Once upon a time, I thought Zhuliya’s contest submission was about the crossing over from one life into another.

Now, I know differently and can barely wrap my head around it.

The beautiful, evocative piece depicts death, but nothing like I thought. ‘La petite mort’—the little death—alludes to a person’s orgasmic experiences.

What Zhuliya suggests is that she loses herself when she comes…thinking of me.

Any restraint I thought I had evaporates into thin air. My mate needs to run from me now before I take her like the animal I swear I won’t be.

But am.

“Get out!”

I force the words to form because I have to warn her, but instead of running, Zhuliya stares at me with concern.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Hurry, soyam, before I lose control!”

Gods, why doesn’t she run?

She continues to look at me, not moving—not even flinching—when I choke on a garbled howl of desire.

“No. I’m not going anywhere.”

The challenge is blatant in her tone, and the wild beast inside of me growls with sick delight.

“Do you want me to hurt you?”

She shrugs like it’s not a real worry. “Maybe.”

Her blasé attitude takes me off guard, calming some of the sexual frenzy riding my back. “Come here.”

It’s literally the opposite of what I just told her to do, but I can’t help myself. Everything inside of me is a jumbled mess of need.

Now Zhuliya moves, but it’s not where I want. Instead, she rips open the curtains of our cabin and unlocks the door before turning.

She crosses her arms over her chest and smirks. “Make me.”

Then, before I can process her smartass remark, Zhuliya flings open the door and sprints down the narrow walkway of the train car before disappearing into the next one.

I sit there for a moment, hard as stone, confused at what just happened—and then it clicks.

That little brat.

My mate wants to play like back at the hotel. It takes me all of thirty seconds to make a decision.

Fuck it—if she wishes me to chase her, then I’ll hunt her down.

I shove out of my seat and burst into the hall. Luckily, no one is around to block my path as I barrel into the next rail car.

Inhaling deeply, I follow her scent, not needing to use the link in our bond. Zhuliya’s aroma is floral, spiked with her arousal, and I hiss when another male sticks his snout out to sniff.

“Mine,” I snap.

The Arctic werewolf snarls at me in challenge, and I unhinge my jaw, prepared to swallow the beast whole if he thinks he can go after my mate.

He scrambles back when I advance, muttering under his breath that he didn’t mean anything by it.

I shove him into his cabin and slam the door shut before taking off as fast as I can in the narrow passageway. Who knows how many monsters are on this train, smelling my mate.

The Transsib only recently became available for monsters, not even a whole decade ago. I can’t be the reason we’re all banned because I couldn’t control myself.

Dashing through five more cars, I finally come to one full of luggage. Zhuliya’s unique fragrance is strongest here, but I don’t see my mate.

The whole railcar is thick with her need, nearly suffocating, and I start knocking down stacks of bags to find her.

As one small mountain topples over, I hear a muffled shriek before Zhuliya tries to sneak back the way she came.

I lunge forward and wrap an arm around her midsection, taking my mate down to her knees until she’s on all fours.

She’s unable to crawl away because of my hold, and I yank the soft material of her pants down until her pretty pussy glistens at me through the lace of her underwear.

Over the flimsy material, I scrape my tongue up the seam of her pink lips, pushing hard to squeeze out the drops of her arousal into my mouth.

Zhuliya cries out at the contact, and through our bond, I feel her desire spike. It slams through me, feeding into my frenzy of lust.

“You’re a naughty, little thing, aren’t you?” I growl into the heat of her pussy.

She mumbles something, and I swat at the rounded globe of one ass cheek. Wetness drips from her core and down the insides of her thighs, confirming how very naughty she is, indeed.

“Do you like it when I spank you?”

I smack her ass again, not needing an answer. Everything is rhetorical, meant to heighten her pleasure as well as mine.

My stoyuk throbs in the confines of my pants, and I pull it out, gripping the base tightly so I don’t come all over my mate’s luscious body.

“Do you like it when I lose control and act like an animal?”

I reach forward to yank her head back with her long rope of black hair until our gazes collide.

My question is, again, declamatory, but I can’t help but shake her gently in the hopes she’ll realize her folly.

“Yes! I love it when you’re rough and throw caution to the wind!”

“Foolish human, don’t you know I can hurt you if I do that?!”

Zhuliya’s head slams down, despite my hold, and I immediately let go so I don’t do the very thing I just warned her against.