Apollo

Apollo’s POV

My fingers balled into tight fists as soon as I arrived in front of the bar. I was stiff, all but snarling. My blood was heated as shock bolted through my body and I broke into cold sweat. An exquisite scent hit my nostrils. Orange blossoms and sweet spicy. It was so exquisite that my heart raced and adrenaline coursed wildly through me. 

My mate. 

Her pull was crazy. My stomach knotted and my throat became dry like a dessert. There was an aching need that suffocated me. My need for her. I needed her so bad that it hurt. Every muscle in my body became taut. Every second that I wasn’t with her seemed like eternity. It felt like a lifetime of torture. I wanted to howl in ecstasy. 

And at this point of time, I knew that all my nightmares and traumas would end. I had suffered from them for so long, on an everyday basis, that I was looking forward to end them all. Only my mate was the key to it. I wanted to run to her, and bury myself so deep inside her that I wouldn’t know where I started or where she ended. Surely, she must have also smelled me. Goosebumps pimpled my skin. 

I opened the door of the bar, one which my father owned, and searched the crowd in the direction of the pull that I was being attracted to. As soon as I saw her, my gaze fixed on her. She was beautiful. So beautiful that I stopped breathing. She had pale golden hair that was open and falling in cascades till her shoulders. She was wearing a maroon dress that showed her cleavage and ended at mid-thigh. I could see how long her legs were and imagined them wrapped around me in those maroon stilettos she was wearing. I assumed that she was shorter than me even in her heels. My gaze drifted to her plump bosoms and my dick twitched. Her creamy complexion, along with her large blue eyes that were staring at a couple who was kissing, informed me that she was envious of them. A gold chain rested between her breasts and I wondered what it would be to hold her hair from the back and take her. She dripped of so much sex appeal that it was impossible for me to stay away from her. 

“Mine!” my wolf growled, and we agreed. 

The moon goddess had made her for me. I wanted to look at her neck that was tempting me to bite her, to sink my fangs in her tender flesh and claim her. My hand went on my twitching dick and I rubbed it. 

My mate’s gaze was focused on the kissing couple. Why wasn’t she looking at me? A low, dangerous growl rumbled in my chest. The strong urge of her to acknowledge me overrode all my logic. I wanted her to see me, feel me, like I was doing it. Even the thought of her looking at me, hardened my shaft so bad that it was difficult to contain it in my pants. 

I walked towards her, trying to assess how old she was. The moment I reached near her, she casually turned her face towards my side and all hell broke loose. She looked so much like ‘her’. Shock blasted through every part of my body. My stomach plummeted and every nightmare that I thought I would lose henceforth, came crashing down with a hundred times the force. Her features were strikingly similar to ‘hers’. There was not a single day in my life that I hadn’t forgotten her, not a single night when I hadn’t dreamt of those days. This time my fists curled so tightly that my nails dug into my palms. I gritted so hard that my jaw ached. Fate had been extremely cruel to me. 

The entire family had disappeared after the trauma I was subjected to, and my father saved me. For sixteen years, I had carefully made plans every day on how to exact my revenge on them. My father had asked me to stop thinking about them. My mother had taken me to numerous therapists to calm my raging emotions, but even though I appeared calm on the outside, I was raging as hell on the inside. 

‘She could be different from her,’ my wolf nudged me in her direction, desperate to be with his mate and shaking me out of my negative thoughts. ‘Go tell her you are her mate. She can't sense us.’ Yes, I should give her the benefit of doubt.

I found myself on a bar stool beside her. “One single malt,” I ordered the bartender who was smiling at her. How dare he? 

She glanced at me and I couldn’t help but sit next to her. My need to touch her was turning unhealthy by the second. So, I sat next to her. I had to give her the benefit of doubt, but at the same time guard myself from further trauma. I loved how she let me be close to her. It was as if she too craved my touch. Yes, sweetie, those were natural feelings. 

She was new here, because I knew almost all the she-wolves of my father’s pack. “What’s your name?” I asked. 

“Natasha,” she said, as if regretting it the moment she spoke it. 

Her name was beautiful, just like her. It rolled off my tongue naturally. I wanted her beneath me like now, wanted her to submit to me. I wanted to dominate her. And the best part—she wanted it too. I could see it in her eyes. I tried not to remember the woman who reminded me of those eyes. Soon, we were standing inside the presidential suite of our hotel. “Are you a virgin?”

“Yes.” 

Thank the fuck. I lifted her off the floor and took her to the bed despite her saying that this was one-time fling. To hell with that sweetie. This was going to be permanent. And when I took her to the bed, she was so ready for me, so wet that my mouth watered. I wanted to taste her juices and make her scream. Perhaps this was her first time with a man. I couldn’t believe that I was thanking every wolf spirit for that. I could feel her inexperienced hold over me. Just a little touch sent her into a wild orgasm and my wolf growled with pleasure. This wasn’t the place to take her. I willed myself to be patient with my mate. I had to introduce her to my world slowly. So, I guided her to help me release in her hands. Yes sweetie, take my seeds. That would be my brand. 

She closed her eyes the moment she was spent, but I commanded her to look at me. And that look—it was my death. I came so hard that I must have come for the entire Black Moon pack. 

I slumped beside her and tucked her close to me. Mine. Every touch sent shivers down my body. I buried my head in her hair, inhaled her smell of orange blossoms and sweet spices and my nerves calmed. I kissed her temple. “What’s your full name, Natasha?” I asked, stroking her beautiful back. I was surely going to make more love to her tonight. 

“Natasha Volkov,” she murmured in her sleep and every fucking kernel of calmness evaporated from my body. I lifted my head up, my eyes wide. She was what my nightmares were made of. No. No. No. No.