The Love of a Lycan

Raine looked at the woman impassively, meeting her only added to Raine's depression about this whole situation.

And as if sensing their Luna's uneasiness, those Lycan's walked closer toward her imposingly, now Raine was literally surrounded by the beasts.

"You can just call me Raine." Raine said, mustering every last bit of courage that she could gather now. One thing was for sure, she didn't like this girl.

"Raine…" The woman repeated her name as she smiled cynically. "I didn't expect that we will meet here."

"I didn't expect something like this either." Raine smiled softly before she walked toward Kai and gave the lingerie in her hand to the sales person beside him. "I will take this."

Raine was trying to act calmly as she didn't want that woman to see her uneasiness.

Just like the last time they met with each other, this time that woman also tried to provoke Raine, even though she had walked away from her.

"Wait, why don't we shop together?" Alice followed Raine's steps when she was about to reach the cashier and pay for the lingerie that she didn't even know whether it was her size or not.

Raine's only concern for now was to leave this place and this woman.

"Why are you in a hurry, we are not done talking yet." Alice protested.

"I am sorry Miss, but I don't think there is something that we need to talk. I don't even remember your name." Raine countered, swatting her hand away from her.

This scene earned a chuckle from Kai, who was being totally ignored by Alice earlier, the latter didn't even spare her attention on Sunny anymore as she found her target.

"How about we start talking about how you had humiliated me in the masquerade party?" Alice talked casually as if she was asking about weather, but her voice which lacked any warmth was very disturbing.

"How can I humiliate you while I don't even know who you are." Raine was consistent about her façade of not remembering her at all, she just hoped that by being treated poorly, she would leave her alone.

But, the reality told a different thing.

"So, just now I know that you came from an orphanage…" Alice mumbled, a little bit too loud for Raine to be able to hear that clearly.

"You are so rude Ms. Harper." Kai reprimanded the young miss because of her attitude. "You shouldn't say something like that."

Alice's eyes scrutinized Kai from head to toe as she let out a sinister chuckle. "And you are? I don't even know you."

Kai's frown deepened when he heard that.

"Miss Harper, I think we should go separate ways." Sunny chimed in as she gestured at the salesperson to give them the bill for the lingerie that they had picked.

"Ms. Andoori, how is your family business? I don't think they are doing well." Alice crossed her arms in front of her chest as she tilted her head to look at Sunny, whose face had turned red. "I heard that Mr. Andoori has been looking for capital loan. Is that the reason for you to be friend Torak's woman?"

Alice Harper had always been a haughty and imperious woman, though she was only twenty one years old, but her father had let her manage some of their subsidiary companies.

And as the sole heiress of the Harper group of Companies she was pampered by her parents whatsoever.

Also because of the rivalry between her family company and Torak, she had grown up listening how successful the latter had been, thus it made her grow up to be very competitive and hated all the things that were related to Torak Donovan.

"Are you done talking?" Raine frowned. "You are very idle to be here and spouting nonsense."

This wasn't the first time Raine heard something like that about Sunny, because before Alice, Stephan had warned her first about Sunny's true intentions for being friends with her, yet Raine just brushed his words off.

She didn't believe it.

However, Raine felt unease when she had to hear this again from a different person.

On the other hand, upon hearing Raine's counterattack, Kai and Sunny giggled.

"Let see two weeks from now." Alice didn't bother at all about her being mocked by them, even her smile didn't falter at all. "Whether you still laugh or not when your father announced the bankruptcy."

"Ms. Harper is very thoughtful. But, it would be better if you just mind your own business." Sunny remarked sharply.

"Oh, what? What did I say?" Alice feigned innocence as she covered her mouth while her eyes opened wide.

This action only made Sunny livid, she was about to lash out, but Raine grabbed her hand and dragged her away from Alice, pulling her closer to her.

Raine shook her head as if saying; don't be provoked by her.

[Can't you just bite her head off? She is so annoying.] Raine mind- linked the previous Lycan who was talking to her. Inside her mind she could hear amusement in that Lycan's voice when he replied.

[I am sorry Luna, but we don't harm humans if it's not necessary.] The Lycan answered.

