Wild Heats and Precious Souls -Temptress x Bunny-

[Temptress RN]

A murder of crows fled the trees, their calls echoing out through the woods as ice shook free from the branches of the trees at the sudden movement. It all happened so quickly. One moment they were there, and one moment they weren’t. A huff of exasperation escaped the gray wolf’s muzzle as his paws landed back on the soft surface of the snow because while he tried to complete the hunt that the land surely needed, he really wasn’t the most suited for the task at hand. Wolves could jump, they could run, they could dig, and while they could climb, they weren’t particularly well built for it. And as much as Kian hated to admit it, his own skill with climbing was substandard at best compared to others with his animal soul.

What the area really needed to stave off the curse of the land was some other shifters who made their home in the area. The curse was pretty explicit in that citizens of Kawahain needed to allow their bonded animal souls to roam and tend to the land as they would if they weren’t bound together or the land would perish in death and decay, and from Kian’s understanding, things were handled fairly well all those years ago when the curse befell them. However, now it was failing, neglectful. The common folk tried to grant their animals time to tend the land, to keep the curse at bay and to keep their home alive; there was only so much they could do, though, when they also had families to take care of and when the royals and nobles were busy playing their political games that kept their best warriors away at wars, or defending neighbors who hadn’t truly earned that trust all to get a proper bride for one of their own.

Kian thought it should all be burned to the ground. No more towns or villages. Roads weren’t needed when one could run as a wolf, a panther, a cat, a leopard… They could just go wherever their legs could carry them. Bureaucracy and politics were pointless when their animals could defend territories just fine. Kian himself was a glowing example. He didn’t need to rely on anyone else. He hunted to eat. He could curl up and sleep under the shadows of the trees. He could run for miles just to feel free. Sure, he spent some time in his human form simply because the world demanded it. Though he’d left civilization behind three years ago, some of the folks who better understood him still leaned on him just a bit. He helped with some woodworking crafts and they delivered him other essentials in exchange. They never talked; Kian didn’t trust his wolf with another human soul anymore, but he’d worked hard enough to be able to stay away.

With no one to dominate, his alpha tendencies had no choice but to abate.

Then Kian could simply be.

Contemplating his existence was a long and hard process while his wolf was in charge, though, and a subtle breeze knocked a bundle of snow from a nearby branch, causing the white fluff to land right on his snout. With a quick indignant snort, the gray wolf shook his coat free of the winter water, hints of auburn over white glistening along his flanks. Auburn like the hair on the gruff alpha male within…

Then he took to inhaling the scents in the air, finding the scent of a rabbit, likely curled up in a burrow somewhere not far off. Having identified much more appropriate prey, he let his wolf reclaim his mind, instincts directing the hunt until his teeth sunk into soft flesh, drinking in the delight of meat, blood and flesh. Though it stained the snow, ruining the light, it was natural despite the plight of the land.

Meanwhile, a young beta had just stopped by the alpha’s cabin, picking up some bundles of firewood before dropping off an old newsletter and some blankets his mother had crafted from some of the furrs Kian had given to them. The beta knew better than to wait for the wolf to return and he just began the trek back to his own home much closer to town. Flynn had never really known Kian well; it was his mother and father who knew the alpha and who had arranged some trade with the man despite his isolation. However, the young lad did appreciate the walks that it gave him the opportunity to take. There was only so much he could handle in a home with four sisters. The walk was almost a quarter of a day one way, but he knew it well. His father had walked it with him until he’d learned the way well enough on his own.

The sun was setting as he finally arrived, and the hustle and bustle of conversation he heard inside had him holding his breath for a moment before he opened the door. His youngest sister charged him as soon as he did so. “Flynn! Did you see the scary man today?!” Anastasia was always a bundle of questions.

“Nope. Wasn’t trying to, though. He did leave some firewood for the stash,” Flynn called out to his mother who was at work in the kitchen. He set it near the mantle, before he walked in to see his three other sisters pouring on the most recent newsletter. They got an update once a month from someone in the nobles who thought the common folk might want to follow them. His sisters always soaked it right up, too, like it was their lifeline or something. With a sigh, he dared to ask, “What’s new?”

