“Are you going to explain the bleeding?” Rose questioned when Rune walked in with a neatly wrapped mattress in his hands and some fabric beneath his armpit. “And where is this place? Also, that thing where you read my mind, why are you the only one that can read minds? It is creepy when you do it. Also, if you can zap us from point A to point B with your powers, why didn’t you do it on time? You should have not waited for those angsty wolves to speak at all.”“Rose?” Rune queried with a raised brow, his entire body stuck in a rather funny position because of how overwhelmed he was. “Also, you have a wolf too, right? Will you show me? Will I be scared of it?”“Rose…” Rune became sterner. “Those are a lot of questions,” he commented when she turned to look at him. “Your bleeding has stopped?”Rune found her cute and a bit hilariously stubborn. She was not bothered by his comment, she barely blinked in reaction. But, Rune quickly realised that maybe it was not hilarious. At all. Those
Meanwhile, in the castle of the Brunia Pack, Rune’s presence in the pack had just reached the ears of the current Alpha King - Alpha Maxon. The tall man who was not as powerful as his brother could not hide how worried the news made him. He always knew it was a matter of time before his brother would come back to question the illegality of his banishment, he just did not expect it to be so soon. And he did not expect that he would come back with a pregnant human mate.His right hand on his chin, Maxon debated in his mind, ways to get rid of his brother before he could make any move. Sending assassin wolves to quietly murder him was not an option. Rune would not die easily even if he was in his weakest state and Maxon did not want to be branded as the Alpha that tried to kill his brother.Maxon then further wondered if it was possible to do something about the human mate. She was, after all, a great abomination that should not exist in their pack. At the end of that deliberation, Rune’
“You were bleeding earlier…” Rose decided to revisit her earlier questions which she uttered in a slightly oblivious state. “Why?”Rune, with a small smile, folded the leaves that they used to plate the deer meat he hunted. “I cannot escape your query.”“Are you dying?” Rose looked at him hopefully, more than she wished to. Before he replied, she imagined what would happen if he died the next day. Thinking about it upset her so much. That was her answer. She was bothered by Rune and possibly leaning towards him second after second. “Maybe.” He shrugged as he rinsed his hands in the bowl he found in a corner of the ruins. “I could be. But it doesn't matter.”“It doesn't matter if you die?” With her pupils enlarged, she wished to slap those words out of his mouth. “I mean…” He sighed. “If I am truly dying, I don't care because my final days will be filled with memories of you and the days we have spent together. That is enough.”“I hate you,” she blurted with a visible ache in her voi
When Rose woke up the next day, Rune informed her that he was ready to open the gateway. That was the only statement shared between them. She went on to have a quick bath. Afterwards, she joined Rune, who was facing the forest with a greenish stone in his palms. “Are you sure you are better now?” she eventually asked when the silence between them started to make her feel weird. “We can stay back till you feel-”“No. I am okay.” He grunted confidently to prove his point, then returned to focusing on the stone. Moments later, he tsked and murmured, “Why is it not working?”“Is something wrong?”“The gate should be open by now. I am putting all my focus on it.”“It will never work,” responded the voice of Rune’s mother. Quietly, like a vampire on a hunt, the woman stepped into the sunlight, the ridiculous straw hat on her head making her look like a royal servant. “You can’t leave yet, my son.”“What bullshit are you trying to pull this time?” Rune asked tiredly.The Luna Dowager fixed
During their hushed and impactful conversation, Luna Dowager also offered a place to stay since residing in the castle would rouse unnecessary attention. So, as they walked into the simple house provided, Rose tried to occupy her racing mind with the view of the rooms. But there was nothing much to see. “Rose.” Rune pulled her from behind before she could check the last room. He had been following her quietly, but it seemed he could not endure the silence for long. “I want to understand what you and the Luna Dowager discussed. Why are we doing this?”Rose, with a little brow lift, made sure not to turn. “Let us prepare to-”“Fuck?” he interrupted with distaste. “Is this a joke, Rose? Do you think I see you as some sort of pregnancy vessel?”Rose was not willing to hear the flaws of her decision. She sighed. “When you are ready, let us get it done with.”“Rose.” Exasperatedly, he let go of her hand and walked to her front before she could escape. “Our bond is too sacred for us to use
“I will be fine,” Rose urged Rune, who had just told her that he needed to meet his mother. “I can’t help but feel that something might go wrong,” he continued, his worry multiplying as seconds passed. “Putting the Luna Dowager in her place is necessary. We also need the assurance that she will not back away from our deal,” Rose pointed out. She then got up and walked to the nearest window. “I know it is silly to claim that I would be perfectly alright. But as much as possible, I am going to stay safe.” She faced him. “I will lock the doors and draw the curtains.”Rune sighed. “If only my powers were protective.”“Powers? Oh, never mind.” Rose recalled how he easily zapped them out of places. “Rune, the more you put it off, the worse it gets. Get it done and come back to me.”His eyes lit up, and he got up from the patterned sofa. “I will be quick.”“I will be waiting.” If they were not under exigent circumstances, their conversation could have simply been one between lovers who did
