ground, eyes wide with terror and glossy with tears. The scent grew

a human, and in stark contrast to her glossy, ink-black hair. Her full lips trembled and a little whimper of t

neck and blood trickled ove

led, high and in

ma

d tackled her to the ground. She stared up a

seen before was this big! One of its paws was on her t

beast, but the sight only made her more afraid. Dirt and blood matted every i

was the most dange

ng to convey that she wasn’t a threat. Its

She’d never seen such beautiful eyes. For a moment, she forgo

er and disbelief. The voice was deep and masculine. S

here was only one creature she knew of that too

k as he removed its paw from her

w and almost t

king for his mate? He

kill me…” She plea

embled, “No. No. I would

f his sudden change in tone and d

ull weight of him dropped on top of her kn

ff her and dragging her body from beneath him. As she struggled free, the

d and down his neck. With a final shove, she shoved him onto his b

ng to detract from how handsome he was. He couldn’t have been much older than her. His jaw was sh

had he come from? She shook her head. THis situation was far b

It seemed escape wasn’t an option. She let out a cry of frustration and

he was, he was likely the most sought after man from

s his chest, oozing blood steadily though it certainly should have

and his breathing was barely a shallow puff of air rattling out of him as blood dripped fro

there was no way she could drag him there. She

d felt ridiculous. She struggled to her feet, finding s

her grandmother was here, but she had died five years ago, and Daphne had been living in the cabin

the village disapproved of which was why they lived in the forest. She hadn’t

call them witches. People said she was pretty and the fact that they lived in the forest was a p

d found out by accident when she was twelve. She’d discovered an injured fawn. It had been at

nted away as if it had never been injured, but she was grateful. It was

ds. They were horrible. There was a chance that the little aid she could give him wouldn’t be enough, but she was hesita

inced as he wheezed again and coughed up more blood. There was no help

her fingertips. She dropped her blood into the worst of his w

seemed more stable, she gav

ner than humans with or without help, so he wouldn’t

roaned before taking a deep brea

all fire as night fell over the forest. Satisfied that he would stay warm u

had already stopped bleeding. She had been a little upset to realize that while she could use her blood to heal others, it

the energy to eat, so she extinguished her cand

r mind kept turning back

y’d come from some sort of beast with sharp claws and fangs, but she did

ed to be just a facet in his ruby-like eyes. She shook her head, thinking it wa

as her exhaustion began to gu

ore she felt something. It wasn’t the

her bed, her heart pounding as the person moved throug

ked with as much forc