2

~Meara

Scrambling backward, I don't stop until my back is pressed against a wall.

The tomb is decently sized with tile walls and a natural ceiling of dirt, which seems unaffected even though I just sank through it.

The air is stale and mossy smelling. Every crevice of the walls and floors are caked with dirt and fresh growth. Water drips down most of the walls, wetting my back while it feeds the flora.

And from what I can see, there is no escape.

My head falls into my hands. This can't be real.

There is a terrible reality that echoes through my head, but I refuse to acknowledge it. This was meant to be a fun, stupid trip. The story is amusing, sounding more like fiction than reality.

And yet here I am, in a tomb that can only belong to one person.

Finally, I drag a reluctant gaze to the stone casket.

It's perfectly untouched. The stone is still bright and polished, as if it were just put here yesterday, while the rest of the tomb decays.

Magic.

It sits a top a dais that is half submerged with crystal clear water. It looks like a disturbing sacrificial pool or something....

I'm not sure how long I sit, letting my clothes get wetter as I remain pressed against the wall, the dirt on my skin turning to mud.

There's no escape. It means there is only one option.

Eventually, I get to my feet, smoothing my damp locks of hair back. My curiosity has gotten me into trouble before, and now is no exception.

My feet are bare as I pad across the tile toward the pool. I must have lost my shoes in the fall.

The room is well lit considering I can't see a single artificial light source anywhere. Instead, the light seems to be coming from the pool, casting a pretty reflection onto the walls and the casket.

I stare down at it's lid, trying to read the encryptions. They look similar to what Hazel has in her spell books, which she told me was once an old language from around the Alpha's time.

Shuddering, I dip a single toe into the shallow pool. The water is bitterly cold, but doesn't knock me dead straight away.

Sliding both feet under the surface, I shuffle close enough to touch the casket.

There is a good chance I'm going to push this lid off and there is going to be a skeleton in there.

Swallowing thickly, I reach out and run my fingers along the surface. It's remarkably beautiful, but in a sad, tragic way. A person was cursed into this against their will...

With as much strength as I can muster, I brace my dirty hands against the lid and push.

At first, it doesn't budge. But after a moment it seems to unstick from whatever ancient seal was on it, and it slides off fairly easily, toppling into the water with a hideous bang.

Water sloshes around my ankles as my attention is drawn to the far wall, where a mechanism clicks, and part of the wall slides back.

Stairs. A way out.

Ignoring that for now, I look down into the casket, my breath catching into my throat.

There's nothing there that I can see. Just pitch black water that laps gently against the casket walls, finally disturbed after centuries. Within it, I can see my reflection staring back.

My nose scrunches up. “Creepy.”

All of a sudden, a figure lurches out of the water, sending the water splashing out all over me and into the clear water, staining it with it's darkness.

I shriek, stumbling back a few steps until I trip on the pool's ledge and fall straight back onto my ass.

There, sitting up in the casket is a man.

I just gape at him, horrified.

His hair, as black as that cursed water, is plastered against his forehead, nearly covering his eyes. He breathes in deeply, frantically as he blinks a few times, waking from an ancient slumber.

Strong hands grip the side of the casket, and from here, I can see tattoo's staining his skin from his fingers to his arms, to his shoulders and chest. They work around his muscles like demonic tree limbs, branching out to the centre of his chest...His heart.

Slowly, hauntingly, he turns his head to look at me.

I nearly faint as shock strikes me right between the ribs. It's a more brutal blow than falling from the ceiling.

The water drips down the sharp planes of his face like ink. His eyes are shockingly blue as they stare me down. They are the shade of the ocean on a stormy day, and just as tumultuous.

“Mate…You’re my mate," he says in a voice that clearly hasn't been used in a long time, laced with a deep accent.

This is the reality I've been too terrified to acknowledge.

I awakened the curse by being mated to this Alpha...A man who was locked down here because he was too dangerous to roam the earth freely.

I scramble to my feet. “No…you’ve got me confused with someone else. See, it’s a long story, but-“

“You’re my mate.” He says it so strongly, so confidently that my body stops as if he commanded it to.

“No. Nope that’s not true," I stutter. There has to be an excuse, a way out of this. Maybe Hazel's magic triggered the curse and this is all a dumb mistake.

He turns his head, surveying the area.

“You’re in my tomb," he murmurs as that gaze sweeps back to me.

I was hoping he didn't know much about the circumstances of the curse that has kept him locked in here. Maybe I could play it off as being an explorer who stumbled onto the tomb, but it's clear he knows how this all works.

