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Oliver continued with gestures, "I was part of a dark, human group, in fact, I was born there. I was trained on how to assassinate from a young age by my late adoptive dad but was more interested in stealing. One day, I was assigned to steal a unique pendant from a lady in the next country. But reaching there, I shifted into my wolf for the first time, with nobody to walk me through. I did that in the hotel I lodged. There was a grand event that day there and so I guess it might have overshadowed my screams. Of course, the next day I found myself in the forest, I dunno how I got there. But I was nude in the middle of nowhere. No phone, no weapon and no one to ask.

I was afraid that wild animals would find me and devour me but when I did come across a lion, it ran away from me instead. Same thing as other wild animals, even snakes that I was usually afraid of. That's when I heard Ray, my wolf's voice for the first time. Wasn't easy for me to accept that I'm his host, but I eventually came to terms with it. He showed me the way to the hotel and of course, the shy me stole a few clothes. I didn't want to believe him when he told me about the blur thing that some moon goddess gifted werewolves. I reached the hotel and though everything about the werewolf thing was new to me, I decided, I won't let it interrupt my way of life.

The thing I wanted to steal actually belonged to an Alpha female of the 59th-ranked pack who was out of her usual abode in the human territory for some important business. I was to steal the pendant that she always carried around. She, however, turned out to be my mate. She had me thrown in prison after she caught my smell in her room. I was careless also since I was relishing the smell of my mate. She took me to her pack where I saw more people who could shapeshift like me and in the pack's prison, she rejected me and called a date for my execution,"
"Jeez. So heartless!" Zyair exclaimed.

"I escaped from the prison but not without leaving a gift. I set the entire pack on fire and made sure the Alpha of the pack almost became a cripple in it. Well, getting back home, I found everyone in the group was dead and she was responsible for it. So I returned back to that pack and set fire to it again, I think like four more times until only a few were left in the pack. Then I kissed that bitchy ex-mate goodbye. Me, I had nowhere to go and I sort of encountered Mel one day. He brought me to the pack and here I am," Oliver shrugged.

"Okay. Sorry about your loss and I must say you were a badass unexpectedly," said Dante, "Arson expert! Guess I have to be more careful around you now, so you don't turn me to roast wolf meat,"
"I would, if your mate asks," replied Oliver with a chuckle.
"No, no. I think my mate prefers me like this, handsome and robust," saying this, Dante flexed his muscle, causing the others to laugh.

Oliver spoke again, "My story isn't as emotional as you guys. But at least you know that I can go berserk when offended greatly, that was in the past though. The me now is a gentleman. I do hope I find my second chance mate one day,"
"I see. Let's do an arm wrestle with you in berserk mode," Phoenix suggested.
"Eh? No need," he waved his hands in refusal, laughing sheepishly. A Beta trying to win an Alpha in an armrest battle? That was like asking a bunny to give birth to an elephant!

"I'd love to train with you sometime. Don't think you can escape," Phoenix said with a smile that made the latter shiver.
"Savage Lord, I was wrong," Oliver got to his knees and kowtowed, crying tearlessly.
"Don't worry, he will go easy on you," said Lavana but it in no way comforted the man.
Seeing he could not escape, he could only accept that he'd shot himself in the foot. Sulking, he sat back on the chair and assumed a vain look, which failed as Dante kept pointing at him while laughing.
"You... Why don't you tell us your story instead?" the scowling Oliver proposed.

"Okay," Dante stopped chuckling and rubbed his palms, "So, I lost my glass slipper,"
"Why don't you just say you're a male Cinderella," Oliver interrupted.
"It's my story. Is it your story?" Dante retorted.
"You already answered it before asking, dummy," Oliver replied, arms folded.
"I wonder why the moon goddess didn't make you guys cat and rat," Mel commented.
"It doesn't matter if she even made us lions, at least, in our hearts we know who we are!" said Dante.
"Exactly!" Oliver nodded, causing the others to chuckle. These two had a Tom and Jerry relationship but could be pretty united when others accuse them. Quite funny souls!

