※ Chapter 39 ※

Meihua's POV »☆●

Underneath the drizzling veil of rain, his towering figure stands resolute and tall. And somehow, it's evident that he's the source of this intoxicating feeling.

But he's turned away, his back on me. The iron plate on his back catches the glint in the sky everytime the lightening strikes, molding to the shape of his broad shoulders. From those formidable shoulders cascades a long dark cloak, swaying in rhythm with the wind, as if it's alive and absorbing the shadows of the night. His cloak must be sleek and heavy from the rain, but his posture remains firm, exuding a commanding presence that fills the air around me.

I frown, trying to discern the contours of his back that looks like a shield - strong and impenetrable. It triggers an odd sense of familiarity within me. Is it someone I know? I sift through memories, but it eludes me, slipping through the cracks of my consciousness. Perhaps, because I can barely see him, as he's standing in such a distance.

Despite the lack of clarity, this aching sense of familiarity sparks a profound curiousity within me. I'm intrigued, more than I've ever been, to know who this magnetic man is.

I rise from beneath the tree, my feet moving towards him without my permission, as if guided by an otherworldly force. Something strong and unexplainable compels me forward, drawing me closer to him. I can't stop it, and I don't try to. Because the closer I get to him, the less empty I feel from inside. The hollow void within me begins to fill with something inexplicable, something that makes my heart race and my skin tingle. I don't know what it is, or where it's coming from. But I love it. I love it so darn much. Enough to not care where my feet are leading me, or what happens next.

I finally reach him, standing just behind him. My hand lifts involuntarily to tap on his shoulder, feeling the rough texture of his cloak beneath my fingertips.

"Turn around..." I murmur, the words spilling out of me before I can even comprehend them, "...please?" I whisper, my words almost drowned out by my own heavy breathing as I struggle to catch my breath.

The desperate, pleading tone in my voice surprises even me. It's a bold request, an uncontrolled confession, laced with a hint of fear and a whole lot of hope. I hadn't planned to say it, in fact, I didn't know what to say. The powerful yearning and eagerness got the better of me. I only desire to see the face of this stranger who seems to hold a magnetic control over me, who seems to pull me towards him through some magical thread. I'd beg if needed. Never before have I ever felt such a visceral desire to see someone. I'm willing to do anything to have him turn around, have him reveal his face to me.

The heavy downpour obstructs my vision, making him look blurry. I blink a few times to clear my view. But when I do, my eyes widen in shock.

The man who stood before me just a moment ago, is gone. Vanished. The courtyard, once filled with a magnetic presence, is empty once again. I look around a few times, searching for any signs of him, but it's as if he never existed.

Disbelief, disappointment, and a pang of pain surge through me. I know I wasn't hallucinating; it felt too real. Yet, there's no denying that he vanished into thin air, leaving me with a myriad of unanswered questions. As I try to make sense of what just happened, the emptiness returns, the void deeper than before. The rain continues to pour down on me, soaking my skin and seeping into my bones as I stand alone in the empty courtyard, grappling with the echoes of a presence that faded away like a wisp of mist.

Who was he?

●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●

Yifan's POV »☆●

Storm in the sky, thunder echoing in the darkness, flashes of lightening cracking the swirling mass, raindrops falling like relentless drumbeats.

And under the shroud of this obscurity, I navigate through the banquet grounds. The night wraps around me like a shroud as my body seamlessly melds with the shadows. I move silently and carefully, masking my scent and movement. It's very likely that those fucking mutts are here. They'll be alarmed if they detect my presence. I haven't announced my arrival to Gaius, and Seungri doesn't know about my transformation yet.

The stench of the royals, nobles and highborn elitists, the disgusting mingling of their luxurious perfumes and privileges, hangs heavy in the air, sharply contrasting with the primal urgency surging through my veins tonight. My mission here is clear and singular - finding her, the elusive fixation that's clawing at my senses and damn near becoming my obsession.

And find her I did - in this grand banquet. I finally caught a whiff of that very familiar scent wafting in the air again. Her scent.

Most alluring, enchanting and damn near intoxicating.

