Chapter 5: Your Name

DAHLIA:

“Do you really want to go home, Dahlia?...”

My insides were turning wild. Why was he saying my name with such a sultry voice?

“I… I… I think I have to go… now…”

I finally said it. I looked away from his mesmerizing eyes and beautifully naked body and forced myself to look at the flickering flames at my side.

“Let’s go now. Please take me back home.”

It was taking every inch of me to resist him. If I looked back in his eyes, I fear I really won’t have the strength to refuse.

“As you wish,” he replied, cold now. He swiftly transformed into a great white wolf. He growled at me.

“Get on top. I’ll take you back.”

After I have extinguished the fire with the bucket he had prepared beforehand, I nervously climbed to the white wolf’s back and clung into his fur.

“Please be caref-!”

I haven’t even finished speaking yet when he sprinted into the night as swiftly as he could.

I was scared. I held to his white fur with both hands, not caring whether he’s in pain or not, but as I looked up at how he skillfully glided past the trees and the bushes, I felt exhilarated.

A wild kind of happiness enveloped my heart as the cold wind slapped against my face. So this was how it felt like to roam around in the woods! If only I could transform at will, Eva will surely like this!

Maybe this was how it felt like to be free…

“Do you like it that much,” the white wolf growled. I don’t know how he could tell without looking at me. I blushed a bit before I nodded and answered him with a resounding “yes.”

“Then, whenever you’re free, come see me. Running in the woods like this would be good for you,” he continued.

“Um, you must have already guessed it, but I can’t transform that easily,” I said, dropping my voice into a near whisper.

He let out a grunt. “Perhaps if you let loose a bit, you could do it.”

“You seem to know a lot about me, but I don’t even know anything about you…”

“Who doesn’t know you, my lady? Aren’t you the star of high society? Everyone in the Western Realm knows Lady Dahlia Hurst of the Talandor Kingdom, the future queen.”

I winced at his speech. I didn’t know if he was mocking me of if he just truly wanted to express the extent of my fame.

“So, would you tell me what it is then?”

“What do you wish to know?”

“Would you tell me your name?”

“Why as for it? You’ll be rejecting me soon enough, right,” he howled back.

I dug my hands into his fur. “Is that it? Is that the reason why you won’t tell me?” Anger was swelling in my chest. Why was this wolf making it hard for me to know him?

“If I tell you my name, would you consider it?”

“Consider what?”

“Would you consider running away with me?”

I was stumped. I didn’t know how to answer him or what to say. Why was he thinking of such things? All I wanted to know was his damned name…

“If you say yes, I’ll tell you,” he continued to say in his wolf form. “Say you’ll stay with me. Break off your engagement.”

I didn’t have the words to say. My mate – an unknown, great, white wolf - was proposing to me even though we don’t know anything about each other!

“Are you considering it, Lady Hurst,” he growled thoughtfully. I still could not speak.

Suddenly, I heard the scampering of feet on both sides. It was followed by a loud, fierce growl.

“In the name of the Duke of Talandor, stop!”

I knew this voice. It was Sir Raleigh!

“Let’s stop. It’s my knight,” I whispered to the white wolf.

“No,” the white wolf answered curtly.

“What?” He was ready to take me back a few moments ago. Why was he acting like this now?

“You haven’t given me an answer yet,” he said gruffly. “Tell me first what you really want to do, then I’ll decide if we should stop or not.”

“What do you mean?” I looked helplessly around on both sides. Sir Raleigh and Rick were closing in on us. They might attack us any minute!

“This is your last chance today. Do you want to know my name and come away with me, my lady?”

My heart pounded wildly in my chest. Eva was acting crazy inside my head, and for the first time, I heard a voice speak loud and clear inside my mind.

‘Yes! Say yes!’

My mouth hung open. It was Eva – my wolf! She had a voice!

The white wolf continued to gallop away from Sir Raleigh and Rick. I was almost out of breath as I tried to keep my balance on his back.

“No, please stop,” I said, exasperated. “Do you want to die?” I had no doubt in my mind that Sir Raleigh would do it if he perceived him as a threat. He had been to other far worse battles since he was fifteen. Despite knowing how vicious this white wolf was, he might not stand a chance against Sir Raleigh!

“Is that your answer? You don’t want to know who I am then?”

“No, I don’t want to,” I lied to my teeth. If my lie would keep him alive, I’ll say it ten times over. “I don’t want to learn who you are anymore. Please just stop!”

Just like that, the great white wolf had halted in his tracks. I dug my hands to his body as he did, still too surprised that he had listened to me this time.

Sir Raleigh and Rick, still in their wolf forms, came to us shortly. They barred their teeth at the white wolf, who still had not let me down from his back.

“Hand the lady over to us,” Sir Raleigh growled.

“It’s alright, Rick, Sir Raleigh. He is not a threat,” I said. There was a thick stench of animosity in the air. Even as I spoke, the two wolves continued to eye the white wolf with hatred.

“Thank you and goodbye,” I whispered to the white wolf before I went down from his back. He whimpered at me, and I could feel his eyes turning watery. I avoided his gaze lest he sees my anguished face.

This would probably be the last time we will see each other. There was no need to be emotional…

I walked over to Sir Raleigh and to Rick who had mellowed down a bit when they saw me descend from the white wolf’s back.

Once I have reached their side, Sir Raleigh growled fiercely at the wolf who had held me in his back. “You -!”

“That’s enough, Sir Raleigh,” I said firmly. “Let him go. He was only helping me.”

“But Lady Hurst -”

“No buts. Let’s go home,” I said. I dragged myself forward, trying to forget the white wolf and our brief encounter here today. I’m sure that after this, we won’t be seeing each other anyway…

“It’s Tristan,” a heard the wolf behind me said. “My name is Tristan… Albus and I – we are glad to meet you, my lady.”

I made the fatal mistake when I turned around and looked back at him. Despite the dimness of the night, his face was as bright as the stars in heaven.

My heart was overcome by an enormous amount of pain as I watched my mate walk away from me forever.