THE LOVE OF A LYCAN

118 METANOIA 14

It's scary after all.

-nona (death parade)-

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They arrived at the building, the same building that Raine had entered yesterday with Lydia to meet Aeon.

If she thought about this again, she had just met him less than two days,but seeing from the situation that they were in, Aeon looked more than ready there to defend her from whatever the situation that they were in.

When they entered the building two shadow warriors were blocking their way, and informed Aeon that Raine needed to be put inside the dungeon.

Aeon growled and snapped at them.They were arguing until one of the elders came, and used his authority to make Aeon yield.

"I will be the one who brings her to the cell. She is incapable to walk." Aeon said with finality, this was the last thing that he could do.

At that moment, Raine felt conflicted, she didn't want to be put in the dungeon and being alone there. She had never been in a dungeon, but she knew very well that wasn't a pleasant place to be.

Raine tightened her arms around Aeon's neck as she tried to not say anything about this.

On the other hand, Aeon could feel her stress, and became more irritated to the elder and… Lydia. It must be her who talked nonsense to Dorian, causing words spread around their community, then led them to be in this tight spot.

This stupid matter about Raine being Torak Donovan's mate? At other times, they would just laugh at such statements, but not at times like this. They were close to war.

Every single information was useful, and they needed to take all the precautions.

Unfortunately, this related to his partner. Aeon had just had her, he wouldn't let them take her away easily.

When they arrived in the dungeon, Aeon brought Raine inside the cell and put her on the stone bed that was covered with only hays.

That place was dark and gloomy. The only source of light there was a fireplace that was placed a few meters away from Raine's cell.

When Aeon put her down, Raine subconsciously clutched onto his overcoat, while at the same time looked around the narrow place she was in now with fear on her face.

Aeon grabbed her hand and tried to pry her fingers so she could let him go.But he stopped before he even tried that.

"I will stay here." said Aeon informing the other two shadow warriors that followed them. "You can go!"

Hearing how his decision was final, and there would be other unworthy arguments if they tried to change his mind, the two shadow hunters just locked the cell while Aeon stood still and left inside.

If he wanted to be locked up with the woman, then so be it,as long as the woman was there. She was the priority of their mission after all.

"Thank you." Raine said timidly. She was also surprised that Aeon was willing to stay for him. Despite her rude behavior towards him since they met for the first time.

Aeon didn't respond to her 'thank you' and only closed his eyes while leaning his back against the wall behind him.

However, he opened his eyes the moment he felt something soft fall on his arms and cover his body.He found Raine there,snuggling closer to him as she put the blanket over both of them.

"It is cold." Raine answered Aeon's questioning look. "You will catch a cold."

"I will be fine." Aeon wanted to shove away the blanket and told her to use it for herself, but Raine stopped him.

"This is enough for both of us." Raine said.

With that, they were sitting close to each other, sharing a blanket as the silence between them expanded before Aeon started to talk.

"I was a blacksmith when I realized I am part of the shadow warriors." Aeon said. "People from my previous village told me to come here, because this is my duty to serve the village of angels as a shadow warrior."

"How did one become a shadow warrior?" Raine tilted her head to look at him.

"I don't know how it works, it happened randomly, I guess." Aeon stared back at Raine.

But the girl lowered her head to avoid his eyes.

"I am an orphan, my parents left me inside the forest.Fortunately a witch found me and brought me back to her village, after that she raised me like her own." Aeon kept talking.

Actually Raine was a little bit confused with his sudden story-telling, but she appreciated that.

"I am also an orphan…" Raine said, probably because of the similarity between them, she felt fine to let him know a bit about her. "My parents were killed by creatures, but I managed to escape." She said.

"What kind of creatures?" Aeon asked, there was a sincere concern in his voice.

Raine shook her head. "I don't know what they are, but they were really scary." She recalled the creatures that had killed her parents and shuddered.

"How did you manage to escape?" Aeon kept asking, he liked to listen to her voice.

