Dax
I’d watchedfrom a distance as the bullies closed in on the single buck and chased him in my direction. They must have known I was watching them because they put him directly in my path, like theywantedme to eat him.
The act was sinister in hindsight. If I had known they were shifters and not natural deer, I never would have hunted the buck. It was an insidious plot his herd mates had cooked up and I hated them for it.
But I couldn’t focus on them now because something else was pulling my attention like a powerful magnet.
Him.
The buck with the largest, most majestic antlers I’d ever seen. I knew they were large, but up close, they were impossible to ignore—his antlers towered over the rest, a feat of nature. An extraordinary sight.
It wasn’t just his antlers that left me breathless. The moment he spoke and we made eye contact, somethingchanged.The world clicked into place, and I hadn’t even known it had been misaligned before. The scent radiating from his body was the sweetest, most alluring perfume.
Was this buck deer standing in front of me my fated mate?
Did Hugo feel this way when he met Len for the first time?
If he did, I probably had the same stupid, lovestruck expression on my face that Hugo had back then. The buck kept staring at me like I was crazy.
I shed my wolf shape to become a man. Even in human form, the buck stood taller than me—not even counting his massive antlers.
I must have looked stupid gawking up at him the way I did. I wasn’t a man who usually went speechless, but for him, my body made an exception.
I had a feeling I was going to make alotof exceptions for him.
“You’re a shifter,” the buck said. His voice was deeper than I expected, tinged with a husky cadence in his deer form. It suited a creature as magnificent as he was.
“I am,” I replied, thankfully managing to form a sentence.
The buck stepped back from me before transforming into a man. He was tall, roughly the same height as me, with powerful broad shoulders and well-muscled arms. His face was kind but guarded, framed by thick brown hair. His dark eyes bore into me suspiciously.
Introduce yourself, idiot.
“My name is Dax,” I said. “I’m a wolf shifter who lives in the area.”
As I blurted it out, it sounded stupid. Why couldn’t I have thought of something more eloquent? At least the man didn’t seem too put-off by my comment. He searched my gaze warily but didn’t back away.
“I can see that,” the buck said slowly. He seemed unsure, waiting for me to make a move. Did he think I was still going to attack him?
I tried to smile to show him I wasn’t a threat and asked, “What’s your name?”
He blinked at me. “Morgan,” he finally replied.
Morgan.His name sent a shiver through me. It was the name of my fated mate—or at least, I thought so. Seeing as I’d obviously neverhada fated mate before, I could only imagine this was what it felt like.
But Morgan didn’t seem to share the same feeling. His cautious glare still spoke volumes of his mistrust for me.
The gravity of the situation hit me all at once. I’d just been hunting him down like prey. No shit he didn’t trust me. I immediately kneeled down and bowed my head.
“What the hell are you doing?” Morgan asked, sounding startled.
“I’m sorry for my earlier behaviour,” I said. “It was unacceptable. If I’d known you were a shifter, I never would have hunted you. Please accept my apology.”
There was no reply from Morgan. He was still staring at me like I’d grown two heads. In a way, I felt like I had. This behaviour was completely un-Dax-like. When did I ever throw myself on the ground and grovel to people, especially to strangers? The weirdest part was that I didn’t feel embarrassed for doing it. It seemed right. I owed Morgan an apology.
Blood rushed in my ears as my pulse beat rapidly. I didn’t just want Morgan to accept my apology, Ineededhim to. Something pulled me to him more strongly than anything I’d ever felt. It might have been frightening if I didn’t know it was right.
Morgan grunted in acknowledgment. “It’s fine.”