Rune met all the doors and windows tightly closed. He had to force one of the windows open to get in. Thankfully, he wasn't too loud. He met Rose contentedly asleep on the bed. After keeping the letter he made his mother sign in the safest place he could think of, he opened some windows, disrobed, took a quick bath and joined Rose in the bed after finding baggy shorts in the doorless wardrobe seated in the corner of the room. Without distracting her sleep, he joined her under the huge blanket and almost started laughing when he saw how cutely she held on to the knife she had mentioned she would take. Once he placed the knife aside, his hand slid into hers, and like that, he fell asleep, peace and joy dominating every other feeling in his soul. [break]Rose waking up next to Rune reminded her of one of the things she used to desire in her hellish marriage. Many days, she wished to wake up next to Richard. But no matter how much her heart ached for such, it never happened. However,
“It is louder than I imagined,” Rose pointed out as their paces followed the path that led to the main market of the Brunia Pack. “And it appears normal.”“Normal or not,” Rune held her hand more firmly, “these wolves can suddenly decide to spill blood.” His cautious eyes were everywhere. “Stay close to me.”“Okay.” She shifted closer as if their joined hands were not enough for them to survive the crowd. “I need to find a way to make money,” Rune said after seconds of pushing past the people trying to purchase one thing or another. “Otherwise, our time here will be a waste.”“Or we could enter a contest.”“Huh?”She pointed at the banner highly displayed in front of them. “It is a fruit-eating contest. The winner gets two crates of eggs and a half bag of flour and rice.” Rose wondered why her excitement grew as she read out the details. “That is a pretty good deal, isn’t it?”“It is.” He looked hesitant.“Should we leave?” She looked around. “I am sure we can find a quick job to-”He
“Is there something going on?” Keith asked as they walked past the crowd in front of the large building they were heading towards.“It’s none of our business,” Symon replied. “Our focus is not on them.”Rose nodded in agreement to what the Beta said, but she also inwardly acknowledged Keith’s observation. The crowd they met was not a normal amount, it reeked of something ominous. But, she quickly got rid of that feeling and intensified her strides to catch up to the he-wolves and… Catherine. Rose did not want to look at that she-wolf; if she did, she would be strongly tempted to drag the woman to a corner and beat her up. Of course, that would not do much to soothe her anger, but the fact that Catherine did that devious thing to Rune made her heart burn with fury. “You cannot go further than this,” an unfamiliar voice said.Rose looked up and saw that they had left the ground floor. She loosened her fists and noticed the huge man before them. Based on the heavy vests and slightly hi
“You fucking bastard!”That did not come from Catherine, so Maxon was super startled. And he was more startled when a sharp punch slapped his head from behind. “What the-”“What did you just say?! Huh? You took Rune to where?”That feminine voice was very unfamiliar, so was the face of the voice. But, he could not lie, the woman glaring at him looked quite alluring and the degree of pain from her punch made her more interesting.“And you,” he watched as she faced Catherine, “is it true? Are you the reason Rune is battling so much pain?”“R-Rose…” Catherine stuttered. “The… human,” Maxon spluttered, his back straightening while he reasoned whether to retaliate her punch. “What? Are you going to deny everything? Do you want to claim that he is lying about everything?” the woman kept glaring at Catherine and it was amusing to see the she-wolf looking slightly fearful. “Rose, please…” Catherine stepped back with caution. “That is not our focus right now. He…” She looked at Maxon. “He
Maxon never knew a day would come when he would enjoy the meals served by the castle chefs. He usually depended on the meals his wolf hunted in the dead of night. But on this very day, the food that the human nature of werewolves desired kept vanishing down his throat with great ease.Getting rid of Rune was that much of a pleasure to his soul. Even his irregular sleep lifestyle was easily fixed. “Maxon!” The sound of his mother’s rage was also music to his ears. As she rushed into the grand yet almost empty dining room, he watched her with a confident smile plastered on his face. “Where is he?”He put down the rib in his hand. He then relaxed and dared the Luna Dowager’s presence. “Who?”“Rune!”“Easy, mother. You are not so young anymore.”“Where…?” She bared her teeth. “... the fuck is your brother?”“In a good place. Don’t worry, he is not dead.”“I clearly told you-”“I told you to stop being nosy,” he calmly cut her short. “Why are you being so stubborn? How come all you ever s
