Sarina blinked away the wetness in her eyes, stunned. He'd said please. He'd begged. The action, the words were so surprising that Sarina gaped openly at Vane. But a moment later, her stomach convulsed, needing the one thing that he could give her.

"I need you, Sarina. It kills me to see you in pain, kills me not to take you." He shut his eyes tightly and rested his forehead against hers, an uneven breath shuddering out. "Can't you feel how right this is? Let me inside you, lumara." He growled darkly, and captured her lips in a kiss that curled her toes.

A whisper so soft and gentle a mouse could hear it. "Yes, Vane. Yes, please."

Vane drew back from her, stunned. Then his eyes closed and he seemed to whisper a soft prayer. When his eyes opened again and found hers, Sarina grew hot at the scorching look he gave her. A look that said you are mine and about fucking time.

A hot hand found her thigh and pushed her open. He kissed a hot path down her neck and across to the other side as pulled his hips back and positioned his cock at her creamy entrance. Gone. That's what he was.

He groaned her name as his hips pushed, only the tip going in. Sarina gasped at the sensation. He stopped and looked down at her, his eyes swirling with need and something else.

Vane pushed in another inch, then another before he hit a soft, resisting barrier. He wanted to throw back his head and howl his claim on this woman. Let the world know whose mate this was. Instead, he pressed the tips of his fingers onto her soft, very wet clit and rubbed it in slow circles.

His touch was like electricity through her body, zapping her in places she'd never felt before. Her nails scored his back as her hips lifted in short, jerky movements.

"Please, Vane. Please." This time she was the commander, he was the subordinate, listening, and obeying commands, for he gripped the pillow by her head tightly in a fist and thrust.

The barrier fell without easily under his strength, and Sarina gasped. Vane held himself still, even as sweat formed over his brow and pooled down his neck. He'd never had a virgin before, didn't want to hurt her. But then she did something that surprised the hell out of him.

She pulled his lips down and kissed him with a mesh of tongue and teeth that would have made his hips rock in need, if he didn't forcedly hold still. Then, she wrapped her legs around his thighs and pulled him deeper inside. He was lost completely in her sex, her intoxicating heat.

Christ, she wrapped around him so tightly. Her cunt was soft, wet, and clung to his cock like vise. The feeling was almost enough to make him come. A few strokes and he’d be done for. He had to make her come first.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Vane scrambled off Sarina at the loud knock. He stood in front her, legs open, ready to fight. The door burst open with an explosion of splintered wood.

Vane let the rage of his beast release inside him. Physically he grew bigger, taller, stronger. His senses went sharper, more focused, clearer. He could smell several of them, all lykaens, all male. Vane growled. He would protect his mate.

Five males, one dressed differently from the others marched into the cabin, Vane heard Sarina gasp and duck behind him and mutter "oh no." Vane recognized the last man. King Brunes, Sarina's father.

Sarina trembled against his back, her wet tears coating his cooling skin. He was going to plow his fist into each and every one of these cocksucker's faces for making her cry. Especially him.

"Sarina, get over here now. We're leaving. And you, who the hell are you, and what have you done to my daughter?" Her father pointed a shaking finger at Vane.

"I am Vane Kategan, Alpha of the Midwest pack of Kategans. Sarina is not leaving with you. She is mine."

The King's eyes glowed for a moment and his hands curled into pale fists. He and Vane stared at each other, locked in a visual, aggressive battle between two Alphas fighting over what they wanted.

"Sarina, I said to get over here now!" the king shouted. His men took a step forward.

"I should go," Sarina said weakly, and stepped around Vane.

Vane grabbed her by the shoulders. "You are not leaving me. You are my mate."

"You mated with this male!" the King exploded, his face turning a deep red.

"No! No, not yet. We were in the middle...What I mean is, we didn't...he didn't..." Sarina's soft voice trembled and faded away. Tears fell down her face and over her chin, wrenching Vane's heart like he was being stabbed in the heart. He grabbed her and hugged her to him.

"I will fight, King Brunes. I will fight for what is mine." The calm, deadly tone had Sarina stiffening in his arms. She started shake her head no, but Vane ignored it.

"Then at least we have that in common, Vane Kategan. Men, attack!"

"Father, wait!" Sarina shouted. The sound startled every man in the room. She took a pleading step towards her father, her arms open wide. "Please, father, I love for him. I w-would choose him as my mate. He is worthy." The last word drifted off, not be heard by anyone but Vane, as her father's roar shook the windows in the cabin.

"Kill him!"

The king's men sprang, grabbing Sarina and thrusting her behind the wall of their bodies. Vane shouted, his arm reaching out but grabbing only air. The men closed in with fists and hard booted feet.

Must get Sarina. He chanted the words over and over, even as his fist connected with a jaw, his foot with another's knee producing a loud crack. Blood was roaring in his ears. A hard fist slammed into his gut, but he didn't feel any pain. Vane punched the first man in the face and he fell heavily to the ground. The third man came at him from behind, trying to lock him in a hold, but Vane ducked and slammed his elbow into the man's face in an explosion of blood.

"Sarina!" he yelled, then cracked the last guard in the gut with three quick, hard jabs. The man groaned and collapsed to his knees. Vane sprinted out of the cabin and after Sarina.

The car door slammed shut and sped away in a cloud of gravel, dirt, and smoke. Over the gunning of the engine, he could hear her voice screaming his name.

He fell into a hard sprint, his legs eating up the distance between him and the car. But then the engine roared and the distance between them got further and further apart. Until the car whipped around the bend and sped off down the road.

Vane stopped running, his steps faltered, and he tripped over some rocks, barely managing to right himself. His breath exploded from his lungs in sharp, burning bursts of air. His heart tightened until he was sure it was bleeding in his chest.

He had failed. He had failed miserably. And now she was gone.

"Sarina," he whispered, his throat tight.

Three days passed and still Sarina couldn't stop the tears from coming. The pillowcase beneath her face was wet, and she was exhausted from the whole situation.

The large mansion no longer felt like her home. She felt like an alien in a foreign world. Her father refused to speak to her. Although she got the hint that he was more than a little angry after he gave her a personal guard, installed cameras in her room, and took out the phones and internet.

She had no way to communicate with the outside world. To try to find Vane. She sighed, made herself sit upright, and pushed the shaggy hair out of her face. Oh, how she missed him. Without him, she felt as though a piece of her was missing. And it hurt missing that piece, God did it hurt.