Sorry for the delay on this one - between BFA launch, work and some rather annoying medical stuff I've been flat out. I hope you've all been having an amazing time in the new expansion!

Mature content warning ahead. Enjoy!

Auriana

Auriana rolled onto her back and wriggled her toes beneath the impossibly soft silken sheets, as the morning sun roused her from a long and satisfying sleep. The sunlight in Teldrassil was far softer than she was used to, filtered as it was through the upper branches of the colossal World Tree, though it was still bright enough to bring a gentle warmth to her skin. The air was brisk, but not cold, and outside she could see a gentle breeze rippling across the glasslike surface of the lake.

To her left, Varian lay sprawled across a good three-quarters of the bed, his mighty chest rising and falling as he snored. He lay flat on his back, his arms and legs splayed haphazardly, and he appeared to be blissfully unaware of the rest of the rest of the world around him. It was rare that Varian ever truly let his guard down, but it seemed that being in an isolated cabin dozens of miles away from any other civilisation was finally enough to allow him to relax.

Auriana watched him for a few moments, openly admiring his musculature and the handsome cut of his jaw. She knew every inch of his body as well as she knew her own - from the top of his unruly hair to the tiny scar that bridged the big toe off his left foot - and yet was still unreal to her that they were married. Not least because she had never imagined herself marrying anyone, let alone the King of Stormwind. Being with Varian, however, was as natural to her as breathing, and she could no longer imagine a life without him.

After a few minutes of lying still in silent adoration, Auriana sat up, stretching out her neck and rubbing a hand along her stiff calves. She'd worn heeled shoes to the wedding in a vain attempt not to look quite so ridiculous standing at Varian's side, but the effort of walking and dancing for hours had left her legs tired and sore. With that said, Auriana had never felt so genuinely beautiful as she had wearing her wedding dress, and she thought that some aching muscles were a small price to pay.

Auriana rose to her feet, moving slowly and quietly so as not to stir Varian from his slumber. Regardless of how loudly as he was snoring, she had learned long ago that he could be woken from a deep sleep by the slightest movement or noise, and she had to be very careful if she were to successfully wriggle free.

It took some effort, but eventually Auriana managed to stand and slide one of the silk sheets from the bed without rousing him, and wrapped it carefully around her naked body. She then stepped out onto the long, open-sided balcony that stretched out across the lake, being careful not to trip over her new sword and the various pieces of Varian's armour that lay strewn across the floor.

The breeze was stronger out here, lifting her dark hair and sending a few stray tendrils tickling across the tip of her nose. Faint birdsong echoed through the trees, and at the edge of the lake she saw a graceful doe and her fawn come to drink. It was an idyllic scene, almost reminiscent of a painting, and Auriana vaguely wondered whether she was still dreaming as she leaned up against a nearby column to admire the view.

From the position of the sun overhead, she guessed it was nearly midday, though the towering branches of Teldrassil made it somewhat difficult to tell. It was unusual that she and Varian had slept so long, and yet Auriana was very glad that they had. She had sorely needed the rest, not only because of the wedding, but because of the long, stressful lead up to the day itself. Varian had also been very thorough in making love to her, and it had been nearly dawn by the time he was finally satisfied that she truly knew what it meant to be his wife.

Auriana smiled to herself as she recalled the warmth of his hands on her body, and the thrill of him moving inside her. Last night had been both wonderfully new and comfortingly familiar, all at the same time, and she had never wanted it to end. Varian had a way of making her feel as if she were the only other person in the world, the entire centre of his universe, and as terrified as she was of the fact that she was now the Queen of Stormwind, she felt as if she could do anything so long as he was by her side...

"Tell me, Auriana, why is that I have awoken to find that you are not in my bed, where you belong?"

Startled from her reverie, Auriana glanced back over her shoulder, and saw Varian standing a few feet away with his hands resting firmly on his hips. He was completely naked, without so much as a sheet for modesty, and Auriana immediately felt her cheeks and ears blaze red. No matter how many times she had seen him bare, there was still something so powerful and so intensely masculine about his body that she couldn't help but to colour at the mere sight of him.

At the same time, however, she had no desire to look away. Varian's muscles were so well defined that they almost looked as if they had been chiseled from marble, and he moved with the deadly grace of an alpha predator.

"Auri?"

She blinked, and realised that she had been so lost in her admiration of his physical form that she hadn't really listened to a word he was saying.

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to answer my question?" Varian asked, the richness of his voice sending shivers down her spine.

"What? Oh! I just… needed to stretch my legs…" she mumbled.

