It's around 7:30 when I finish some spiced pumpkin soup. I turn to Noah who was still out cold on my table. I sigh as I approach. I put my hand on his shoulder and shake him slightly, "Noah?" He doesn't respond. I shake his shoulder a little harder, "Noah?" He winces slightly as he opens his eyes, still looking dazed. However, though he is dazed, it seems he still can recognise his surroundings...and recognise me. His eyes soften when they see me and he smiles, "My angel, how are we this fine morning?"

I couldn't stop the blush that creeps into my cheeks, "Its actually 7:30 at night. I've made some fresh soup which you need to eat. You have to keep up your strength."

He frowns and shakes his head like a little boy, "No that's okay. I'm not hungry. I'll just go back to sleep." He crosses his arms snuggles into himself like a little child.

I roll my eyes and turn to get the bowel of soup. I scoop up a good spoon full and lean in to put it in his mouth, but he sealed them shut. He looks at me as if saying 'I dare you to keep trying.' I look back him, giving him an eye of 'challenge accepted.'

I sigh dramatically, "You're right, I shouldn't force this food into you."

He shakes his head in victory, "No you shouldn't it."

I nod, "Yes, you're right. You just go on to sleep then." He smiles. He moves around to get comfortable and yawns. Bingo. I quickly grab the spoon and shove it in his mouth as he yawns. He makes face as he tastes the soup. he looks at me in confusion and betrayal, "You're not my angel, my angel would never force this upon me. You little devil, give me my angel back."

I laugh, I guess I have two sides to myself according to him. The angel me and the little devil me.  His accent is rather thick. I wonder why he's in America? "Well this little devil needs to keep giving you this soup." He sighs in defeat and lets me feed him. Once that was done, I give him a tall glass of lemon water.

"There, now you can relax." I sit on the chair next to the table. When I lift my gaze to his, I blush when I see him staring at me with his deep blue eyes. "You're so beautiful," he whispers.

I ignore his compliment. I don't like being called beautiful. Being beautiful is what got me in my situation in the first place. "Ummm, so what pack are you from?" I asked.

"The Blood Moon Pack." My mouth is gaped open, that's the most powerful pack there is. "Wow, that's impressive."

He shrugs as if it wasn't a big deal, "I guess, I'm the beta." Double wow,

"They must be looking for you then."

He nods, "Probably, but I'd rather stay here with you. You make all my bad go away."

His words makes my heart ache. He must have been through so much, "Losing your wife must've been hard," I whispered.

His eyes are full of sadness and loss, "I miss her everyday, and I think I will for the rest of my life. I have no one now."

"That's not true, you have me now," I whisper softly, wanting to give his soul comfort. I didn't know why I said that really. I could have said something else to comfort him...but the words slipped out of my mouth so naturally. 

He smiles at me but his smile does not reach his eyes, "If only that were true." His sad eyes slowly close and his breath evens out.

"It is true." I whisper before I get up and go to bed.

***

I gasped awake and sat up in my bed. I frowned when I felt my head pounding. I looked to my clock. It was around 12:07 AM. I sighed and laid back down. I rolled over trying to get comfortable, but whatever I did, I COULDN'T GET COMFORTABLE. My muscles felt fidgety. I grunted as I hit my bed with my fist. 

I knew I wasn't going to get sleep tonight. Feeling my muscles ache urged me to get out of bed. It's not like I was gonna get any sleep anyway. 

 I might as well make use of my time and try to pick some herbs along the river bank for tomorrow morning. Before I left I tended to the fire to ensure Noah would be kept warm. As I passed his resting form, I felt myself still. His face being illuminated by the warm light of the fire made him look like an angel. 

I raised my hand and brushed his hair off his forehead. My hand slowly moved down to cupping his cheek. I felt myself jump when Noah rolled over, leaning into my hand. His nose flared as he inhaled my scent deeply. Why do I feel these things? Surely he isn't my mate. I mean, I've heard you feel fireworks and electricity and sparkles! I only feel attracted to this man... I just feel deeply attracted to him...

I sighed then wrote a note and left it beside him just in case I was out for a long time.

I put on my big jacket and went outside. It was pretty cold. I could easily see the cloud that comes out of my mouth as I exhale. I kept walking till I came to the river bank. I smile when I see that there was quite a bit of herbs growing still. I bend down with my basket and start to pick.

I wonder how long Noah will be here? I mean he's in no condition to be mobile at this point, he still needs to rest. I guess he will have to just stay longer. The thought, for some reason, put a small smile on my face. I can take care of him.

Suddenly a jolt of pain courses through my abdomen. I release a small gasp as I drop my basket and hold onto my stomach. Whats happening? Another wave of pain except a little bit worse washes over me. 

Then the realisation. I'm in heat. I groan in annoyance, "Why now! It wasn't supposed to come for another week!" I shout at myself.

I try to stand up, but I collapsed back onto the ground because I was in too much pain. I took off my jacket because I started to sweat. A deep fear rises inside me. I don't have a normal heat. My heat is ten times more worse than the normal female's. My scent is much stronger. Males from miles away can easily smell me. And the pain level is worse. When I first experienced heat I almost killed myself because I didn't want this pain anymore. But now, my fear isn't about the pain...its about the crazy males that can probably smell me right now. I'm usually safe in my house, because my house was built to keep my scent inside. but I am outside, alone in the dark.

I have to get to the house. So I started to slowly crawl. Even though it was freezing outside, I was very very hot. My muscles are trembling as I crawled. A howl in the distance stops me in my tracks. 

I close my eyes. "No" I whispered. 

