Whew, I can't believe how far we've gone since the first chapter! This chapter will be pretty long, so bear with me! Oh, and more curse words coming, don't say I didn't warn ya'all!

teamBLAZE: quite an emotion-rollercoaster, eh?

Sairofe: thanks for the compliment! I'm currently on my semester break, which is why I have more time writing :)

Something did not feel right by him. Perhaps Iris was right, he should visit her himself—but didn't she just stop by earlier?

In fact… that made me more worried.

Klaus put the bouillabaisse he had received from her on his dining table and quickly grabbed his coat and scarf. He walked towards the mountains with a lantern he grabbed from the horse station on the town's entrance; the town did provide some lanterns for public use.

Maybe she's already back at her house, cooking dinner… he mused, if that's the case, then all is well…

He could imagine her baffled look, and then her gentle, sweet voice: "Mr. Klaus, is there something the matter?"

What would he give as an answer? That would be a matter of later.

Klaus stopped on his track when he noticed a fallen lantern just outside of her farm. Klaus picked it up from the ground and noticed the pattern on the casing—it's hers. He looked around, noticing how the snow had been disturbed in his immediate vicinity. Oh, shit, he thought to himself.

Klaus looked around, there were two sets of footprints towards the fields behind the pond. He immediately gave chase, but a part of him hoped that this was just him being paranoid and that she was actually safe and sound in the warmth of her home with Ibuki.

No one was there when he entered the field area. However, Klaus noticed the footprints.

"YES! YES I KNOW HIM!"

That scream crushed his hopes. Klaus picked up his pace, climbing up while looking around. When he reached the fruit field, he saw a figure at the distance. Klaus quietly approached it. As he came closer, he recognized Craig.

"HELP ME! ANYONE, PLEASE!"

He then heard the slap. Fury built up quickly within him. He picked up the pace, then he heard him said: "Milky skin… haven't had this for quite some time… I'll enjoy ya."

Klaus clenched his fist. Craig did not notice him. Just as he was within his reach, Klaus swung his leg as hard as he could, sending his old nemesis crashing to one of the nearby trees. "Don't you ever dare to touch her, bastard."

He remained unmoved, slumped in front of the tree. Klaus knew that would not remain for long. Still, he diverted his attention to Raelyn, who had sat up on the snow, her round, wine-colored eyes staring at him squarely.

"Mr. Klaus…?"

His initial instinct was actually to embrace her and just to hold her close. It took all the judgment and rationality he had left in his mind not to do so; he did not want to scare her even more than she had already been. Klaus noticed that a part of her shirt had been torn. He took off his coat and put it around her. As a good measure, he also put his scarf around her neck and draped it to cover the torn part. "Go home, Raelyn."

He helped her to stand up, but when he turned around to face Craig again, he felt her restraining his arm. "He's looking for you, Mr. Klaus! He's going to hurt you!"

He could see the fear in her eyes, but her words let him know that she was not afraid of him; rather, she was afraid for him. Touched by her concerns, Klaus smiled wryly. He touched her hand and gently pushed them away. "I'm not letting him get away from hurting you."

He turned around and noticed that Craig began to recover his strength. Klaus took off his inner vest and unfastened the first two buttons of his shirt. He also rolled up his sleeves up to his elbows. "Besides, I have to confront him sooner or later."

He had been wandering on the street for days when a group of strangers approached him. "Ey, brat, what'cha doin 'ere?"

"Huh?"

They suddenly grabbed him and searched through his pockets. When they did not find anything of value—he had spent the last on his money on some rice balls and water yesterday—they proceeded to beat him up.

"Oi, what if he's with her? We'll be dead!"

"Impossible. Look at dis pat'etic runt! Been long since I got some punc'ing bag like this!"

The previously hesitant guy joined in to kick him. "You're right. Better enjoy this!"

Klaus shielded his head with his arms and folded his legs to protect his body. Maybe he should have gone with Mistel and Iris, but after what happened with their parents…

Maybe he should just die on the street this way. Alone, just like a stray dog.

"What the fuck are you doing over there?!" a woman's voice shouted.

The beatings promptly stopped, but Klaus did not dare to open his defense. "Where do you jerks come from?"

There was no answer.

"You know what happened to those who create trouble in my territory?"

Klaus heard the sound of fighting briefly, and when it stopped, he braved himself to open his eyes. It was then he laid eyes on her, a young woman with deep red hair and clear, fierce green eyes. She crouched down to meet his eyes and offered her hand. "Are you okay?"

