Chapter 15: Chapter 15

It's heading outside Dachologie Vil.

I jumped off the wooden fences and slid down the rocky hill. However, the island ends here. The raven is coming towards another isolated island ahead with wealthy woods. Acro is after that bird alone. I was reluctant, but the welfare of my pet and treasure is at stake.

Eventually, I left the coat and swam all the way to that island. The breeze is chilling me! But I have to chase them when I set foot on the shore. I'm panting, shivering, with the darkness as a burden. I'm walking with my bare feet on these thorny dried leaves.

Although I cannot watch my steps. The trees are blocking my view of the sky. A complicated place to chase that raven, that bird is brilliant. "Acro! Acrooo!" I called but there's no sign of her.

I walk longer to search for her and it looks like this forest is confounding me to its very core. I kept on calling Acro until the smell of furs met my nose. It's getting stronger to the point that it can suffocate me. I ceased moving, being cautious of my surroundings, and when I looked over my shoulder, I found two big gnashing wolves after my steps.

These wolves howl at the same time. The deafening sound quivers in my head! The chill crawled to my knees and made me weak. I never thought howls can bring this impact! The ground caught me helpless. My vision gradually darkened when the white wolf walks closer, and its legs turned into a woman's.

☪ ✧ ✧

Something tickles my abdomen up to my neck. The weight is heavy but beneath me is soft. The moment I open my eyes, plump red lips with a messed tint are before me. I hold my breath and swallow automatically because of the woman above me!

"Who..."

There are tiny fangs when she grins with a seductive chuckle. "Are you feelin' good, silver babe?" Her voice puffs. She's almost naked, only her compacted breasts and between legs are covered with thin fabric. The wavy hair she has surrounds my face, too. I've been lying beside this woman alone in this dark room! But the thing that took my attention to her lascivious body is the necklace she's wearing—the one that raven stole.

"You're the one who's behind this?"

"Let's forget about what happened and enjoy this night," she insists. The way she speaks is extremely cheeky.

I was about to complain about her weight when she smacked my lips deeper and wild. Her frisky tongue cringes me into my mouth. Cormelio never told me that kissing was sickening! Of course, he'll never demonstrate something like this for me to understand. I push her away in her arms, chasing my breath, and nervous. There’s a smirk on her lips when she licks it.

"How'd you like that?"

"I don't."

I almost snatch the necklace but she moves away swiftly. Tempting me to come unto her through the gesture of her finger. The next scenes were about chasing this alluring woman in the bed. She's laughing and teasing for she can evade my arms. She even kicks me on my chest and leans above me again. Our clenches met yet she's weighing me down and the advantage is on her side. The way she narrows her eyes on me is tempting, but that only makes me pucker.

"You prefer to have this necklace over me?" she asked.

"I have a better future with this necklace. I'm sorry," I turned her down.

She leans her face closer to mine. "Then catch it if you can." She pins my hands down to the bed, her sudden increase of strength is shocking, and she uses it to lick me from my neck to cheek until her aggressive kisses crawl down again! She chuckles. "Why are you not fighting back? Are you concerned?"

I purse my lips, reluctant but I pour my strength this time—which is stronger than her as I expected—to free my hands from her clenches, lift her through her waist, and toss her backward.

She stumbles and I lean on the top of her, pinning her hands on the bed, and I snatch the necklace by biting. The lace was disrupted but that doesn't matter now, I have to escape but in a snap, I'm back to where I woke up: she's on top of me and the necklace is on her neck again like it didn't break.

"What...?"

"At least let me enjoy my time with you... over and over again," she said.

I'm still processing this phenomenon in my head when he suffocates me with her wild kisses again. The same resistance and chasing happen again as I aim for retrieval of my necklace. And whenever I got it, the time I woke up under her restarted. I'm stuck in a loop!

"Aren't you tired yet? It'll be easier if you give in to me," she tempted once more.

I comply with her advice even though I want this to be over. Since she's above me, I wrap my arm around her waist and push her nape down to me with my other hand. For the first time, I played along with her kisses. My forehead is furrowing on its own. She's moaning in the midst of this collision. And to bring her out of herself, I made my hands frisky with her body which made her moan even more.

In an instant, I strike her nape and she fell on me unconsciously. I spread my arms while chasing my breath after a successful hit. I moved her away from me, took the necklace, and rolled her in the blanket like a spring roll. Repeatedly, I wipe my mouth down to my neck to erase the scent and sensation of her kisses from my skin before I left this dark room. I slam the door and leaned my back on it to calm myself for a short while.

