A Heart So Dark And Lonely [t.n]

Chapter Four

    It felt as though the entirety of the forest was suddenly filled with it; the scent that triggered Theo's reaction. It caused his loss of control, threw his senses into overdrive. Blinded him with such excruciating pain that he felt displaced.

    Theo tried to calm his racing heart. He strained his hearing for any abnormalities while he tried to regain his bearings.

The pain had eased a little and it got slightly easier to breathe. However, with each inhale, the air felt intoxicated. It was making Theo feel drunk.

The scent was foreign yet familiar at the same time. As though it was stored somewhere in his most distant memories, obscured and distorted, yet he could have sworn he'd smelled it before.

In a dream. Or a dream of a dream.

He couldn't explain the absurdity of it. But he felt it in his bones. The way they ached just like his heart does. Just as it had been aching ever since he presented.

He ached with years worth of yearning.

With Theo's enhanced sense of smell, he could pick out the oddity from the woodsy aroma of the forest easily enough. The scent of burnt sugar and white chocolate was the source of his intoxication. But it was gradually getting overpowered by the scent of peaches.

Ripe peaches.

    He felt something stir in his abdomen and claw at his chest.

    Whatever it was, Theo tried to tamper it down as he forced himself back up on his feet. He frantically stumbled between the trees, in search of the scent that was drawing him in like a moth to flames.

His instinctive need to protect was growing stronger the more he narrowed in on the scent. It was getting clearer that what he was smelling was an Omega. But there was something off about it. Something wrong.

    What was an Omega doing so deep in the forest?

    Theo picked up his pace, fighting against the burning pain in his body. Fighting against the urge to shift.

Then he saw it. An abandoned cabin.

    He distinctly remember coming across this cabin while he was in his other form. But the memory of it was hazy. The front of the dingy cabin was littered with a few decaying carcasses of deers. All of them smelled of death and disease.

    Now he remembered.

    Theo might have been inclined to inspect the place if he had came across it while human. But in his wolf skin, he was reduced to his instincts. And every animal's instinct when they smelled disease was to steer clear from it.

An abandoned cabin wasn't a threat to a wolf. But to a human, it potentially was. Especially when there was an alluring scent that drifted out from a slightly cracked window.

    Theo bent to inspect the closest deer carcass, wondered what the cause of death was. If their source of hunt was infected, it could pose a problem for the village.

His sharp senses picked up a burning gaze on him. Theo's eyes snapped up towards the window and saw movement flashed by. He strode towards the door and knocked.

    This close to the cabin, he felt lightheaded. The scent felt like it was seeping out through the walls, wrapping around him. His bones ached.

"Hello?" There was no response. He knocked again. "I know you're in there."

There was a loud and alarming noise of something clattering to the ground, and then complete silence. But the scent intensified, and it was plagued with distressed pheromones.

Something in Theo seemed to snap.

    He repeatedly banged his fist on the locked door and rattled the handle. He couldn't rationalise himself. A voice seemed to ring out in his mind. It persisted that he should enter the cabin by any means and that he should stop the source of distress.

    Protect the Omega. She was in danger.

    When he still received no response, Theo rammed his shoulder against the wood and felt the door give. The moment the lock broke, it swung open and he stumbled inside. Theo's senses were immediately smothered by the overpowering scent.

The moment the scent hit his nostrils, Theo knew immediately what had felt off about it. Why it had felt so wrong.

His eyes knew where to find her. Her pheromones gave it away. She was cowered between a shelf and a table. And she was trembling, gazing up at him with frightened eyes.

Theo studied her for a long moment, taking in her appearance so that he could brand their first encounter into his memories. Every detail, every emotion, every smell.

The smell of her.

The smell of his mate.

    He could hardly seem to function with that newfound epiphany. The fact that he had found his mate at long last felt like it was premeditated.

Theo didn't even understood how he knew. He just did. In the same way he couldn't explain how he sheds his human skin for his wolf skin, but he could. As easy and factual as it was to breathe. As though it was second nature.

It was second nature.

And so was it in his nature to protect and comfort his frightened Omega. His.

    Theo tried to calm his loud thoughts and instead focused on releasing his pheromones. His intention was to fill the space with his scent, in order to calm his distressed mate. But it held the opposite effect.

    A keen left her quivering lips and heat slammed into him. Theo's mind was a heavy haze. He stumbled back against the wall, a groan escaping him. The calming pheromones he released into the air was sliced through by the heedy scent of his mate's arousal.

    By her heat.

    Theo had unintentionally triggered her heat by his foolishness. He should have known better. He cursed at himself internally, shaking his head to try and clear his mind. But the fog was too thick, it dragged him under the veil.

    He could feel his blood rushing in his veins and his hands shook with the effort to control himself. He couldn't see anything but her.

    Her wide eyes and autumn hair. Her rosy cheeks and freckled shoulders. Her plump lips - parted as soft gasps left her.

    Perfection reincarnated.

Theo murmured words of reassurance to her. It's alright. Don't be afraid. And kept both hands where she could see them.

He watched the fear and alarm slowly bleed out of her system. Calmed by his voice, his presence. But her heat was still strong and overpowering. He could almost taste it in the air.

They both locked eyes for what felt like eternity.

And all Theo could think was - finally.

But the moment he took a step towards her, she held a knife to her throat.