Moonlight Ridge

28

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Leo let out a gasp that quickly turned into a whimper as Mal continued his onslaught. Her body quivered as she fought to control herself and not touch him in return. Then as quickly as he had started, he let her go and distanced himself. She tried to catch her breath as she watched him heaving.

"I apologize but the need to scent you and remove his scent was too overpowering. Come, let us meet with your elven brethren." He rasped.

Leo nodded and made her way out of the small cottage. Mal followed close behind her the entire way. They had arrived at the house that the elves occupied and Leo was going to knock but the door opened. There in the doorway stood Orrian and Tsarra. Both looking at Leo as if they were worried parents. As if she was an unruly young woman that had run away to elope. She forced herself not to groan in annoyance as she greeted them.

"Good evening. May we come in? We have much to discuss with you all." Leo said carefully.

Tsarra narrowed her eyes at them with suspicion but nodded and they moved out of the way to let them in. Leo and Mal followed them to the dining area. All of the elves were seated around eating, including Glarald. Upon them entering, Glarald stood and came over. He embraced Leo and sighed with relief. 

"Aranel. We was so worried when we didn't hear from you. What happened?"

"You need not worry. I am well. Is there somewhere that we can speak in private?"

"Of course. Please follow me."

Glarald led them  into a spacious parlor area. He waited until they had all come into the parlor then instructed Orrian to close the doors. He then turned to Leo and waited patiently. Leo bit her lip nervously for a moment before speaking. 

"No matter what I tell you, you must not be cross." She paused until the elves nodded then continued. " After Alpha Reece marked his mate, I went with Mal in an effort to take away the alpha's scent. We had a....discussion and decided it would be better if we completed the mark -"

A loud gasp from Tsarra interrupted her. Tsarra looked angry and hurt as she tried to approach Leo. Orrian caught her by her arm and pulled her close to him with a shake of his head. Glarald glanced at Tssara a moment before looking at Leo and Mal again.

"Let her finish, Tsarra." He said in a stern tone.

Tsarra flinched from his scolding and allowed Orrian to bring her closer to him. Leo hesitated a moment before continuing.

"It is not permanent. Mal says he knows a sorcerer that can break our bond and free us as long as we do not complete our bond. I have come to all of you and told our truth because you are my kin and because I was hoping you could help with the problem of my uncompleted bond pheromones. Mal explained that any shifter, mated or not, can mark me and force me into a bond with them. I must avoid that at all costs." She finished in a rush then held her breath.

Glarald brought up a hand to his chin in thought. Orrian finally let go of Tsarra and she approached Glarald.

"Permission to speak my heart, Glarald." She said as she gazed at Leo and Mallelis.

Glarald nodded and waved a two fingers to motion her forward. She came to stand in front of them and looked at Mallelis first.

"I sincerely hope this is not some game you play, Master Shifter. For I will not tolerate my cousin being a jest nor you abandoning her when she may need you." She told him with a deadly tone that was the very opposite of her usual bubbly nature.

Mallelis seemed as surprised as Leo that she spoke to him that way, as he said nothing. Then she turned to Leo.

"Cousin. I am truly remorseful that this all has happened to you. I wish that you had come to us first but we cannot change it now. I am angry but I also still care about you and stand by you no matter what." Tsarra told her before going back to stand by Orrian.

Glarald now stepped forward.

"It is true that this situation is not ideal. However, perhaps we may be of help yet. We can help with a masking spell for the unbonded scent. You two will still need to be fairly close to each other for the spell to work. As to a sorcerer that can undo a mated bond....there is only one magic wielder I know powerful enough to do that. Truthfully, I am astonished that the master shifter would suggest it because the sorcerer is none other than your forefather. And if he did the spell, he would also banish Mallelis to walk Earth and keep you in Athrea."

Leo turned sharply to Mal in disbelief. Mal glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, then back to Glarald. He nodded and stepped forward.

"I have considered the consequences and accepted them. He is Leonna's only hope to break our bond and secure her happiness elsewhere." He said evenly.

Glarald smiled at him with something close to pride and nodded his approval. Leo was still in shock and simply looked down at her hands as Glarald continued to speak.

"Very well. Let us start with the scent spell." He turned to Tsarra and Orrian. "Please gather the master and intermediate mages. We will need them all to cast this spell." 

Orrian and Tsarra left to complete their tasks. Glarald made his way to the door before turning. 

"I shall go to gather the materials we need. Please wait here." 

The silence that followed in the elves' departure was deafening. Moreover, the tension that came quickly after the silence was insufferable. Leo gathered her courage and turned to Mal.

"Why did you not tell me about what would happen to you in order to break our bond?" She said in a soft voice.

Mal eyes were already on her when she had turned to him and now his eyebrows rose in surprise.

"In truth, I did not believe it would distress you. I do not have any misconceptions about my mistreatment of you when we first laid eyes on each other until today. It pains me to think that I caused you distress, and I do not know if that is on account of the bond or due to you growing on me." He said with a rueful smile.

Leo smiled back at him briefly before frowning.

"I will take that as a compliment. Perhaps I have grown fond of you as well, for it does cause me some distress to contemplate that you will be shut out of the only home you have known." 

"Fret not, Leonna. I will find my way in this realm. Let us not dwell on that. I am more interested in the fact that you have grown fond of me." He chuckled the last part.

Leo narrowed her eyes and pointed at him in mock anger.

"Yes, I have. However, I am not a fan of your beard. I believe I should grow more fond of you without it." She teased.

Mal put his hand over his heart in mock hurt as Leo laughed at him. He broke into a smile as she continued to giggle. Someone clearing their throat caught their attention, and Leo turned to see elves at the door looking at them. Glarald strode in holding items and placed them on a table.

"Let us begin." He announced.

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