[Arthur]
"Shift now," I ordered to Rose.
After pulling on my shorts, I stood in front of the bedroom door to prevent Steph's wolf from escaping.
Rose immediately took two steps backward and wore a look of fear. Such an expression was not appropriate for Steph's face.
"Dude, can you be nice to my mate?" Paul reminded me.
"I, I can't shift now. Steph's soul is asleep in her new spirit world." Rose had her hands behind her back, with her head drooping.
She looked like a kid who'd made a mistake. I frowned as Rose's words made me realize the problem was tricky.
The research of the soul and spirit world was what the magical gens did best. This meant I had to seek the help of Witch Lassie. The last time I sought her help, I paid a certain amount of my life. I didn't know if she would offer to retake some of my life this time. A trustworthy friend was not the same as a friend who offered any help selflessly. However, I appeared to have no other choice now.
"Arthur, shall we wait for a few days? What if your mate and my mate switch back tomorrow?" Paul advised me. He was worried about how many years I had left to live if I asked for the witch's help again - After all, I had never asked Lassie the exact number of years of life she took from me last time.
"What if we wait a night or a few days and then Rose and Steph never switch back? I can't take that risk, Paul," I sighed, about to take my phone out of my shorts pocket.
"Ah~ Please don't kill me." When she noticed I had my hand in my pocket, Rose screamed in horror and immediately crouched down to hold her head.
Heck, I wasn't really used to Rose reacting like that with Steph's body and voice when facing me. Before I could tell Rose that I was just trying to get my phone out of my pocket, the door behind me was pushed open.
"Miss, what's happening?" it was Mrs. Grete, Eric's Beta.
The look on Mrs. Grete's face was horror when she opened the door and saw me and Rose. I finally realized that I was only wearing a boxer and shorts. I still had scratches on my back from Steph. Rose's, no, Steph's body still had the hickeys I left on it.
Although I knew that the current Steph was actually Rose, no one outside the room knew that. So... things seemed to have gotten worse.
"What have you done to my sweetheart?"
This chubby woman, who looked like she was only 5 feet tall, suddenly yelled at me in anger, and then she jumped up to hit me. I immediately took a step backward to avoid her attack.
"Wait, Mrs. Grete, it's not what you think." I held out my hand to advise her to calm down. But I did have sex with Steph.
"Mrs. Grete!" Rose suddenly got up and rushed over to Mrs. Grete and hugged her tightly, burying her face deep in Mrs. Grete's shoulder.
"Miss, are you okay? Did this bastard do something to you?" Mrs. Grete patted Rose's shoulder. She looked at me as if she wanted to tear me to pieces. I felt my stomach being pounded with a hammer.
"I'm starving. Before I get killed by my mate, I want to eat the meatballs one more time and beef sausage, fried bacon, roast chicken, beef stew." Rose actually revealed that I was Steph's mate and her intention was just to get the food she wanted to eat. She didn't even get how bad the situation was for me right now.
And no doubt this was the first time in my life that I was in a situation that I had absolutely no control over.
"Hahahaha, man, you need to pray to the moon god that my little mate gets swapped back with your babe soon. Otherwise, we'll definitely get kicked out of here." Paul couldn't help but laugh out loud inside my head, the first time I'd heard him laugh so loudly in the thirty-two years we'd met.
"Shut up," I said.
"Miss, you say he is your mate? He wants to kill you?" Mrs.Grete was obviously surprised, too, after hearing Rose's words. Then, she hugged Rose tightly and took several steps backward.
"No, Mrs. Grete. I'm not trying to kill Ro....umm, Steph," I explained. Rose quietly raised her right eye to peek at me, watching my reaction.
"I have made an oath to the moon god in front of Eric that I will never hurt Steph. My wolf and I will always protect her and her wolf." I said these two sentences to Rose, hoping that this suspicious and sensitive wolf could trust me as much as Steph did. Every wolf understood the meaning of Alpha's oath to the moon god.
Rose lifted her head from Mrs. Grete's embrace. It was as if my oath had become permanent life insurance in effect for her. Her eyes widened, the corners of her mouth curved upward, and by the end, she was showing me Steph's white teeth. If Rose were in her own body right now, she'd probably be wagging her tail in excitement.
I breathed a sigh of relief. If I'd known Rose was holding such a serious vigilance, I would have called Steph to come before I took the oath. Or I would have sworn to her one more time.
Mrs. Grete, who had also temporarily dropped her guard against me, raised her eyebrows and asked me, "So what were you doing? I heard Miss begging you not to kill her."
"We were just fooling around." I shrugged.
"Oh, yeah, I'm not getting hurt! That's just Arthur's particular sexual preference. You know, sadism, BDSM things," Rose said again, shocking me.
Mrs. Grete's lips twitched as she carefully examined Steph's body. Finding no injuries on Steph's body other than hickeys, she touched Steph's face and ears and chanted, "Oh, dear young lady, my girl, forget those words. It's not something you should know. Why don't you go take a bath? I'll have everything you want ready for dinner."
When she finished, she didn't forget to glare at me. If she had a chef's knife in her hand, she might have chosen to make me into beef sausage or meatballs as a dinner for the innocent lady in her mind.
Paul was already laughing in my head until he lost his voice. I rubbed my temples helplessly, missing Steph even more.
"I love you, Mrs. Grete," Rose cheered and kissed Mrs. Grete passionately on the cheek.
Mrs. Grete stood still until Rose grabbed her clothes and bounced off to the bathroom. Her fingers were still on the right cheek where Rose had just kissed her. But her eyes had filled with tears.
Maybe it was because Steph had never told her she loved her before, I guess.
"Are you all right, Mrs. Grete?" I asked.
Mrs. Grete looked down and immediately wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand, then looked up straight into my eyes.
"Listen, I will report today's events to the Alpha. Although you are the honorable Alpha King, and I am just a Beta. But, I must tell you, if you force Steph to do anything she doesn't want to do in the future to satisfy your sexual preference, then I will cook you into a burger. Even if you are her mate."
She stood on her tiptoes, trying to make our eyes are level. I sincerely respected all pack members who loved Steph, so I didn't feel she was offending me.
I bent my knees, looked her in the eye, nodded, and said, "I won't force her. Mrs. Grete, you are a terrific Beta. I'm glad you're the one taking care of Steph."
Mrs. Grete's round cheeks turned red. She took two steps backward and gave me a curtsy. Then she went downstairs toward the kitchen.
As I pulled out my phone from my pocket, I could still hear her telling some omega working in the kitchen that she'd prepare today's dinner.