Dimitri’s claws tore through the asphalt as he raced down the abandoned highway, his white fur gleaming like fresh snow under the blood-red moon. The melody of "I Want to Be Yours" pulsed through his mind, a hypnotic rhythm that matched the pounding of his heart. Each note was a promise, a declaration of what would soon be.

She’s already mine, he thought, his lips pulling back to reveal gleaming fangs. She just doesn’t know it yet.

The scent of decay hit him before the zombies appeared, a horde spilling from the broken storefronts, their mutated forms lumbering toward his path. Dimitri didn’t slow. His nullification magic surged forward, a ripple of invisible energy that made the air shimmer. The first row of creatures collapsed as if their strings had been cut, their twisted bodies crumpling to the pavement.

"Pathetic," he growled, leaping over their fallen forms.

Behind him, he could sense Leaf Team and Snow Team struggling to keep pace. Good. They would witness his glory.

Let me be your vacuum cleaner...

The song’s lyrics wound through his consciousness as he vaulted over an overturned car, his powerful hind legs propelling him forward with supernatural grace. Another cluster of zombies emerged from a train station entrance, their vacant eyes fixed on him with mindless hunger.

Dimitri’s magic flared again, this time a concentrated beam that disintegrated three of them where they stood. The others he dispatched with his claws, revelling in the spray of black ichor that stained his pristine white fur. Each kill brought him closer to her. Each death was an offering to their future.

"I’m coming, my love," he whispered to the wind.

Hours blurred together as he ran, the landscape shifting from city ruins to sparse forest to abandoned suburbs. The moon climbed higher, casting eerie shadows across the broken world. Dimitri’s muscles burned, but the pain was nothing compared to the fire in his chest, the burning need to claim what was rightfully his.

Even as he killed, his mind wasn’t here. It was three weeks behind him, replaying the moment Felicity had laughed at something stupid he’d said, her fox ears twitching with surprise, like she hadn’t expected to find him funny. Like he’d caught her off guard in a way that delighted her.

That laugh. That single, startled laugh had ruined him completely.

"I’m coming," he whispered to the wind, and the words tasted like devotion.

Let me be your setting lotion...

The motel appeared on the horizon like a mirage, its neon sign flickering weakly. Dimitri’s sensitive ears caught the sound before his eyes confirmed it, a soft moan that sent rage coursing through his veins. Lucan, his team member, he KNEW he was her mate, sure, but fuck. he just wanted her; he could learn to share, but after the hours of running, running to her, he just struggled with it; his blood was burning more with jealousy than anything. Jealous that Lucan, that exile, got there before he did.

Dimitri’s pace quickened, his paws barely touching the ground as he closed the distance. He could hear them clearly now, the rhythmic creaking of a bed, Lucan’s grunts of pleasure, Felicity’s breathless cries.

No. No. NO.

His magic flared uncontrollably, shattering the windows of nearby buildings. The zombies that had been trailing him collapsed in waves, their corrupted bodies unable to withstand the intensity of his power.

"She’s MINE," Dimitri snarled, his transformation beginning even as he ran, his body shifting from leopard to man, his naked form streaked with blood and dirt as he reached the motel’s entrance.

Dimitri stopped. That would scare her. He couldn’t scare her, no. The sound of his own roar echoed in his ears, a primal sound that made even the zombies pause.

Dimitri’s chest heaved as he stared at his bloodied knuckles, the pain barely registering through the haze of rage and desire.

She needs to see me as her protector, not her monster.

The thought cut through his fury like a blade. He forced himself to take a deep breath, the scent of blood and decay filling his nostrils. The rational part of his brain, the part that still remembered how to be human, warned him that bursting in now would only push her further away.

"She’s not ready," he muttered to himself, his voice rough with emotion. "She needs time."

But the beast within him howled at the delay, at the injustice of waiting while another man touched what should be his. Dimitri’s claws extended again, digging into his palms as he fought for control.

Let me be your electric heater...

The song lyrics whispered through his mind, a reminder of what he wanted to be for her—her comfort, her warmth, her everything. Not this... this raging monster that couldn’t even control his own jealousy.

Dimitri sank to his knees on the cracked pavement, his white fur matted with dirt and blood. The moon cast its shadow long and distorted across the ground. He needed to be better than this. Needed to be the alpha she deserved, not just the one who claimed her by force.

"I’ll prove myself," he whispered, his amber eyes fixed on the motel window where he knew she lay with another. "I’ll show her I’m worthy."

The sound of footsteps approaching made him tense. He recognised the scent before he turned Ivan, the quiet wolf from Snow Team, moving with that silent grace that always made Dimitri’s hackles rise.

"You’re making quite a scene," Ivan said, his voice flat, emotionless.

Dimitri growled low in his throat. "Stay out of this."

"Felicity doesn’t belong to you." Ivan’s golden eyes narrowed. "She belongs to herself."

The words struck Dimitri like physical blows. He wanted to tear the other man apart for daring to suggest such a thing. Of course, she belonged to him. The universe had designed them for each other, had brought them together in this broken world.

But even as the thought formed, doubt crept in. What if she never accepted him? What if she looked at him with fear in those beautiful eyes instead of desire?

"I know what you’re thinking," Ivan continued, his tone softening almost imperceptibly. "But forcing her will only push her away."

Dimitri’s shoulders slumped. "I just want her to see me, the way i see her."

"Then be patient. Be the man she needs, not the beast you fear."