"Trace, this is way too weird," Yibo spoke and his wolf growled inside in exhaustion and anger.

"Finding your mate is weird to you?" Trace's voice was deep and sour. The rage was too much for him to handle, Yibo was not ready to accept her and the longing was getting over his mind.

Trace, "Two years Yibo, after two years, finally! Why you got to be so dense now?"

Yibo, "I'm not-" a soft flute-like musical voice cut him off before he could reply to his wolf.

"You can't reject me like this!" his heart skipped a beat sensing the hurt in her music like voice.

Trace almost cried when Yibo turned to look into her red eyes, there were tears pooled in her eyes but her long feather-like lashes kept them guarded. She stepped forward closing the distance between them, staring at him with expecting eyes.

"I-I'm not r-rejecting you. . . it's just a little w-weird," his voice was deep and hurried as he stammered feeling his heart clench.

"Having me as a mate is weird for you?" Alisa stepped even nearer looking at him with shock and confusion, confused if she heard it right.

"No! I mean suddenly having um how I'm supposed to say this, fuck what I'm even supposed to say?" Yibo cursed, his skin turning red once again with nervousness.

"The thing is you're not supposed to say anything but-" Trace growled losing control, but before he could answer Alisa stepped forward hesitantly, her hand raising in an attempt to grab his.

"You don't even know me and you neglected my presence like that. Am I . . . not good enough?" Alisa asked feeling her own wolf desperately crying.

A rejection from your mate is a huge thing, she knew there's no way Yibo could reject her after realising she was his mate. The pain of a broken heart is too much for anyone to desire.

A gentle yet strong hand grasped his collar pulling him closer, a pair of soft lips stapled on his own. It was a sudden kiss an act of longing but that slowly turned into a kiss of desperation. He smiled against her lips while a tear rolled down the side of her cheek. It rolled down Yibo's hand.

He caressed her arm reaching for her neck, her hands clenched over his shirt messing the perfect ironed finish, but he had no care about it. The wait he went through he realised the meaning of it when her lips met his, it was a warm feeling and he felt alive inside.

Thousands of butterflies danced in his stomach with every passing second of their intimacy. He slowly parted resting his forehead over her. Her deep breathing fanning over the side of his face, his hands still resting on her waist and neck, he could kiss her again.

Even the whole night under the light of the thousands of stars without a second thought, and that was the moment he realised that . . .

"You're more than enough,"

✤

SHILZA, THE SERPENT KINGDOM

Long heavy breaths kept escaping the small of his mouth while Baekhyun continued to stride left and right in the room with his hands folded over his chest. His shoes made thumping sounds, indicating the pressure he was in.

For some unknown reason, the uneasiness or the scary feeling didn't leave him alone. The heavy weight he felt over his heart kept increasing with every passing second and every glance he took at the healer treating Lisa kept shaking his heart.

His heart hurt whenever he looked at her because he believed if he hadn't told Lisa anything that night, she hadn't met and Luther and hadn't ended up this way. He blamed himself for her condition, he couldn't help but pray for her to come out fine. Only if he could turn back the time, he would choose not to meet her that night.

He bit his lower lip feeling anxious because of the healer's facial expressions which didn't look as if everything was alright but otherwise. A heavy sigh left his mouth as a frown made its way onto his forehead when he stopped midway and went toward the bed Lisa was laying on.

"What's wrong, Lady Eleanora? Why aren't you saying anything? She's going to be alright, isn't she?" he wanted to shout but his voice came out soft instead.

Yes, he was worried sick for Lisa but he couldn't disrespect their royal healer who was much older than him. But the way his voice trembled when he spoke those words felt so strange to Eleanora. Never in years of work, she has seen his voice trembling.

Baekhyun was always the bubbly and cute kid and he learnt more of some sarcasm in his teen years. She wasn't aware that such a side of him even existed. She believed the girl must have been precious to him to make him feel this way. This realisation made it quite hard to tell him the problem she was facing.

