The sound of his voice sends shivers straight down my spine.

The tingling I felt earlier spreads to my toes, wrapping me in an electrically charged hug. I close my eyes tighter, unable to process what would happen to me if I actually got a good look at the guy.

He lets out a deep, breathy chuckle as his hand trails down my shoulder across my bare skin. The small strap of my slip falls, hanging loosely at my bicep. I reach to push it back into place, but his hand reaches up to stop mine. My eyes shoot open at the touch- his hand on my shoulder was good, like a deliciously slow burn, but our hands connecting sparked a wildfire between us.

I could only imagine how it would feel if other parts of us connected...

"Jesus," I mutter under my breath.

I didn't even realize I said anything out loud until I hear him laugh again. He lifts his hand to my chin, delicately turning it so that we're finally face to face.

"Shit," I breath out before I can stop myself.

The man is as naked as the day he was born. I knew that was a possibility given that his clothes wouldn't survive the shift, but part of me was hoping he would have brought clothes with him. I make sure to keep my eyes above his waist, but that only led to more important discoveries.

Like the fact that the naked man in front of me, my mate, the man who is supposedly bound to me for the rest of time, is none other than Maddox fucking Grimaldi. The son of Odin Grimaldi, one of the most powerful Alphas known to our kind.

If werewolf packs had a hierarchy amongst them, Odin's pack would be number one. There were hundreds of wolves in his pack and they were all heavily skilled in the art of war. It's what made them so feared, and yet, they were deeply respected by their own kind, and the witches respected them, too.

And my fucking mate was next in line to rule them.

"Shit," I say again, unable to formulate a complete sentence.

He smirks down at me, giving me a little peek at his fangs. He's even taller than my dad- I have to actually tilt my head up to get a good look at his face.

"Should I be offended?" He asks, but he's still smiling.

He takes a small step towards me and I step back. I need to be able to think clearly and I can't do that when his scent is so strong and his touch is enough to make me lose all sense.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that, it's just, you know, you're... you."

He quirks his eyebrow at me and begins circling me, eyeing me up and down. I turn around as he walks behind me so I can keep my eyes on him.

He is one handsome devil, I'll give him that. He's solid muscle from head to toe, but I guess that's to be expected when you dedicate your entire life to training. It's difficult to see without all the candles, but I can just barely make out dozens of little scars marring his skin under the moonlight.

There's a large, deep scar across his shoulder blade and I briefly wonder what could have possibly done that to someone this strong.

His hair is a messy brown mop of curls, but I find it adorable. Paired with the dimples that appeared when he smiles, the combination made him a little less intimidating. His eyes are a beautiful steel grey and they remind me of dark clouds and thunderstorms, my favorite kind of weather.

He's perfect, and by the look on his face, he seems pretty pleased with what he sees, too.

"I'm me..." he contemplates my words, stepping closer to me.

I don't shy away from him this time.

"Is that alright with you?" he asks, his face now inches from mine.

I can only nod up at him. Who knows what stupid shit would come out of my mouth if I dared to speak again.

"Good. I'm rather pleased you're you, too."

He closes the distance between us and places a surprisingly gentle kiss on my lips. He doesn't try to push it any further but I find myself standing on my toes, eager to return the kiss as the fire continues to rage between us.

It only lasts a few seconds, much longer than I anticipated, yet much shorter than I wanted. When he pulls away, my cheeks are flushed and my lips feel swollen.

"I'm not going to have sex with you," I blurt out.

I screw my eyes shut and pinch the bridge of my nose between my fingers. If ruining a moment was an olympic sport, I'd certainly take gold.

"Okay," he responds, seemingly unfazed.

"You're okay with that?"

I'm shocked, honestly. Most of the other wolves back there wasted no time undressing their mates.

"Of course I am. I mean, obviously I'd fuck you if you wanted, but we just met. I understand if you need time. Besides, we're mates. We have all the time in the world for that."

"Thank you," I say softly, smiling shyly at him.

A worried look crosses his face and he places his hand on my cheek again.

"You will do the ritual though, right?" he asks.

He looks up at the moon nervously- it seems like nervous was a foreign feeling to him. I follow his gaze, noting that we were definitely running out of time if we were going to do this.

"Let's do it," I tell him. "I certainly wouldn't want the future most powerful alpha going crazy."

We both laugh at that as he leads me back towards the ritual grounds. Under the warm light of the candles, I can see plenty of couples in various stages of celebration. Many had begun round two or three, while others were sleeping blissfully, entwined together and covered in each other's blood.

When I see a familiar head of black hair, I pull Maddox's arm and take a hard left in the other direction.

"What, too soon to introduce me to your family?" He grins.

I scoff to cover my embarrassment at almost seeing Ash naked.

"How do you know anything about my family?"

"I'm not the only one with a reputation. Your mother is one of the most powerful witches out there and your father has been a great ally to us."

I knew my mother was powerful, but I never knew how deep their connections ran. Or that my father aligned himself with Odin's pack. My mate had been right under my nose this whole time and I never noticed.

Maddox brings me to a blanket a little further away from everyone else. He slips on a pair of shorts that were conveniently placed there and we sit down. I expected the nerves to hit me full force by now, but I feel completely at ease here with Maddox.

He respected my boundaries, after all, he couldn't be that bad.

I pull the dagger from my stocking and twirl it around in my fingers.

"You ready?"

Maddox leans back against a tree, giving me a nice view of his muscles as he does. I bring the knife up to his chest and I notice my hand is shaking.

"Are you nervous?" He asks, eyeing the dagger wearily.

"No. Yes. But not because of the ritual. I just don't want to hurt you."

Surprisingly, it was completely true. The ritual didn't bother me anymore, but I didn't want to hurt him. It was a shame that I'd have to put one more scar on his otherwise perfect skin, but I guess I didn't have much of a choice.

"It's okay. One more scar won't hurt," he replies, echoing my thoughts.

I steady myself and with one swift drag, I draw the blade in a diagonal line across his chest, leaving behind a thin trail of blood. He continues to look at me, but I don't see any pain on his face.

Hesitantly, I dip my head down and place my mouth on the open wound. I expect it to taste metallic and gross, but instead I'm overwhelmed by cardamom and cinnamon. It's spicy and sweet and intoxicating.

It's entirely and uniquely Maddox.

"Alright, little one, you have to leave some of it in my body. Your turn."

His voice is rough with need. When I look up, his eyes are dilated and focused completely on my mouth. He lifts his thumb to wipe at the corner of my lips. I push my hair to the side and offer my neck up to him willingly.

I begin to regret telling him I wouldn't have sex with him as he pulls me onto his lap to straddle him. He grips my waist roughly, so different from the gentle way he held my face in his hands earlier.

He trails teasing kisses from my cheek all the way down my neck to my shoulder and back up again. I let out a soft whine and tilt my head further to the side to encourage him.

"Impatient little thing," he whispers.

Thankfully though, he obliges and bites down at the base of my neck. There's a sharp sting at first, and then, pure bliss. His hands move down to my ass and pull me forwards so that our bodies are pressed tightly together, nothing separating us but two tiny pieces of fabric.

I begin to feel lightheaded as my senses go into overdrive, and before I can warn Maddox, I black out in his arms.