It cuts through the night, reaching into the recess of my senses and awakening something inside me, something I don't wanna indulge myself in. But if there's one thing all these fucking months of pursuing tells me, it's that I've begin to crave it, need it. It's inevitable and I can't fucking resist it.

I follow her scent, like a trail leading me to her. My senses heighten with each step as I walk through the winding paths of the banquet grounds. Her scent also grows stronger, confirming me I'm on right track.

As I draw near the courtyard, the scent reaches its zenith, guiding me unerringly to a vast courtyard. And there she is - beneath the peach blossom tree. Rain-soaked and vulnerable, yet oddly enticing.

She smells like a bouquet of flowers in a lone garden, and right now, that's what she looks like as well. A magnetic force urges me to get closer. A lot, lot more closer. The last few months have been a relentless hunt, and now she's here, just within my reach.

But she's huddled, head bowed and face concealed within the veil of rain-soaked hair. From distance, all I can discern is her narrow shoulders trembling subtly and hands tightly gripping onto her knees. The soft rise and fall of her back, accompanied by her occasional deep breath, leaves me with only one possible explanation - she's crying. Silently sobbing in the vast courtyard. Alone. All by herself.

All of a sudden, I feel like someone just punched me in the fucking gut. A surge of unfamiliar rage coils beneath my skin. Who the fuck made her cry? I want nothing more than to hunt down the fucking bastard who made her cry like this and unleash hell on them. I clench my fists, making my knuckles turn white as the turmoil within threatens to spill over. The world fades away, leaving only her and this infuriating feeling that threatens to consume me.

Then, the realization hits me like a sudden jolt. I pull myself back from the edge, startled by the intensity of my own thoughts. What the fuck is wrong with me? I've never felt something so...

Powerful.

Hell, I thought I had already gone through all kinds of strange sensations since I transformed. But this...is something I never fucking imagined. It's as if a dormant beast within unleashed, rattling the cage I've meticulously built around myself over time. And that's all because of this stranger crying in front of me?

For the first time, I find myself at the mercy of emotions I never thought I could possess. For the first time, things are not going according to my plans. It's fucking me up. This girl has stirred something terrifying within me, something that defies my calculated control. It's challenging the literal core of my existence. I feel weak, and I can't afford to feel weak. Not with the life I lead.

The raindrops hit the shoulders of my cloak like tiny drumbeats, blending with the rhythm of my thoughts. I stand in the distant, unable to take my eyes off of the enigmatic girl whose tears make me weak to my fucking knees. I wanna approach her, comfort her. I wanna vanquish all that causes her pain and make sure she's okay. The temptation to get close is overpowering, but I fight against it. Damn it, resisting bloodlust is easier than resisting her.

My eyes are itching to see her face, but it's buried in her knees, teasingly out of reach. An insatiable curiousity compels me to have a glimpse of her eyes again, impossible as it is in the moment.

So I assess her from the only angle I got, drinking in every detail within my view. Her long silken hair, drenched in rain, is dangling down and veiling her face. In those loose dark strands plastered to her skin, the raindrops sit like pearls, adding a glistening spark that makes her even more captivating. My fingers itch to reach out and run through it, to feel the damp strands beneath my fingertips.

The bedazzled hanfu adorns her body, draping over her perfectly and accentuating the curve of her back. From the outline, I'm sure she's wearing a Royal Qixiong Ruqun. The Qun, wreathed with gemstones, glimmers in the rain like real diamonds. Given her status, I won't be surprised if they're indeed real. The Ru is transparent, subtly exposed in the back. My gaze lingers on her back longer than necessary, even I realize that. Despite the distance, I notice a trace of goosebumps rising wherever my gaze lands on her skin.

I like that.

It feels good to know that I'm the cause of those shivers, that I've got her reacting to my presence like this, even in anonymity. Her response is oddly attractive, more thrilling and satisfying than a successful hunt. It draws me like a damn magnet. Hell, I can stand here all night and soak in this ethereal view, relishing the impact I have on her.

Tempted to take a closer look, I take a calculated step forward, knowing well that she won't spot me anyway. I never got to see her properly. But everytime I got close to her, I sensed that she emits an aura that's bound to get attention. The kind that makes heads turn in a crowded room. No wonder King Wu was so fucking protective of her.