But nonetheless, she was obliged to tell him so she got up from the bed and bowed in front of him before proceeding to tell him. Baekhyun kept glancing at her and Lisa's figure lying peacefully on the bed taking soft breaths indicating she was alive and fine but Eleanora's face said otherwise.

"All the poison from her body has been taken out, your highness," she began speaking, "I've fed her the necessary medicines to make her nervous system work properly so she'll be fine,"

Baekhyun sighed in relief feeling the heavy weight over his heart lift up, his hand making its way over his chest, caressing it tenderly.

Lady Eleanora, "It's gonna take some time for her to wake up and even after that her body will be weak so she needs to be taken care of,"

"I'll make sure that happens," he gave her a slight smile but it faded with her next sentence.

"But there's a problem, your highness, I can't feel her wolf," she looked confused and Baekhyun mirrored the same.

"What? What do you mean by you can't feel it? Every werewolf has their wolf, don't they?" he panicked.

"They obviously do, your highness, and that's why I'm unable to decipher the reason behind it," she looked concerned while her eyes made their way to Lisa and then at Baekhyun who was looking at her as well, his eyes moving back and forth in confusion.

"Can it be because of . . . malady? The p-poison?" he asked with stutter and Eleanora didn't look convinced.

"I haven't seen anything like this happening but maybe? I'm not sure, your highness, I'm sorry," she bowed in front of him out of apology because she couldn't give him a reason.

Baekhyun was confused and he felt bad for not being able to save Lisa's wolf. But he was at least thankful that she was alive and breathing. He couldn't thank god more about it.

✤

Baekhyun hurriedly walked past the hallways to the room where Lisa was. He had been informed by Eva; Eleanora's daughter that Lisa had woken up. It was night by now as small stars twinkled in the midnight blue velvety night sky, the moonlight coming from the windows enlightening the corridors.

As the door was getting close and clear in his view, the speed of his feet kept increasing and soon he was standing right in front of Lisa's room. He inhaled a deep breath, letting his lungs expand before releasing the air out and hovering his hand over the doorknob, pushing the door open.

He took a step inside and his eyes landed on Lisa sitting up on the bed while Eleanora checked her vitals. He saw the old lady passing a smile toward Lisa before stepping back. She gave Baekhyun a glance and an assuring nod before bowing down and leaving the two of them alone.

Baekhyun sighed and took a seat on the chair near her bed. Now that he looked at her, she seemed much better, her body was still somewhat pale but not like before, her blue lips gained their cherry red colour once again. However, she wasn't looking at him, she kept her gaze down on her lap, fidgeting with the hem of the blanket.

Baekhyun abruptly raised his hand and touched her forehead. Just when his hand made contact with her skin, her eyes widened making her quickly look up and slap his hand away, eyeing him up and down.

"The fuck you're doing?" she snapped, shooting him a glare but her voice came out so weak and hoarse.

"Chill, I was just checking your temperature . . . geez," he let out a chuckle, withdrawing his hand back.

"Wasn't necessary, your healer did that," she rolled her eyes at him and he pursed his lips together.

Suddenly, the wolf thing came into his mind and he contemplated whether to tell her or not, but it was her wolf, she deserved to know, didn't she?

"Um . . . actually," he began, feeling a bit anxious as to how she'll react to it.

"What?" she looked at him.

"Your wolf . . . Lady Eleanora couldn't save it, it must have been because of the poison," he completed, not feeling like looking at her this time, afraid of her reaction or a breakdown but he heard a scoff followed by a small chuckle making him look up.

"Save? My wolf?" she laughed, "I didn't know dead things could be saved,"

"Huh? What do you mean by dead?" he gave her a puzzled look and she sadly smiled, looking down.

"I didn't have a wolf, Baekhyun," she lowly whispered but enough for him to listen as shock glinted in his eyes. He was shocked not just because she didn't have her wolf but she took his name for the first time, and that even so softly. Still, he tried to focus on the main thing.

