Bal could feel that Kaylon is getting nearer. So she hid her face and was trying to calm herself.
"Bal! Love!" Kaylon called her again.
"Luna! Luna Bal!"
"Balvina! Love! Ba— Love!" Kaylon came rushing at her like she was gone for hundreds of years. He cupped her face and gave her a quick kiss on the lips for the first time.
"Oh, God. Where have you been?" She could feel his warm and tight embrace like Kaylon didn't want to ever let her go.
"I'm so worried about you . . ." Kaylon whispered and planted kisses into her hair. But when she remembered how Kaylon kissed that wolf girl, her heart ached and she began sobbing without any drama.
"I'm sorry, love. I'm so sorry. I promise you that it will not happen again." Kaylon holds both of her shoulders and looks her in the eyes. She was reluctant, but Kaylon held her chin aiming for her eyes.
"Look at me, love. I promise that will never happen again. God! I miss you so bad . . ."He mumbled and began stroking her hair.
"Alpha brother, can I have my turn now?" Monta impatiently asked, while looking at them. They were deeply sucked with the moment that they completely forgot about Monta.
But before they could even react, Monta pulled her away from Kaylon and gently hugged her.
"I'm so worried about you, Luna. Please don't do that again. If brother or anyone in the pack ever treated you badly, come to me and we will punish them together . . ." Monta whispered. They were both shedding tears knowing that they can truly lean on each other. Kaylon on the other hand was feeling the urge to punch himself seeing the two important women in his life crying because of his stupidity. He was also agitated because Bal didn't say anything, even a word.
"Thank you, Monta, Kaylon. Thank you for not stopping in looking for me," Bal said, which made both Kaylon and Monta stop while looking at her with amusement in their eyes.
"You are no longer stuttering!" exclaimed Kaylon, and proudly lifted her from the ground.
"Alpha! Tracker Monta!" The warrior gasped seeing their Luna in a pitiful state.
"Search the whole area! Our Luna was attacked by something!" Balvina shrugged and smiled apologetically.
"Hold it, Lider. Our Luna wanted to rest. Let's go back to the palace," Kaylon said, which made the rest of the warriors hop onto their horses.
While heading home, Balvina could see and feel that her wounds were again healing quickly. It was like Kaylon was the only cure for her. The only thing that is left during her ran away drama is her dirty body and tattered dress. Thinking about the dress, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Monta.
Their journey was so solemn that she could hear nothing but the horse's footsteps. They were not speeding too and just traveling moderately. She slowly leaned on Kaylon's chest feeling his hot body. She was no longer cold because Monta brought her a beautiful coat.
"What would you like to eat when we get home, Love?" Kaylon sweetly asked while resting his chin on her shoulder. She knows and feels that Kaylon was tired. Seeing some of their warriors are awfully exhausted too, she couldn't help but wonder what happened to them.
"I'm fine with anything . . ." She whispered and caressed Kaylon's ears. "What happened to the warriors? They look tired, especially Lider's men."
"I asked them to look everywhere."
"How long did I stay in the forest?"
"Seven hours." Bal thought that she was acting terribly. 'A Luna should never act like how selfish I was!' She scolded herself inwardly.
"I'm sorry. Please don't run away like that. I have an announcement to make tomorrow, and it's about you. I want our people to know their manners and treat you with respect."
"It's okay, Kaylon. I am new here. We can't force them by using your power. I need to prove to myself that I can be a good Luna too." She could feel that Kaylon embraced her a little tighter using his left hand.
"I love you, Balvina. Thank you for loving them. But still. You scared the hell out of me." She could feel the sincerity in Kaylon's voice. It was a little husky too but more of being tired. She just realized that she created a huge headache.
After an hour, they managed to get on the proper road, heading to the right track.
"We're here, Alpha. We are back to the protection shield!" Monta said while pointing at the distinct light meters away.
"Why do we use shields?"