"I see. And are you going to blush like that every time you see me naked for the rest of your life?"

Varian had clearly noticed her staring, but his stern expression gave nothing of his reaction away.

"Probably," she admitted.

"Hmph. Good."

Varian linked both hands behind his head and flexed, ostensibly under the guise of stretching his muscles after a long night of sleep. Auriana could tell from his sly smirk, however, that he was very much doing it to provoke her; to make her blush grow even darker and to make her squirm beneath the intensity of his gaze.

"Stop it," she muttered, trying to bite back a wave of nervous, excited giggles.

"Stop what?" Varian asked, his face the picture of innocence as he tightened the muscles of his chest even further, and very deliberately made his biceps twitch.

The movement of his chest had a rather interesting follow-on effect to the rest of his anatomy, and Auriana suddenly found herself struggling to look him in the eye. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

"Stop it!" she laughed.

"Why? Here I was thinking you thought me rather handsome!" Varian exclaimed, clearly doing his best to look affronted. "Am I mistaken?"

"Varian! No!" she protested, "It's not that. You know it's not that…"

"Then what?"

Auriana bit down hard upon her lower lip, trying to hold focus long enough to get her thoughts in order. Varian was not a vain man, but it seemed he was not entirely unaware of the effect he on her, either. He most definitely knew how to use his exquisite musculature to attract her attention, and it was only by staring up at the ceiling that she was able to speak.

"Something… something Tess asked me. When we were playing our little games on our night out…" she explained, trying her best to ignore the burning heat rising in her cheeks.

"Tess? Tess Greymane?" Varian repeated. "What did she ask you?"

"Well… we were - I was very drunk, Varian - and she asked… ah… how… um… big… you were," Auriana said, stumbling over the words as she gestured vaguely to his exposed lower half.

Varian blinked, as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard. His gaze turned downwards, and he stared at his own anatomy in mild bewilderment. For a brief moment, Auriana thought he might be angry or offended by Tess' brazenness, but instead he threw his head back and roared with laughter loud enough to shake the entire cabin.

"Genn's got his hands full with that one," he snorted. "I hope you told her the truth, by the way."

Auriana wasn't sure what she had expected him to say, but it hadn't been that.

"The… the truth?"

"Yes," he said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That I'm magnificent. Majestic. Eye-watering. Nothing short of godlike, perhaps?"

He scratched his chin thoughtfully, as if he were considering a very serious matter of state.

"Maybe that's going a step too far. How about we settle on… awe-inspiring?" he suggested, cocking one eyebrow and giving her his most charming grin.

Auriana's nose crinkled in delight, and she found she was smiling so broadly that it made her cheeks hurt. It was a rare and precious thing to see Varian so playful; so unencumbered by the trauma of his past and the weight of his crown. He was not a humourless bore, as so many people would have liked to believe, but nor was he typically irreverent. He was only like this with her, too, Auriana knew, for no other reason than because he loved to make her laugh, and she was incredibly humbled by his willingness to appear so vulnerable before her.

"Yes," she agreed, "I am in awe of you."

Varian's roguish grin widened, and he stepped forward to pull Auriana into his arms.

"Bloody hell, Tess," he chuckled, shaking his head. "Surely that girl has better things to think about than a man old enough to be her father."

"I can't really blame her. There's no one better than you," Auriana countered.

Varian laughed again, though the sound was not quite so raucous as before. The lines at the corners of his eyes deepened as he smiled down at her with unabashed affection, and Auriana's stomach was suddenly alive with eager, trembling butterflies.

"Hmph. Lucky for me, you actually believe that…"

His gaze grew heated, and he reached down to brush a stray lock of hair back behind her ear.

"Come back to bed," he murmured.

It wasn't a question.

"You're not done with me yet?"

Varian slipped a long finger into the crevice between Auriana's breasts, and tugged insistently at the sheet still wrapped around her naked body. It was a small, gentle movement, but Auriana had about as much chance of resisting his silent invitation as she would have had to resist a hurricane. The sheet slid to the floor, and she shivered.

"Oh, I am far from done with you, Auriana Wrynn…"

The days that followed were the happiest of Auriana's life. At first, she had feared that she would be unable to relax and fully enjoy the honeymoon. She was a person accustomed to doing things; used to always working, or fighting, or finding herself otherwise occupied. Varian was much the same, and she had worried that they would simply run out of things to talk about.

