Chapter 6

Finals week was almost over! I had almost gotten all of my final exams done. I couldn’t wait to see how I did, but more than anything else, I was ready to get home to mom. I could tell she was getting weak. I didn’t want to think of her not living long enough to receive a transplant, but it was really hard not to. I just knew I would feel so much better when I could see her for myself. It was really bothering me, so after dinner, I went for a run. Singarti was running full-on through the woods until we made it to the waterfall. As soon as I sat on my rock, I felt weird. Singarti growled, “Someone is here. The warriors haven’t caught up to us yet either, so be prepared to fight.” I turned around and saw a huge man with coal black hair down to the middle of his back. It framed a pale face with dark brown eyes. I was immediately under his spell. It felt like the mate bond, but Singarti was apprehensive. I asked her, “Singarti, is he our mate?” She replied, “I don’t know. It feels like it, but I don’t trust it. Don’t let him mark us for now.”

The man approached Singarti, “Hello, mate.” He took off his t shirt and asked, “While your wolf side is absolutely stunning, I would love to see your human side.” He put his shirt behind a tree, “I will leave this here for you to put on.” I walked behind the tree, shifted and put his shirt on. I walked back to where I was and he asked, “Can I ask what your name is?” I replied, “I’m Adele. Would you like to walk back to my grandparents’ house to meet my brothers and grandparents?” He shook his head, “I don’t think so.” He puts his hand against my cheek and I felt tingles, then everything went dark. When I opened my eyes, I looked around to find totally unfamiliar surroundings. The room was dark, the bed was huge and I saw a man who said he was my mate standing over me. Singarti growled, “We are not mating with him or marking him until I know for sure that this is the mate bond.” I reply, “I couldn’t agree more.”

I looked at the man standing before me, “Can I at least know the name of the man who says he is my mate?” He approached me with a wide smile, “My name is Dune and you are my mate.” The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it, for some reason. I groaned as I ran my hand through my hair, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. It must be the stress of finals.” He smiled, “You were only out an hour while I brought you here.” I asked, “So you knocked me out and you are still calling me mate?” He explained, “I didn’t physically knock you out. I just cast a spell to make you fall asleep so that I could get you here. I knew you would want to go home first and I couldn’t do let you do that. We are mates. We belong together. You belong with me. Now.” I asked, “If you were really my mate, you wouldn’t want to hurt me.” He replied, “I didn’t hurt you at all. I only made you go to sleep.”

I countered, “Until I know that this is the mate bond for sure, we will not mate or mark. I need to trust you before I can commit to you for life.” He asked, “Why are you doubting this is the mate bond?” I shrugged, “Just a gut feeling.” I was not telling him where his spell fell short.  He took a deep breath and smiled, “Okay then, this is my room. I can show you to a guest room until you feel comfortable sharing a room with me.” I nodded, “Thank you. I think that would be for the best. Would you happen to have any clothes for me?” He replied, “There are some in the closet in your room, but you won’t need them for a while. At least not until I can mate and mark you. You will not leave this house until then.” I countered, “If you trust the mate bond, why are you locking me up? Are you afraid that I will run away?” He laughed, “Not at all. There are other dark warlocks who live close by. They will try to take you from me if we are not bound.”

I asked, “So you are a dark warlock?” He nodded, “I am.” I nodded, deep in thought, when he asked, “Does that bother you?” I shrugged, “Not really. Especially if you are who the Goddess gifted me with. I will never question her reasoning.” He raised his brows, “But you will question mine?” I shook my head, “You are human, she is not. You practice dark magic, she does not.” He took my hand and showed me to my room, “This is your room. You might want to get some sleep, my love.” I nodded, “Thank you.” I led him out of the room and shut the door. I locked it and tried to mind link my brothers. Something was blocking it. I thought that I would try to call mom and dad tomorrow, but then I remembered that my phone is at grandma’s. I was really sleepy, so I decided that I would just go to bed for now and try to see if he will let me call my family tomorrow. I’m sure they will be worried if I’m not back by morning.

I don’t think I had ever had to work so hard at going to sleep. I was a little upset and thought that he might try to sneak into my room, and my bed, while I was asleep. I knew good and well that he was not my fated mate. He knew about the sparks and the pull, but he must have thought that if he could mimic the physical signs, then Singarti would be convinced. However, my wolf is more cunning than most. She is not easily swayed. I finally decided to use my omega waves. I tapped my foot on the floor and the area around my bed turned bouncy, like a trampoline. At least then I would know if he tried anything like sneaking into my room while I slept.

I asked Singarti, “What are our chances of fighting our way out?” I could feel her shake her head, “No way, lady. I’ve been talking with his bear. There is no way in hell we are going to do this on our own. There are roughly one hundred dark warlocks here. Twenty live in this house alone. Plus, there are cameras and bugs in here. He is keeping a close eye on us. Let’s face it, lady. We are a prisoner… not a mate.” I sighed, as I continued to act like I was asleep, “I figured that. When you didn’t go crazy upon meeting him, I knew he wasn’t our mate. Now we need to survive until we are rescued.” She affirmed, “I got you. We will not let anything happen to either of us.” I smiled in my head, “You’re the best, Singarti.” She rolled her eyes, “Of course, I am. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to us. I’ll keep talking to the other bears here.”  I sighed as I yawned, “Sounds good. Let me know what you find out. I’m going to try to sleep.”

I hadn’t been asleep long before I heard my doorknob turn. I tried to act like I was still asleep when I could feel his eyes on me briefly, then I heard the door shut. I asked Singarti, “Did he leave?” She sighed, “He left. His bear said that he is going to try to get you to accept him today.” I mentally rolled my eyes, “He’s not going to get me to accept him until he meets my brothers, at the very least. I will not have a mate who does not accept my family with me.” I asked, “What was he doing?” She replied, “He was just checking to see if you are awake. He wanted to try to catch you in the shower.”  I sighed, “I will not allow him in there with me. I have already told him I will not mate or mark him until I trust him.”  She agreed, “That’s what we will both do. I will claw his eyes out if he tries it.” Just then, a young lady walked in looking weird. Singarti chuckled, “Already on it. She’s looking a little freaky.”  I smiled at her as she sat a tray on the table next to my bed and walked out without saying a word. It had scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, a biscuit and gravy on it. Singarti speaks, “She is a she-wolf. Her wolf wanted me to tell you not to eat the biscuit. It has wolfsbane in it.”

I nodded, “Okay. Well, now I know what he is trying to do.”