Threats

XIMUN

The moment the woman’s lips landed on his, Ximun tried to push her away from him, but Aysu beat him to it. With haste, she flung the woman out of that area and sent her flying to the other side of the room.

Ximun wasn’t truly expecting that, but the moment he looked toward Aysu, a smirk formed on his lips and he took a minute to admire the glow of jealousy on his mate’s face.

“Aysu,” the man named Gideon said as he got up, his presence obstructing Ximun’s view of Aysu. “Are you okay? What was that?”

“Ximun.” Aysu ignored Gideon and that gladdened Ximun who gave her his full attention while he palmed Gideon’s face and slightly pushed him to the side. “Are you fine? Did that kiss do anything to you?”

“It disgusts me.” And that was the truth. The moment the woman’s lips touched his, his entire system curled in pure disgust. “I should brush my lips.”

“Yes.” Aysu reached for his hand, the seriousness on her face making her look extraordinarily sexy. So sexy that he was ready to find a corner in that grand house to make her his again. “I am sure Jindo has gotten us new toothbrushes.” The ones they brought with them from the Night Crimson Pack somehow went bad after they used it once.

“Aysu, I don’t think we told him about the ruined toothbrushes,” Ximun said, his legs itching to leave that place already.

“Really? I guess we’ll have to get rid of her nonsense kiss another way.” Aysu maintained her seriousness about erasing the kiss and Ximun made sure to watch her every move because it delighted him to do something as simple as that.

But soon, the heavy silence in the room was interrupted by a loud roar.

“Who did this to her?” It was Chief Lambaba and he was desperate to support the crazy woman that tried to come on to him. “Who did this to my mate? Is this you?” he angrily questioned the man closest to him but that one shook his head and quickly pointed in Aysu’s direction. Then, with fury growing in his eyes, Lambaba growled, “Madam Aysu, you did this?”

“Shannon is your mate?” Aysu asked, her voice barely remorseful in a way that made Ximun appreciate her more.

The chief began to approach Aysu. “How dare you do this to my mate?”

“How dare your mate try to come onto mine? What reason does she have for attempting to kiss my mate?”

“My Shannon would never do that,” retorted the chief, his hospitable expression from earlier nowhere to be found. “So, you won’t be forgiven for touching her.”

“Well, she did. And she deserved what I did to her. She is lucky even, I barely used my full strength.”

“How dare you?!” Lambaba roared again.

“Shut it!” And Ximun entered the heated exchange with the heaviest voice that shut every other person up. “Chief Lambaba,” he pulled Aysu to his side, “how dare you try to side with the nonsense your mate did? She could have harassed me here if action was taken not on time.”

“How dare you question my thinking, Sir Ximun?” Lambaba returned, his brows knitted in fury. “Besides, this is between me and Madam Aysu. She is the one that tried to kill my mate.”

Ximun scoffed. “I can tell that you want to do the same to Aysu. But see, I can’t let you do that. If you try to put your hands on her, I will make sure I get to you first. I will crush all the bones in your hands into powder then I’ll feed it to you.” Ximun smirked with a bit of sinisterness in his expression. “How does that sound, Chief Lambaba? Would you like to keep insisting that your so-called mate did nothing wrong?”

The man stopped in his tracks and as he folded his hands into fists, his jaws hardened and he looked away.

Then, after many seconds, he said, “You are quite gutsy even though you are just visitors.” The man locked eyes with Ximun. “We will leave this matter here. But make sure you watch your back. Henceforth, I don’t intend to forgive your mate for trying to kill my woman.”

Ximun was about to chuckle but he managed to turn it into a scoff. “We’ll see about that, Chief. Thank you for the party.”

After that statement that ended the exchange, Aysu reached for Ximun’s hand and he led them out of the very silent room while Gideon gently tagged behind them.

“I can’t believe that woman,” Aysu spilt the moment they reached outside. “She lied to me.”

Ximun placed his hand on the lower part of her back and with rapt attention, he asked, “How so?”

