Page 8 of Fated Obsessions

I could push this all off to an older woman from a faraway land telling me a story she heard as a child and had hung on to it her whole life. But then Mini lifted her hand and gestured to her own eyes then pointed to mine. She started speaking again, her tone now becoming a lighter, gentler cadence. When she gestured for Andrei to translate, I snapped my head in his direction, anxious to hear more.

“My grandmother said something about blue eyes being fate, ones so bright they were not a human shade, but like the Lycans.”

It was true, my eyes were a strange shade of blue, almost teal in appearance. As far as I knew, no other person in my family had this shade or anything remotely close to it. I’d gotten compliments as a child, looks from men and women in wonder, and appreciated it as I’d gotten older. I’d have to say my eyes were probably my best attribute, seeing as I was plain in every single manner aside from that.

But to think something so outlandish as this, whatever this was—not even including the whole wolf, Lycan, whatever folklore—that I had some kind of preordained destiny here simply because of the color of my eyes? Outrageous.

I kept that to myself, though. It was very clear Mini believed what she said wholeheartedly, and I was in no position to correct anyone and tell them I was nobody special. I didn’t have a great destiny in front of me. I was simply here because I needed to get away, because I felt some kind of lacking in my life… some kind of pull to explore and move on.

I realized I needed to get away, how I felt so at home when I decided I was going to Dobravina, how I felt it was exactly where I was supposed to be. And that feeling intensified when I landed in the country, and even more so once I got to the village.

I stayed for another half hour, the conversation being steered in a more neutral, “safer” direction by Andrei. But all I could think about was what Mini said.

After thanking her once again, I headed next door but stood outside and stared at the thick line of trees I could see just up in the distance. The moon was high, not quite full, but casting a silvery, glowing light across everything. Shadows snaked between the trees, and it was pitch-black deep within those woods, so dense I saw nothing but that inkiness.

My skin felt tight, hot. My heart beat a steady rhythm, and I actually found myself moving closer to the woods, some unforeseen event almost drawing me closer. But I shook myhead to clear it and forced—yes, I had to force—myself to go inside the cottage.

I found myself in my room and leaned against the wall, my mind even more confused than ever.

I went through the motions of getting ready for the night, my mind thick with the tale Mini delivered.

And then I lay in my bed, the lights off, the sound of the night right outside my window doing nothing to lull me.

I knew there wouldn’t be a restful sleep for me. Not when it felt like I’d touched a livewire.

Chapter 6

Ren

It was the same. Every night. A routine that came as natural as breathing.

As I walked the forest, my big body glided almost soundlessly over the terrain—a supernatural gift for all species of the supernatural world. We were—and always would be—stealthy predators. Beasts to be feared in theOtherworld.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my waist-length wool coat, the night air warm enough that I didn’t need it, but it had become a routine, it seemed.

My dark boots took the same path I did every night, over fallen branches, snapping the occasional twig, because I didn’t care who or what heard me. I wasn’t dressed for hiking, not with my dark slacks or my white, pressed button-down shirt. I was more aptly dressed for a meeting in the city than I was walking my grounds.

My Lycan was content for the time being, as content as a centuries-old supernatural creature who was impatient and desperate for his mate could be, that was.

A breeze picked up, pushing the short strands of my hair over my forehead.

And that’s when I froze. My body tightening, my Lycan rising up faster than it ever had in my entire existence.

The scent. That smell that was so glorious, so sweet, so instantly addicting that my body went tight, my cock punching out, hard, demanding, only ever getting this way with thoughts of my mate.

Mine. Mine. Mineminemineminemine.

Oh God, it was her. My mate, her scent flowing through the breeze, surrounding me in the sweetest way.

I closed my eyes and inhaled. And kept inhaling, drawing it all into my lungs, needing it inside me.

I need her. Only her.

My Lycan pushed forward, the need to claim her so strong, but the moon wasn’t full yet—a requirement for him to have enough strength to overpower me completely. I pushed him back and swung my head in the direction of town. Dobravina. She was there. So close. So fucking close to me.

Before I could stop myself, I let the creature in me have a little of the upper hand. Just a little, a fraction, enough that I was slightly bigger, harder, more primal and aggressive.

I ran through the woods, my feet pounding on the hard terrain as I went closer to Dobravina. I had one goal... find her.