I tapped my foot as I sat in one corner of the couch. In the past few minutes, people have mostly steered clear of me, mostly because of the aura I was exuding. I had given more glare in the past fifteen minutes than the number of times I had smiled in my life. 

“If you want to remove that energy somewhere-” I heard Bane’s voice but my glare immediately cut him short. 

I gawked at him with a gaze that an owl would cast on a rat in the night. 

He did not flinch or repel but his eyes did go wide. Bane stood by the side before he extended his other hand in front of me, “here, the mildest drink they had was this wine though I am not sure whether it will suit your taste.” I looked at the glass containing red liquid and then back at him. Unlike others, he did not fear me but then again he knew me. Moreover, who was he to be scared of? I doubt a person who loves the smell of blood had little fear in his pockets. 

I took the wineglass from him with a sigh. Maybe this drink would bring my mood down.

The wine did not smell good. It had a tingy yet rancid lingering smell to it. This was probably a bad idea. I still closed my eyes and took a sip. My nose immediately crinkled, “uff, this is bitter.” 

“It’d an aged wine,” Bane informed, “though it is sure to leave a good aftertaste.” 

My face was still in that disgusted state as I kept the glass of wine on the table. “Maybe champagne would have been a good choice,” I remarked. But right then, the taste hit my tongue. The sweet and extremely light sour flavor. A little taste of berry followed and it suddenly felt nice.

Bane hummed, “people usually develop a taste for wine over time.” 

I picked the glass back up, ignoring what he said and took another sip with a scrunched face, “so I will have to enjoy this slowly it seems.” 

“Yes, that is the trick to taste a good wine,” Bane replied. 

I nodded while my lower lip sucked the upper lip in. “Thank you Bane,” I said to him with a tight-lipped smile. He gave a low bow. Oh, what was I even expecting from him? Maybe I should try and be a little more friendly. I looked at the sofa that was empty beside me. I patted the seat a little away from me, “have a seat.” 

Bane shook his head, “I’m good.” 

That was quite what I had expected. I sighed and then stood up. He looked at me with a questioning look. “What?” I asked, “if you won’t sit, I can always stand with you.” 

“Please be comfortable,” Bane was about to continue when I clicked my tongue. 

“Bane, get over it, we aren’t in Waterwoods anymore,” I took another sip from the wine, this time trying not to make the face but the more I held back the faster it happened. I lifted the wineglass to my eye level. It was sure good, but the initial torture was not really going well for me. “I don’t think I will ever be a wine person,” I remarked as I kept the glass back on the table. 

Bane had a faint smile on his face, “I think you will be one. If you want, we can bet on it.” 

I Iaughed at his proportion, “what do you want to bet? No, wait. I agree, but it will be a conditional bet, only for this wine.” I pointed at the glass on the table. 

Bane shook his head, “that is quite an unfair bet.” 

I hummed, “I’m sure you are used to unfairness. Fang is unfair half of the times.” That man had a record of asking for unfair prices to be paid. I barely think he doesn’t do that to others. 

“Alpha is one of the fairest people I have seen with his judgement,” Bane replied, “though he had a knack for getting things in return from a few people. Usually, most of them are who he doesn’t like or wish to take away something from them.” His statement immediately had me in question. Fang had asked many things from me, but that was oddly a long time ago. Was he against accepting me in the beginning because I was the princess and he had his revenge? That was also the time he actually slept with another girl, despite knowing I was his mate. I gritted as my anger simmered again. 

“Do you want to dance?” I asked Bane, as I remembered what Fang had mentioned. Like hell, I was waiting for him to come back and finish his dance. 

Bane was a little shocked, “um, I am not much of a dancer.” 

“Come on,” I ridiculed, “neither am I but both of us have nothing left to do.” That was when a waiter came by, lifting the glass of wine I had left on the table. Bane ignored me and walked ahead to get another glass of a dark pink liquid.

He came back to me and extended it to me, “this is a quite strong drink. It is also a wine, but I am sure you will love it.” 

“That is a huge claim,” I squinted my eyes at him before taking the glass from his hand. I first smelled it and surprisingly it had a sweet and sour smell to it. But it was so strong my mouth watered immediately, as if I had just bitten into something citrus. My eyes closed tight with that aroma before I finally brought the glass to my lips. I slowly tilted the glass just in case it did not numb my teeth because of the sourness.

A little sip and it was definitely sour, but the taste it brought was indescribable. I took a better sip this time and the strawberry flavor flooded my mouth. The sweet and sour making fine blend in my mouth leaving the same after taste. 

Without having received any response from me, Bane immediately asked, “is it too strong?” 

I nodded but then a smile crept up on my face, “this is amazing. Why did you not bring this to me in the beginning?” The strawberry wine was perfect in all its aspects. If this was how the wine tasted, then I was surely going to be a wine person. I took three consecutive sips, as it just wasn’t enough anymore. 

“Woah, woah,” Bane almost panicked, “drink it slowly or it will catch up to your head. It is quite strong.” 

  “Oh,” I said before I took another sip, but temptation made me drink a little more. 

Bane sighed, “you will really get me in trouble if you get drunk here.” I flashed him a toothy smile, followed by a shrug. This wine was heaven for me right now. There was a slow burn that had started to settle in the pit of my stomach, but it was the good kind. I couldn’t hold back anymore as the taste was not important for me anymore and I gulped it whole to encourage that burning sensation. Bane’s eyes went wide, “hey you ca- goddess Luna be with me. Why would you do that?” 

“It felt nice. Plus, it has a warm feeling in this cold atmosphere,” I replied. I was about to call for the waiter when it suddenly hit me. 

The dizziness and my head started floating on water. 

“Woahhhhhh,” I stumbled before I held myself up straight. “Okay, I see what you were saying. This is bad,” my brows creased as I cleared my throat. The lightheaded feeling was catching up to me but I kept myself composed. For anyone watching me, it would be recognizable that I was holding back something. 

Bane held my hand before he directed me to the sofa, “let me help. If you are fine to drink my blood-” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, but then I remembered his blood was actually an antidote. “Wait, how will your blood help me?” I asked him. Suspicion gripped me and I grabbed his wrist in a stronghold as if he was going to run away. “You are also a Warchild aren’t you?” Else, how could his blood act in someone else? 

Bane folded his eyebrows in pain, “no I’m not. My blood will not erase the high but it will at least get it to simmer down.” 

“How is that?” I squinted. 

He winced this time as my grip tightened, “I trained myself over years. Okay, this hurts.” He grabbed my wrist and twisted it smartly while pressing a pressure point. My eyes went wide in shock as I was thrown back by him. Bane corrected the wrist of his coat and the cuffs of his shirt. “You aren’t a fun drunk. It seems you get more conscious of your surroundings. If you trust me a little, I wouldn’t hurt my brother’s soulmate ” 

I still gave a hard gaze. I was about to ask him another suspicious question but something else had grabbed my attention, “how do you train your blood?” 

Bane looked at me with irritated eyes, “you train abilities, not blood. My ability is related to my blood. ” 

“How do you do it?” I asked. There was so much mystery I could solve with my abilities if he let me know. 

Since I could see through others’ inner organs, I could also try manipulating their functioning with my healing.. Moreover, there was this huge quest of keeping Fang out of my brain and this was a great opportunity right here for me.