Chapter 58 Promise

Chapter 58 Promise

Darkness shrouded the orchard like a blanket. Her anxiety rose. She was sure that she had lost her way. Everywhere she turned, she saw dark delineations of apple trees. She ran her fingers through her hair again and again as if that would keep the anxiety at bay. All the trees, all the paths that cut each other looked so much alike that she couldn't tract her own direction. On the boundary of the orchard were tall oak trees. The moon's rays pooled over the ground through small gaps of overhead canopies. She felt like she was trapped in a maze. Getting out of here was impossible for she had traveled a long way. She clenched her fists as her lips quivered.

What felt like an eternity, she found that she was only going round and round in circles. Cold crept in as the moon rose higher in the sky. Her feet were chilled as the air and the ground became cold. Tired and hungry, she decided that she would never venture out alone in the palatial ground, unescorted again. This wasn't the monastery, which was smaller and where she knew her way around, every nook and cranny. An occasional caw or a grunt made her jump.

She was scared that the moment the king found out she left, he would scold her harshly. Tania raked her hair once more, helplessly. She walked aimlessly for a few more minutes and then got so exhausted that she trudged to the nearest oak and leaned against its trunk. She slid to the ground and curled her knees up. She curved her hands around and rested her head over them. She was sure of one thing—there wouldn't be wild beasts in this well-maintained orchard. Tired as hell, she closed her eyes when all of a sudden, she heard a low, menacing growl.

Her heart leapt out of her chest when she found herself face to face with a massive wolf with eather pulsating out his eyes. She stifled a scream when the wolf growled, peeling his lips back to bare his jaws. The wolf came to stand next to her, towering her. It was huge. Perhaps taller than her and blended with the night as if it was made out of it. His midnight blue fur rippled as a soft breeze blew. Tania shrank and scrambled back, closing her eyes tightly. Eltanin.

"Tania," a low baritone voice came. "Tania."

Her eyes snapped open and to her utter disbelief, she saw Eltanin crouching in front of her. Tania jumped at him and curled her shivering arms around his neck as relief surged through her. "Oh, thank God!" she rasped.

He wrapped his arms around her and stayed there until she stopped shivering. When she opened her eyes and stared into his eyes, she said, "I want to go back!" They got up together and she realized that he was only in his breeches. She jumped away.

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Eltanin had gone into panic mode when he returned and saw that Tania wasn't in the room. He was extremely angered that she had gone despite his strict instructions. He followed her smell all the way to the orchards. The palace orchards were huge. She could have easily gotten lost in them unless she knew her way out. What if any wolf found her? What if he was forcing her? She was a delicate girl who couldn't counter any attack on her. He was so anxious that his wolf wanted an out, so he let it free. The moment he let it free, his wolf picked up the scent of the mate and growled. Night had fallen and with his enhanced vision, he located her after an hour of running. She was sitting beneath an oak tree with her knees curled up and shivering because of the cold.

As soon as she saw him, she shrank with fear and closed her eyes. His heart squeezed and he shifted to his human form. "Tania!"

She threw herself on him and he caught her in his arms immediately. All his anger and panic vanished the moment she was in his arms. He smelled her hair, her scent and calmed down. "I want to go back," she rasped in his arms. He picked her up with one arm around her waist and the other on her hip.

And right now, the wolf got an opportunity to negotiate something very important.

"Sure, but you have to promise me something if I take you back," the wolf said with an air of importance as he hugged her tightly. Her face was merely a few inches away from his. She had curled her arms around his neck.

"What?" she croaked. Tania was ready to promise anything at this point of time.

"You have to give me five kisses every day from now onwards."

Her mouth dropped to the floor. "Wh—what? This is preposterous!"

He shrugged as he started carrying her all the way back to the palace. "You have to promise me that you will give me five kisses every day, out of which—"

Her eyes became wide like that of an owl in anticipation. But she was feeling better now that his body heat surrounded her. Her limbs had started thawing. "Out of which?"

"Out of those five, you have to give one kiss on my lips," he finished.

Tania was dumbfounded. After a long moment of silence in which she stared and glared at him, contemplated and conjectured at his proposition, all the while in his arms, a ragged breath left her. She looked behind him and realized how dark it was. The moonlight fell on his hair, shrouding him like a halo. She could feel his fingers digging in the flesh of her hips. Heat pooled in her belly and she clenched her thighs a little.

Eltanin's nostrils flared as he smelled her arousal. And his cock became painfully stiff.

"Your swelling—"

"I am not hurt. That is my manhood," he growled, cutting her off. "What about my promise?"

Flushing, she dragged her teeth on her bottom lip, lowered her eyes and nodded. She had heard too many tales of manhood from the head cook at the monastery, but that was the location? And suddenly she realized what a big mistake she did when she— Her blush deepened. "Okay," she said as a compensation.

A smile curved his lips up. "Then you better start kissing me now." When she frowned, he said, "The promise starts now. You have to give me kisses for the day."

Tania blushed like a thousand suns. "What about—"

"No questions," he growled. "Only kisses." Eltanin couldn't feel better in his life. His mate was in his arms and she was about to kiss him.

Tania leaned forward and, in a hurry, placed a peck on his chin. Then she placed the remaining four once again on his chin. And as she did that, she felt as if her skin was going to be on fire.

"That's cheating, Tania!" he said, as he slanted her against his body so that she was in a more comfortable position. "And since you kissed me on the chin only, it would be counted as one kiss."

"No!" she protested.

He shook his head. "You have to start all over again and now as a penalty, you have to kiss me twice as much."