CHAPTER FOUR

ADELIA

The corner of Lewis' lips tilted and a magnetic smirk appeared on his face.

"You want to... join hands with me?" He asked, his eyes started twinkling with amusement.

"Yes," I directly told him. "You are the only one who has the power to help me and I have the necessary power and information that can help you reach your goals."

"More than that... I know that you don't have a mate. So, there is no reason for you to directly refuse my offer of cooperation," I added before biting my lower lip.

"Oh? But, don't you have a mate of your own?" Lewis asked before a dangerous glint flashed on his eyes.

I closed my eyes and felt my heart painfully clenching. The mere mention of Alec was enough to feel pain in my heart.

"It's true that I have a mate," I softly told Lewis. "However... if I end up with him, in the future...."

"....he will kill me... and absorb my wolf."

Lewis did not say anything and for a couple of seconds. A deafening silence surrounded us. The dark aura around him even became darker... and even more terrifying. It was clear that he was not pleased about something. I nervously waited for his reply.

Thankfully, Lewis did not make me wait long and say, "So you want me... to be your mate instead?"

"...I...actually..." I started to say but could not continue. His simple question made me very flustered. I bit my lower lip before saying, "Not... exactly."

"So... you can't let go of your mate?" Lewis asked in a dangerously low voice, making my heart beat faster.

"No. I can't be with someone who would harm me and my wolf," I firmly answered. "But... I'm not asking you to be my mate."

"What I want from you is protection. You know who my mate is. Right now, only you can hide me and protect me from him," I added before looking at him with determined eyes. "In exchange, I will tell you about the visions I've seen so far, and the vision that I will see because of the changing future," I added.

Lewis kept his silence as he looked at me with close scrutiny. His stares made me feel fidgety and it was getting harder to breathe. However, I stood still and allowed him to look at me. I tried my best to show him a brave front. But that was only until I saw his hand approaching me.

My heart started to hammer in my chest and my face became pale. I felt frozen in place as I stared at his hand coming nearer to me.

'He is going to strangle me? Will I die?' I thought fearfully.

A few seconds later, however, Lewis' hand did not touch my neck. Instead, his fingers took the tip of a tendril of my hair and played with it. I blinked in surprise and looked at him in question.

"Your suggestion is tempting," he started to say and hope sprouted in my heart. "But I'm not satisfied with it," Lewis said and I felt my world coming apart.

In the past, I have already thought of a situation wherein I could not get Lewis' help. In that case, I thought that I could just run away in a place where Alec would not see me. However, if I do that, the evil god would still come and devastate everything. And in the end, I would still die and fail to protect those I needed to protect.

'I have to get him to agree...' I thought to myself. 'No matter what it takes.'

"How can I make it satisfying for you?" I asked Lewis while carefully hiding my desperation.

"Well, you can throw more offers on the table," Lewis replied with a small smirk.

I put two fingers on my lips and deeply thought.

'I thought that he would jump on the opportunity to use Ylva's power,' I narrowed my eyes and thought.

'Other than Ylva's power... I don't have anything to offer,' I came into a painful realization and felt my eyes warming.

Suddenly, I saw Lewis' hand come closer to my face and wiped the corner of my eye. Then, he said, "I will give you an idea."

I hurriedly met his gaze and awaited his sentence.

"You have beautiful eyes," Lewis said without a warning. I looked into him with confusion. Lewis saw the question in my eyes. However, he did not answer me and instead, took my hand that was covering my lips. Then, he said, "Plump pink lips." At that moment, I had an idea on the direction his words were going.

'Is he... flirting with me?' I felt my heart beat faster.

"I will hide you and protect you from Alec. I can also help you accomplish your other goals," Lewis added as he gave me a magnetic look.

"In return... why don't you fully give yourself to me?" He asked with a full smirk.

I blinked at his statement. 'Fully give? Does he want me to be his slave?' I worriedly thought.

Lewis seemed to have seen my thoughts and said, "Ah, I did not mean that I wanted you to work for me."

"Rather, why don't you directly erase that punk's existence in your life, receive my mark, and be my mate?" Lewis asked as his eyes twinkled like the stars.