Chapter 5 Five

Surprised by his sudden action, Layla pushed him off her, scurrying backwards until she was at the other end of the cave. Her heart was pummeling against her chest, but that was not the only thing that bothered her.

There was a tingling sensation she felt in her gut from the action. One she found hard to shake away.

"What was that for ?" Layla asked, her voice taking a sharper tone as she yelled at him.

He was startled by her sudden outburst. He remembered cleaning the dirt off her body by licking her earlier but she didn't react like this. Only that she was sleeping then, that must've been the difference.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you but I couldn't help it. He kept telling me to go for it" he admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"He ? Who do you speak of ?" she said, her face scrunching in confusion.

"My wolf. He gets so excited, sometimes I can not control him". He said, looking away from her.

Layla was filled with shock when she heard this statement from him. A certain memory she had long forgotten, resurfacing in her head....

Eight years ago...

Layla eyelids fluttered slowly as she tried to wake up from her long sleep. Suddenly she felt something cold and wet sliding up her face repeatedly. Her eyes popped open immediately she figured out it was reality and she jolted up, pushing off the person so hard she heard a loud thud.

"ouch!" the young boy who had been licking her face had yelled, rubbing the hand he had landed on the floor with.

"It could've been your head against the floor. What did you do that for ?" young Layla yelled, wiping the saliva off her face.

"I am sorry Princess, it is a bad habit of his" the lad admitted, sitting up on the floor.

"Who are you referring to ?" Layla asked, crossing her arms above her chest.

"My wolf, I can't seem to control him when I'm around you" he admitted, his cheeks heating up as he looked away.

Layla shook her head, giving herself a facepalm.

"Oh Wickson, again with the wolf story, what would I do with you ?"

she sighed frustratedly.

*****

Present time...

"You..." Layla said, pausing for a while.

"Can you tell me your name ?" she asked, her expectations as high as the excitement she was beginning to feel inside her again.

The man raised his face to look at hers, surprised by her sudden question.

"Noah," he said, truthfully.

"My name is Noah".

The excitement in Layla's eyes died for the second time that morning. She had half expected that he would say the name 'Wickson', but it was obvious this was not him. How could she think he was still alive after watching him die with her very own eyes.

"Okay," Layla said dryly.

Noah tilted his head in confusion as he couldn't understand why she suddenly looked unhappy.

Not wanting to waste anymore time in silence with this stranger, Layla decided to resume with her previous questions.

"Why did you save me ?" she asked, coldly.

"It was sheer instincts, but now that you've mentioned it, I think it was something more," he paused for a while, staring at the remnants of his breakfast.

"You were calling to me." he concluded, throwing Layla into further confusion.

"How is that possible ?" she asked immediately.

She could not remember a time when she had called out to this man for help. He must clearly be out of his mind.

"That is because you're my mate" the man replied, locking his eyes with hers.

This was not the answer she was hoping to hear from him. She waited for a while, expecting him to say something else but the look in his eyes made her understand that he was serious.

Layla suddenly remembered she had heard him say the same thing yesterday before he fainted. For some reason, the sound of it made her burst out in laughter.

"You sure must be kidding me right ?. I...a vampire, your mate?" she said in the midst of her laughter.

"You must have lost your mind" Layla snickered, holding her stomach as she laughed out loudly.

Noah couldn't understand why Layla thought he was joking. What was more stupefying was that she still thought she was a Vampire even after the incident that had happened that night at the castle.

"You are not a vampire, you're the one who's lost your mind" Noah said sternly, resting one of his elbows on his knee.

Layla immediately stopped laughing when she heard this, recognizing the seriousness in his tone.

"And I can prove it to you" he said, pushing back the hair that fell over the side of his neck.

On the left side of his neck, a wolfcrest mark like a tattoo could be seen just behind his ear.

"I'm certain you have a marking like this" he said, rubbing his finger over the spot.

"If you don't then I'd believe you".

"Fine," Layla huffed, picking herself up from the ground and dusting herself.

"You can look for yourself," she said, moving her curls from the side of her neck. She was eager to prove to him that she wasn't what he thought she was.

Noah let out a sigh before picking himself up from the ground. He walked towards her slowly, his height and body build was like a tower over her small, slender figure.

He tilted his head to look at the side of her neck, his nose quickly picking up her scent. She smelled like something sweet and fruity, a combination of figs and peaches.

His mouth watered, but he tried to control himself, letting his wolf know that they needed to calm down so as not to scare her as he observed both sides of her neck.

He was surprised to see that there was in fact no sign on her neck. She had not been marked !

How could that be ?

Just then, he remembered there was one more place a wolf could be marked and that was in their thighs. Quickly, he dropped to his knees before attempting to slide her gown up.

The feeling of his rough hand against her skin caused Layla to regain herself. She had been lost in the woody scent coming from him when he had approached her, but now she was back to her conscious self.

Lifting her hand high up in the air, Layla landed a heavy slap across his cheek, causing him to fall backwards.

"I am a princess, daughter of King Krov of Valguardia so there is no way I am a werewolf !" Layla yelled, feeling her skin crawl as she spoke.

"And I can not be your mate for I am engaged to another" she concluded, heaving loudly.

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