Damn it all, was Lazarus's final thought at the end of the night.

The whole day he tried to tell Sophia that he was a wolf shifter, but who would have thought that his greatest enemy would be his own family. He took her away multiple times and each time someone had to disturb them. At one point, he stole her away just to test his own family and they proved him right. By the time they all gathered for dinner, his head was throbbing with frustration because he was about to murder his own damn pack.

Dinner ended quickly. Ronin got Marcello to clean the kitchen with him but even then, Lazarus didn't get Sophia alone with him. Ashley and Rosalie took her to plan the baby shower. Lazarus gave up and admitted defeat for tonight. Climbing up the stairs, he saw Sophia coming out of Ashley's room towards him, he wondered if they could finally spend some time together alone, but he didn't get his hopes too high.

"Are you finished planning the baby shower?" he asked her.

"Oh, no we're not," she told him.

Of course, he groaned inwardly and climbed the final step.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Perfect," he said through gritted teeth that he wanted to use to rip into people's throats out.

"Really, because you've been wanting to tell me something all day and it's got you tense," Sophia alleged.

Lazarus caught her tender eyes on him. "Nothing's wrong," he reassured hoping that when he told her the truth that nothing would be wrong. Wishful thinking, maybe.

"I'll finish up with Ashley and Rosalie and then we can talk," she offered.

"Okay," he gave a brief smile to cover his glower.

Sophia left him alone and he went to his room.

Closing the door behind him, he stripped off his shirt and discarded it on the chair before he went over to the balcony and stood under the night sky. The moon was out and he felt as if it mocked him, but that's how it always was for Lazarus. He never had a bond with the moon the way other wolves did. To him, this moon wasn't consolation, instead it reminded him of the nights he spent locked up in that cage at the Petrov mansion. From inside his cage, he could see the moon free, shining brightly, looking down on him. Even now, it was free in the sky while Lazarus was stuck between telling Sophia the truth and the fear that followed. He had decided to tell her today, but even that simply plan hadn't worked out in his favour. Looking up at the moon, he remembered that nothing was in his favour for a long time.

Irritation poked him like a thorn at his side, he left the room and went outside for a run to burn off every ill thought out of his mind before he slept.

The night air was crisp and cool against his bare skin as he walked across the large field into the woods. As his home became smaller and smaller behind him, he didn't stop in his tracks that was guided by the soft glow of the moon. Everything around him was a dark shadow, except his own body, but the swaying trees and rustling of leaves never frightened him. He found the darkness of the forest his companion.

Without hesitation, he started off down the rough terrain and ran until sweat covered his body and his breath was ragged, his heart pounding in his chest. He came to a stop near the pond and found himself wanting to take a dive. Transforming into his wolf, he lunged into the pool of cool water that eased his aching muscles and took away the scent of the forest. His wolf stepped out of the pond after and shook off the water before he took his turn to run in the great forest.

It was close to midnight now, Lazarus thought. He could tell from the way the moon was perched high up in the sky. The breeze picked up; it cooled the heat from his body as he strolled leisurely.

-Sophia's POV-

Sophia waited in Lazarus's bedroom for him to come sleep, but he hadn't showed and it was almost midnight. After showering and putting on her nightgown, she went over to the balcony which the doors had been left open, she stepped outside and saw that the moon was in high spirits tonight. She sought comfort from its light, but always felt its loneliness too. There it sat up in the sky all by itself.

Sophia wondered about the wolf she met here and if he sought out the moon tonight. Would he be on a run? Or basking under the moon? She wanted to see him again and maybe Lazarus would be outside since the balcony doors were open... she left the room and quietly snuck outside through the back door.

Sophia didn't know how she'd meet the wolf, so she just started down the field hoping he'd find her. The forest was eerie, the leaves rustled in the breeze and the swing of branches sang slowly above her. The moon guided her, but she tried not to stray too far from the house. She remembered the path to the pond, so she trailed down that way. She should've brought a shawl, it was quite cold tonight. She shivered in the nightgown that only fell at her knees and had no sleeves only two thin straps.

She persisted down the trail, breathing in the deep pine scent around her, it lingered on her skin taking her thoughts towards Lazarus. He seemed troubled this whole day and he spent it trying to tell her something, but he wasn't able to do that. She wondered what was wrong or maybe she had done something that bothered him? Perhaps, she over-stayed her welcome now that the problem was solved and there wasn't an enemy out hunting this family. Or maybe he changed his mind about this relationship. An ache went through her chest like that thought alone stabbed her heart. She hated that she was worrying over this when he hadn't even told her anything.

