"Other than your father?" he asks deliberately.
"Alpha Derek isn't- he isn't my father," she murmurs, blushing brightly. "He's my- he's my mate," she says.
"Is he now?" he asks, looking as though he's mulling that over in his head. "That's odd then," he says.
She blinks owlishly at him. "What's weird?"
"The villagers seem to think he's your father."
"Oh he's um... he was with Mama, but she cheated on him," she says like it's the most natural thing in the world for a wife to be unfaithful. "We're not related, you see. Alpha's Derek my mate," she says with certainty, a dreamy sort of note in her tone like just the mention of the man is enough to make her delirious with joy.
"Oh!" he fakes shock. "I shouldn't be here, then."
"You shouldn't?" she asks softly, brows furrowed.
He doesn't need to pretend to be disappointed for the next part. "You see, part of the reason for my visit is to ask for you."
"For me?" she asks, her gaze turning frightful as she turns to the window. Her scent sours with worry. Only now is she realizing that she shouldn't have invited him in. "What do you mean?"
"I haven't been able to forget about you since I ran into you in the library," he says. "I wanted to ask for your hand in marriage," he explains quickly, taking mercy in the poor thing.
"You were?" she asks, looking nervous as she stares at him guardedly, as though realizing for the first time that she should not have invited a stranger into her home so easily.
"Yes," he says. "I am a terribly lonely man, you see. I've never fallen in love before until I saw you."
She blushes prettily despite looking worried. "I'm not- maybe you shouldn't
be here? I'm sorry, but I love Derek."
"I suppose I was too late," he sighs. "Could you indulge a sentimental man and let me scent you?"
A smarter person would deny him. It's an intimate thing, scenting. Luckily for him, she doesn't know any better than to deny him. "Okay," she says, smiling shyly as she stands and moves to stand by his side.
He surprises her by curling an arm around her waist and pulling her up to his lap, making her sit on top of his legs. She barely weighs a thing. "You can scent me back too. I'll probably smell different because I'm a Werewolf. You've never scent a Werewolf before, have you?" he asks.
She nods and doesn't even hesitate, burying her nose to the nape of his neck and breathing deep. Such a trusting little thing. He could take her right now, come up with a reason why he needed to fuck her and she would fall for it because she doesn't understand yet that some people aren't to be trusted. He lets her breath in his scent as he rubs her ear, loving the way she trembles in his grasp, and then thrills the way cats would when they're happy. Her cat-like ears are as soft as it looks. He rubs the base and combs up to the tip, repeating it again and again as she shivers in his lap. "You smell weird," she whispers, not bothering to sugarcoat it as others would.
He chuckles. "You smell very nice," he tells her and she blushes brightly.
"Thank you," she says and pushes off him. The sudden disappearance of her weight on his lap is so jarring that he is startled into silence for a good few seconds. "I'm done," she says. After a second, she adds, "Thank you."
She's so sweet and innocent. He thinks he could eat her up. He sighs and nods. "It's good to finally meet you, Ally," he says, extending a hand for her to shake because he isn't yet tired of how good she smells and would like to keep her with him forever.
He manages to make himself walk out the door.
Chapter Six: Voyeur
After that, there is nothing for him to do but wait. He makes sure he is downwind and sits, waiting for Derek to return. She sound of her moving about in her home is soothing. He must have dozed off at some point because when he wakes, it is already dark out.
It takes him another second to understand why he is awake in the first place and he stands up and turns his face to the window of the little cabin a stone's throw away.
"Daddy, Daddy, what's wrong?" Her voice is lovely even from afar, sleep-laden and adorably confused. She has not realized the trouble she is in yet, but she is about to.
He leans against the tree, confident that the dark would keep him hidden, even to a cat with sight as strong as Derek's. And the man isn't interested in seeing him now. No, he's completely obsessed with the young shifter. He can see them in the bedroom, her in her flimsy nightgown and Derek, completely naked already. Luckily for Eric, the weather is good enough he does not think to close the blinds and the window is big enough for him to see everything that's unfolding in the bedroom.
"Someone was here," Derek growls, crawling up onto the bed. He doesn't waste time peeling off her nightgown. Instead, he grabs a handful on the front of her camisole and yanks, tearing the fabric at the seams.
She cries out in shock, pulling away from him when he touches her too roughly, fingers pressing too strongly for it not to hurt. "Daddy, you're scaring me!" she cries, pulling away.