Close to the border of Rockwood Forest, a large silver-haired wolf fleetly sprinted through the uncountable trees, heading down south.
It has been months of searching, and the sweet female scent has completely faded over time, turning the search into an unachievable task. Still, the male has hope. The solid belief convinced him to look further, as he last found her scent in a cave near the river. Presume from the straw that lay sprawled on the cave's surface that she survived and hid there for a few days.
Assumption, she continued her journey, with a high possibility that the female has headed south to where the cursed forest was located. In fact, that forest was prophesied, and no one dared enter, but Keira was an outsider and unfamiliar with the prophecy, meaning there was a chance that she would be there. As he thought, he could only hope that she wouldn't meet any danger inside the forest.
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In the evening, An ebony-haired female was taking a bath in a wooden tub. Though her hands were rubbing her body, her eyes drifted off, staring at the far surface of the tub. The tangled emotions between right and distress brought her to unresolvable feelings about what she should do. The deep feeling that had grown in her heart of how much she liked Arel made her scare of the uncertain world-traveling situation she was in.
Having a mate for the male in this world meant his entire life was tied to one person. She was concerned since this was not her world, what if she woke up and disappeared? Perhaps she should talk with him on this matter since he knew that she came from another world and might know the answer to her questions.
.
Wearing her camisole dress, she climbed up the ladder to the bedroom. seeing a fully dressed male leaning at the edge of the bed. This was unusual to find him dressed up like this to bed, When in the past months that they were sleeping together, he never once covered himself to this extent. Considering how he dressed, he might want to talk instead.
She stepped further and sat on the bed. "Arel, I have something to ask." Her gaze was holding onto him as she patted the bed, inviting him to sit here.
He looked at the spot where her hand had patted, and sat down gently next to her. He kept silent and waited for her to continue.
The female held her breath and slowly exhaled clearing her mind before she start speaking "I'm wondering about how to go back to my world"
The words that came out of those lips caused his heart to race, hearing that she was leaving him was a blow he was not prepared for. His brows knitted together and he reached for her shoulders.
"Keira... " The fear in his heart was audible in his speech. The hands gripping her shoulder tense up at the thought of what she might say next.
Seeing how anxious Arel was, she quickly continued, "I want to know if there's a chance that I'll be sent back all of a sudden or not. because how I came here was unexpected" She lifted her hands up, rubbing on Arel's arms to calm him down.
He raised his eyebrows "No," he shook his head slilghtly, "returning to your world requires enormous power to open the portal. It can't suddenly pull you back on its own"
"So it can't pull me back by sudden, right?"
"Yes, opening a portal is intricate," he paused "The place where the atmosphere was prompt to be able to request a portal was exquisite. It didn't just happen without intention"
"Then how did I come across this world? Did someone pull me in?"
"No., no one pulled you in. You came in by yourself."
Her eyes widened, raising her voice as she exclaimed, "what me? how come? I don't have any power."
"I don't know the extent. I was hibernating and saw that you would cross the portal," he said, lowering his head. "But because I didn't know the exact date and time, I found you almost too late. If it was any later, you would.. have been suffocated by the river on that day," gritting his teeth as his voice bitten. It was unavoidable for him to not blame himself when he was the only one who knew that she would cross the portal and almost couldn't find her in time.
Keira drew him into her embrace, running her fingers on his back to console his emotions "I'm here..you saved me in time, you did well, Arel," she felt how his chest trembling from his fast heartbeat as she hugged him tighter. The feelings that he has for her were sincere all along, from the start until this moment. how he searched for her without knowing the sequence timestamp and went to help her regardless of who she was. Realizing how the person she was falling in love with was full of devotion.
"I almost lost you.." He whispered as he submerged his face in her neck breathing in her soothing scent to calm himself down. She knew that he feel remoseful because he perceived that she would cross over to this place which convince him to think that she was his responsibility and if anything happened to her he would believe that it was because he was wrong to her.
Retracting herself back, she lifted his face up and noticed the dampness in the bandage over his eyes.
"Don't move," she said, reaching out to untie the cloth knot behind his head.
He grabbed on her wrist "It's fine, I'll do it myself."
Ignoring his grip on her wrist, she continued untying the cloth knot. "I'll do it. just keep closing your eyes."
The cloth slipped away, revealing the shutting beautiful eyes with long fluttering golden eyelashes "You are beautiful.." she murmured, subconsciously raising her finger to gently touch his precious lashes.
Her finger lightly brushed a small drop of tears on the corners of his eyes, and gently leaned her face forward to peck a kiss on his beautiful eyelids.
There must be an important matter for him to not want to open his eyes to look at her. He might have a reason that was too dangerous for close contact, and she wanted to give him the time to wait until he was ready to explain it.
On her lips, she felt the eyelids flutter, as if he wanted to open his eyes. but he stopped and used his hand groped the cloth bandage.
"Arel, can you sleep with me without covering your eyes," she asked, gently touching his hand that was groping to stop.
He nodded and held onto her hand. "Then you must take me to bed." The corners of his mouth dropped slightly in a pleading expression.
Keira shook her head, amused by his expression. She then held his hand up and brought him to the bed, leaning him down and lying herself next to him. "Is this enough?"
He cuddled her closer, "Not enough.." with a grin that was suddenly mischievous.
Keira chuckled. She wrapped her arms tighter around his waist and rested her head on his chest.
She was at ease now, knowing that she could live with him and wouldn't have to fear being sent back across the portal.
.
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