As it turned out, however, her concerns were completely unfounded. While she and Varian were both normally reserved people, when left alone in the wild without the pressures of duty or society, it seemed that they both had rather a lot to say. Even after all this time, Auriana was still surprised by how easy it was to talk to him about anything and everything - and how much he seemed to enjoy talking to her. Varian was clever and insightful, and his sly, sarcastic sense of humour never failed to make her laugh. During the day, they also spent time exploring the forest, sparring, and even swimming in the small lake that bordered the cabin. And at night… well, the things they did at night made Auriana's heart beat faster just to think about it...

Today, the sixth day of their honeymoon, they had taken a casual stroll out into the forest, before settling down in a small clearing so that Auriana might practice her archery skills. They were not short on food, Varian having killed a solid buck on their first full day in Teldrassil, but he had nevertheless decided that she ought to know how to shoot a bow well enough that she could one day hunt a deer of her own. Auriana had no particular interest in hunting itself, but she knew that it was a great passion of Varian's, and she was more than happy to indulge him.

To that end, she had spent the last couple of hours peppering the trunk of a large oak with arrows under Varian's watchful gaze. In that time, the sky overhead had gradually darkened with the promise of rain, though she was so focused on her task that she had barely noticed. While Auriana did not necessarily share Varian's enthusiasm, she was not the type of person to back down from a challenge; and certainly not a martial challenge, at that.

Her target was a small circle that Varian had etched in the base of the tree with his knife, about twenty feet away. Not a long shot by any means, but certainly a challenge for a marksman of Auriana's limited experience. She drew the bowstring back to her cheek, and her eyes narrowing slightly as she squared off against her target. She inhaled slowly as she reached the zenith of her pull - and exhaled as she released, just like she had practiced all morning.

And just like she had done all morning, she missed.

Auriana swore beneath her breath, irritated by her own inaccuracy. She'd shot guns in the past, and in combat too, but it seemed that she didn't have quite the same knack for the bow. The elvish weapon she held was far too large for someone of her size, admittedly, but Auriana was not one for making excuses. It also didn't help that she found the overall concept of hunting with a weapon somewhat redundant, given the kinds of thing she could do with her magic.

"You're bored," Varian observed, folding his arms across his chest.

He was leaning up against a tree about ten feet away, watching Auriana's form closely as she practiced. Time away from the city seemed to suit him, and he looked as relaxed as she had ever seen him. His unlaced shirt and loose hair only served to add to the impression, as did the dark shadow of the scruffy beard burgeoning along the line of his jaw, and Auriana doubted anyone would have guessed that he was the High King of the Alliance had they not already known.

"Not bored, precisely," she clarified, "I've just never really seen much point in using a bow and arrow to hunt a deer when I could destroy the entire forest with a snap of my fingers."

To emphasise her point, Auriana reached out a hand and sent a pinpoint streak of arcane magic racing towards the tree. It hit the target dead centre, leaving a small blackened whorl in the bark. She shrugged.

"A fair argument, though I would ask that you try to restrain yourself. I think it would be a poor way to thank our night elf hosts for their hospitality if you were to burn down their tree," Varian said drily.

Auriana rolled her eyes at him, and lowered her bow. Her arms were beginning to tire from lifting the weapon over and over, and as Varian had correctly surmised, she was rapidly losing her patience. She was used to her power being so easy and effortless, and she found it decidedly irksome when she was not so natural at other activities. It was a small thing - a petty thing, perhaps - but if she were going to do something, she liked to damned well do it right.

"We could stop, if you liked?" Varian suggested.

He straightened, and came over so that he might slip his arms around her waist.

"Perhaps a break," she agreed, leaning her head back against his chest and allowing the elvish longbow to tumble from her fingers into the dewy grass.

Auriana felt Varian's muscles vibrate against her back as he let out an answering sigh of satisfaction, and for a moment they simply stood together in companionable silence. The sky above had grown darker, casting strange dappled shadows upon the trees, and the wind was now blowing hard enough to send Auriana's skirts flapping wildly about her ankles. The dim light had turned the leaves above to shades of hazy gold and deep purple, and all together the forest around them felt wild and heavy with anticipation.

Despite the threat of inclement weather, however, Auriana remained unconcerned. They were only about three miles from the cabin, forty-five minutes walk at worst, and even the thought of being soaked through was not enough to move her. Varian's heartbeat rumbled against her back like distant thunder, his arms strong and warm around her body, and it made her feel more comfortable and more at home than anything else in the world.

"Auri…?"

Varian ran his hands over the curve of her waist, and rested his chin on the top of her head. It was one of his favourite ways to hold her, and one of the few things that made Auriana feel like her height - or lack thereof - wasn't an inconvenience or a disadvantage.