It was his eldest sister who answered, sounding much like she needed to catch her breath but wasn’t allowing herself to do so. “It says here that the princess has been betrothed! She’s to wed one of the generals of Arstair! Apparently he actually wants to bring the curse into his kingdom!? I don’t know what I think about that, but the wedding will probably be glorious!!! Do you think they’ll do like they usually do and invite everyone to witness?” One thing the royals and nobles understood well enough was that small doses of excitement were helpful to keep everyone in line. Witnessing a royal claiming ceremony was something they often shared although none of them actually attended the party afterwards.

Flynn wrinkled his nose a bit. “Isn’t Arstair… like… terrifying or something? Aren’t they the reason we were at war for a while?”

Lenora - the eldest - rolled her eyes at her brother. “That just makes it that much more romantic! The princess not only gets a brave, strong, alpha warrior, but she also gets to help secure peace!”

“That’s enough gossip for now,” their mother interrupted. “Flynn, go help your father finish the meat for dinner. And girls, help me set the table.”

The household scurried to the tasks, scarcely aware that come summer-time, the leaves wouldn’t be growing back onto some of the trees. Sure, the nobles would come up with some sort of decree to try to hold it back some more, but unless something drastic changed, it wouldn’t be enough anymore.

At least, that was what Kian knew. Though clothes weren’t a requirement when one lived all alone, they were a comfort nonetheless, and Kian had a pair of trousers hanging on one of the pines that he grabbed and threw on as he walked. He finally made his way back to his cabin after finishing his meal to find that someone had stopped by, and he collected the small bundle of blankets with a soft smile. It wasn’t an expression he wore often anymore, but something about that family made him feel like the world was alright. Gareth had been a good friend of his before he’d removed himself from civilization; it was Gareth who nearly perished at his claws. Gareth’s wife - Evana - had gone into heat while Kian had been visiting. It was a rough situation for any alpha. Gareth had asked him to leave and Kian wanted to but… his inner alpha wouldn’t allow it. His wolf erupted, Gareth’s leg had shattered… one of the children had a scar across her cheek she would never be free of. It could’ve gotten worse, too. And yet, Gareth still cared. Evana did too.

As he started up the stairs, though, a new scent tickled his senses. His sense of smell wasn’t as strong in human form as it was while he was a wolf, but he was still an alpha at his core. It was sweet… like maple dripping down the trees waiting for harvest. Warm. Honey and heaven.

A growl erupted from his throat as his eyes sought the source - nay, demanded it come forward.

@Bunny

 

[Bunny]

Being a princess seemed so glamorous from the outside looking in. A princess was perfect; beautiful, kind, reserved and intelligent. Naturally, she would want for naught; dresses, teachers, suitors and anything else her heart could desire. That was the way of it in fantasy books and the way her people saw her. Katarina knew her life was not quite the fantasy that they imagined. Some aspects were true, for one, her education was one to be envied. Her clothing? It was immaculate.

Nothing is ever free however.

The only child of King Henry and Queen Eleanore, much to their chagrin, Katarina was useful for one any only purpose. To be married off. She couldn’t continue their bloodline, but they could sell her like chattel to the highest bidder. A cruel reality, perhaps, but life was rarely kind or fair. Not even to a princess.

When her parents had approached her to inform her of a bid for her hand in marriage, Katarina had been nervous. Declan Drake, one of the most feared generals in the Arstair armies, wished to wed her. Trepidation aside, Katarina had little choice but to meet him. The man who had given her a charming smile and bent to kiss her hand softly as his voice rumbled out a greeting had not been what she’d expected. She’d expected a brute of a man, based on what she knew of the Arstair people. He was tall and willowy, the jacket he wore showing off his toned frame in elegant lines. Short brown hair had fallen across his brow and kind honey eyes had gazed out from behind delicate spectacles.

The fear she had felt had melted away as Katarina had gotten to know Declan. He was endearing and seemed to care about more than her pretty face. Worries that he’d been too perfect, too kind had slipped away over the few weeks she’d gotten to know him. The thing that had appealed the most to the princess was he made her feel seen. In a palace that swarmed with courtiers, servants and guards, Katarina had always felt invisible.

With a book clutched to her breast, Katarina made her way to Delcan’s rooms. She found a rare tome, something that he’d expressed great interest in. She wanted to present it to him, a wedding gift of sorts. Her hand rose to knock on the door when she heard a female voice from within.

