1. Her Fated One
1084 Words
Nearly six years later, Tatiana was coming to in the hotel she was staying at in Roma. It wasn’t overly luxurious or lavish, only decent instead. She was trying to keep a low profile in the city. After all, she wasn’t a public figure, and she didn’t care for the deference money could bring. She wanted something more authentic. And so far, she was quite pleased with her stay.
She was soon enough getting ready to go sightseeing around the city.
She donned a beautiful dress, pale pink in color, put on a matching scarf around her neck, and was soon enough heading out.
She decided to taste the delicacies a nearby café had to offer.
She was enjoying pastries when yet another delicious smell wafted into her nostrils. It was all she could do not to growl at the potent scent – all man.
Before she had the time to rise to her feet and start looking for the provenance of this heavenly smell, a man dropped into the chair opposite hers.
She looked into his face with open wonder and a hint of displeasure.
Where were his manners?
“Excuse my rudeness, miss. Observing you from afar was pure torture so I allowed myself to bother you with my presence,” he told her in a light tone.
Oh damn! What a velvety voice! She thought to herself, already half melting.
She focused on his gray eyes and could feel any retort she might have prepared flee her at once.
“It’s okay,” she shrugged it off as she tried hard not to inhale too much of his scent.
Another whiff and her mind swam with the endless possibilities.
She had no doubt in her mind that this fine specimen of a man was her mate. But she couldn’t recognize his kind for a reason that was beyond her.
Was he human? Was he a fellow werewolf? Something else?
She couldn’t believe that her senses would betray her at such a crucial time.
“It is rude to stare, princess,” he then said in a teasing tone.
She stiffened slightly at being called princess. Out of all the endearments possible, he had to choose that one? Could it be that her cover was blown?
She didn’t dare voice out her thoughts and merely averted her eyes with a huff.
“Aren’t you full of yourself?” She couldn’t help but tell him.
She hated his kind – tall, dark, handsome, and arrogant. She had after all bedded this kind of man. And they could become clingy way too fast to her liking.
But then again, this was her mate she was facing.
Had she been any other girl, any other she-wolf, she would have been thrilled to meet her mate. Sadly enough, she was the werewolf princess, and she had an arranged mating waiting for her in a few years.
Just the thought of being tied down to the despicable dragon known as Liam King made her want to at least enjoy this day of freedom in Roma.
He had the nerve to chuckle in response.
His chuckle did wonders to her insides, and was downright arousing. She clamped her legs shut in an effort to keep her scent of arousal from reaching him should he be a supernatural.
Dangerous, she thought to herself as she inwardly dampened her lips.
I don’t mind a taste of danger, her wolf all but purred.
She extended a hand and said, “The name’s Amy,” that was a total lie, and if he had been a supernatural, he would have picked on her lie and called her out on it. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
His lips curved up into a smirk and he said, “The pleasure is all mine. The name’s Adrian.”
She could sense that something was off, but her thinking was overruled by the sparks that erupted on her skin when he touched her hand. He brought it up to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on its back.
She had to squash down the urge to moan in a wanton-like manner.
Oh, our mate is so fine, her wolf purred yet again.
She blushed to her utter and complete dismay.
She was no prude and definitely not a virgin. And yet, she was blushing like a love-struck teenager when she was anything but.
She had to remind herself that she was to be tied down to one despicable Liam King, and thus she couldn’t fall for this stranger.
Besides, he seemed to be human, and was thus probably blissfully unaware of the supernatural world. And it needed to remain that way.
This connection they shared, these sparks they could both feel, this open lust dancing in their eyes… she would have to forsake it all.
She would have to sacrifice it all for peace, to ensure her people’s continuity. Another war just couldn’t and wouldn’t do. And she was sure that should the dragons get wind of her choosing this human over one of their own, they would be livid.
And Theodore King had already made it glaringly obvious that he ruled the battlefield in the war that had occurred in the 1800’s.
Now, two centuries later, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe he had grown any weaker. If he had put an end to a raging war before, she was sure he could crush most of their forces in less time than it took to say bloody war.
Dragons were ruthless… or at least the renowned Theos was. Having never met a dragon herself, she couldn’t be so sure about them. But she was sure they weren’t like werewolves who protected one another. He had after all basically left her at the altar, uncaring of the repercussions of his actions.
“Are you okay?” Adrian asked in concern, his gray eyes slightly troubled.
“Peachy,” she told him with a small smile.
No matter what happened between her and Adrian, she had to build walls around her heart. She needed to put a distance between them. She couldn’t allow him in. She had duties to fulfill and obligations to respect. And unlike Theos, she cared about her people’s safety. And she cared about peace.
If she couldn’t be with Adrian because of said obligations, she shall make Liam’s life hell… but before that, she shall enjoy her last day in Roma with her fated one.
- Writer