This place is huge as a palace. I have no perfect clue where to go until I smell the only scent I am familiar with. I chased the source up to the next hallway and when I met her, I lifted her with my arms abruptly, and took her inside an empty room.

"Hessuel! Are you alright!?"

"What is this place?"

"This is the palace of Plandreas. Are you..." Dandeline looked at me downward. "Oh my," she expresses for I have the red lips mark. The embarrassment makes me avoid her glance. "Here." She clothes me with my coat. "Stop making me the keeper of your coat."

"I want to get out of here." My voice shakes.

"We will. I've been looking for you, the traces lead me here. Let’s get you out of here."

She pulls me to the way out of the palace. Right now, she is holding my wrist tight. Even if the knights spot us, they didn't arrest us. Dandeline is acting superior in this palace, too. There's a carriage waiting outside the walls of the castle and Manjiro is there waving at us.

"Where have you been?"

It's Linly, Acro, and the dogs, who are waiting for us at Dandeline's house. She looks sick and worried about me. I rested on the couch of the living room and they all claimed their spots as well to interrogate me; Linly is beside me, and Dandeline and Manjiro are in front.

"We were waiting for you before we started the celebration this morning. But because it took you so long, we started it without you. We're worried that something had happened when a fisherman found your coat on the shore. What happened to you?" Linly asked.

I told them in a stammering version the story of how I was trapped in the forest last night. Excluding about me and that alluring woman. Silence rules the atmosphere for a second before Dandeline speaks.

"Tanya... I presume you met her. The Gamma of Vengeance pack. A ruler in the government of Plandreas. She can play with the loop. She lures enemies, hypnotizes them until they lose their control, and that'll be her time to devour her prey. In short, she's a flirt. But it looks like you weren't a victim of her hypnotism. Your eyes... refracted it, I suppose."

"Here." Linly gave me the clothes I left in my dorm. "You might catch a cold."

I say silently, "Thanks..."

"I think he needs to rest, too," Manjiro suggested.

"Your silence is bothering me," Dandeline said. "Don't be afraid now that you're here. I'll make sure Tanya will embrace her punishment for abducting."

"Do I look frightened?"

"Oh, yes, you do," she dictated. I purse my lips and avoid her glare.

"What happened to your skin? I don't think Tanya can cause that."

"She didn't. It's... I don't know either."

"Come upstairs, I need to see it." She leads the way immediately and I follow her like a child. The two were left behind uninvited.

Dandeline took me inside her room and she left the door open to let the dogs in, too. She requests I remove my coat. Then she ponders about my skin while staring at it. She unleashes the magical book on her palm and performs a spell. The magic circles are appearing again around her hands. I remain still until another levitating enchanted symbol in front of me appears. It's an unfamiliar letter that only a mage could understand, and it looks like it's falling into shreds.

"I knew it."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's the manifestation of the spell within you. And it's fading, maybe, ever since your power was awakened. Someone cast this upon you, and it's all about concealing your power, memories, and even your appearance. What happens to your skin is the peeling of your cover. There's nothing to worry about. It's just the revealing of your true image. As far as I know, silver wolves came from albino wolves." Her arms folded. "But who might be the caster?"

I unleash my breath. "That's a relief. I thought I caught a skin disease or something."

"At least be excited! You're about to see the true self that you never thought would be!"

“...”

"Also, for your peace of mind." The manifestation of the spell vanished when her palms projected a moon as small as a ball in front of me. The whole room became dark. "The light of this moon will console you. But the most effective way to feel better is to spill it. You can tell me if you'd like to."

Instead of the moon, I face down. What happened with me and Tanya is something I abhor,

"I can forget what I saw," she added, "and I hope you, too."

"It's not that simple," I answered the contrary. She remained shut to give me the time. My fingers shudder. "I-I… It reminds me… of what I’ve been dying to forget." This should be the condemnation for peeping!

"Oh, I see... I’m sorry. To refrain from the same incident in the future, you can stay safe here in my house. If you prefer the term, okay, I'll adopt you." Her smile captivates my eyes. The crazy drumming in my head sounded within me again. My shuddering diminishes. She gave me my clothes. "Wear it, warm yourself here, and rest. And please stop treating yourself like a dog. As I see, you're a peculiar man."

She closed the door when she left. But the glimmering moon remains and it permeates warmth. I clothe myself and collapse on her bed which smells like her. My heroine.