I knew it happened on occasion, although rare, when a male couldn’t control himself, and was too tied to the idea of needing his mate that he grew insane. The centuries passed tediously for our kind in the paranormal world, and it caused some to lose hope.
More beast than male, I heard him being called. Hell, the rumors of Luca had reached all the way to the Highlands.
The murmurs in the room were low but great, and I sensed he was leaving. The bodies parted once again, everyone keeping a wide berth from Luca. And then I finally saw him, his back to me, twenty feet separating us and growing more as he exited.
And yeah, he was even more massive and imposing than any other male in this room.
He really is more animal than man.
I found myself taking a step closer, but my father’s hold on my shoulder stopped me. I didn’t look at Da though. I couldn’t. I was too transfixed by Luca, this tether keeping me in place so it was nearly impossible to tear my gaze from him.
“Luca.” I found myself whispering his name before I knew I’d done it, felt my father tense beside me, knew he’d heard me. I didn't even know why I said his name to be honest. It just slipped from my lips as if it were a plea, as if I were begging him for… something I couldn’t name or place.
And then everything shifted around me, the air became impossibly thicker, suffocating. I watched as Luca stilled, his huge body freezing, his hands curling into themselves at his sides as he snapped his head up. This low rumble filled the hall, and I knew it came from him. Everyone smartly backed up even more from that sound, the warning in it, the promise of something reverberating around us.
I swore I heard him inhale and felt my eyes widen as the room seemed to grow even colder. Everyone was at a standstill at whatever was happening. Would he lose control and kill someone? Was his mind so deteriorated that we were all in danger?
My father was in the process of pulling my mother and me behind him, my brothers coming forward to make a wall, blocking us from Luca. But the big Lycan spun around, his glowing animal-like eyes swinging back and forth as he scanned the hall, as he inhaled, scenting the room, his nostrils flaring as he took in the air.
And then our eyes locked, gazes clashing.
The air left my lungs so hard, so violently, I actually lifted my hand and placed it on my chest as if that would jumpstart the natural act once more. Then oxygen rushed into my body so hard I gasped, my head growing dizzy, swaying on my feet.
“Lass,” my father croaked, the thick worry in his voice clear and strong, but not nearly as powerful as the focus I had on Luca. Not nearly as consuming as the way I was drawn to the broken Lycan.
“You.” Luca’s lips peeled back from his teeth, his canines growing even longer, even sharper, as he stared right in my eyes. “My mate,” he all but purred, but it sounded so very wolf-like, so aggressive and… sure.
I sensed every male in the room going to protect the females even more. My brothers were making a barricade around my mother and me, but I knew it wouldn’t help. It wouldn't do any good. They all knew when a male found his mate there was no stopping him from getting to her.
I kept trying to see through the openings my brothers’ big bodies made, as if I couldn’t bear to part from the very sight of the huge Lycan. He really was more animal than man, his body seeming to grow even bigger as his beast pushed forward even more.
My brothers’ and my father’s bodies grew as their inner animals pushed forward to protect.
“Oh, fook no,” Caelan ground out, his voice starting to become distorted from his wolf.
“No fooking way some crazy-ass Lycan is getting tae her,” Tavish seethed.
“I’ve been itching for a fight, and what better one than tae go toe-tae-toe with that crazy motherfooker?” I could hear the glee in Lennox’s voice.
“Watch yerselves, sons,” my father snarled. “Our priority is getting yer mother and yer sister out.”
I looked up into Da’s face, fear filling me, although I didn't know what I was afraid of. Not Luca. Never Luca. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, this instinctive knowledge that trumped all other thoughts in my head.
My father was staring at me, his eyes flashing blue from his wolf.
“Because that Lycan won’t stop until he gets tae his prize,” my father growled, his canines long, pricking his bottom lip as he prepared for battle.
His prize.
Me.
I started shaking my head, but I didn’t know what I was denying. Luca? My family fighting this untamed male who was far too powerful to be stopped?