Seven

With irregular, shaky breaths, Rose shielded the man carrying her as much as she could from Richard’s attack, but nothing happened after many seconds passed. Not a single grunt or screech filled the air. 

Confused, Rose opened her eyes and met the man’s gaze. 

“Uh…” Just looking at him and being close to him made her entire body react. “Uhm…” She cleared her throat and looked away. Then she noticed that they were no longer in that fine house. Richard and the man named Symon were nowhere to be seen, either. “Huh…” Her frown deepened at the sight of the ocean, whose crashing waves made sounds to relax anyone who cared to listen to it. “Where are we?”

“Unmistakably,” he mumbled, his eyes refusing to stop watching her no matter how much she tried to evade his, “you are my mate, Rose.” He gently pressed into her thigh, and a particular fiery burst in her vagina, she became aroused. 

Further confused by the dynamic of that moment, she forced herself out of his grasp. 

“Okay…” She laughed madly after confirming that they were indeed on a tranquil beach. “Fine. We were at that house, now we are here. Richard was there, but he is not here.” Her hands gestured like crazy while her lips grinned. “And…. you…” She turned to the man. “You…”

“Rune.” His fine voice replied as he pocketed his hands (for real, every time he did that, he always became an irresistible work of art).

“Huh?” 

“Rune. My name.”

“Rune? Or Ruin?” Whichever one it was, Rose thought his name was unusual.

“Rune.”

“Ahh,” she gasped with amusement, nodding as if she totally understood the situation, “I see.” Her brows jerked. “Mr. Rune, please,” her hands clasped in front of her, “can you explain what is happening? Why are we here? And what on earth is that mate thing you said? Wait, is this some sort of prank? Are you trying to mess with me?” Her confusion became lethal as she became ready to throw some punches. “If you try shit, Mr. Rune, I will-”

“Where was this energy when that man was trying to overpower you?”

“I…” Her voice cracked, and she resumed finding the man annoying. “You are too harsh, Mr. Rune.”

“No. I am truthful. And you…” He stepped closer and held her fisted hands. “You need to rest.” Tenderness rested in his eyes, and she listened to him.

After a deep exhale, she settled on the sandy ground, and he sat beside her. 

Her eyes fixed on the ocean as she whispered, “None of this makes sense.”

“It would be weird if it did.”

She glanced at him. “How and why am I your mate? How and why are we in this place?”

“You are my mate because we are destined to be. We are in this place because I brought you here. I don’t know how your husband found my house, but I was not going to wait for him to harm you again.”

That explained nothing. 

Rose scoffed and buried her feet in the smoothness of the ground. “Rune,” she called.

He responded with a heavy, “Oh,” and placed his hands on his chest. 

Rose almost shifted closer in concern. “Is something wrong? Is your heart in pain?”

Rune lifted his head. “My heart is not in pain. It is alive. The way you just called my name… oh my goodness…” His eyes sparkled. “It made my heart beat so good.” Rose was taken aback. “Rose,” he sat straight, “if you are confused, I can show you what I mean by we are mates.”

“Show me how?”

“By loving you and making love to you.”

She choked and coughed hard. Then she laughed, but that crashed when she saw the seriousness in his eyes. “You are not joking,” she said. 

A sharp breath, and his head tilted such that his eyes looked at her with every possible ounce of sexiness embedded in them. 

“I know you lied about not feeling anything from our kiss. If we do more, you will no longer find it easy to lie about how you feel when you are with me.”

“Y-” She jumped out and started fanning her face. “What sort of nonsense is that? I am married.”

He looked up at her, that sexy look still trying to bring her to her knees. 

“Are you?”

“I-” She pinched her eyes. “You are delusional. I can never be with you.”

The smirk Rune wore made her aware that she told another lie. Somewhere in her mind, she was already kissing him, and relishing his touch in every way possible. 

‘Ugh…’ Rose groaned in her thoughts. ‘Control, Rose. Control yourself. All you did was kiss this man.’

Rune finally looked away from her. “Before things get hectic, I would like to come clean.”

“About?”

“I am not human.”

How was she supposed to react to that? Rose thought. She then further reasoned that he was trying to joke to lessen the tension of that moment.

“I am not joking.” His response to her thoughts made her jump back, her eyes wide. “Rose,” he returned to looking into her eyes, “I am a werewolf. I used to be the Alpha King of the Brunia pack but was banished a few months ago. Since the day I stepped into Bruania, your country, I battled with severe depression and mourned the things and people I thought I had. That was until  I saw you for the first time.” His gaze lowered, and a graceful smile rested on his lips. “Unfortunately, you were very sad that day. But seeing you made my heart flutter. My dead heart felt things that made it want to live.” Their eyes met again. “You did that, Rose. With that alone, I knew you were my mate.”

After that, Rune said nothing more, causing heavy silence while Rose considered what to say. 

With narrowed eyes, she peeked at the man at intervals. She could not believe he just said he was a werewolf, a half man, half beast. And she could not believe that she was not disgusted in the depths of her soul. She was just surprised on the surface level. Maybe that was because she had already dealt with a particular beast that had been pretending to be a human who loved her. 

“You are not saying anything, Rose. You keep staring.”

“Uhm…” 

“If my truth makes you hate me, I am afraid it does not matter. I will not let go of a chance to have peace in my life. I also want you to grab this chance to experience love and peace.”

“Are you saying your love for me is pure?”

He stood up. This time, he maintained a distance between them. “I don’t know yet. But I know that I will not rest until I learn how to love my mate properly.”

“You keep saying I am your mate.” Her hands clasped behind her, and that moment became very solemn, the seas bore witness to it. “Are you going to love me as some sort of duty?”

“Is there something wrong with loving you because it is my duty? When I do that, would I not realise that I need to love you because I do love you? After we have spent some time together, I am sure it will not be hard for me to realise that. Just standing with you in this place calms me, and I already love that about you.”

Rose’s eyes blinked to the side. The excitement, pride and certainty in his response made her soul desire the love he was describing, but she stopped herself before she could yearn for it some more. 

“Do not hold back, Rose,” he gently admonished. 

“How are you doing that?” That was the second time he spoke in response to the words in her thoughts. 

“I told you, we are mates. My response to your inner thoughts is evidence that proves it.”

“Okay.” She stopped him before he could mess up her mind with his werewolf talks. “I hear you.” She hurried back to considering the affection he was offering her. “I have to think about this.”

“Take all your time, Rose. How about we head inside? It is starting to get chilly.” 

She glanced at the house behind them and shook her head. “I have to think about it now. I have too much at stake. My heart especially.”

“Should we kiss again? Maybe that would help with the decision,” he teased, but she took that suggestion seriously. Rune noticed that. “Rose?”

Beyond making a decision to stay and see what a life with Rune would bring, she needed their kiss to distract her bad memories. She needed a new touch to wipe away Richard’s wicked ones. 

So, after a deep gulp, she shook her head and said, “Kiss me.”

“Huh?”

“Kiss me again, Rune.”

Rune’s feet rushed in response to her statement. He cupped both sides of her face; his eyes showed how much he wanted her, and the kiss happened, his hunger for her lips still present in the way he kissed her.