Chapter Five

Divine glared at Orion who just gave him a smug look. How in the goddess's name did he become friends with him in the first place? 

"You know I should have let the lion eat you." He said referring to the time he had saved Orion when they were just pups.

"You would have....but would you have been able to sleep at night?" Orion fired back causing Mik to laugh.

"Face it, you are a big softie. Why are you giving Aliyah cold shoulders?"

"She is not my mate...."

"Please! You know she is. Are you scared?" Orion asked.

"No! I'm not."

"You kind of seem scared to commit brother." Mik said and raised his hand in surrender after Divine growled at him.

"Have you not moved on from my sister yet? She has a mate!" Orion said eyes widening.

"I am over Mirabel. Come on, it's not that."

They had now reached the cross paths.

"Okay let's settle this,if you spend a whole day with Aliyah, being a gentleman,I will never say you're scared again." Orion challenged him.

"What? What about the border? I can't."

"O and I will cover for you." Mik said.

"Go on, try another excuse." Orion said with a smirk.

"Fine. I will do it. Just a day right?" Divine asked.

"A  whole day, from one sunrise to another sunrise." The loud mouthed man said making Divine flinch.

"Alright. I accept this challenge."

"Alright then, I will see you tonight O, and you later." Mik told them.

"I will be at the post today!" Divine said.

"No. The challenge starts today. The hour you get home. Don't be a chicken" Orion said.

Divine rolled his eyes while Mik laughed.

"I have to see my lady now. I've had about enough of you both." Mik said and  directed his horse to the left road.

"You say that now, just wait till her belly is ripe with your pup in it! You will cry for our company!" Orion said loudly to Mik's back while Divine shook his head.

"He will do more crying when the pup is born." Divine said.

"I heard that!" Mik yelled as the other two laughed.

'I will see you later too brother, I have to lay my head down a little." Orion said moving off. "On the luckiest maiden's lap of course." He laughed maniacally when he saw the disapproving look Divine gave him.

"That's not very safe...." He said.

"I am a gift to the ladies, let them have their pleasure!" Orion yelled while riding off.

Divine took the path to his sanctuary. He put the horse in it's stable and went to the house. He hesitated going into the kitchen where Aliyah was. He walked into the room he was sleeping in stealthily.

"You're being a chicken aren't you?" Orion's voice rang through the mind link.

"No I'm definitely not. I just need to rest a bit." He thought back.

"Come on! I will help, walk up to her,tell her you have been thinking about her all night then let your lips claim her!"

"Orion!" Divine thought shocked.

"You know you want to."

"Get out of my head you weasel." He had no idea he left the link open. He immediately shut it off.

He took a bath with the warm water he found in the bathroom. Aliyah must have heated it. He smiled. She was very considerate, he could get used to this. He sighed. What was happening to him suddenly?

He changed his clothes and walked to the kitchen.

He cleared his throat and startled her."Sorry."

"It's okay. I startle easily."

"Good morning, how are you?" He asked.

"Good morning to you too. I'm well. How are you feeling?"

"I am fine."

"Okay. Can I check the wound?" She said and he raised an eyebrow. "Just in case it needs more herbs."

He nodded and sat down pulling his shirt up. Her eyes widened when they landed on his abdomen. She stared like that for a time and he became worried.

"What? What's wrong?"

She snapped her eyes up at him and blushed. "Your body.... I mean...the wound is gone." She said stuttering.

"Oh. I'm a wolf I heal fast. That's good right?"

"It is. It just caught me off guard." She looked down then back at his abdomen again.

His wolf stirred. She was definitely checking him out. 

"Don't you heal fast?" He asked her.

"I do. Just not as fast as you did and with that poison. A lot of other people would have died in a few moments or at least be bedridden for a week......" She stopped talking.

"I guess you are a good healer after all.." He told her with what he would perceive as a smile but was really a lift of the corners of his mouth.

"Thank you..." She blushed and looked down. "I bring you breakfast and then you can rest." She told him.

He nodded and left the kitchen. He ate and went to the other room to sleep for a while.

He woke up when he heard a shriek. He we went to the kitchen  and saw Aliyah struggling to get some cold water with one hand.

She startled when she saw him standing there. 

"Show me." He told her.

"It's a little burn. I will be fine. I'm sorry for waking you." She said hiding her hand behind her.

"Aliyah, show me your hand." He told her sternly.

She hesitantly brought it in front. He raised his eyebrows when he saw it and grabbed the cold water.

"Come with me." He said leading the way outside. She followed him.

