Awakening The Silver Wolf

DARIUS POV 

I brushed myself off and rose to my feet. This was the second time this woman had swept me off my feet. It wasn't unwelcome, not at all. In the privacy of my own thoughts, I even admitted to liking it. 

However, I would never let that slip, not to anyone. My pack would surely think I'd lost my mind. Perhaps I had. 

Ravenna has unraveled my senses and made me a man with less reasoning. 

Training had always been a chore, something I endured rather than enjoyed. But now, I've found a new challenge. One that ignited my blood, drove me wild, and strangely enough, brought me a strange sense of peace. 

That challenge is staring at me right now, her eyes wide with panic and… fear? 

"Is this how you plan to kill me?" she whispers–yells. I wanted to tell her that there was no need to whisper. We were surrounded by wolves with sharp hearing. 

I bit down those words and instead said, "What do you mean?" 

Ravenna opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Her gaze swept across the pack, who were trying—and failing—to pretend they weren't eavesdropping. 

She turned back to me, her eyes narrowed. Then, she walked over, grabbed my arm, and pulled me away from the group. 

I fought to ignore the electric jolt that ran through me at her touch, the warmth of her hand on my skin. 

We put some distance from the pack, and then Ravenna removed her hand and faced me. Perhaps it was my imagination, but her hand had lingered. 

"This is your plan, isn't it?" she asked, her voice hard. 

"Again, what do you mean?" 

"Make us fight in front of your pack, I'll win and then the pack will see me as a threat because I knocked their alpha off his ass," she explained, her voice getting louder with each word.

I blinked at her. "Oh," was all I could muster. God, when did I become so stupid? I haven't even thought of that and she was right: my pack will see her as a threat. 

"Oh?" Ravenna repeated, an eyebrow raised. "That is all you can say, Darius? Oh? At least have a little honor in you and wait till the last week of our game before you try to kill me. You don't have to wait that long again. It's just two weeks away from here." 

I clenched my fist as I felt my chest tightened at her words. "I'm not trying to kill you," I gritted through clenched teeth. Then I added, "I don't want to kill you." 

Ravenna cocked her head, her eyes hard. "You don't? What changed? You were pretty vocal about it at the start. And all of a sudden you don't want to kill me?" 

Yes, I wanted to kill her in the beginning, wanted to rip her apart, but I didn't want to anymore. Just the thought of it left a bitter taste in my mouth. 

But I didn't say all these. There was no need. Ravenna wasn't going to believe me anyway. 

"My pack won't hurt you," I said. "Anybody who touches you will face my wrath." She was mine to touch, mine to annoy, mine to hurt. But I didn't want to hurt her anymore. I just wanted her. Wanted her so badly it hurt. 

This stubborn, beautiful, strong woman has me wrapped around her graceful fingers and she doesn't know that. It's good she doesn't.

"I'm not the one you should say that to, Darius," Ravenna said. "Tell that to your pack." 

I turned and walked back to the group, Ravenna behind me. They stopped what they were doing as soon as they saw me and turned to me.

"Ravenna is not to be touched," I shouted, pointing to her with my eyes fixed on my pack. "Do not even go near me. Anyone who chooses to be foolish and touch even a hair on her body will face me. And goddess help that person. She's mine." 

Laying my claim on her was the only way to guarantee nobody went against my word. Telling them not to touch her wasn't enough. There were some still goat-headed people who would go against my word thinking they were doing me a favor. 

And the way some people were eying her as if she were a cornered animal, ready to be hunted and torn apart proved that I was correct. But as soon as I claimed she was mine they lowered their eyes. 

They wouldn't touch what was their alpha's. I turned to Ravenna, expecting her eyes to have softened some but they were even harder than before. 

I arched an eyebrow at her, confused, but she only looked away from me and walked out of the field. I followed after her, picking up my steps to catch up to her. For someone who was five-feet-something she sure as hell walked fast. 

I finally caught up with her and stood in front of her, blocking her from going around me. 

"What's your problem?" she asked, her fists clenched. 

"I have none. What's yours?" 

"'She's mine'?" she replied immediately. "Seriously?" 

I studied her, seeing how her clenched fist was slightly shaking, how her eyes were losing some of their hardness the more she kept staring at me. 

I took a step closer to her, and she had to strain her neck to look up at me. I caught a whisp of her scent and it took all my will not to lean closer to her and inhale. 

"Yes, Ravenna," I answered slowly. "You're mine." Her breath hitched softly. If I wasn't close to her I wouldn't have noticed. "It was the only way to make sure my pack won't go against my order and harm you. They wouldn't touch what was mine." 

Ravenna wet her lips and my eyes fell to them. Will she hit me if I were to take those lips between my teeth? Will she fight if I were to capture her lips and devour them? 

Or will she surrender to me? Because it seems I wasn't the only one trying to fight this attraction. Well, I've stopped fighting mine long ago. 

I want this silver-haired woman. Wanted her more than I wanted oxygen. This woman that has become the bane of my existence. This woman that has filled my head and left no space for anything else. 

This woman that I wanted to be mine. 

"I'm not yours," she said, but it lacked her bite. 

"Hmm." I took another step closer, then another, until there was no space between us. Still, Ravenna did not move away. "You aren't?" 

"I'm not," she answered as her eyes dropped to my lips and stayed there. 

"Then forgive me if my heart has already claimed you as its own." 

I had not meant for it to come out that way. I didn't even mean to say that. But I didn't seem to think when Ravenna was involved. 

Ravenna's eyes left my lips and raised to mine. Her eyes searched for any teasing but I was damn serious. My heart and body have long since claimed her before my mind has caught up on it. 

Ravenna's eyes grew wide when she saw I was serious but she still stayed where she stood, where our bodies were almost touching. 

That has to be a good sign. 

I cupped her face in my hand and traced her lips with my thumb. 

"You don't mean that," she said, her voice low, her breath coming fast. 

"I do, Ravenna," I whispered as I bent my head closer to her lips. "I do."