He gingerly took her hand. "…thank you."

Before they could talk further, two men came running. "We heard someone fighting! Are you okay?"

They stopped when they looked at three writhing bodies on the ground. "W-well… as always, Queen… you barely need us."

From the corner of his eyes, he could see her grinning. "Thanks for the thoughts, though."

"Naw naw… the Alpha came to rescue his cub, ain't it?"

Noticing that Raelyn was still there, Klaus raised his voice in urgency. "Go! Now!"

Finally, she left.

The two men began to close their distance from each other. They stopped just as they were within each other's range. Craig bent his knees slightly and put his arms up in front of his face—an orthodox boxing stance. Klaus pulled his right leg behind and raised his arms, too, but he did not clench his fists. Craig grinned when he saw his stance.

"Ain't it bring back memories, Alpha?"

"Memories? Sure, I'll remind you why I was the Alpha… and you never were."

"What did I tell you about joints?!" she asked while evading yet another of his strike.

"Y-you're too fast!"

"Not my fault! Keep your eyes on me, kozo!"

When he managed to dodge one of her attacks, he saw his opening. Recalling the steps she had drilled into his head, he grabbed her wrist, pulled it up and then guided in a circular motion—forcing her to turn her body—and when she lost her balance, he would strike and pin her down. Her body flowed with his actions and she fell with a practiced movement. "You're a fast learner," she complimented him with a smile.

Incited, Craig did not hesitate to make the first move. Klaus, now more prepared than their last encounter, grabbed his shirt, pulled him closer while at the same time turning on his heels and slammed his opponent to the ground. Craig groaned and writhed in pain.

Klaus took two steps back and caught his breath. He had to finish this fast. Klaus did not waste any more time; Craig barely stood up when he grabbed his right arm, spun him around and twisted his arm behind his back. Klaus was pretty sure he could hear the cracking sound from Craig's shoulder when he delivered the last blow. Now, at least Craig should have difficulties in using his dominant hand.

They sat down on the relatively empty park, enjoying the ice cream the Queen had bought for both of them.

"Soon, I think you're good enough to defend yourself. No more being beaten up or dying on the side street for you, hopefully," she remarked.

"Thanks… but, why? Why are you helping me? You barely know me."

She turned to face him. He could never forget her face then. The way the sun shone on her red hair, or how her green eyes looked gentler compared to when she was leading as the Queen. "The Earth may be round, but the world is never fair… that's why I think we should try to be as fair as possible to each other."

Klaus was caught off-guard when Craig delivered a roundhouse kick right on his side. Klaus slumped to the ground but recovered as fast as he could manage, but Craig was faster. He grabbed him and slammed him to the nearby tree. The force from his back being smashed to the tree trunk was more than enough to incapacitate him. Craig grabbed his collar, pressing him against the trunk. Klaus quickly grabbed Craig's wrist, trying to twist it away, but Craig was stronger than that. "We'll meet 'im soon, Alpha…"

Craig drove the shears he had taken from the ground into Klaus' stomach. Once, twice, then thrice. Blood began to seep out from the open wounds onto his white shirt.

"But I'll have ma fun with dat bitch before I go."

Craig's words filled Klaus with an unspeakable anger, enough to give him the strength to strike Craig's outstretched elbow and force him to let him go. Klaus dropped onto the ground on his feet, carefully maintaining his balance. His head was dizzy as his blood began to be drained away by his wounds. Not wasting any time, Klaus twisted Craig's left arm and then threw him away, smashing him to another nearby tree.

"It's one thing to kill me to avenge Nik," Klaus muttered as he walked towards Craig, who seemed to be as injured as he was. Their positions reversed, Klaus put his hand around Craig's neck. "But, hurting her? I'll fucking kill you."

Klaus was so blinded by his rage that he forgot Craig still had the shears in his hands. Craig stabbed Klaus' neck with the last of his energy. The pain forced Klaus to let his opponent go and blood began to drip down to the snow when Craig put the blades out. Both men slumped to the ground, the last of their energy spent. He heard Craig coughing a few times, and it was then he saw a light at the distance.

"There they are! Hurry up!"

Raelyn…

He opened his eyes to a blinding light. It took him some moments to adjust to his new surroundings. He took a breath, hays, leaves, warm milk…

Klaus started to shuffle his body around. "Please don't move!" Raelyn said as she rushed to his side. She quickly arranged some pillows to help him up more comfortably. He muttered a low 'thanks'. "Dr. Marian said it's too dangerous to bring you to the clinic, so he treated you here instead. He already went back, though."

