“Oh! Wait, Hailey,” I shouted, not able to process anything Hailey said as she dragged me behind her, “I might twist my- Ah!” 

Hailey was tugged back by me while I was yanked ahead by her. She turned to see with an irritated expression. She looked at me sitting on one of my legs under me while the other stretched ahead on the stairs. Hailey was too fast. I was bound to lose a step or two and here I was now sitting in the middle of the stairs with a knee I was sure would go black and blue. “What are you, a five-year-old who doesn’t even know how to climb downstairs?” Hailey snapped at me. 

“It was your fault,” I spoke with obvious irritation. My hand stretched to the railing as I pulled myself up, whimpering a little as my leg was in an awkward position. 

Hailey rolled her eyes, “Cut it, Selene, I wouldn’t even pity you if half of your body was cut off.” 

“Sure you would love me dead,” I scrunched my nose with the pain. 

“Come on Selene,” Hailey raised and dropped her hands to her side, “you heal too fast. I am sure that would be a no big deal for you.” 

“I don’t regenerate you idiot,” I shouted at Hailey. Yeah, injuries meant very little to me but that did not mean I could resurrect from a single cell. Even healing this small bruise used some of my blood and despite the fact that I could actually speed my blood production, it was a big no to keep healing myself. 

Hailey smirked, “you will definitely patch yourself again if I cut you in half and then kept the two parts attached.” 

For a moment, even I thought about it. “Maybe,” I mumbled with something wild cooking in my brain. Hailey really had a dark mind but that somehow actually was smart as well. 

“Let’s try it,” Hailey grinned at me. 

“Um, I think your soulmate might leave,” I said with an awkward laugh. Giving Hailey even a slight opening would mean the death of me. I ran down the stairs, going around her. At first, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to accompany Hailey to seek out her soulmate. To begin with, why did she even come for me to find her soulmate? But right now, I was more curious to see who was that unlucky guy. 

Hailey followed me to the grand lobby of the inn we were staying at and even the marble beneath my feet reflected my silhouette. 

I looked at Hailey to show the directions as she was the only person who could smell her soulmate and she walked fast through the door on the other need, which led to an attached restaurant. “Just out of curiosity, what is his scent?” I asked with a little huff in my voice. 

“Blood mixed with first rain… and also antique wood furniture,” replied Hailey.

My lips pursed into a thin line, “Are you sure you aren’t smelling some bleeding carpenter?” Though I was not surprised that her soulmate smelled like blood. But it seemed she liked the smell of blood in a special setting. To be extremely specific, the first rain. Hailey did not pay any attention to me as she looked around the tables that were now visible to us. I looked around and it was definitely tough to spot one among this buzzing. “Why did you bring me with you again?” I asked, not sure how I could help. 

“I don’t know,” Hailey replied before she walked ahead starting from the table on the left. 

My face wrinkled in confusion. What did ‘I don’t know’ mean? I walked to stand by her side as she creepily eyed the men at the table and for that matter even the women. “Maybe, you should use your nose more than your eyes,” I warned her before pushing her away from the table and smiling at the people sitting there, “Sorry, she does this sometimes.” They gave us weird looks before going back to their conversation. 

By the time I got away from them, Hailey was already doing the same to another table. 

“Hailey!” I whisper shouted and grabbed her away, “just walk by you’ll feel the scent growing strong.” 

She sighed, “This entire restaurant is made of woody furniture and it is really messing with my senses.” I looked around and it truly was. I wasn’t able to smell it because of the smell of food in the environment and my hungry stomach. 

“Okay then, let’s focus on the first rain smell,” I reasoned with Hailey. 

She rolled her eyes and pointed to the window on the other end of the restaurant. It was raining! “Now, if I focus on the smell of blood, I can actually smell everyone’s blood in this room.” She explained before walking to a table and taking a seat. I followed her and sat opposite her. She pulled out a wrapped candy from her jeans and tore it open before putting it in her mouth and chewing on it with a loud crunch. “That’s okay,…” she continued to mumble something. 

“Sorry, what?” I asked. 

“What!” I heard Fang’s voice behind me and I jumped up in my seat. He pushed me inside to have a seat beside me at the table. His black hair was still wet and dripping water while he carried the towel with him here. “I know your clan is matriarchal but that doesn’t mean you run away from your soulmate,” Fang’s words were a subtle taunt towards me. I refused to even look at him or give him any reaction. 

“Hailey, do you really not want a soulmate in your life?” I asked. 

She looked at me and then at Fang with hooded eyes while chewing on the candy. Her eyes traveled back to me as she shrugged, “I don’t want someone stupid who is a saint. Soulmates are supposed to be your exact opposites and knowing myself the last I want is being paired with some priest.” 

“That is a ridiculous assumption,” I scrunched my nose, “for what we know, Fang is evil, but I look like a saint to you?” 

Fang’s lips pulled up in a sinful smile as he put his hand around my shoulder and pulled me close. Our foreheads met with the water droplets from his wet flowing down my forehead. “No, you aren’t. But you are still too innocent,” his lips twisted, “that is why I like y-“

“To conclude,” I looked at Hailey, pulling away from Fang, “don’t worry about something so trivial. You can always have a healthy conversation and choose different paths in life.” 

With a taunting smile, I turned to Fang, whose arm was still resting around my shoulder casually. 

Fang hummed with an obsessed smile, “always ready to fight.”

“Move,” I pushed him away from me, “Why are you even here in this state?” I pointed at his hair. He brought the towel up to ruffle it through his black locks. 

“You were hurt,” he said with one finger up in the air and then he curled open the second finger, “you did not heal after that. And third, because I did not want the same things repeating. You are extremely handful, little one.” He smirked at me as I gasped, a little offended by his claim. He chuckled before throwing the wet towel at my face before I could speak anything, “Don’t worry, I like to take care of my woman, so a spoiled idiot brat is fine for me.” 

I pulled the towel down from over my face, “haha, very funny.” 

Fang snickered as he got up from his seat, “I also have to meet Bane as he had been here for a long time.” As far as I remembered, Bane was the sharp eyes Beta of Waterwoods. Fang had mentioned his name yesterday when he was talking about clothe selection. I wonder where he had been if he accompanied Fang to Greenlands. As if hearing what went through my head Fang instantly replied, “I also have minister duties outside Waterwoods, he was just getting those things done.” 

Hailey got up to give Fang a scrutinizing look, “stop reading and answering other’s minds. It is creepy and irritating.” 

I looked at the sudden turn of events with Hailey speaking up for me. 

I smiled at her and she did not even bother changing her bored expression by a single moment. She was really a different person today. Whatever I had known of Hailey, she definitely was someone who was more intrusive with her thoughts of fight. But today she was deep in thought even though she tried to hide it. “You guys go meet this Bane person, I will join you at the the lobby in a minute,” she said before walking away. 

Fang put his arm around me shoulder and pulled me with him to head to the lobby.

My mind was wandering around Hailey as she thoughtfully strolled around the tables. When I was turning to look back at Fang I saw a familiar face, “oh, there he is.” 

Fang stopped and followed my gaze. “Bane!” He shouted loud enough for Bane to hear. 

Bane’s sharp eyes turned to us as he approached us. “Alpha, the work has been done,” he informed while his eyes traveled every to slightly to see Fang and his arm around my shoulder. But this time I did not do anything. If I had to be on good terms with Fang, atleast worth a friendship, then I had to accept these small things that did not have any double meaning to it.

“Good,” Fang replied when Bane was suddenly jerked to turn around. 

My eyes went wide at the sudden moment before I saw Hailey behind him as she squinted her eyes at him and then looked at me, “I think it’s probably this guy.”