The Lost Goddess, A War On Mates

Chapter 29

Taking a glance at the clothes in my closet I sighed deeply. I bit my lip grabbing the white satin long sleeved button up shirt and stared at it hard. Setting it down neatly folded onto my bed I looked for a black vest and an accenting tie that Salem would like. A small smile crept onto my face thinking about Salem. We had been on a few dates since visiting the witch, but we were always interrupted and had to postpone the rest of the evening. Finding my black vest and a dark green and black striped tie I nodded in satisfaction. I grabbed some black slacks and laid them all out onto my bed.

I went to my bathroom and turned the water letting it run as I stripped. I stared at my hair in the mirror, “Maybe I should cut it?” I pushed it back for it to fall in front of my eyes again. Shrugging I walked into the shower and started to scrub my body with heavily scented Japanese cherry blossom soap. I blushed remembering the day Salem gave it to me as a gift. He had been busy going back and forth between his businesses in the night and had gone out of his way to buy me the scented soap, lotion, shampoo, and conditioner. He said he loved the smell and thought I would like it as well. He had been more considerate and kind since he moved into the coven. Almost as if he was relaxing into his real personality. Rinsing off my body and finishing my shower routine I turned the faucets off. Opening the shower door steam filled the room. I wrapped a towel around my hips loosely and walked out of the bathroom dripping water onto the dark wooden floor.

After drying my body, I put on the lotion and dressed. After fixing my tie in the mirror I frowned at my hair again. It was covering half my face and would make it hard to concentrate. Walking away from the mirror I gathered my wallet and keys heading towards Salem’s room. He lived about two doors down from my room, so it was a quick walk. Knocking lightly, I heard shuffling and then the door opened to Salem with a huge grin plastered on his face. I raised a brow as he gently tugged my hand and led me into the room.

“Are you going to get dressed or go half naked to club?” I smirked pulling him close to my chest by his hand.

Salem smiled and leaned down to my ear whispering, “Do you not like me shirtless Drake? Shame, I thought I was attractive.” I rolled my eyes and pulled him closer by his hips.

“Salem, you are beautiful, but many establishments have a dress code. So, either we go on the date, or we stay home and play? I would much rather go out; we need a minute away from work and the coven.” I smiled kissing his cheek and pulling away as he stared at my eyes.

He seemed distracted today. I shook my head amused and went to his closet grabbing a black fitted button up shirt. He was not a tie guy. Throwing the shirt at his chest I smirked and walked away shaking the keys causing a tiny jingle to echo, “Meet you in the car.”

Heading out the door and down the steps I see a few coven members smiling and going about their night. It made my heart swell knowing they felt safe enough to not constantly bow or treat me like I was above them. They had started to treat Salem the same way and he seemed to like the more family type mannerisms they displayed. The women loved him too, the older ladies were constantly asking when he would propose to me and have babies. I always laughed at his flustered expressions; they were adorable on such a bulky man.

I finally made it down to the garage and opened the door to my Chevy Caprice Classic. She was huge and quite the mafia style car. It always felt right driving it, it was a cheap piece of junk when I found it but after years of fixing it up myself and refurbishing the interior, she was like a brand-new car from the factory line. She was a neon electric blue and had a tiny bat for a hood ornament. I climbed in and pulled out of the garage to the front door. Salem was walking down the steps right as I pulled up. I immediately opened the door for him and kissed his hand.

I had learned a lot about Salem, he was insecure, loving, loyal, but most of all he was a hopeless romantic looking for undying love. Being a vampire that made things a bit difficult for him. We as a species tend to get bored and switch partners many times. Only a handful settled down until one or the other passed away.

He buckled himself in and I took his hand in mine as I drove us to the nearest human city. It had a club that was owned by a fairy. Club Nyx was the top spot, but many humans never went back after their first night. All the drinks catered to supernaturals and that made every cocktail much stronger. The fairies were good about keeping anything harmful from the humans, but they still made the drinks with the same serving portions. It was quite entertaining to watch humans get drunk on a few sips of a cocktail.