Suddenly, she jolts upright and freezes, as if in awareness of something. Did she sense me? Impossible. I've never messed up in masking my presence. Nobody sensed me when I got in here, so there's no way she sensed me.

As if to answer my question, she turns her head in my direction.

Fuck...

I immediately turn away with my back on her, not knowing what else to do. Maybe it's just her paranoid reflex? Prince Karry's assassins are everywhere. She should be paranoid. But she's looking over at the exact spot I'm standing. The precision is eerie.

With my back turned, I close my eyes and contemplate all the possibilities, when I hear the unmistakable sound of xiuhua shoes slapping against the gravel.

She's approaching me.

The steady rhythm of footsteps echo on the rain-soaked ground, drawing closer and closer. The stillness of the courtyard amplifies it even more. And it's headed straight towards me. She's definitely approaching me.

With each approaching step, her scent grows more potent, filling the emptiness of the vast courtyard...and some void within me, a void I didn't realize existed until this very moment. Tension tightens inside my chest. Curiosity wrestles with denial within my swirling thoughts. Could it be...

No.

It's not my heart.

Fuck it, what's wrong with me? Why'd I even fucking consider that? It's obviously not my heart.

Before I know, she stands right behind me. Her scent wraps around me like wisp of smoke. I can almost taste it on my tongue like a forbidden, bittersweet treat. It's clouding my judgement, threatening the carefully constructed control I pride myself on. That's probably why it takes me so fucking long to realize I shouldn't still be standing here. I should leave. Every fiber of my being screams to retreat. But for some godforsaken reason, I fucking can't. I can't bring my damned body to move. Against logic, against all rationality, I stand firm, anchored by an inexplicable entanglement that holds me in place.

She reaches out and rests her hand on my shoulder, startling the hell outta me.

How the fuck can she see me? Touch me? How did I mess up so fucking bad?

The soft texture of her fingers brushes against the fabric of my cloak. It's surprisingly delicate, like being touched by a feather. Every nerve in my body tingles, not from the cold rain but from the warmth of her touch. Normally, warmth feels painful. But her touch is like an all-consuming wildfire that sets my mind and soul ablaze. It makes me feel more drawn to her, like a moth drawn to a dangerous yet beautiful flame. As if her touch is a gentle caress from the heavens mom used to talk about - a reminder that even in this treacherous world, there's something pure and beautiful.

"Turn around..."

As soon as she mutters those words, the whole world slows to a stop. Everything else fades away - the courtyard, the rain, the chaos in my head. All that remains is the echo of her voice in my mind, like the gentlest song.

Goddamn it, her voice is the sweetest thing I've ever heard. Like a siren's call, it rings in my ears in a continuous loop: Turn around..turn around.. turn around... Hell, if she asks for something with that damn voice, the whole world and time itself will feel obliged to give her that.

"...please?" she says again, very carefully. Her tone is hesitant, yet overwhelmingly eager. The fragility of her soft plea tugs something within me, within the depth of my being. Her lingering fingertips on my shoulder is pure torture and bliss. At this moment, nothing else exists, nothing else matters; except her request, and my unbearable urge to grant it, to give in...to turn around.

I disappear, quickly engulfing myself into the shadows and hiding from her view before I allow myself to take any wrong decision. The scent of peach blossoms slowly dissipates and a million questions swirl in my mind. Most of all, how the fuck did my masking fail on her? It worked on Gaius, it worked on the oh-so-mighty Alpha and his pack members, but it didn't work on a goddamn princess? Unbelievable. I need to get to the bottom of this, figure out everything about her. Every freaking thing. But now is not the time for that. I'm frustrated, hungry and dangerously close to losing control and messing this shit up.

Bounding through the air, I plunge into the heart of my sanctuary - the woods. Without any sound, I leap and sail through the denseness. The moon's glow filters through the foliage, casting a pale light on the damp ground and fallen leaves as I run through the trees, fueled by an inhuman hunger. I haven't fed all day and being near her has only left me more restless and agitated than before. I need to take out the pent-up frustration somehow. A brutal hunt usually does the trick for me.

To be continued »☆●