Hi, guys~

NEWS TIME! As you know the poll for the next project finished a while ago, but now I"m ready to make an announcement. Looking at the poll here and on Patreon, I"ve decided that the next project will be Tengu-sama and The Eternal Vow. On the other hand Winning the Bid on the Slave Bride has been marked as a 150$ Patreon goal for a side-project.

That would be the news, enjoy the chapter~

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A little bit before dawn, he suddenly woke up.

Because the shutter of the window was open, rays of light from the moon that was about to sink shined in from the opening of the canopy curtains.

Arthur gazed at the peaceful sleeping face that shone under the moonlight of the 15th day of the moon cycle.

It was the beautiful face of the one who had fallen asleep in his arms as if losing consciousness after they had embraced each other on the bed multiple times without running dry last night.

Silky black hair. A small oval shaped face you could take in the palms of your hands. There was not a single blemish or slight defect on that white skin that was like freshly squeezed goat milk.

The obsidian pupils were currently covered by the eyelids. The eyelashes that fringed those eyelids were long and as thin as the finest quality silk. A delicate nose bridge and thin lips tinged with red.

The first time Arthur had seen Takahito he had been surprised by that beauty as well, but back then the entirety of that had still been hiding under a hard sh.e.l.l.

However, lately charm and suppleness was added to that stiff beauty, it had begun to rapidly bloom like a stiff flower bud.

It could be a.s.sumed that Takahito"s transformation was his fault…

As he thought that, his feelings became maddeningly sweet.

He was probably being conceited, but with every time they laid their bodies together he was certain Takahito was changing.

In pace with Takahito"s transformation he himself was also changing.

In the beginning he had only looked upon the boy as the "Eve" who has to give birth to their family"s child.

…he had tried to convince himself of that.

If he had not it would have heavily laid on his conscience and he would not have been able to forcefully kidnap the innocent boy, separate him from his family and bring him to the United Kingdom.

Moreover, things like making the pure youth who did not know anything submit and a.s.sailing him…he definitely would not have been able to do them.

It was fine no matter how much he was detested. It could not be helped even if the boy resented him.

For the sake of the continuance of the Gosford family, the youth"s ability as an "Eve" was essential.

As the pack"s Alpha it was necessary of him to steel his heart.

Unexpectedly, contrary to the doll-like outer appearance the boy did not readily submit. Although he probably realized that he could not win, nevertheless he frantically resisted and challenged him to a fight.

-Maybe I am a fool, but…in comparison with suffering obediently it is…much better.

-…if looked at from your position, it probably does seem very small and trivial. But for me it is a matter of having my pride as a man.

The wet intently glaring eyes of the youth made his spine shiver.

If he thought about it he probably began to be charmed by Takahito from that point on.

(No…that"s not it)

From the moment they pa.s.sed by each other on the street - from the moment he had met those black eyes he had felt something special.

At that time already, he had been arrested by the "scent" that the boy was unconsciously emitting.

It wasn"t because Takahito was an "Eve". Even if that had not been the case, he would have wanted him.

Arthur had a.s.saulted him because of a sense of duty, but the desire had been a spontaneous thing. In front of Takahito, his mating switch had been set off.

His strong desire for the boy was not related to just the flesh.

He had clearly become aware of his feelings of desire the time Wolfgang had attacked the boy.

Luckily it had ended in just an attempt, but at that time he had even harboured a killing intent towards Wolfgang who was clearly his packmate.

To tell the truth if it had not been an attempt, there probably would have been bloodshed.

However, thanks to this incident he became aware of his feelings and was not able to pressure Takahito any longer.

The season for breeding is limited. As soon as possible he had to complete "mating".

It was his task as the leader of the pack.

However, he did not want to do things the boy found disagreeable.

That day using the injury on Takahito"s face as a reason he had returned to Cotswold without doing anything.

But when he returned, the boy weighed on his mind and he was unable to concentrate on his work.

Was this love reducing a person to such a foolish being?

In the end, on the evening of the third day his patience was at its end, and taking his car he had visited the "Forest House". But the boy had not been in his room.

The uneasiness he"d felt when he"d learned that Takahito had went outside alone was still vivid in his mind.

He has probably gone out for a walk in his wolf form to reduce the stress of the confinement, but if he perhaps got lost in the snowy forest…if he then used up all his strength and returned to human form…

As he thought that he had been unable to sit still, and had immediately transformed and followed the "scent". He had called for the boy by howling.

Finally once he"d searched high and low, the moment he had glimpsed the delicate wolf, his whole body had lost strength from relief.

After they had safely re-united, they had run over the snowy fields together, and had pursued a deer.

Immediately after he had taken down a deer in front of the boy, that accident had happened. Takahito had slipped on the surface of the rock and had fallen into the river.