[I knew it…] Raine then cut the mind- link.

And at the same time, the salesperson from earlier returned with Raine's lingerie, which had been put inside a red colored paper bag.

"How do you want to do your payment miss?" The salesperson asked politely as she listed the discount and benefits that Raine could get if she wanted to be a member here.

But, Raine shook her head vigorously. "No, thank you for your kind offer." She just couldn't imagine that she would visit this store again. This would be the first and the last!

Raine then gave a card that Torak had given to her to the salesperson, upon seeing that card the latter so was surprised and looked at Raine for the second time, assessing her style secretively.

It was known that the black card from the Central Bank was only limitless to a few people, on immense wealth alone, one wouldn't be able to be the holder of this card, as it was only produced for four people who represented their respective fields of work.

Military, politician, influencer and the last one was businessman, and Torak Donovan was known as the holder for the last category.

Every famous brand like this store would have educated their salesperson about this legendary black card.

Actually, because Raine didn't appear shopisticated, the salesperson didn't count her as a client and therefore they didn't even attend to her and only approached Kai and Sunny.

Who would have known that she would take out the most infamous black card just like that?

The salesperson was trying to remember, who this girl before her eyes was. She didn't look like someone who came from military family while the holder of the card from politician didn't have a daughter.

And for the influencer, because she would often appear on line, the salesperson remembered her face. So, the last person would be…

"Mrs. Donovan…?" Somewhere, in her distant memories, she remembered a beautiful girl clad in exquisite white dress in a spectacular birthday party that the news of which made headlines for the rest of the week.

Despite the clothes and style that she was wearing were totally different now, but the girl's face, who had given the salesperson this black card, had many resemblances to that lucky girl.

"I am not married to him yet." Raine replied bashfully when she called her 'Mrs. Donovan'.

However, the shock didn't come from the salesperson alone, even Kai and Sunny were flabbergasted at the presence of the black card.

"Mr. Donovan pampers you without holding back, you know?" Sunny mumbled, her eyes still glued to the black card. It was her first time seeing it in real form.

"I will proceed your payment Miss, please wait for a while" The salesperson said in very polite manner, she even bowed her body deeply, it was also as an apologize for lack of service from their store.

"I feel so stupid for suggesting this idea." Kai plopped his body on the sofa near them.

"Why? What's with that card?" Raine was aware of their change of expressions when they saw that card.

Because of the appearance of the black card, Alice's existence was slightly forgotten. Regardless her face didn't show any surprise, but she was extremely annoyed why a girl like Raine could use that card without even knowing what it was.

Since her family wasn't chosen as the holder of the card, this was also the first time for Alice to see it with her own eyes. Of course this fact irritated her even further.

"You don't even know what card that is?!" Sunny and Kai asked Raine simultaneously.

At first they thought Raine only made a joke, but from her impassive expression, they knew that this girl was totally clueless about what kind of card that she possessed.

"Did you just get that card from Mr. Donovan's wallet?" Sunny plopped her body next to Kai as she stared intently at Raine in disbelief. "If my father was the holder of that card, he would make me stay away from it at least ten feet." She muttered while sighing dramatically.

"Of course not, he just gave it to me when I said I want to go shopping with you." Raine replied.

And then, Kai generously explained what was that card, from benefit to benefit. In short, the holder of that card was someone extremely important and had a big influence in their field of work.

[It is expected from the Alpha, Luna.] The brown Lycan talked through the mind- link, with a hint of smile in his tone.

Raine glanced at the brown Lycan as she smiled back at him. She felt her heart warming from the way Sunny and Kai looked at the black card with jealousy, it meant, Torak only gave the best to her.

Meanwhile, seeing that she was being ignored through and through, Alice fumed. She gritted her teeth. How could they forget about her?! She was standing there like a clown while listening Sunny and Kai express their jealousy at the way Torak had been treating Raine.

"I feel really stupid for suggesting this idea…" Kai sighed, he thought Torak didn't want to touch Raine because she wasn't appealing enough, as it turned out, apparently Torak valued her extremely until he couldn't carelessly touch her. "I think you don't need all of this."