Sophia found herself at the pond. She stopped in her tracks and looked around but found no sign of the wolf or Lazarus.

Suddenly, the breeze picked up and swept through the trees over the large field, she admired the dark blanket that glittered with stars over her and the collection of massive trees standing guard around the territory. However, as Sophia studied the view ahead of her, she remembered those dreams she had of her walking in a forest and reaching her hand to a beast that would meet her here. What was going on? she wondered. These dreams, why was she remembering them now?

A twig snapped under her foot when she moved, but just as a chill crawled down her back and the blood drained from her body, she went completely still.

From the cover of the night, a huge golden wolf prowled out of the trees towards her. She was surprised to see that wolf from the other night. He must have sensed her walking in the forest. She just hoped he remembered her because he appeared hostile from the fierceness in his eyes. Something was off, she thought. The eyes that she recognized were gone and they were dangerously charged with a blinding desire. There was a heat in him that made her own body yield into submission.

Sophia cautiously bent to the ground, planting her knees to the ground to let him know that she wasn't here to harm him.

"Hi," she said softly as she extended her hand to him. "Do you remember me?" The wolf's green eyes gleamed with recognition.

However, he didn't come closer but slowly began to pace side to side. Sophia wondered if he wasn't in the mood to be around people. She didn't want to bother him, so she got up not thinking of the consequences.

It happened so fast. One second, she was on her feet and then she was forced flat on her back with the wolf on top of her barring his fangs. Sophia heart jumped out of her chest and her eyes shut tightly. She was sure that her throat had been ripped out and mutilated in seconds.

A second passed and another right after, she could only hear the pounding in her ears.

Sophia dared to open her eyes wondering how she was still alive. She shifted her gaze back to the beast on top of her and saw sharp teeth barred down at her and his body pinned over hers.

"Are you angry because I was trying to leave?" she asked. The wolf's green eyes flared at her question and it cleared her suspicions.

Sophia couldn't help but smile at him. She reached out and touched his face, the fur soft under her fingers as she brushed his cheek to his ear, she noticed that he was a bit wet. He moved into her hand like he liked it, so she continued and touched his body. She just needed him a bit distracted so she could get off the ground. As she ruffled his fur and kept him occupied, she shifted and tried to get up but he barred his teeth at her again, surprising the wits out of her.

"You were fine that day we met," she observed. "What's got you in this foul mood?" The wolf gave her a gruff growl and put his paw on her stomach, it was heavy but she knew it wasn't his whole weight. This wolf may be scary but she wondered if he'd really hurt her.

Sophia swallowed her fears and tried again. She touched his fluffy ears and face that was glowering at her. "I want to get up," she asked. "Can you let me?" He stared at her daringly but she kept her eyes on his to let him know that she wasn't going anywhere. "You won't hurt me," she declared.

Sophia shifted off her back and he bared his fangs at her, but she merely laid a kiss on his snout surprising him this time. She was sitting up now and he got off her.

"What's wrong with you tonight?" she asked. "You're like Lazarus, he's in a strange mood too." The wolf's eyes flared at the mention of Lazarus, that was when she remembered that Lazarus told her this wolf belonged to him.

"Are you and Lazarus friends?" she asked then. "Can you tell me where he is?"

The wolf straightened with a scowl on his face, Sophia's stomach sank and gooseflesh rose all over her body, something wasn't right about him tonight. She wondered what he was thinking to have such a scary expression directed at her. The more she contemplated, the more she was convinced that she needed to run from him.

Sophia slowly rose to her feet, her eyes still locked onto his which followed her each move. A cool breeze swept through the forest over to them surrounding them with that crisp pine fragrance, however now, the sweet scent had darkened to a deep musk, it was as if someone had lit a fire and the smoke masked the richness of the forest.

A deep growl caught her attention and the wolf ahead of her stood a lot taller than before, he was on all four, his claws digging into the ground preparing to lunge at her. She lost herself to his smoky green eyes that shined with the flecks of gold in them, they were feral pits that ached tremendously with torment. Sophia didn't know what the wolf was going to do to her, but she needed to escape.

Sophia drew in a shaky breath, her eyes catching the masked pain in the wolf's eyes before she took off into the woods back to the house. She ran until her heart pounded in her chest and her breath was out of control, she didn't need to look behind her to know that the wolf was following her, but surprisingly he had kept a slower pace like he was teasing her. She didn't know why she thought she could outrun a wolf- especially this one.

