Aselia had no clue he had figured out that bond part. But then he was adamant when she wouldn’t tell him what ailed her. Of course, he had his means to figure that out. What was she thinking that she could hide it from him, forever?

She also knew this won’t be easy. The animosity all of them held for each other was rising to a new level. Going with Xiran will mean the end of her hunter days, he would keep her close and unknowingly suffocate her in the process.

As much as she loved him and wanted to stay with him, she didn’t want to live a contained life, she wanted to be free. Besides, Aldridge will stop at nothing to hunt them down and a constant to-and-fro battle will ensue.

"Xiran, I can’t go with you. Not yet, there are a few things I need to take care of first. I will come to you of my own accord, not by force but by my own will. Have faith in me? And punish me, I am the one who brought you here and inflicted all that pain on you, others were just following orders." Aselia answered back trying to keep her voice steady while Xiran watched her with a solemn expression before countering:

"You are asking too much of me, Aselia. If you are asking for forgiveness on their part, I can’t grant you that, my whole city is at stake here. Your organization will not stop at any length to destroy what I have built and nor will my father, leaving me in between to pick up the pieces."

"Have a little faith in me? It’s my mess and I must fix it. I will not let any harm come to your city, I will never let innocent people die. Let me pave the broken bridge between you and my organization. Please." Aselia grazed her palm on his cheek, showing her affection and he closed his eyes to feel her touch.

The knock on the door finally separated the pair, leaving their hearts screaming in agony. Xiran instantly folded his wings, hiding them away from the world.

"Come in," Aselia ordered after putting a fair amount of distance between them. It was Yurian and Markius.

"He needs his dose, White Falcon." Markius notified her showing her the syringe.

"I will be giving him dosage from today onwards, hand it over." Aselia extended her hand and Markius placed the syringe with silverish liquid on it.

"You can carry out your other duties, I will be here to handle him and his sessions. Will call for you if your assistance will be needed." Aselia informed him, showing her authority, and revealing who was in charge.

"Too bad, I had planned so much fun with this one. Anyways, good luck. He is a tough one to break." Markius laughed before leaving. Once he was gone, Aselia handed the syringe to Yurian and said:

"Yuri, discard it carefully. Also, bring some food, I am starving so must be Xiran. He has to be at his full strength for our plan to work."

"On it, it’s almost morning so I will fetch some breakfast for you guys." Yurian gave Aselia and Xiran a knowing look and a cheeky smile before pocketing the syringe and dashing out.

"You are lucky to have him in your life, he is extremely smart and cares about you," Xiran added with a smile, once the boy was gone.

"He has been talking to you?" Aselia questioned while striding over and squatting beside him on the floor, giving him her full attention again.

"Yes, he understood what you didn’t." The white-haired man tilted his head at the beautiful hunter as if teasing her.

"And what was that?" Aselia feigned innocence, her mouth pouting at him.

"Your love for me, your affections for me which you tried to conceal in an attempt to escape because you didn’t deem yourself worthy of my love. You tried to find excuses to either hate me or make me hate you, am I right?" Xiran summed up his analysis of what he had gathered from her behaviour.

"Yes, and I still don’t deem myself worthy of you. It’s your tender heart that is willing to accept someone like me, I had never hoped to find love when I started my journey on this perilous path." Aselia’s voice trailed off.

"This is the last time I am letting you degrade yourself in front of me. Don’t ever do it again." He glared at her, his smile had vanished and his gaze told her he was agitated because of her answer.

"It’s not degradation, it’s my truth and you need to know it." She sighed, her shoulders slumped as if she had no energy left, indicating her exhaustion.

"Lean on me, I can’t hug you because of these bloody chains but I can give you comfort." Xiran offered, understanding what she needed.

"I promise I will get you out of these very soon, Aldridge has the key to them or I would have already gotten you out of them. I will attain it soon." She shifted a bit and placed her head on his warm chest, soothing them both.

"How will you get the keys from him?" Xiran inquired with a warmth he reserved only for her.

"I have my means, don’t worry about it,"

she chuckled with her eyebrows raised.

"You are more badass than I had inferred you to be. I am proud of you for the way you handle yourself among these men." She raised her head from his chest to peek at him and found him smiling down at her.

"You are?" Aselia inquired.

"I am," his voice was filled with warmth and love for her as if a child being praised by a mother.

"I learned to take care of myself from a very young age. There was no one to keep an eye on me, so I built this shell around myself, never allowing anyone to get closer, until you. You barged in and made a permanent residence in my heart as if you owned it." Aselia placed her hands on his face, feeling his warmth, smiling at him in return.

"I swear I wish I had found you sooner, Aselia. The situation would have been so different for us." And Aselia couldn’t help but sense sadness creeping into her heart, only if he remembered he had found her sooner.

"Xiran, how are we going to make this work? You and me with so many differences between us." She asked with reluctance, her eyes scanning his for hints on what he felt about their situation.

"We will figure it out, have faith in us," Xiran added pressing his face further in her hand, his eyes warming up.

A knock on the door had them separated again and Aselia opened it to let Yurian in with breakfast.

"So I grabbed a little bit of everything. I know you will eat it all but wasn’t sure about Xiran’s preferences in food." Yurian declared while carrying the tray in and having a smug smile plastered on his face.

"I eat everything too, thanks Yurian," Xiran reassured the young boy.

"Cereal, croissant or sandwiches?" Aselia inquired from Xiran, eyeing the food tray.

"Croissant," Xiran answered without reluctance. He was so hungry that he could eat almost anything.

Aselia picked up a croissant and after buttering it began to feed him with her hands.

Yurian grabbed a cheese and egg sandwich with a glass of orange juice and settled down in a corner to eat as well.

"This is a scene I never imagined I would ever get to watch. Partner, you feeding a man and let alone a vampire," Yurian chuckled with a twinkle in his eyes, clearly teasing her.

She turned her head and gave him a scrutinizing look, before threatening him: "If you ever mention this to someone, I will strangle you with these same hands." This made Xiran chortle out loud and Yurian raised his hands in defense.

"I would never dare," but his mischievous smile didn’t reflect his words. Once Aselia had turned her head, he took out his cell phone and quietly snapped a picture of the couple.

After breakfast was done, Yurian requested Aselia: "Get some rest and I will keep the first watch."

"No, I will stay with Xiran. You can go, I am not leaving his side." Aselia declared in her authoritative voice.

"Alright, then I will check back on you guys in a couple of hours." Yurian got up and brushed the crumbs away from his clothes before walking out and slightly shutting the door behind him.

"Aselia, you should eat something too. I drank a lot of your blood today and I am guessing you got injured as well." Xiran indicated to her left arm with his eyes and she couldn’t help but smile inward at his concerns. Even in this situation, his concern was only her.