“Yes, but-“

“So you’re my mate.” He isn't relenting, and neither is that stare.

I step back into the pool, as if my proximity might convince him. “You’re not listening-“

In a movement too quick to anticipate, he grabs my wrist and yanks me toward him. I'm convinced I'm about to join him in that horrid water but I sink down to my knees right next to the casket as my lips are guided to meet his.

It's not the romantic first kiss anyone would desire when meeting their mate. It's urgent, almost harsh as he holds me against him.

But there it is...sparks. He really is my mate.

Bracing my hands against his shoulders, I yank myself away from his strong grip.

“You are my mate," he exclaims surely. I can't tell if he's pleased about it or not. That strikingly handsome face hasn't expressed much emotion since it emerged from the water.

I wipe my mouth frantically. “Yuck…That water is thousands of years old.”

The slightest crease finds itself between his brows. “It’s been thousands of years?”

“I don’t know, rough estimate?” I shrug.

He just stares at me, like I'm a bizarre creature that needs a weeks worth of examination.

“Sorry. I’m scared," I say meekly. I am faced with a powerful Alpha, if the stories are true. One with more magic than exists today.

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” he assures me, although it doesn’t sound convincing.

“Listen, I need to go…My friend is waiting for me,” I tell him, glancing toward the stairwell that has just revealed itself. Hopefully it leads me up to the surface because this air is lacking oxygen.

As I go to edge past him, he grabs my arm again. His grip is painfully tight.

“I need your help. I’m not capable of walking yet. I need magic to feed on,” he tells me gruffly.

I look at down at his strong arm, at those tattooed fingers wrapped around my wrist. “I don’t have magic.”

“I know. But I sense magic near.” He looks around before his gaze drift upwards.

My body tenses. Hazel…

Knowing her, she’s using magic to try get me out of this predicament, which has caught the attention of this powerful Alpha. If he finds her, there is a chance him using her magic for his own strength may kill her.

“Not sure why that is…ah, I have to go.” I try to yank my arm from his grip but he doesn’t relent.

“You can’t leave. You’re my mate.”

“I know. But you’re an ancient Alpha with magic...” my words drift off into nothingness. I may have just committed a crime by rising him and may have put my entire Pack at risk.

He gazes up with me. His eyes are so blue, rimmed with dark lashes. “So?”

I gape at him. “So? What do you mean…Okay, Im going to go, and find a way to fix this.”

Hazel will know what to do.

“Fix what?”

“I don’t know. This.” I motion between us. This is wrong. I can’t be the one to break the curse, to release this man into this world where he could wreak all sorts of havoc.

"You have awoken me. I owe you my life,” he insists.

His hair is starting to dry, shifting into soft curls already. It would be a beautiful sight if it was accompanied with everything else that's going on.

"I didn't come here with the intentions to resurrect you,” I tell him softly.

"Sire. My name is Sire."

His grip loosens enough for me to pull away. Looking down, I note the red imprint of where his fingers held me.

I know his name. I know the legend, or at least some of it.

"I actually didn't even know you truly existed,” I add.

He frowns. "How could I not exist?"

"Because a powerful Alpha with magical abilities isn't exactly normal." I realise I’m explaining this to a man who has been intombed for many years and has no clue what exists in today’s time.

"It is not normal,” he says slowly, trying to make sense of what I am insinuating.

I rub my arm. "Right. And they don't exactly advertise you existence around here."

"Why not?"

"It's been many centuries. People move on, I guess." It’s sad but it is true.

Sire’s gaze darkens, and suddenly I know why Hazel said his power is something to fear, and should never be released. "They did not want to risk me coming back for revenge."

"Why put you in this tomb if you're so dangerous then? Why risk your mate releasing you?" I ask.

His jaw tightens. "I am not easy to kill."

"So a curse was their only option."

He nods.

I rub my hand down my face. How am I going to handle this?

"This world isn't made for you..." I tell him gently, trying not to be harsh as it needs to be said. "There is a new Alpha now. A new Pack and a new world. I don't know where you fit."

He shifts, looking ready to leave this water as soon as possible. "I am going to murder them all, and take you as my mate."

"No-"

"I will have my strength returned to me soon."

Panic rises up within me. I need to get out of here and as far away from this man as possible before his power is regained...

"Don't come try to find me...I am not your mate," I tell him, rounding the casket before making a dash for the stairs.

He doesn't call out for me to return as I stride frantically upwards.

Probably because he knows that wherever I run, he will find me.