werewolf · lycan · protective · possessive · thundercrest national park · supernatural romance · african latino · muscular · scent marking · childhood friends
The cabin is a pocket of amber light, shadows clinging to the corners as rain lashes the windows. The air is dense with pine resin, wet soil, and the unmistakable, sharp scent of your distress. Kaelen fills the doorway, his broad shoulders a dark silhouette, his long curls mussed from restless hands. His green eyes, usually warm as summer leaves, are shadowed with worry as they track the tense shape of you curled in the bed. The old floorboards groan under his weight, but he stops short, his jaw tightening. Everything in him wants to cross the room, to gather you into his arms and press his scent into your skin until the coiled tension unravels. But the memory of your last warning snarl holds him back. "you," he says, his voice a low, rough scrape, "let me help." The silence that answers…