"Mm?"

"I know bows and knives and other weapons must all seem a little unnecessary to you, given what you can do… but I thought you were at least enjoying our swordplay?" Varian asked.

There was something uncharacteristically hesitant in his tone, and Auriana somewhat belatedly realised that it was very important to him that she took as much pleasure from their sparring sessions as he did. Admittedly, she had started training with Varian as a means of assuaging his fears for her safety, rather than because of any particular interest she possessed, but over time she had come to enjoy the discipline for its own sake. Swordplay required intelligence, timing, and instinct; all things that Auriana loved about the combat arts - and best of all, it meant more time spent alone with with the man she loved.

"The sword is… far more enjoyable than I thought it might be. I very much like sparring with you," she assured him, twisting slightly so that she could look Varian in the eye. "And I do love beating you up."

"Ha!" he barked, shaking his head in amused disbelief. "You've never beaten me up in your life, woman."

He spun her around to face him, and placed a quick, triumphant kiss on the very tip of her nose.

"And you never will."

Auriana's lips curled into a feral grin, and she very deliberately made her eyes flash with the white-hot, blinding proof of her power.

"Let me use magic, I'll teach you a lesson you won't soon forget, my King."

"A wise warrior knows how to pick his battles," Varian declared. "I'm not that stupid, Archmage."

"Could've fooled me," she snorted. "And does it still count as 'picking your battles' when you pick all of them?"

In lieu of a comeback, Varian simply growled, and before Auriana could argue the point further, he pulled her mouth down to his for an eager kiss. Which, naturally, Auriana took as conclusive proof of her victory in the argument. She loved the way they bantered, but best of all, she loved it when she won.

Auriana grinned against Varian's lips, savouring both her triumph and the taste of him. At first his kisses were quick and playful, a non-verbal continuation of their spirited repartee, though they steadily grew more and more heated. Varian had been especially passionate over the last few days, and he seemed determined to exhaust every last drop of amorous energy that he possessed.

Of course, Auriana did not mind his attentions in the slightest. She had gained a certain confidence in her sexuality over the past few days, perhaps in part as a result of their isolation, and even despite her utter inability to control her blush, she had been bolder in her desires than she ever thought possible. She now returned Varian's rough, urgent kisses with equal ardour, raking her hands through his unbound hair and revelling in the feel of his body against hers.

Auriana lost track of time as they kissed, and she had vaguely begun to wonder whether her king intended to throw her down on the grass and have his way with her, when she was struck by a bolt of wild inspiration - if only she had the courage to ask.

"Varian…"

Auriana pulled away, pressing slightly on his chest to gain some distance, and lifted her chin so that she might look him in the eye.

"What if… what if you were to hunt something a little more interesting than a deer?" she suggested shyly.

"A hunt? You think there are boar out here?" Varian wondered, turning his head to the side to look out into the forest.

He appeared a little confused as to why she would be interested in food at a time like this, but Auriana had a distinctly different kind of hunt in mind.

"Not boar," she said quickly.

"Then what?"

Auriana swallowed in a vain attempt to quell the abrupt dryness that had risen in her throat, and she bit her lip. She had no idea what had inspired this particular idea, only that it was something she wanted very, very badly.

"Me."

Varian eyes widened, and all traces of his earlier playfulness vanished as quickly as if they had never been. He somehow seem to grow even larger as he loomed over her with a swift, stormy intensity that rivalled the swollen clouds above, and she felt as if the entire forest were suddenly devoid of air.

"Auriana… what exactly are you suggesting?"

"Hunt… me," she repeated, trying not to let her voice shake. "I've seen the King. Show me the Wolf."

Varian grunted softly, but he could not disguise the fast-burning flash of desire that kindled behind his eyes. The idea appealed to him, Auriana could tell, though she wasn't sure if he would ever agree to do as she had asked. She knew there was always a part of him that greatly feared hurting her, and while she also knew he was far from dissatisfied with their lovemaking, she could only recall a handful of times where he had completely and utterly let himself go.

Varian did not say no immediately, however, as Auriana almost half-suspected he would. Instead, he considered the question with an air of calm consideration that belied the hunger in his expression, and the sudden, aching tension in his shoulders.

"And what do I get if I catch you?"

He reached out to caress Auriana's cheek, the heat of his hand almost burning in its intensity. He was trembling slightly, as if the wolf inside was already straining to break free, and his eyes were alive with a thousand different emotions that Auriana couldn't place.

