5

I hardly dared to look the stranger in the eyes, so I kept staring at his bare chest. Surely the person in front of me was a werewolf and would now kill me. I wanted to close my eyes and wait for my death, but I just couldn't tear myself away from him. He had his muscular arms crossed across his chest now, I could feel him eyeing me. I grew smaller and smaller under his piercing gaze.

"Look at me."

The sudden sound of his voice, after the long silence, made me jump in shock.

Just hearing his dark voice made my knees go weak. Although I had only seen his upper body so far, he radiated such authority that one would have liked to throw oneself on the floor in front of him. This authority was also reflected in his voice. Dark, deep and commanding.

I didn't even have to think about following his instructions. My body acted all by itself, submitting completely to the powerful voice and its speaking.

The next moment I looked into the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. They seemed to glow in the dark and reminded me of liquid silver. Noble, radiant and yet cold.

I tried to guess what he was thinking, but his eyes gave nothing away.

My gaze wandered deeper to his full lips over his prominent cheekbones to his slightly messy black hair.

It was only now that I had escaped the spell of his eyes that I realized the street was completely empty, just like in the arena all the wolves had fled.

Goose bumps covered my body at the realization that the beautiful man in front of me was the reason hundreds of wolves had fled.

I was about to lower my head again when the other person took a step towards me. I automatically took a step backwards, careful not to reduce the distance between us.

He seemed to see things differently. A dark growl escaped his throat and made me flinch. He took advantage of this moment and was with me in three big steps. Before I could react, he wrapped his huge arms around me and hugged me. I stood motionless, startled.

The stranger buried his face in the crook of my neck and I could have sworn he was inhaling my scent.

We stayed like that for a long time. Very long. He didn't seem to want to let go of me and I didn't dare move even a millimeter. At the moment it didn't look like he wanted to rip me into a thousand pieces and I had no intention of changing that.

After several minutes it was me who broke our hug. To be precise, it was my stomach that grumbled hungrily. Though I shouldn't care what the werewolf thought of me, I felt the warm burn in my cheeks that made me blush.

The monster then released its arms from me and pushed me a bit away from it, but only far enough to still be able to hold my hips with its huge hands. The wolf eyed me up, eyebrows furrowed, and I bowed my head again.

"Leave it." he growled at me.

I looked at him questioningly, not knowing exactly what was bothering him.

"You are a Luna, a Luna never lowers her head." he rebuked me, but confused me even more.

"You're hungry." he states, still looking at me.

I nodded slowly. Out of excitement I hadn't been able to eat anything all day and the portions were usually small.

"Fine, I'll make sure you get something to eat. Let's go home."

With no response from me, he let go of me, only to hold me tight with one of his arms and walk down the street. We walked exactly in the direction I came from.

I silently let him drag me down the street. His warm arm made my whole body tingle and it became increasingly difficult for me to pay attention to the path. Shortly before the arena I wanted to turn left to get back home, but after the first step I heard a growl again.

"Where are you going?" this time the wolf at my side seemed genuinely angry.

"Home?" I asked in an uncertain, quiet voice.

"You're never going to that training camp again, okay? Never again! I should have found you way sooner, what if someone hurt you in a fight?! Promise me, promise me you'll never go anywhere near that place again, or to another where danger threatens!"

He looked at me intently and for the first time I could see a feeling in his eyes. Under the coldness of his silvery eyes, there was a clear glimpse of concern.

Without thinking, I murmured, "I promise."

His chest heaved as he took a short breath. Satisfied, he nodded before he hugged me again and continued on his way.

We stayed on the main road the whole way and the dim light from the street lamps just kept me from falling asleep. However, I soon began tripping over my own feet every three steps. The exertion of the hit me like a hammer blow and I had no adrenaline left to keep me awake.

The next moment I felt an arm behind my knees and I was already in the arms of the stranger.

He looked at me with a slight smile on his face and almost automatically I smiled back.

"Sleep tight my little one, when you're awake we've got a lot to talk about."

I nodded, half asleep. Just before I stepped away completely, I asked: "What's your name?"

"Cyrian." was the last thing I heard before sinking into dreamland, but the last thing I felt was a quick kiss on the forehead