The Unmarked Mate

Chapter 22

James

Two warriors were escorting a pretty redhead. She looked young, but witches didn't age as werewolves or Lycans did, she could have been eighty and looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had a melancholic look to her but Elestren was smiling warmly when she saw her.

"Bitch, I've been looking ten years to bloody find you. What fresh hole were you hiding in?" yelled Elestren, it wasn't an insult she was joking with her. The witch laughed.

"You can talk, miss Dahlia!" she yelled back in a smile. She was at the other end of the main street, and in a second she was on the square. Everybody gasped. The werewolves had not met many witches. The two warriors who escorted her stayed standing at the end of the streets still trying to figure out what had happened.

"Hello Sibyl!"

"Good day El!" they hugged each other. They walked inside the packhouse and sat at a table. It was dinner time so most of us walked inside to eat. We left them their privacy. But I couldn't help but listen to their conversation.

"Here you are Miss Dahlia, this is a special for you and this is for you friend" said the cook who brought the food, that looked better than what I had.

"Thank you, Mrs Lambert, you're an angel" said Elestren with a huge smile.

Their discussion seemed to be going well. Elestren told her briefly, without the real details, how she ended up here. But she skipped the Lucius killing her father, the assault and the panic attacks. Sibyl told her she lived in Lycan territory now. But then she mentioned Jessamine, her sister, and her voice cracked.

"Talking about Jessamine, I have things to tell you El." That did not sound good to me. I saw I wasn't the only one listening. Malcolm and Arthur were listening, and some of the werewolves were too.

"Before that I have a question of my own Sibyl. What did you mean when you said "your mate is coming. I hope it turns out well"? You said these words to me a decade ago and I've looked for you for answers, did you know somehow things may not turn out well?"

"Well, this is the thing I wanted to tell you about." She couldn't look Elestren in the eyes. She was scared. Elestren grabbed her hand across the table to reassure her. I had a very bad feeling about this.

"Please listen to all that I have to say. I am so sorry. Ten years ago, we were attacked by werewolves. Jessamine was severely wounded. Two werewolves cornered us, they caught Jessamine. They tortured her for me to perform a spell. A powerful spell very few witches could carry out. This spell is an insult to the Moon Goddess herself: it changes someone's mate. It's not like some potions that exist, which you can use to trick someone into thinking you're their mate, it'll fake it but not hold if the person meets their real mate, because the bond mate is magic from the Goddess herself. This spell gives you another mate. The mate one was given, is no longer theirs until death. This can be a terrible spell but it can work, and the mate bond will be real. It makes them real mates. Ten years ago, when I joined your pack, you seemed to think I hated you. I didn't hate you, I wanted to keep you away from me because of how guilty I felt for doing that spell. But I had to be there. If I had not done it he would have killed Jessamine. And now he has her again. Lucius forced me to do that spell, and I went in your pack for refuge because I needed a piece of you to complete it." Oh Goddess! Elestren suddenly stood up, grabbed the bench she was sitting on and threw it against the wall, shattering it in a hundred pieces.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" She screamed. Everybody turned to her. Her pupils were red. Shit! She was about to shift.

"Everybody out" shouted Alpha Matthew who understood the situation well before anyone else.