Lila's voice was strained with both exertion and confusion as she struggled against his iron grip.
But Javrian didn't even glance at her. His eyes stayed locked on mine as he spoke.
"You remember your promise, right?"
Promise?
My mind went blank. What promise? When had I made any promise to him?
First, how had we even gotten here so quickly? And second, what the hell was he talking about?
It was confusing for me to understand exactly where I was right now. Supported by his left arm, I could feel him holding me below my butt while with his right hand he grabbed Leela's hand, looking around at the dust that clearly showed the impact on the ground. I could feel and even hear the small pebbles falling down, hitting the ground as they were thrown.
"What promis—" But before I could speak further and ask for clarification on what kind of promise he was talking about, I heard a low groan.
"Gggrrrr...."
I turned towards the source, looking at Sally's wounded form trembling behind Javrian's protective stance. I realized this wasn't the time for confusion.
"Yes, yes I do," I said quickly, nodding even though I had no idea what I was agreeing to.
"Now put me down!"
Whatever promise he was referring to, whatever game he was playing—it could wait.
Right now, that yellow wolf needed help, and I needed to understand what was really happening here.
Javrian nodded before, with just a flick of his fingers, broke the rope binding my legs. The thick hemp snapped like thread, falling away to coil on the ground.
I felt a wave of relief wash over me—finally, at least he was going to free me properly. I looked up at him expectantly, raising my still-handcuffed wrists.
But he just kept looking at me with those unreadable silver eyes.
"You can walk, right?"
I blinked, staring at him in disbelief. That was it? Just the leg ropes?
"Yes," I nodded with a sigh, letting him slowly place me on the ground.
My legs felt shaky after being bound for so long, but I managed to stand.
I watched as he turned and walked toward the wounded yellow wolf who was still lying in that submissive, defeated posture. Not out of sympathy but more like to stand beside it, waiting for me to arrive there.
A strange vibe of guilt seemed to emanate from Sally's small form, and I found myself feeling oddly sorry for her despite not understanding the full situation.
To my surprise, Javrian, who had previously arrived beside Sally and was standing like a guard—crack—broke my handcuffs with the same casual ease he'd shown with the ropes.
"You don't have to act like you are sad," he said, his tone matter-of-fact as if he had misinterpreted my sympathetic gaze towards Sally.
'Of course I am sad, damn it!' I yelled internally, given I was tied up by handcuffs for a few hours, but the words stayed locked behind my teeth.
After being naked for half the time with him and half the time in handcuffs, if I still didn't feel anything then definitely something was wrong with me, so damn yes, I was subtly annoyed.
But not enough to care about it as much; I kept my voice calm and level as I gave him a look to make this man realize how it feels to be handcuffed, as asked.
"Then why not let me tie your hands once too?"
He blinked, looking at me for a long moment before placing his left hand over his face as if deep in thought.
"If it's your second demand, then I will follow it."
My mouth twitched involuntarily. "What demand?"
But he just nodded, cutting off my confusion. "Fine, then it's our second promise."
I had absolutely no idea what was going through his mind.
I could only part my lips to speak, but then shook my head, deciding to focus on the more immediate problem.
I stretched my hand toward Sally, clearly intending to help.
The moment my fingers got close, Sally's head snapped up and she tried to bite me.
'!'
'Hey!' I yanked my hand back just as her teeth clicked together where my skin had been.
"SALLY!" Multiple voices yelled in alarm from behind Javrian as if about to lash out at the yellow wolf.
And adding more threat to already escalated tension where I held my hand while trying to understand, came the voice sending everything into dismay by a large margin.
The voice lashed with strange declaration, as if restricted to act but enough to silence even waves through just words.
"Know your place, mutt."
It was naturally that man.
'!—n-not again.'
Javrian's killing intent surged so violently that the air itself seemed to thicken with menace.
His silver eyes blazed with murderous fury, and I could practically feel him preparing to tear Sally apart.
"Wait, wait!" I interrupted quickly, stepping between them with my hands raised.
Knowing why Sally reacted that way, especially feeling something similar to me from her, made me act. "She's just—she doesn't know how to react! Come on, you guys, leave some distance. Go, go!"
They looked between me and the trembling wolf, clearly reluctant to move away when Sally had just tried to attack me.
But slowly, they backed off, giving us space while Javrian maintained that blank, sharp, murderous expression—as if Sally touching me even once would result in her immediate and brutal death, regardless of any past history they shared.
And the reason I intervened was because this mutt—Ahem, I mean Sally... was intentionally wanting to make Javrian kill her.
And how I knew that?
Simply because from Sally's eyes and observation, added with her past reaction in the cell hearing Javrian's name and now, she seemed to understand this.
Rather than shock, which she should have after trying to bite me—naturally acting as I couldn't really pull my hand faster than a wolf, confirmation flickered in her yellow eyes as she looked between me and Javrian, clearly trying to process why this beast of a clan leader was prioritizing a human woman so completely.
Sally's gaze drifted to the others, and I caught her studying something on Javrian's face with particular intensity.
Though they were fading now, she seemed to notice the finger marks on his cheek from where I had slapped him earlier—even I realized it later when he broke my handcuff that my slap on his cheek was too hard.
And why I was sure that Sally was doing it intentionally was due to seeing in her eyes a realization that this human—me—had actually struck their fearsome leader—and he had said nothing about it—only deepened her confirmation that I mattered.
But when Sally looked around at the others for answers, she found only glares and hostile expressions which just enforced her conclusion.
But hell before this woman could pull something stupid in her falling state, it was better to first help her.
Without hesitation, I grabbed the hem of my dress and tore off a long strip of fabric.
I knelt beside the wounded wolf and began wrapping the makeshift bandage around her bleeding leg.
'!'
Her body flinched, clearly pulling her leg away from my hand, before yelling in confusion and a strange mix of painful guilt.
"What do you think you are doing!? Disgusting human!"
'....D-disgusting..?' As I heard her calling me that, even if it was to provoke me or anger, my mouth twitched.
I was here, knelt holding the torn piece of cloth, and here she just did that?
Looking down at the ground, shaking my head before, like a rogue bully, lifting my head, I gave a glare to her—her body flinched—before keeping my gaze fixed on her.
I spat on the ground.
Pthoo~!
And ordered,
"Press this mutt down on the ground, Kael."