Chapter 9

NATALIE.

"Damien has until all the petals have faced to find and kill her, if not, both of you die."

"That which!" I snarl as I pace around the room. "That rotten, old, frigid, good for nothing evil, bitch! Aaargh.

"How dare she?! How dare she do something like that?! It was bad enough that she stopped us from meeting for so long, but now she wants to kill us. What is wrong with her?!" I roar.

"You need to calm down before someone hears you and comes in," my wolf says.

"How can I calm down?" I snap out loud. "Didn't you hear her? After all, we went through to find our mate, I find out that we are on a clock. To death?! Oh, come on, how is this fair?"

"I don't think she was thinking about being fair when she kidnapped you as a baby, or when she cursed him, or when-"

"Okay! I get it. She is a bitch."

I stop pacing and sit back on the bed.

"What do we do now?" I ask out loud, both to myself and my wolf.

"We do our best to help them find the witch, at least until…" her voice fades.

"Hello. Hello? Oh, come on!"

Thanks again to that binding that was placed on her by the witch, I tend to lose connection to my wolf. It usually happens when we have been communicating with each other for long periods.

Like now.

With a sigh, I stand up and head to the window. It is dark now, but lamp lights are flickering on that help to boast of a stunning view of the pack. Well-kept lawns and gardens, with clean paved paths and mysterious but tempting woods.

It all calls to me. Just begging to be explored.

The sight is enough to temporarily take my mind off the curse and other prettier mates.

That is, until the door opens, and in walks Damien.

"Well, you took your bloody time, didn't you?" I snap at him.

A split second, laden with confusion before he responds.

"Excuse me?"

"When were you planning on telling me about the death curse on us?"

"Who told yo-, Maya," he growls.

"Yes, Maya. She is beautiful by the way, your chosen mate."

"What is going on right now? Are you seriously jealous?" he asks.

"No!" I snap. "Yes, maybe. I don't know! You are my mate! I have dreamed and fantasized about you for as long as I can remember. And when I finally find you, meet you, I find out you are about to be mated to someone else. You didn't even look for me! How do you expect me to feel?!"

"Hey! I looked for you, alright. I searched everywhere. Went to other people's packs, held tournaments for rogues, I did everything I could think of, this is not on me."

"So, you just gave up?"

"My pack needed a Luna! What did you want me to do?"

"Anything!" I shout back. "I didn't expect you to settle!"

"I did not settle. Maya is a strong and fierce woman. A loyal member of the pack and one of my very best friends, mating her with us not settling."

"I see. So you want her instead. Well, I am so sorry for messing up your plans," I tell him as I turn away from him.

"That is not fair," he says as he walks closer to me. "Nat-"

"What are your plans for the witch?" I ask, cutting him off.

I am not in the mood to listen to anything he has to say on this matter.

"What?"

"The witch," I say, turning back to him. "What do you plan on doing now? I don't know about you, but I didn't escape her only to end up dead by a curse. So, what's your plan?"

He stares at me for a few seconds before he turns away, scoffing.

"I don't know. Maya plans on going out to track her. Which is both reckless and crazy but she insists," he says as he runs his hands through his hair.

"How brave of her. You must be very proud."

"Okay. Enough about this, none of us asked for this mess. Can we at least try to be civil? To each other?" he asks.

With a sniff at him, I turn away once more and answer.

"I can do that."

For a while, I don't hear anything more from him, and just as I am about to speak up again, I hear the good close.

Whirling around, I notice that he is no longer in the room, and feeling very lonely, I slowly fall to the floor.

This is not how I thought this would go.

FAR INTO AN UNKNOWN FOREST.

WILLOW (THE WITCH)

"Ugh," I groan as my eyes flutter open and I scan my environment.

I notice two things first.

One, the enchantments hiding my place are broken, and two, the brat is gone.

I sit up and look around me, wondering how she had managed to do it.

She couldn't have drugged me, I would have noticed instantly.

So what was it?

My eyes fall on the cauldron and I get up to observe it.

There, more myrtle roots than usual.

Impressive.

I knew it was a bad idea to leave those books lying around, though, in my defense, I did not know she had advanced that well in her reading skills.

I had only taught her the basics, enough for her to know what I am asking for when I send her for a particular bottle.

Oh well.

There is only one place, she would head to, to her dear mate.

I wonder how long it would take for them to figure out the death curse linked to the peatlas.

"What a mess," I sigh out.

As much as I would love it, she can't die yet.

There is still so much power I can wring out of her.

I am not done with you yet, Lyra.