"You know what you get," she murmured.

"It's going to rain soon," he remarked, though he never took his eyes off her face.

"Does it matter?"

Varian let out a long, shaky sigh, and pulled Auriana close against the length of his body. He was already hard, though whether from their kisses or her suggestion, she couldn't tell.

"Do you understand what you're asking of me?"

"I do," she whispered.

"Hmm."

He lips brushed the top of her left ear, and the warmth of his breath against her skin sent shivers up her spine.

"You'd best start running, then," he growled. "Leave the bow."

Auriana didn't need to be asked twice, and she darted off into forest as fast as she could. She fully intended to let Varian catch her, of course, though she also intended to make him work for it first. Although Auriana had never seen him in action herself, she knew that Varian had a reputation as an excellent hunter and tracker, and she wanted to see how long she could evade him.

She struck out to the north, following the line of a wide and well-used game trail. Their cabin lay somewhere to the west, though she did not intended to make her way there immediately lest Varian anticipate her movements. Her initial plan was to disguise her tracks amongst the hoofprints of the deer and other animals that ran the trail northward, before doubling back towards the cabin. Logically, Auriana figured that if she could make it back without being caught, she could claim victory in their impromptu 'hunt'.

No sooner had she made it a few hundred yards, however, than the heavens opened up and let forth the massive deluge that had been threatening all day. Auriana was soaked down the bone within seconds, and she was forced to slow down to avoid slipping and falling flat on her face - or worse, running headlong into a tree. It was also rather difficult to move with her sopping skirts tangled around her legs, though on the bright side she knew the rain would do much to disguise her scent and wash away her tracks.

Auriana's panted breath sounded unnaturally loud in her ears as she fled, and her heart was pounding so hard that she thought it might leap out of her chest. It was not the exertion of running that left her breathless, but rather the heady combination of the rain, the wilderness, and the knowledge that the man she loved was even now pursuing her with a single-minded determination. A fierce, desperate heat rose in her belly at the mere thought of him, and she could already feel an aching dampness between her thighs that had nothing at all to do with the rain.

It was very, very tempting to simply stop and let Varian catch her, but for the moment at least, Auriana pressed on. She was both fit and determined, and she was making good time despite the rain. Her excitement rose with each step, and her adrenaline surged every time she caught sight of something moving in the depths of the forest - something that might have been him.

Auriana followed the game trail for over a mile, before she finally turned back toward the west, and made her way up the side of a ridge that led to a shallow valley below. It was far slower going than running along the well-worn trail, and her once swift pace was reduced to almost a crawl as she fought to gain purchase on the slippery leaves. In truth, she more or less fell, rather than climbed, down the valley side of the ridge, and she could only hope that her earlier efforts had gained her enough time and distance as to evade Varian for a little longer.

Just as Auriana made it across the valley and up the other side, however, a sudden faint tingle along her spine alerted her to the presence of someone else nearby. She whirled, squinting through the downpour, and despite the poor visibility, she simply knew that Varian was somewhere close. She knew it in the same way she knew that the ground beneath her feet was solid, though she couldn't for the life of her have explained how. It was something profound and instinctual; the same kind of uncanny intuition that kept her alive during a battle, and she immediately flattened herself against the base of a nearby tree for protection.

Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to hear anything beneath the roar of the storm, even for someone without Auriana's poor hearing, and she realised that there was only one way she could determine Varian's location for certain. She took a deep breath, trying to slow her traitorous heartbeat to something less than a dull thunder, and very carefully peered around the trunk of the oak.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the valley below - and Auriana's heart leapt into her throat as she beheld an enormous, shadowy figure standing at the very edge of the treeline. It was Varian, of course - there was no other man alive who looked quite like that - but a Varian whose physical presence had somehow been magnified a thousand fold.

Auriana felt almost like an intruder as she stared down at him; a witness to a sacred joining of man and beast that was not meant for mortal eyes, and yet she found it so thrilling that she couldn't look away. She certainly should have moved, or at the very least taken better cover behind the tree, but she remained utterly transfixed as Varian prowled clear of the treeline and surveyed the valley with the self-assured intensity of an alpha predator.

He was as soaking wet as she; his once billowing white shirt clinging to the hard planes of his arms and chest. Tendrils of his long, wet hair were slicked across his neck and back, and his massive shoulders visibly heaved as he took several deep, slow breaths. He must have run very fast to have caught up to her, and Auriana couldn't help to but to be impressed by his tracking skills. She was no hunter herself, of course, though she understood that it was no easy task for anyone to have found her so quickly, both through the storm and across unfamiliar terrain.

