LANCE RAN as fast as he could. With a deep wound on his leg, he knew he wouldn't go that far. Still, he tried to lure out the men chasing after Pen and Joaquin into following his scent.

'This is dangerous.'


He couldn't find Irlan. And now, Joaquin and Pen was out of his sight.

Lance fought with the indecisiveness in his heart. He wants to turn back and chase after the two. He needs to make sure that they will survive. He ought to take each pain so Joaquin could not feel them.

He's a guardian after all.


Adarmus saved him only to die relentlessly for Joaquin.

So why does he feel like this?


Lance fell. He scurried back onto his feet and endured the excruciating ache in his leg.

'Why am I crying?'

Lance sobbed as he dragged himself to nowhere. 'Why do I regret not seeing Samael for the last time?'

A huge wolf lunged to his back and clawed his chest. Lance cried pitifully as he tried to push himself up. He fell once again to the ground.

He already used up all of Adarmus' power left in him. He couldn't even do a partial shift. Lance thoroughly recognized the impaired part of his soul; he had no magic of his own. He's only a vessel, and right at this moment, he had no source of power.

"Aaaah!" Lance wailed was he was bitten consecutively at random places. Each clamp hurts more than the last. He hates it. "P... please, just kill me."

'Please end me quickly. Don't make me hurt more. Just kill me already. I beg you.'

A mournful howl made Lance blink twice. The heavy wolf on his back was torn away by a man— a man on his partial shift. His claws were extended and his fangs shows.

He seemed taller than life.

"Lance, what the hell?" he growled, "You could have told me! I could have..."

Lance laughed. He used the last bit of his strength to thank him. "Thank... you for coming. Now I can rest peacefully... I've seen your face before going away."

Samael didn't respond. He squatted in front of Lance and took him in his arms. "You still have that quality in you, hmn? You're on the brink of death but instead of searching for help, you're begging for it to finish quickly."

"Lance, does your life mean anything to you?"

He closed his eyes and refused to answer. Lance was more than happy to see him. He had once convinced himself that he doesn't need anything else before dying. He's clearly wrong.

"I've always known that there's something wrong in you. Now I know I'm right. You may have some loose screws in the head."

Lance felt his hand shook. He felt bad that Samael has to witness him in this state. The sight will haunt him.

Lance realized that without Adarmus' magic, he's nothing. He couldn't even protect Joaquin without a source of energy.

He's not a real guardian, but a pretender.

The realization was cold, but Samael's warm body comforted Lance.

"I was confused, Samael." He opened up. "I've always known that my life is technically not mine anymore. It was Adarmus' lending it to me. Repeatedly. So he could protect his son through me."

"When I knew that we're fate mated, I didn't know what to feel. Does this mean that I was supposed to live my own life too? That I'm not just a mere vessel. I am entitled to love, which means I am entitled to live by my own decision."

"It's not like I hate protecting Joaquin. It has become a part of me. My seventh sense is to serve him for life. But Joaquin was going to start his own family. What am I going to do next?"

"Why don't you stay with me instead?" Samael tightened his hands on him. "You don't have to be romantically involved with me, Lance. I just want you to have a place when you have nowhere else to go. I hate seeing you dejected like this."

"Ever since Penelope came, I feel like I've lost my purpose. I don't think ill of her, Samael. Don't misunderstand, please. I just think that since she's there, then Joaquin doesn't need a guardian anymore."

"Maybe he doesn't need a guardian but a friend." Samael smiled. "Have you ever once genuinely thought that Joaquin is your friend and not just your boss?"

"It seems like Joaquin treats you like a friend. You don't act like a servant in front of him. You two are extremely close. You should stop calling yourself something that doesn't fit."

Lance appreciated his words. He reached for his face and asked, "I have to sleep for a very long time. Samael, are you going to be there when I wake up?"

Samael sighed deeply. "Are you really going to 'wake' up?"

Lance chuckled. He couldn't feel anything at the moment. "I just have to fix my body. The rate of regeneration that this body can handle is tad too little compared to all of shifter species can do. I don't have a source of magic to heal myself. Looks like Adarmus wouldn't come too. I just have to sleep... maybe for a few months or even a year. It will take a lot of time."

"I guess you'll be my sleeping prince from now on." Samael nodded eagerly. "Wake up soon. I have to see you safe and sound."

Samael did something to mask his smell. No one tried to attack them in their way. He didn't know where is he going to take him but Lance let him take the lead.

He needed a long rest.

Lance can feel a bottomless source of power far from him. Adarmus doesn't make even half of his energy. Lance tried to think to whom does this aura belongs to but he couldn't remember.

The important thing is, the owner of that energy doesn't seem to be a foe.