The University campus vibrated with chaotic energy. The first day of orientation was a hive of emotions; nervous laughter, voices crisscrossing, suitcases rolling through hallways, and the incessant echo of hurried footsteps on the pavement. But for Lucian, all of that was distant noise, insignificant. He walked through the crowd with a dangerous calm, like a predator stalking among prey oblivious to his presence. His regal bearing and his intense golden eyes made him stand out, but he wasn't seeking attention. He didn't need it.
Beside him, Jaxon, his Beta, kept pace, alert to any signal. They had been summoned by the Dean for Lucian to give the start-of-year speech. His reputation preceded him. He was the bridge between the human world and the world of the Lycans. The council had given him that authority, the same council that continued to demand he choose a mate. And then he felt it.
A scent. A sweet whisper of wild vanilla that cut through the air and hit him like lightning straight to the chest. Lucian stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes narrowed, and his entire body tensed as if an invisible force had immobilized him. That scent...
It was impossible to mistake it.
Nineteen years. Nineteen long and miserable years since the first time he had smelled it. He had searched for it since then, with a mixture of longing and fury, and now it was here, unexpected and brutal, like a dagger plunging into the depths of his being.
Inside him, Luca, his wolf, roared with a fervor that almost made him stagger.
"Mate!" Luca howled with a heartbreaking intensity that resonated in every fiber of his soul.
Lucian closed his eyes for a moment, struggling to contain the whirlwind of emotions that threatened to consume him. But it was useless. The scent called to him, claimed him, and he couldn't resist. His feet began to move, guided by an instinct older than time itself.
"It can't be..." he murmured to himself, as he pushed through the crowd with firm and determined steps.
Each step brought him closer to the source of that intoxicating scent, and with each step, his mind filled with questions he didn't want to answer. Why now? Why here? Why her? But above all, one certainty burned within him: he had to see her. He had to confirm it.
And then he saw her.
She was sitting under the shade of a tree, surrounded by other students who laughed carelessly. Her blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, shining under the sunlight as if it were liquid gold. Her tanned skin glowed with a warmth that seemed to invite touch. And her laughter... that light and carefree laughter infuriated him beyond reason.
A human.
A simple human.
Lucian felt rage boiling inside him, mixing with something much darker: a primitive and uncontrollable need to claim her as his.
"It can't be her," he growled through clenched teeth, trying to convince himself as his eyes remained fixed on her like a predator stalking its prey.
"She is our mate," Luca insisted with a low and possessive growl that echoed in his mind like thunder.
"Shut up!" Lucian mentally snapped at him, struggling to maintain control.
How could the Moon goddess be so cruel? How could she have assigned him such a fragile, insignificant creature as a mate? He was an Alpha, a leader destined to rule and protect his own. He needed a strong mate, someone worthy to stand by his side, not... this.
But despite his thoughts filled with contempt, he couldn't look away from her. Every detail of her face seemed to etch itself into his memory against his will: the soft curve of her lips, the innocent sparkle in her eyes... eyes that at that moment rose and found his.
It was as if the entire world stopped.
Their gazes met, and Lucian felt all the air leave his lungs. Her eyes were as blue as the deepest ocean, and for an eternal instant, he felt he was drowning in them. There was something in that gaze that completely disarmed him: curiosity... innocence... and something else he couldn't identify but that pierced him like a white-hot dagger.
His heart beat with uncontrolled violence, betraying him with each deafening thud against his chest. He wanted to hate her for the power she had over him without even knowing it. He wanted to reject her for being the opposite of everything he had imagined for himself. But more than anything... he wanted to possess her. He wanted to claim her as his and erase any trace of doubt about who she belonged to.
"She is beautiful," Luca whispered reverently within his mind.
"She is weak!" Lucian roared in response, turning abruptly on his heels to get away from her before completely losing control.
Jaxon followed him quickly, noticing the tension in every muscle of his Alpha's body.
"Everything okay?" he asked cautiously, although he knew perfectly well that something was terribly wrong.
Lucian didn't respond. His steps were firm and determined as he headed to the auditorium where he was to give his speech. But inside he was chaos: a storm of contradictory emotions threatening to destroy him from within.
"She will not be my mate," he promised himself with fierce determination.
Lucian turned and walked with determined steps toward the auditorium through the bustle of students; he couldn't comprehend it, the human girl didn't appear to be more than 18 years old, barely a pup. She was too young; he had expected a strong she-wolf of at least 40 years.
But the Moon Goddess was playing a trick on him, it couldn't be true that this simple human was his mate.