Symon could have missed Rose walking into the hideout with the ex-Luna behind her. Thank goodness he listened to the voice in his gut that told him to stay back for a few minutes to rest.“Rose!” Omega Keith rushed to hug the woman whose eyes seemed to be searching for Rune’s presence. “Oh…” The he-wolf’s shaky voice pitied the human. “What happened to you? Who did this to you?”“Um…” She was still searching, her neck craning as though her mate would walk out of one of the nearby rooms with a grand smile. This view increased the sorrow in Symon’s heart, and tears inevitably formed in his eyes. He felt shitty, he could only imagine how worse the woman would feel once she learned that her mate was missing. As he turned to the side to wipe those tears, he properly noticed Catherine, who was also searching for Rune’s presence.“Catherine,” he sternly called her. “Why are you here?”“I know about it.” She shifted closer, her eyes rabid with desperation. “I know he is missing.”“Uhm…” The
For many minutes, Rose remained in that spot. There was no special reason, it just happened that she could not rush out of that room after the incredulous freedom she had just witnessed. Or perhaps that was the very reason. Her mind was still in awe of that mighty presence, one part of her rejoiced that Richard was no longer alive to torture her, while another part of her soul feared that the miracle she witnessed was a figment of her imagination.After shaking her head to clear her multiplying thoughts, Rose’s sorrowful lips formed a smile, and the slight ache that followed that motion assured her and the latter part of her thoughts that she did not imagine anything. She was indeed free from Richard, free from his demonic nature and desire to destroy her. She could now walk out and reunite with Rune, who she worried would be battling with severe frustration. So, she did that. She got up, walked past Richard's mortal body and left the room. Upon entering the next room, she met ma
“He is still not back?” Symon’s worry was now very uncontrollable. It had been two days since Alpha Rune left to search for Rose. The Beta found it worrisome that Rune did not return with or without Rose, so he went out to find him. But hours of searching yielded no result, and his desire to find Rune waiting in the hideout was instantly crushed when he got there. “We have searched everywhere. We even sent some of our wolves to spy on the castle, but nothing has come out of it. What if something terrible happened?” Omega Keith could not hide his anguish. “I don’t want to think the worst,” answered Symon, his eyes tightly shut to help him endure the brewing terror in his soul. “I don't want to.”“But, his curse. Beta Symon, that curse is merciless. What if he is stuck somewhere, lying unconscious? We have to-” Keith slapped his thigh. He could not hide his anguish. “Where else can we search? What else can we do to find him?”Symon sighed as he sat to relieve the ache in his feet. “Th
From the depths of her soul. Rose released a breath that shook her so much that her body stayed fixed, her eyes wide and unblinking. Her mouth gaped, she glared at the evil standing before her, and she cursed the day she met Richard in her mind. Then, she started to wonder if she had always been blind to his true nature. She should have suspected that he was not purely human the day he came to Rune’s house with a rabid, unworldly beast. She should have linked his obsession to find and destroy her to something supernaturally wicked.“Don’t sweat it, Rosie,” Richard said, his dark eyes and terrible smell returning to where they came from. “No matter how you beat yourself up, you will find out that there was no way you could have known my true nature. Even the pastors didn’t know. They were suspicious, but they didn’t know. Well,” he held his chin as if thinking about a deep detail, “back then, I was still human. I had not taken back my powers, so it was very easy to deceive other human
Catherine did not understand how she was patient enough to wait for President Christopher to show up. She was especially angry that when the human eventually showed up, his half-assed answers displayed no regard for her. He made her look so foolish, she almost slapped his head against the table. But, beyond her desire to make the human bleed, she still needed his connection to get rid of Rune’s mate.Speaking of Rune… It had been so long since she had seen him. As she wondered if he was doing fine, she headed into the gateway she opened and readied her soul to be healed by Rune’s precious sight. [break]Christopher could not believe that Rune escaped so easily.Sure, the man was of werewolf nature, but the silver element existed to tame the strength of that nature.So, just how did his precious weapon escape?Christopher tried to tame his anger, but he ended up denting a close by trash bin. If only that stupid professor had just allowed him to place guards in that fucking room! Wh
“This… This is the pack,” Rune faintly commented when their journey ended. “So, back there…”“We were still in the human world,” Symon completed. “I am super confused right now.”“I have to find Rose. Other things can come after,” Rune said. But he soon realised that the weakness of his wolf was tampering with his head. He struggled with sorting out his thoughts. “Uh… do you remember the way?”The Beta relieved Rune of the burden of holding Keith. “The hideout is not too far from here. Can you feel Rose’s presence?”That question worsened Rune’s inner burden. “No. I don’t know why.”“Maybe she is asleep,” answered the Beta as he piggybacked the Omega. “If that were the case, I would still be able to sense her soul. But there is nothing.” Rune exhaled hard. “There is no use debating it. Lead the way.”They wasted no time. They reached the hideout, and the moment they descended the stairs, Beta Runabis ran towards them, a frown on his forehead. “Alpha Rune, why are you back?” the Beta