"Okay," Dante cracked his knuckles, "let me officially begin. So, in the past, I was a serial killer..."
He couldn't continue speaking as Oliver had removed his belt.
"What's that for?" Dante couldn't help asking, seeming baffled by his act.

"You're asking the obvious?" the latter with a cocked brow questioned.
"Oliver, calm down," Lavana said with a chuckle.
"No way. Dante, you were acting scared of me, just because I said I occasionally kill and steal for money in the past, but you..." he tried to hit Dante with the belt but the laughing Zyair held him back, asking him to calm down.
"Hey, man. You didn't let me finish. I'm indeed a serial killer, but only in my dreams!" Dante confessed and this made Oliver struggle to get free of Zyair's hold even more.

"You... how dare you play me like this?" Oliver questioned through clenched teeth.
"Impatience. That's what played you. Not me!" Dante did a raspberry, worsening the situation.
"You... I'm going to beat you till you see only stars for ten days straight!"
Blowing a raspberry again, the latter responded, "Like you have the courage,"
Oliver harrumphed and sat down after Zyair let go of him finally.

Dante cleared his throat, "So, as I was saying, I once belonged to Heart's Ray pack. No longer in existence, due to the attack on them 10 years ago. I eventually joined a rogue group after losing myself due to extreme rage that I couldn't um... bring out as much as I wanted. I was trained by my late mum to be gentle and it was preventing me from killing any member of those packs we attacked. We were successful sometimes in claiming new territory, but most times, we lost. Then the next pack that the rogue leader decided we attack was Blood Star. I found my mate here. Needless to say, I detached myself from the group and fought against my fellow rogues. Even ended up killing the rogue leader, a Beta, in ire when he slightly injured my mate,"

"Ok. So how long did you spend redeeming yourself?" Phoenix asked curiously.
"Um... 3 years actually. I'm glad my mate didn't abandon me in the end. So I treasure her more than my own life," replied Dante.
Phoenix nodded, "Okay. Now we know yours. Zyair, it's your turn now,"
"You guys aren't expecting me to tell you that I'm a former stripper, are you?" Zyair smilingly questioned.
"For real?" Mel exclaimed.

"No," Zyair tittered, "I was formally my old pack's chef. Like... I'm one of the 5 appointed. My food was the best of them all and the others, jealous of the praise and attention I was getting from the Alpha, he actually planned to make me replace the head chef then. They schemed against me and framed me for trying to abort the Luna's baby. I tried to defend myself but these bastards brought so-called evidence and the Alpha, blinded by rage, couldn't even see the loopholes in the evidence. So he had me thrown in prison and later, one of the chefs bribed the guards so he could see me. Not only did he mock me but he had two guards feed me with so much wolfbane that I couldn't even lift a finger. And then he... he... he then... he..." Zyair's voice had become low and his face saddened.
The others soon noticed this, since he was stammering.

"He..." Shutting his eyes and opening them again, he spoke without stammering this time, "I'm without my precious," said Zyair with grief in his tone.
"What does he mean?" A baffled Lavana asked her mate in mind link.
Her mate sighed before replying, "He means, he's not a complete man, you get what I mean?"
Lavana nodded and covered her mouth, her eyes showing shock and sadness just like all the others. This Zyair was actually a eunuch?
"That explains why you never..." Rolandro didn't say more after Mel chided him telepathically.
Phoenix rose and walked over to the trembling man, creating a magical barrier that covered the both of them. No one could see them from outside it but they could still hear him weeping.

"Zyair, I'm sorry for what happened," said Phoenix as he put his arm around the latter's shoulders.
Sniffing, Zyair replied with a nod, "Don't feel bad because you asked me to tell. I could just make up any story but I can't lie. I'm sorry to act like this. I'm pretty sure the image of a resilient man has crashed like a vase in your minds, right?" he tried to smile but it failed. Instead, he wept even more.

