My Most Precious Human

My heart still pounded restlessly as my mind slowly processed everything that happened in the kitchen with Draven. I couldn't blame him for acting the way he did. According to him, I was his mate, and I was the one who triggered him, unintentionally but still. What scared me the most was that I couldn't push him away. At that time, what I saw in his eyes seemed uncomplicated; it was pure passion, desire, lust... Merely recalling the picture made me aroused. I was hungry for him, and that feeling terrified me.

I knew that my flight out of the kitchen was probably the dumbest thing I had ever done in my life. The immaturity of that deed was unexplainable, and I knew that it was my turn to apologize and tell Draven exactly how I felt. However, confessing to him seemed more terrifying than anything else. I also knew that I had to put my love life aside if I wanted to deal with my demons, who have haunted me since I was a child, especially with the main one named Randall D'Apolito. It was obvious that I couldn't have an annoying misunderstanding with a person in charge of deciding whether I would go to this war or not. As I was still leaning against my door, I heard Draven's room door shut with an enraged slam. I swallowed hard, but I figured that I couldn't let myself piss off this Alpha again. I opened my door and cautiously walked into the corridor. Then I took a deep breath and knocked at Draven's door.

"What?" I heard him roar from inside.

"C-can I come in?" I asked hesitantly.

"Do what you want," he grunted.

With a wry, cautious smile, I walked into his room. Draven was sitting on a mattress wrapped in grey sheets, on his raw wooden bed. I slowly looked around. His room was darker than mine. The flooring looked the same, but the room was filled with bookshelves with a huge pile of documents and journals on them. The big part of the space had been swallowed by a massive wooden desk, standing right opposite to his bed. My sight landed on Draven's face again. His eyes weren't burning, but his anger was perceptible throughout the room.

"I'm sorry..." I muttered, struggling to look into his eyes, "I shouldn't have run away like that."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have." He stood up and walked towards me.

His slightly tense jaw betrayed his frustration, while his darkening eyes bared the truly dangerous side of him. I stepped back as he stepped forward.

"Do you know how it feels when you push me away? It's like you were rejecting me," he hissed. "The pain I feel is unbearable." He placed his hand on his chest.

He narrowed his eyes, streaming the guilt that hit me hard and painfully, but my rationality and self-esteem made me instantly bounce back.

"You cannot blame me for not feeling the mate-bond like you do, Draven," I snarled. "I am trying to be sincere with you. I struggle with my emotions and at times I don't know what I am doing. I don't know what is right and what is wrong anymore..." I hoped he'd understand.

"I'm your mate. I am designed to be with you." He took another step towards me. "I'm the only one who is supposed to be with you, care for you, and love you." He leaned his head, placing his forehead on the nape of my neck.

"You know that your words won't make me feel what you want me to feel," I said softly. "You are well aware that my heart is still occupied by someone else, and it'll take time before-"

"Then let me show you." He put his arms around my waist, pressing me against his hard-muscled body. "Allow me to make you mine."

His lips stroked the skin on my nape, moving up onto my neck. I swallowed hard as the tickling sensation spread through my body. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to tell him that he should give me some time, but I was submissive in his hands again.

"Draven, please..." I muttered. "I promise that I won't run away and will give it all a try, but you have to stop..."

He slightly pulled himself away from me just to look into my eyes. He studied my freaked-out gaze carefully and slightly nodded, releasing me from his embrace. I heaved a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, but I know that if I surrendered to you I would grow to hate myself soon afterward, "I stated.

He took a few steps back and leaned his hip against his desk. "If you promise that you won't run away every time I try to touch you, I'll agree to take little steps and give you time."

"Thank you," I smiled at him, hoping that it would ease the tension between us.

He smiled back at me, clearing the remains of darkness from his expression. I knew I had to use this opportunity to talk about the upcoming war...

"Um..." I opened my mouth hesitantly. "When do you plan to attack the south?"