“You are going to marry someone else!” Her hand froze and her eyes grew wide. “Marry, yes. She means nothing though, my love.” Peering through the door, Katarina saw Declan pull a tall, beautiful woman into his arms. She was the complete antithesis of Katarina. When she was tall, her hair full of rich color, like flames and her skin was like honey.. Her body was sinful, the sort of body that men seemed to crave. Soft, plush curves and long elegant limbs. Katarina’s own hair was a pale icy blond and her skin pale alabaster. Her figure was delicate, and while she had a curve of breasts and hips, she wasn’t nearly as developed.

“Are you sure you don’t like pale, delicate little birds?” Came the woman’s scathing answer. “Why would I? When I have a goddess in my arms?” His voice wasn’t that soft, careful tenor, but it held a cruelty to it. “I want that princess for two things. The title that marrying her will give me and the power her blood holds.” “So you will lay with her” “No, my love.. I will breed her. You will raise my children and be queen in her place.”

Fool. Utter fool. Stumbling back from the door she waited tills he rounded the corner before she broke into a run. He had seemed too perfect and for once, Katarina had decided to allow herself to believe that fairy tales were real. She thought.. He’d actually cared for her. Gullible, stupid fool. Her mind whispered. How could she not have seen it? The questions about her people, her lineage. The curse that ran in her veins. How he’d seemed more than willing to have children with her and accept that curse that so many of them pretended didn’t exist.

All her people though had an animal predator within. Katarina was a snow leopard. Her Father was a lion and her mother was a brown bear. The animal that lurked beneath their skin came to light then they turned sixteen. It had been four years and Katarina had changed once. The first time they had little control of the change. As a princess, she’d been sequestered once it had been clear she was an omega. After that first change, her heats had been managed by drugs and isolation.

Inside her rooms, pale blue eyes glanced out the window to the dark sky as snow fell softly. She couldn’t stay here. Her parents wouldn’t believe her and even if they did, Katarina had trouble believing that they would care. They had never been loving towards her and they had made it quite clear early on, she was only of value in one way. They’d give her to a man who planned to rape her to get to the curse in her veins without a second thought; for Katarina would never lie with Declan of her own free will now.

There was no other choice. She’d have to run.

As the castle settled down for sleep, Katarina stole away with all she could afford to take. Warm clothing and a heavy cloak. Good boots and a pack that she filled with food that would last her. Hard cheeses and dried meat. While she would have loved to take more, she had no idea when she’d be able to find more food, so she had to be smart about it. With the snow, she wouldn’t have to worry about water.. Though some flint and steel were added to her pack along with another blanket and a knife. No money or jewels were taken. Nor any of her beloved books.

Leaving from an unwatched escape passage for the royal family Katarina stole away into the frigid night. At first she tried to take care of her tracks, careful to cover them and once she felt she was far enough away she began to run again and only stopped when her lungs were burning and a stitch was forming in her side. And as the night slowly slipped away, she kept walking and running. They would hunt her down, Katarina wasn’t under any illusions that they would simply let her go.

Snow crunched underfoot as the sun shone down on the dark hood of her cloak. The edges were soaking, but her boots and warm socks had helped insulate her lower half. Neither however helped the pain that was coming with each step. Katarina wasn’t used to such a taxing environment and more than once, she had considered shifting, but leaving behind her supplies might spell the end for her. Pulling on the strap of her bag she huffed out a sigh and then she heard a growl.

Freezing, she searched the snowy woods for the cause. There were no predators in the world who didn’t have a second form, a human form. Until now, she’d not been worried. Clutching her bag tighter, she took a few more careful steps, slipping into a clearing and finding herself face to face with a male. Her voice was so soft and sweet as she spoke, though there was no mistaking the tremble it held as his scent drifted over her. The man before her was an alpha... "Hello."

 

[Temptress RN]

A single second of panic flooded Kian’s mind.

This woman was an omega, the most precious of his kind that the world could offer, and yet she’d stumbled onto him of all people. Her maple scent, and petite figure were as beautiful as any could be, and somehow even more intoxicating than the scent had been that day that had changed how Kian managed everything in his life. This woman deserved to be well and far away from him at that moment. But she wasn’t, and neither fate, nor time, nor hell on earth were going to be allowed to change that once his wolf sliced the thought clean from his mind. That panic was banished the instant it appeared as his eyes flashed gold without the rest of him changing. To any who knew those among their kind, it was an obvious sign that his animal was at play. Really, though, his wolf had more than just come out to play. His flesh remained human, but everything else was predator through and through.

