HER DRAWING

"Rina! Rina, are you alright?" Michael came running upstairs when he caught a vision of her kneeling in front of her door. And there she was, clutching her shoulder, looking a little pale and weak. It was the first time that she suffered so much pain and Serina had no idea what to do. She even forgot to block the pain with her power. Michael picked up his daughter and just as Irene caught up to him.

She opened the door to Serina's room and Michael placed their daughter on the bed. He hovered his hand over her and sent his own soul power to his daughter. Serina felt relieved although, she could still feel the painful throb. Seeing that her complexion was starting to return to normal, Michael retracted his hand.

Irene sat on the bed, right beside her daughter and wiped Serina's forehead with a wet cloth. "Are you okay now? What happened to you?" Irene asked in worry.

"I…I don't know. It was so sudden as if someone ripped off my flesh. It was so painful." Serina answered.

"Did you see any vision or anything before that happened?" Michael inquired, wanting to know if she was connected to someone else already. He was worried that Serina had been in contact with her mate without her knowledge.

"No, I didn't." she muttered. "It was the first time that this ever happened to me."

Ever since she was young, Serina never allowed anyone to bully her. She would always fight back and let everyone know that she's not a pushover. She never got herself into a situation where she'd get herself wounded. But right that instant, she really felt as if something tore her flesh.

"Take a rest for now. I have blocked the pain for you." Michael told her as he stood, ready to go out of the room. "Sweetheart, please be careful with the men you have encountered in school."

"Hn." Serina nodded her head, pulling the blanket at the same time to cover herself. 'I only interact with Nicholas, though.' She told herself when her parents left her alone in her room. 'Brattislava, you said something earlier before my dad came. What is it?'

'It's nothing.' Her dragon replied and retreated to the deepest part of her spirit. Serina didn't bother with it anymore and just gave herself some time to sleep.

***

Nicholas was limping as he walked back to their home, leaving trails of blood behind him from the wound on his left fore-leg. As soon as he emerged from the thick foliage behind their house, Yiran ran towards him with tears falling on her cheeks.

"Niknik, are you okay? Why are you healing so slow? What did they use against you?"

Nicholas was still in his wolf form and was too tired to talk. He only nuzzled his sister's face and laid on her lap and fell asleep.

When he woke up, it was already dark outside. The villagers were supposed to have fun tonight but because of what happened, they were all struck with worry and fear. The elders were having a meeting his father, the Alpha of the pack, and with his mother, their Luna.

'Knock! Knock! Knock!'

"Come in." Nicholas voiced out without moving from his bed. He was allowing Kiro to mend the torn flesh and heal himself from within.

"Still recovering?" It was Gregory. "Sorry, for leaving you alone there."

"It's not your fault. Don't apologize. One of us had to bring the rest of the pack home and I gave you that responsibility. Thank you for keeping everyone safe."

"Hn." Gregory sat on the couch near the window and looked at the surrounding villager's home. "What were the hunters doing?"

"They were hunting moose. I am not sure if it was the first time they caught it or if they have frequented in our forest. Also, the bullets they were using weren't normal bullets. If it was normal, I wouldn't be lying here still recovering from the damage."

The two of them stopped talking about the hunters and shifted their topic to something else.

The next day, Nicholas has fully recovered from the wound and not even a scar could be seen. However, his mother forbids him to go to the forest with the elders and his father. She was still worried for him.

Monday came and the students resumed their classes. Most teachers weren't giving lectures anymore but were giving their students time to make their projects and pass them on time. Others were preparing for their exam and some were just loitering around.

Serina didn't belong to any of them. She wasn't making her projects, studying or loitering in the campus. She was in the library, sleeping peacefully.

'Where are you? I didn't see you inside your classroom.' Nicholas messaged Serina but she was too deep in her sleep to even reply to him.

Serina's phone was just placed on the table, on top of her nonsensical books about werewolves and other supernatural beings, and Hillary caught a glimpse on the message that Nicholas sent.

She picked up her own phone and sent Nicholas a message, telling him that they were in the library.

"So early in the morning and she's sleeping?" Nicholas whispered when he arrived in the library and found her sleeping peacefully with her arms as her pillow. "She looks a bit pale."

"She said that her shoulder was painful and she didn't get enough sleep so, she's catching up with some sleep right now." Brigette answered without raising her head from her book.

"She's not bothered with projects and her study?"

"How can that be? She already passed her projects ahead of time and she didn't really need to study. She can understand everything without taking extra lesson or study time."

Nicholas noticed that the sunrays were slipping through the blinders and hit Serina's face. Perhaps, it was too bright because she frowned and forcefully shut her eyes to avoid the bright sun.

He picked up her bag which she placed beside her and put it on the table. He looked really distant from everyone but at this moment, there was a warm smile on his lips while he took out his own notebook to shield her from the bright sun.

"Your arm will be sore." Hillary commented and was about to stand from her seat to fix the blinders.

"It's fine. I can manage." For a werewolf with inhuman strength, doing something so trivial like shielding her from the sunrays with his hand and a notebook was nothing to him.

He watched her sleep, making sure that no bugs could approach her and he even placed a barrier around her, making sure that she won't be disturbed from the noise. Even if it's quiet inside the library, you could still hear the whispers of the students and the rustling sound of pages being flipped. And he didn't want her to hear any of these.

Such sweet gesture didn't go unnoticed by the students. Without Serina's knowledge, she's trending in their school forum once again. Not just her but Nicholas, too.

"He's so sweet to her."

"My boyfriend didn't even go to the library with me, much less do something like covering me from the sun."

"Serina is really lucky. I heard from the college department that he's the heir to the Vallardi companies."

"If they are in a relationship, they'd break up soon. I don't think Nicholas will be able to survive without a woman by his side during Serina's study in Europe."

"A beautiful and smart woman paired up with a handsome and smart man. Aren't they a perfect match?"

Many people already expressed their thoughts and opinions on the matter of Serina and Nicholas being together but the subject of their gossip didn't care at all. One was sleeping and the other was watching the other sleep - no time for gossip.

"I've seen Serina carry these books every day. Does she read them all the time?" Nicholas asked when he saw the books near Hillary. He couldn't be mistaken – Serina owned them.

"She's addicted to them." Hillary answered while keeping her eyes on the math formula that she was studying. "Do you believe in them?"

"In what?"

"In werewolves, dragons and vampires?"

"Yes."

"That makes you a good pair." Hillary retorted without thinking. "It's the first time for us to hear someone with the same interest as her." Hillary added but Nicholas was no longer listening to her.

In between the pages of the book, Nicholas saw a small tip of a paper that slipped through the book. When he pulled it out, his heartbeat faltered. It was a sketch using black pen and nothing else. And that drawing was a dragon - the dragon that he had seen several times in his mind.

'How did she get to draw this dragon in such detail?'