Aurum turned to stare at me with adoration. “I’m so fucking in love with you.”
Joy fluttered in my chest like butterflies. Bursting with affection, I rubbed my cheek against his.
“Me, too,” I replied. “You’re the most perfect alpha I could’ve asked for.”
Aurum kissed my furry head, then turned his attention back to the game. After reorganizing his equipment and leveling up once more, he saved in front of the cave and blew out a heavy breath.
“This is it. Here we go,” he murmured.
We both fell silent as Aurum entered the cave. Even though I’d seen the dramatic cut scene before, it didn’t matter. It felt like I was seeing it for the first time again with Aurum. Our bodies reacted in sync. Freezing when the scene was tense, gasping when plot twists were revealed, getting angry when the arrogant boss taunted us.
Finally, the battle began. Epic music full of electric guitars and rapid drums swelled from the speakers. My blood hummed with dread and determination. I couldn’t defeat the boss by myself. But could Aurum and I do it together?
The battle started easily enough. Aurum set up buffs on his party members and debuffs on the boss. Every once in a while, he’d grab a handful of popcorn and stuff it into his mouth without looking at it, then he’d offer me a piece, too. I was so nervous, I could barely eat, but I remembered what Aurum said about getting enough calories, so I munched on whatever he gave me. Snacks weren’t exactly nutritious, but he fed me healthier meals outside of our precious gaming time. Besides, we needed the fuel for this monster of a battle.
Aurum hissed as our main healer took a big hit. “Damn.”
“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “That’s why you put healing skills on Lukas, remember?”
Relief flashed over Aurum’s face. “You’re right. That was a good idea, Mylo.” He pressed a quick kiss to my cheek before healing the party.
My heart squeezed with fondness. It meant a lot to me that Aurum appreciated my input on video games. I wasn’t used to people taking my advice seriously.
The boss’s health bar whittled down, but it was agonizingly slow. This battle was well-known among fans for being painful and arduous, requiring at least two hours of real-life time. But Aurum didn’t balk. He was just as passionate about this as me.
“What if this battle takes so long that you give birth during it?” Aurum teased, chewing on a candy.
“I better not,” I replied tartly. “I want to see what happens after you defeat him.”
Aurum laughed. “That’s my mate.”
He handed me a gummy candy before launching into the next round of combat. I held it in my paws as I watched anxiously. The boss’s health bar was halfway down now. My claws dug into the gummy flesh and my fangs ripped through it like meat. It was a good outlet for my antsy feeling.
A sudden light broke into the room. Aurum and I both groaned, shielding our eyes from the bright interruption.
“What’re you two doing here, sitting in the dark?” Saffron asked. Sensing our dismay, he shut the door, bathing the room in calm darkness again.
“Fighting the secret boss,” Aurum and I replied at the same time.
Saffron paused, then cackled. “Wow, I’ve never heard Aurum do that with someone who isn’t me before. You guys are really in sync.”
He strolled over to the back of the couch to look at the screen. I noticed that I didn’t feel anxious at Saffron’s intrusion the same way I did when my parents entered my room uninvited. He may not have shared our passion for games, but he respected it.
“Wow, there’s only a little bit of health left,” Saffron pointed out, meaning the quarter chunk of HP.
Aurum shook his head. “It’s taken us an hour and a half to get this far.”
“What?” Saffron cried. “That’s as long as a movie!”
“Yup.”
“Well, I just came by to tell you that Cobalt’s making dinner tonight, so don’t eattoomuch candy. I’ll leave you two alone now,” Saffron said. “Good luck beating that dude.”
He crept back out of the room, careful not to let the outside light blast us as he slipped behind the door.
Our battle raged on. We were in the final stretch now. Each blow we dealt was more desperate; each hit from the boss felt nastier. Our party’s mana was running low, and we had no more restoration items. From here on out, we could only rely on our gaming skills.
“We’re so close,” I murmured, watching the health bar chip away.