All of it unfolded in that single second. First, he watched her step out of the trees. The paleness of her hair nearly matched the white of the snow. Kian saw that. However, his actions were more driven by her scent and an intense need to claim what had been denied to his wolf all that time ago. And so one of his feet stepped off the stairs to his cabin, the other shoving off to give momentum to his charge, and he was nearly on top of her before she could add anything more to her greeting.

Kian’s hand wrapped around the base of her throat, shoving her brutally backwards into the snow as he watched her hair cascade around her alabaster skin like the most royal of halos. His body pressed down on top of hers as the most feral of growls slid between his teeth. It wasn’t a growl that meant to threaten, though. Surely, it contained a threat directed precisely at her - at the omega beneath him - but this growl was so much more than that. This was a sound that reached into her very soul and threatened to yank the most vulnerable pieces to the surface, all while leaving the rest of her completely intact. Nay, not even that. This growl demanded submission. It demanded she bare her throat before the dominant predator who’s lair she’d wandered into without warning or regard.

Leaning forward even more, Kian’s nose traced a line from her collarbone and the base of his hand up the column of her neck, inhaling deeply as he glided. The touch, oddly intimate, was not nearly as violent as the other movements he’d made, and some of the stubble along the edges of his cheeks brushed against her skin in the process.

Yes. The alpha quite enjoyed that scent. Maple. A subtle hint of vanilla. It was subtly sweet - naturally sweet, even. It wasn’t like someone had added too much sugar; rather, it was just as the world intended it to be.

“Who are you!?” he barked, his alpha call demanding an answer in turn. Though wolves lacked language for such crucial communication, Kian’s inner animal wasn’t without connection to the alpha male within. They’d worked together on many hunts before, the man’s logic helping the animal to evade tasks that would have simply been too wasteful, too intensive, too pointless.

Though his chest continued to rumble, it wasn’t a purr nor was it soothing in the slightest. It was a warning of the decision that lurked behind the alpha’s eyes within the confines of his very animal driven mind. And that decision could very well determine her fate. It wasn’t a situation to tread lightly within.

 

[Bunny]

Being around Alpha’s was not new to her, not in the palace. Yet, she’d never been around one without a guard near-by. What an alpha was capable of was well known by all and while it was rare, it wasn’t unheard of for a rogue to rape and claim an omega as their own. There would be little that Katarina could do, should he prove to be one of those. Who would even hear her scream in the snow muted woods? That fact was only driven home as he moved at her, liquid grace and lethal potential as his large hand wrapped around her slender throat. They fell with his momentum and it was the softness of snow that cushioned her back, the soft, airy snow compacting beneath their weight.

He was so much larger than her, his body pinning her to the icy ground as he growled. That sound reverberated through her body and while there was fear now in her scent, something slid behind her eyes. Her own beast, rising to the call, the demand of an alpha. It shook her to her core and the purr that vibrated through her throat and along his hand came unbidden, as her beast welcomed him. Shielded her whole life, she’d never known the strength of an alpha and by extension the way they could make her feel. A smaller hand wrapped around his forearm, though she didn't pull at his hand, it was almost as if she held onto him, as if it grounded her.

While the woman may not have known what was being demanded of her, her beast did and she head turned slightly, baring that slender length of her neck to him, still purring. The tip of his nose was icy against her subtly hot flesh. His breath and scent washed over her. Wild, woodsy and deeply masculine. Her lips parted and she gasped, the sound so soft and sweet. There was no fear in that sound, but something else lingered there. His scent.. Katarina wanted to roll in it, until it would be hard to tell where her scent ended and his began. That desire, that almost palpable need made her tremble.

When he demanded her name, she answered. “Katarina.” His own body shook with something close to her own purr, though where hers was yielding and willing.. His held the threat of something else. Her voice was different, with his hand over her throat as it was and her purring. Somehow huskier and more breathy. She didn’t provide her last name, no, it would be a clear sign of her heritage and could lead with him dragging her back to her family and to Declan. Astaveron would damn her.. And in her mind, no one within the territory would not know the name of their King and Queen. Though, if he demanded it from her, she wouldn’t be able to hold back from the command. “I am just a traveler.” It wasn’t a lie, though it also was not simply the truth either.

She’d not had any practice in avoiding the allure and pull of someone like him. They were not mindless slaves to an alpha’s demands but they wanted to submit, wanted to be claimed. It was as much in their make up as it was in an alpha’s to claim. Her eyes lifted, almost shyly to meet his. He was handsome, so at odds with any man she’d ever met in the palace. A small pink tongue pushed between her lips, wetting them, as she inhaled his scent again with a trembling breath.

