The Queen's Mate

***Author's Note:

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SYLVAIN

For as long as I could possibly remember I have been enamored by the concept of the mate bond. I found myself drawn to the way people described it as if their entire world suddenly revolved around that one person. As if their heart beat solely for the one they were mated to. As if their breaths filled their lungs because of their mated half. As if nothing bad could harm them because their fated half blanketed them from the clutches of danger.

There was a morbid aspect to the bond that werewolves forgot to mention, or they never mentioned it because almost none cared to reject the bond and we found it almost poetic that we died after our fated half — because one couldn't live without the other.

Except, what if your fated half was the villain in your narrative. What if your mate had done despicable, unforgivable things to the people you loved, and what if it was because of your mate that you had to murder someone who was on your side.

Protection is a compulsion when it comes to the mate bond, especially when you are tied mind, body, and aching soul. Protection means doing things you don't want to but, because it means safety for both you and your mate, you'd find yourself doing it —like standing in a drained lake of your pack stuck in a maze with a witch's bloody, throbbing heart in your hand while yelling at your murderous mate to get the fuck out of there.

Would I have changed what had happened that day? No. If she wasn't my mate would I have done what I did? Still, no. But I had to believe that there was a reason for her being my mate. I had to hold onto that hope that she wasn't all dark and death and that she was salvageable. I had to believe that I could save her.

But first, she had to want to be saved or it was all pointless.

Would I have changed what happened after that day? No. Because I poured everything I had into my mission.

It wasn't attracted to any particular gender, I found everyone attractive. But her, as attractive as she was, it was what lay on the inside that I found attractive. Because under all that darkness was something worth fighting for. It wasn't light and neither was it beauty. It was something more precious than that. Under all that darkness laid someone broken and I wanted to mend her with pieces of my soul. I wanted to fill the void in her heart with a piece of mine. I wanted to repair the scars or at least die trying.

Because I had no way of anticipating that my mate would be my enemy. And, I had no way anticipating that I wouldn't only be compelled to die for her but I'd willingly do it, I'd protect her with my dying breath. The white-haired princess with eyes as black as coal and skin as pale as stars was destined to be Queen. She just hadn't realized that it was written in her fate yet. All she had to do was reach out and grab it with both hands but first, she had to step out of the darkness because darkness blinded her.

She thought she needed the shadows to unlock her full potential but that wasn't what she needed and she would soon realize that. I'd help her realize that.

Tania had a rough road ahead of her but I was going to be her tour guide. I'd show her the path to redemption, usher her through the valley of forgiveness, and teach her how to swim in the storm of love that brewed between us. And even if everyone was against us, even if they hated her, I'd prove to her that our love for one another was enough and would always be enough.

Because love was a form of magic more powerful than the rest. It was a form of magic we both possessed. And a form of magic that would inevitably save us.