His blood had gone cold at the sight of the boy"s figure as he fell backwards.

Like a person wanting to die right after a loved one he had plunged into the river, and had pulled up the sodden wet body by holding it with his mouth.

There was relief and joy the moment he realized that the limp body was breathing.

In that moment, more clearly than before Arthur became aware that he loved Takahito.

For him, Takahito was his one and only "bondmate"…

"…"

Arthur raised half of his body, and peeked down at Takahito who was continuing to sleep peacefully. Gazing at that tranquil sleeping face, his eyes slowly partly closed.

It wasn"t just Takahito"s outer appearance that was beautiful. His disposition was also likeable.

He was full of curiosity, smart with a strong heart and went into anything earnestly.

Seeing his att.i.tude towards Eugene, Arthur knew that his disposition was also kind. Most likely his parents had raised him with great care.

Arthur did not know what the boy thought of him.

In the beginning, of course, Takahito detested him, but right now…was it conceited of him to think that the boy did not hate him so much anymore?

That night in the cave, it had been Takahito who had sought him out. After that they had embraced each other without any coercion.

Even if for example it had been a s.e.xual urge caused by the "mating season"…even so it was fine.

Just being able to embrace the unwilling youth without forcing him, how much did that save him!

Of course, it wasn"t just about being saved.

Although properly speaking it shouldn"t happen, in the midst of embracing Takahito the thought of this being his task disappeared.

Stirred by the boy"s unconscious coquetry, when he came to himself he would find himself absorbed in greedily devouring that slender body.

Tightly embracing the supple limbs, as he came to completion in Takahito"s warm insides, he experienced the highest joy.

His desire for the boy to bear his child had also already exceeded any sense of duty.

Because he had stayed here overnight, he had explained it away as for the sake of "mating" to Eugene, but in truth it was because he did not want to part with Takahito even for a moment.

He wanted to be together with him. Forever…he wanted to put Takahito right next to him.

As it is he had dated women, but this state of thinking of only his partner as if he was floating in pa.s.sion, he was experiencing this for the first time since birth.

A smile naturally lit up on his face at the sight of that tranquil sleeping face in front of his eyes.

Tempted by the loveliness, Arthur was about to touch that black hair when he suddenly restrained his hand.

-That brat"s family is our enemy.

-There"s no need to keep the son of our enemy alive. We should get rid of him.

-It"ll be fine if we raise the child that will be born ourselves. Letting him live would instead increase the difficulty. We should pluck out the root of trouble beforehand.

Wolfgang"s and Edgar"s earlier words flitted through the back of his mind.

Takahito"s blood relatives the Jinguuji Family killed three of his fellow Gosford packmates in the attack 17 years ago.

The first ones to pick a fight had been them the Gosford"s, but it was the undeniable truth that his blood relatives had turned the table on them, and the fact that Wolfgang and Edgar who had lost siblings hated the family was something nothing could be done about.

However, that had nothing to do with Takahito. The boy had not even been born yet 17 years ago.

Hating the boy because of the matter 17 years ago was unreasonable.

Although he had laid out that fair argument, he had been distinctly reb.u.t.ted "You"re saying something so lenient only because you did not partic.i.p.ate in that attack."

Arthur himself, even though his grandfather had strongly restrained him from it, was hurt by being attacked on the point that he had not partic.i.p.ated in the attack. That was because he knew Edgar and Wolfgang were dissatisfied with him when it came to that matter.

For argument"s sake even if Takahito gave birth to a child or even if he did not, Wolfgang and Edgar would probably turn Takahito into a corpse just like they had said. Those two thought of Takahito only as a "child birthing tool".

Like this no matter which road they went down Takahito would be killed. There was no life for him if he was here.

Arthur did not want to part with him. If they separated, they would not meet a second time…

It was all too easy to imagine that his life forwards without the boy would be a wretched thing like biting sand.

Nevertheless, it would be tens of times better than Takahito being killed.

Better than this person that was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with numerous possibilities like a raw ore of a precious stone disappearing from this world.

He was still 16 years old. The boy had a future and many aspirations.

He could not let the promising youth stay with them who were slowly being destroyed.

(I should let him go.)

As he strongly persuaded himself, Takahito moved.

"…n…"

Emitting a quiet sound, his eyes slowly opened. As if he was still half-asleep, Takahito looked up at Arthur with a dazed expression.

***

Donesies~

Btw, there is another matter I should mention. Sometime soon I am planning on moving the website and doing some work on improving it and fixing some mistakes I made early on. I am not a tech wizard so it"s not unlikely that I might do something wrong that would make the website go down at some point or another, but you shouldn"t worry if it happens, I"m not disappearing.

Anyways, see you soon~

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Also ~, so you can always know when the next update is in advance~

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