The Shy Alpha

Chapter 12

Celia's P.O.V

The next morning I woke up to Noah still holding onto my hand as he slept. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen and I watched him sleep for a few minutes, his curly hair in a mess and his relaxed face that made my stomach twist into knots. For some odd reason I actually felt quite rested for once this morning, ready to start off the day with lots of energy. Noah, when he woke up, he seemed to be happy with how much he rested as well.

Since Noah and I wanted to spend even more time together, like we couldn't get enough of each other, so Noah canceled any meetings or things he had to go to that day. We stayed in bed together for the entire morning but when we finally decided to get up we separated to get ready then walked downstairs together. Everyone was already hanging around in the kitchen and once I was seen, Jasmine was the first one who crushed me into a hug. She said sorry for what had happened yesterday like a hundred times and asked if I was okay, everyone else also asked me the same thing.

Noah looked a little annoyed with the sudden attention all on me but he took a step back and let me chat with the others. Eventually Cora, Jasmine, and I drifted towards the kitchen counter to talk while Noah, Daniel, and James sat at the dining table and just took a while to talk.

"I'm so sorry for what happened yesterday. I never thought Carter would go that far." Jasmine told me again, hugging me around my shoulders from behind as I sat on a barstool.

Cora scoffed and glared off to the side as she stood in front of me on the other side of the counter, "He's an asshole. It's good that he is finally gone."

"I want to mark her Daniel." I heard Noah behind me.

My attention was turned to Noah's conversation. I tried very hard to look over as discreetly as possible over my shoulder to eavesdrop.

"But she's not ready." Noah finished.

Daniel patted his shoulder, "Just tell her you want to mark her. If she says no then wait."

"I don't want to wait." Noah rested his chin on top of his folded arms, "I want everyone to know she's mine..."

James rubbed his arm in comfort, "You know you can't rush her. Human relationships take a lot more time."

"I know..."

Subconsciously as I listened to Noah about wanting to mark me, I held onto my neck while looking back at Jasmine and Cora. Just underneath my fingertips was the same spot Carter was so close to biting...

"Celia?"

I looked up to see Jasmine's worried face as she noticed I wasn't listening to them anymore.

"Is something wrong?" Jasmine asks.

I looked at her with hesitation but asked my question, "H-h-how does marking work exactly?"

"Oh um...well, the male bites the girl's neck on this certain spot. It takes a few days to heal and this is left behind." She pulled down her shirt to show me her iridescent mark again.

"What does it do? Like why do you mark in the first place?"

Cora waved her hand in a circle, "The mark allows the male's sent to be intertwined with yours so that if any other werewolves come up to you they can smell that you belong to someone else."

"Why?" Jasmine questioned then gasped in surprise, "Are you going to let Noah mark you?"

"I-I-I don't know. We aren't even technically dating and committing to him so quickly..."

"Marking isn't permanent if you don't want it to be." Jasmine says.

"It's not?"

"No. It's just like a warning for others so they know you're with your mate. It's like a..." She waved her hand to think of the right word then snapped her fingers, "A relationship status."