CHAPTER 2: Mate Confusion

Aurielle's POV

*Two Years Later*

“Princess Aurielle, it’s getting dark,” Captain Calder said with his voice firm but polite in that annoying way only he could manage. “We need to head back to the palace now.”

I sighed and brushed my fingers over the cold stone of my mother’s tomb. Two years had passed since the attack in the streets... two years since that boy, Raeyan, had tackled me and saved my life... and yet every time I came here, I still felt like the same confused girl from then.

“I just need a little more time,” I tried.

Calder shook his head.

“We cannot. Nightfall is too dangerous.”

“Please, just...”

“Princess,” he cut in gently but firmly. “We leave now.”

That was that. When Captain Calder decided something, the whole world could fall apart and he still wouldn’t change his mind. I gave the tomb one last look, whispered a quiet “I miss you, mama,” and stood up.

“Fine,” I said. “But this is why everyone calls you boring.”

“No one calls me boring.”

“Oh, they do,” I muttered as I walked past him. “They really do.”

He gave me an amused look but didn’t argue. He never argued with me unless it was about safety... which, unfortunately, was always.

I climbed into the carriage, sank into the cushioned seat and the convoy started moving.

My fingers drifted to my wrist. Well… not my wrist.. to the little bracelet tied there. The same old frayed bracelet from two years ago... the one that had Raeyan’s name carved into the tiny metal plate. I still had it, I still wore it and I still thought about him.

I had searched for him for weeks after the attack, always sneaking off or peeking through the market crowds during short outings but nothing. No boy with bright eyes and a reckless smile. No one named Raeyan, no whispers and no traces of him anywhere.

Sometimes I wondered if I made him up. But then I looked at the bracelet and knew he had been real and that he had saved my life.

“Where did you go?” I whispered to it.

No answer, of course. The bracelet was a bracelet... apparently the only male in my life who couldn’t argue with me.

The convoy passed through the palace gates just as the sun disappeared and the moment my carriage stopped, my father stormed out of the entrance hall with his brows twisted in pure fury.

“What were you thinking, Calder!” he growled. “Bringing her back at nightfall? Anything could have...”

“It wasn’t him!” I jumped out of the carriage before Calder could even open his mouth. “It was me! I asked for more time!”

Calder shot me a grateful look.

My father’s shoulders dropped and his anger melted into something softer and worried.

“Aurielle… you can’t do that. You can’t take risks like this.”

“I’m fine, Father.”

“You are the last Draqueen,” he said quietly. “The last heir of the Lycana bloodline. That makes you the most important person in Vaeloria… and the easiest target.”

“I know,” I sighed.

“Rogues are growing bold again,” he continued. “Rebels who think our family should not rule. They would gladly spill royal blood to end the Lycana line forever. I cannot lose you.”

His voice cracked a little at the end and guilt pinched my chest. He worried too much but he also loved me too much.. that was a very exhausting combination.

“Next time,” I said with a small smile, “I’ll argue with you first, then make the dangerous decisions.”

“That is not comforting,” Calder muttered.

Before my father could scold me again, a servant hurried over and bowed low.

“My king,” he said quietly, “it’s… it’s about Melgaron.”

My father stiffened at the name.

Melgaron the Blood Binder. The sorcerer who hunted my family for generations.. the monster who claimed he would end the Lycana line with his own hands.

I tried to listen more closely but the servant leaned in and whispered and I could only catch one word.. Melgaron.

My father’s face went pale and he didn’t say a word to me. He only turned sharply and followed the servant inside and just like that… I was alone again.

I headed to my room, walking slower than usual. I pushed open my door, closed it behind me and dropped onto my bed.

The room was dim.. lit only by the moon through the window. I stared at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about everything... the way my father rushed off.. the name Melgaron and the pain I saw in his eyes and then, eventually, I drifted off.

***

Cold air hit me first and then a scream ripped from my throat before I even understood what was happening. I was in the forest with my dress torn, leaves clinging to me and my body covered in streaks of blood. My blood!

I spun around, shaking with my heart pounding.

“Who’s there!” I shouted.

No answer came.. only the rustle of trees and my own ragged breathing. Then a voice came through the darkness behind me with a low and cold laugh.

“Little princess,” the voice purred. “You can run… but you can’t hide.”

My whole body went cold and I tried to turn but every part of me felt frozen and trapped between terror and helplessness.

“I’m coming for you,” the voice whispered.

I screamed again... and shot up in bed.

My heart pounded like it was trying to escape my chest and my hands shook as I grabbed the sheets. I looked down at my body.

There was no blood and no forest.. just my room.. just a dream and a nightmare. I pressed a hand to my chest.

“What… what was that?”

But before I could calm myself, something else hit me.

It was a pull… A strange, warm tug deep in my chest... like someone had grabbed an invisible thread tied to my heart.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“No,” I whispered. “It can’t be…”

But it could. It was unmistakable. A mate bond!

The Moon Goddess had linked me to someone.

Finally!!

“Please,” I gasped with my eyes stinging. “Please let it be him.”

Raeyan. The boy from two years ago. The boy who smiled like trouble and saved me without fear.

The pull came again, stronger.

“Yes,” I whispered with hope rising in my throat. “Please let it be...”

A second pull hit me and then a third.

Each one was strong.. each one was distinct and each one was reaching for me from somewhere far beyond Vaeloria.

The breath left my lungs.

“No… no, that’s not… that’s not possible,” I whispered.

But it didn’t stop.

Three pulls.

Three bonds.

Three mates.

My hand flew to my mouth as the truth washed over me. The Moon Goddess had linked me but not to one mate.

Who the hell had three mates?!!