Ivan was in the middle of tending to the crops with the only light sources being that of the moon and the campfire nearby when she finally showed up. “Ah, I see you can read minds now, an excellent skill!” He gave her that crooked smile she hadn’t seen in weeks before she was already on her way inside the house with her food. The oh so familiar sound of the door slamming brought him back to his work, but then it opened again and his eyes laid upon the club she brought out.

“Wow, that looks like it would hurt. Nice toy, did you get it for some sort of occasion?”, Ivan asked before she addressed it. “Well, you can come with me to Kurayo and get turned. Though I have to say that the chances of it working are…slim and you could possibly die from it. But I think you will survive.”

His eyes never left the club as he turned fully to speak with her. “If beating me didn’t help, then why bring it out?” That was a confusing moment but he continued on with the proposal. “Okay, I have an idea then. Six months…if I can’t persuade you in that amount of time, then I will leave you alone and you will never see me again, anywhere around these parts. If I win, then you will come with me back there and meet with my masters. How’s that?”

He’d thought of it as fair, but her stubbornness made it hard to see if she’d bite the bait or just flat out kill him and spare her the problem entirely.

“Hardly you are just predictable.” She let out a sigh from her lips as she walked right on past him. This was seriously getting out of hand. She had bought and purchased a club just in case Ivan had come back. Even if it didn’t work for getting him to understand she could at least make herself feel better. She took it off the notches she had put up on the wall for it and brought it back outside.

She listened to him while she banged the club against the palm of her hand. She listened to his proposal and cocked her head. He was dead set on getting her to come back with him. She knew the history of this family as he had told her everything in an attempt to persuade her. “Fine, six months and if you can’t get me to come back with you then you must leave me alone. I give you my word that I shall come with you.”

She looked down at the club and brought it up under his chin so he could see her eyes. “I got it because beating you might not work but it makes me feel fucking better about it.” There was a smirk on her face for the first time. “So bring on your six months of torment Ivan Volkov. Let’s see just who is the more stubborn wolf.”

The six months were almost up now and it was unlike her to be celebrating but she laid back in her tub with a bottle of alcohol. “One more day and I will have won.” He was escalating and it was only going to get worse if they hadn’t made this deal.

“Predictable? That’s the first I’ve heard anyone say that about me…”, he reassured her. But to be fair, people didn’t tend to have to deal with him and his antics for very long. In Ayla’s case, she had endured him for a long time now. Apparently, the club did serve a purpose, though he wasn’t sure if it would be as effective as she thought given their history. But he wasn’t also expecting for her to take the bet as quickly as she had either. “Splendid, you are but like a wild stallion, Ayla. Meant to be broken and taken back to Kurayo with me.” There had been plenty of people that claimed he drove them mad simply for being himself, so he believed that he didn’t have to really make an effort any more than that,

But as the months rolled by and he simply did as he always did, it was clearly not enough for she was going used to him. The crops were slowly growing around her front yard and the tunnel had since been closed off as he lived on her territory. He kept thinking of ways to get her to see reason and so far all his ideas flopped in front of his face.

Before Ivan knew it, tomorrow was the final day and she would win. He was desperate yet couldn’t think of a way to outdo her. Perhaps Celeste was right and he wouldn’t be successful. Defeated, he took some old scotch mixed with some other strong alcohols he had over the years. He made the concoction because the regular stuff did little to even tickle him and so he was downing a bottle of it and letting the strong burning sensation flow down his throat as he took his time drinking it. By the time the bottle was over, he reeked of the stuff and slumped his way out of his tent and barged right into her house while still trying to be careful and silent (as much as he could muster). His nose led the way towards her as he snickered quietly and grabbed a nearby cloth and snuck behind her with the grace of a cyclops in a marketplace. The cloth found itself way into the water and placed on her shoulder and neck. A couple of hiccups were sent her away, along with half snickers. “Now, you can’t be showing me your knobs and such again. That’s not like a laaaadddy!”

“You’ve been trying the same thing this whole time… It tries my patience but it is not enough to break me.” Ayla thought she would let him know to see if he had anything else up his sleeves. “I am not an animal for you to own.” She growled at him and clubbed him hard. “Oh… That does make me feel a ton better. I think I’ll be using this on you more often.”

Her bath was nice and hot. It was relaxing and she even had some oils to celebrate in it. However, she heard the idiot downstairs. “What the hell…” He had never actually barged into her house now. She decided to wait and see what he was up to and perhaps it wasn’t her greatest idea.