"I am not really sure." Raine frowned as she tried to remember that dreadful night. "I was bleeding from a wound in my hand, and they apparently couldn't touch my blood, so I used it to escape."

"Couldn't touch the blood of a guardian angel…" Aeon recited the words solemnly. "There were many creatures that couldn't touch the blood of a guardian angel, that's why you are so valuable."

When Raine thought about it again, seemingly that was the case, she had proven that two times.

"That's why sometimes we fight by using your blood." Aeon's statement made Raine look at him in disbelief.

"You… draw blood from all the guardian angels?" Raine couldn't believe it, she thought they were there to protect them.

"We only draw blood from our partner." Aeon stated, and he could feel Raine fidgeted uncomfortably. "I will not do that without your consent."

Raine stared at him upon hearing his statement.

"We would have been bonded by now if I didn't care about that." Aeon said as he pulled Raine closer to him, kept her inside the blanket.

Changing the topic, Raine asked another question. "But, it didn't affect lycanthropes."

"Yes, it is not." Aeon nodded. "And also they don't need guardian angels to help them to become stronger. Because they are already strong by nature."

"The way you talk about them, it sounds like you don't like them." Raine guessed.

"No one really likes them." Aeon admitted. "Not only are they the most brutal of all shapeshifters, but they are also the strongest one. They easily kill any creature that they don't like."

Raine frowned on that statement, she tried to shake the image of Torak killing the lycan.

'He did that to save you'. She reminded herself.

"They burned down my previous village." Aeon said gloomily.

"I am sorry to hear that…" Raine rubbed his upper arms, offering her condolences. "And thank you for sharing your story to me."

Aeon looked down at her and cupped her chin, so those beautiful eyes could look at him. "You said you don't want to be with a stranger." He said, recalling Raine's word earlier that afternoon.

==============

In the middle of conversation, Raine had fallen asleep and Aeon put her head on his lap, so she could sleep better, her body would get numb if she slept in sitting position.

Raine woke up and startled when someone opened the cell door noisily.She immediately sat down and looked at the man with caution.

He was holding a dagger.

Aeon felt Raine turned tense because of the man's sudden appearance, and held her small body closed to him.

"The elder had decided to go to war with her as the bait." That man nodded his head towards Raine's direction. "And for you, we got information that they will bring Kanima along with them, you know what you should do." That man glanced at Raine with meaningful eyes. "You better bring her out now."

The man left the dagger on the floor as he left the cell and let the door still open.

Raine's eyes were fixed on the dagger on the floor that he left behind.

"What did he mean by using me as a bait on a war?" Raine raised her head and looked at Aeon. "Will they kill me?"

Raine knew that there would be a battle between the Lycanthropes, and the shadow warrior because the Lycanthropes side was asking for all the guardian angels to be handed over to them.

Aeon and the rest of the shadow warriors thought that it was not common for the Lycanthropes to meddle with the guardian angel.Thus for their side demanding something like that, left them a big question.

That was why Lydia told Dorian about what Raine had said before to her and her brothers.That somehow this new-girl-in-town was Torak's mate. It led them into thinking and concluded that those Lycans were looking for her.

Aeon immediately hugged her protectively. "I will never let that happen Raine…"

This time, Raine didn't push him away, and rested her head on his shoulder. "What about the dagger, will you draw my blood too?"

"I will not." Aeon said firmly.

Though the blood wouldn't have any effects on Lycanthropes, and werewolves.But because they got information about Kanima, they would need the blood of guardian angels, it could save time for them when they were in the battle.

But, how could he draw the blood from her when she was shivering in his arms?

Actually at this point, Raine didn't mind it if he drew her blood… she had been through something more painful than that. Regardless, that wasn't a pleasant experience, but if that was something that was necessary to do, then she didn't have any objection to this action.

But, she felt something was wrong… If it was Torak, would he ask for all the guardian angels to be handed over to them? Why didn't he just come and find her, then there was no need for a battle between them…

Were they really coming for her?