JIndo

XIMUN

The silence from the women suggested that they still didn’t believe Aysu’s words and that made Ximun feel bad for his mate. He could tell that she really wanted to get them out of that place.

He wanted to move forward and add a word or two to what she already said but he realised that he needed to let her succeed in that moment by herself.

So, instead of speaking, he moved two steps forward and made himself visible to the women. And most of them reacted to his presence in that room.

Then an oblivious Aysu continued, “Can we all leave now? This place is saddening enough.”

“Will you leave us here if we refuse to leave?” A woman asked.

“No.” Aysu seemed a little repulsed by that question, but not in a way that made her look obnoxious. “Why would I do that?”

“As you said,” another tired voice spoke, “we don’t know each other. So, you don’t have any reason to do this.”

“Exactly,” another spoke, “you might be doing this to look good-”

“If I am doing this to look good, why not grab this opportunity?” Aysu cut the woman short, it seemed her ability to remain calm was slightly diminishing and that made Ximun smile. Aysu was similar to him after all. He always thought that she was more level-headed than him. Aysu continued, “If you don’t believe that the Lycan wolf is gone, you can come out and check yourself.”

“That’s alright.” The woman that responded walked out first and soon, every other woman in the room followed suit. Then, the lady, while one of her feet limped, said, “We are not the only ones he captured. There are some women he could not touch. He kept them someplace else.”

Aysu quickly faced Ximun and the guard. After sparing Ximun an expression of relief, she asked the guard, “Good boy, is that true?”

The man cleared his throat. “Yes, it is true.”

Then, Ximun asked, “What is your name?”

“Jindo.”

“Jindo? You aren’t a wolf?”

“No.” Jindo shook his head. “I am a rare dog.”

Ximun was amused but he didn’t dwell too much on Jindo’s origin. He wished to relieve Aysu of the stress of getting the remaining set of caged women. So, with urgency in his voice, he said to Jindo, “Lead the way to the other women.”

“Okay.”

They both walked out and as they did, Ximun delighted in the somewhat joyous chats of the free women. He bet Aysu was happy at that moment as well and that gladdened him some more. And he became even more receptive to the idea of them staying back in the Moon Guardian Pack.

AYSU

Aysu sighed with relief the moment the first woman took a step out of the cage. And once the other women followed, Aysu finally relaxed and she stood in a corner to watch as the women moved in mass and exchanged greetings and hugs.

And as she watched as though watching a very emotional show, it occurred to Aysu that some of those women would soon become people she would have to relate with day in and day out since she had chosen to build a new life in the pack.

That led her to wonder whether to join the greetings and take the chance to get to know some of the women. But when she saw that tears were already a part of the reunion and since that was an indication that that moment was getting more intimate, Aysu remained in her spot until minutes later when a blonde lady approached her.

“What is your name?” The woman’s shrill voice carefully asked. “My name is Shannon.”

Aysu was more than glad to respond. “My name is Aysu.”

“I have never heard that name before.” Shannon took steps forward as though she wished to flirt with Aysu. “What does it mean?”

“It conjoins the words; moon and water.”

“Ahh, I see. So,” Shannon reached for some strands of Aysu’s loose hair, “that man that was with you, is he your brother?”

Aysu was a little stunned by the abrupt turn the conversation took. “My brother?” Her eyes narrowed. “Who are you talking about?”

“The man with the long, grey hair. Isn’t he your brother?”

“He is my mate. And we are married.”

“Oh.” Shannon took steps back. “It’s just that I have never experienced being mates or being in love, I was hoping to work something out with the man. But, he is your mate.” She laughed almost hysterically. “I can’t go near him.”

“No, you can’t,” Aysu sang her response and Shannon laughed even more. “How do you feel, Shannon?” Aysu asked to put a stop to the lengthy laughter.

“Hmm.” Her lips scrunched. “I feel weird. The Lycan is the only man who has known my body, so I am used to his touch. I don’t know if I’ll be able to go out there and ignore the fact that I have enjoyed some really good dicking in this place .”

In no instance was Aysu expecting that kind of response. In fact, a part of her was certain that Shannon was joking. But the woman was dead serious about the whole dicking situation.

“Shannon, I uh…”

“Please, ignore her.” Another woman joined them. “Shannon is the only one amongst us that enjoyed being caged. Each time she was chosen to warm the Lycan’s bed, her screams were all we heard through the night.”

“Oh. I…” Aysu seriously didn’t know how to react.

“I don’t know what you did or how you did it, but thank you for getting us out of this place.” The woman was bearing short hair that was filled with crunchy, brown leaves and dirt. “I keep looking at the exit and the fact that the Lycan is not storming into this place is enough to tell me that that disastrous wolf is gone for good.”

Her words warmed Aysu’s heart.

“Thank you,” Aysu said. “I am grateful that you can now get some well-deserved rest.”

