BRAN "Your wounds are not healing."Bran already knew that when he saw the grim look on the man's face, whatever he had to say couldn't be anything good so he wasn't particularly surprised when those words left the older man's mouth."Yes, that's actually why we requested for you," Corey piped in like a smart-ass but the look on his face was a serious one. Solemn. "The wounds are deep, yes, but they were stitched." Ezra, the physician, said, sounding like he was speaking to himself. "Even if they weren't stitched, they would have healed on their own but they're not healing. His leg isn't regenerating either."At the mention of it, Corey's eyes dropped to Bran's legs and a grimace flitted across his face. Bran fought against the urge to look, knowing that he would not like what he saw. It had been three days since the incident, three days since he'd been caught in a grenade explosion and yet, his injuries were still wide open, looking exactly like they'd been that day and his leg sti

MARIA I'm not going to take it off, Maria. Forget it.The words rang over and over in Maria's head even days after.She couldn't stop thinking about it, that little part of her that had thought Bran had been truly changing, unable to come to terms with the fact that he'd actually been able to look her in the face and say those words.He wasn't going to take the collar off. He was serious. She'd known before that Bran was stubborn but with that conversation, he'd unlocked a whole new level of stubbornness entirely. What person would consciously, in their right mind, pick dying over doing anything they could to help themselves? Bran, apparently, because that was exactly what he was doing. Maria had almost freaked out two days ago when the oracle had pointed at her and told her that she was the one that Bran needed. At first she'd been floored, terribly confused, and it wasn't until the oracle explained that Bran had been hexed by a sorceress, the Queen of Evil, that the words made s

BRAN “You called for me.” Bran’s eyes flitted to the oracle. Unlike the last time when she’d just appeared in the room like she owned the fucking place, she walked in this time, her obscenely long gown trailing a long line behind her. He turned his eyes to the cup in his hand and shook it, watching the red liquid swirl inside. “I did,” he told her and, in a flash, emptied the content of the cup in his mouth and slammed it down on the coffee table in front of him, rising. “Why didn’t you tell me that she’s my mate?” The room turned silent. So silent that if a pin were to drop to the ground, they would have been able to hear and locate the exact spot where it fell. It was a loaded silence, filled with unsaid words. Words that were going to change Bran’s life completely. If they hadn’t already. When Bran had woken up that day—after Maria had killed him and miraculously brought him back to life—an alien feeling of power had filled him. It had been almost too much for him to contain

MARIA"Another mate?""Hell, I don't know," the other man sighed. "I've never heard of a person getting two mates. Have you?""Just because it's never happened before doesn't mean it can't happen. You told me how you felt and only your mate can make you feel that way.""And what would you know about mating?" The other man turned the tables around. "Are you speaking from experience?""No, common sense," the first man barked. "What did the oracle say when you asked her?"Man two sighed. "Three words; ask the sorceress.""Fucking Amelia." Man one grunted without heat in his words. "What are you going to do now?""Damned if I know.""The oracle already told you what to do. You therefore have no other option but to do it.""I know, but—""What's it like having powers?"A frown found its way to Maria's face. Powers? Where had that come from? That question had absolutely nothing to do with the conversation they were having and also, the voice had sounded feminine. Small, yet firm and it als

BRAN Bran was pretty sure that a few minutes ago when he'd asked the man standing in front of him to deliver a message to Maria, he'd been speaking, so except by some form of magic, his tongue had dissapeared from his mouth and he didn't have the ability to speak anymore, then he should still be able to speak. "Well?" Bran pressed. "Are you just going to keep standing there staring at me?"The only reason Bran wasn't flipping the hell out on the man right now, was because he was curious as to why it was him standing in front of Bran and not Maria. He'd asked for her to come to him and he'd been expecting her. Yet, here a guard stood instead of Maria. "I-I want nothing more than to tell you, Your Majesty. Of c-course, I would l-love to tell you." The smallish man stuttered and Bran found his ire growing by the second. "It's just that eh...her words were a tad...inappropriate—""Out with it!" The man jumped a mile-high in the air. "Very well." He swallowed, adams apple bobbing. "Yo