EX-HUSBAND'S REGRET: DIVORCED AND CLAIMED BY THE LYCAN KING

Niamhs POV His lips demanded entrance, and without a thought, I found myself complying. One second I was trying to save a dying man, and the next, he was devouring me. The kiss tasted like wild rain and storm; like wet grass, mud and blood. The tastiest kiss I've ever had. My hands were trapped against his chest, feeling his slick hot body mixing with the cool rain and the hard muscle underneath. I couldn't even get a breath in. My heart was thumping so hard against my ribs I thought it might actually break out and run away, leaving me for dead. Every instinct told me to fight, to scream, but he held me so tightly that I was at the brink of snapping. And then suddenly, I felt the sharp, unmistakable prick of fangs against my bottom lip. They weren't like human teeth; they were thick and needle-sharp. It felt like my skin would break but they didn't break my skin. Although, the pressure was there, as a terrifying reminder that the man holding me was dangerous. And yet, I couldn't push him away. Something was making me cling to him, in a way that made me feel not ashamed. I couldn't see his face but images of him taking him in the mud flashed across my mind. My palms found their way to the gashes on his back, and that's when the world went sideways. Under my fingers, his skin began to move in a frantic, bubbling sensation. I felt the deep, open wounds seal shut in seconds, the ragged edges of his flesh knitting together until the skin was smooth again. At the same time, the feverish heat left him. He went from burning hot to ice-cold in a single heartbeat, his skin turning as chilled as the rain hitting us. And when I found his cold body comforting, when I started to melt into the kiss and forget everything that had gone wrong in my life, the kiss ended just as fast as it had started. A deep, vibrating snarl ripped through the air, and suddenly, the man was yanked off me. Two massive shapes tore out of the trees, hitting him with enough force to send mud flying into my face. They were huge; the size of bears but shaped like wolves, with matted fur and eyes that glowed a dull, sickly red. The creatures snapped their jaws, lunging for the man's throat while he was still trying to stand up from where they had flung him to the ground. Dread curled low in my belly as I lay there in the mud, watching the creatures attack the huge man. "Help!" I tried to yell, but my voice was just a dry croak in the pouring rain. I scrambled backward on my hands and knees, my heart in my throat. The three of them were a blur of fur and muscle in the dark. One of the beasts sank its teeth into the man's shoulder, but the man seemed unaffected. He didn't even make a sound. He just reached out and grabbed the beast by its neck. Then, I saw his hands. His fingers changed into claws. Thick, black, long nails that looked like an abyss. With one violent shove, he grabbed the first beast with his claws, snapped its neck and then threw the beast into a tree with a sickening thud. The second one jumped at him, its mouth wide, but the man was faster. He swung his transformed arm in a wide arc, his new claws ripping through the creature's chest like it was made of paper. There was a wet, tearing sound, and then the pungent smell of iron hit me. Blood sprayed across the mud and grass, turning the puddles darker. In less than a minute, both of the creatures were slumped in the mud, their throats torn open and their bodies still. The man stood over them, his chest not even heaving as he stared down at the carcasses. He didn't have a single scratch on him. He slowly turned his head to look at me, his eyes still glowing a bright, molten amber. As I watched him stand a few feet away from me, the black claws on his hands began to shrink, his fingers turning back to normal, though they were still covered in blood. I just stared at him as fear gripped me. He's going to kill me and lump my body with the beasts lying behind him. Suddenly, it all became too much. My brain couldn't process any of it. The divorce, the slap from Evelyn, the rain, and now this; it was too much. The world started to go fuzzy at the edges. The sound of the rain turned into a distant hum, and my legs felt like they were made of lead even as I lay in the mud. I fought to stay awake, my fingers digging into the wet mud to keep myself upright, but the darkness was faster. The last thing I saw was the man walking toward me. Then, everything went black the moment I realized he wasn't wearing any clothes, not even underwear.