Chapter forty six

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Aliyah opened her eyes to discover she was in a cave. It took only seconds for details of last night to flood her mind and she sat up with a jerk. She was alone in the cave but she was covered with a grey long coat. She smiled and brought the coat to her nose, breathing in the dead plant cell she was surprised to find that she has come to like. She hurriedly put on the coat to hide her nakedness and stood up, wondering where Edward could be and why he would leave her alone.

She remembered he had said that he wanted to go and feed last night, did he return last night? He must have otherwise how would she have his coat? She walked to the mouth of the cave and looked around. The forest was as beautiful as ever with everything so colorful and the sun so bright in the sky. She squint her eyes at the bright light and brought up her hand to block the sun from her face as she searched around. The birds were chirping melodious songs and she could see the animals running around and feeding their young.

A soft smile curved on her lips as she watched a family of skunk walking by the river. Oh, the river, it would be nice to have a bath and wash off the bloods from last night. She took off the coat and shape shifted into her wolf, grabbing the coat in her mouth, she leaped out of the cave and landed on her paws. She ran to the river and placing the coat on the ground, she went into the river. She surfaced minutes later in her human form and she sighed in content, the water really helped her to feel better.

She scrubbed her body with the water and washed her hair. However, unbeknownst to her, at the top of the tallest tree, a man hung there and watched her. He had woken up at twilight and rushed to the human realm. Although he had two bears last night, none could compare to the blood of a human and so he had his dessert with the first three humans he met.

His wound was completely healed and his strength was back to max. When he returned to the cave again, she was still asleep and he didn't want to disturb her so he decided to run around and know the situation of things. He wasn't surprised when he saw the bodies of the Nebuzars and rogues gone from the meadow, after all, the man had told him that he would keep bringing them back. He did a quick run to the rogue's field but there was nothing happening and so he left, knowing he has one more place to inspect.

When he arrived at the Blue Moon pack, the pack was as silent as the graveyard. The cubs were still asleep but he could tell the elders and the alpha were not. He wondered what they could be doing or saying, after all, the daughter of the alpha is his mate. He knew he must not relax now, he is not fighting only the man in black now, he still have to watch out for the warrior wolves and watch out for every plan the alpha must come up with. Whichever it would be, one thing was certain, he won't let them take her away from him.

He had done a lot of thinking last night and he realized she was right, he did care about her hence why he risks his life —well, not practically risk his life since no animal can hurt him— to protect her and make sure she is okay and in as much as he is not in support of having a howler as a mate, he has no choice. He has searched for so long and waited for long to just reject the very one he was given. Plus, what Irene said, it could mean that she was really destined to be his.

He may not know the plan of the moon goddess but whatever decision he would take later, he must make sure she was safe and sound and he would do that by killing the hooded man and bringing peace between her and her kind and he doesn't care if he has to fight to achieve that.

He ran away from the pack's territory and had bumped into some wolves which he knew must be the search party. They didn't sense his presence, they were too young after all and seeing they were alone, he knew they didn't find her and so he ran back to the cave. She was still asleep, looking as beautiful as ever with her hair in disarray. He has never thought a woman would look beautiful without touching up and dressing fine but she beats him to it. Whether dressed or not, she was striking.

He sighed and left the cave once more. He didn't want to be in the cave when she wakes up and the reason, he has no idea, he just doesn't want to be there. So when he heard a tiny grunt and faint paw-steps, he knew she must be awake and he got up from the tree he was resting and went up to the top to see what she was doing. However, he was not prepared for what he saw. She was taking a bath in the river, her hair glistened with the sunlight and her skin shone like gold. He hardly sees her in day time but now he can understand that her complexion changes. It is almost pale white at night under the moonlight and golden yellow in day under the sunlight. What a beauty she is.

He didn't know he was admiring until a certain part of him reacted to his view. He gulped and looked away, guess spending a night with her has its price. He has never been affected this much by her before, could it be her blood in his system? After all, when he took the demon princess blood, it changed him. However, he knew that was not it. He was noticing his attraction to her because of last night, because of the things she said. She doesn't hate him like he thought she did and had forced him to hate her as well.

She also risked her life to save him last night, if that doesn't mean she cares, then he doesn't know what else does. It proved to him that he won't be the only one risking his life to protect the other in this relationship. She has a strong spirit, she wasn't a weak little wolf and he was surprised it took him having a confrontation with her last night to find that out.

When he couldn't take the distance anymore, he sighed and within seconds, he was standing on the riverbank, just few meters away from her.

Aliyah felt the sudden presence and her heart missed a beat. Half of her had been worried he abandoned her but sensing his presence now brought her internal joy. She smiled and washed the water on her arm. "I thought you were gone," she whispered, knowing that won't be a problem to him.

"Why would you think that?" Edward asked, his eyes not leaving her glistening back. She had moved her hair to her front, exposing every detail of her back to him and he could feel his fingers itching to caress that skin or maybe, run his lips down it. He gulped and blinked, glancing away from her that moment to calm himself. Damn the mating mark, it had noticed his desire for her and now it's pushing him to consummate their bond. Stupid, stupid mark.

"I don't know," Aliyah shrugged, her back still to him. "Maybe because you are always gone?" she turned then to look at him. Her eyes shining bright blue, complementing her flushed face.

"Not anymore," Edward whispered.

His words felt like liberation to Aliyah and she felt this internal contentment and she knew it was her wolf. She was finally at peace knowing that her mate has accepted her.

"You can't go home yet," Edward said.

"I know," Aliyah said, "I guess I am going to be homeless for a while," she looked deep into his eyes, wanting to know if he caught her hidden meaning.

Edward wasn't a fool, he may be at lost at the development of the word but there is still one language a man would never be thought: the body language of a woman. He knows what he has to do but the thing is, only her people knows about them now, if he takes her to his palace, then Rasmus would know. Although he trusts Rasmus, however, the Council chiefs are fond of showing up invited to his palace. He could take her to Irene, but if he do that, how can they grow their bond? "I have a palace, you are welcome anytime," he said, making his decision.

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