Mated to A Rival Alpha-Chapter 39: The Heartbeats Through The Wall

[JIHOON]

"I’m sorry, what?" Jihoon asked. He wasn’t sure this was a conversation he wanted to continue and much less, not with Kim Rania. This woman was an explosive time bomb and no one knew what was ever going on in her mind. This was just one of the many proofs of that.

"Don’t play dumb, Jihoon, it doesn’t suit you. Anyway, Drarun should be a few miles away, if we saddle with the same speed we left home," Rania said as she saddled ahead of Jihoon.

She knew he was thinking of what to make of her statement, but even Rani didn’t know what she expected from Jihoon. This man was blinded by Yanna’s love to the point that everything he did, was for Yanna.

Rania wouldn’t be surprised if Jihoon tried to assassinate her when they got back to the borders of Obren with the werewolf prince. She expected it, and maybe that was why she was difficult to deal with. Because nothing scared Rania, well nothing around them at the moment anyway.

The area around the Valley of Whites was full of magic. It was too strong and the two alphas knew that if they didn’t rely on their synergy, they would yield to the magic. However, that was a part of the mission.

It was bad enough that they had been delayed for eight days. An extra day would get the king going bonkers and even coming after the two alphas himself.

"You feel it too?" Jihoon asked. The magic was getting stronger, the closer they were to the farthest end of the border. It was also a reminder that they were closing in on the vampire border. They would be done with their mission soon enough, right?

"Yeah, it’s a lot, but we have to find our way through it. We just have to pretend like we are humans and that the magic doesn’t affect us, because if we don’t, we’ll be consumed and we can’t lose any more days.

"I need to go back to Dalrae," Rania said and Jihoon just agreed. So together they saddled the last boundary of magic, even though their horses were tired from the endless strides they had made today.

Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad, but then again, no one knew what was waiting for them on the other side of the hefty magical barrier. They could only hope that when they got there, they could find what they were looking for and head back home.

"Wait," Rania said and Jihoon stopped, though he squirmed at the heat that the barrier was emitting.

"What is it this time?" Jihoon asked.

"The tonic, we have to use it now," Rania said and Jihoon looked at her like she had lost her brain cells.

"The tonic the king gave us. We are going to the world of the undead, with super hearing. The moment they realize we are not undead, they will kill us. The tonic is to make it hard for anyone to hear what our heartbeats, even us," Rania said.

"Oh shit," Jihoon said and Rania looked at the Calindra alpha. Did he do something stupid again?

"What is it this time?" Rania asked

"I used my tonic on you, I don’t have any left," Jihoon said and Rania looked at the alpha like he was stupid. What was he even thinking?

"I’m sorry, you WHAT?"

"It was either that, or you die," Jihoon said.

For the first time, Rania looked at Jihoon with soft eyes. She hadn’t expected Jihoon to sacrifice all that and save her. She had expected him to leave her and continue with the mission, but they had wired together as a team.

He had saved her, and it wasn’t because he expected something else. Granted, they had made a pact to be their own murderers, but this was something Rania had never expected anyone to do for her, and definitely not Jihoon of all the werewolves and people she had interacted with.

She wanted to thank him and tell him she truly appreciated the thought. She was happy for a second, that someone cared about her life, other than Dalrae. Oh, but if only the universe was a nice place for both of them, maybe they wouldn’t have been enemies.

Rania didn’t know what she was to do with that information.

This man had sacrificed everything for her, and the only thing she could do right now, was give him hers.

"Well that’s a bummer," Rania said while smiling at Jihoon. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

She hadn’t realized it yet, but the young alpha Kim was happy. She was glad that he hadn’t left her out there to die, he had started even when he had no reason to. He was there for her, and Rania couldn’t have been more thankful for that.

"Your smile is creeping me out more than the magic that’s burning us," Jihoon said and Rania just kept smiling brightly. And it was then that Jihoon knew that nothing good would come out of this.

Whatever was going on in this woman’s head was crazy, but before Jihoon could react, Kim Rania forced her tonic into his mouth, forcing the Calindra alpha to drink it all. The act had caught Jihoon off guard, and even his quick reflexes had delayed this time.

When he swallowed the tonic, he wasn’t sure what to do with Rania. This woman was crazy.

This woman was unhinged, but why did he feel like he didn’t want any other woman aside from her?

Was her tonic laced with a love potion or what?

Fuck.

"Relax, I haven’t poisoned you. Just like you, I hate owing people, now let’s go," Rania said as she saddled across the magical barrier, her heartbeats sounding so loud in her ears that it scared the fuck out of her.

However, she wasn’t about to tell Jihoon anyway.

The Calindra alpha was in shock for a moment there, but when he came to, he couldn’t believe what had happened. Of course, Kim Rania wouldn’t want to own him. The stupid woman preferred death over being indebted to Park Jihoon and that was crazy.

What the hell did she think of herself?

"Rania!!" Jihoon shouted as he waddled through the magical barrier after Rania.

They didn’t have much luggage at this point, not that they would even need it anyway. They were at their destination and probably on their way to the impossible, all thanks to Kim Rania and her stupid decision to save his life.

What the fuck had even become of them?

Jihoon was tempted to lean into the little traces of affection he thought Rania was showing him, but he couldn’t. If he did, it would mean that he was accepting that Rania was changing, but was she?

Just because she had been kind to him a few times didn’t mean that she was willing to change their entity and make it into something else, right? The woman had to be the most unpredictable angry werewolf ever.

"Hurry up, you slowpoke!" Rania said as she waited for Jihoon.

She knew she still had some time before the vampires realized that she was a werewolf alpha. And much less, the Kim Rania of Incayon.

Her reputation had preceded her, but as usual, Kim Rania didn’t give two shits about it.

"I still have at most two days before they start hearing my heartbeats, now will you fucking hurry," Rania said like she was talking about the weather.