Chapter 4 I want her.

~Theo~

I watched her as she hurried away, her head down, clutching the tray as if it were a lifeline. My eyes followed her, unable to tear themselves away. The girl, whoever she was, had just collided with me moments ago, sending everything flying to the ground, yet all I could think about was the jolt that shot through my body when our lips almost touched.

It wasn't just a simple accident. There was something more, something different in that brief contact. My wolf stirred inside me, more alert than it had been in a long time, pacing in the back of my mind, restless and excited. I couldn't understand why.

Her scent lingered in the air; soft, delicate, and sweet. My heart still hadn't settled, thudding against my ribcage with an intensity I hadn't felt in ages. I caught myself longing to feel her touch again, the warmth of her skin against mine.

"Who is she?" I muttered under my breath, still staring down the corridor where she'd disappeared.

"What's that, Theo?" my beta, Fred, asked, his voice pulling me out of my thoughts.

I glanced at him, shaking my head as if trying to clear the spell that had settled over me. "That girl," I said, nodding toward where she'd gone. "Do you know who she is?"

Fred raised an eyebrow, glancing over his shoulder as if trying to figure out what I was talking about. "The girl with the tray?" he asked, sounding more than a little confused. "I don't know. Probably one of the newly selected brides. King Marcellus has been flooding the palace with some young girls lately."

"Bride?" The word didn't sit right with me. She didn't feel like she could be one of my father's brides. She was far too young for him. There was something...something more to her, though I couldn't quite place it.

Fred shrugged, clearly not interested in the subject. "Yeah, maybe. Why?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it again, realizing how ridiculous I would have sounded.

Why?

Because I couldn't stop thinking about her? Because my wolf was practically clawing at my insides, desperate to find her again? Because something about her made my entire body react in a way that no one had in a long, long time?

No, I couldn't say that. Not out loud. Not even to myself.

"Nothing," I said, forcing my tone to be casual, even though I felt anything but that. "It's nothing."

Fred gave me a look but didn't push it. Instead, he clapped a hand on my shoulder and said, "You need to relax, Theo. You can't start thinking of your sexual needs right now."

"And who said anything about a sexual need? You think that I'm so sex-starved that I would want to fuck the first girl who throws a tray at me? And one who might even be my father's bride?" I snapped, my defense coming on stronger than I intended.

He grinned knowingly, the annoying smile on his face making me want to punch him. "I've been your best friend for over fifteen years, Theo. I think I know you well enough. You look like you want to chase after the tray lady and ravish her ASAP."

I hated that he had to be annoyingly right all the time about me. But there was no way that I could deny the tingling in my private regions.

"We're here for an important meeting, remember?" Fred continued, draping an arm across my shoulder, "You said you wanted to confront your father about your mate, right?"

I nodded, trying to shake off the lingering feelings that clung to me like a shadow. He was right. I had come here for a reason: to meet with my father and discuss my future with my chosen mate, who, by the way, I was very uninterested in getting married to.

This wasn't the time to be distracted by some random girl, no matter how strange or electric the encounter had been. I hadn't had sex in a while, maybe that's why I was feeling this way. My body was just reacting to her presence, nothing more.

Suddenly feeling a need to destress, I excused myself and went straight to my room. I had to take a cold shower. Maybe my raging hormones would calm.

But even as the cold water hit my skin, I still couldn't get her off my mind. She was like this thing that had imprinted on my skin which I couldn't wash off no matter how hard I tried.

The way she smelt, her enchanting voice, those wide brown eyes that seemed to say more than they know... those were very hard to just scrub away.

My hand unconsciously went down to my hardness as the suds crawled down my body. Unprepared, I started to stroke my length slowly, her figure coming into frame. Something had to be definitely wrong with me to jerk off the imagination of my father's bride, but she had this hold on me that I couldn't control.

I want her. I want her so badly. I want to make her mine and put my mark on her.

I imagined that it was her mouth on me, taking all of me without restraint. I imagined her soft body gliding down all over mine, her softness to my hardness. I imagined her moans resonating with the entire room as I made acquaintance with her body.

It wasn't long before I erupted all over my hand, but that didn't make me feel better. I wanted more. I needed something more physical.

Was this some kind of spell? Have I been hexed somehow? This couldn't be just a result of my insatiable sexual appetite. Was she some kind of witch who wielded power over even the strongest wolf?

Shaking the thoughts away from my head and discarding them as unrealistic, I stepped out of the shower. At that same moment, my door suddenly opened, and the physical representation of my sexual imagination walked in.