Then again, Varian was no ordinary man.

Somewhere to the north, there came a sharp crack as something large fled through the forest seeking shelter from the storm. Quick as a whip, Varian's head snapped towards the sound, and every last one of his muscles tensed in preparation for a fight. It was a movement she had seen him perform a hundred times in the arena; a movement as swift and easy as an inhalation of breath, and yet in that moment Auriana was strangely struck by the realisation that she had never before truly appreciated why he was called the Wolf.

"Lo'Gosh..."

The name tumbled from her mouth without thinking, but it was his just as much as his sword or his scars. He was standing perhaps a hundred yards away, and yet Auriana could feel the heat of him as if he were standing right beside her. Some distant part of her mind was still telling her to run, or hide, or do quite literally anything other than stand there, but her legs refused to cooperate, and she realised that there was nothing on Azeroth that could have compelled her to look away.

Varian's muscles slid smoothly beneath the fabric of his shirt as he crouched down to run his hand across the ground, his brows drawn together as he searched for any sign of his prey. His eyes were keen and sharp, and he seemed to be able to see beyond the dampened leaves and detritus of the forest floor. Auriana began to feel lightheaded as she watched over him, so long had she been holding her breath… when in a single, heart-stopping moment, Varian turned his head to face her, and bared his teeth in a cocky, triumphant snarl.

He'd known she was there all along.

Auriana bolted.

The sudden realisation that Varian knew exactly where she was had done what her own mind could not, and had freed her legs from their temporary paralysis. She didn't fear him in the slightest - quite the opposite, in fact - though she was also acutely aware of the fact that she was being pursued by nothing less than a force of nature. Her skin prickled as if electrified, and her legs shook with effort as she turned and fled down the opposite side of the valley.

Auriana knew she didn't stand a chance in hell of outrunning him unless she were to use her magic, though she had no intention of cheating. Varian had found her fair and square, and she was undeniably eager to discover what her wolf intended to do upon catching his prey. Still, she was not one to simply give up, even for him, and she flew through the forest with all the speed she could muster.

Despite her best efforts, however, Auriana only made it a few hundred yards before something hit her hard and low from behind, and she found herself sliding down the hill towards a small clearing below. She gasped as the air was knocked from her lungs by the force of the blow, though she knew no fear. Varian's strong arms wrapped around her protectively as they fell, and after a brief, bone-shaking tumble, they landed together in a heap of tangled limbs upon the wet grass.

Auriana barely had time to catch her breath before she was dragged to her knees by Varian's enormous right hand looped beneath her belly, while his left forced her legs apart. His harsh breath rasped in her ears as he ground her back against his hips, and a thrill shook through her bones as she felt his manhood pressing urgently against the curve of her rear.

"Mine," he growled.

Varian was not usually so ignorant of romance and intimacy as one might have assumed from his reputation - but today was not about romance, or slowness, or tenderness. Auriana had asked for the wolf, and it seemed that Varian fully intended to deliver.

He grunted deep in his throat as he shoved Auriana's skirts up about her waist, and she let out a answering whine of encouragement as his weathered hands grazed her bare flesh. Their hunt had worked her into a higher state of arousal than she ever believed possible, and now that he was so close, Auriana found herself teetering on the edge of control.

A low whimper escaped her throat as one of Varian's urgent fingers found the soft cotton fabric of her undergarments and tore them away, leaving her skin bare beneath the thunderous sky. The rain was shockingly cool against her exposed sex, as if she had just plunged naked into an icy river, but the sensation was far from unpleasant. Varian was producing more than enough heat for the both of them, and the stark contrast between his feverish touch and the sting of the rain against her skin made Auriana feel wonderfully alive.

The pressure on her thighs released for the briefest of moments as Varian paused to unlace his pants, snarling beneath his breath the entire time. He was clearly just as impatient as she, if not more so, and for a moment Auriana wondered whether he would simply tear the offending garment off in his haste. A second later, however, she felt his restless movements still. One of his enormous hands closed possessively over her hip, and without any further warning, he claimed her with a single, desperate thrust.

Auriana cried out, for once heedless of their surroundings, and if not for the strength of Varian's hands upon her body, she would have collapsed. The force of him was enough to knock the air from her lungs for the second time in a handful of minutes, and she was suddenly very glad that she was already wet enough to take him. Varian was prodigiously large, in every sense of the word, and it seemed that he would not be made to wait a second longer to take his fill of his mate.

