Once we near the clearing, I feel my mate tense. She must scent we’re close. “Just through these trees,” I confirm, answering her silent question.

I carry her so carefully, holding her close and wanting to protect her, but not too tightly as I’m afraid my strength could harm her and her soft skin. When I step through the thick leaves and branches, she lets out a gasp. I look down at her, wondering if a stray branch has caught her long hair, but I know I was careful and took the brunt of the tree limbs on my back.

“What’s wrong, mate? Are you harmed?” The worry that I let something happen to her is thick in my voice. I’ve lost one family before, one I failed to protect. I won't lose her. Not a hair on her head will ever be harmed while I breathe.

“It’s…” I watch her expression and see her face light up, her bright blue eyes shining brighter as she sees the cabin I’ve built for her. “It’s beyond anything I dreamed of. It’s like something from a fairy tale.”

My chest swells with pride as I walk her to the house and up the stairs of the porch. I’m happy my mate likes the home I have made for her. It’s where we will raise our family. I will keep her happy here, and she’ll never want to leave. I’ll be the perfect mate for her.

“I thought maybe you lived in a cave or something.” Gwen says the words as if in wonder, looking around the place. I remember the conversation I had with Dom about how I needed to make a good home for my mate and pups. He was right, and I’m glad I worked so hard for her.

“I’m a good mate.”

She locks eyes with me, and I see the blush creep across her cheeks as she smiles at me. I smell her desire for me. Her heat is rising, and my need is becoming impossibly stronger. A growl sounds from my chest.

I’ve heard that when a shifter finds their mate, the pull is instant. I wasn’t sure if I ever believed that, but I wanted it to be true. Even more so after I spent so much time in the wild. I didn’t look like a lot of the shifters anymore. My features had changed after spending too much time in wolf form, I knew I was unattractive. If my mate was attracted to me instantly, she wouldn't care what I looked like. She wouldn't have a choice. It might not be fair to my beautiful mate that she’s stuck with me, but I would take any advantage I could to keep her. Even if it was just Mother Nature making her stay.

If the stories are true, we need to bond now or the need will just become more painful. Once my semen is released inside my Gwen, the full heat should hit us hard and the mating frenzy will begin and stay until the full moon.

Carrying her over the threshold of our home, I kick the front door shut behind us and take her straight back to our bedroom. I don’t break eye contact with her as I take her over to the bed. “You can see the rest of the house later,” I tell her, needing to have her now. Between the mating pull and them trying to take her from me, I need to bond to her. Mark her now so I know she’s really mine. That they can’t try and take her from me again.

“Yes. Later,” she confirms, her wolf rising a little closer to the surface, making her blue eyes shift to a darker blue. A deep growl sounds low in her chest, and it’s clear her heat is gripping her tightly, too. I’m glad she’s feeling it as much as I am. It’s eating me from the inside out.

I set her down softly on the bed and feel my own eyes shift as she takes a step back from me. I don’t like that she’s putting any kind of space between us. I’m still completely naked from when I shifted in the cell and ripped all my clothes. My cock is long and hard and I’m sure it’s pointing right at my mate.

I’ve been so caught up in everything that happened, I missed that fact that my cock had become hard for the first time in my life. Until you find the one, your cock will remain soft and unaffected, desiring no one. Once you find your other half, it finally comes to life, and I have a feeling it’s going to stay that way having a mate like Gwen. She’s utter perfection. Her beauty is unmatched and it’s all mine.

Reaching down, I stroke the hardness, testing it and feeling the warmth flow through my body as I watch Gwen. I had no idea it would feel like this. My eyes narrow as I watch her hands quickly go to her dress, ripping it off her body along with the rest of her clothes. In seconds she’s before me, completely naked, and my mouth waters. All I can do is stare at her. I’ve never seen a naked woman before, and she has to be the most beautiful in the world. How she got stuck with a beast more animal than man, I’ll never understand. She deserves someone who can give her both sides. I growl at the thought of someone else giving her that. I will earn her affection another way. I am strong and fast and will show her how my animal being so close to the surface will work in her favor.