 

[Temptress RN]

His growl did exactly as intended. The pliable omega beneath him turned her neck, offering her throat to him as an offering for the rage that poured off of his inner wolf in waves, knowing that blood could satisfy the urge that pulsed through his veins. Kian’s grip tightened slightly, holding her throat in just the right position so that his thumb could trace the line where that crimson gold pulsed beneath her flesh. Though surprisingly gentle, the alpha’s touch shifted so his nail grazed her skin. The threat of claws was there, claws that could tear her open and paint the very snow that chilled the ground beneath the two of them. Kian didn’t push that threat, though, because despite the force of his grip on her throat, blood wasn’t the only thing that could satisfy his wolf and neither was it the satisfaction his wolf was craving in that moment.

No. Alpha wolves craved two things. They definitely craved blood. And they also craved slick.

Pulling back, the alpha admired the gleam of sweat upon her precious flesh, her warmth a stark contrast to the chill in the air around him. That same chill nipped at Kian’s own skin, his torso completely exposed, but seemed to have little effect on the alpha’s presentation or demeanor. It only added a touch of ice to his skin, something she felt in every feather-like movement over what little exposure her skin offered to his ministrations. Pulling back a little bit farther, Kian’s gaze shifted to her expression as his wolf prowled just beneath the surface of his skin, drinking in every detail that he could.

The alpha had heard her answers, too. Though no initial acknowledgement of her words came forward, Kian had heard them.

Kian’s eyes flashed yellow, signaling that his wolf was very much in control at that moment, but that yellow promptly faded back to a darker deep blue as something clicked in his mind. Something that struck him as odd. Her purr. A purr was not unheard of for an omega, but in his experience, it tended to be more of an alpha trait, an alpha tact. Omegas purred when they were immensely pleased with something - even a satisfied heat, fully knotted and seeded rarely resulted in such a delectable sound. And the sound… it wasn’t a purr the same way an alpha would purr. No. This purr was distinctly other.

Distinctly cat-like.

“Mmmm,” Kian hummed, his lips tingling together as he pieced together another beauty about his prize. Though his wolf still dominated nearly every thought in his mind, words escaped him, unbidden by his human and also unneeded by his wolf. The man in him wanted to say that he knew what she was, that he knew a traveler would not find themself in her precarious position, and that he knew there had to be more to her identity than just her name. The wolf in him wanted to taunt, to torment, to encourage her submission in the cruelest of ways all while demanding she succumb to the heat he could tell her body was preparing for even in that moment, the warmth in her touch too much of a sign for his beast to neglect. “A runaway kitty cat trapped in my claws.” The words practically sung from his lips in a way that wasn’t human - because he wasn’t human. Not entirely, anyway.

Another growl escaped him, this one far more sensual than the first he’d directed straight at her.

“A kitty cat close to heat, if my senses are right. Not a traveler at all. Travelers wouldn’t run straight into the arms of a monster while so close to heat.” No. Kian knew - he knew beyond shadow of a doubt that this omega was something else entirely, and he intended to taste her, fuck her and perhaps even claim her before he really dug around to find out the truth of it. She smelled too good. Kian couldn’t stop. “I don’t know what you were running from, Kitten, but now you run from me.” Abruptly, Kian released her. His weight vanished from over her body, his hand lifted from her throat, and it seemed as though the alpha himself had all but disappeared entirely. The only thing that was left behind was his scent, still strong and swirling around the omega he now planned to hunt like prey.

“Run, Kitten.” His voice was everywhere and nowhere all at once, Kian’s knowledge of the trees making it easy for him to blend and hide. He’d just initiated a dangerous game, one that could - in theory - invite others to play. Kian didn’t plan on losing, though, and once he caught her, he would decide whether her graceful beast deserved a nest and praise for her abilities, or whether a fucking in the snow was a better way to go.

 

[Bunny]

Calloused skin brushed against her silken throat and Katarina shivered at it. Violence and softness were equally measured in that small strike along where her lifeblood flowed. When his shifted and there was an almost echo of claws against her skin, Katarina gasped softly. A threat and still so gentle. It was a mix of confusing signals. Her own beast knew them for what they were, but the woman who rarely embraced her beast, was left addled. Cold against her warmth, the iciness of his skin was oddly pleasant against her flushed, despite the cold that pressed against them.

