The Curse Of Rejection
Settling down

AYSU

True to his word, Jindo found them a place in the city and it barely took him two hours to do that. He paid for it using some of the wealth his master left behind and he also promised to transfer the remaining wealth to his new masters. But Ximun and Aysu refused the offer and told him that they were fine with settling with the house.

Then, once all the rescued women went back to their respective places after reuniting with the men and children of the pack, Jindo led Aysu and Ximun to their new house.

And it was quite a grand one. It had features similar to a mansion and that reminded Aysu of her home back in the Tarmish Pack. But thinking back to what her father did made her wonder if it was right to call that place home.

“What do you think?” Ximun asked when they walked past the gates that shielded the new house from prying eyes and feet.

“It is very pretty.”Aysu looked to the side. “I love that there are a lot of flowers.” Then she looked up at him. “I think we will be happy here.”

Ximun smiled. “I wasn’t expecting something this grand.”

“Me neither. Jindo,” Aysu called for the man who was carefully walking behind them.

“Yes?”

“Thank you for this.”

“I did nothing. I still have to get my masters some clothes and food and-”

“Jindo,” Ximun interrupted him, “I am sure we can sort that out ourselves. So, why don’t you replace yourself a room to settle in? We will join you shortly.”

Aysu wondered if Ximun had something to discuss. She watched his face to try to decipher his thoughts since she could not read them but she wasn’t able to determine anything. But the moment Jindo shredded his reluctance and left the couple to themselves, Ximun faced Aysu.

“Aysu,” he said, his voice heavy with emotions.

“Is something wrong?”

“I am scared of something.”

“What is that?”

“I am scared I will get too used to this place and forget about my people.”

“We-”

“I can’t be too relaxed here, Aysu. I have to avenge the position snatched from me and I have to protect the wolves of The Night Crimson Pack from the ones that are trying to run it with their mediocrity.

“Ximun,” Aysu reached for his hands, “I don’t think will ever happen. I know that one day, we will leave this place and go back home. So trust me, no matter how great this new pack is, you will never forget about Night Crimson Pack. You led them for so long, it would take the worst accident to make you forget about them.”

Ximun, as though a burden had been lifted off his chest, sighed hard and locked eyes with his mate. “It would be nice to get updates about the pack from time to time. But our communication with that world is now breached.”

“Well, we could ask Jindo. He could know a way to connect with the outside world. Ximun,” her right hand moved to rub the length of his arm, “I am sure this whole situation sucks because it is a huge change from what you were used to. But I would love to promise you that I will make sure that your stay here is as happy as the life you had in the Night Crimson pack.”

“Well, the life back there wasn’t always happy.” Ximun instantly hugged her. “But, I should be promising you that.”

Aysu laughed. “Well, it doesn’t hurt to say it.”

“Aysu?”

“Yeah?”

“Back at the Lycan’s place, why did you jump in the middle of the fight?”

Her hands rested on his back and she relaxed some more into the hug. “I… It was instinct. I guess my strange powers pushed me to do that.”

“That was a scary thing your powers made you do.”

“Well, as they say, as long as I am fine, it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter.” He hugged her tighter as though she was going to disappear at that moment. “You could have died.”

Aysu could feel how vulnerable Ximun was with his emotions, so she shelved her jokes and made sure to hold him securely.

“I am glad I didn’t die,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Ximun, though he was trying hard to remain strong, was still very bothered by the way he lost what he once had. So, Aysu told herself that she needed, at all costs, to protect him, the same way he always swore to protect her.

Ω

Many minutes later, they were both cleaned up after a long, calming shower together. And like the lovestruck wolves they were, they walked out of the steamy bath hand-in-hand and after drying each other off, they climbed into their neatly made bed that way since they had no clothes to put on.

Once they were secured in the sheets, they faced each other and Ximun said, “I think we should have let Jindo get some clothes for us. We have nothing to put on if we need to step out.”

“Well,” Aysu snuggled closer to her mate, “when that time comes, we can sort things out.”

Ximun brushed some of her slightly wet hair to the back. “Do you feel sleepy yet?”

“No.” Aysu’s response was giddy. “I keep thinking about how I tortured Nirel the Lycan and my whole system just keeps getting excited.”

The man wore a broad smile and it warmed her heart so much that she reached to caress his cheek.

“It is kind of thrilling that all of that Lycan drama happened barely hours after we stepped into this new land,” Ximun calmly said.

“There’s a saying in our pack.” She looked up at the ceiling which was decorated with stars. Then after almost a minute of silence, she said, “I don’t remember what exactly it is, but it has something to do with the first day in a new place and how it determines the way a person’s life will be continually play out. So, since we had so much fun on our first day here, I am sure that the coming days will be as fun.”

Ximun who was earlier squinting his eyes as he tried to process Aysu’s words smiled grandly. “I’ll toast to that.”

“I still don’t feel sleepy,” Aysu confessed.

“Me neither.”

“What should we do?”

“Hmm.” Ximun gently brought her hips closer. “How about we christen this bed?”

“What?”

“Let’s introduce this bed to our love-making tactics.”

Aysu giggled and buried her face in his chest. “Don’t say it like that, Ximun.”

“How else should I say it?” His lips planted a long kiss on a spot on her shoulder. “Huh?” Then, he moved his lips to the nape of her neck, his move making her feel ticklish between her legs. “Let’s make love? Is that better?”

Aysu lifted her head, her entire face red with laughter. “Yes. That’s better.”

“Good.” Immediately, his lips captured hers and while she chuckled for some seconds, she soon tuned in to the seriousness of that moment and she returned his kiss without holding back. “Very good,” Ximun muttered the moment he introduced his tongue to the lip lock.