Page 22 of His Fated Luna

I didn’t knowhowI knew—it was instinct.

Slowly, he padded toward me. He was massive in his werewolf form, bigger than the average wolf. And his entire body rippled with unconcealed power and feral strength. But he wouldn’t hurt me. Tentatively, I reached out, scratching behind his ears. His fur was softer than I expected, and when he let out an appreciative rumble, I smiled. Running my hand along his flank, I sighed in contentment. Then he nuzzled against me.

I laughed as he licked my face.

“I wish you were this nice in your human form,” I murmured absent-mindedly.

He let out a soft whine, pressing closer.

I hesitated, then whispered, “I think your wolf is beautiful, but your human form isdrop-dead hot.”

It took me a moment to recall that I was spilling my guts to Aiden. He might be in his wolf form, but he could still understand every word I spoke.

Shit.

And then I heard bones cracking and relocating themselves. The wolf before me began to shift into the man. Surprised, I took a step back and lost my footing. Bracing myself for the fall, I closed my eyes and expected my butt to hit the gravelly driveway. But strong arms came around my waist to steady me and my own hands instinctively scrambled for purchase. I found myself clutching the very human shoulders of Aiden. The very humanbare shoulder.His arms wrapped around me, and my body was pressed flushed against his completely naked one. There were no sparks I had become accustomed to when it came to him. There were fireworks. Explosions of pleasure shooting up and down my spine. I had to fight the urge to press myself closer to him.

My eyes flew open to meet his stormy blues.

“You’re naked!” I exclaimed in abject horror, pulling my hands away from him. I stepped away, denying my body the thrill that always erupted from skin-to-skin contact.

“Well, have a look. Do you still think I’m drop dead hot?” Aiden grinned down at me, his body only a hairbreadth from mine. One arm still snaked around my waist.

“This is so inappropriate,” I stated, trying to squirm out of his grasp and making a point to look everywhere but at his naked chest…or lower. Yeah, definitely not a good idea to look down there!

“Let me go!” I finally huffed.

His arm around my waist remained firm.

He took a deep inhale, clearly taking in my scent. “Princess, you smell so good. I want to see if you taste as good as I remember.”

His voice was gravelly, almost like a low growl. Which meant his wolf was influencing his decisions.

“What?” I exclaimed aghast.

He thought I smelled good? He thought Itastedgood? No…he couldn’t possibly.

He suddenly kissed the soft spot on my neck where I knew mates marked each other. I turned to jelly but managed to pull my neck away from his mouth.

There was a low animalistic growl that came from his chest in protest of his mate backing away. But I couldn’t let him get carried away.

“You…you just turned back from your wolf. You need time to…to… assimilate,” I reasoned breathlessly. “It’s your wolf’s instinct,” I argued softly, bringing shaking hands up to exert pressure against Aiden’s shoulders. Steadfastly, I ignored the wonderful feeling of his skin against my fingertips. “You…you love Lexia. I won’t be the reason you cheat on her,” I stated firmly.

Aiden’s low growls of protest stilled suddenly.

There was a minuscule pause as we both stood frozen, teetering between backing away and giving into the mate bond. And then…

“Go,” Aiden said, that one word with enough force to send me scrambling backwards.

I found myself backing away and running towards my car. It was just as I’d suspected. The minute I spoke Lexia’s name, the man in him came to the forefront. Just because his wolf wanted me, didn’t mean the man Aiden did!

There was a growl from behind me as I turned back on him and ran to open my car door. It was instinct, I knew. His wolf wanted to run after me. Probably claim me. The chase was actually part of the mating process for wolves. As I drove away, I realized my hands were trembling. It wasn’t until I was out of the driveway and took a left turn to get onto a different road that I finally stopped the car.

Taking deep gulping breaths, I closed my eyes, leaning back in the driver’s seat.

Aiden’s POV

The silver moon hung in the night sky, casting its soft glow over the pack lands spread out before me. I stood at the creek, which ran through the lands, my arms crossed over my chest, lost in thoughts I wasn't able to untangle.