Olivia woke up the next day feeling a little strange all over, even her mind was a little confused because she thought she'd had too intense a dream, but she couldn't remember.

She didn't have time to stay and analyze anything, she got dressed because her to-do list was long today.

First, she had to buy a used car to take to her job interview.

The day before she had found an ad where they were looking for a teacher for a little girl, they included room, board and a good salary, come on, the ideal job and she would try her luck.

She drove into the forest in the old truck she had bought, looking at the GPS because they had only left an address and no phone number.

After more than an hour of driving, she finally saw a huge mansion in the middle of a clearing.

Cheering herself up, she called and said she was coming for the teacher interview.

Everything in this incredible mansion reeked of luxury and money, and almost everything was made of wood and looked like it was part of the forest itself.

Olivia spent about half an hour talking to an elderly lady who was waiting on her, asking her many personal questions and questions about her work experience.

She was extremely nervous because she hadn't had time to practice and didn't have much experience, but she was incredibly eager to work.

- Miss Mitchell, even though you don't have many references, we desperately need a teacher for Ophelia, so I'm going to give you a few days to try out. ....

- What are you doing in my house?

Olivia turned in fright to see a man standing at the entrance to the library, nearly six feet tall, brown hair, blood- freezing blue eyes, a stocky body and muscles in all the right places.

But as handsome as he was, his bad attitude and the menacing way he looked at her took all the charm away.

- I don't understand your question, why shouldn't I be in your house, did I do something to you, do we know each other for you to talk to me so confidently? - She bombarded him with a series of questions, not letting the big man intimidate her.

Lucian's facial muscles tensed, his mate's tongue was more than sharp and she definitely needed a good spanking.

No one in his life since he was born had ever challenged him like that.

Mrs. Brooke, off to the side, watched the exchange with amusement, liking this woman more and more.

She had already heard Lucian a while ago, but she was waiting to see his reaction when he smelled his mate in the mansion, and she was also very interested in what kind of person Olivia would be, because if she was the shy type, she would have a hard enough time.

- I don't know why you're here and I don't care, but I want you out of my house right now! - he said sharply, ignoring the frantic commands and curses of Lugh in his mind.

He was trying hard enough not to drag her into his bed and brand her.

Olivia didn't understand why she had aroused this man's anger, but his voice sounded somehow familiar and his presence, although totally intimidating and making anyone's knees shake, made her feel totally safe.

Something was screaming at her that this man, who was three times her size, would never hurt her, even though it was obvious he was going to kick her out of his house.

Olivia's chest suddenly filled with an unfamiliar sadness that she repressed, because this was not the time for one of her depressive episodes.

She said goodbye, thanked the lady who was clearly about to offer her a few days' trial before that Neanderthal walked through the door, and walked out determinedly without giving him another look.

But as she passed him, her mind finally remembered where she had heard him.

- Wait, are you that arrogant guy who threw my money out of the window like I was a beggar? - she asked him, craning her neck to look at his masculine, chiseled face.

- Listen to me, little brat, if you don't want to be completely eaten by the big bad wolf - he began to tell her, walking threateningly between Olivia's body and the wall, completely invading her personal space

- You'd better stop pretending to be brave and run away now, I'm still giving you a chance.

- And if I don't, what? - Olivia answered him with clear defiance, although she didn't feel so confident and brave inside.

But to say that she was afraid was also a total lie, she felt disturbingly excited and expectant.

- Otherwise I'll take you to my room and I'll punish you until you learn to behave yourself, I'll give you a few slaps on those tender buttocks of yours and even if you cry and beg me I won't show you any mercy - Lucian whispered to her in a low husky tone, charged with desire and something inside him was desperate for Olivia to really defy him again.

He was just looking for some foolish justification to remove the restraints he had placed on himself. Having her white skin so close and bringing his nose close to smell her hair drove him completely crazy and his jeans began to tighten dangerously at the front.

Olivia's eyes widened in disbelief.

How dare that man say those crude words to her?, he didn't know that this was full blown stalking, but the most disturbing thing was that she was dying to open her mouth to face him again and see if he really did what he promised.

