They kept wandering around for a long while, but there was no sign of the handsome man from last night. Instead, they ate so much food that they were about to explode.
"I cannot eat more, Eli. How about we go into one of the show tents?"
"Sure," Eliana nodded.
They entered one of the most popular tents and were shocked about what they saw next. At the tent's center was a giant cage where two werewolves were fighting.
People standing around the cage cheered one or the other contestants on. The two werewolves were snarling and growling at each other from opposite sides of the cage. One lunged at the other out of nowhere, and a brutal fight began. Their claws tore into each other's flesh, and their bites and scratches made each other scream. Eventually, a piece of skin with fur flew out between the cage fences.
Eliana's stomach started to churn, and she had to look away. She focused on the people and their reactions. She couldn't believe that people enjoyed the sight of blood and barbarism.
On the other hand, Georgina was fascinated by what had transpired before her eyes. She had never seen supernatural beings, or at least not knowingly. There was something powerful about these creatures, and she admired their strength.
"Gio, I don't want to watch this. I want to leave." Eliana pleaded with Georgina, who was too occupied to hear her. She was about to leave when the screams around the room became louder again, and Eliana's curiosity pulled her eyes back to the cage.
One of the werewolves had managed to pin the other down, and he was about to kill the other but stopped abruptly. The two beasts kept panting and growling, and it was evident that they wanted to stop.
"Why are they not changing back into their human form?" Eliana asked Georgina but received an answer from a young man beside her.
"The trainers force them to stay in their wolve form for too long, making it too difficult to change back. If they don't switch forms, they lose the sense of their human side and become fully beast."
"That is awful..." Eliana's eyes glistened as she felt pity for those creatures. She wished she could do something against this atrocity.
She was usually not this determined to cause trouble, but she couldn't bear the sight. Observing her surroundings, she tried to find a way to free them. The cage door was held by a string pulled to the tent's highest point, where it went through a ring, came back down to the other corner, and was knotted to a steel handle. They used that string to open and close the cage door.
No one was guarding the knot; if she were to pull and tie the string once the door opened, the werewolves could escape. Without thinking it through, she started making her way toward that corner, unbeknownst that two forest green eyes had been watching her attentively the entire time.
Although he had been rude before, Damien was quite affected by Eliana. He hated vampires, but she managed to awaken something in his core, and he didn't like that one bit because that could only mean one thing, and the consequences of that would be severe to him.
Her black hair, pale skin, womanly curves, and steal-blue eyes were the opposite of what he usually preferred. She looked like a lost lamb, yet here she was, risking her life for unknown creatures, which didn't conform with her innocent looks but showed how much courage she was hiding behind that sweet facade.
He and Simon had come to Paxos in disguise, as they were not allowed to enter the country. They had heard the rumor that illegal werewolf fights were being organized at the town fairs and wanted to investigate that.
To their disappointment, they had found such a fight in one of the tents. It was a sad display of human tyranny. He was angry, and Simon could barely hold him back. Only when Eliana and Georgina entered the tent did his attention shift. He closely watched her utterly alluring responses, almost forgetting his quest.
The sudden shock in her eyes, the expression of disgust because of the savagery, her inquisitiveness making her glance once more, and the obvious questions forming wrinkles on her forehead – all of it was genuine. The concern she had started to build and the determination to solve the problem was charming, and Damien couldn't take his eyes off her.
He hadn't liked that another man had tried to talk to her, but to his relief, she hadn't even looked at him. Only when he realized what she was planning to do, had he decided to approach her, as her idea was too dangerous.
On his way to her, he couldn't get over his amusement at how foolish she was. 'Did she think she could get away with simply opening the cage? How oblivious was this woman? The men around her were eagerly waiting for a reason to have their way with her, and she was about to give them one.'
She was about to reach the corner with the knot when Damien stepped in front of her, blocking her way. "Now, what are you trying to do, dear?" one of the corners of his lips had gone up into a half smile.
Stopping abruptly to not walk into him a second time made her lose her balance and slip. Damien caught her just in time, so she didn't touch the floor but landed in his arms instead.
He helped her stand on her two feet as he was saying, "Oh goodie, you are a clumsy one. I don't think you could have gotten away with your idiotic plan, dear."
She awkwardly pushed herself away and glared at him. "How would you know my plan, and why do you care? And stop calling me dear!" He started to irritate her with his blunt comments.
Damien chuckled while Simon couldn't believe his eyes. His brother was known to be a ladies' man, but his losing focus during a mission was unusual. They had been waiting for a good moment to attack the humans and rescue the Lycans, but Damien suddenly moved away. 'Typical, he always does as he pleases' Simon was annoyed about always having to look after his big brother, but as the Beta, he couldn't do anything but have his brother's back.
Eliana tried to push Damien away to get to the knot, but he didn't move an inch. "Let me pass. How can you watch such a horrific thing and enjoy the suffering of another being? Aren't you ashamed? Also, why do you care what I do?" she asked angrily, feeling a strong urge to punch him.
"Interesting question coming from a vampire. Aren't you the ones who enjoy these so-called entertainment?! Furthermore, do I honestly look like I am having fun here, DEAR?" he emphasized the word dear to annoy her further.
At first, his suggestions made her worried that he had figured her out, but then her rationality stopped her anxiety. Of course, he thought her to be a vampire, they were in Paxos, and she did have blue eyes, so that would be the logical conclusion. She then purposefully ignored his attempt to anger her and asked skeptically, "What do you mean us, vampires? The majority of the people here are humans because vampires wouldn't come to a village like this, which was why I was surprised to see you here."
Her revelation surprised Damien, and subconsciously, he was grateful for it because if what he suspected was true, her being a human meant hope for him. "So you are a human? That is rather odd, I could have sworn you were one of those bloodsuckers because of your beautiful eye color." He couldn't hide the respite in his voice, confusing Eliana.
"Well, I am not, so if you are done with the chit-chat, I would like to pass." She couldn't understand why he cared about what she did and who she was.
"I am not a vampire either." His green eyes gleamed in the dim light of the tent, and looked at her meaningfully. Then he leaned in, making Eliana stiffen, and whispered in her ear. "And I am not planning to let this fight go on any longer, but I need you and your friend to leave the tent first. There will be chaos here soon, and we wouldn't want to risk you two getting hurt now, would we?"