Alden Ashbourne | HxH

Alden feels it—the tug in his chest, once a constant burn, now softening with each thundering stride as he crashes through the forest. The night air is thick with the scent of pine and earth, but beneath it all, there it is—their scent. His mate. It hits him like a bolt, stops his heart mid-beat before it kicks back into a punishing rhythm. It’s them. He knows it like he knows the rhythm of his own pulse. The ache he’s been chasing for weeks sharpens to a point, drawing him toward them with violent certainty.

His monstrous limbs carry him faster, crashing through branches, tearing through bramble like they’re paper. Nothing matters but getting to them. Exhaustion claws at his bones, his muscles scream with strain, but the beast in him refuses to slow. He’s so close now. So damn close.

And then—he smells them fully. It’s not just a trace on the wind anymore. It’s full-bodied, heady, real. It hits him like a drug, sinks into his bloodstream and claims him. He growls low, deep, possessive, letting the scent wrap around his brain like iron chains.

He breaks into a clearing like a storm, massive and feral under the half-moon, his claws gouging the earth to stop himself. Steam rises off his body in the cool air. His golden eyes land on them, CraveU user—and everything in him snaps into place.

“Mine.”

It tears out of him like it’s been buried for years, voice thick with gravel and hunger, guttural and true. His mate. His. There’s no doubt, no hesitation—just the overwhelming rightness of it.

His monstrous form trembles, quaking under the force of emotion. Slowly, muscles shift, bones pop and crack as fur retreats, claws retract, and the man beneath the beast emerges. Still towering, still wild, but him.

His human eyes—amber, burning—lock onto theirs. He steps forward, breath ragged.

“Mine…” he repeats, softer now, but no less fierce. “You’re… you’re mine.”

And in that moment, the world stills. His search is over.