Twigs snapped under her hastened steps and the leaves rustled as she pushed passed bushes and trees. Sophia tried to turn to see if he was still behind her, but a hole in the ground caught her foot, she slammed into a hard surface but it wasn't the ground.

Sophia opened her eyes and looked up at the wolf's burning gaze. No, it wasn't the wolf. It was Lazarus. The flecks of gold swimming amongst the green; she swore his eyes were identical to the wolf.

"Lazarus," she gasped.

"What are you doing in the woods?" his tone was strict.

Sophia didn't even hear what he asked, she turned around and saw that the woods were empty and there was no wolf following her. However, her heart wasn't put to ease, there was something wrong but she didn't understand what exactly.

"Sophia," Lazarus said her name softly.

Sophia met his searching eyes, he stood towering over her shirtless, his hair was a bit wet and hung around his broad shoulders, her hands were on his arms that were rigid and muscular like every part of him was. This wasn't the Lazarus she knew, there was something that she didn't recognize, it felt as if she looked at the wolf. An alarming gleam in Lazarus's eyes made her tense, she couldn't move even if she wanted to. He was powerful enough like the wolf and he could probably kill her. However, as Lazarus stared into her eyes, she felt the skin on her body melt and the nerves charge with an unexplainable desire that needed to be sated.

Sophia pulled her hands away and crossed them over her chest, he saw that like everything else he noticed about her.

"What are you doing out here at night?" his voice sent a shiver down her body and quivered in her stomach.

Those eyes... that wolf... this man... she pondered.

"Sophia, answer the question," he said sternly.

"I was searching for you," she managed to say, "but then I ran into that wolf- your wolf."

Lazarus's glower matched the wolf's now too. "Hmm," was all he said.

"He was angry," she told him. "I don't know why."

"It's because you didn't recognize him," Lazarus muttered.

She didn't understand, she recognized the wolf as soon as she saw it. "Lazarus, you're not making any sense-" that same dark fragrance swept through the air, but it wasn't the forest, it was coming from Lazarus. A pit sank in her gut, Sophia stepped back from him- "Lazarus, what are you not telling me?"

Lazarus ran a hand through his long hair, moving it away from his face, revealing his darkened expression that spoke a lot more to her than his words. Sophia looked around the woods trying to find any sign of the wolf who was with her just moments ago.

"You won't find him in the forest," Lazarus said.

Sophia was afraid to ask. "Why not?"

Lazarus's eyes were daunting, like steel blades ready to clash together. "Because you're looking right at him," he revealed.

Sophia didn't know if she heard correctly over the breeze, but she did hear him. Lazarus was that wolf. No, that wasn't possible. However, why did this answer console her heart. Why did all the worry in her mind get laid to rest when he confessed this to her?

"I don't understand," her voice trembled.

The moon must have vanished behind a cloud because darkness engulfed Lazarus, his huge silhouette was just a shadow. But just as the moon emerged from the clouds, the man she knew morphed right in front of her eyes into the golden beast. The wolf barred his sharp teeth at her and she couldn't even move her own feet, nothing would listen to her, she was frozen in her spot as she stared at the impossible become very real.

The wolf shifted back into Lazarus again. The man she knew stood in front of her, his eyes just as feral and beastly. This man was that wolf, she repeated that a hundred times in her head until something registered.

"How-" she didn't understand how this was all possible, "you're a wolf."

"I wanted to tell you when I met you," he said, "but I didn't know-"

Sophia felt as if two hands were choking the air out of her lungs by squeezing her throat. "Didn't know what?" she asked him to continue.

"If I could trust my pack's secret with you," Lazarus said.

She gaped at him. "Pack?" she astonished.

"Everyone inside that house is a wolf, Sophia," he told her. "That pup you met this morning was Evelyn."

Evelyn was a wolf too, she astounded. Oh god, the floor was slipping under her own two feet. But she had questions and she needed to know the answers now. "What changed then?" she asked him. "Why did you tell me now?"

"I trust you-" she stared into his tattered eyes that were honest- "but there's another reason I told you," he said. "You're my mate."

Mate, that word tore through her soul like it had finally been put back into her body as a full piece. "But I'm human," she couldn't believe that just came out of her mouth.

Lazarus's eyes flickered like twin flames ready to consume her in them. "Yet, you were picked for me," his voice deepened to a soft whisper.

