Chapter 5

She was heading for the riverbank with some Doulos when she felt, more like smelled him around. Silently, she slips away from the rest and begins to head in a different direction with no one around. She had just walked up to a point when she stopped walking and turned around to face a direction.

"You can come out now, they're all gone." She says.

From behind a treeline, Chan pulls out, wearing a smile. "I thought you said ... how did you know it was me?" He asks beginning to work towards her.

Smiling, "I can smell when you are around." She says smiling even more.

"Smell me?" He asks, his brows furrowed.

She shrugs, "I cannot really explain, but when you are around or near, my nerves go completely calm, and somehow, the air around me changes to one that calms and ..." she shrugs, "That's how I know. It's how I found you that day."

He moves closer, until there was no space between them. "Tell me your name." He says more like a request. She was about to argue or give him reasons of why she shouldn't again, like she has for the past days, but he shakes his head. "I know you go by Number 28, I know everyone calls you that, but I do not want to call you that. I want to know your name. When I think of you, when am not around you, it's your name I want in my head, not a number." Eyes on her, he takes another step closer, some parts of their body touching. Then slowly, he raises his hand and begins to wrap it around her waist. He waited for her reaction or any hint to show she was not comfortable with that, but he saw none. He smiles, and she smiles back. "Tell me your name, please."

"Ianna." She says her voice breathy, sapphire blue eyes on him. "Ianna." She repeats.

He smiles. "Ianna." He says it slowly, as if testing the words on his lips. "Ianna." He says again, smiling more. Eyes on her, "You have a beautiful name, Ianna."

She smiles, "Thank you."

Her, so close to him like this, he did things to him. Sarton liked being this close to her, but he was beginning to want more than just that. He was beginning to entertain the idea of mere physical touch or brushing of skin, Sarton wants to claim this female completely and in every way possible. At first he had been silent after he learnt she had no wolf, the thought of never going to run wild with his mate must have hit him harder than the fact of her being a Doulo, but somehow, after some thinking, he had somehow convinced himself that her wolf was there.

Chan moved closer to her, more than just their thighs brushing. He gulps as that movement sent shocks through his entire body.

"Chan." She called when he had stared at her for longer minutes without uttering a single word.

He gulps again, snapping out of his thoughts. "Would you like to see Sarton?" He asks, his eyes on her.

Number 28 bats her eyes, as a slow smile graced her lips. "Can I?" She asks.

Chan smiles more as he begins to walk away, and then begins to run towards a direction, pulling off his shirt as he ran. He went behind a tree and minutes later, it wasn't him but a grey wolf that stepped out in his place. Sarton stood, staring at Number 28, as if waiting for her approval or disapproval.

Number 28 could not believe her eyes, he was beautiful. Sarton was beautiful, just as Chan was. She has had the opportunity of seeing few wolves in their real form before, from a distance though, but none was as beautiful as the one that was standing few feet away from her. Smiling, she begins to move towards him until finally she was standing an inch away from him. "Can I touch you?" She asks.

Sarton gave a slow nod of the head and that was all the approval she needed. Smiling, she moves even closer and begins to caress him with Sarton leaning into her touch. Number 28 smiles, caressing him more. "You are beautiful!" She says squatting down to Sarton's level.

Slowly, after a while, Chan had taken back control, shifting back into his human form, and they had walked over to the edge of the river when they were sure no one was there, and they had sat there together.

"I want to know more about you, Ianna." Chan says turning to face her. "I want to share everything with you, tell you everything, and I want you to do the same." He says, eyes on her.

They say like that for minutes without either of them saying or doing anything, then slowly, she raises her had and begins to loose the clothing that covered her face until her face was left open to his view. She stares up at him as he stared at her, not uttering a word.

Chan could not believe his eyes. He couldn't quite tell what he had been expecting, but certainly not the beautiful female that sat in front of him the moment her veil dropped to the floor. She was beautiful. Sapphire blue eyes, pitch black wavy long hair, and lips that called all attention to themselves. Chan gulps, trying his best to find words. "Ehm ... I -

Number 28 stares at him, not exactly knowing what to do. Aside her late mother, Number 39 was the next only person who has ever seen her with her veil down, and if she was unpleasant to look at, Number 39 has certainly never said that. She herself has never looked in the mirror, water waves, yes, but a sneaky peek when no one was watching, so even she could not really tell what she looked like.

Chan gulps again. "You are beautiful, Ianna." He says slowly, his eyes still drinking her in. Of their own accord, his right hand moves up and begins to caress her face as if tracing them, to smear them in his memory. He gulps again.

"Am I?" She asks, when he continued to study her face.

Her question pulled his attention away from her pretty lips, back to her face. When he saw the doubt on her face, he narrows his brows. "You have seen your face be-

"Doulos have no mirrors. I have never." She cuts in.

"Never?" He asks again, doubting that.

"Never." She says.

Chan begins to look around until at last he found the perfect thing. Standing up, he takes her hand, pulling her up along with him until they were both standing, then he begins to head for the river with her. "Look." He says, nodding her at the water. And she did.

Number 28 stares back at her reflection in the water, seeing herself for the first time for who she was.

"You are beautiful, Ianna. Your name is beautiful, and you are even more beautiful." He smiles at her and she smiles back. "And soon, you are going to be my mate, my Ianna, my future Luna." His words got her looking back up at him. He nods, "Yes Ianna, and soon, very soon."