"I have been telling you that I don't need it." Raine hastily agreed with Kai's statement. "I know he loves me." She felt butterflies fluttering their wings in her stomach.

"You are indeed so stupid, Kai." Sunny punched Kai's arm. "You shouldn't doubt Mr. Donovan's love for her, you know."

"Oh, so you bought lingerie for him?" Alice found an opportunity to mock Raine, of course she wouldn't let it go. "Do you want to bed him so badly, huh?"

Raine stared at Alice, annoyance in her eyes.

[You are not allowed to harm her, but it doesn't mean you can't do something else to her, right?] Raine mind- linked the brown Lycan as she changed her mind about hating this way of communication. Now, she liked it a lot!

"You really are on different level from Ms. Jenedieth." Alice brought Jenedieth's name again to irritate Raine. She was very sure that Torak Donovan had a secret relationship with Jenedieth in the past, despite the fact he chose to go public with this girl.

A glint of anger flashed in Raine's eyes, but her lips curled into a beautiful innocent smile when she walked closer to Alice and spoke to her in a low voice. "Just for your information, we are already in bed…" She paused to let the words sink in her mind. "Stop bringing Jenedieth's name in front of me, it is not her name that annoyed me, but the fact that you are too nosy to care about my love life was what I couldn't understand."

Raine took a step back to see the change in Alice's expression.

At that time, a salesperson came carrying a tray with four glasses of juice for them, she thought Alice was one of Raine's friends as well. This was one of the privileges, which the card holder would receive after all

The salesperson gave the first glass to Raine politely before she gave it to Kai and Sunny, yet when she was about to give the last glass to Alice, Raine stopped her.

"Why are you giving her also?" Raine creased her brows questioningly that made the young girl confused.

"Ah, this… because I thought she is Mrs. Donovan's friend too." Despite Raine's earlier confirmation that she wasn't married to Torak yet, they still addressed her that way.

This time, Raine didn't even mind to correct her as she sat down on the sofa with Kai and Sunny on her left and right sides.

"Friend?" Raine raised her eyebrows. "I don't even know her." She said with straight face.

Kai and Sunny laughed out loud, didn't even care to hide their merriment at Raine's counterattack. At the same time, Raine could also hear those Lycans chortling in their boisterous voice in her mind.

Oh, Raine liked this moment!

The salesperson was in an awkward position, whether to give the glass to Alice or not.

"She is not a VIP right? Why do you want to give that juice to her?" Kai interrupted, seeing the salesperson was in a tight position, he decided for her. "Don't worry, she is rich enough, she could buy something else to drink outside."

"You can go." Another sales person, who received the black card came with a bill for Raine to sign, was quick enough to understand the situation that their VIP customer didn't like this girl. "Mrs. Donovan, you can sign it over here." She spoke to Raine sweetly with face full of smiles.

Unlike Torak, Alice was too young to make a name for herself, Maybe in oriole city some people would know her as the heiress of the Harper company, but it was Fulbright City and Harper family didn't have a strong footing in this city, thus no one knew about her except a handful of people, but it was obvious those sales people were not part of them.

"Is there anything else?" Raine signed the bill while staring at Alice innocently as if she had not done anything to her.

Fuming mad, Alice stomped her feet while pointing her sharp nail at Raine's face. "You…! Argh!" She shouted at Raine, but the moment her feet moved forward a bit, she felt something that made her lost her balance and fell on her back unceremoniously.

Alice didn't even realize what was happening until she heard a loud laughter from people around her, only then was she aware of her not- so- graceful position.

Kai was the one who laughed very loud, until the veins on his neck popped out and his face turned red while Sunny covered her face with both of her palms as she couldn't see Alice's position right now, it was too hilarious, she felt she would die just from laughing.

On the other hand, Raine glanced at the brown Lycan as the latter winked at her while showing his sharp cannines, Raine assumed he was grinning at her.

Out of politeness, the salesperson helped Alice to stand up while trying to make her expression as professional as she could, she clenched her jaw to stop herself from joining the trio.