"This can't be real," she took a deep breath but it didn't help.

Lazarus strode around her. "You've felt it... the bond..." he said when he reached behind her. "Every time my wolf comes to the surface, you can sense him-" Lazarus didn't touch her, but his voice was right beside her ear- "his anger, his pain and even his excitement when he's near you."

Sophia did sense him many times before. She always felt like there was something in Lazarus that wasn't entirely him and it watched her with interest. There were so many chances that told her the truth, she just never believed them.

"Why was your wolf angry before?" she asked.

"You didn't recognize him," he repeated.

"I did," she retorted.

"Not as your mate," he answered back. "You saw him as a wolf and nothing else."

Sophia's heart shattered inside her. "I didn't know," she mumbled.

Lazarus's strong arm circled around her waist, he gently pulled her into him. "I know and it's not your fault," his voice was tender. "My wolf is just a moody beast."

Sophia didn't know how it was possible for a wolf to bond with a human. However, this bond explained why she could never walk away from Lazarus when she knew that he lived such a dangerous life. This bond was what tied her to him.

"Was this bond how you found me?" she asked.

"Not at first," he answered. "At the bakery when we met, I couldn't take my eyes off you and my wolf told me why."

All this time, he was keeping this from her. But she didn't blame him, he may have recognized the bond with her but that didn't mean he could trust her with this secret. Except why hadn't her heart settled down? This was what he wanted to tell her from the day he met her. He tried many times but couldn't. This secret haunted him more than it affected her.

Sophia pulled away from his touch. "So, everyone is a wolf in your family?" she asked. He gave a curt nod and kept his eyes on her as he brought his arm back down to his side. "Even your parents?"

"Everyone," he gritted out.

She couldn't find her breath. "But then that means your wolf was abused too," she said more than asked.

Lazarus frowned. "My wolf protected me," he told her. "I count on him."

Sophia felt the sting in her eyes threatening for tears to fall, she turned her face away from him. "Can I see him again?" she asked.

There was no reply, only a gust of wind behind her that was a signal that he shifted again. She turned to face the wolf that was a part of Lazarus, her mind still couldn't fathom this sorcery, it was extraordinary.

The golden wolf stood in front of her, her eyes not seeing some random animal, but sensing the greater pull between them. This wolf had linked Lazarus to her. His green eyes that resembled Lazarus captured her heart and she realized that she was all his. Sophia went up to the wolf without fear or hesitation. She wrapped her arms around the beast's thick neck, breathing in his wild scent and found herself comforted. His heart pounding against hers, his soft fur engulfed her with warmth that only made her yearn for more.

"I know now," her voice vulnerable but assured, "you're mine just like I'm yours."

Suddenly, the wolf shifted and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. Lazarus's rough hand cupped her nape and tilted her head back locking their lips together. The kiss was a fiery rush consumed with need and hunger, he pressed her along his hard body, his smouldering heat taking away the cold she felt being in the woods in only a nightgown. His mouth moved over hers possessively as if she was all he could think of or feel.

Sophia's body abandoned her and surrendered to Lazarus.

He mesmerized her like the moon to a wolf- quite literally.

There was something dangerously pure about being somewhere deep in the forest on this full-moon night with Lazarus. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him until her entire being was sealed to his, it wasn't hard to let herself go, he just had this spell on her that made her yield anything she had at his mercy.

Lazarus's hand combed into her hair, he gripped it and pulled just enough to turn that pain into scalding pleasure that made her wet between her legs. She moaned into his mouth and he bit her bottom lip, a growl reverberating from him, and that furious sound shivered down to the centre of her stomach. He tilted her head back and his flaming green eyes appeared as if it was a ravaging beast ready to take her into the darkness with him. She'd let him.

He leaned down and laid his lips on the racing pulse on her throat; the small touch melted her. Sophia felt the touch of his tongue along the curve of her neck and shoulder, her eyes closed at the seductive sensation hoping that he'd never stop.

"You want to know what wolves do when they meet their mate?" his tone was gruff and sent a chill down her body.

She looked at his eyes. "What?" she asked breathlessly.

"We mark them," he said as his hungry eyes trailed to her neck like it was the greatest temptation, "binding our mate to us forever, and not even death can sever that bond."

Sophia felt the air get sucked out of her lungs. Mark me, she said to herself.

Lazarus's eyes snapped up to hers like he heard her thoughts or maybe she said it with her own mouth, she didn't know.