"…how about Craig?"

Her face darkened. "Dr. Marian told me, he's already very sick. He… he didn't make it."

We'll meet 'im soon, Alpha…

Now he understood why Craig hunted him down now and uttered those words. Klaus looked at Raelyn and realized that she was staring at his upper arm, more precisely, his old tattoo.

"A wolf… is that why he called you the Alpha?"

So she heard. He nodded.

Klaus realized that his upper body was covered in nothing else but bandages over his wounds. That way, Raelyn could also see his other tattoo, the one directly above his heart: an eagle guarding a golden cross on its heart, surrounded by a wreath of black roses. She said nothing, but after all that had happened, Klaus knew she deserved to know the truth.

"I lost my family in an armed robbery. Iris and Mistel's parents took me in. A few years later, they passed away in an accident… I couldn't save them. I ran away, and that's how I started to be involved in gangs. That man earlier, Craig… I caused his brother's death in one of our fights. His name was Nik."

Raelyn nodded. Her eyes were lackluster. This is it, he told himself, Raelyn would never see me the same way again, just like Allie…

Much to his surprise, Raelyn rose from her chair and hugged him. "It must've been very hard for you," she told him in a low, soothing voice. "Thank you for surviving everything."

"W-what?"

Raelyn let him go and went back to her seat. She put her hand above her heart. "And thank you, for saving me."

"You don't understand, Raelyn… if it hadn't been for me, he would've never been in this town and you'll never—"

"You came to save me, Mr. Klaus… and you almost died. I didn't know what would happen if… if you didn't make it, too."

He could not believe what he'd just heard. After all that happened, she was still concerned for his well-being. A mixture of disbelief, relief, and gratefulness watched this lone wolf away. He brought his hand up to touch her cheek. It was wet from her tears. "I'm sorry that he hurt you… I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to you."

"I'm just glad that you're here, Mr. Klaus."

"Remember what I said about being eaten by a big bad wolf if you're not careful?"

She gazed at him. Her eyes looked so gentle and soothing. She put her hand on his. They were slightly rough from the callouses from her farm work, but at the same time, they were almost unbelievably warm against his skin. She smiled serenely. "I know I'm always safe with you."

All reason or worry about being improper thrown aside, Klaus cupped her face in his hands and closed the distance between them. Raelyn closed her eyes while at the same time holding his hands a little bit tighter.

He kissed her softly, carefully, as he took in her scent—of cherry blossoms, wine, and chamomile. Her lips were soft and warm against his, and they were wet from her tears. He would trade nothing away for this moment, while at the same time wondering why he had not done it earlier.

They parted after what felt like an eternity. Her face was flushed. "Mr. Klaus…"

"Raelyn, I…"

He was interrupted by the sound of someone opening the door. They turned their head and Ibuki was standing on the other side, staring at them with his mouth slightly open.

"Well, this is awkward…" the blond farmer muttered.

Ooooo was Klaus about to say it?! XD

One thing after another, now it's Raelyn that has some 'tidying up' to do, eh?

What would happen next?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading, please rate and review! ^^

A/N: this chapter is one of the hardest chapters I've written for this story so far. I was really struggling as to how should I end Craig: letting him live with probably leave Klaus (and us) the lingering fear of his coming back, then should Klaus kill him? Honestly, in one of the earlier drafts, it was even Raelyn who killed Craig (to protect Klaus), or at least Raelyn was a clear and willing complicit to kill Craig, but can she deal with the psychological burden that comes with it? How will Klaus deal knowing what Raelyn had done too?

After a long period of thinking and reviewing, I think this is a 'moderate' middle-way. Craig will no longer haunt Klaus, but his blood is in no one's hands, at least not enough for them to feel like they killed him. It also explains why Craig was hell-bent to find Klaus now instead of other time: he was already dying to begin with, and he intended his fight to avenge Nik to be his last. Unlike Bud (if you guys still remember him) who found a way to turn his life around, Craig died never changing.

Personally, I like how Raelyn accepted him as 'the Alpha' while at the same time gently rejected the notion of him being 'the big, bad wolf' he warned her against by reminding him that he has kept her safe. And if you guys noticed, Raelyn's scent that Klaus caught last was the same scent with the perfume he gave her way, way early in the story.

In any case, I hope you guys are excited for what's coming next! ^^