The Love of a Lycan

"Cute?" Chiron looked at Kace incredulously. Never had he ever heard anybody say that kind of word, except Hope. She was the only person who would say such a word. But it seemed that Hope's use of vocabulary had affected Kace's as well. 

Ignoring Chiron's protest, Kace's attention was on Raine. To think that the girl, who was hiding behind his back was his cold and aloof brother's mate, didn't seem right. How Torak could handle someone so fragile like her? It even surprised Kace that the girl bore Torak's mark. 

Meanwhile, it was the first time for Raine to see centaurs. Never had she ever imagined to see centaurs in real life, she didn't even know if they were real, of course until now. Torak had never mentioned them. Raine clenched Kace's shirt even tighter when they approached her. She was blown away, and lost for words the moment when one of the centaurs talked. 

Oh now they could talk too!? And they sound just like humans!—she thought to herself. 

"She's the same kind as Hope." Chiron nodded toward Raine. "Could she be a guardian angel?" he asked.

Instead of explaining herself of the situation, Raine stared intensely at the centaur. She failed to register Chiron's question because she was still completely petrified by the centaurs' presence.

Among the four centaurs, there was who was talking to Kace. This centaur was the biggest of all four. She could hear how his voice was an immediate indication of dominance. He must be the leader—she thought. Raine could easily distinguish it, since she had spent a lot of time with Torak. 

In terms of size, these centaurs were huge. Their body was built with muscles. The upper part of their body was human, with broad shoulders that dropped down showing a true solid posture. But they had horse features from their waist down. 

Raine found it was hard to believe. What she was seeing now felt entirely surreal. She was curious, but at the same time frightened by the unknown.

"Apparently, she was the person whose presence was sensed by Hope earlier," said Chiron. By then, Raine already missed almost the whole conversation between Chiron and Kace. "We need to go back to the tent, and we must bring her with us." 

"No." Kace objected. "She needs to go back to Torak. And I don't want him to get close to us, no matter what." Knowing Torak would track his mate down, that was why Kace strictly disagreed with Chiron's suggestion of keeping Raine near their group. He didn't know why Raine ended up there, but he was sure his brother would collect his mate. 

"You will leave her alone inside the woods?" Chiron crossed his arms in front of his burly chest, while looking at Raine impassively. 

Well, it seems that this one is nice—she thought. At least, the centaur refused to leave her there alone. 

Kace grimaced when he heard Chiron's question. It made him dive deeper in conflict. Of course he couldn't let Raine stay inside this wood alone. How could he? But at the same time, he couldn't stand the idea of meeting his older brother too. He wouldn't want that to happen. Because he knew better that things would only go south if he met him.

"Why do you come here?" Kace turned around, exposing Raine to the centaurs. 

And when the girl could no longer hide behind his back, she was starting to get nervous. The pressure of being the attention, under the eyes of the four centaurs and Kace really got her. Then slowly she was slipping into a state that was something beyond nervous.

"We… we came here to find you…" said Raine, stuttering between her own words. She felt like she was so close to getting a panic attack. 

Despite the fact that it had been quite a while since the last time she slipped into an actual panic attack, she couldn't help it now. After all, it was in the middle of the night, she didn't know where she was now, and above all, she was standing among the creatures that she thought was only a myth. And the last person who she thought would defend her, unexpectedly looked at her with displeasure. 

"Why do you want to find me?!" Kace glowered at Raine intensely. Frightened, the girl could do nothing but lowered her head in response to his question. 

"Because… the war…" Raine gulped hard, she felt her throat become dry while giving her disordered answer. 

"How many people are with you?" Kace asked grimly. He was sure that he wouldn't like the answer. 

"Around… two hundred people…" Raine answered truthfully. 

Damn Torak and his people!—He cursed internally. "See? We can't take her with us, or let Torak find us." Kace concluded. Once he heard the word 'war', he instantly filled in the blank, putting the puzzle pieces together. That word was the only thing he needed to suddenly know the rest of the reason why Torak crossed towards this realm, all the way just to find him. 

It was the same reason why Kaceran away from Serefina. Because the witch had once talked about this, during that time when his mate's condition was barely alive.

Kace didn't care about what would happen to the world. He just wanted to be with Hope, because she was all that he needed, and the rest of the world could burn into dust. He knew that it might sound arrogant, and selfish to whoever heard it. Yet sometimes, what we knew, and what we wanted were contradicting each other.

"Why?" Suppressing her fear, Raine raised her head to look at Kace. "The war is getting closer and we should…"

"I don't care about war." Kace cut her before she could even finish what she was about to say. 

Raine narrowed her eyes. "To think that way is ignorant." She remembered what the devils had done to Sunny, to Aeon, to her life. The pain of knowing that Torak was dead, still remained vividly in Raine's mind. And here, Kace talked that he didn't care about the war. 

"Well, flash news! I am a very ignorant person. That, if you don't realize it yet." Kace answered sharply in response to what she just said. 

"You think you will be safe hiding here?" In her vexation, Raine found her voice to retort Kace's words. "There will be more people who will die."

"Trust me, I have told him about it many times, but he just doesn't want to hear." a voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. It was Hope. She walked into the area where Raine, and Kace were standing, and facing each other in argumentation. Meanwhile the rest of the centaurs were simply being bystanders.

"Didn't I tell you that you can't come here?" Kace approached her while throwing a threatening look at Zarn, who was escorting her there. 

"Since when do I listen to you?" Hope whispered to his ears. She tiptoed to kiss Kace's cheek, trying to appease her angry mate. 

However, the moment her eyes landed on Raine, they grew brighter. And then the fireflies that she had been seeing, started to swirl around the both guardian angels, flickering in the darkness of the night. 

The two guardian angels stared at each other. They both were fascinated by each other's presence. Couldn't help the sudden excitement, they walked to get closer. "I can't believe it, I finally met you."

Hope knew by heart that the girl that was standing in front of her eyes was the guardian angel. She just knew it somehow. 

"I have seen you," Raine said.