Something changed in him, that gentleness in his gaze vanished and his eyes were consumed with an erotic flame. "I need you to understand, Sophia," his tone was smooth and commanding, "once I mark you then there is no turning back. You'll be mine and I'll be yours until the end of time."

"I understand-"

"Do you?" he interrupted, his arm circled around her again and he pulled her back against him closing the space she had created. "I'm an animal, Sophia. Nothing about me will be normal especially when it comes to wanting you. Once I mark you, I'll be on you like the beast that I am. Is this what you want?"

She searched her head for any type of answer, but her mouth didn't listen to her and she couldn't utter a sound.

Lazarus put strands of her hair behind her ear. "Answer me, baby," he demanded softly, as he caressed down the soft curves of her hips.

"I- I can't think straight with your hands on me," she replied.

He grinned down at her like a sly wolf- that was literal now too. "I think that works in my favour then," he whispered huskily, as he cupped her butt pressing her into his thick erection that throbbed between their clothes. Her hands were flat on his muscular chest that was covered in dark ink. "I want to mark you," he confessed as he kissed her cheek down her jaw, he pushed the strap down her shoulder and his lips followed. "I want to come inside you and make you mine... only mine." Sophia's stomach fluttered with a storm of butterflies as she lost herself to his lips on her skin. "Do you want me, Sophia?" he asked before he laid his lips on hers and pulled her into a mesmerizing kiss that made her lose her breath and forget who she was.

Sophia didn't understand how anyone could kiss like this. A raw power drove him wild enough to consume her into a world of sinful dreams. He coerced her lips apart and stroked her tongue leisurely, like he never needed to be anywhere else.

Breaking the kiss, with a pained groan, Lazarus looked at her. "Say you want me," his tone was low and intense, "because I need you. I want you."

Sophia's heart ached. "But I'm not a wolf, Lazarus," she confessed.

"You don't need to be a wolf to bond with me," said Lazarus.

She shook her head. "It's not that simple."

"Maya," he suddenly said.

Maya. What a beautiful name, but who was she, Sophia thought.

"She is the creator and our goddess. Maya is the one all wolves are connected to," he revealed.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

Lazarus turned and looked up at the white globe in the sky. "The moon wasn't any source of comfort for me," he told her. "I was trapped in a cage all my life and this moon was free in the sky to do what it wanted. The moon haunted me for a long time and I thought Maya was the reason. I blamed her and hated her for everything because she never saved us."

Sophia shivered in the brisk air of the forest, but it was the broken look in Lazarus's gaze that ached through her entire soul. She would do anything to stop his pain.

"Lazarus," she called out his name with sorrow etched in her voice.

"Any wolf looks up at the moon and sees Maya," he said, "but I see you." He faced her with a firm expression. "You are my moon and I am your beast." Sophia felt a smile tug on her lips and Lazarus caught her too. "You know you want me too," he jested as he held his arms out in front of her.

Sophia did want him, she never said so otherwise, but it was more than that. She felt as if a piece inside her had finally been found. He called her his moon, but even the moon craved the wolf's howl. She craved his touch and needed his heart to be with hers. She could never imagine life without Lazarus, it'd be incomplete and empty.

"I want you," she affirmed. Lazarus's straightened to his powerful height when she confessed that. "Mark me, Lazarus and make me yours." A carnal desire flashed through Lazarus's green eyes, it made her heart skip several beats and her body shudder with the cold or heat- she didn't know.

The only thing she knew was that Lazarus heard her and he was closing the space between them, his eyes filled with an instinctive intention to fulfill what she had asked for like it was his duty.

"First, I'm going to take you inside," his tone was intimidating that it made her legs weak, "and then I'm going to fuck you until the sun rises."

Sophia inched back slowly. "You can't be so rough with me," she warned as a joke.

He shook his head. "I'll be gentle," he said, "at times." She gaped at him as her feet moved away a little bit faster.

"You're too wicked," she accused.

He grinned. "The thoughts that I'm having of you right now are a lot worse than you think," he told her.

Sophia saw the gleam in his eyes like before, but this time it made sense, it was the wolf in him that stared at her with such desire.

"Let him out," she insisted playfully.

Lazarus stopped dead in his tracks. "Don't play with me, baby," he remarked.

Sophia laughed as she didn't take another second before running through the woods back to the house. The big, scary beast pursued her vigorously, like he was taking her where he could trap her all alone and make her succumb to the darkest desires.