need. His wolf growled victoriously, but the man knew it was time to back off. He stood up abruptly to put some space between them. As he looked down into her vulnerable eyes, he knew that he could not have her, not yet. He was a patient hunter as a wolf and just as patient as a man. His initial reaction to her denial was possessive rage. He wanted her, needed her, and would have her. Look where that had gotten him. Now that he had calmed down, no doubt from her skin on his and her scent washing over him like a waterfall of bliss, he could think a little clearer. She was his, of that he had no doubt, but she would need time to grow and mature into the woman she needed to become. Eighteen was not so far away, two years and he could have her. Until then, he would have to court her and somehow keep his wolf under control. The latter seemed impossible, but then, to have Alina, he would move mountains, destroy fleets or crush nations as long as she ended up by his side.
He would give her some space and time, though his wolf was snarling wholeheartedly at him for it. He had work to do in the village anyway, so he would not be far. That would give him time to consider what to say to her father. She was still under his household and Vasile would have to have his permission to spend time with her, Alpha or not, mate or not. He wondered if the bond would work the same for them as it did for mates who found each other once fully mature. Would it be painful to be apart? Would the ache to be close to her become debilitating? And what of her? Would she be in pain? That was something he did not like the thought of. He never wanted to be the cause of his mate’s suffering.