They've found me. I frantically try my best to get away. Tears fill my eyes as I felt my heart beat in panic. I didn't want this to be the end. I release little moans of fear. I see shadows running and jumping. "No, no ,no." I repeated to myself

I look around. I need to defend myself. I grabbed onto a good branch. 

A man appears out of the shadows. "Well well well, look what we have here. A female alone in the woods," He closes his eyes and raises his head, inhaling deep into his lungs. When his eyes open, they were black with lust. He smiles darkly,  "And In heat. Perfect."

"Stay away from me!" I say as I swing the branch around, panting. The pain was getting worse.

He laughs, "Don't worry honey, you'll like it. And even if you don't...I certainly will." He lunges at me. I swing the branch and it hits him in the face. He lands on the ground groaning. Blood gushes out of his wound. "You're gonna pay for that." He growls.

With all the strength I have, I stand up and run. But he grabs on to my ankle, making me fall. "NO!" I scream. I feel his hands grab onto my dress and rip it.

I try to kick him off, but his grip was too tight. "Please don't! You don't know what you're getting yourself into!"

Suddenly a dark figure jumps over and tackles the man. "Noah," I gasped. He grabs the man by the scruff of his shirt and lifts him into the air, "What were you about to do?" He growls.

The man shakes in fear, "N-n-nothing, I was just going to help her to her cottage."

Noah's lips form a sneer, "I doubt that. You were going to take her against her will. You were about to steal what was rightfully mine."

The man shakes his head, "NO no no no no!!! Please, have mercy!"

Noah stilled his hold on him, "Have mercy? Have mercy?!" he exclaimed in disbelief, "Were you gonna have mercy on HER!" He brings the man closer to his face and whispers, "I don't think so." Noah takes a hold of the man's neck and says, "You fucked with the wrong man's female" Then he twists his neck. The man's body falls limp on the ground.

I just lay there silently. The events that just occurred has me frozen in shock...and in fear. I look up at Noah, who's back is to me. I see the great big cut as well as his muscles which ripples every time he takes a heavy breath. 

He slowly turns around and looks at me. His eyes aren't blue anymore. They're black as a wild animal. He is reacting purely out of instinct. But I frown when a thought comes into my mind. An animal wouldn't care if a female animal they had no relation to, gets hurt, they only have a quick reaction like that when its for someone that means something to them. What do I mean to Noah?

He slowly approaches me. Because he is more animal than man right now, I lye down and expose all my vulnerable parts as a sign on submission to him. He stands over me and growls a little. He crouches down to his knees and brings his face close to mine. My heart races as each second ticks away into memory. He sniffs around my face then suddenly growls threateningly. I close my eyes in fear. If I am to die, I don't want to see. However, what surprised me was when I felt warm lips touch my forehead. Then he lays his cheeks upon my own as a sign of acceptance. I find myself leaning into him. For some reason I feel so...safe. The moment was soon lost when I felt the pain come back again. My heat, right. I groan in pain. I grab onto his shoulders and whimper, "Please...p-please help me."

https://youtu.be/Q9ms7AHu7IQ

( A/N: This is the song I imagined when he carries her to her cottage. Comment if you like it or not, and if not then send me a song that you'd think would suit this scene.)

He looks at me deeply before he slips his arms under me and lifts me up as if I weighed nothing. He then carried me back to the cottage. I rest my heavy head on his chest and look up at him. His eyes are so soft, yet they hold such an intensity I cannot describe. They are so focused on what it wants and what it needs. They are the eyes of a beast. He looks down at me as he walks, but I don't shy away surprisingly. I wanted to catch a glimpse of the eyes that saved me. I see him studying me in curiosity, confusion and suspicion. But his eyes hold something else as well...they hold pain. I lift my hand and laid it on the side of his face. I used my thumb to stroke his cheek. I looked into his eyes and gave him a soft little smile.

"No need to be scared..." I hear him grunt under his breath. He looks straight into my eyes and said, "No one will touch you...You're safe with me..." Noah looks away from me and continues on with the journey back as if what he said didn't matter. But really, it meant the world to me. He told me that I didn't need to be scared. He told he would keep me safe...and for a lifetime that is all I ever wanted...to be safe.

We arrive at the cottage. He takes me inside but doesn't put me down. I tense up when he positioned me in a way where my legs automatically wrap around his torso. He buries his face in my neck and inhales and exhales with a groan. I wrap my arms around his neck as I felt his lips touch my neck. I felt my breath hitch. He leans me against the wall as I feel his hand cup my ass. He continues to suck on my neck and I couldn't help but moan slightly as I felt pleasure tingling from my neck straight to my stomach.

Noah leans back and looks at me and down to my lips. He leans back in slowly, his lips almost touching mine, until they don't. I felt my heart sink in disappointment. He leans his forehead to mine, "I want you so bad. But I can't have you."

"Why not?" I whisper. 

"Because of what I am...A Monster."

"You're not a monster, Noah."

He ignores me and lays me on my bed without breaking eye contact. He turns to leave, but I touch his arm. He looks back at me, "Thank you," I whispered. I couldn't help but feel my eyes sting slightly with tears. Tears of gratitude, "You kept me safe, so thank you Noah."

He leans in to grab my hand, he holds it over his chest, "You're always safe with me," He whispers. Noah gets up to leave. "Wait!" I exclaimed. I turn to my bedside table and grab my hankie. It had detailed embroidery on it. I take Noah's hand and put the hankie in it, "It was my mother's. Please take it as a sign of my gratitude." He nods his head then leaves, closing the door softly behind him.

I lay in bed thinking about nothing else, but Noah. Who is this man? Why do I feel such a strong connection with him?