Chapter 26

I stopped checking his fangs and let my gaze travel from the tips of his polished shoes, over his bigger form that could shield me from a bullet, to his golden eyes that danced with amusement.

"I should be the one asking that, hiding deep underworld… Oh my God! Underworld… Underground, hiding deep underground and you didn't even tell me you were cosplaying. At least, include me. The more the merrier."

A bark of laughter shot out and I felt heat rush over me. I said something useless again. "You are pretty," I blurted and my hand immediately hit my mouth for it.

"If you are not careful about your words, I will be the one blushing and I think it's soon," he said sarcastically.

My cheeks felt suspiciously warm as I turned away from him and wandered around the room. "Nonsense." My gaze returned to his and he had quite the spectacle prepared. His hand reached out and tugged a strip of hair that was dangling by my cheek.

"Your men dragged me here because they killed a man," the memory of the fortune teller telling me I would find love flashed before me. It wouldn't be him. He was pretty but I wasn't impacted by his splendor and demeanour. No!

He strolled near. "Ah! So they brought my wife because she happens to see something unwanted. Very well!" the gentleness in his tone and his occupied thinking face made my heart skip a beat. Naze! Why?

The panic welled up like acid in my stomach. No! Everyone felt strange when some handsome man showed his best side. Ah! I mustn't forget my goal. Strangely, the words of the fortune teller made me aware of my actions and the atmosphere between us.

"Will you give me some fangs because I seriously think of cosplaying?"

His mouth quirked, true fun shining in his eyes… Again. This made him look boyish and normal but I always felt weak against people like him. At least, in the stories I heard from other moon saints back on the moon.

"Pay no mind to me… There are times when my mouth and mind go out of control and they forget what is happening. So… Am I kidnapped by my husband? This look like the title of some erotic novels."

What did I say again?

"I see you are quite well, physically at least. However, your mind is coming up with strange questions. It seems what you lived just now made you weak emotionally," he caught hold of my hand and ignoring my protest, he pushed me gently toward the settee by the fire. He sat next to me, his eyes studying me closely.

My eyes gave him a repressive gaze, holding inside a growing annoyance. I wasn't crazy. I had this habit since I was young. My mouth was faster than my reins.

"I saw those creatures called goblins and I wondered why your men hesitated. I mean… We were in a dark alley it was impossible to know I am your wife… Beside that, they don't know me."

His head snapped back, his eyes widening. "There are two possibilities," his arm snuck behind my shoulder pulling my closer. "You are unable to believe what you saw or you were acting since the moment you stepped inside."

"Everyone would assume you cosplayed."

"But not goggle me like you did and check me with hands," he grinned with the ease of a man who did so often.

"My lips tightened. "Said one to another. You also examined me with your eyes. Did you think I didn't notice that?"

"I was checking if you were fine. I don't want my wife to turn handicapped and make me lose the deal. I promised I would protect you. And for why they didn't touch you? I had a man protecting you from afar."

"Spying on me, you mean. I don't believe you will protect me, not after that night in the bar," a discomfort slipped inside me. "Your hair is longer and your fangs are… quite… unique. Also, your eyes, they look like a wolf standing on a cliff gazing down upon its subjects."

I had another bad habit; it's that when I talked my hands moved translating what I said, like the one listening to me wouldn't have understood. "The… The… Also your frame, it's bigger and you don't have the necklace. So I thought… I…"

"In my family, it is customary to let the hair grow after losing someone and I didn't have time to mourn over my father so I am doing it now. He disappeared for years so we assumed he is dead."

"I had no idea. I am sorry for your loss," I frowned.

"Considering the other things you spoke of, nobody likes a smartass but I like you. I know you are clever and you wouldn't say a single thing about all this. The necklace is an artifact to make the appearance like a human. Humans are dangerous. We can't let them know about us."

"I agree. It would create chaos. You remind me of someone," I played with my fingers, twisting them. "I knew him and he said the same thing. That in the past, everyone knew about it but something happened and… Humans were classed as dangerous. Better let them ignoring everything."

"This is bad! Is he someone you still talk to?"

"No, I don't. In fact, I don't think I will talk to him anymore since I don't have access to the place where he lives. I don't appreciate him. He is narcissist."

His look of concentration grew. "I want to know why you know about us. You don't seem like someone who didn't know," his thumb caressed my chin softly then moved to my lips. "Why?" it seemed a question for himself. "Why you look different from the first time I met you?"

I had to smile at his question. He was a werewolf and I had to figure out if he had some kind of power that let him know I wasn't human. "Certainly. It must be…" I meant to lie to him again but the lie faded as I met his gaze again.

Everything within me stilled and warmed. His gaze mirrored something I didn't understand; something that bothered me. Why did he look miserable? Why did he ask repeatedly the matter of my change? It's something I had in the past, a feeling my heart hated for a while, the longing. I longed for happiness and pride over success… Why his gaze held longing in it?

"People feel frightened when they see a werewolf in his true shape. We aren't normal. So why aren't you scared? You must scream and ask for help or try to run in panic. Why are you breaking the rules once again?"

They are indeed different. They can't look like human with their face, fangs, sharp nails… I could see them clearly, short and sharp like a wolf. His nail traces the edge of my face, enjoying my calm demeanour. I would have been if I were human, but I wasn't. I belonged to the hidden world like them.

But I can't tell him that.

"With the events that unfolded until now, I came to accept everything. Accept now, question later. This is what I do now. I am not scared of your appearance. In fact, you didn't do anything that proved I must fear you. I tried… I swear… When you threatened me, I tried to be scared… But I couldn't."