CHAPTER 8

　　The air felt stiff in front of the Black Dragon Lake. Just by coming here, anyone could feel the negative energy, surrounding the tall grasses. Alessia was being left alone in that mysterious garden. The maids wished her to die here before leaving the spot.

　　After going through all the painful events, nothing didn't matter to her anymore. Mustering up her courage, she darted her eyes around the large garden. Nothing seemed unusual in her eyes but the way everyone reacted, something was bound to happen here.

　　That lady Helena had ordered her to collect lotuses from the lake. From her standing position, she could see the blooming lotuses. It wasn't a big deal. Alessia said in her mind and walked forward to reach the lake.

　　To her utmost surprise, the lake in the water was dark like midnight. She heard from her mate that some dragons had magical powers but not everyone. She assumed that it was one of the magical places that the dragon kingdom had.

　　Stretching her hand out, she crunched next to the lake, ready to pull out the nearest lotus. As soon as her fingers touched the blooming, pink lotus, the water in the lake became turbulent. Alessia retracted her hand in shock and noticed how the water was roaring as if some wild beasts were roaring together.

　　She didn't dare to approach the lotus again and sat there in daze. In a short moment, two dragons burst out of the water like a storm, their wide wings flapping like a storm wind. Both of them had brown scalds and a pair of firing eyes. One look from them could tell that they were enraged.

　　Although Alessia was a creature herself, she never dealt with Dragon personally. She was scared to death. The first dragon let out a roar, ready to pounce on her. When Alessia tried to stand up, her steps missed and she fell into the depth of the Black Dragon Lake.

　　It was all dark under the water. Not only did she fail to swim upward, she couldn't see anything as the surface of Black Dragon Lake blocked the sunlight from going into the depth of the water. Alessia struggled with all her might. However, at one point her body turned numb and her strength was fading away slowly.

　　She was dying there. Instead of feeling scared, the thought of relief took over her soul. Finally, she was leaving this painful life, the heartbreak that she went through. However, reality knocked her hard when she remembered about the baby in her stomach. When she finally decided to escape the unexpected death, she realized that she didn't know how to swim. In fact, it was all dark around her eyes and there was absolutely no one to help her out.

　　Alessia closed her eyes, thinking that it was the last day of her painful life. Her mind could utter only a few words, the blurry image of her mate coming between her eyes,

　　" I am coming to you.. finally..."

　　She was ready to accept the brutal fate but something came between. Before losing her consciousness, a pair of strong arms grabbed her firmly, pulling her out of the water.

　　____

　　" FUCK! Alessia!!!", Raven growled in a strained voice, his voice cracking for staying under the water for so long. It was just a few minutes ago that he arrived at the side of Black Dragon Lake. After his inner dragon felt uneasy, he thought of paying her a visit but who would have thought that she was almost killed here?

　　The two enraged dragons still growled at Raven, intending to harm the creature in Raven's arms. He was carrying Alessia out of the water. Water dipped from his forehead, his taut muscles were all in great view. As they tried to attack Alessia again, Raven's enraged dragon voice burst out powerfully,

　　" HOW DARE YOU THINK OF HURTING MY MATE?"

　　The word 'Mate' stunned Raven's thought as well. He pressed his lips together tightly. He didn't expect to call her mate all of a sudden. The black dragons let out a low groan as a submission immediately, and went back under the water to sleep again.

　　Raven dropped Alessia on the lake side, his eyes holding concern. Looking around, he saw no one out there.

　　Didn't anyone warn her about the lake?

　　Black Dragon Lake had two sleeping dragons from the ancient times. These dragons had been sleeping for decades here under a spell. Only when they were needed, they were awakened by Raven with a lot of precautions. Anyone who disturbed their sleeping would be doomed. Thanks to her slippers, he instantly recognized that something had gone wrong here.

　　Raven shook her head awkwardly,

　　" Alessia!!! Alessia!! Open...open your eyes..Hey..."

　　Alessia had fainted already. Her thick eyelashes rested on her wet face. Even the color of her face had turned a little paler than usual. Raven couldn't stop himself from getting worried. On one hand, he wanted to scold her for getting into the water. On the other hand, he wanted to see her awake.

　　Swinging between these two moods, he gritted his teeth together angrily, unsure about what to do with her. Then a thought crossed his mind which didn't settle well. He heard from the healer about giving oxygen through mouth but he swore to not treat her like a mate ever. However, she wasn't opening her eyes yet.

　　Without thinking about anything else, he grabbed her by her head, stuck his lips against her wet ones, passing air slowly. Something awakened inside his mind as soon as he kissed those luscious lips. It was soft and cozy. After being soaked by the water, he found them too sweet. His cock twitched inside his pants. He couldn't believe that a simple kiss was actually turning him on.

　　Before he could take back his lips, Alessia woke up from her unconsciousness. As she expected to be in the afterlife, she discovered herself kissing by her greatest enemy. Alessia pushed him away in shot, wiping her lips repeatedly to growl at him,

　　" What the hell are you doing?"

　　She kept weeping her lips repeatedly as if she was injected by some dust. It was completely natural by judging their relationship but deep down, Raven hated her little reaction. He growled back infuriating,

　　" You insane woman..how dare you... Forget it... What were you doing under the water? If you wanted to die, all you had to do was ask me."

　　Alessia parted her lips to say something but then, her eyes went back to the lake where she saw the two scary dragons. She blurted looking around alarming,

　　" Where.. where are those two dragons? They...they were here to kill me.."

　　Raven scoffed, pushing his wet curls aside,

　　" Gone! With me around, will any dragon dare to hurt you?"

　　Alessia didn't know how to take his words. He sounded protective and narcissistic at the same time. Staring close at his wet body, she blurted in disbelief,

　　" You...you saved me?"

　　She thought that he had always wanted her dead. Now that, she was his mate and couldn't kill her off, it was the best chance to let her die here. Raven scoffed at her words, not showing any ounce of hesitation,

　　" Don't flatter yourself!! All I care about is my heir from your womb. Besides, I am a man of words."

　　Alessia hummed softly in understanding. Indeed, he had no reason to save her. It was not like she wanted him to save her but little did, she was grateful for the baby in her stomach.

　　However, Raven narrowed his eyes on second thought and asked curiously,

　　" Who let you come here? I have restricted everyone to enter this place."

　　Before Alessia could answer him, a yelling voice came from the entrance,

　　" Are you going to take forever, Bitch?"