"Are you alright, Miss?" The salesperson asked very softly, afraid she would laugh instead.

Alice was wearing yellow body con dress that accentuated her curves, actually Alice has a nice body that made Raine jealous, but the way she fell ungracefully, made Raine think otherwise.

No matter how good looking you were, once you showed your panties in the public, it wouldn't be good anymore.

Raine felt bad for being happy for Alice's unfortunate accident, but she just couldn't help it.

"Your store is wretched!!!" Alice swatted the hand of the salesperson, who had helped her to stand up, once she regained her balance.

After saying that, Alice left. The incident she faced today truly enraged her! She couldn't stand the humiliation any longer and stormed out of the store.

"What a coincidence!" Kai was breathing heavily in the end of his laugh. "How could she fall like that?"

"That is what you call Karma!" Sunny chimed in happily. She rubbed her face as her cheeks started hurting because of laughing too much.

"Let's go from here." Raine stood up from the sofa and gestured for the two of them to leave the store also.

The salesperson returned the black card to Raine and thanked her for her visit, also didn't forget to invite her to revisit again.

Raine only smiled when she heard that, as she didn't think she wanted to come back again.

"I don't think I will need this…" Raine looked at the red paper bag in her hand as they walked out of the store. "I feel so stupid for actually considering your idea." She frowned at Kai.

Raine shouldn't doubt Torak's love for her, but at some point, she just needed to prove it again and again.

Kai let out a nervous laugh as he received Raine's bad mood.

Afterward, the trio decided to eat something from a nearby restaurant and ended it ahead of time because Sunny was called by her father to return.

On the way back to their car, Raine got a call from Torak, who wanted to check on her, thus she walked slightly slower as she pointed to her phone to Kai and Sunny.

And with a knowing look, they walked ahead.

"Torak, are you crazy?" Raine hissed without even saying 'hello' to him.

From the other line, Raine could hear Torak's boisterous laugh because of her sudden outburst. How could he laugh like that when Raine was really annoyed by his actions?

"I am literally surrounded by Lycans, you know?" Raine said grumpily, but when her eyes fell on the red paper bag in her hand, her face turned scarlet instead.

She was too impulsive for actually buying this kind of thing, now she could only pity herself and her insecurities.

"That's for your safety, my love." Torak's voice was so gentle. "I can't accompany you because there are so many things that needed my attention and also, I don't think your friends will be comfortable with me around."

Raine then imagined how Kai and Sunny's reaction would be when they met Torak in person. "Hm, I think they will have a hard time to even speak a single word." She said exaggeratedly.

"Are you done? Should I come and pick you up?" Torak asked.

"Yes, I am done…" Raine nodded. "You don't need to pick me up, I will be home in less than an hour. After that we can visit Mark."

There was silence that followed after Raine said that, before Torak said in soft voice that sounded like a gentle breeze. "Thank you."

Raine frowned. "What was that 'thank you' for?"

"Thank you for thinking about the people in our pack." Torak elaborated. "I am so grateful that you started showing some concern toward the people in our pack."

Torak kept saying 'our pack' instead of 'his pack' and this made Raine's heart warm. It made Raine feel that she was also belonged to the pack, she was a part of it, the pack that she could call as family.

"I should be the one to thank Mark. If it is not for him, I would have turned into ashes at that time." Raine kicked a pebble near her feet playfully.

These few words ensued silence once again. Raine could almost imagine Torak's face darkening when she mentioned her bear death experience. He must be gritting his teeth now.

"What did you buy?" Torak changed the topic, because he didn't like to think about the harmful things that happened to his mate.

Raine closed her eyes and bit her lip as she grimaced. "Nothing." She said briefly.

Because of her nervousness, she failed to realize the amusement in Torak's voice. "I will wait for you at home, be careful alright?" Torak didn't ask about it any further.

Raine chuckled. "I have seven body guards and dozens of Lycans that surrounded me. What are you worried about?"

"My heart can't stay calm if you are out of my sight…" Torak spoke in his lazy tone, yet Raine could feel his love for her.

"Stop being so cheesy, it doesn't suit you." Rain scolded him lightly. "I will hang up the phone now."

