Ronan gently nudged Vivian's with his snout, releasing a very low-pitched growl to indicate that she should climb onto his back.
Shyly, the she-wolf walked around to his side and mounted his large, strong back. She slung the bag of supplies over her shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly; the fur was softer and fluffier there.
Ronan's Lycan smelt like pinewood and the earthy scent of rain after a storm.
His scent was organic and brought to mind the woods, which meant home to Vivian and her half-wolf heritage.
Perhaps his Lycan just might become her safe space.
Hold on tight.
Ronan's advice echoed through her mind.
Don't let go of me even for a second.
How was the Lycan Alpha able to speak directly into her mind?
Because you're mine.
A gruffer and more husky voice sounded this time, stronger than Ronan's. It washed over Vivian in tingles running down her spine, making her wrap her arms tighter around the Lycan Alpha's neck.
When Ronan ensured that she was secure on his back, lowered his body into a predatory stance before bolting off into the forest. His Lycan claws shredded leaves and shrubs, even slicing through roots and wood on the forest floor.
Vivian clung to him for dear life, not daring to loosen her grip for even a second.
After some time, she managed to find her bearings while he sprinted faster than any shifter she'd seen running through terrains riddled with obstacles. Ronan seemed accustomed to the landscape, almost as if he knew every tree and rock at the back of his mind just as they came into view and on his path.
And although Vivian was unsure of riding on the Lycan Alpha's back before their departure, she'd never felt such sweet freedom as the spring zephyr breezed through her hair. She smiled, emerging from the cage her pack imprisoned her behind over the years.
Ronan sensed her heartbeat thumping louder and faster than before; however, this time it was from excitement rather than fear.
Later in the evening, Vivian clambered off Ronan's back when they halted beside a babbling brook. The Lycan shifted back into his human skin, retrieving the backpack from her hands and they walked together, side by side, along the brook so they could converse.
Ronan ensured she walked on the softer side where the grass was finer and wouldn't injure her bandaged feet.
"Where are we headed?" Vivian asked, her gaze focused on the ground so she could keep watchful eye out for any stones or anything else dangerous that might injure her feet. "I know you said north, but what's North?"
"We're headed to Sabre Coven," Ronan replied, and Vivian stopped and shuffled her feet backwards; a look of unmasked fear turned her face pale.
Ronan slipped his arm around her waist to prevent her from moving further away. She gasped, swallowing anxiously as she observed the amber glow prominently resurface in his intense eyes.
"Don't run from me, little wolf," Ronan warned curtly with a voice much deeper and intimidating than before. "Don't make me chase you down like a frightened rabbit."
His words elicited a frown from Vivian, making her cease her struggles to escape him.
"I'm not a rabbit," she insisted with a hint of annoyance.
"You look like one right now, with those huge eyes," Ronan countered, looking around for a solid surface. He lifted her up from under the arms when he spotted a boulder near the brook, carrying the she-wolf over to the boulder to make her stand on it.
Good, now she was at eye level with him.
"If you had pointy ears, they'd be straight up," Ronan teased, smirking slyly to make matters worse.
Vivian rolled her eyes. "And if I had a tail, that's all you'd see as I hopped away."
Ronan took a slow step towards Vivian until he was a few inches away because of the boulder separating them. His hand snaked around the she-wolf's waist, trailing down her back to grope her ass.
Vivian's hand immediately flew to her mouth in surprise when he pulled her forward to lean on him. She could feel the heat of his hands seeping through her makeshift skirt, making goosebumps pebble along her skin.
"No tail," Ronan rumbled, squeezing harder as if to prove his point. His mischievous smirk never left his expression, nor did the amber glow in his eyes. "And if you did have a little cottontail, I'd bite it right off and make you cry."
"Why are you so mean?" Vivian pressed her lips together in an adorably angry way, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'd hop away so fast, you would never see me."
"No chance of that happening, little wolf. You'd be in the middle of my hand before your tiny rabbit feet leaped off the ground." Ronan was so very sure of his ability to recapture her effortlessly. She would never gain the chance to outrun him.
"Why are you taking me to a coven? Wickans did this to me." Vivian steered the conversation back on track and the amber glow in Ronan's eyes faded; he released her when it did and stood with his arms folded.
"And they're the only ones who'll be able to help. No shifter knowledge is going to cure this."
"But...what if they think I deserve it? What if they make things worse?" Vivian expressed her scepticism and fear, unwilling to crawl her way back into the hands of despicable Wickans.
"Sabre Coven have long been friends of mine," Ronan reassured her, speaking in a gentle and convincing tone. "They won't harm you. It would be against their own nature."
Vivian scowled. No amount of reassurance was enough to convince her that any kind of Wickan wouldn't possess any ill-bearing intentions. Witches were spineless and unforgiving. They showed no implications of mercy to anyone and would readily curse an entire bloodline within a heartbeat unremorsefully.
"I thought it was against all Wickan natures until Eswtood Coven did this to me," Vivian remarked bitterly, haunted by the agony of the fateful day Wickans captured and tormented her.
"How much do you remember?" Ronan questioned with a hint of sympathy in his voice, his eyes softening.
"All of it. I passed out once or twice, for a few minutes," Vivian related from memory, wrapping her arms around herself when her body shuddered from remembering the trauma. "They did something to stop me from shifting and it made me feel too weak to even lift my head."
Ronan lifted her from the waist to bring her down from the boulder, his arms protectively wrapping around her.
"This shouldn't have happened," the Lycan growled, gnashing his teeth together when he imagined the unbearable tortures she must have endured.
"But it did," Vivian answered, jaded, her voice muffled against his chest. "So what's the use in talking about it?"
The skies above them began to darken and the prominent scent of rain hung thick in the air.
"We need to find shelter for the night," Ronan said, sweeping her up into his arms. "I know a place near here."