Brutalized by a false mate.
The day my human self died in a watery grave, my inner wolf took over to protect me. For two hundred years, I lived, hunted, and survived as a lone wolf. Then a voice spoke to me through the wildness in my head, calling me to him. A voice I can't deny. The voice of my true mate.
He wants to claim me in the way of our traditions, but I fear him. I was claimed once before by a false mate, and it led to centuries of pain and suffering. I can't trust this new mate or the modern world he wants me to live in. So I'll hide behind the protection of my wolf until I can escape.
Exiled from my homeland.
I felt the moment my mate died, like my soul was torn from my body. So when I find her on my doorstep two hundred years later, looking up at me from the crystal blue gaze of her snowy wolf, I'm both shocked and elated. I want to claim my mate, but first I must coax her into turning human again, then heal the trauma that makes her fear me.
When I've made her mine, I will hunt down the shifter who dared to claim my mate and I will make him pay for every second of her suffering. Then I will return to my people and claim my position as their alpha.
Contains mature themes.