The Love of a Lycan

"Torak…" Raine grabbed one of his arms before he could charge forward to deliver the most lethal attack over to Serefina. "Torak, please…" Raine whined. In fact, she almost screamed when Torak turned his head, so that she could see his blue eyes had now turned into red. A sign that he was in a state where he would absolutely kill the opponent brutally.

This was the first time Raine was this close with Torak while the cold-blooded beast in him was surfacing, and at the peak of rage. It took only one glance at the beast's frightening appearance, her whole body was trembling in fear.

What was it that crossed Serefina's mind that made her get to be this daring to infuriate him every single time they met? Wasn't she ever afraid that one day, she would be dead in the hand of the angry beast Torak?

Torak seemed to have ignored Raine's words, but he kept his bloodshot eyes on her, his body also trembled. His human's side, and his beast's side were fighting to take the dominance. He was conflicted between tearing the witch's throat, and stopping himself in order to prevent his mate from seeing a gruesome scene. 

A low and deep growl rumbled in his chest. The sound of it was similar to that chilling sound of a dozen angry wolves that were ready for a battle. It was such a hard decision when Torak's beast finally chose to leave the room. When he leapt over, passing above Serefina and Calleb's head, he was already in his full beast form.

Then the beast busted down the window. He dashed away, leaving a trail of broken pieces of glass and particles of debris were floating in the air. 

"Torak!" Raine was shocked, she thought that Torak would kill Serefina the moment when he darted towards that witch. But unlike what he would've done usually, this time, so unexpectedly he didn't attack that witch. Meanwhile, if ever this happened on any other day, that kind of rage that was combined with such fiery killing intention, it would've caused someone to lose their life.

The next thing that they heard was a long, and aggravated howl. And only then, they realized Torak was somewhere else, far from the place where they were. 

"I will look for him." said Raphael reassuringly. He was trying to prevent Raine from coming closer towards the shattered fragment of glass on the floor. On the outside, there were six or seven guards trying to see what was happening, as they were wondering why the window was broken. 

Raphael walked towards the broken window and talked to the guards out there. The Beta issued an order to them. But Raine simply couldn't hear what kind of explanation that Raphael gave to them. Because her mind was somewhere else, thinking about a certain someone. 

After a few minutes in dazed, the first thing that Raine felt was Calleb's hand. He held her shoulder, holding her back just in case she would try to rush near the window. That should never happen, because it could hurt herself in the process. 

And then, there was Serefina's voice. As usual, the witch seemed to have so many things to say, she was speaking arrogantly, and annoyingly. 

"Oh, it looks like your Alpha is still having a hard time controlling his beast." She said it scornfully.

Raine didn't know what possessed her, but the next thing that she knew was; she slapped Serefina's face harshly. 

The sound of it reverberated inside the room, making Raphael and the other guards outside the room turn their head towards her direction. They were all perplexed with the escalating situation. 

Raine was also surprised by her own action. Everything was in a blur. She felt her anger bubbled up in her chest upon hearing the way Serefina's talked about Torak. However, she quickly regained her composure, and let her anger flow through her veins, leading to her action. She didn't hold back at all. 

Never had it ever crossed anyone's mind that Raine would do something so daring like that. Even Calleb was made beyond surprised by her action, he gawked and blinked his eyes at Raine. 

Serefina also didn't expect this sudden assault to ever happen to her. Especially when the physical aggression was actually done by a mere human girl with a guardian angel soul. That girl who not so long ago, couldn't even look at her straight in the eyes, now was brazen enough to lay her hand on her face. Nobody had ever slapped her before!

This event alone made the witch furious, she was fuelled with an enormous amount of rage that filled her whole at once. "How dare you to slap me!! Who do you think you are to lay your hand on me!?" Serefina roared at Raine, and then the witch stretched out her hand.

Seeing that Raine was in a serious tightrope, Calleb came out from his stupefied state. The Gamma snapped out of it immediately, and grabbed Raine's shoulder to pull her back. 

