Lia thought she would have a heart attack when she awoke and found her mate's side of the bed empty.

"Daniel?" She sprang up from the large bed and began to search around for him.

"Daniel?!" Lia went into the walk-in closet yet there was still no sign of him.

"Daniel? Daniel?!"

"Hey, I'm here" the so thought missing person walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair dripping water.

"God" Lia sighed and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his toned abdomen tightly.

Just now, she had a nightmare where she was taken away from him, and this time not by Tristan but Raphael - what a strange dream.

"It's okay, I'm not going anywhere" he ensured her, giving his mate a good scratch on the head till she relaxed and let go of him.

"Don't give me such a heart attack, again! " Lia scolded him sternly.

"What did I do wrong?"

"Not sticking to me like an octopus" she pointed out his mistake.

"Does this count?" Daniel said and without warning, lifted her off her feet as if she was paper.

Lia screamed as a result of the unexpected levitation, wrapping her legs around his waist to steady herself in fear of falling.

"Daniel!" She squealed, hitting him on the chest.

"Wasn't that what you wanted? '' He laughed at the scaredy-cat who could take on a wolf hugger than her but couldn't survive a simple lift.

Lia giggled, hiding her face on his muscled chest. His fresh scent wafted into her nose; the smell of his shampoo, aftershave, and natural body scent made her stomach do a backflip

She was not a cannibal but his flushed pink skin from the hot bath he must have taken looked so tantalizing, she just wanted to take a bite.

Daniel shivered when he felt a soft tingle course through his body. He quickly pulled his mate's face from his chest, watching her pout her lips innocently as if she didn't commit any crime.

He shook his head, "Judging from your mischief, it's such a shocker you're not a fox"

"Can a werewolf marry a fox?"

"If it's you, why not" he answered.

With her legs wrapped around him, Daniel led both of them into the closet.

"Choose a cloth for your mate" He ordered her.

Lia blew air through her nose, "Such a shame you look good in anything else I would have suggested a baggy attire"

Daniel laughed, he understood why she was vexed. Soon, they would join the other students for breakfast and all eyes would be on him.

"I haven't seen you in ripped jeans" She observed while going through his collections on the rack.

"I'm entertaining kids who see me as some sort of monarchical ruler, I need to dress decently," he told her, returning the rugged pants to the stand.

"Fine," She said with a disappointed look before selecting a long-sleeved silky purple shirt with black pants.

"What type of shoes - ?" Lia was asking about his preference when her mate stripped, removing the towel hiding his indecency.

"Daniel!" She screamed and looked away, her face flushed tomato red.

He chuckled, "What's there to be ashamed of when we've both seen each other naked the numerous times we shifted"

"There's a difference between shifting from wolf form to our human form than seeing you in your birthday suit"

"Hmm, how so?" He purposely kept her talking as he dressed up

"It has a different feeling to it "

"Explain in-depth"

"How am I supposed to …." She faltered when her direction of sight fell on the three-paneled mirrors which displayed Daniel's naked glory.

"Holy moly" she gulped, her eyes greedily taking in the marvelous view just as Lolli went into a joyful frenzy.

"Why did you stop…." Daniel trailed off as he looked over his shoulder, catching her red-handed checking him out.

Lia wished the ground would open and swallow her up when their eyes collided through the mirror- he even winked at her.

A hot blush stained her cheeks, causing her to tear her gaze away while clearing her throat awkwardly.

"I need to wash up" she excused herself but her mate kept grinning at her with his knowing look.

Gosh, this was so embarrassing.

Lia quickly ushered herself into the bathroom, calming her heart which was at the point of leaping out of her chest while sending a mental warning to Lolli who kept posting indecent images of her mate to her mind.

By the time she was done in the bathroom, Daniel shamelessly demanded he watches her dress up since she had watched him too.

They fought playfully and in the end, Lia was given no choice but to block him out of the room with her forcefield.

"How do I look?" Lia twirled around in her sunny dress yet he ignored her and looked the other way.

Lia facepalmed, why did the moon goddess give her petty mates? He took offense just because she kicked him out of the closet, sigh.

Daniel was sitting at the edge of the bed with a mean pout, his chin resting on his jaw when his mate invaded his space.

She parted his legs and got in-between them before pushing him back to the bed.

Hovering over him with her hair swept to a side of her shoulder, she cocked a sassy brow and repeated, "How do I look, Daniel?"

Daniel flipped Lia to her back, hovering over her this time, "Do I have to answer?"

Lia took charge, rolling him over and growled, " Yes, you must!"

Daniel pushed her onto her back, lifting a challenging brow, "And if I don't?"

She answered, "We'll see"

So the two idiots began a power struggle, flipping and rolling each other till they both reached the edge and fell off the bed.

Lia felt all the air get knocked out of her lungs when Daniel landed on her with his entire weight- who said this was romantic?

She coughed " Alright, you win. Now get off me, you big tough bully"

Daniel grinned at her victoriously. Though he didn't get off her, he supported himself on his arms and took most of his weight from her.

"You look fabulous," Daniel told her, drawing a smile from her lips - well, the position does look romantic now.

Just when Lia thought he was closing in to kiss her, he suddenly stopped. She watched him become absentminded and knew he was communicating through the mind link.

Daniel's once amused features twisted into a serious one causing him to frown, something bad must have happened.

Suddenly, she remembered the incident with Tristan, making her wonder if it got to do with it.

Daniel got up from her in a haste, she followed after him and grabbed his arm when he tried to move.

"What's going on?"

He flashed her a big fake smile, "It's nothing"

But she didn't accept his pathetic excuse, "You can't lie to me, Daniel. I know something is going on" Lia insisted.

Daniel clasped her face in his palms," Do you trust me?"

"I trust you as I've said numerous times, but you're not going to lie your way out of this one"

Daniel sighed, "It's Tristan's people but it's nothing I can't handle"

"It's because of me, isn't it? Because of what I did? They're here for war, aren't they?" She panicked.

"Hey" Daniel turned her face to him,

"Tristan has been in the hospital receiving treatment since last night, so I'm sure they're here to take him to their pack " he assured his worried mate.

"What if they're here for war? Or to take me away?"

"They're not here for war and wouldn't until their alpha recovers and instructs them to do so" Daniel explained, "Moreover, I won't let anybody take you - not on my watch"

He hugged her tight, "I'll need you to be a good mate and join your friends wherever they are, I'll send a guard to lead you there"

"Nothing would happen to you right?" She asked, resting her forehead against his.

"Sure, have you forgotten I'm one big bad wolf to take down? " he joked with her.

Daniel led her outside the room where the bodyguard was waiting already.

"Keep your eyes on her. No matter what, don't let her out " He mind linked the guard without Lia's knowledge.

"Of course alpha" the guard replied mentally, then signaled Lia to follow his lead.

"Daniel!" Lia called after him and ran to hug him one more time before she tilted her head and kissed him passionately. She tasted him as if it was going to be the last time they would be seeing each other.

"They are getting impatient" Daniel heard his beta's voice through the link which made him pull away from the kiss.

"Lia, I have to go"

"You're going to come back hale and hearty, right?" she asked again, just to be sure.

"Of course, nothing would happen to me"

Lia wished there was a way she could help him. She suddenly wished she was a witch so she could give him some good luck charm or something.

"Alright " she reluctantly let Daniel go, he left right away.

"We should go, Miss, " The guard told him when she kept staring at Daniel's figure until it disappeared finally.

"Sure, let's go"