There was no pain, however, only an exquisite pleasure that sent Auriana reeling with every thrust. Never in her life had she imagined that she would one day find herself on her hands and knees in the middle of a forest during a raging storm; and yet here she was, panting like a wild animal in heat as Varian buried himself inside her over and over and over again. He was fierce, and dangerous, and utterly untamed, and yet Auriana could not have imagined loving anyone more as she loved him in that moment.

"Lo'Gosh…"

Her nails dug deep furrows in the grass as she fought to hold herself upright against Varian's furious onslaught, but the sound of his wolf's name only seemed to drive him even wilder. Loud, throaty grunts tore from his throat, interspersed with the wet slap of his flesh against her thighs as his already frantic pounding grew faster. One of his hands slid to her throat, closing around her neck with the same desperation of a drowning man clutching for a lifeline. He leaned forward, his lips brushing hungrily over the point where her neck met her shoulder… and a second later, he bit down.

Hard.

Auriana let out a long, shuddering moan as Varian's teeth tore into her pale flesh, the shock of the bite somehow making his powerful thrusts all the more pleasurable. She felt mingled rivulets of blood and rainwater trickling down her neck and between her breasts, but she didn't care. The wolf - her wolf - had been unleashed; the last of his walls having come crashing down to leave only the raw truth of him behind.

Auriana couldn't have said how long they remained intertwined, lost as she was in the feeling of the man she loved moving deep inside her. Days might have passed, or even weeks, but she was so giddy with desire that she no longer possessed any real sense of the passage of time. There was only Varian, and the storm; the heated scent of his sweat and lust mingling with the salty tang of the rain against her lips and the feel of the wet earth solid beneath her hands. Auriana was no druid or shaman, but it made her feel connected to both her wolf and the world around her in a way that she had never known was possible, and she never wanted it to end.

Yet even for a man of his legendary stamina, Varian was moving too fast to hold off forever, and Auriana could tell from the way he held her that he was close. He had crouched even lower over her back, and she could feel every tremor and twitch of his manhood resonating throughout her needy core.

Auriana, too, was nearly done for, and she knew that she would not last much longer than he. There was nothing that she loved more than to bring Varian to release, and her legs began to quiver in eager anticipation as his breath grew shorter and shallower still. He held Auriana in a titan's grip that she couldn't have hoped to escape, even if she had wanted to, and he slammed into her body with a wild and uninhibited force that left her breathless and aching with desire.

The pressure building in her belly was unreal, and just when Auriana thought she couldn't possibly last a second longer, she felt the hand around her throat clamp down even harder. Varian's entire body abruptly stiffened, and with one final, powerful thrust, he threw his head back and roared in savage triumph as he broke himself deep within her body.

Auriana tightened around his throbbing length in response, the feeling of being so thoroughly filled by his seed simply too much to resist. Her blood felt was on fire, and in one thrilling, breathless moment, what felt like years of pent-up desire, and need, and emotion crashed over her like a wave. A long, drawn out shudder rippled down her spine as her own climax took her, and she cried out for Lo'Gosh one last time.

The sound of their collective ecstasy was loud enough to drown out the wind and rain - and it seemed that they had not gone unheard. Somewhere deep in the forest there came a low, otherworldly whine that rapidly built into a primal, victorious howl. For a moment, Auriana thought she must have been imagining things; but then came a second howl, and a third, and soon it seemed as if all of Teldrassil was alive with the sound of wolves, as what had to have been an entire pack called out for their alpha. It was almost like a song; a wild and joyful chorus of freedom and triumph, and it echoed longingly through the trees long after both Varian and his mate had finally stilled.

He remained crouched over her for a long time, his chest heaving as he fought to regain control of his body. Eventually, however, the hand around Auriana's neck relaxed, and the weight against her back lifted as Varian finally regained his footing. He pulled her with him as he stood, and his touch grew suddenly gentle where it had been rough and desperate only minutes ago.

Auriana's legs were trembling so badly from effort and excitement that she almost toppled over; if not for the strong hands about her waist that held her steady. Varian met her gaze only briefly, however, before he silently lifted her into his arms with ease, and turned towards the west.

As it turned out, they had run further than Auriana had thought, and were only about quarter mile away from the cabin. Varian made the distance in no time at all, though Auriana was shivering by the time they made it in doors, the chill of the rain having finally cooled some of the fire in her veins. Her heartbeat had also slowed considerably, though her limbs still shook with energy every time Varian inadvertently brushed her bare skin.

