Page 127 of The Lycans: Vol Four

I’d never really thought about finding my mate. Because I was only in my early twenties, young by human and Otherworld standards, I hadn’t given much thought to finding the one person destined to be mine and vice versa.

And after my parents died, I’d just been trying to survive and stay under the radar. But it looked like I didn’t do that very well seeing as the Assembly had caught me.

The soft conversations I’d had with Sebastian over the last few days, and with him holding me as if it comforted him just as much as me, I felt, for the first time in my life, that I wasn’t alone.

We’d talked during those quiet times, sharing little pieces of information about each other. I learned he was one hundred and ten years old. His brother, Kane, was a year older.

I’d been mesmerized listening to him tell me stories about what it had been like for him. Living over a century boggled my mind.

He was so much more worldly and experienced than I was, and as I heard him talk about how he’d just been moving through life, not caring about even himself, I felt a pang in my chest.

He was known as cold and apathetic. Dead inside. And knowing he felt that way had literally sucked the air from my lungs.

I could only imagine what finding his mate was like to him, how utterly consuming it must feel. It certainly was very different for me. And although I could understand him and could see a part of his point regarding me, he was going to have to learn very quickly that this was a relationship. We would decide things together, not him being a dictator simply because he was terrified of losing me.

Feeling more of my anger ebb away, I turned to face him, seeing he was in the exact same position, not having moved an inch. I also noticed his eyes scanned the area as if he were seeking out some unseen threat.

My irritation slowly faded because I didn’t want things to be tense between us. I obviously couldn’t change him overnight. I didn’t want to. I just wanted a little bit of compromise.

I was about to walk around the boulder when something in his expression changed.

He instantly got tense, his arms slowly unfolding from across his chest, his hands lowering and tightening into fists at his sides.

I could feel the anger radiating off him, the menacing, threatening demeanor that suddenly took its place.

I retreated back because he looked absolutely terrifying and I didn’t understand why. He moved a step toward me, his upper body slowly hunching forward in a very predatory stance.

And then the growling came through, low at first and slowly increasing in volume the longer I stood there.

“Sebastian?”

“Come here, Ada.” Those three words were loud enough I could hear, deep enough they felt like a knife scraping over my body and slowly peeling away at the skin.

The back of my neck prickled, and I lifted my hand to rub my nape. The hair on my arm stood on end, and it was then I realized… we weren’t alone.

I’d been so lost in my thoughts concerning the fight with Sebastian that I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings.

Reckless.

I felt the ground vibrate when a sudden thump came from behind me as if something very large had just dropped down from the trees.

I mouthed, Sebastian, but was too afraid to turn around, to even move.

I imagined it was another one of those tentacle creatures, but then I heard a set of footsteps. One after the other. Heavy. Solidifying that whatever was there was huge.

“Ada, come here, baby.” There was a tightness to his voice. I realized he was afraid for me, that it was fear. “Come here. Come over to me.”

His anger was paramount, tangible as it swirled around him. His eyes were blood red, his teeth bared, fangs longer than I’d ever seen.

“Calm down,” I whispered. I knew I had to get him under control. I knew if I didn’t, he’d react purely on primal instinct to attack. And right now, we had to be level-headed if we had any chance of getting out of this.

Sebastian held his hand out, his claws long and black and so sharp. And … gods… was it slightly shaking?

My mate took a step closer.

“You can try and get to her,” the creature—clearly a male with a voice that deep and horrific—said. “Your kind is fast as hell, but not faster or stronger than I am.”

I could hear the amusement in his voice.

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