"The preparations should be finished in two weeks. We will start with the attacks on the smaller villages to make them unable to join the Southern Woods Pack, and then we will be heading to Greystoneville," he explained casually.

I took a deep breath. "What would you say if I wanted to join your warriors?"

He looked at me as if I was speaking a different language. He frowned. His narrowed eyes thoroughly scanned my face.

"What?"

"I'm serious, Draven. I want to be there when you enter my father's pack territory," I stated, crossing my arms over my chest.

He shook his head, giving me a mocking gaze, but my gaze at him stayed confident and persistent. Finally, he sighed heavily and walked closer.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it would be?" he said harshly, scolding me like I was an irrational child.

"I'm more than aware of it," I stated calmly.

He looked me up and down and then exhaled, shaking his head. "I have to put everyone to fight and there won't be anyone who could protect you! And I cannot put you against a whole pack fighting in their wolf form! You hardly managed to defeat one!" He snapped.

"The duels have rules which war does not," I said, locking my eyes on him. "I don't have claws or fangs, but I can use a weapon."

"And what kind of weapon could that be?" He clicked his tongue.

I took a deep breath, trying to sound logical. "I used to practice Kendo and Tantojustu with Ezra, my teacher. I am confident that I could handle fighting close-range battles using the tanto or wakizashi sword." Draven looked at me doubtfully, but I didn't let even a hint of fear shadow my gaze. Deep down inside, I was convinced that I could do it. I had to be there when my father faced defeat. Finally, I saw a cunning smirk forming on Draven's lips.

"Fine. Let's do it this way..." he sighed. "I will get you a short, light sword you can use, and you will practice with me tomorrow. If you convince me that you are good enough, I will let you join." "Thank you!" I sang and threw my arms around him.

"Don't approach me like this or you will suffer the consequences," he purred teasingly.

I immediately jumped back, blushing and bursting into awkward laughter, "I'm sorry... and thank you!"

I nodded a couple more times and dashed back to my room, wearing a stupid grin on my face. I was slightly surprised that Draven considered letting me join the war by his side. I didn't think convincing him would come so easily. All I needed to do now was to recall my sword and knife fighting skills, which I was always quite good at. The problem was... I had only practiced with wooden and plastic blades up until now, and I was terrified of the mere thought that I could kill someone using the sharp edges to cut the flesh. It terrified me more than risking my life on the battlefield, but I needed to overcome this fear, and I needed to do it fast.

It was still early morning when I returned from Draven's room. I took a deep breath to clear my head and grabbed my phone to find a message from Kanan.

"Check your email," it said.

I grabbed my laptop, thrilled to see what Kanan had found out. It turned out that he had decoded all the remaining messages. He took a photo of each and sent me its decrypted meaning. I went through each one of them, processing every sentence with my wildly pounding heart.

A few of those messages were quite similar to the ones I decrypted. They sounded formal and respectable, and they had a BJ signature. But the majority of messages were written in a strangely informal or even intimate tone. The handwriting on those messages looked different as well; the lines were sharp and aggressive. They were signed with the letters JD. Since, as I recalled, Beta Jax's last name was Weiner, I didn't think he was the one who sent them.

Kanan had done an amazing amount of work, trying to group those messages by matching their content with certain events to more or less put them in chronological order. The final part of the mail contained the few messages he marked in red, marking them as recent events. All of them were from the mysterious JD. The more I looked at them, the more I thought that those notes didn't sound like they were from a trusted servant. The content was sometimes harsh, and it was Elora who was given orders to obey.

I finally got to the last note and froze as I read it. My heart raced so much that I could hear the blood pounding in my eardrums. I turned my head away from the computer, convinced that I must have been seeing things. I took a few deep breaths and as my heart rate slowed down, I read the message again, but the sentences sounded as ominously as when I read them the first time.

JD wrote, "Your King tries to trick you, but keep pretending you're a fool. This game between you two will keep him occupied until I am prepared to act. Don't you dare lay a finger on Lilith. You'd better remember that she is mine!"