Chapter 8
Alina
"T-test? Are you crazy, Darius? We're running away... we don't have time for this!" I make the mistake of spreading my arms and pressing my back against the fallen log. It only makes me feel more vulnerable.
The expression on the male Lycan's face is terrifying, with his bulging yellow eyes and that damn insane smile that never fades for a second. His lips curve even more, revealing more sharp and intimidating teeth. The intense and penetrating gaze conveys a mixture of madness and predatory savagery, a fierce and unpredictable nature that sends shivers down my spine.
But I'm not scared, I just feel extremely restless, as if I actually want Darius to do something, although I'm not exactly sure what. And the worst part is his scent, which is now so much stronger and hotter that it burns my nostrils, forcing me to open my mouth to breathe.
"Don't be so shy with me, little girl. We're friends now, aren't we?" Darius stretches his huge, muscular arms, towering over me so that his shadow covers me entirely, like he's a massive black wall. "I just want you to do one thing: try. In the meantime, I'll give you a... stimulus."
My heart refuses to find a steady rhythm and pounds against my chest so hard that it starts to hurt. Still, I can't look away from him, I can't stop paying attention to how attractive Darius is even in his wolf-shape.
Waitā¦
*No, no, no... This is wrong! I can't be attracted to him! Especially when he's likeā¦ this!
I can't be attracted to him in any way. Not to him or anyone else.*
There's something strange happening, and it's not my curse.
No male Lycan has ever awakened these sensations, this heat that starts in my belly and spreads, going down to my legs and making my body completely weak. But his scent... and that intense gazeā¦
I press my knees together, and Darius seems to know the effect he's having on me because his smile gradually fades, and his lupine face takes on a serious expression, even though his eyes remain bulging and fixed on my face, which must be very red by now.
"Try, little girl," Darius says through gritted teeth. "Do it for me. Now."
"I-I can't..."
Darius begins to growl, and the reverberating sound increases as he leans over me again, causing me to shrink and slip until I'm lying beneath him. He tilts his head to the side and looks at me with a single yellow-gold eye.
"Iām a Lycan King," he speaks with a deep, raspy tone, but exposes so many teeth while doing so that the possibility of him wanting to snap my head off in one bite flashes through my mind. "That means I'm also an alpha. And if I tell you to do something, you have to do it. So try to shift."
Now I don't know if I'm feeling attracted to him or if I'm just very, very scared. Or maybe it's both. By the goddess, what is this?
Even though it's difficult to handle his scent now, I fill my lungs with air and search for the breath I need. Then I squeeze my eyes tightly shut and say, "Darius, I can't."
"Try."
I can tell by his voice tone that he's not just insisting. He's commanding, imposing his dominance over me. That's when I understand Darius' test. He wants to find out if I will remain submissive or if I will lose control of my instincts and try to attack him.
Still, for the sake of both of us, even though he's a king and an alpha, even though he's saving my life by taking me with him to Norden, I won't give in easily.
"I...I can't." I say firmly.
Darius suddenly turns his head and lets out a loud so loud roar that my eardrums feel like they're about to burst. He then licks his teeth again, this time in a threatening manner, and places his mouth right next to my head. My whole body starts to tremble and becomes hotter. Hearing his growl now is a torment so different that I can't put this into words.
I feel Darius' wet teeth brushing against my ear as he opens his mouth.
"Try. It. Now."
Something is slipping out of my control. All that mixture of attraction and intimidation is turning into something else, something too dangerous for me to let Darius continue with this madness.
"Stop this..." I plead as my hands grip the grass.
"I won't stop until you obey me, little girl." Darius continues to growl in my ear. "Want to get rid of this problem? Then you'll have to face your wolf-side. Show me that massive she-wolf again!"
"Dariusā¦ no." My fingers start to contort. I can already hear the cracking of my bones as I press my knees together, and this time it's not because of that warmth in my belly. Please, no... Not now! "Get off me!"
"I'm the one giving the orders here, and I can keep you under control." Darius raises one of his enormous hands and places it on my chest, exerting some force and pressing me against the ground. "Until you show no sign of..."
He stopped speaking, but even if he continued, I wouldn't be able to hear anymore.
"GET OFF ME!"
*... Alina wouldn't recognize her own voice or her actions if she could witness them through the eyes of a third person.
In fact, she wouldn't recognize herself.
Her pupils contract when, in the instant after the scream, her body simply... starts to change, exactly as Darius wanted. And it happens without pain, without torn skin, faster than it has ever happened before. Then, tearing the borrowed clothes from the male Lycan, the same she-wolf with reddish fur that he faced before appears and lets out a furious roar, using all four paws to push Darius away.
Taken by surprise, Darius widens his eyes and recoils on his own, rising to his feet and coughing breathlessly because Alina hit him in the stomach and chest simultaneously.
With his body leaning forward, Darius prepares to grab Alina or prevent her from escaping, but she twists her body on the grass, using the fallen log as support, and leaps toward him, not attempting to bite or scratch him.
The weight of Alina's body pushes Darius backward, leaving her awkwardly lying on top of the male Lycan until she finds balance and places her two front paws on the ground, each on either side of Darius' head.
Alina mirrored his actions, growling directly in his face, displaying her teeth and asserting dominance in a manner she had never believed possible. Darius found himself unable to respond except by adjusting his position beneath her, a movement that appeared both dubious and strangely gratifying from the she-wolf's perspective.
They remained like that for long seconds, locking eyes and inhaling each other's scents, with a dangerous tension hovering over them.
"Seems like my little girl isn't as submissive as she seemed to be a few seconds ago, huh?" Darius turns his head to the side, the hint of a smile making the corners of his enormous mouth twitch.
Alina growls at him again, and the male Lycan starts to laugh nervously as she presses her large teeth against his furry cheek.
"C'mon... be gentle with me..." he says, and his response is met with a deep, powerful bark, a prolonged growl that makes Alina's throat vibrate vigorously. "Fuck..."
Darius is laughing again, and it's this sound, mingled with a scent that is warm and very distinct, that almost brings Alina back to her senses as she pulls her head back and sits on Dariusā belly.
Confused, Alina shakes her head and tries to retreat, to move away from Darius, but her paws slip on his black fur and... they start to shrink, losing their fur, just like her entire body is shrinking until sitting on top of the male Lycan's belly is just a womanā¦*
My vision is blurry, the sounds reach me as a distant whisper.
This isn't like the other times when I wake up after losing control. There's no headache or a gap in my memories. It's all warmth and scent.
When I move, I feel a tickle between my legs, the same tickle I felt earlier when I was straddling Darius.
Then, as my vision clears, I see him chuckling softly, lying beneath me. My hands are resting on his chest, and he looks at me with his mouth open. I can feel his heart beating fast beneath my fingers, the irregularity of his breath. And that scent... that scent from earlier still emanates from him, but it seems different nowāit seems more desperate.
What... what happened?
Instinctively, I search for his shirt on my body, but I find nothing but my bare skin.
"You're going to growl at my face again if I say I don't have any spare clothes to lend you?" says Darius, and reality hits me.
I'm completely naked on top of himānaked on top of a male Lycan in his wolf-shape.