Dawn walked away in order to put distance between herself and the wall. The growling increased and there was yet another thud on the wall. Was that a werewolf? There were more thuds on the outside as if more werewolves had joined. She clamped her hand across her mouth and pressed it hard in order to suppress her shriek. Were the werewolves trying to kill her? She stumbled back two more steps and tripped over a small table. An uncontrollable shudder passed through her body. Where was Daryn? She looked at the bedside table where the note was placed. Don't come out. Stay in.

All of a sudden she heard menacing growls on the out as though a fight had erupted.

Thwack.

Thump.

Whack.

In the next few moments Dawn could roughly make out what was going on the outside. The wolves were being thrown mercilessly on the wall and being attacked ferociously. A dangerous fight had begun in which many would either get badly injured or die. Whimpers and whines sounded from the outside. Was there Daryn amongst them? She got up and surged to her feet, running to the door and stood there.

Another whimper.

She opened the door gently to peep outside, to save Daryn. What she noticed was blood curdling. Her eyes became wide with fear. There were at least five wolves that were fighting amongst themselves. And amongst them was her Alpha, her Daryn—the big, massive white wolf attacking the rest of them with all his might.

'Stay in' a voice slipped into her mind. But how could she leave her Alpha? With her heartbeat accelerating, she opened the door a little more. She wanted to shift but her fear was restricting her. To her chagrin, a black werewolf noticed her. He bared its teeth and growled low. He left the group and slowly and stealthily padded towards her. It leapt in the air when the white wolf attacked it from the side and caught his neck in its jaws. The white wolf had sunk its teeth in its neck and dragged it away. The blood oozed out like a stream. Suddenly the images of the day when she was bitten flashed across the mind. She banged the door close and slid on the floor.

Daryn?

Bitten.

Blood.

Hospital.

Dawn passed out.

"Dawn?" a soft, worried voice came. "Baby, you okay?"

She fluttered her eyes open and through her blurry vision saw a familiar figure. She felt so weak but she brought her hands to his face and asked in a weak voice, "Daryn, what happened outside?" She realized that he had held her in his lap tightly. They were sitting on the bed.

Listening to her voice, Daryn embraced her in his arms and rocked her back and forth. "Oh my baby," his voice cracked. He didn't speak a word and only kept rocking her as if assuring himself that she was still there with him.

She buried her face in his chest. When he stopped and looked down at her, she gave him a faint smile. He pressed his lips on her forehead.

"I am so sorry," he said. "But this happens in Ulfric every year. I told you not to open the door, so why did you do that? Why can't you ever listen to me?"

"I— I was scared when I smelled your presence. I wanted to join you in warding them off."

"Join me?" he asked anxiously as his brows furrowed. "Do you even know what that was?"

"No…"

"It is a full moon night. The rays of the moon affect the werewolves and their craving to find a mate, to claim her, increases. The males may go mad if they wait too long to find a mate.

This is the place where they are surrounded by numerous females, so you can understand the intense desire to mate. Often the madness surpasses their sanity to the limit that it is impossible to bring them back and we have to put them down."

Dawn looked at him with horror. "Pu— put them down? As in kill them?" she paled.

"Yes," he replied, stroking her hair. "Ulfric is dangerous. That is why I asked you to stay in. You are a neotide and no match for the pure bloods." He shuddered. "The pure blood females can still handle. Also it is not necessary that the males who want to mate would go for every other female. It's the scent that affects them and—"

"Do you mean that there was a mad wolf outside our room? My scent— my— it affected him?"

"Yes," he replied.

Feeling a little better, Dawn moved out of his lap. She noticed that there was a cut on his arm where the blood had caked. She tried to get up, but he stopped her. "I'll be fine dear," he said, understanding her fully well, but she got up and brought a wet towel from the bathroom.

Wiping away the blood, she looked at him as she fought a tear back in her eye. "You— did you kill— kill that black werewolf?"

"There were four of us who had to use our force against him to drag him out of this place."

Dawn's body quivered uncontrollably and she couldn't hold her tears back. Because of her a werewolf went down.

Daryn wiped her tears. "Don't cry darling. There's no more threat to you. That was one lone wolf. Just get ready and we need to show ourselves in front of the shaman now. It is already late."

She couldn't imagine what would happen to Daryn on this full night if he didn't claim her. He was an Alpha and a dominant one at that. She blinked through her tears, kept the bloodied towel down and pressed a kiss on his lips. "I will," she whispered.

When she pulled out, he looked at her tenderly and pointed with his chin to the other side of the sofa. A brown box made from deer hide was placed, wrapped in a red ribbon. "That's what I have chosen for you for the ceremony. It is the traditional outfit that pure blood mates wear for Rede'vota. However, if you like, you may choose not to wear it."

Dawn's lips parted and ran her hand through her hair. He had thought so much for her. She got up to check what was inside the box. She caressed the soft velvety edge of the large box. Opening the red ribbon, she removed the cover. She saw a brown skirt and a matching blouse in it along with beaded jewelry. She picked it out of the box and held it in front of her. A relaxed smile crossed her face and her overall facial countenance lifted. Her cheeks became light pink with pleasure. Was this the dress of their traditional wedding? Warmth spread through her chest and she smiled even more – to the point that her face felt stretched.

Made from deerskin, it was a long skirt with a slit till mid-thigh on the side. Seamed beautifully, it had a belt to adjust the waist length. The blouse was more like a tube top, which had buttons at the back. This was so different from the normal weddings that she had witnessed in the church. She held the dress to her cheeks and closed her eyes wanting the feeling to last forever.