"It's to protect us from the sudden intruders. We already belong to the prosperous land of the Gamanern continent. That makes us worthy to rob and attack in the eyes of other packs. The shield will help us hide our existence on this Island. From the eyes of the outsider, our island is little and Stoney. There is no life or anything." Bal was beyond amazed upon hearing those words.
"That's amazing . . ." she mumbled.
"Yeah. And it's not easy to maintain the shield. It needs an enormous amount of fortune every ten years."
"Enormous?"
"Yes, love. Like a mountain of gold and treasures."
"I can now see the palace!" Bal exclaimed feeling excited again.
"Huh? But we're still a bit far." Kaylon's brow furrowed as he tried to focus on something. "You mean, you could see the light coming from our palace watchtower?" When Bal Heard these, she shook her head and began pointing in the same direction again.
"There. I could see a bit clearer during the night compared to a normal werewolf. My eyes had been badly beaten by the darkness back to where I was kept before, that's why they voluntarily adapted to their surroundings. So in other words, I can see the palace's structure even without the light." She could feel that Kaylon froze for a good moment.
"You shouldn't tell this to anyone. When we get home, we will talk about things which you can do further, okay?" Bal was hesitant to answer or even nod her head.
"Love?" But she had no choice because Kaylon was waiting for her response.
"Monta already knows about this. It was an accident. We w—"
"Oh, Monta. It's okay, love. We can fully trust my silly sister. We can also trust our men. But our people . . . Some of them. I don't know. I have seen new faces. But I will surely bring harmony to our palace again."
"Who's leading them that time you were away?" She couldn't help but ask. Her curiosity is killing her.
"Amonette took care of everything. And I also have the elders who served my father dearly before me."
"Would you mind if I ask what happened?"
"During the process of replacing the treasures at the bottom of the shield, the protection that is emitting from it also weakens. That time, it was my first time doing the process. It was my tenth year of serving the dominant pack as the Alpha. As the head family, I, Monta, my father, and my mother were present in the underground ceremony. We didn't know what happened back then. We never became the subject of those tugs and robbers before, and that was the first time, during my lead. They attacked us coming from different directions. And most of them came from the weakest point of the shield, which was the wall that is near our little active volcano. By destroying a vast part of the shield, they were able to totally destroy most of it. So before we could even realize it, my pack had been mercilessly slaughtered." Bal could see the deep sadness in Kaylon's eyes. She doesn't want to see him in this state. It was not her intention to make Kaylon remember all of those awful things.
"I-it's okay, Love. You don't have to tell me ev—"
"No, it's okay." Kaylon then began leaning on her shoulder with his chin. "Demin, Monta's mate, was the leader in the warrior fleet on the west side. While Ballen . . . My first mate was the leader in the north . . .
We came out from that pit so late. When we got out, the thugs were winning and I already lost most of my people. We don't know why we didn't hear their call down there. We didn't feel the ground . . . As if there's something that is holding us to notice the terrible war at that moment.
During that war . . . I lost Ballen. Monta lost her mate, and we both lost our parents."
"I'm sorry . . . I shouldn't have asked." Bal wiped her tears and began caressing Kaylon's ear and cheek.
"You are fond of my ear . . ."
"It's smooth and I love it." Even though their voices were low, their men could still clearly hear them. Especially Monta and Lider who were all eyes and ears to them.
"We are here . . ." Kaylon whispered to her ear and began to strengthen his back. Bal was even amazed seeing the glorious solid wall and the massive gate. The wall is so much different from the wall she first saw on the dock. But now, she could tell that Kaylon's words made sense to her at this moment. Because the palace was covered by a thick wall. So it cannot be seen by a naked eye. And she had no idea how she saw its structure from that distance.
"Welcome back, Alpha, Luna, Tracker Monta, and warriors," said the guards in unison and quickly opened the massive gate. It's when Kaylon started to make their way inside while the others followed them.