After thirty minutes of driving, we pulled up and gave the keys to the valet. It was a fairy woman who stiffened seeing us, even with the peace treaty many fairies stayed away from vampires. We were a huge threat to their species, and they still thought so. I bowed to her indicating peace and she quickly took the car to park. I rolled my eyes taking Salem’s arm in mine heading into Club Nyx.

As we entered the club it was obvious a fairy had been the one to design everything. The club was illuminated with special light bars that pulsed with the music, it had a very nature centered theme with a waterfall feature behind the bar and the whole place resembling a cobble stone brook and woodland area. In the VIP lounge you could see the seats were surrounded by beautiful crystals that glowed. It was one of the most elegant clubs I had seen and yet it felt like any person could enter and feel at home. Nodding appreciatively, I took us to the bar.

“Two wines please, one O- and another A-. Thank you.” They nodded in understanding heading to the back room. They brought out two silver goblets with the blood. I smiled and handed them a twenty-dollar bill. Handing Salem his drink I smile and lead him to a private booth near the back.

Sitting down Salem sat his blood down and looked at me expectantly,” Drake, can you tell me more about yourself.” I nodded smiling.

“Well, I have a good relationship with my dad and coven. My favorite color is orange, my favorite book is The Great Gatsby, I adore art even though I am terrible at it, I play the piano, and I am very insecure of my social skills.” He looked shocked at the last part. I shrugged it off and took a sip of my blood. It tingled on my tongue making me relax.

“What about you Mr. Salem. Tell me more about your family and who you are. You know all about my father and mother, the coven, Aeris…” I smiled sadly at him knowing she was still a sore spot. She would be a threat to him until I found her and claimed him as my solus amor, my only love.

He looked down and swirled the blood in his cup, “I miss my family, I grew up on a farm in the back country. We all loved and cared for each other no matter what. I was the eldest out of five siblings. I had all sisters.” He smiled thinking back and it faded,” I was supposed to watch them while my mum and papa went out to find a nearby town to sell some of our candles, milk, and vegetables. The girls all wanted to play in the forest, so I let them.” He paused and I squeezed his hand lightly as the thrum of the music kept the air filled with comforting vibrations.

He took a big swig of his blood and leaned back staring out onto the dance floor,” They had played in the forest so many times, I did not think that something so terrible could happen.” He looked at me biting his lip and I shook my head pulling him next to my side and letting him lean into my shoulder. It must have been an odd sight considering I was much smaller than Salem.

He mumbled into my shoulder and gripped my hand tight, “It was getting dark out and I went looking for the girls, I found them all after searching for hours. They were all bleeding out in the middle of a meadow that was next to a small brook that was a few miles from the farmhouse. I ran to them all and tried to wake them up crying over their bodies. It was almost morning and then I heard growls.”

His face warped into a tight frown of disgust, “They were rogues passing through I guess, they would have killed me too. I was going to let them, they attacked me, and I was bleeding badly when they disappeared. All I saw next was Kade in front of me. I had no idea he was a vampire, and he had the sweetest smile. He knelt in front of me and sat me up biting my wrist. I did not feel a thing because of the blood loss but next thing I knew, he gave me his wrist and made me drink his blood. He just kept smiling sweetly as if I was a little child that he was offering candy too.” He scoffed and downed the rest of his blood.

“After that I passed out but when I woke up, I was at his home. I tried to leave but I could not go back after he explained to me, I was different from the local villagers and my parents. I stayed with him for years and I thought we were in love but…” A look of sadness and longing broke through his eyes as I nodded and kissed the top of his head. He was tossed aside after being turned, sadly it happened often.

I sighed and pulled him onto my lap to straddle me. He put his arms around my neck and snuggled into my chest. We sat just listening to the music for a while taking in each other’s presence. I pulled his face in front of mine and smiled, “On the plus side, now I have you baby boy.” Salem broke into a smile and nodded kissing my lips quickly and pulling away to stand up.

“Come on Drake, enough of this and let’s go dance, a slow song just came on.” He pulled me down onto the dance floor and I thought we would never leave.

