Chapter 5. Falling under his charm

"You can slap me on my face. Punch me. Hurt me. If that's the only way to make you stay."

I glanced at him, and his lovely orbs were staring straight at me. My heart thumped aggressively when I saw his intense stare at me, so I decided to avert my gaze again.

'Why so rude to my mate?' Violet retorted as if she was dissented and was annoyed by my behavior, but I ignored her.

"Please, give me time to absorb everything, Alpha Ace. Sorry for being tactless, but don't think I hate you as you are."

Something hot in his smile rose after I declared those words. "That's a positive view, I guess."

"Oops, I'm sorry, Alpha Ace. I still don't want to have mate, marked my words."

I thought he would get offended by those words, but what ensued is contrary to my assumptions. He tossed me a playful smile and said, "Everybody changed their mark after a certain point. Sometimes, people you hate at first will be the ones you love the most."

"It's not always the case," I clarified, even though his words sent shivers down my spine and made my skin tingle. I have to conceal the effect he had given me now.

"Good night, my mate," he said with a glorious smile.

"K, good night!"

He turned around and walked, then halted from a distance after a few strides.

Again, he swiveled around only to face me with a sweet smile on his lips. "I forgot to say. You look adorable in your dress."

His eyes held mine, so I quickly averted my gaze and swallowed the bubble of my emotion. It honestly engulfed me until he turned his back and left me without uttering another word, not even a farewell.

My fingers touched my chest, feeling the rapid pulse inside as I recalled his last words.

CONSTANT noise roused me from a deep slumber. My eyes opened only to accept that I was not dreaming last night. I am here inside the house of my mate.

Without being skeptical, I unhurriedly stood up from the bed and strode toward the casement window to witness the beautiful sunrise. But then I gasped when I saw a man standing under the large maple tree, wearing black pants and topless. He turned around enough to reveal his eight-pack, with a strong jaw, broad shoulders, and an ass so huge and round I could easily imagine myself hugging that sexy body. However, I quickly dismissed my thoughts when he saw me gawking. It's Alpha Ace.

'You done touching it?'

Our minds linked again, and his question made me crease my brows.

'No, why would you assume that?'

He shrugged and smiled cheekily. I swear his smile made my knees numb, and I hate that.

'It's your nature to do.'

'What?!' my mind hollered, but he smiled and continued looking at me. 'What nature?! I don't know what that means, Alpha.'

'It means you have one, just like the others. It makes sense since I marked you earlier. This is why you were attracted to me.'

"And who gave you consent to mark me, huh?!" I finally voice out, but my words widen his smile.

As much as I wanted to argue with him, his words rang true in my ears, and I just sighed. I'm thinking about what I should do now that he has marked me.

"Relax, darling. Please join me here because I'm honestly waiting for you to wake up. We'll be having a training, so equip yourself, eat your breakfast and come here with me."

"How dare you mark me without my damn permission? And now you're leading me?!"

"Don't make me pull you out there, darling. I'm not gentle." he smirked, which increased my annoyance. But before I could let my words out, I tied my sentiments and immediately closed the window.

I stamped my foot in frustration as I sat back on my bed, brooding on what to do next. Afterward, I took a bath and prepared myself before eating breakfast alone. I wore black pants and a knitted top before going downstairs to join Alpha Ace for whatever he planned to accomplish today.

I went outside only to obey what he said.

He was standing in the corner, surprised when he saw me.

"What training are we doing this early?" I asked as I approached him to see that it was a vast space filled with wooden table.

"It's for training. It's our first session together," he replied as he gestured for me to follow him, and I heeded without any second thoughts until we ceased in front of the wooden table with lots of woods lying.

My heartbeat faster when my gaze diverted to his naked torso, but I quickly avoided it for my innocence’s sake.

"Can you wreck them?" Alpha Ace asked, pointing the woods at the table.

I frowned in puzzlement when he didn't elucidate why we needed such things.

"What kind of training is this?" I asked him.

"Just do it."

"No, unless you tell me now."

He sighed. "You will understand if you do what I said."

Remaining rigid, I stared at the woods and wondered if I could destroy it with just one swing. I shut my eyes and respired, imagining what would happen when I destroyed this heavy object. It wasn't my first time, but never in my life have I done training like this, so I'm pretty anxious.

When I got the intrepidity to do it, I threw my punch directly into the woods, but then all I got was a pain in my hand because of the impact, and I stumbled backward while clutching my injured hand.

"Ouch! What the h—"

My words cut when Alpha Ace pulled me into his tight embrace, enough for me to smell his citrusy scent, and he nuzzled his face on the crook of my neck.

The pain slowly vanished, replaced by warmth. Seriously? Just because of his embrace, the pain became nothing but comfort.

I did want to push him away now, but I found myself unable to when I lifted my head to meet Alpha Ace's eyes; he glowed with bliss and admiration. And that made me blush furiously due to the unexpected action.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked softly with a concerned expression on his features, and when I shook my head no, his eyes brightened with delight and relief. "I was sure you hated me already for marking you before you know what is happening. Still, I can't accept your rejection because my wolf has imprinted on you, and I couldn't bear losing the person I've longed to share a mate bond with."

The more he spoke, the more he melted my heart. I don't understand why I suddenly became soft like I was already falling under his charm.

After a moment of controlling my emotion, I conveyed my words; he was left flabbergasted.