The Gamma's reaction was just in time. He successfully protected Raine's small figure with his broad build from what was coming after her. And in result, a gush of sharp wind cut his back ruthlessly. He groaned in pain as he felt blood trickled down from his back. 

Raphael waved his hand towards the guard that was still looking at the strange incident that was happening inside the room. "Scram!" He growled so loudly that he gave all of them some fright.

Hastily they left the scene in a matter of seconds. 

Once no human was around, Raphael bent his body and leaped forward in his beast's form. There was an eerie sound of bones cracking during the process. It only took Raphael's beast a single move to close the distance between them. But once Raphael just landed, there was a sudden force that knocked him aside. His body collided with the wall, and left a big dent there as he fell to the ground. 

Serefina was livid. A whirl of wind conjured in both of her hands as she strode towards Raine. She made a slashing movement, and sent Calleb flying a few feet away from Raine. The poor girl was left there standing alone, facing Serefina.

Raine was about to step back when her feet were not moving as they should. She couldn't even budge her feet at all, as if they were frozen. She had felt this feeling before. Serefina had done the same thing to her the first moment they arrived in this city. Their first encounter at the airport. The feeling of being controlled was awful, and now that witch did it again. 

Raine stared at Serefina's hand that was grabbing her neck, suffocating her. She tried to move her hands, but even her own hands simply didn't listen to her order. She felt her chest burn. It was caused by the lack of oxygen. It was a slow torture.

From the corner of her eyes, Raine could see Calleb turned into the grey wolf that he was. But neither Calleb, nor Raphael were able to come closer than a meter away from Serefina. As if there was a powerful invisible wall that prevented them from going through it. 

Raine could see the two beasts roared in anger, but she could hear nothing. She started to see these dark spots spreading, and blinding her vision. If she stayed still like this, and did nothing, soon enough she would begin to lose her consciousness. Am I going to die? Does it mean that Serefina kills me?—she thought to herself.

And does it mean that I won't be able to see Torak ever again? Why do I have to die when my life is just starting to get better?—she said to herself again.

Raine had never felt such an urge to survive like this. She felt like there was a strange energy that seeped to her body through every inch of her skin. The strange feeling that forced her to lift both of her hands, it almost like her hands had turned into heavy stone.

Despite Raine's previous attempt to move her hands was akin to a labor work, she could move them now nonetheless.

As she tried to pry open Serefina's fingers, she found a fleeting fear passed the witch's lime green eyes. The witch still wasn't sure of what was going on, she thought that probably she was just seeing things. 

Raine panted heavily in her attempt to make Serefina let go of her neck. She was trying so hard to steal every inch of air that she could reach, just to breathe it. Gritting her teeth, Raine used all of her will to scratch Serefina's face instead, since she couldn't break open that witch's fingers from her neck.

And it worked. 

Serefina covered her face with both of her hands, feeling the sharp, stung pain across her skin. She cursed under her breath. With her spell, Raine shouldn't be able to move. But in reality, how could she even manage to hurt her? It just couldn't be! It shouldn't be!—the thought of it was bothering her profoundly.

When Serefina was in shock, she lost her focus. That was when the spell broke.

Raine fell on the ground. Her knees landed on the floor. It made a loud thud sound, as she was gasping for air while holding her painful neck. Calleb and Raphael roared angrily. They were about to bite down Serefina's neck, when she suddenly disappeared into thin air. 

Raphael hurriedly turned back into his human form, and came over to Raine. "Raine, are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere? Anywhere?" He tried to analyze her body that was trembling out of fear. There was no trace of blood, and there were no visible bruises. 

However, Raine was covering her neck, thus he couldn't see it properly. Raphael caressed her back soothingly, to stop her from trembling.

"Torak…" Raine said between her gasp. Even though there were no tears coming out from her eyes, her voice choked in her throat. 

