Anna is eighteen when she meets the man she's supposed to love for the rest of her life. The self-made millionaire is older, more experienced, and a lot bigger than her. She is even more intimidated when she realizes that he is a werewolf. She's heard stories about werewolves sharing their lovers and how huge they can grow.
She isn't prepared for him to be so kind and gentle with her, taking his time to make sure she is comfortable with every little development in their lives. Little does she know that he is only conditioning her to accept the changes to come…
~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~
Her guardian seems to know exactly what to do. "Be good, Anna," he says. He gives her a chaste kiss on her forehead and avoids her look of betrayal by turning away quickly.
She watches him go with wide eyes quickly filling with tears. Then, she turns to the man who is supposed to take care of her for the rest of her life. They're supposed to take care of each other. She glares at him. It's his fault she's here in the first place. There's six other girls in the facility that he could have chosen. Why did he have to choose her?
"Are you hungry, Anna? Would you like something to eat?" he asks, keeping their hands clasped together and tugging her along into the house. The automatic door slides soundlessly shut behind them and the locking mechanism clicks into place ominously. She feels trapped.
She is trapped. "I want to go home," she whispers.
His grip on her hand tightens and she yelps at the sudden pain. Instead of releasing her, he pulls her towards him until they are standing face to face.
She expects him to look angry. She's not trying to be difficult on purpose. It's just a huge change for her. She flinches and his expression softens. He doesn't look angry at all. A little sorry, maybe.
"Don't you want to stay with me, baby?" he asks.
She nods because it's what she's been trained to do, but she does it as sullenly as she dares. She wants to stay at the facility with the rest of her friends. He's a stranger to her. But even at the facility, they've made it clear that she's not there to stay. The moment she turns eighteen, she will be listed as a potential mate and be matched off to a suitable suitor. It just so happens that she was chosen the moment she turned eighteen. Some of the girls are there until they're nineteen! She hadn't expected to be chosen so soon. Myra is almost twenty!
"Are you afraid?" he asks, pinching her chin between his forefinger and thumb and coaxing her to look up at him. His eyes are like melted gold. They're beautiful.
She starts to shake her head again when he interrupts with a quick-
"I know when you're lying to me, Anna," he warns, his expression stern, but his grip on her chin is still light enough that it doesn't hurt and he's loosened his hold on her hand entirely, letting her clasps her fingers together in front of her.
She freezes, and then nods. "I'm scared."
"What are you scared of?" he asks.
She blinks at him, eyes growing wider, the blacks of her pupils dilating. "I don't know," she says honestly. She's afraid of many things, but she doesn't know if she has all the words for them. She's been kept alone for many years, interacting only with people like her, hucows meant for breeding and taking care of children. They can take all sorts of males are their mates, but werewolves seem to prefer them, so most of them end up having a wolf as a mate.
"Are you afraid I'm going to hurt you?" he asks.
She swallows and prepares to shake her head in denial. "Are you?" she squeaks after thinking about it for a second.