“You barged into my washroom!” She growled at him when he scolded her. He was now washing her shoulders and her back. “I’m a shifter I don’t care about nakedness.” Instinctively she grabbed him and threw him but slipped on the oils that lathered the bottom of the tub. He wound up in the water with her. “GET OUT!” A crude blush was across her face as he was practically touching almost every part of her in some way or another. “Why the hell are you drunk?”

That was when the god damn splashing started. “STOP,” she growled and finally she threw her arms up. “Just fucking take me to Kurayo. I don’t care anymore.”

Her yelling and screaming barely registered in his cloudy mind as he laughed it off up until he was tossed into the tub itself. It was an odd action as it only made him come back up from the water enough for him to breath. The tub was much smaller than what he had thought and he was more or less over her. Despite her shouts, he, in turn, splashed at her with the scented waters playfully. “Get out or stay in, naughty girl?”

He then went to sniff at his arm and smirked, “Hey, I don’t have that drunk smell really, but don’t worry…I’m not drunk…” He splashed at her again for good measure before her screeching got him. “I’m not drunk, I just felt like having a drink…well a mixture of drinks really, but we aren’t drunk…”

His words slurred out and he was laughing even more than normal. Her surrender hadn’t fully hit him yet as he stopped playing around and looked at her.

“Oh, that. Well, I was drinking, but not drunk mind you because I thought I lost you forever, pretty lady. But it looks like I won.” He sank himself further down into the water. “You’ll enjoy it. Nemesis and Celeste will be pleased to see you and will see what I see in you. So you have to be on your best behavior, Ayla.”

“I meant what I said by get out. I don’t sleep with just any man and definitely not one that has been annoying me for six months.” Ayla glared at him but it was clear he was not of the right mind as he started to splash more at her.

His words struck her a bit more than it should have and her anger started to drain down. “Why does it matter so much to you if you lose me forever? You don’t know me, Ivan.” He got further down in the water with her almost over her, touching her even more and she blushed hard. “I will be. I always am.” Unlike him.

Then he said the one thing that could have possibly ruined the tiny moment they could have shared together by being stupid. “And… you are way too drunk for this conversation.” She leaned over and grabbed the club she had waiting for him. Without much hesitation, she beat him over the head with it and knocked him out. “Oh god, he’s soaked right through though like an idiot.”

She got out of the tub and got dressed before dragging him over to her room and stripping him down to his underwear. The last thing she needed was a whiny needy man getting even whinier because he got sick. After he was stripped she hog-tied him and put him into the bed on the farthest side away from her and climbed in on her own side.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

“Sleep…with…?” Even if he was in a haze, Ivan at least knew what that meant and shook his head furiously. “No, no, I wouldn’t try to get you to do that, without permission. I promise you that.” He was a bit bashful towards that statement but he was more so speaking to her than at her like the last time he saw her naked. If he was sober, he would have shied away and not come into the room.

“Uh…I like you, is all. Don’t meet too many people that captures my attention, especially among women. Bit of a lone wolf”, he said before hiccuping. He wasn’t trying to be a pervert, but the damn tub was too small for both for them to have free space. When she promised to be good for his masters, he smiled and then said something he knew he shouldn’t have. “Oh, and make sure you are dressed and not naked. Might leave the wrong impression.” He looked at the object she searched and pointed, “Hey, that’s that club…” Before he could finish, the last thing he likely saw was the club coming at him and then everything faded to black for him.

It was a long while before he came to, his noggin feeling like hell, not only because of the blow she delivered but also because of the alcohol. “Uhh, tell me I didn’t drink that vile stuff again.” His words were filled with regret as he had no idea where he was and certainly thought he was alone. Soon he felt himself restrained somehow before his mind would register that he was tied up. “The hell?” He actually sounded like a normal person as he struggled about before giving up. Between the night prior and his current state, he had little fight in him.

The longer he gathered his thought, the more Ivan noticed that he was in a bedroom, which meant there would someone around here. “Help?”, he called out right before he was elbowed hard by Ayla. “Hey, why am I tied up? What did I do this time?”

“Shut up,” a tired Ayla said to him as she rolled over after she elbowed him. “You are lucky I let you in the bed at all. You just looked so pitiful in your britches and you shivered a little… I did tie you up in case you tried to touch me again though.” Her honey eyes opened up and she yawned before stretching.

