ACCEPTANCE

It was alright.

That was the last thing Lixian thought as the sudden sound of a gunshot could be heard at the same time glass shattered from next to them. The demon's eyes shot open in surprise and gasped as Raya jumped inside through the window, screaming angrily at Torin who aimed the gun at the intruder.

"Raya!" Lixian yelled in horror as, again, a gunshot echoed through the small room.

If Raya was hit, then he didn't show it. Because he immediately stood up from the ground again and attacked Torin with a dagger he didn't recognised, slicing his chest mercilessly again and again while screaming at the top of his lungs. Lixian watched in shock as his little mate tackled the man down, crawling on top of him to bash his head onto the floor brutally.

"Raya, stop he's dead." Lixian breathed after a few seconds, his legs giving out on him. His whole body trembling at how much blood he had lost. "Baby stop."

Raya breathed heavily, coughing in process because of the fire all around them. The demon could see some serious burn wounds on the human's limbs and felt tears well up in his eyes. Raya eventually threw the dagger away, heaving for air while staring down at the man underneath him. Dead, Torin's lifeless eyes staring right back up at him. He turned his head quickly, as if he remembered he wasn't the only one there, and broke out into heartbreaking sobs the moment he saw Lixian alive.

"It's ok, you're ok." The demon tried, slowly slumping back against the wall behind him. Flames coming dangerously close to his body. Though it shouldn't affect him as he was a demon after all. "You need to leave, it's dangerous here."

Raya crawled towards him, his body shaking with fear and what he'd just done. His bloodied hands capturing the creature's face while he leaned his forehead against him, crying softly as he thanked the goddess herself for letting him make it on time. Just a second longer and he had been too late.

"Baby we need to leave." Lixian muttered, softly groaning after when pain shot up his shoulder as he nudged Raya's head.

The human was a trembling mess as he looked up, his brown eyes puffy and face all red. Raya nodded in response, his shaking hands trying to help the demon up from the ground.

"You go first." Lixian said while limping towards the broken window, his body trying not the lean to much on the smaller male.

"N-no, go." Raya shook his head, his voice hoarse and squeaky as his hands pushed him forward.

"No, I'm not going first." Lixian growled angrily.

Raya whimpered as he shook his head again, his eyes darting around the room frantically, as if he was looking for something. Lixian was about to yell at him to listen until he suddenly ran somewhere, crouching down. "Raya, we need to go!"

The older quickly ran back, sobbing softly while pulling on Lixian's hands behind him. The demon was about to tell him it was no use, but the click sound that filled his ears and the loss of heavy chains around him caused him to turn around quickly. Hands free.

He couldn't get a word out as he picked up his mate, hugging him quickly before carefully climbing out the house. The skin on his hands warming up as he touched the burning wood, the few shards of glass scraping past his legs. Raya could only cough and crawl with him, gratefully grabbing the stretched out hands who helped him down.

They limped a few feet further away before collapsing down, Raya embracing his demon while still trying to catch his breath. Lixian groaned in pain, but didn't push him away. He just couldn't. Silent tears streamed down his face while glancing up at the house through his damp hair, the flames eating up everything it could find, leaving nothing behind. He laid down onto the leaves and pulled Raya with him, hugging his mate closer as he broke down into tears too.

"I'm so sorry." He croaked out. "I-I'm so sorry."

"Why are saying sorry?" Raya frowned, leaning up slightly to lock eyes.

"I couldn't protect you." Lixian broke down. "I was so useless, I couldn't even keep you safe from three humans. I should've just died there, you would have found a better person to love you and hold you. I-I am so sor—"

"Nothing is your fault." Raya shook his head stubbornly and leaned down to place his forehead against Lixian's, closing his eyes. "And I could never find anyone better then you, my heart already belongs to you." He whispered softly.

"No—" Lixian cried, only to be cut off by Raya's lips. He broke down again while pulling his mate closer, accepting the human's loving kisses as he could feel fingertips caress his jaw.

"I am yours and you are mine." Raya mumbled against his lips, opening his eyes to lock them with the tearful ones underneath him. "Don't you dare blame yourself. You had nothing to do with this, this is their fault."

Lixian only nodded, his chest hurting with sorrow. He sniffled softly and wiped away some stray tears, the hand cupping his cheek helping him.

"I love you, Lixian." Raya mumbled. "I would do anything for you."

The demon's face morphed into a sad frown while slowly sitting up, remembering he had seen some serious wounds on him. "Y-you need to go let that checked out."

"I'll be fine, we need you to be checked out and heal up." Raya argued, following his lead in sitting up. "Besides, they're not that bad." He grumbled, looking down at his arms and legs.

"Yes they are."

"Are you calling me ugly?"

"N-no!" Lixian exclaimed while flushing red. "We need to find someone for the both of us." He stated eventually, trying to get back up by himself.

Raya rolled his eyes and helped him up onto his feet, grabbing one arm to pull it around his shoulders and support him. He ignored the glare from Lixian and started their journey to the town nearby. From there they needed to find Raya's friend who knew a lot about nursing someone up and hope they didn't encounter anyone else who wanted to hurt them.

Lixian watched Raya from out of the corner of his eyes and saw him suppressing his tears, his lips wobbling slightly as he tried to blink them away. Knowing how it felt to leave everything behind, he couldn't help but kiss Raya's head softly and whisper: "Everything is going to be alright."

"I know." Raya breathed sadly.

New cover :))