But then a doubt arose; what if she forgot that promise she made, prompting him to inquire, "Do you remember your promise, right?"
And the moment she affirmed that she would, a smile formed on his face as he broke the rope binding her leg, which he had left intact because he thought she might do something reckless again.
But if she remembered her promise, it simply meant that no matter where she went, she would return.
With a smile, he moved, arriving near Sally just to look back at Luna as she approached him.
He saw her face, her crimson hair slightly messy with dust, her expression blank but sad, head lowered, her lips struggling against each other due to the emotions forming as she looked at her hand.
Instantly, he realized that those handcuffs were the source of her sadness, and without hesitation, he shattered them apart before looking toward her and genuinely saying, "You don't have to act like you're sad."
However, the way he usually spoke came off as stoic, and his words expressed something different from his thoughts.
Yet, the answer she gave him was enough to make his earlier impressions of her boldness vanish, replaced by a new revelation when she asked him something even he might feel hesitant to tell his partner.
She said, "Then why not let me tie your hands once too?"
Javrian blinked, his mind stuttering to a halt.
Tie his hands?
The request hung in the air between them, and Javrian felt heat creep across his features.
His mind raced, trying to decipher this new puzzle, and with the way his hands clenched, he tried to keep himself composed—only to notice that the others around them didn't seem to understand what Luna had just said.
A human book from a soldier on the battlefield, which he had gotten, portrayed a couple with one tied to a bed or something similar.
That memory resurfaced instantly at her words, especially as he now understood how bold she was in romantic matters.
'Was this... some kind of human courtship ritual I'm not familiar with? Some kind of... intimate preference?'
He placed his left hand over his face, trying to process this development, composing his mind and hiding his smile beneath as he didn't understand exactly how he should react to the demands of his wife.
Luna's intelligence meant she rarely spoke without layers of meaning, but this particular meaning was making his pulse quicken in ways he didn't entirely understand.
'What exactly does she want from me?' He knew the answer, but his situation was similar to one who denies what is in their mind just so they can keep it in their heart, not bringing it into the mind that can process and distort it.
The thought should have made him wary, as her desire to tie him, especially given how tying on the battlefield meant becoming captive to the enemy, but instead, he found himself... curious.
Intrigued.
'First principle,' he recalled—more like declared, as it was his principle—looking toward Luna, 'Fulfill the desires of your mate as it deepens the bond—even something as strange as being restrained.'
He closed his eyes for a moment as a strange imagination surfaced where he found himself bound by ropes while she sat on him, treating him as if he were her captive; something he instantly threw out of his mind before opening his eyes.
Thinking too much about what it was—except that it was some romantic demand from her—made him simply follow whatever she wanted... either way, he would also learn something new.
"If it's your second demand, then I will follow it," he heard himself say, his words coming out more strained than he had intended.
Her confusion was obvious, but Javrian was too busy trying to understand his own reaction to clarify.
There was something thrilling about the idea of surrendering control to her—this small human woman who had somehow managed to shake the foundations of everything he thought he knew.
'Tying their own partner?' he thought, filing it away. 'I still need to understand so many things about this woman.'
Suddenly, as Javrian saw Sally attack Luna, he instantly glared, his thoughts vanishing, and a raging killing intent filled the whole area, directed towards the yellow wolf who trembled.
"Know your place, mutt," he warned in burning rage but soon calmed, exerting enough control over his emotions, especially anger, to avoid battle-oriented mistakes due to errors committed in the past.
Yet, he would have made a move if he hadn't seen Luna step in front of him, once again making him feel as though he hadn't made the wrong choice by declaring.
"She's just—she doesn't know how to react! Come on, you guys, leave some distance. Go, go!"
And rather than reacting, which he wouldn't have done either way, he observed Luna stretching both hands out, arriving, panicking for someone she didn't even know, making him feel something reflecting his inner self.
He once again noticed and affirmed that she was kind... even to those she didn't know.
Then soon enough, as he observed her—without blinking even in the cold wind—watching her attempt to tend to Sally's wounds and even ordering him to stop Lila, another moment made him realize that not only was she kind, but she was smart too.
It was the moment when she used Sally's well-known behavior of returning favors against her.
That showed how sharp Luna was, something that Javrian had already accepted when he looked fearlessly into her eyes.
But expectedly that traitor even tried to betray; but the moment he saw Luna defeating, he called out with visible anger to Sally.
"Don't you hear her?" Javrian threatened in a menacing voice, "My wife said to follow along."
His voice was firm enough to make Sally show shock, and tell something on which even others seemed to agree and started to blame Luna for her being the reason Javrian was reacting like this.
'...What's with all of them?' He felt doubtful as to why these people were currently starting to band together against Luna, before he saw her looking in his direction with an expectant gaze.
Javrian lifted his hand, given he didn't care much what they had to say, given he felt Luna's skin getting cold the moment he touched her, knowing well about how weak humans—the wolves with dormant sparks or mostly limited strength—referred to as humans by the pure wolf tribe, but Empire people called themselves non-humans as some possessed sparks but couldn't transform.
Though in truth, Luna was a human—the lower the spark, the more someone was considered a human.
"Hey," Luna pulled him out of his thoughts before looking at him with those hesitant crimson eyes, looking and saying, "Can you explain this to them instead of creating more misunderstanding?"
'Why do you care about others' opinions?' He just felt a resurfaced doubt, but it faded as he offered her genuinely, recalling how he should too be bold.
So he boldly stated.
"You are cold," he said, recalling how he should be cryptic like her as she might not like open statements, so he added, "You will catch the flu this way."
Finally telling her that he wanted to fulfill her first promise indirectly, "Let me warm you."