“You damn near touched every bit of me last night and you stunk like some odd mixture of alcohol that I’ve never smelled before.” He kind of sounded normal. “You ended up in my bathtub last night drunk as a skunk… Touched me every which way and I had to knock you out. I stripped you down to your britches so you wouldn’t get sick.”

She let out a sigh as it became apparent that she wasn’t going to get any more sleep. She crawled out of the covers and threw them back as she pulled him and her up. She was on her knees as she pulled a dagger over and began to cut him free. “You won… by the way. All it took was you being drunk like a damn sailor.” After she untied him she crawled off the bed and planted her feet on the floor. "I am going to kick you out so I can get dressed now. I've had enough of Ivan googling me every time I am naked."

After throwing him out of the room she pointed him to where his clothes were. She took a few minutes to pack up the stuff she thought she needed in case she didn't die from the turning and came downstairs in her traveling gear. "Please tell me you are dressed now."

Ivan at first didn’t believe her when she told him what he had done last night. “No, I wouldn’t have done that. The drinking part, yeah I figured that much out, but the touching? I…” For the first time around her, he was at a loss of words. He didn’t want to envision what had happened and was worried that Celeste would somehow find out about it. “She’ll kill me if she finds out. My alpha will have my head.”

After a bit, he started to go over what he could remember from that time period. “Oh, yea…I can remember bits and pieces. I thought I lost so I touched that damn stuff again and got inside your house. And then…you flipped me!” He frowned as she pulled him up and cut him free. “See now we are even, I touched you unknowingly and you touched me and did it knowingly” He rubbed at his wrists and ankles before looking at Ayla. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t remember what else I must have said or did.” But he did remember winning and that put a smile right back on his face, right before she tossed him out of the room. At least he knew where his clothes were and quickly got dressed.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

It wouldn’t take long for him to prepare his things and the two were off per the agreement. The travel was long but in the end, he was back home in Kurayo and safely lead her back to the manor. “Mama Volkov! Papa Volkov! I’ve returned with Ayla.”

Nemesis had been in his study when he heard the boy calling out for them and hissed. He’d thought he had heard the end of this nonsense and of Ivan in general for a while now, but the months snuck up on him. Coming down the stairs, he laid eyes on the beta and then to the girl, looking her up and down. “So she’s the one that’s been beating you black and blue? Should of hit you harder, really.” Ivan bowed at him while Nemesis waved it off. “Of course you always keep your word. My apologies in advance, Miss. The lady of the house should arrive shortly and will judge you accordingly.”

“I didn’t touch you like that,” Ayla sighed a bit.

Soon they were in Kurayo and she could feel them looking her up and down. The general feel of the place was… wrong. Still, she kept up with Ivan and sooner than later they ended up at the huge house. She had never seen a home like this before. It could have housed ten of her clan.

The first impression of Nemesis was that… well, he didn’t like Ivan. Asking her to hit him harder barely made her smirk at all. It was cold… He felt cold. Ivan was annoying but he was warm in a sense. This man was hardened and calculating. It made her mildly uncomfortable.

“Apologies for what… Sir…” She added as she remembered what Ivan had told her before.

“For what is going to happen to you should I see it fit.” Celeste stepped off the spiraling staircase that was hidden away through the corridor. “This is especially painful for your kind. I do hope that my Ivan has mentioned it to you.” Her voice was so soft that it made Ayla jump and to see her… It was just a child soon to become an adult by her figure. She was so small.

“You are Celeste?” Ayla was dumbfounded for a moment and Celeste waved her off with a smirk.

“I am thousands of years older than you are my dear. Do not take my appearance lightly. Ivan is my beta so he is very much special to me… So let me begin by examining you.” She came over and pulled Ayla down to her height. “She’s so strong and well built. Her mind is in good shape too. A true warrior you’ve brought us, Ivan.” There was a frown. “It’s a shame she is a shifter… If she had been human this would be so much easier. The amount of force she puts into beating you is amazing for what she is.”

After a few moments, Celeste gave Ivan a nod. “You may turn her… This will be very unpleasant.”

After the deed was done and Ayla was in Ivan’s arms in what seemed to be an eternal sleep Celeste looked at him. “You will have a rough road. Sires generally choose those they know they will be able to control. This girl is stronger than you. You will need to make compromises. Just because you are stronger because you are a vaewolf means nothing. Once she awakens… if she does. Ivan, she will far greater in strength than you. Her potential is endless.”