"You're perfect Aurora," Draghar said thoughtfully.
Aurora loved how Draghar called her name.
And the compliment made Aurora lower her head, for some reason she didn't dare to look into the shadow of the hoodie covering Draghar's face, because she knew that the man was currently staring at her intently.
Aurora could feel it, as well as the heat that ran down her face and made her breath hitch.
She didn't even know how to reply to Draghar's beautiful words, especially when he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.
The sensation that she felt on her skin, and also the way his lips touched her, was difficult to put into words or describe.
Aurora felt her whole world was so intoxicating.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," Draghar said suddenly, whispering to Aurora after he kissed the girl in front of him.
Hearing that Aurora raised her head suddenly. She stared intently at Draghar, trying to get a better look at his face, but except for his lips, chin and the tip of his nose, Aurora couldn't see the rest of his face or his eyes.
"You're leaving?" Aurora frowned. "You want to leave me?" the words were spoken in a disbelieving tone. How could he just leave when they had just met? Didn't he want to take her with him? Or was Aurora being rejected now? "Am I being rejected?"
Aurora's last question made her throat feel like it was clogged, she couldn't imagine the pain of the rejection
But… No… Draghar didn't show that he would reject Aurora…
"No, of course not. I will never reject you." Dragar shook his head. "I don't want to leave you here either."
Hearing that, Aurora's heart felt a little better, but that didn't mean she was completely relieved, because she still couldn't understand the direction of this conversation. "You will take me with you, won't you?" Aurora had to confirm this.
Indeed it would be very hard for her to leave the house and the people she knew since childhood and the environment she had known even by closing her eyes, but thinking about separating from her mate, it was even more impossible…
Calleb had always said that the mate bond was a gift and the strongest thing a lycan could possibly have, and now Aurora could understand it.
"Draghar?" Aurora called him because she still didn't get an answer from this man in front of her. "What is it? What is the problem?"
Draghar looked so tense, his breath catches when he lowered Aurora's hand that he's holding.
"I don't think you'll like what you're about to see," he said in a hoarse voice. It was as if there was an emotional struggle in every word he spoke.
"Why?" Aurora stared at him, but Draghar's caress on her cheek made her close her eyes and held his hand.
As Aurora had expected, Draghar's hands were both rough and large, but by touching them like this, Aurora had a feeling of security and comfort.
"Do it." He spoke, as if he was a soldier who had lost a battle and was ready to receive a death sentence from his enemy.
Aurora opened her eyes and tried to digest what Draghar was really hiding.
Then slowly, Aurora raised her hand again to open the hoodie that protected Draghar's face. She didn't feel like she had anything to be afraid of. This was her mate. And whatever she would see later, Aurora would gladly accept it…
But, again before Aurora could pull the hoodie off, Draghar held her hand and said quietly.
"If you're going to reject me after this, then do it. I will understand," he said, then kissed the back of Aurora's hand gently. "I will never think of you badly and will never hate you," he promised. "I will understand."
There was sadness in the way Draghar spoke and it made Aurora want to cry.
Really, it's a mystery how someone you just met could be so meaningful in your life like this.
"Why should I reject you?" Aurora whispered to him, her eyes brimming with tears as she could feel the sadness in the mate bond between them.
"You'll find out for yourself," he replied.
Aurora wasn't stupid, at least she understood what Draghar was trying to hide from her. Is it a wound? Was the wound on his face so terrible that he thought that Aurora would reject him because of it?
How bad is it actually? And what happened to him?
================
"How's Thorak?" Calleb asked when he found Raine coming down to the kitchen to get a drink. "Is he still sulking?"
Raine laughed at the Beta. "Yeah, he's still having a hard time accepting this. Looks like he's still in shock."
Calleb laughed softly, but then suddenly stopped.
"Why happened?" Raine asked in surprise after seeing Calleb's drastic change in mood.
"I wanted to make fun of him, but then I remembered that whoever the lycan was, he was going to take Aurora away, and I can understand why Torak is getting so cranky." Calleb became somber when he had said that.
Raine laughed again. Of course she felt sad that Aurora was leaving, but they could still meet, right? This is not the end of the world.
"Who exactly is that man? Is he an Alpha?" Calleb asked, he was not there when Draghar was arrested and had very little information about it. "I can feel the Alpha aura from him, but I'm not so sure either."
"He is the Alpha of a large pack in the south, where the previous Alpha, decided to break away from Torak territory after the great war took place," Raine explained what Torak had told her earlier.
Indeed, after the great war took place, there were several packs who chose to separated themselves from Torak's territory and the Supreme Alpha did not mind that at all, because he had other priorities and was not in a state of wanting to expand his territory.
After all, that moment was a dark time in Torak's life. He lost Raine.
"And now that Alpha's son is in charge, will Torak propose that he should bring his pack back into his territory?" Calleb asked.
"Probably." Knowing how Torak was, Raine felt it was a possibility.