"I love you my little angel." Torak said heartily, totally ignoring Raine's complaint.

"So do I…" Raine replied timidly, eyeing the Lycans around her who could seemingly hear their conversation as they lowered their heads with their ears flopping down.

Who told you to eavesdrop!?

And with that, Raine hung up the phone and walked toward Kai and Sunny, who had been waiting for her.

"Okay, I think we will have a shopping time for real later." Sunny said when Raine was close enough to hear her voice.

"So, tell me, what will you do with that?" Kai glanced at the paper bag in Raine's hand suggestively, as his lips moved upward into a smirk.

"Stop your dirty thoughts!" Raine glared at Kai. "I will not wear this. Do you want this?" She asked Sunny instead.

"No, I don't wear something like that too." Sunny chuckled. "Why don't you give it to Kai?"

Kai glared at the two women when they laughed at him.

"Oh, I bought this out of impulsiveness and Kai's silly idea." Raine whined, looked at the lingerie bag regretfully. She didn't want to wear it, but didn't want to throw it either.

The price for these small pieces of fabric was extremely expensive! She shouldn't waste Torak's money for this…

Now, she could only keep it, at least this could be a reminder of how immature she had been.

"Don't worry too much… you will need it in the future." Sunny winked an eye at her and pulled her into a hug.

And it happened like a flash of light when someone took your picture, but actually Raine felt it happened longer than that.

This time, it didn't happen like before. It wasn't like a time lapse video or slow motion movie. Raine just witnessed one image.

She just saw blood on her hand…

==============   

Raine was extremely quiet on her way back to her house. She even forgot to bring the red paper bag when she exited the car and entered the house absentmindedly.

"Do you want to take some rest first or should we go directly to visit Mark?" Torak's voice woke her up from her stupor.

"Hm? Oh, let's go now…" Raine was slightly confused. But, she gave him her smile like usual.

On the other hand, Torak could sense that something was bothering Raine, but he kept it for himself, he would ask about it when the time was right.

"Let's go then." Torak grabbed her hand and led her out of the house again as Raine followed him absentmindedly.

Torak and Raine entered the same car that Raine took to go to the mall, they sat at the back seat and let the driver drove them to Mark's house.

In her muddleheaded state of mind, Raine rested her head on Torak's shoulder as her eyes gazed at the trees outside with a blank stare. She didn't even realize it when Torak's eyes caught sight of the red paper bag.

What was that image? Blood on her hands? Her blood? Or someone else's blood? Someone would be hurt? But, when and why? The blood was too much for considering it just being cut accidentally by a knife. It was too much blood…

Raine was still not aware about what was happening even when Torak started to tear open the paper bag and found a naughty red lingery inside.

"My love…" Torak called Raine in his hoarse voice.

"Hm?" Raine hummed, but her eyes were still on the street.

"What did you buy?" Torak asked the same question again.

"Nothing…" Raine answered absentmindedly.

"Nothing?" Torak reiterated.

"Nothing." Raine nodded slightly, to empashize her answer. "Nothing."

"Then, what about this? What is this?" Torak brought the sexy lingerie into Raine's line of sight.

Raine didn't give immediate reaction, she just blinked, once, twice… until the image before her eyes registered into her mind.

The red lingerie was hanging helplessly on the tip of Torak's finger, and fluttered in fluid motion when Torak shook it lightly.

"If you didn't buy this… then whose this sexy- tiny- piece- of fabric belong to?" Torak's eyes were glowing with mischief as his lips curled upward.

"Argh!" Raine snatched the shameful lingerie from Torak's hand and hid it behind her back in a futile attempt. Torak had seen it anyway. "This is not mine!" She denied it immediately. "This is not mine!"

"Then whose?" Torak tilted his head, enjoying the sight of his flustered little mate.

"This… this belongs to Sunny." Raine bit her lip as her heart started thumping wildly against her chest.

"Oh," Torak then pulled out his phone and scrolled something on its screen. "By any chance, did you buy it for Sunny?"

Torak turned the screen of his phone so it was facing Raine, so she could read the notification about a detailed transaction of the card.