Chapter 84: Chapter 84

DAHLIA:

It did not register to me at first, but the second time someone had shouted, panic started to rise at the pit of my stomach.

“Run! The village is being attacked by rogues!”

I looked back at Lady Livia. There was no trace of fear on her face. I struggled internally what to do.

‘We can do this, Dahlia! Don’t be nervous. You can transform already! I’ve got you,’ Eva growled inside of me…

That’s right. I could transform at will now, right? I should be able to defend myself well…

Ah, but I have never really engaged in combat as a wolf before… Would I be able to survive this?

As if the blasted rogues could read what was on my mind, six of them appeared right in our midst.

I poised myself for an attack. I didn’t know what they wanted in the first place, but I wasn’t going to let them come near us when we were so far away from others to get help.

Before Lady Livia and I could channel our wolf forms, however, a wolf leapt in front of us. Instead of doing something, or anything, the muscles in my body involuntarily stiffened. All I could do was to stare at the brown rogue wolf in the air.

“No,” I heard a familiar growl, and suddenly, a white thing flashed before my eyes.

As I took a deep breath in, I started to fully comprehend what it was that saved me.

Tristan’s massive white wolf – Albus – stood between me and the rogues. He bit hard at the whimpering rogue’s neck who tried to attack me. He didn’t let it go until its body was no longer twitching in pain.

Albus’ show of power was not enough though. The rogues started to gang up at Tristan all at once.

“No,” it was my turn to shout. I let out a yell as they all descended upon him, his whole fur becoming drenched in blood.

Tristan stood his ground. He towered over them with his massive, muscular wolf body. He raised his paw, and almost immediately, two of them were sent hurling into the air.

A small, cunning rogue escaped Tristan’s attack, however. He ran straight at me, ready for a kill.

I lifted my hands and prepared to channel Eva’s form inside my mind despite the desperate trembling of my body. Before I could transform though, Lady Livia lifted her hands as if to shield me away, and that’s when I saw it.

Silver dusts swerved from her hand, and in a matter of second, the swirling cloud of dust enveloped us. The rogue wolf had no choice but to collide with it and as he did, his body became stiffly electrified.

“Stand back, Dahlia,” Lady Livia said, calling me by my first name for the very first time since we’ve met.

Her powers were too spectacular to avoid looking at, but at the same time, I was deathly worried that someone would walk in there and find her using magic.

Soon enough, my worst fears came true. I saw a man with sleek, dark hair came out from the left side and started coming straight at the wolves with nothing but his bare hands.

I watched as he sank his glistening fangs on one of the rogues. He was definitely a vampire!

“Livia, stop using your powers,” I whispered to Lady Jeteris instantly, clutching her arm by instinct.

“No. I will protect you! More are coming!”

Just like what Lady Livia had predicted, three to four wolves had come from the sides. Why the hell were they descending like this upon us?

“This is bad. We must come to the heart of the village and ask for help,” I said.

I was also deathly concerned with Livia’s use of powers being discovered. I’d rather be devoured by a rogue than to have her be dragged in the dungeons for protecting me with her magic.

“Darn it, you’re right! Let’s end this now,” Livia said, gritting her teeth. “Everyone, back off!”

I didn’t know who she was referring to in particular, but as soon as Livia shouted, Tristan hurled the rogues who were biting on him into the lake, and the unknown vampire also did the same. They jumped away in a safe distance almost in synchrony.

I could only gasp as a giant peal of thunder boomed from the clear sky and landed on the lake where the rogues had been thrown.

Before I knew it, an endless array of white light filled my vision and my head throbbed.

“Dahlia… Dahlia!”

I heard a familiar male voice. He sounded really worried. Was he crying?...

I rubbed at my eyes. I could have sworn that they were already open, but why is it that I can’t see a thing?

“I… I can’t see… I can’t see anything,” I said in astonishment.

“You were just a little shocked. You must have been looking straight at the thunderbolt. Here, rest for a bit,” Tristan said.

I could tell it was him despite the loss of my sight. The strong musk of lemon and the fragrance of the woodlands had given him away from the very start.

Moon Goddess, how I have missed this scent! I could only dream of drowning in this smell again for the past weeks…

My body and my heart were seemingly disconnected though. I pushed away from him gently, remembering what kept us apart in the first place.

“You don’t have to be overly concerned… You can just leave me here to rest,” I declared.

What on earth was I saying? How can I ask him to leave when I don’t even know where I was and what had happened?

“Don’t be stubborn. I don’t want to leave you like this… If possible, I don’t want to leave you at all…”

I chuckled softly. “You can leave me without guilt… I am not your mate after all.”

“Who told you that lie,” Tristan said. I can feel myself being cradled closely in his lap that a warm kind of heat began to emanate from my heart…

Why was I still feeling this way? Why do I still feel pulled into him despite the absence of the mark in my body?

Again, my mouth had run itself before I could even think straight. “You saw it yourself. My mark has disappeared. You no longer need to pretend in front of me.”

“Darn it, I am not pretending, Dahlia! Your mark may have disappeared, but you haven’t disappeared from here. You’re still very much in here...”

Tears began to well on my eyes. As soon as Tristan started speaking, he placed my right hand on his bare chest where his heart was situated.

I could feel his heart beating wildly. It was the beating sound I had missed a lot when I left.

When the tears started to fall from my eyes, my vision slowly returned as well, and with it, I was finally able to see.

The silver head of a wolf in Tristan’s chest – my love mark on him – it was still there. It had never left him.