Craving The Forbidden Things

Elara’s POV

"Zarek, I... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to," I stammered, taking a trembling step toward him, my hands outstretched. The sight of the fresh, bleeding bullet wound on his naked shoulder made my stomach plunge. A wave of intense guilt and sheer horror washed over me. "I was so terrified of the grizzly. I fired blindly... I never meant to shoot you. I swear."

He didn't flinch. He didn't even look at the bleeding tear in his flesh. His piercing, ice-blue eyes fixed on me, completely flat and devoid of emotion.

"It's fine," he said, his voice as cold as the winter wind. "We should simply head back to the camp."

Without another word, he knelt beside the beast. Desperate to make amends, I hurried forward to help. "Let me—" I started, reaching for some frozen vines to help bind the heavy carcass.

"Don't," Zarek growled, roughly pushing my hands away. His touch was hard, dismissing me instantly. "Just take care of yourself. That's enough."

I recoiled, my hands tingling where his skin had briefly brushed mine. The sting of his rejection burned hotter than the freezing air. I watched silently as he quickly bound the massive grizzly with the vines, his movements effortless. With a single, powerful tug, he began dragging the heavy beast through the deep snow. He moved with a predator-like grace, the massive carcass seeming like nothing to his brute strength.

Following silently behind him, my eyes kept drifting to his broad, muscular back. My guilt slowly morphed into an agonizing, relentless curiosity. The air around us was thick with his scent—an intoxicating, overwhelming wave of sharp pine and fresh snow radiating from his bare, hot skin. It flooded my senses, making my head spin and my core throb with a strange, heavy warmth.

I couldn't keep quiet any longer. The silence in the deep woods was suffocating. I gathered every ounce of courage I had left, my heart hammering violently.

"You showing up here... it wasn't a coincidence, was it?" I asked, my voice trembling. "Did you... did you sense me out here? Are we fated mates?"

Zarek stopped dead in his tracks.

He halted so suddenly that I couldn't stop my forward momentum. I crashed straight into his hard, muscular back. The physical impact sent a powerful, violent jolt of electricity rippling through my entire body, starting from where our skin met and shooting straight down to my toes. But as I pressed against him, my breath hitched.

The thick, rigid hardness of his arousal pressed firmly against my thigh. It was his fully erect cock, thick and impossibly hard. My mind reeled. The primal confirmation was undeniable. He was my mate.

Before I could step back, Zarek spun around. His hand gripped my waist with bruising force, pulling me flush against his naked, burning chest. I gasped, the sheer heat of his skin scorching through my thin layers.

"Mates?" he growled, his voice a dark, rough purr.

His other hand slid down, slipping beneath the waistband of my pants. I gasped as his long fingers delved directly into the sensitive, throbbing heat between my thighs. My panties were already soaking wet, drenched in my own arousal. The moment his warm fingers slid over my swollen clitoris and deep into my dripping pussy, my body arched violently.

"Ah... Zarek..." A soft, desperate moan slipped past my lips.

He rubbed his thumb hard over my clitoris, his fingers sliding in and out of my tight, wet pussy with a commanding rhythm. I arched my hips instinctively against his hand, desperately chasing the friction, wanting nothing more than to wrap my legs around his waist and let him drive his thick cock inside me. I was entirely ready to surrender, to let him take me right there in the freezing snow.

But just as the tension inside me coiled to a fever pitch, the pleasure was violently ripped away.

Zarek abruptly pulled his wet hand out of my pants. With a brutal, merciless heave, he shoved me backward.

I flew through the air, crashing hard into the deep snow.

"You?" Zarek sneered, looking down at me with utter disdain. "You could never be my mate."

A physical, searing pain ripped through my chest. It felt as though a hot iron had been driven straight through my heart, shattering it into a million pieces. The pain of a mate's rejection was an actual, agonizing mutilation of my soul.

I had always admired Zarek from afar. He was the Alpha's golden son, destined for greatness. Though I had only ever had a silent, distant crush on him, his brutal rejection left me completely broken.

Without another word, he grabbed the vines and resumed walking, leaving me to scramble out of the snow and follow his retreating figure in silence.

By the time we finally returned to the Rimeveil Pack's campground, the Hunt Festival was in full swing. The entire pack was gathered around the central bonfire, the roaring orange flames casting long, dancing shadows across the white snow.

Zarek strode into the center of the clearing and dropped the massive grizzly carcass. It hit the dirt with a heavy, echoing thud.

A collective gasp of sheer admiration rippled through the crowd. Wolves pressed forward, murmuring in awe at the sheer size of the beast.

I shrank back, standing at the very edge of the crowd, desperately trying to blend into the shadows. I clutched my heavy rifle to my chest like a shield, feeling smaller than I ever had in my life.

"Well, well. Look what the wind blew in."

A sharp, mocking voice pierced through my misery. I looked up to see Vespera, the pack's top female warrior, strutting toward me. Behind her, she dragged a decent-sized elk, its throat cleanly slit. She wore a smug, self-satisfied grin.

"What did you catch, Elara?" Vespera sneered, loud enough for those nearby to hear. "Don't tell me you came back empty-handed. A person without a wolf participating in the Hunt Festival is like a blind person entering an archery contest. It's just pathetic."

The biting words hit me right where I was weakest. My lack of a wolf was a constant, raw wound, and having it paraded in front of the pack made my eyes hot with unshed tears.

Before the tears could spill, a heavy, warm arm draped protectively over my shoulders.

"Say another word to my sister, Vespera," Kaelen’s deep growl cut through the tension. My brother stepped up beside me, glaring down at the female warrior. "And Zarek and I will stop taking you joyriding on our territory."

Vespera’s smug grin faltered instantly. She stuck her tongue out childishly, but she retreated with her elk, throwing one last smug look over her shoulder.

"Thanks," I murmured, leaning into my brother's warmth.

Kaelen squeezed my shoulder. "Don't let her get to you. Vespera's just jealous."

I tried to smile, but the agonizing ache in my chest from Zarek's rejection made it impossible. It was a dull, persistent pain that made it hard to focus on anything else.

Zarek returned to the bonfire. He had changed into clean, dark hunting clothes, his damp, golden hair clinging slightly to his forehead as if he had quickly washed the blood from his skin. Despite the agonizing rejection, my eyes followed him helplessly.

Alpha Varkas stepped forward, his powerful frame casting a dominant shadow over the clearing. He walked up to the massive grizzly, placing a heavy, proud hand on the thick fur.

"The champion of this year's Hunt Festival," the Alpha announced, his booming voice echoing off the trees, "is my son, Zarek!"

The pack erupted into deafening cheers. Kaelen stepped forward to clap Zarek hard on the back.

"Where did you find such a beast?" my brother asked, admiration clear in his voice. "You've got the luck of the Ancestors this year!"

But Zarek didn't respond to Kaelen. Instead, his cold, ice-blue gaze cut through the celebrating crowd, locking directly onto me.

My breath caught in my throat as his eyes held mine, completely devoid of warmth.

Standing tall, Zarek raised his hand, silencing the roaring crowd. The clearing fell into a sudden, tense quiet, the only sound being the crackling of the massive bonfire.

"Alpha," Zarek's voice carried clearly over the silent crowd, cold and absolute. "I have something to announce."

My heart began to race, a terrible, suffocating sense of foreboding washing over me, like the first chill wind before a blizzard.