"But how's that possible?" he asked, lines forming on his forehead and curiosity lacing his voice.

"It's a long story," she began, "You remember the time when Vampire attacks were taking over?" she asked, looking at him and he responded with a small nod as to who will forget that time? The vampires were being a pain in the ass.

Lisa, "Then you must also know there was a traitor in our own wolf community, betraying their own people?"

Baekhyun, "I do, this news spread everywhere like wildfire. However, it wasn't revealed who it actually was-"

"My mother, it was my m-mother," she said, cutting him off in the mid and tears began forming in her eyes. Baekhyun's words died at the back of his throat as he couldn't understand what to say or what not, he didn't expect the traitor to be her own mother. He stayed silent.

"I was 4 years old when it happened, she killed my father, she killed her wolf while being blind by greed. She was punished but not alone, the blessing of a wolf and a mate was taken away from me too," she clenched her fists.

"Still, even after all this, I couldn't bring myself to h-hate her . . . what child can?" she felt her voice cracking up due to the amount of tears she was holding back in her eyes, she didn't want to cry, she didn't want to look pathetic in front of him.

"I was left all alone, I isolated myself. I had everyone around but no one seemed to care about me . . . no one," some fresh tears made their way down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them, not wanting to be pitied or something even though she knew her life was a misery.

"It was like all the colours from my life were washed away leaving it all black and grey, until that one day," she gulped down the lump in her throat reminiscing the day she saw Jungkook for the first time and felt sparks all over her body.

"That day I saw him; Jungkook," this time a sad smile made its way onto her lips instead of a happy one.

"I wanted him, I wanted him so badly but even he came out to be my sister's mate, that man had me nuts. Just to get him, I went on the path my mother warned me not to go ever; Black magic," she heaved out a sigh, taking in a deep breath right after, feeling difficult to continue.

On the other side, Baekhyun's expression didn't look so pleased. Just when Jungkook's name was mentioned, his fingers balled into fists, wrinkles forming on his forehead making a frown, he looked kind of mad. He didn't know why he was feeling all this but whenever she mentioned Jungkook, he couldn't help but get mad and he's unable to decipher what this feeling is.

"I tried killing Y/N but failed. That was the day I met you and got to know about Luther, I thought I could use him. But in the end, everything . . . everything came crashing down, nothing was left, everybody died," she grabbed the silk fibre of the blanket, crushing it in her fists, this wasn't the end she wanted, this wasn't what she wanted.

"It was too late when I realised what I did, the sins I've committed. It felt like this was the end. There was no going back so I tried to kill myself, I drank that poison. Only if you wouldn't have come-" her words were cut off in the middle when a strong hand grabbed hers making her look up.

"You drank the poison? Yourself? It wasn't Luther's doing?" his eyes fumed and his grip tightened around her wrist.

"No," she lowly whispered, hurting due to the pressure he was putting on her wrist.

"You're . . . you're hurting me, Baekhyun, stop!" she managed to shout 'stop' a little louder. It made Baekhyun come out of his trance as he realised what he was doing and quickly let go of her hand, apologizing instantly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I wasn't aware of my actions. I'm so sorry, Lisa," he panicked, looking at her red wrist.

"Why would you do that?" she asked, rubbing her wrist and looking at him with teary eyes.

"I don't even know, I'm really sorry!" he was confused as to why would react in such a way and hurt her?

"It's . . . it's fine," she said in a monotonous voice when a knock on the door was heard.

"Come in," he permitted and the door opened revealing Eva with a tray of food and medicines in her hand. She bowed before entering inside and placed the tray on the nightstand and left immediately, not wanting to disturb their conversation.

Lisa looked at the tray of food which had porridge and made a disgusting face at it which didn't go unnoticed by Baekhyun, he smiled at her childish reaction. He saw she got up from her bed and weakly walked toward the window. She took a seat on the couch and looked outside the window at the beautiful view.