Aeris hummed to herself as she drew every finite detail of the man’s face that she could finally see clearly. His hair was wispy and black as night, his skin was just as pale as hers, but her favorite feature was his eyes and smile.

As I put the finishing touches onto his smile, I sat back satisfied. I now had a bunch of sketches of this one man in different poses and expressions that suddenly flooded my brain. I still had no idea how to find him or who he even was, but he felt like home. I picked up the picture I had just finished. He was holding a little girl and smiling down at her as her eyes were wide in awe at a book he held. They looked happy and to be enjoying the book. It was the first one where I drew myself in with him from a memory that felt faint.

A knock came through my door, and I hid all my sketches quickly. I huffed out in a slight panic and ran to my door cracking it open, “What’s up Drew?”

He looked at me with a raised brow and then frowned, “When I woke up you were not in bed so I figured you went to the pack house for breakfast, but I heard some noise and here you are. What are you doing in here?” He tried to open my door a little further when I shouted, “No, I am fine Drew I was just changing again!”

He narrowed his eyes looking at my dingy art jeans and hoodie. He put on a tight-lipped smile and walked away. I closed the door and let out a heavy sigh. I quickly changed clothes to keep up with my lies. Guilt slowly settled onto my chest as I finished getting dressed and locked my door for the first time ever. Running out the door I ignored Drew drinking his cup of coffee at the counter and went straight to the kitchen.

After Aeris left I immediately went up to her room to see why she was lying to me. I went to open her door and it was locked. I stiffened and growled lowly, ‘she was hiding something in her room from me.’ I went back downstairs and grabbed the spare key I had for her room and opened the door. I went to her desk and looked around at all the papers. I started to scrutinize each picture and did not find anything odd. Many of them were of her, me, landscapes, objects, or random pack members. As I sighed and was about to give up, I noticed a tiny corner of paper sticking out from her little desk drawer.

I cautiously open the drawer and suck in a breath. It was filled with a bunch of rough sketches of a man I had never seen. The sketch that really caught my eye though was completed and had intricate details. I knew this was the vampire prince, but the little girl was vaguely familiar. Red alarms were going off in my head, if she was sketching someone she had never met, she knew this person from before. She was remembering things, if she remembered enough, she could leave. My wolf Rain whimpered at the idea of our mate leaving us and I soothed him, ‘She would not leave us; we were taking care of her. It would be okay; she would let us mark her. We just had to keep everyone else away until the peace treaty in October.’ He stared at the sketch and folded it neatly and replacing all the papers into their rightful places, ‘That is only five months away, we can wait five months.’ Nodding to myself I leave her room and relock the door.

Walking to the pack house I sneak around back and head in towards the Alpha’s office. As I walked down the dark hall, I noticed Colt slipping out of his room as quietly as possible and headed out of the house. I wanted to follow him, but I had more urgent matters. Rain growled already irritable this morning and I pushed him down knocking on the Alpha’s door. Before I could get an answer, I barged in and locked the door behind me.

A loud growl echoed in the room, I did not care, “Where did you get her from?” He looked perplexed as I unfolded the picture and threw it onto his desk.

His eyes widened and he whispered, “Where did you get this?”

I crossed my arms over my chest furious, “She drew that sometime this morning along with a bunch of other rough sketches all like that man. Do you know who that is Alpha?” I had venom dripping from every word and a hard edge to my tone that would normally be deemed as disrespectful.

He stared at the picture with his eyebrows knit together in concentration when he sits back groaning, “I know who that is. The real question is does she know who that is?” I shook my head and he sighed in relief.

I frowned slapping my hands onto the desk making him jump. I gritted out patiently, “Where, did, you, get, her?” My eyes must have been glowing because the Alpha answered instantly.

“I bought her from an auction, they had mentioned that she was found near the vampire territory and was most likely a servant because she was not a vampire herself. I never questioned it.” He seemed exasperated.

“What do we do now then because that picture does not scream little slave girl.” I bared my canines at him as he shrugged.

