36

Unfortunately, Keno broke away from my heated body far too quickly and Yasha's stupid grin I would have loved to cut out of her face. I stayed calm and looked up at Keno, who was eyeing me up with a smile.

"I really hope you're right," I whispered to him, breathing heavily, and he immediately took my hand lightly, looking intensely into my eyes.

"Right with what?"

"Not to worry about, big guy," I replied, slightly tense, and then sighed in pleasure as he placed his lips on mine to seal me with that gentle kiss that he would stick to his words.

At least I hoped so with all my heart, because this idiot had actually managed to make me see more in him than just the big, bad wolf.

Of course I still didn't like the presence of the other two. Although.... Juniper really didn't give a damn. It was Yasha, with her fiery red hair, that was a thorn in my side.

"Let's sit down and rest. We're going to have to walk a lot tomorrow," I heard Keno whisper softly to my lips and without saying anything back, I nodded in agreement and let his hand lead me to the place where the other two sat.

"Great performance," Yasha grinned, and before Keno could sit down, I quickly switched to his other side, because no matter if there was three meters of space between the two, it still wasn't enough for me.

With my skeptical gaze on Yasha, I settled down on the forest floor between her and Keno and only took my eyes off hers when Keno lay down and placed his head on my lap.

"I like you a lot better that way," he breathed with a grin and looked up at me while I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.

Surely he was right, because without Yasha his manner would probably have been way too intrusive for me, but now I had to let it happen, didn't I?

"So, what are you doing in the woods?" Juniper then broke the silence, glancing between me and Keno intently.

"My aunt was kidnapped," I explained, glancing down at Keno, who had now closed his eyes and was just listening to us in silence.

I gently stroked his thick black hair and enjoyed the feeling of his closeness, until unfortunately Juniper continued to dig deeper.

"Finally Tante?"

"Yes, my aunt," I replied, irritated by all this curiosity, narrowing my eyes at her. "She was kidnapped by vampires. At least that's what we think, if you want to know for sure!"

"Of vampires?" Yasha interjected, to my regret, but I ignored her and kept my eyes on Junipers, who then repeated Yasha's question.

"By vampires? Well, I mean, that's very unusual," the blonde mused aloud, somehow not seeming to figure it out.

"What's unusual about that?" I wanted to know and got more and more nervous because I was afraid that she was about to smack me in the head, that Gloria was probably already dead.

"Vampires don't actually kidnap wolves!" Yasha burst out boldly, and I immediately glared at her.

"She's not a wolf, she's a human!"

"Ihhhhgit," Yasha cursed in disgust and suddenly got up from the forest floor so frantically that even Keno winced slightly and opened his eyes again. "I knew right away that there was something funny about you! You're not a wolf like us! You're far too human!"

I looked at Yasha in disbelief and Keno got off my lap to sit close to me and watch the Fury stomping back and forth in anger.

"My God, Yasha. Calm down!" Juniper tried to persuade her sister, but she shook her head, pointing at me and then put her hands on her hips.

"Are you kidding me?! You want me to calm down?! She grew up around humans and takes the right to claim my mate-"

"He's my companion!" I got louder again and wanted to get up, but Keno grabbed my arm so that I glanced over at him.

"Never mind," he whispered, barely audible, but Yasha seemed to have heard.

"Keno! Get up!" she suddenly yelled, but Keno just growled at her, squeezing my hand so hard he even hurt me slightly.

"How dare you speak to me in that tone?!" he asked her in a menacing voice and although I should have been afraid of what he might do to her, I was just absolutely proud of my little wolf, so I started to grin.

"How dare I?! She hit you and you don't say anything?"

"She's been through enough because of me!" Keno explained louder and got up next to me to position himself directly in front of Yasha, who you could tell immediately that her wolf only dared to yelp and submit.

Her lips were trembling and her eyes were full of panic now that she had provoked the big alpha.

"Besides, Aria is only in this situation because of me, because I acted an idiot against her will! So yeah, she has every right in the world to smack me if I go too far! But you don't get to raise your voice! "

"I'm your mate too and whether you fight back or not, I know your wolf is crazy about me! That he wants me!"

"You're wrong!" Keno growled loudly, but she grabbed his hand and I watched in high tension as he seemed to calm down immediately just from that little touch...

"You see!" Yasha said triumphantly, but Keno just snatched his hand from her, speechless, and ran towards me again to sit down right next to me.

He didn't say anything more and just looked at the floor, stressed. I didn't have anything more to say either, because I was kind of speechless at how easily his wolf was outwitted by her.

Yasha wasn't going to give up, that was clearer to me after this scene than before and Keno would surely give way at some point. Whether he wanted it or not. Also, I didn't want him to feel compelled by his mistakes to choose me out of guilt alone.

I wanted him to do it because he was falling in love with me... Because he would miss me when I was gone. No duties, just real, true love.

And what better way to prove he only wanted me than for me to disappear and leave him alone with her.

If he came after me with no regard for her, he would really love and deserve me...

If he doesn't come, I wouldn't need him anyway...

So I just waited impatiently for everyone to sleep and made my own decisions.