Chapter 5 One More Night

• It was one night until the eve of the Mating Moon and I was drying bits of fruit and gorging myself on the food in my hut and ensuring I'd have everything I needed to survive the night hidden.
• Now I was working on weaving a basket I could keep it all in when I heard the knock on the door and nearly let the whole thing unravel.
• Marta? Sometimes Marta would come to my hut late in the evening to have tea next to the fire with me.
• The young males didn't bother her since she was already mated and an elder.
• But as I put my hand on the handle I could feel the waves of power rolling through the door.
• "Go away Draven..." I took a step back.
• "Open the door, Lyra Lani." He coaxed.
• I shook my head and retreated further.
• "Don't make me kick it down." He crooned before his voice hardened to a snapping order. "Open the door."
• Without any real conscious thought I lunged forward to toss it open. Instinctively obeying my alpha.
• He didn't hesitate to duck the frame and step inside.
• Making me retreat backward.
• ***
• "Why are you here, Draven?"
• "I wanted to give you a last chance." His movements were different tonight. More silken and predatory. His head was turning to take in every corner of my hut as though looking for something.
• Another male?
• Or signs of who I am?
• I felt somehow very small with his large frame dominating my hut. He lifted his foot and lightly kicked the door closed.
• He was nearly vibrating with energy.
• "A last chance for what?"
• "To submit. To make things easy." He was still scanning the room. "I don't want to hurt you."
• "Then don't." I took another hesitant step back. Feeling as though I couldn't breathe with him so close.
• Why was I so afraid of him? I knew part of it was simply because he was the alpha. But Edrick hadn't made me feel this way.
• But Edrick had also been a mated male.
• Not a tall, virile, lone male looking to mate me.
• ***
• "I'm not for you, Draven."
• His swinging head snapped to me and his dark eyes were flecked with yellow again. As though they were reflecting the flames of a hundred candles in my hut.
• "What the devil makes you think that?"
• "I don't want to be."
• He smirked. "We'll see about that...But I think you know better. You had respect for what my father did. You told me so once."
• "That was when we were very young, Draven." I barely remembered that conversation. I fumbled for the back of a wood chair and slid it from the table to position it in-front of me.
• That made him lift a haughty black brow. "That supposed to protect you from me?"
• I chewed my lip. Unwilling to admit that I hoped it would.
• "I could kick that thing across the room and have you on the floor in seconds." He was nearly vibrating with energy tonight.
• Too close to the Mating Moon. Panic was starting to swell through me.
• He's already feeling the animalistic need to breed.
• "Draven, please." I tried to plead.
• "Don't say that to me." He said harshly. "It makes me want to hear it while you're panting with pleasure."
• "Pick someone else." I blurted, a begging note hitting my voice.
• His eyes narrowed. And he pointed leisurely at me. Though the threat was clear. "I don't want someone else. You best come to terms with that, Lyra Lani."
• "Draven..."
• "Don't make me chase you." He warned.
• I gave him a long look. That was absolutely my intention if he went after me tomorrow night.
• "Because I will absolutely catch you. And be twice as hungry from the run..." His eyes trailed over me from head to toe.