“Oh, here comes your mate,” Shannon announced with an excitement that told Aysu that she needed to be wary about the woman. “He was able to rescue others.”

Aysu faced that direction and saw Ximun and Jindo approaching them with about twelve women walking in front of them.

“Ximun,” Aysu rushed to her mate and held his hand while the reunion continued, “thank you.”

“It was nothing, Aysu. Now that everyone is here, we can leave this damn place.”

“Yes, please.” That was Shannon and it turned out that she was listening to their conversation in a way that strongly eeried Aysu.

“Shannon,” Aysu tried not to be bitchy, “can you please excuse us? I am sure you have friends to catch up with.”

“I don’t,” mumbled the woman, the curls in her hair falling as she bowed her head.

“You can speak with Jindo,” Ximun said, his eyes narrowed in a way that told Aysu that he was also wary of the woman’s actions.

Shannon almost jumped with joy and with an excited, “Okay!”, she approached the guard who was standing still.

“Who is she? And why she is acting that way?”

“I have no idea.”Aysu stole a glance at Shannon. “But I know we have to be careful around her.”

Ximun nodded and reached for Aysu’s hand. “We should leave.”

“Wait!” Another voice sprang from the noisy room and that shut everyone up.

And while Aysu almost swore, Ximun murmured, “Oh my.”

A fairly elderly woman with silverish hair stepped forward and her eyes seemed to be scrutinizing Ximun and Aysu. Then, after many seconds, she said, “You two…”

“Is something wrong?” As Aysu asked that question, she glued her side to Ximun.

“... you are both cursed. This curse is no joke,” the woman continued while her revelation made some of the women gasp in surprise. “It will kill you both.”

“The curse should be broken by now,” Ximun replied.

“That’s not how the rejection curse works.”

The woman’s response made Aysu and Ximun share a confused expression as they both wondered how the woman even knew about their cursed state.

“How does the curse work?” Ximun asked. “According to what we were told, to break the curse, we both needed to mate with a werewolf with the same number of rejections.”

Aysu nodded. “We have done that already, so why would the curse still be active?”

The woman smiled almost smugly. “You are partially right. But you need to know that the curse will still kill you both if you fail to perform the last step.”

“What is the last step?” asked Ximun.

“Conceive a child.” That statement made Aysu’s heart drown in immediate sorrow. It reminded her soul of the great loss she suffered. The woman speaking noted the change in Aysu’s expression and that led her to say, “You already did. But you lost the child.”

Aysu’s eyes darted to the side.

And Ximun stepped. “Can we discuss this later? This is not the place for such discussions. Besides, we have to lead everyone out of this place.”

“Oh.” The woman sighed. “My bad. I spoke abruptly the moment I received the message.”

“The message?” Ximun asked.

And, another woman stepped into the discussion. “Yes, this is our High Priestess. She is one of the most powerful beings in our pack.”

Aysu returned from her sorrowful thoughts. “Nir… That Lycan Wolf captured the high priestess as well?”

“Unfortunately, yes. But now, we are free and we can finally walk out of this place without the fear of being tortured to death gripping us.”

Aysu managed a smile and soon, they were all trooping out of the building and the moment everyone reached outside which was slowly heading towards the break of dawn, cries of jubilation filled the air and that city felt more alive.

“Are you thinking about what the High Priestess said about the curse?” Ximun asked, his voice tickling Aysu’s ear from behind.

“A little.” She tilted her head in his direction. “I was so sure that the curse was broken.”

“Same here. We should make sure to meet that woman. But let’s do that after we find a place to stay.” Jindo cleared his throat from where he was standing and they both looked at him. Ximun then asked, “What is it, Jindo?”

“I can help you with any issues you have.”

“You can?”

“Under one condition.” Jindo scratched the floor with his feet as he shifted closer.

“What is this condition?”

“Become my master.”

“What? Good boy, why would you ask that?” Aysu was really curious.

“Well, my master left without me. I should remain loyal to him but I can’t anymore because I know he won’t come back for me. So take me in, I will serve you forever.”

“Jindo.” Ximun reached for the man’s shoulder. “You have no reason to serve us. You can go your way and make a life for yourself.”

“No.” Jindo shook his head in insistence. “I want you to be my master. You won’t regret taking me in.”

“Uh…” Ximun faced Aysu. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know. He is insisting. Should we give him tasks for now and see how well he delivers?”

“I will do a good job!” Jindo proclaimed.

Ximun and Aysu chuckled.

“Alright then,” Aysu said, “your first task is to find us a house. A very conducive space enough for three of us.”

“Three of us?” Jindo was surprised.

And Aysu smiled. Yes, it was risky of her and Ximun to take in Jindo when they barely knew him, but she had a good feeling about the relationship they were about to have with the man. So, as she leaned further into Ximun’s chest, she replied, “Yes, Jindo. For three of us.”