Page 5 of Animal Instincts

He had lied to Tyler when he’d said he didn’t want a mate, hell, didn’t want a woman for more than a few hours. In truth he had thought about what it would be like to have a female that was only his, that was made especially for him alone.

It was a heady and intoxicating realization, but with that came the fact he knew he could never be with another woman again, could never move on in that regard. His body, his mind and heart, and fuck, even his lion were now tied to Danika.

She was his, and he was hers, yet she knew nothing about the imprinting a shifter went through, wouldn’t understand where he was coming from. He didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to go away from her.

But on top of the fact she needed to live her life, graduate high school, and go to college, he knew that he couldn’t be here. He had to stay away until she experienced things, until she could consciously make the decision to be with him, mate with him, and know the gravity of being with an imprinted male.

Then he had just left Tyler’s place, given some shitty reason that he wasn’t feeling right, and taken off after just seeing hisfriend after years’ of absence. No, this was a bad situation. He tore his clothes away until he stood naked.

Looking down at his chest he ran his fingers over the nasty bullet scar that lined his side. He had a few more on his back and a knife scar on his thigh. He was a mess, a fucking mess.

How could he expect Danika to ever look past the beast he really was?

He moved over to the front door and opened it partially. Damien felt the change take over him. Everything in him popped, snapped, broke, and realigned. Fur replaced skin, claws took over where his nails were, and fangs replaced his flat, human teeth. Then

he stood there in his lion form, big, powerful, and used to tearing flesh and killing its enemy. He was an animal that only thought about the hunt, tracking his prey, and taking control.

But even in this primitive thinking body, all he could envision was Danika and how he had probably scared the shit out of her with the alpha act back at Tyler’s place.

He paced, moved back and forth, felt his hackles rise, his blood pump through his body, and needed to run.

Padding over to the front door, he pushed it open the rest of the way, and stepped onto the porch. Closing his eyes and growling out as the sun slashed through the trees, Damien opened his eyes again and looked around the property.

The trees surrounded all four sides of the cabin. The freshness of the air called out to the wild part of him, and he padded down the steps and onto the ground. He tilted his head back, shook his body, and felt his skin move over his muscles and bones.

Damien took off toward the woods, ran past the thick evergreen and blue spruces, heard the small animals scurry away, and growled in pleasure. He needed this, needed the freedom to get this nervous energy out of his blood.

The wind moved over his fur, ruffled his mane, and the feeling of the soft earth beneath his paws had the sensation of his nails retracting coming forth. He stopped when he heard a twig snap in the distance.

Lowering himself to the ground, he scanned left then right, inhaled deeply, and caught the scent of deer in the distance. Taking off toward the direction of the animal, he inhaled again, growling low as his need to hunt it down and tear it apart filled him.

Moving faster, hitting the ground harder, Damien scented out the deer, saw it in the distance, and stopped, pressing low to the ground. He waited until the animal wasn’t looking around, but its ears perked up as it scented the danger in the air. But Damien was the master of stealth, of stillness and silence.

He could wait out the animal for as long as it took. But then the deer slowly lowered its head to the ground and started grazing again. Damien felt the need to attack fill every part of him, so he didn’t hold back anymore.

He lunged forward, but the deer sensed him and took off right before Damien could tackle it to the ground.

He followed it through the woods, weaving in and out of the trees, and felt the pleasure move through him at the chase. He was the hunter, and he was tracking his prey.

He lunged out, front paws outstretched, claws extended, fangs on display, and took the deer down. It might have sated the animal inside of him for the time being,

but Damien felt the anxiousness of being imprinted rise up inside of him violently again. He’d leave for two years, wait until she was of age, until she could decide what she wanted.

But even though he wanted her to be able to decide what she decided, if she wanted him as a mate, he knew that he could not just walk away from her.

Telling Tyler that a scarred beast of a lion shifter had imprinted his daughter was going to be pretty fucking hard. But Damien couldn’t just leave for good, even if that was the right thing to do.

He said he’d let Danika be for now, stay away until she could decide what she wanted, but it would be the hardest fucking thing he would ever do in his life.

3

Four years later, present day

Danika watched as Hayden winked at her in terms of his goodbye for the time being, and was all but hauled out of the living room and down the hall by some drunken girl intent on getting laid.

She smiled though, because seeing Hayden wear this goofy grin on his face because he wasn’t the one having to hit on a girl, instead being all but sexually mauled in front of a room full of stoned people, was a highlight of her night.

She brought her bottle of water to her mouth and took a long drink. She’d taken a beer when she’d first gotten here, and even if she was ready to leave.

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