"I couldn't reach him. He blocks us out." Raphael said.

In order to appease his beast, Torak had to leave. Raphael could understand that. It was because of Raine. She was there when it happened, and Torak had no choice but to suppress his violent side. Wait until the Alpha heard about this, he wouldn't believe it. How could he come to believe that his mate would stand up for him, and slapped Serefina the witch? Although, he wouldn't be the only one on that. 

Everyone wouldn't expect that. Raine surprised them again and again. 

"I will bring you upstairs." Raphael said as he helped Raine to stand up. The poor girl was still holding her neck. Her hair was hanging all over, covering her face. It made it hard for Raphael to see whether Serefina had left a bruise on her, or not. 

With the help of Raphael, Raine trudged to the second floor. Calleb tailed behind them, still in his beast form. After they entered the bedroom, Raine was sitting on the sofa near the door to the balcony while hugging herself. 

"Drink some water, it will help you with the shock." Raphael gave her a glass of water while Calleb sat on his hind legs, and rested his snout on the armrest beside Raine.

She took the glass, and gulped down the water. The liquid went down through her dry, and painful throat. It made her feel slightly better. The grey beast nudged her hand with his snout while making a face that Raine assumed was a smirk.

"Let me take a look on your neck." Raphael said worriedly.If it left bruises, the Alpha wouldn't be pleased to see that. Raine put down her hand, and scratched the back of Calleb's ears. The grey wolf closed his eyes, and enjoyed being scratched. 

Seeing this, Raphael threw him a gaze as if saying 'oh please, have some dignity!' kind of look. 

Raine tilted her head slightly up, so that Raphael could have a better look on her neck. By doing so, her cleavage could be seen slightly, and her fair skin was exposed. However, strange enough, there was no bruise, nor any mark that indicated Serefina had just tried to choke her to death. Her skin was flawless.

"What happened?" Raine asked, watching the strange expression on Raphael's face. "Is it that bad?" 

Yet, Raphael shook his head. "No. Actually your neck is fine, there is no bruise at all." He said in bewilderment.

"Impossible…" Raine suddenly stood up, and walked towards the mirror. She raised her chin, and looked at the reflection of her neck. Just like what Raphael had said, there was nothing there. Not even a scratch could be found. 

Raine was frowning. Because she could still feel the pain on her neck that Serefina had inflicted. It was so strange. She knew what had happened to her, with so much force that Serefina had exerted, it should've left a mark at the very least. But in reality, her neck was fine as if nothing happened. 

Raine turned around to face Raphael, and Calleb. "Can you please help me?" She said in a soft voice. But anyone could hear it clearly that there was an urgency laced in her tone.

"What is it Luna?" Raphael asked. 

"Please don't tell this matter to Torak, can you do that?" She implored. 

"But, why?" Raphael stood up, and walked towards Raine. Why wouldn't she want Torak to know about this? It would be best if the Alpha was informed about what Serefina had done.—the Beta thought.

Even Calleb growled in disagreement. 

"This is not the right time to show some mercy on Serefina, Luna." Raphael stopped right in front of her. He looked down at Raine, whose height barely reached his shoulder. He didn't understand her decision. "In my opinion, it will be better to not hide anything from the Alpha."

Raine understood that she didn't want to hide anything from Torak too, but there was something that she wanted to find out by herself. By letting Torak know about this matter, it wouldn't help her finding out this thing that she seeked. 

"I am not planning to show some mercy on Serefina." Raine said sheepishly. Although her body fidgeted nervously, she still continued to speak. "She doesn't deserve it."

"Well, I am glad you know that." Raphael said. He nodded in agreement.

"But, if Torak knew about this, he wouldn't allow Serefina to come near me ever again. Meanwhile, I still have many things that I need from her." Raine tried to explain her intention. 

"What do you need from her?" Raphael frowned. He couldn't see the point of Raine meeting Serefina again, especially after that witch just attempted to kill her.