“Goddamn, you’re huge all over.” Her eyes are glowing as they run down my body before she focuses on my cock. She doesn't seem intimidated by my size. I’ve grown a lot in the years since she’s seen me. I’m not a young man, nor is she a little girl. That is clear because where I once saw her as something like a cute little kitten that needed protecting, now I see her as an alpha wolf female I want to take to the ground and make mine in the most primitive way.

Another low growl sounds through the room, and I can’t tell if it’s hers or mine. I can feel my own eyes glowing as the pull between us gets stronger. The smell of lust fills the room, so thick I can taste it, but I’d rather get it from the source.

“You’re mouthwatering. I need to taste you.” My teeth ache with the need to bite. “I need to mark you.”

I clench my fists at my side and try to control my wolf. I have a primal need to mount her, but I want to be delicate with her. She probably already thinks I’m too wild of a beast. I must show her I can be soft, too. I’m so much bigger than her, and I could hurt her. I feel out of my depth with her. It’s been so long since I really even talked to another female beyond a few sentences with Dom’s mate, Ruby.

Gwen puts her nose in the air and takes a deep breath, then looks back at me, giving me a wicked grin, and I wonder if she is inhaling the lust, too. “I’m the first to be in here besides you. It makes my wolf happy that it’s only your scent.” Of course you are, I want to growl, but I bite it back and go with something gentler, more human.

“You’re the first and last, my love.” I absently rub my cock, the feel of it so foreign. She looks down and watches my movements. I start to take a step towards her, but I don’t make it an inch.

Suddenly, Gwen leaps at me, and I land on the bed with her on top of me. At first, I’m in shock, but then I growl and roll us over so I’m on top of her, and my instincts kick in. Her warm, naked body is under mine, and I begin to rub my skin against hers, just enjoying the feel of her, wanting her scent all over me. I want it branded into my skin.

She rolls us over, and once again she’s on top of me. Her strength might be heightened because of the heat if the need is driving her like it is me, but her ability to take me down and roll me over is surprising, and fills me with pride. My mate is strong. I’m a lot bigger than her, and I’m in an aggressive state so it takes everything I have in me to stay in control. It must be because she has alpha blood in her veins.

My wolf growls at the challenge, and I roll us back over so I’m on top again. Leaning down, I run my sharp teeth across her neck and pin her arms above her head. She writhes underneath me, but I nudge my hard cock at her opening, and she relaxes, letting her long legs fall open a little more, an invitation I will be accepting.

“You will submit to me, Gwen.” I take her lips in a punishing kiss. I meant to be soft to show her I wasn't all beast, but maybe that’s all I really am. It’s the only kiss I’ve ever had. Her lips are full and soft and welcoming like nothing I’ve ever felt before. She opens her mouth, granting me a taste of her sweetness. She sweeps her tongue inside, and I taste her warmth and desire. I deepen the kiss, wanting more, and she starts to squirm beneath me.

I need her to feel my dominance and know that I’m a worthy male. Her wolf is dominant by nature, and it will only yield to a fierce protector. I intend to show her that I’m deserving of her submission.

Leaning back just a little, I turn her over onto her stomach fast enough to make her let out a squeak of shock. I pin her shoulders to the bed and pull her hips up so she’s on her knees with her ass up into the air.

I lie over her body, blanketing hers with mine, and press the head of my cock to her wet opening, caging her beneath me. I can smell her need and feel it running down the insides of her thighs. I hold the tip there and feel her start to wiggle under me, and my control snaps.

“You’re mine!” Snarling the last word, I thrust into her and bite down on her shoulder at the same time. The taste of her blood hits my lips, and the magical bond between us is sealed as I taste her blood and penetrate her body.

I hold myself still inside her, but her growl is loud and her wolf needs to be bred. She wants me to cum inside her. Her body is running on instinct, and she’s trying to push back against me, to make me spill my seed inside her womb. She wants to trigger the mating heat in full force, a time when her need will be stronger than ever before.

I lick the wound on her shoulder and start to thrust. I feel my teeth tighten and my eyes start to shift as I pump in and out of her. Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to focus on what’s happening, but the combination of these sensations is too great.