Pulling away, the man didn’t lift off her completely. His eyes seemed to rake along her skin. Katarina could almost feel the way his eyes trailed along her body and features. It was hungry and food was not the thought on his mind. Luckily, for blood would have satiated the hunger just as well as the other. Some small part of her brain whispered that she would not get out of this without a pound of flesh. That flesh being her own body, offered to an Alpha who would demand it or the life’s blood that coursed through her body.

He’d settle for no less. Life or death.

Yellow and blue. The golden hue had been wild and beautiful, but as the blue faded to take its place it was breathtaking, even if the gaze was as icy as the world around the,. Calculating as his mind slowly puzzled out the evidence before him. From the purr to her explanation of who she was.The rumble of his voice was almost like the purr she made, though, it was a word than an endless sound. She couldn’t stop that purring.

Part in fear but more than fear, her beast, her cat, wanted the Alpha nearly as badly as he wanted her. To have been denied for her whole life, her heats controlled by medicines and isolation.. It had been almost cruel. They were not beasts, her mother had intoned. They were humans with an unfortunate affliction. Her.. heats were an inconvenience and treated as such.

Close to her heat now, the timetable moved forward by fear and her escape into the woods it had been further pushed by the scent of an alpha. By him. “I.. “ her words trembled around her purring and there was a flash of fear in her eyes for a moment. Katarina wanted to deny that she was a runaway, but there was also the fact that she simply didn’t want to lie to him. She could, of course, but her beast rebelled against the idea. They needed someone strong to protect them.. Even if for a bit.

That growl pulled the sweetest of whimpers from her and there was no fear in the sound. It matched the sensual nature with one of need.

He picked apart any chance of a lie in a second anyway. No traveler, but a runaway. So close to heat, no omega would be in the forest without guard, where she’d happen across any alpha. On the run and now.. She was to run from him? The almost comforting weight of him vanished and it made her beast stir within, clearly unhappy at the loss of his heat and weight. His scent was all that was left and she whimpered again. A slightly unsure, needy sound as she pushed herself to stand.

Run, Kitten.

His voice seemed to echo from around her and she shivered. Her own beast bled into her eyes, demanding that it be allowed to play this game. Her eyes bled into a jade green and she took a moment, to slowly roll her shoulders before she took off. Snow crunched under her boots and she bolted into the woods. Where Katarina might have been clumsy as she ran through the woods, she gave over to her cat entirely and she loped through the woods with a cat-like grace. Going to the trees would have been the best move and so after she’d vanished from the clearing she scrambled up a tree and slowly began to move from branch to branch.

This had a dual effect, her tracks vanished from the snowy ground and her scent slowly permeated the woods, drifting from the sky. It was almost a game, to her leopard, to have him chase her. Dimly aware of what her prize might be, though that was far more distant that the chase. Leaping to another tree, her hands grasped the trunk and held on tight, panting softly for a moment as she looked for a direction to go next. The trees had been a good distraction, but she’d need to take to the earth again… Leaping from the tree she landed on all fours before rising and taking off toward the sound of a stream.

Being trapped within a castle her whole life though, made her movements more than likely predictable, but she had to try. She wanted to play with the wolf. So she bounded through the forest and where there should have been fear was a deep sense of.. Joy.

 

[Temptress RN]

Her trembling utterance of a single word drew another smirk onto Kian’s expression, one he didn’t try to hide even the slightest little bit. She may have wanted to hide some of the truth from him, and maybe she even had a glimmer of hope that she might succeed when they’d first stumbled upon one another, but slowly he could see the realization that she wasn’t getting out of this situation dawning in her precious glistening orbs. She knew that this wasn’t ending without his claws sinking into her one way or another. The alpha very much enjoyed her sweet little whimper that escaped as the pieces came together, his wolf understanding that her own animal scratched at the surface, needing what it knew the beast on top of her could offer. His wolf prowled beneath the surface of his skin, fully prepared to leap out and claim her already. It was only Kian’s alpha dominance that kept the beast in check.

When he withdrew and his hands released her, it very nearly felt like his wolf clawed him in the gut. Kian couldn’t resist, though, and he knew his inner animal would appreciate the build-up he was creating that would make this all the more satisfying in the end. His shoulders rolled back, testing muscles he rarely needed to use in his human form. It was important for this hunt, though. This hunt wasn’t about their animals. Well, it was, but he couldn’t take her that way. He couldn’t claim her that way. Just from watching the way her cat jumped straight into her eyes, Kian could tell that she knew that rule well enough as well. Though her cat wanted to bring her claws out for some fun, she knew that she wouldn’t get what she needed - what she craved - that way.

