2. Forty- four

"What did you just say?" Ethan asked, and I immediately grew pensive. I didn't trust the moon goddess at all. What if she told me a term that was some kind of taboo in the werewolf world and made me ask Ethan, who in turn would kill me and bury my body because I offended him and his werewolf code of living?

What, it could be possible? As Murphy's law states, what can happen will happen. So, my fears weren't too farfetched, were they?

The next moment, Ethan was sitting in front of me, thanks to his werewolf speed. It startled me and made me jump in the air I was surprised.

Before I could reprimand him, he spoke, "Zara, what did you just say?"

"I asked what the term Batair meant but it's a touchy subject." In the few months that I had been here, I had learned that if I so much said one wrong word, it would send Ethan crawling back to his apartment and then ignoring me for weeks. I had no idea if what I was asking him was one such subject though, I guess I would have to take my chances.

"I know you heard me," I stated, my voice much more confident than how I was feeling.

"I will tell you what it means, but you will have to tell me where you heard the term first."

I nodded. "I told you about the dreams where the moon goddess comes to visit me, right?" He nodded. "When she last saw me, she asked me to ask the meaning of the term from you." Exactly how she made me prevent Harper from marking Amanda, how I outed Eva's pregnancy in front of everyone, and how I told Harper and his parents that the child in Natalie was going to be the next alpha.

"I think she wanted me to ask you this because she thought you would know. I mean, you being a scroll keeper and all. But it's okay if you don't." I smiled to reassure him. Honestly, it didn't matter to me if I didn't know what it meant, so I genuinely meant the words I said to Ethan.

"Oh, I know what it means." 

"You do?"

"Yeah, the word is Gaelic and it means Strong Warrior," Ethan revealed while looking straight at me.

"Strong warrior?" I asked dubiously. It sounded way too simple, especially if it had something to do with the moon goddess. "That's it?"

"Nope. That's not it. It's a connection between souls. Like I told you before, there used to be a werewolf empire and so there used to be a lot of enemies who wanted to throw the white wolf off the throne. A kingdom doesn't run because of just the king, you know. There are a lot of people supporting the king. In the case of the werewolves, there was the Luna, the beta family, the family of scroll keepers, and many other loved ones. Someone who was a threat to anyone close to the white wolf was a threat to the throne because they could use that person for leverage."

"To solve the problem, the white wolves met at one place and prayed with their mates for a solution. The moon goddess heard their prayers appeared right in front of them and provided the solution. She told the white wolves that she would assign a capable strong warrior to every loved one who couldn't protect themselves, like newborn babies or dormant wolves. These protectors or bodyguards were known as Batairs."

"Batairs could be anyone. They could be your brothers, sisters, cousins. The only condition for someone to be chosen by the moon goddess to be someone's Batair was that they must have nothing to lose. They couldn't have any other distraction, like mates till the time they served the person they were chosen for."

"For example, if someone was chosen as a Batair for a child, he/she would protect the child till they grow up and learn to defend themselves. During that time, they would have a connection between their souls, where they could draw comfort and love from each other. When the child becomes capable of taking care of themselves, the bond breaks, their souls disconnect and the Batairs are rewarded."

"Most of the time, the Batairs found their mates right after they completed their duties and lived a peaceful life. Most of them remained in contact with their allegiant even after their bond ended."

"When a Batair was close to the age of their allegiant, they ended up marrying each other, provided of course, that the both of them were mate less."

"As the times became modern, the kingdoms dissolved, and the packs formed, the threats to the white wolves and their loved ones diminished and the concept of Batairs got forgotten in history. As far as I know and have read, whatever problems the white wolves experienced in their personal lives, they never let it get in the betterment of the pack's welfare. All the pack members were taken care of and the threats were less. Moreover, the alphas gradually started to let fewer people in their lives, loving only a few people. So, there wasn't any other need for special protectors."

"Also, the people who were chosen as Batairs were great warriors. Obviously, how else would you protect if you weren't a good fighter? And they served without caring for their lives. Did practically anything to serve their allegiance. They became their friends when needed, gave parental advice when the situation demanded, and even became lovers."

Ethan watched me as I slowly processed everything, he had told me. The moon goddess told me that there was more to Ethan's and mine's connection than just physical attraction but I had no idea that she had made a special protector/ bodyguard of Ethan for me.

As I thought about it more, it made sense. Batairs were the people who had no other distractions, which meant that they would never falter in throwing themselves in front of an arrow that was aimed for their allegiant. They could only do that if they had no family of their own or were cut off from it. At least, during the period you served. Also, you couldn't have a mate for the same period. Either the mates of the batairs were dead or they hadn't been found, because the biggest distraction for a werewolf was their mate. A werewolf would always choose their mate, which would hamper their abilities as a bodyguard.

Ethan was perfect Batair material. He was unattached to his family and mate and was thus, not capable of any other distraction. He had been a future alpha to a pack and a scroll keeper and thus, was meant to be strong.

And I was perfect Allegiant material. I was the mate to a white wolf and being a human, I was powerless against a werewolf. It made sense to assign me a bodyguard but did that mean I was in some kind of danger? I pushed the thoughts away and focused on Ethan as I processed what everything meant.

"What?" He smiled as he saw my surprised expression as I put two and two together.

"Ethan, the goddess said that there was more to us than just friendship and attraction. She told me you were my Batair." I whispered the last part, consciousness of how silly it sounded when it came out of my mouth. 

Hey, Ethan! You are my special and magical bodyguard. How does that make you feel?

"What?" He sounded more surprised than me and it made me feel a whole lot better. It all sounded like a hoax, to be honest.

"Yeah, she told me that there was more to us than just some sexual attraction and that you were my Batair. She didn't tell me the meaning of the term. She just asked me to ask you because she knew you must know about it and you did." I bit my lip as I realized what I just said and resisted the urge to curse out loud. Did I just say that Ethan and I had sexual tension right to his face? Yay, Zara, go you!

"I'm your Batair! You know what that means, right?"

I shook my head. My mind was busy running and dying of embarrassment right now.

"It means I don't have to feel guilty about doing this." He whispered as he took my face in his hands and placed his lips on mine.

Without thinking, I placed my arms around him and pulled him closer.