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There stood what could only be described…
As a beast from Hell itself.
Somehow I knew it was him.
Lucian.
He stared down Jacob with eyes blazing a crimson red and smoke curling from his nose, a terrifying mix of beast and human. He stalked toward us, claws extended, teeth bared, afurious growl erupting from his chest that rattled me to the very core.
He looked like some animalistic god, with the head of a wolf, and coarse black fur all over his enormous anthropomorphic body. Lucian could have been a hound of Hades himself—some otherworldly monstrosity straight out of Greek mythology, an avenging force of nature meant to scare mortal men into respecting the boundaries of the underworld.
And yet, all I could think of at that moment was…
That beast out of Hell was here to protect me.
And Lucian looked ready to tear Jacob’s throat out for the sheer audacity of insulting his mate.
Mate.
Where did that word come from?
Jacob noticed my gaping stare, and finally it seemed to register that maybe he should take a look over his shoulder.
And when he did, he was faced with the fiercest glare I’d ever seen from man or beast, made even more fearsome by the way Lucian’s wolf eyes glared with a fire that seemed brighter than the sun itself.
His lips curled up in a snarl, and when he spoke, his voice was low and rumbling like an earthquake. “Leave my mate alone,boy. Unless you seek to expedite your judgment from the Devil himself.”
When Jacob stood frozen in utter fear, Lucian continued with a snarling grin, “I can arrange such a meeting for you, if you’d like.”
That was enough to snap my ex out of it, and he scrambled out of sight with a little whimper.
Then I found myself staring up at Lucian’s angry, lupine face as he loomed over me, eyes filled with concern as well as fury. He lowered his massive frame down to my level, somehow going from a demonic killing machine to a worried puppy dog in less than a second. “Are you all right, Zoe?”
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I sunk into his fur to hug him tightly. He wrapped his massive arms around me and buried his muzzle into the crook of my neck as I breathed in his smoky scent, feeling safer than I ever had in my life.
When I finally felt calm enough, I pulled back and whispered, “Lucian. You came.”
He looked down at me from his great height, his wolfish face difficult to read. He took a step back, then lowered his ears, saying softly, “I’m sorry you had to see me like this.”
I looked up at him, somehow not scared despite his terrifying visage. There was something so calming and reassuring in theway he gazed down at me—like he would do whatever it took to protect me, no matter the cost.
He turned away, saying under his breath, “You must be scared…”
“No,” I insisted, reaching for his clawed hand and turning it over in mine. “I’m not scared. Not at all.”
He looked back at me, his ears perking up. “Really?” But then he quickly turned away again. “No. It wasn’t okay for me to take this form. It’s inappropriate, out in public. And for me to not make sure you were comfortable first…”
“You did what you had to. My ex was being a menace, as usual.”
His ears lowered again, and his fiery eyes squinted. “Your ex?”
“Yeah, the jerk who won.”
Lucian looked like he was struggling to process the news. “He won?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“Over you?”