“Back in Nirel’s layout, she told me that she didn’t have a mate. She asked if you were my brother. And that was the most ridiculous question. How can you be my brother? Anyway, I told her off. But I really didn’t expect her to try to come on to you in front of everyone. And for fuck’s sake, why would she lie about having a mate?” Aysu’s growing anger made Ximun more attentive, He didn’t know how to explain it, but the more she spoke, the more the feelings he had for her grew and at that moment, he became more than sure that she really was his forever love.

“Some people lie because they find it easy to,” Ximun responded to Aysu’s question. “But I was surprised that the Chief is her mate. That’s a very wild occurrence. That man did not strike me as someone that would have a mate.”

“I know right?” Aysu’s nose wrinkled while the sun of the day attempted to paint over her face. Ximun changed his position and blocked her face from the sun. “I was almost certain that Chief Lambaba was a lone wolf who thrived by being single.”

“That’s oddly specific.”

“That’s one of the thoughts I had when we met him.”

Ximun used his contact on her back to soothe her as he moved his hand to and fro. “Chief Lambaba, huh?”

Aysu laughed immediately, her hand blocking her lips as though her laugh was something to be ashamed of. It wasn’t. Her laugh was easily one of the best things in his life.

“The name’s really funny,” she confessed. “I tried hard not to laugh.”

“Well, if we knew that the party was going to end up sucking, we could have laughed to our heart’s content.”

“Hmm,” she agreed with a hum. Then, after a quick look around, she said, “I wonder how we’ll be getting back. I doubt Lambaba will be willing to send us a carriage.”

“We will have to sort ourselves out, I guess.”

“Uhm, guys,” Gideon spoke from behind and Ximun’s lips wrinkled in slight discomfort when he finally realised that the man was still around. “What is the next move?”

Aysu faced Gideon. “We need to find our way back to our house.”

“Oh.” The timidity in Gideon’s reaction made Ximun more suspicious of the man.

Well, that suspicion was born the moment Gideon showed up. While the information he shared with them could be correct, Ximun could not shake off the feeling that it was possible that Gideon was sent ahead of Beta Richard to create a grand confusion that would make him and Aysu fall into the trap of those who want them dead.

“Ximun, should we-”

Before Aysu could complete her words, a honk interrupted her and they all looked ahead to see that Jindo had gotten them a ride.

“Wow,” Aysu commented, “I am surprised they have cars here.”

“This place keeps getting strange,” said Ximun. “But it is a good kind of strange. So, let’s head in and relax in our new home.”

“I like the sound of that already.”

So, without much hesitation, they all entered the vehicle which, to Ximun, was more sleek than the ones they used in the Night Crimson Pack. And while Jindo started the drive, Ximun kept it in mind that he wished to ask Jindo certain questions about The Moon Guardian Pack, hopefully, the answers to the questions would help him understand their pack some more.

On the other hand, Aysu was quiet, so Ximun let go of the idea of conversing with her.

Then, many minutes later, they arrived at their house and Aysu got down with so much excitement that made Ximun curious about what was on her mind during the ride. He could bet that her head was filled with random thoughts, but he was still very much interested.

So, he walked after her, his long strides sufficient enough to catch up with her.

“You are excited,” he said.

“Yes.” She bit into her lip as she looked up at him and Ximun’s desire to do things increased significantly. “I kept thinking about how comfortable the new bed is. I can’t wait to relax in that heaven.”

“I see.” Ximun smiled subtly and he helped her with the door once they reached the entrance.

And a lovely aroma greeted them before they could take any more steps.

“Ouu. Something smells delicious.” Aysu looked at Ximun. “I know this smell is from food.”

“Yes,” Jindo replied from behind. “I made my masters a meal while they left for the party.”

“I think this will be the real party, Jindo,” Aysu said. “I have yet to put a visual to this aroma, but it seems like I won’t be disappointed.”

“Masters,” Jindo barely acknowledged Aysu’s compliment, “may I have a word with you before the visitor comes in?”

Ximun peeped behind him and saw that Gideon was occupied with one of the flowers outside. “You can speak now.”

“Okay.” Jindo cleared his throat. Then his voice lowered, “I don’t want my masters to trust that werewolf.”

“Why?” Aysu asked.

“He reeks of disloyalty.”