Check-Mate

30. Blood oath

Third-party Pov

Lita sat alongside Kawi and Nuch. Chain and Warm sat on either side of the trio.

The two enigmas were seated directly across them. Gym was visibly tensed. Terk on the other hand was calm.

"Khun Gym, right?" Kawi initiated the conversation by addressing Gym.

"K-Khrab," Gym answered. He never thought that there would be a day when he would be scared to talk to a mere alpha.

"I wouldn't be beating around the bush here," Kawi said in a calm yet firm manner. "We would like to request you to unmark our child. None of us think that you are a suitable partner for him."

Everyone including Nuch was caught off guard. None of them were expecting Kawi to put up such a bold request.

Kawi could see the displeased look on Gym's face, but he wasn't afraid. He had to make the enigma back away from Chain.

Years ago, when Athiti, Chain's mother told him and Nuch that she was marked by an enigma named Auan, the first thing he did was to warn her of the side effects of being an enigma's mate.

But Athiti was so blinded by love that she didn't listen to him at all. Instead, she insisted that the enigma was the one for her and that he would be her partner lifelong. She convinced them that her enigma loved her as much as she loved him.

Yet, in the end, the enigma abandoned her after getting her pregnant. As an enigma's offspring, Chain was different from normal pups. It was very difficult to give birth to him. She had almost lost her life in the process.

Still, she didn't give up. She raised Chain all by herself. Nuch and Kawi had gotten married and had Warm by then. As they lived abroad, they couldn't help Athiti at all.

The fate wasn't going to be any easy on her despite the hardships she went through. When the enigma's mate started trying to hunt her down, her pack tried to protect her and Chain with all their might.

As a result, the whole pack was eliminated by the enigma's mate and her pack. It had been sheer luck that Athiti managed to send Chain away to Kawi and Nuch. 

Kawi didn't want the history to repeat there was no way that he was going to let Chain disembark the path that his mother had taken and ended up being killed.

He loved Chain as his own son. He didn't want Chain to have a single scratch on him.

"May I know what makes you think that I am not a suitable partner for Chain?" Gym was angry. But he was trying his best not to show it.

He couldn't believe that a mere alpha had the audacity to tell him to unmark his mate.

"That fact that you are an enigma is more than a reason to not want you to be my child's mate," Kawi replied.

He could only see one thing in Gym and that was arrogance. The arrogance of an enigma. He could feel how Gym looked down on all of them.  

"What if I don't want to?" Gym asked, pushing down his enigma who was growling within him. He couldn't let his enigma come out. It would definitely attack Kawi. He couldn't let that happen, at least not in front of Chain. Chain would hate him more if that happened.

"If you want to remain his mate, I would like to request you to make a blood oath. A blood oath that you will not be disloyal to Chain or abandon him till the day he dies of natural causes and that your offspring borne by him will be raised and cared for by you. If you are willing to take such a blood oath, I have no objections to you two being together."

Blood oath was a sign of loyalty in werewolves. It was particularly done by warrior werewolves who go out to protect the pack. They had to make a blood oath and pledge their loyalty towards the pack so that there would be no backstabbing midst the battle between packs.

Once the blood oath is made, the oath merges with the blood of the person making the oath. If in any condition in the future, the oath maker breaks the oath, every single cell in their body would experience excruciating needle-pickling pain till the moment they breathe their last.

The stronger the oath maker is the stronger will be the oath. This meant that a blood oath made by an enigma would be the strongest.

Ever since the day he took Chain in as his son, Kawi had spent a lot of time learning and researching about enigmas and their weak points. He was afraid that Chain's father would show up one day and snatch the child away from them.

Hence, Kawi knew almost everything about enigmas. That was why he was adamant on either having Gym unmark Chain or make a blood oath.

One might think that Lita's spell could prevent Gym from finding other mates when Chain is still alive but that is not the case.

The spell worked on Gym because he has yet to unseal his enigma powers fully. Once he awakens his powers fully, it would be a piece of cake for him to get rid of the spell. Sorceress spells are not meant to be applied to enigmas.

No matter how much power was consumed in casting the spell, it could never bind an enigma for a long time.

"I am rea~" Gym was about to agree to take the blood oath when Chain suddenly sat next to him and grabbed his hand.

"Dad, we will discuss the matter among ourselves and let you know of our decision." Chain understood Kawi's concerns. He had them too.

Given how naive his enigma was, Chain was almost one hundred percent sure that the latter had no idea what blood oath was and what its consequences were. In such a situation, it was a shitty move to have him take the blood oath. It would be similar to making a fool out of him.

Kawi wasn't happy seeing Chain take the enigma's side. But he could only agree as it was Chain's life.

At the side, Lita was observing both the enigmas. She could see that Chain's presence next to Gym had calmed him down a lot.

What surprised her was how Terk didn't oppose the unmarking request or the blood oath request that was directed at Gym. From her observation in the previous days, she had always seen Terk always being protective of Gym.

Yet today, when such a big thing was asked from Gym, Terk didn't even try to speak up for Gym, which was very contractual to his actions till now. This made Lita frown.

"Khun Terk, what are your plans?" Kawi questioned instead of making any suggestions. He had already talked to Warm and the latter had firmly said that he didn't want to abort the baby. All he wanted to know was the enigma's stand on this. 

"I would like to bring Warm along with me to my pack," Terk replied.

"Your pack?"

"Khrab. My pack. The Shadow Flame Pack," Terk watched the faces of the three adults of the family turn pale. "I would also like to bring back the pup of our previous Luna with me when I go back."