Gwen starts to pulse around me, contractions in her pussy squeezing me tighter, and an orgasm rockets through her, making her jerk beneath me. Her body arches back into me, and she howls as she climaxes on my cock. I grip her hip to keep her from collapsing back onto the bed. She’s primed from the heat, and her body wants to open up as much as possible to take my seed. I’m going to make sure she gets it. Her pussy is pulling on my cock, and I have no choice but to thrust hard one more time and spill inside of her as I hold her to me.

My orgasm squeezes my balls, and I throb inside her as jet after jet splashes inside her untouched womb. My cum fills her body, and I feel it when the mating heat starts. It’s a warm tingle in my arms and legs. I lie on top of Gwen and try to get as much skin-on-skin contact as possible.

I moan at the euphoria I’m feeling. It’s like I’m on some kind of drug. Gwen rolls us over and climbs on top of me, and I don’t even fight it. She grabs my still-hard cock and squats down on top of it, taking me inside her. It’s then I see my hard cock for the first time, and I realize it’s over twelve inches long. Gwen slides down on it without any pain. She’s so unbelievably tight that it must be the mating heat that allows her to take all of me so easily. Or maybe she’s just made to fit me perfectly. I choose to believe that.

Her pussy grips me, and I feel my teeth tighten again with the need to mark her. She grinds down on me as if sensing my aggression. Her hands come up to my chest, and she scores her nails down my stomach, leaving faint red claw marks. She doesn’t break the skin, but I love that she’s leaving her own mark on me. Showing everyone that I belong to someone. The feeling is overwhelming. I haven’t felt like I’ve belonged in so long. I want her to scratch me deeper so the marks never leave my body. Every time I’d look down at them, I’d know I belonged to someone. That I was no longer alone.

The feeling of her ownership has me thrusting up inside her and cumming again. This orgasm is hard and fast and she bears down on me as I fill her up, giving her everything I can. Wanting to make my mate happy. To be as perfect for her as she is for me.

Once every drop of cum has been released from my cock into her warm body, she begins to move up and down, milking my cock. She leans forward and bites my chest, and that’s all it takes for me to cum in her yet again. She’s marking me, and my wolf is howling with delight. Each time she makes me hers, I cum inside her a little more. There’s so much cum it’s running down between us, but my cock hasn’t faltered. It only wants more.

She traces her tongue up my chest and runs her hands through my long hair, gripping a handful of it tightly. “More,” she moans in my ear as she rides me harder and pulses around my cock, her blonde hair falling all around us in silken waves.

I will always give my mate whatever she asks for. I have a need to please her, to make her smile at me again, and I thrust, coating the inside of her womb with my cum. I grunt out my release, feeling her squeeze me with her own climax, and pride fills my chest because I’m giving her what she needs. The pleasure that washes over her face is better than anything I’ve ever seen. It’s breathtaking.

I sit up so she’s still straddling my cock, and I scoot to the edge of the bed. She wraps her body tightly around me as I put my feet on the floor. I want to beat my chest at how she’s latching on to me, not wanting to let go of me. Standing, I keep our intimate connection and walk her to the wall, pushing her back up against it. I grab her wrists and pin them above her head. I’m strong enough to hold her with one arm while I claim her against the wall.

Thrusting hard, I lean in and press my teeth against her throat and feel her growl softly, but she bares her neck to me. Her wolf is submitting and loving my aggression. She loves the attention and my petting her as I take her harder and harder against the wall. If I could fuck her through the wall, I think I would. I want to be as far inside her as possible with not a millimeter of space between us.

I sit back and look into her glowing blue eyes, keeping her pinned to the wall as I breed her. I want to tell her that I love her. That I’ve loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her, and my wolf knew it before I did. My soul recognized hers as mine, and even though she wasn’t of age, my wolf knew what was coming. We’ve pined for her all these years, and finally she’s ours.

“It was always you.” Her eyes widen at my words, and it’s as if something clicks into place. I see it on her face the moment she finally remembers, and I cling to her. “It was always you, my love.”