She lifted her head and met Lucian's embracing gaze, something inside her melted and called out to him desperately, she knew for sure that if she played smart he would really punish her like he had threatened.

Why did her panties get wet, d4mn it!

She pushed him away a little and fled the area, her heart pounding like a drum.

She needed to get some fresh air, because she was really upset, and apparently she liked rude, ill-mannered men now.

Olivia climbed into her old truck and walked out through the barred door, which was already open. Lucian watched her from the window, with a monumental headache and sweating from all the control he had to exert over Lugh and himself.

This woman would undoubtedly kill him with a heart attack.

- You know you're just running around in circles, don't you? - he heard Malla, the housekeeper, tell him and he had realized how amused she was by his misfortune.

He didn't answer her and ran angrily through the forest in human form, for if he let Lugh out, it was almost certain that he would lay siege to his mate again.

Not transforming was also taking its toll on him, and though he could go a long time without doing so, his animal nature was too dominant and he would swear that he had spent more of his life in wolf form than as a human.

He couldn't go on like this forever.

As long as Olivia Mitchell was still in the city, Lugh would look for her any way he could.

He seriously considered finding her another life in a city far away.

Apparently she was a teacher, maybe a good job, in a safe place, and away from his biggest threat, himself.

Olivia was totally pissed off in the car, not only at the owner of the mansion, but at herself for all the silly sensations she had felt in her body.

She didn't understand why he rejected her when she hadn't done anything to him.

Was she one of those people who saw strangers as invaders of their territory?

Not that he was an animal and she just wanted to find a way to make a living and live in peace in this beautiful city, but something told her that confronting this man the way she did today would do her no good.

John had warned her, but like a fool, she did as she pleased.

She had made little progress when, amused by her ramblings, the car drove over a root that almost encroached on the dirt road, and with a jump and a jolt, Olivia almost hit her head on the roof.

The worst part was that after overcoming the obstacle, the van was completely dead and would not start at all.

- D4mn it!- Olivia exclaimed, because this was the last thing she needed, to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods, and it was already getting dark.

She didn't know anything about mechanics, so she didn't understand what could have happened to the old wreck of her truck.

She tried to start it again and it wouldn't even start.

Worst of all, when she opened the glove compartment to look for her cell phone and call the only people she knew and the only phones she kept, Noah or John, for help, she realized that she had left her cell phone at the ogre's mansion.

Well yes, when she went to the interview she took it with her and then in her quick escape, she left it in the library.

Olivia wanted to hang herself, how far a person's stupidity can go.

She looked at both ends of the lonely road and it was obvious that she was closer to the mansion than to the city.

Although her pride would not allow her to ask that insufferable man for a favor again, reason dictated that if she did not want to die eaten by animals, then she would start walking back to ask for help.

Sighing, she started her way back the same way, since she was finally in this situation, she tried not to make a tragedy out of it and enjoy herself.

She looked at the animals in the forest and the healthy, leafy trees.

Suddenly, she thought she heard a little girl's voice singing.

It was so sweet and harmonious that Olivia wondered if forest nymphs really existed.

She didn't want to be rash, but she found herself pushing aside the undergrowth and bushes of the forest to search for the source of this tender song, and soon, pushing aside a large bush that almost completely blocked her view, she could see in a clearing a pretty little girl of about six years old, with light brown hair, wearing a little pink dress, singing her childish song as she picked wildflowers.

She was so beautiful that Olivia thought she was hallucinating again.

She wanted to be a mother so badly that she was already seeing ghosts.

She didn't care if it was a fantasy or if she was dreaming, she wanted to fool herself, she wanted to get close to this little girl and help her pick her flowers.

But another detail she had not noticed made her stop in horror.

From her higher position, because she was sort of on a small hill where she had a clear view of the clearing, she could see a man hiding behind a tree, watching the little girl and aiming some kind of weapon, similar to a crossbow.

This little girl was not a fantastic vision, she clearly existed and was about to be wounded as she innocently picked her flowers and sang.

- Watch out!