He placed her wordlessly on her feet before the bed, and began to peel away her soaking blouse with trembling fingers. He was still breathing heavily, the clinging fabric of his shirt straining with each expansion of his chest, and Auriana could practically feel the adrenaline shivering in his bones. Wet tendrils of his hair tumbled down across his face; the fresh droplets catching the firefight and turning his darkened skin to burnished gold. It made him look younger, somehow, but no less intense, and certainly no less dangerous. Shadows of the wolf still stirred all around him, even here, and Auriana's heart ached with love just to look upon him.

Varian's expression, on the other hand, was as stoic and unreadable as if he had been carved from stone. The last lingering echoes of his desire were slowly fading from his eyes, and the longer they stood in silence, the more Auriana began to fear that he was somehow displeased by what had transpired between them out in the woods. She had been certain that he had enjoyed himself in the heat of the moment, but now… she wasn't quite so sure.

Before she could ask, however, Varian's hazy gaze fell upon the fresh blood staining the neckline of her shirt, and he frowned. He stepped back, looking terribly ashamed, and for the first time since he had told her to run, he spoke.

"Auri… I… I didn't mean to…"

His voice was unusually soft and hoarse, and he blinked as if seeing her for the first time.

"If you're going to apologise, don't," she said quickly, placing a firm hand upon his chest.

As far as Auriana was concerned, Varian had given her exactly what she'd asked for. She loved it when he let himself go; loved knowing that he was only ever truly so unguarded with her. There was also something thrilling and viscerally primal about the way he had marked her as his, and she didn't regret his actions for a second.

"Your shoulder…"

Her skin prickled slightly as Varian brushed his fingers along the line of the bite, but it was far from the worst pain Auriana had ever experienced. She knew she would bruise, too, where he had grabbed for her hips and throat like his life depended on it, though she wouldn't have had it any other way. Of course, she doubted that saying as much would make Varian feel better. Instead, she lifted his hand from her shoulder to her cheek, and leaned lovingly into the warmth of his palm.

"A scar I'll be proud to bear," she assured him. "Really."

For a moment, Auriana wasn't quite sure if Varian would believe her. His brow remained heavily furrowed, and they stared at one another in silence for a long time before something in his expression finally softened, and he leaned down to press his forehead against hers.

"Auriana…"

Whatever Varian had been about to say was lost, however, as their quiet moment was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Startled, Auriana snatched for her sopping blouse, and quickly yanked it back on over her head. She was fairly certain they weren't in danger, as enemies generally tended not to knock, but nor did she want to face their visitor in a state of half-undress.

Varian, however, clearly felt differently. Gone was the raw, aching man who had touched her so softly a moment ago, and in his place remained only the fearsome warrior. He moved swiftly to position himself between Auriana and the door, using the bulk of his body to shield her from whatever might have been waiting on the other side. It was something he had started doing more and more since the spate of attempts on her life last year, though Auriana doubted he was conscious of the behaviour. It was instinct, pure and simple, and while she personally found it unnecessary, she also understood why he felt the need.

"Come!" he barked.

Auriana distinctly saw Varian's muscles tense for a fight, only to loosen a mere second later as a soaking wet Lana Ridley stepped tentatively across the threshold into the cabin. His expression remained thunderous, displeased as he undoubtedly was, though at it seemed that he would not be murdering anyone outright.

At least, not yet.

Ridley's gaze swept over their torn and muddy clothing, the bloodied mark on Auriana's shoulder, and Varian's wild, disheveled hair, but she would never have dared to make a comment. Instead, she offered them both a crisp salute; clearly doing her best to ignore the puddle of water pooling on the floor around her feet as she began to speak.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt, Your Majesties, but I've been sent to recall you to Stormwind…"

"You're about to be," Varian growled, his voice quiet and dangerous. "We were to have two weeks. Two weeks, Ridley!"

There was a faint note of desperation beneath the anger in his voice, and Auriana wondered if their little honeymoon had meant more to him than she had perhaps fully understood.

"I understand, sire," Ridley said patiently, her brow ceasing in genuine sympathy, "But there's been a... development… that requires your attention."

"Is Anduin alright? Did something happen?" Auriana asked, poking her head around the side of Varian's shoulder.

"The Prince is perfectly well, I assure you…"

"Then what is so important that we had to be interrupted?" Varian grumbled. "I swear, Ridley, if Stormwind isn't actually on fire as we speak, I could not possibly be more uninterested."

"It's not that, Majesty," the guardswoman said quickly, "But Prince Anduin was most insistent. We have received a missive from the Horde. It's the Warchief Vol'jin. He wants to talk."