"You know what, my life is like this night; filled with just darkness," she spoke, not wanting to tear her gaze from the sky.

"You're forgetting the stars and the moon," his voice made her turn her neck backwards. She saw he got up and picked up the food tray, making his way toward her. He sat in front of her on the same chair and she gave him a puzzled look.

"How can you forget the stars and moon, pretty?" he passed her a sweet and genuine smile, "Night is not just dark, it's beautiful as well. And that's because of the stars which twinkle and the moon which shines. You cannot just look at one perspective and ignore the other, that's like being blind on purpose," he chuckled.

"I know life was hard on you, your mother shouldn't have done that. But you can't turn back the time, can you?" he asked and she shook her head slowly in a no.

"You said you isolated yourself, then how come you're expecting others to come to you? Expectations always lead you to nothing but disappointments, and that's what you did. You tried to get Jungkook when he wasn't even meant to be yours, he was your sister's mate," his blood boiled again but he tried his best to hold back this time, he didn't let his feelings take over, he didn't want to hurt her but make her understand what she did.

"I don't know much but you can't go against your moon goddess, right?" he asked and Lisa nodded, "Then how come you expected a happy ending? Didn't you see all this coming?"

Lisa looked down, not having the courage to look up in his eyes because he was right, what she did was completely wrong, it hasn't been long she realised it. She craved for love but this wasn't a way to get it. She would've killed someone else's happiness to get hers.

She would've killed her own community because of greed. Indeed, she didn't deserve anything that life had made her go through but this wasn't a way she could get away from it. It would have been much worse.

Tears brimmed her eyes realising she was no better than her mother, she committed the same sins her mother did. She is worse, she should've listened to her warning. Fresh tears fell on her lap and soft sobs escaped her mouth. She didn't want to show her pathetic and weak side to him but she just couldn't help it right now.

"Hey," he softly called, holding her hands gently and making her look up, "Don't cry, pretty," he made her look up and brushed off the tears from her face with his thumb tenderly.

And surprisingly, Lisa didn't deny his touch this time, she didn't feel like doing so. Her sobs didn't seem to stop so Baekhyun came forward and hugged her. That warmth she felt when his body made contact with hers and two arms wrapped around her was something she had been missing her whole life, it felt home to her.

"I-I wasn't like t-this . . . I don't know w-what had taken over me . . . I'm s-sorry, so sorry," her sobs were muffled as tears kept streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably, wetting Baekhyun's shirt who kept rubbing her back trying to comfort her.

"It's okay. At least you realised your mistakes, you accept that you were wrong and you're sorry for it. Not many people are capable of doing that. So, you're strong in my eyes . . . so strong," he tried his best to comfort her and assure her that someone was there to listen to her.

Because up to what he has heard from her, she wants love. She wants someone to care for her, she wants someone to be there for her. He kept rubbing her back and giving her slight pats until she calmed down.

"I'm sure you'll reflect on your mistakes and try to be a better person," he encouraged, pulling away.

"I'll try," she sniffled, wiping the dry tears on her face and saw Baekhyun mixing the porridge.

"Let's have you eat this then," he filled a spoon of porridge and brought it closer to her mouth.

"Ewww no please," she disgusted at its sight and moved his hand away making him frown.

"C'mon don't be a baby, you need to recover soon,"

"No!" she protested and he let out a sigh.

"I won't leave this room until you don't finish this," he stated earning a glare from her.

"You're so mean!" she whined making him laugh and ate the porridge with a not-so-pleased face.

"Good," he complimented and she kept eating until one question came into her mind.

"Um . . . why did you save me though?" she asked with her mouth full of porridge and the room fell into silence.

┈────────┈ ⋅• ✤ •⋅ ┈────────┈

What are y'all expecting next? What do you think Baekhyun going to say and what's going to happen? 😗