...presentation...?

"Ah...!"

Lucian gasped hearing my question - but it wasn't the kind of gasp that I expected.

It wasn't a shocked gasp that would match my own feelings, nor was it a gasp of someone caught red-handed on doing something wrong.

No.

It was a happy gasp, full of excitement.

"I knew you would ask about that! Wait a bit. I started gathering data to make a presentation about it, but that can wait!"

His face lit up, and he hurriedly took out his phone and started typing something rapidly.

...a presentation...?

What was that supposed to mean? A presentation about what?

"Ehem! Hear me out."

He coughed, clearing his throat, and straightened his back as if he was actually getting ready for some sort of public speech or announcement.

"Packs from different regions of the world all have slightly different legends about the origin of our race. Some say that the sun god cursed us because his wife, the moon goddess, loved us more than she did him. Others say that our species was sent to the earth from the moon where we originally lived as the moon goddess wanted to save us from the wrath of the sun god. But what I want to tell you is the version that I was brought up listening to and which I find the most heartwarming."

...that... that doesn't sound like it has anything to do with what I asked him, but he looks so happy that it seems like stopping him would feel like accidentally stepping on a puppy's tail while it is playing...

"Here, look at this."

Lucian leaned in, put his arm over my shoulders, and showed me his phone, or rather a photo of him posing in front of an ancient-looking mural showing a caramel-skinned woman standing in front of the moon and raising her hand in a blessing to the figures of what had to be werewolves kneeling around her.

"And this too - it's actually from our company trip two years ago when I wasn't an alpha yet."

He murmured happily into my ear, making me blush, as he swiped on his phone, showing another photo of the same mural. This one had what seemed like every employee posing in front of the mural, bowing to the caramel-skinned woman.

It looked like they were having fun, at least judging by their smiles, but I couldn't help myself noticing how close the younger Selene was standing by the younger Lucian... They were basically hugging each other!

...oh no, am I getting jealous over an old photo...?

"That version goes like this. Long ago where the sun and moon traveled the skies together, werewolves weren't any different than humans, they were just a group of people favored by the moon goddess. But the sun god, the moon goddess's husband, was a very jealous being. He saw his wife spending more and more time with her people, so he cursed them into terrible beasts that ate human flesh each time they saw the moon goddess's face to make her fear and abandon them.

Yet the kind moon goddess didn't do that. She ran away from the sun god's side after seeing her people transformed and frenzied. Her heart filled with great sorrow. She shed many tears over them, but miraculously, when her tears touched the beastly people, their minds were restored, which filled her heart with joy.

But the jealous sun god chased after her, and she started running away from him, not wanting him to harm her people further.

The sun god realized tried to bring her back and turned the werewolves back into their human forms in an attempt to lure her back before chasing after her again - yet as she stealthily returned, checking out whether he really took off the curse, her people changed back into their beastly forms as soon as they saw her face.

Seeing that sun god's remorse was false and a trick, the moon goddess swore to never return to his side, and he continues chasing after her."

"...okay...?"

I nodded awkwardly not sure where the whole bond thing was fitting in that story about ancient werewolves trying to figure out the day and night cycle and why they can turn into monsters.

...though it didn't explain the passing on curse through biting either, maybe it was too romantic for the werewolves' ancestors...

"Don't worry, there's more. I just want to give you a proper background to the whole thing so you won't misunderstand us like the popular media sometimes does."

He hurriedly explained, sensing that I was rather lost And doubtful.

"The truth is that moon goddess still loves the sun god and lets herself be caught once in a while."

...oh, that's how they must have tried to explain the eclipse...

I thought to myself while Lucian continued the story.

"Since she knows the sorrows of love and didn't want her people to suffer their curse alone, she granted them a blessing. A bond: each and every werewolf has their fated person somewhere in the world. The two of them are perfect for each other. Once they meet, they would never want to separate."

Lucian nodded his head as if he had revealed some ancient truth.

So...

A blessing of the moon goddess...

"...I think that I know what you are talking about... there was a movie that used that motive..."

I furrowed my brows, trying to recall the exact name, but it eluded me completely.

"...which movie exactly...?"

Lucian flinched, looking as if he knew what I was talking about but didn't want to jump the gun.

"You know, the one with a baby..."

"No. No, definitely not. A bond is nothing like that!"

Before I finished talking, he was already making an x with his arms and shaking his head from right to left.

"The moon goddess is the goddess of kindness and benevolence, not the goddess of grooming! The bond cannot occur unless both the werewolf and their partner are adults!"

He explained, sounding actually slightly angry.

"Although there were no actual werewolves taking part in that movie, it still gave us a bad reputation for quite a while, actually! Some bloodsuckers are still making fun of us even now!"

He added, biting down furiously at the rest of the food that the waiter brought him while he was busy talking.

"They made it look like there is completely no choice either, while in fact, if they really think that they don't want to be with the fated person, either the human or the werewolf can leave. There were plenty of werewolves and their partners who split up and went on to live their own fulfilling lives!"

Whoa... he really seems upset.

But I think I get to understand...

"...so, the real bond is like the super good first impression, but whatever happens next depends on the partners...?"

I asked, trying to follow up on exactly where he was going with his explanation.

"Yes! Exactly!"

Once I said that, he instantly brightened up and nodded.

Seeing him like that made me feel a little silly but also a little more anxious.

...now I knew what had brought him to me and why I wasn't scared of him at all, but would that last...?

...will someone like him really want to stay with someone like me...?

"...um... then..."

I tried to ask him what he thought about me now, but, truth be told, we spent together way too little time for the rose-colored glasses to fall off, and besides, I simply had no courage.

...I want him to stay with me...

"Yes?"

He asked, looking at me with interest.

"...that... that presentation of yours - I'm looking forward to the full version."

I smiled bashfully and leaned on his shoulder to hide my face.