At this point, everyone was feeling so bad. No matter what the others had gone through, none of them lost any body parts like this guy.
"I indeed found my mate before coming to Blood Star, even my second chance and surprisingly, a third chance mate. But who would want a man that's not complete? So they rejected me after saying really harsh words to me as if it was my fault that I'm like this. I didn't do anything wrong...."
"Zyair, calm down," Phoenix whispered, "Look at me," he said to the latter through mind link. Zyair did as he was told and Lavana's mate said encouraging words to him. Soon, he stopped crying.

Then the barrier shattered and all could see Zyair wiping his tears, his eyes red and swollen.
Sniffing, he tried to smile, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring down the mood of everyone. Please don't feel bad. I don't know what came over me. Maybe, I'm frustrated for so long. Maybe it is the bottled-up feelings that broke free so suddenly. I'm sorry,"

"No, you shouldn't feel apologetic. It's not your fault, Zyair. And don't fret, we'll never tell another soul and we'll still treat you like we used to. Don't you dare feel inferior to others just because of that. In my heart, you're still that strong man that I know," Mel consoled, walking over to sit close to him and soothe him. The others also took turns in comforting the broken guy and making him no longer feel ashamed of his current state.
Rolandro telepathically apologized to Zyair for all those times he questioned him on why they can't go to the bathroom together. He then vowed to cover for him whenever he needs to answer the call of nature in a public setting.

Soon Zyair's face turned cheerful and he finally giggled after hearing some jokes that Phoenix told. Then he thanked everyone for their support and then they moved on to discuss some other serious matters before finally parting.
Phoenix and Zyair shared a room for tonight and so Phoenix moved his things to the room the latter was.

Phoenix took out a silver bottle from his storage ring. Zyair wasn't stunned by this as he already knew Phoenix's ring had this function, since he was a wiz blood. He was however surprised when Lavana's mate handed it to him.
Looking befuddled, he was forced to ask, "What's this for?"
Smilingly, the other replied, "It's a good health tonic. You can take it right now. Just be assured that the effects are 100 per cent permanent,"
"You mean the side effects?" Zyair asked with incredulity.
"The side effects... I can't explain now. Just take it. It's good for werewolves," Phoenix urged.

"Okay," Zyair nodded, "I'll trust you,"
With that, Zyair removed the lid gently and had a taste of the mahogany-coloured smooth liquid. Though it smelled nice, the taste was so awful that he wanted to spit it out but forced himself to down the liquid completely.
Then Phoenix handed him a golden leaf, "Eat this too,"

"I don't want," Zyair flatly declined. The taste of that damn liquid was still in his mouth. Even now, he had a strong urge to retch.
"It helps soothe that awful feeling of puking you have now," Phoenix explained.
Seeing that there was no other choice, he accepted the leaf, and ate it. It tasted much more bitter than the liquid he ingested.
"Phoenix, it's terrible," he confessed, almost tearful.
"Alright, you can go bathe now. Call me if you need my help,"
"Your help?" hearing this, Zyair had a bad feeling.
"This thing makes one have diarrhoea, doesn't it?"
"No. Don't bother sitting on the toilet. Nothing will come out," Phoenix casually said.
"What?"
"Remember when I said, I love torturing?"
"You..." the speechless and pissed Zyair stormed into the bathroom with a grey towel around his waist.
...
10 minutes later, Zyair called out Phoenix's name in a distressed tone and the latter rushed in to see him on the floor.
"What is this? What did you do to me?" Zyair managed to ask between huffs.
"Nothing one can consider a big deal. I'm here to watch you suffer. Don't worry, no matter how much you scream your lungs out, no one will hear you so you're safe," Phoenix replied.

Scrunching his eyebrows in confusion, Zyair questioned in incredulity, "Safe?"
"Yeah," Phoenix smilingly nodded.
"What do you mean?"
Lavana's mate sighed and crossed his arms, "I mean that... you can scream without shame!"