“We find out what she is thinking and get her to open up. If she realizes that she knows the vampire prince, then she will leave the pack and we will all be doomed by the high council.” He seemed tired and regretful of his slave purchase. She was so young at the time that it was easy to make her forget the past with constant abuse and fear. Now she was feeling safe and loved by me. I went to grab the picture when the Alpha snatched it away. I angrily left the office and headed down to the mess hall. I grabbed a quick plate noticing Lucas was not at the head of the table. Eating quickly, I left for the start of my day at school.

Heading north towards the sea I concentrated my energy into guiding me to the goddess. This section of forest was breath taking and made me feel at ease but, something did feel off as I touched one of the trees. As I headed into a wide meadow, I gasped at the sudden dark energy building. I looked around to find the forest was eerily quiet. Sitting down I quickly pulled out my crystal ball and cupped it gently. I focused intently on the scene before me, she was running happily and freely but the surroundings were vague.

“You remember what happened little meadow?” I looked up as the breeze created a whisper. I closed my eyes and listened intently. As I waited for the meadow and wind to speak with me, I heard a twig snap. I kept my eyes closed even though the low growls vibrated off the thick aura. I scrunched my nose and shushed the wolves. I could sense their surprise and heard them sit down.

Relaxing again I heard the faintest wisp,” North Sea…” I gasped and opened my eyes squealing. I put my crystal ball back into my pack and jumped up. I brought out a special cleansing crystal and went to the middle of the meadow digging a tiny whole. I smiled and put the crystal into the whole burying it gently. Slowly the meadow felt lively and whole again. I stood up finally ready to acknowledge these wolves.

I smirked and hollered out,” Alrighty pups, come on into the meadow.”  Suddenly a bunch of men came out of the woods cautiously and sniffed the air. I giggled and stretched out as the Beta walked closer. I smiled brightly and floated up to his towering height of six foot.

He had a deep gruff voice,” What are you doing on pack lands witch?” He looked stern so I squished his cheeks and gently shook his head back and forth antagonizing him.

“Oh, are you not the cutest little wolf pup I have ever seen. Such a strong little Beta!” He growled and tried to pull away when I smirked and gripped his cheeks tightly. I could hear all the other wolves fighting back laughter. Leaning forward I could see the slightest hint of fear in his eyes, “Now why do you care if I am here? I have no ill will and am looking for someone important.”

Letting go of his face I floated down gently and waited for his response. Clearing his throat, he looked away embarrassed,” Even if you have no ill will you still need to speak with our Alpha for permission to cross pack lands.” I frowned and shrugged walking away. I could hear them following closely behind.

I heard another growl and hollered back, “Do you know any packs near the North Sea?” Suddenly I felt them stop. I looked back at them as the Beta seemed to concentrate hard.

“I can only think of the Blue Moon pack and the Blood Moon Pack. They are much further North than most people and are divided by a human city and territory. Why do you need them?” His words made me walk back to him curious.

“Why would I avoid them?” I raised a brow as he looked for an excuse.

“Well, they are not exactly loving packs and tend to not welcome outsiders except for the peace treaty festival. Although even that welcome is typically quick and hostile anyway.” The Beta rolled his eyes and I smiled.

“Mr. Big Bad Beta, I decided I will go see your Alpha. I have some things to discuss with him.” His eyes glazed over, I smiled at the obedient boy.

Nodding he turned towards the south and I followed silently. Halfway to the pack he stopped and stared at me. I frowned and put my hands on my hips, “Can I help you, Beta?”

He shook his head and cleared his throat, “I was just wondering what your name was?” He seemed hesitant. A twisted smile broke out onto my face as I erupted into giggles.

Floating back up to cup his face I scolded him, “Such a bad pup taking a stranger home. I am the white witch, Alita Narcissa. I am on a quest for the moon goddess. So, be a good boy or I will tell the goddess how naughty you are.” He paled knowing very well witches had a special connection to the goddess. He nodded whimpering slightly at the demented look in Alita’s eyes. As she floated back down to her feet, she seemed to have an air of innocence and sweetness about her again. All the wolves knew better at this point not to test the white witch as they finished the trek back to the pack house in silence.