Maybe there was more to it than that. If there was, though, Kian didn’t care.

Instead, he simply allowed it to play out.

He gave her a solid minute’s head start in this game she’d agreed to play. The alpha knew she would need it if she truly meant to keep this interesting. His alpha senses were honed in these woods, fine-tuned to the smallest shifts in the wind, and acutely aware of all the scents that belonged in his home land. It made it that much easier to pick out the scent of the omega who definitely didn’t belong, but who he had already decided that he intended to keep regardless of that simple fact. She could be made to belong, and she’d be bowing at his feet before her heat was through. Kian licked his lips at the thought before his own boots pushed against the solid surface of the snow, launching him in the direction his prey had started running.

Despite her small stature, particularly compared to himself, her speed and flexibility moving through the slick snow surprised him. Perhaps he had underestimated her when he’d first decided she would be an entertaining target…? However, when she leapt up into the trees, Kian understood just a little bit better. His little kitten had given herself over to her animal in all but shape, which would make her that much more delightful to rut, a thought that had him growing harder by the second. His jeans were tight, but he was determined to best her fully human. She needed to know that he was the alpha - not her - no matter how high into the trees she could leap. It was one realm where she had him beat. Kian was not one for maneuvering in the trees.

Going up may have been wise from her perspective. If she knew what she was running from - Kian wasn’t quite sure how aware she was of what he was - then it was smart. It also hid her tracks, which earned more points towards her favor. Where she’d miscalculated was with precisely how much her luscious scent perfumed through the air, saturating its way into the bark of the trees, the thickness of the snow, and the whispers on the breeze. It was sweet, sensual and seductive all at once. If he wasn’t in a hunting kind of mood, it was the kind of scent he could’ve basked in for hours. Alas, he knew that this scent had a source, and Kian was intent upon finding her - and finding her fast.

The fact that she took to the trees turned him around a bit more than he cared to admit, growls erupting and rolling off of his tongue. His wolf pawed at his chest, his heartbeat racing faster and faster at the adrenaline of the game, because his wolf felt like he could find her faster. That may well have been true, but that didn’t mean Kian would allow it. He knew he was heading in the right direction again, which seemed to calm his beast temporarily, before his ears picked up the scent of the river not far off.

‘Clever kitten,’ Kian considered. ‘You just made yourself an even more valuable prize.’

However, the victory would be with him. Kian knew that stream. He knew the hot spring that it led to, and the falls that concealed a small little haven in the rocks. It was perfect for what he intended, and the alpha could not imagine a better way to reward his kitten for a game well played.

The omega’s sweetness grew stronger and stronger as Kian closed the distance between the two of them, and he picked up her footsteps once she was back on the ground without missing a single beat. Closer and closer now she came because Kian wasn’t hunting nicely anymore. His wolf had re-emerged into his gaze, each inhale he took guiding his own boots as they glided across the snow like it was home. For Kian, the snow was home. As far as he was concerned, though, she’d done her task. She’d given him a hunt worth chasing. His roar of triumph called to her all of five seconds before he pounced once again, and this was a roar unlike any she’d probably heard before. This was the roar of an alpha who knew his beast, who could channel that dominance into power, into victory and into a claim. It was a growl that was meant to bring an omega to their knees - with his targeting one pretty little omega in particular.

Kian’s body launched at hers, the collision anything but gentle as they both collapsed into a rolling tumble across the snow and splashes of ice cold water told him that the river was right alongside them. Quick shifts tried to keep his omega from falling into it, though he completely allowed her to be tormented by the feel of a few drops on her flesh. It was only the start of some of the many things he could do to her. He wouldn’t have her falling in completely, though. That was beyond the torture even Kian’s inner beast would tolerate.

Their rolling along had them both disheveled beyond beauty, but as Kian claimed his place on top, he knew he still wanted her - this glorious omega who knew how to run, who gave him the hunt of his life - would forevermore be his. “MINE!” The growl of his claim was the only warning that came before his head bent down and his teeth sank into her neck.

If there was anything that ignited an omega’s heat, or that ignited an alpha’s need to rut, it was beyond a shadow of a doubt a claiming bite. And as Kian’s hands unbuttoned his jeans, he seemed to nearly forget that a fucking in the snow wasn’t supposed to be the reward.