He motion for her to hold out her hand and then started slowly pouring the cold water over her palm that was very red  from the burn. After a while he stopped and took her hand, inspecting it then dipped it in the cold water.

"Stay here, I will be right back."

He looked for some white powder his mother used to put on his burns. He poured some milk in that and mixed it making a paste. 

"Let me see." He told her when he got back outside. "This will feel very cold."  He said holding her hand and started applying the paste over the burnt area.

She flinched a little but then relaxed. Divine would never admit it but he felt the sizzling warmth that sparked between them when he touched her.

"I'm sorry for this." She said again her heart beat had increased in pace and he could hear it a little too loudly.

"No. It's not your fault. It was an accident. Now go lay down and I will make us some food."

"But but.... You have been so kind to provide shelter for me, the least I can do is cook for you." She protested.

"Tell you what, I will do all that and when you're better you get back to your maid duties." He said with a smile.

She laughed at that knowing he was joking. "Maid duties?"

"You said it not me." He said and she laughed again beautifully. He could not help but stare at her caught up in the melody of her laugh. She looked so pretty and happy unlike the timid girl who was always flinching and apologizing for little things.

"I don't want to sleep." She said.

"Well, you can sit on the stool in the kitchen and direct me in how you wanted whatever you started there to cook like." He told her helping her stand up.

"Alright."

They went into the house and Divine finished the potatoes she had started cooking.

"What did you have in mind when you built this place?" She suddenly asked him after the meal.

"I wanted somewhere far from the pack where I could go and relax from time to time with my family." He told her.

"Just like that?"

"Yes. You have seen the smaller house nearest to the path and the big treehouse?"

She nodded. "I thought it was too big for a treehouse." She commented.

He chuckled. "I used to come here often with my parents. There was only that small house and the treehouse which I made bigger with Mik and Orion as we grew older."

"Like a man cave?" She asked laughing.

"Yeah. But I only extended it like that in the past two years."

She laughed some more.

"Stop it..." He said chuckling while she made a gesture of sewing up her mouth.

"Okay. I'm done. And this house? Where did you even get those ashy blue stones at the front?"

"My father and I got them from the river. I started digging up the foundation of this house like child's play. When my parents saw how serious I was they helped build it up and making it as morden and big enough as I wanted." He told her.

"So you don't like the pack house at all?"

"I did. Just getting away once in a while was good for the soul."

She smiled sadly. "I can't imagine that."

He looked at her and got an idea.

"Come with me. I want to show you something." He said

He saddled up two horses and asked if she knew how to ride one,which she did. He led the way to the Northwest direction. They came to a small hill that overlooked most of the pack village.

"My father brought me here when I was about seven years. He asked me what I saw and I told them I saw our pack village. I knew that because our pack is the only one that has family houses in the compound not like one big building."

"Wow! Even from afar it is beautiful."

"That is what I said too. He told me if I wanted to rule my pack someday, I had to protect it from afar and within. He also told me that when one member of the pack is lost, then all are lost." He said while getting off the horse and sitting beside it under a tree.

"He was a wise man...." She said looking at him and sitting down too.

He snapped his head towards her surprised.

"How do you know he is gone?"

"Your face says it all when you talk about your parents. Your heartbeat changes rhythm like you are trying to block some pain. At first I thought maybe you had a falling out but that's not it."

"Wow, you are really good at reading people aren't you?"

"It comes with seeing a lot of sick people,whether it be the body or mind." She said.

"Can you tell me what your pack was?" He said changing the subject.

"My parents were of the Silver Heart pack before they were killed."

"Silver heart?! That is far across the river!" He said bewildered.

"Yes you are right. The rogues attacked and they killed my parents. My uncle sent me me afar to protect me and told me he would come back for me. But he never did,he must have been killed too. I ended up being taken in by my mothers cousins in the last pack then things were never pleasant." She said tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, how did you end up as the healer then?"

"That actually saved me. I had to take care of myself most of the times so I could get some food and I helped the healers fetch herbs. Some day one of them got really sick and I just knew what we had to give her to be better." She said proudly.

"And she did get better?" He asked interested.

"Yes. Then they let me help,they practically raised me. That's how I met the alp....the alpha..." She said getting uncomfortable. "He was young then."

"I'm sorry about that."

"It's very much fine now. All that happens is for a purpose."

"Sure does. I'm still sorry you had to go through that."

"When the healers took me in it was better until the alpha took interest and turned out I was not his mate. He must have felt humiliated or something."

"I know the feeling but I would never hurt anyone for that. It's not their fault."

"The alpha of the Red Sun pack is as merciless as death itself." She said with disgust.

"The Red Sun pack?! It can't be."