"IT'S STILL THE SAME; nothing has changed," I told the two men who stood behind me. I then removed my hands from the corpse and faced them. I'm not sure where we were at the moment. What I did know was that we were in a room filled with dreary auras. I didn't mind the atmosphere, but I'm curious about what happened in this room to cause such auras to linger. But, then again, we just dumped the bodies here.
"The ending is that we still need the elders alive," Cross lamented. "I really believe we need to establish a new era in this realm," he said, shaking his head, "but what else can we do? We can kill the elders in the future."
I cocked my brow. "You want the elders dead?" I inquired, adding, "Be careful, you might become a suspect in this curse that is afflicting us."
Cross shrugged his shoulders.
"When can you wake the elders up?" Severino asked, his eyes deep and unconcerned.
"Didn't I already tell you? Who says I'm willing to cooperate?"
Severino frowned. "It's either you do it or," he said, his face darkening, "I really wish I didn't have to resort to force."
I sneered. "What's new?" I shot back. "When was the last time I did something of my own free will?" my chest heaved. I'm getting frustrated all over again! The temperature was rising, but somehow... Somehow, I was able to calm myself down in the end.
Bah!
My mother's years of training were extremely beneficial to me. That thought annoyed me at times as well.
Ha!
Severino opened his mouth, probably to explain or something, but I quickly snapped my head away from him, returning my gaze to the corpse. I should avoid looking at him. What a scourge! The corpse was more appealing to the eye than his seemingly attractive face.
"Brother, you should learn to appreciate women," Cross said innocently. "Our dear Alinta here is your mate, not the women you used to kill because they didn't meet your requirements," he said, shaking his head, "and if you keep doing this, she might seduce me and run away with me."
"I can get out of here without you; there's no need for me to seduce someone like you," I frowned.
"You're no fun," Cross said, clicking his tongue. "You seemed to be on edge lately; how about a rest in my arms for a while?" He opened his arms wide, his grin so wide I almost wanted to crack it open.
I couldn't help but sigh. I've been thinking a lot about violence lately. Maybe I really need to rest. But certainly not in Cross's arms. I sighed again and returned my attention to the corpses. They appeared dry as usual, with no blood on them. And an ominous dark aura was emanating from their bodies.
Cries of agony, torture, and pleas.
I felt my soul almost drowned in it if not for someone suddenly barging in.
"Alpha! Alpha Lila is here!"
That prompted me to look behind.
"What is she doing here?"
I was expecting a response from the warrior wolf but instead received one from the shrew.
"You promised to help, and now I'm here with the ingredients!" Lila shoved the warrior wolf out of the way before tossing the ingredients to me. I didn't catch it. Why should I? I just let it fall to the ground.
"Where is your manner?" Cross cocked a brow, "You should be in the hall, waiting for us to see you."
"I'm in a hurry," Lila said, not looking at Cross. Her gaze never even strayed to Severino's. Instead, she fixed her gaze on me and said, "The ingredients for your ritual—- I got them all. Nothing more, nothing less."
I raised my brow and leaned against the stone table's edge. "Why do you keep ordering me around? Haven't I already told you that I'm unwilling to cooperate? Are my words not clear enough?"
"I am willing to put my life in your hands," Lila muttered suddenly and unexpectedly, with no change in her emotions. "You can kill me, feed me to the beasts, or whatever you want; just promise me that my father and the other elders will live." My gaze was drawn to her clenched fists.
Hmmm...
This lady has a lot of guts. She was beginning to change my opinion about her.
"I want to spend some time with this woman," I said, not taking my gaze away from Lila. My words, however, were directed at Severino and the others. I was hoping they understood it.
"You can discuss whatever you want with my presence," Severino said, his aura beginning to freeze people to death once more.
"This is between a woman and a woman; a man has no place in this," I finally turned my head to look at Severino. At the same time, I made sure to look at him as coldly as he could at me. He was not the only one with lethal eyes.
A brief moment turned into two minutes as the two of us stared at each other for much longer than I wanted. But none of us was willing to make a concession. Until I told him, "Either you do what I say, or you might as well forget the elders will live."
There was a pregnant silence. But in the end, Severino eventually turned around and walked away. Cross winked at me before following Severino's lead.
Only after those two were no longer audible did I return my attention to Lila.
"You unexpectedly tamed the beast," Lila noted.
"Tame, you say?" my eyes grew dark. "I don't see or recall any taming in the last few days, so I can only disagree with you."
Lila let out a snort. "When did Severino listen to anyone? Especially when he was threatened; he despised that way of speaking to him; he felt challenged."
"You appear to have moved on," I couldn't help but notice. "You're fast."
She lowered her gaze for a moment before returning it to me. "He is already mated. What else can I do? Soul branding can never be severed. The two of you will belong to each other even after death. There is no point in me hanging on to the delusion of finally having him," she said bitterly.
Suddenly, my whole body shivered and my mouth twitched. Having him while we were alive was already too much, but fate was too cruel to extend it to after death.
Tsk! In the future, I will have to study more spells. Just in case, I would find or, much better, invent a spell to break this mate thingy!