Page 4 of Cage Me

Even as the words make me feel like vomiting, I turn away from him and head in the opposite direction.

A mate isn’t in my plan. Especially not one with a fury vibrating off him in waves that could very well consume me.

Chapter 2

DRAKE

Weeks have passed, and every second I was forced to wait for approval to pass through this portal has only served to fuel my desire for vengeance. Vengeance so strong that I can taste the smokiness of its depths with every breath I take.

At least until her.

The moment my boots touch down on Earth, I’m intent on finding a witch that would be willing to go against their own kind to help me track the one that wronged me, but fate seems to have other plans.

My mate is here. Right fucking here in front of this portal.

I scan the area, blinking rapidly as my eyes painfully adjust to the brightness of this world. And then I see her.

The woman I never thought I would meet is here, and it couldn’t be at a worse time. Regardless, the draw to go to her, to fall at her knees and claim her… I can’t ignore it.

All need for retaliation falls to the wayside as I move forward, but the closer I get, the faster she seems to move from me. Part of me wants to chase her, yet that’s not what my instincts tell me to do.

I drop to my knees, uncaring of those around me, and call out to her. “Mate.”

Her back is to me, and long, nearly white-blonde hair falls down over her shoulders that stiffen as I say the singular word.

When she turns around, the burning in my chest only intensifies, and it’s as if I’ve been struck by the stars above.

Her bright yet almost pale blue eyes appraise me, and there’s a tightness forming around her cheeks as she frowns.

Does this female not understand?

“Mine.” The word comes out strangled and distressed.

She needs to know what she is. My mate.

Except, that seems to only make things worse.

The force of a woman practically snarls before casually saying, “Sorry, you’ve got the wrong woman.” She spins around in the opposite direction, her hair floating behind her with the intensity of her movements as she begins to walk away from me.

What in the fuck is happening?

I don’t know, but I didn’t spend hundreds of years locked inside my own mind only to finally break free—mostly free, anyway—and be faced with this nonsense. I’d not only been trapped by the chains that bound me, but inside the shadow world that was a prison long before that witch Kel got her claws into me.

When I finally grasped on to a semblance of freedom, thanks to our God Caius finding his own liberty, I swore it wouldn’t be wasted. While my intention with that had been forged in vengeance, the same applies to the woman I’ve just found.

Before my mate can disappear, I’m up off my knees and chasing after her. She’s moving quickly and darts behind a building, but even without access to my wolf, I don’t need to see her to track her.

No, her scent—a rich vanilla mixed with a spicy cinnamon—has already been ingrained in me. A smell I won’t forget for the rest of my life. One I will chase through all the worlds if I must and makes my heart explode with want so thoroughly that all the rage I’ve been consumed with for centuries falls to the wayside.

When I turn the corner where I last saw her, there’s an alleyway, and she’s just standing there, frozen against the wall in her wolf form.

Her beast is a stunning white, almost blindingly so. The purest color I’ve ever seen in my thousand years.

The wolf whimpers, then snarls, teeth bared and eyes narrowed.

“What is your problem, woman?” I demand, barely able to keep from yelling. She’s still my mate even if she’s trying to pretend otherwise and starting to piss me off.

A shimmer forms around the wolf, and she transforms from an animal to the beauty I first saw. Though, her glare is still firmly in place.

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