Ariana's POV
We walked on in silence and I wondered how we could ever get out of these woods, we were in the middle of nowhere, I gazed at his profile, he looks stoic and confident, so unafraid and I felt safe with him, I frowned, wondering why I should be feeling safe with a man who took me in as his slave and took my innocence so brutally, sure, he had saved my life twice in a day, maybe he did it so that he would continue torturing me, an odd feeling sat on my chest as I watched, I found myself yearning to have things I shouldn't be dreaming of having with him, what's happening to me? Why would I be thinking of this cold man? My mind flashed to the warmth I had felt earlier when I was unconscious, how secured I had felt, perhaps he wasn't so cold as I thought, I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't notice he had stopped walking, I bumped into him and would have fallen if he hadn't caught me just in time, "watch it" I heard him growled as he stared at me, "just where was your mind?" My face flamed at his question, I was busy daydreaming about him, I quickly placed my hands on my cheeks as I shook my head, "so clumsy" I heard him whisper before turning to continue his journey, I stuck my tongue at him as I rolled my eyes and whispered, "grumpy" he suddenly stopped and glared at me, "I heard that"
My heart thudded once, then twice as I stared at anywhere but him, "I...I.... didn't say anything" I lied and he narrowed his eyes, "oh really? He took a step towards me, then two, and I moved back my heart racing, how could he have heard what I said? Did I say it aloud? He gripped my jaw and forced my head up and once again, I was gazing into his beautiful coffee brown eyes, this time, I noticed the rim of gold in his eyes, when he's angry, those eyes turn to a flame of gold, as bright as fire, one could get lost in these eyes, I stared deep into his eyes, was it my imagination or did his gaze soften a bit as he stared at me? Was his face coming closer to mine? My heartbeat skydived and raced frantically while my palms became filled with sweat, sweat beaded my upper lips, was he going to kiss me? What should I do? I licked my suddenly dry lips and watched as his gaze followed the movement, he growled something I couldn't catch and muttered a curse as he pushed me away from him and released my jaw, "don't ever try and play smart with me" he gritted as he turned away from me. I stood where he left me, wondering what just happened? What were all these feelings for? Am I falling for my master's? "Well, are you just going to stand there? Move it" he growled, his voice impatient and I snapped out from my reverie as hastened to catch up with him, the rest of our journey was in awkward silence.
Dylan's POV
I was totally losing it, gosh, I had almost kissed her, what was it about her? She kept getting under my control. "You have to mark her already" Lien instructed and I almost rolled my eyes at the hopes of my wolf, "I'm sorry to burst your bubble pal but I have no place for her in my life" Lien wasn't happy hearing that from me but I had to make him understand, I had sworn off love and commitment when I got rejected by Myla years ago, there isn't a place for love and romance in my life, I am fine without it and I am ready to defy moon goddess for that. I knew that my wolf wasn't happy with my decision but it got no choice, I'll live my life how I've chosen it and how I want it. I know I am attracted to Ariana but that would be all it is, an attraction and nothing more. I gazed at her from the corner of my eyes, she wasn't overly beautiful nor is she looking classy and sophisticated, with her large brown eyes and curly hair, she could pass for being just plain pretty, she wasn't even In the class of my usual taste for ladies, she is frail-looking and clumsy, always falling and causing disaster wherever she goes in fact, she's a walking disaster, no! I can't love her, never, haven being betrayed by love before, I absolutely cannot give my heart to anyone, ever. I thought of my parents, they would have still been alive today if I had not let myself to be consumed by hurt, I would have been the alpha to my pack by now and leading my pack with Myla as my Luna but after everything that happened, I had to leave my pack and reside among humans, so far, I had been doing well in the human world, if I can do everything in the human world, what I had promised myself not to do was form any bond with the humans, let alone fall for any human. Lien suddenly growled just as the stench of something hit my nostrils, I grew still, we are no longer alone in the woods, I motion for Ariana to stop walking and she stood still, her eyes darting around in fright, I heard a twig snap, if there is any danger, I wouldn't want Ariana to witness it and I might need the werewolf strength, I couldn't just turn into a wolf right before her, she might collapse in fear, she's Afterall, only just a human, I had to go find whatever threat is out there and eliminate it
"Stay here" I instructed her and left before she could protest.
I went further and quickly pulled off my clothes as I let out my wolf, I followed the trail of the scent as it grew stronger indicating that I'm almost there, it was the scent of a rogue, rogues are dangerous and it's bad that they are in this woods, I had just reached an open space in the wood and I stopped in my track, the scent leads here and stopped here, I heard the sound just a second before a big black wolf pounced on me, I growled in anger as I twisted and retaliated, I was bigger and even though I had lived with humans for quite a number of years and rarely let lien out, I was still in shape but the rogue was also in every bit of shape as me, the rogue clawed at my neck and chest, I could feel blood oz out, I went back, like a predator about to pounced on its prey and attacked, it howled in pain and I knew I had met my target but instead of retaliating, it suddenly turned and dashed off, perhaps to avoid being killed or to nurse it's wound, I started walking towards where I had pulled my clothes and tensed when I heard a heart wrenching scream from Ariana. In a heartbeat, I took off, heading towards where I had left her and praying that nothing bad has happened to her.