Faris sat stiffly while Aiko sat awkwardly beside him on the cold forest floor. He held her arm but avoided touching any other part of her body, the temptation was real and very testing.
Ranon had teased him multiple times that once he found his mate, she would run into his very veins like madness, and he wouldn’t be able to breathe properly without her.
Not only butterflies but the whole damn birds would flutter inside his stomach.
He would feel the rhythmic beats of her heart.
Smell that unique scent only she possessed and only he could discern.
Drown in the wrecking oceans that were her eyes.
Every word was turning into a painful reality because this was not what he had envisioned.
He had thought about this scenario a million times and it always began with a shocked glance and ended with him smooching her like a crazed man.
Not for her to betray him and then for him to keep her as a prisoner.
The trust between them had already broken before even forming for he couldn’t even look at her.
Every time he tried, the lifeless body of Ara blurred his vision and he had to look away.
He must have been wearing his emotions on his face because Aiko awkwardly cleared her throat and began.
"I... want to apologise...again..."
"Don’t...I am not sure how it will change the damage caused or the life taken..." Faris completely turned his face away.
Aiko bore her guilt-ridden eyes on the forest floor. The ground had hardened due to the extreme weather, and any moment, it would begin to snow again.
"She was your lover?" Aiko asked, hardening her heart. He was a complete stranger to her and yet the question pained and twisted her insides.
Was this the doing of the mate bond, which lived rent-free in her chest now?
"Yes..." Faris painfully said, trying to hide the tears that lingered in his gloomy eyes.
His life had taken such a turn, one he hadn’t even considered.
"I never wished to find my mate. My life was fucked up as it is and now it has turned even more complicated. Hurting you wasn’t my intention. If you want you can reject me. I understand you don’t want someone who would remind you of that tragedy," she finished with a sigh, trying to ignore the feeling of his fingers against her skin.
Even in such cold weather she couldn’t help but feel warm.
Though she was like an enemy to him, he wasn’t holding her too roughly. Not even once did he hit her or try to hit her, even when he had every reason to.
If she had double-crossed a vampire, he would have tried and torn her apart and here was this man trying to refrain himself from even touching her.
’I must disgust him so much, he can’t even look at me,’ she concluded.
Faris slowly turned his head to face her. The thought of rejecting her had crossed his mind before, but if she was a victim too like she had said, then he couldn’t just leave her here.
No matter how cross he was, rejection was not an option. The layers of pain and regret were ingrained on his face as he tried to speak but was distracted by the flapping of the wings of the dragon.
Both of them quickly glanced up as a gigantic dragon descended into the clearing where they sat.
Aiko’s breath was dislodged in her throat. She had heard tales of this legendary dragon, but now that she was seeing him firsthand, she couldn’t believe how majestic he was.
Faris let go of Aiko and rushed towards his brother, he had seen Cassandra in his claws. On his way, he took off the thick cloak he was wearing above his garb. Faris’s heart jumped up and down in his chest, hoping his sister-in-law was alive and well.
The dragon roared in pain as it opened its claw and let Faris see the extent of damage on her body. She had her eyes closed, the tears had died on her crimson cheeks as she lovingly held the dragon’s front limb, not wanting to part.
"I got you, SIL," Faris reassuringly said and wrapped the cloak around her shivering body. Gently picking her up in his arms he separated Cassandra from the dragon. She sniffled, the loss of contact pained her immensely.
’Keep her safe, Faris. Tell your mate that there are prisoners in that palace who have been freed. Maybe her family is there. We dealt with Kanyon for now, I will explain the rest later. I need to go and do something and then we leave here,’ Siroos spoke to his brother through the mindlink.
’I will,’ Faris answered through the mindlink.
The dragon’s affectionate eyes were on his mate, she had opened her dreamy eyes and he wished to hide in them, letting go of all the worries that followed him like his shadow.
"Don’t go..." Cassandra pleaded, understanding he was about to leave. His maw nudged closer and delicately touched her cheek, showering her with affection and a tad of reassurance that he would be back.
She extended both her hands and held its jaw, connecting her nose with his, Cassandra placed a tender kiss on him. The dragon hummed in satisfaction before flapping its wings and flying away. The lilac hollow of protection remained all around him, mingling with the blue of his own.
"Are you alright? It’s so good to have you back," Faris slowly asked and Cassandra nodded at her brother-in-law. So much had happened in such a short time, so many memories were still flooding her mind that she was overwhelmed for now.
Faris carried her back to where he had been sitting earlier. The place he had left Aiko.
She still stood there, stunned out of her mind, watching them when he spoke.
"Check out the palace, Kanyon isn’t there anymore and some prisoners have been released. Your family might be amongst them."
The truth of his words shattered Aiko. Was that sick man keeping her family right under her nose?
Drinking back the tears accumulating in her eyes, she graciously nodded at them. Opening the portal to the palace on the mountain, Aiko stepped inside and disappeared into it.