Emerald Kisses

Chapter 5

Lance’s intense stare made Yasmine’s breath hitch. After hearing that type of news Yasmine didn’t know what to think. Every single person that lived here was here because of a tragic background. Yasmine had her own story as well and thinking about it made her miss her wolf. Saguna was the name of her wolf. Her wolf was kind and courageous, she needed her in these times, “I’ll admit that isn’t the news I want to hear, but knowing what’s out there I’m not surprised. It just seems that no matter where we go there will always be war.”

“Not if I can stop it,” Lance’s voice had gone low as he spoke about what was going on, “My family didn’t talk about me because they were afraid I was going to die. Norin Aldwell of the Wolfsbane pack and his Luna Sarah Aldwell are the reasons people are being murdered. At first, we didn’t know who it was, it was just a rogue pack of wolves killing, they were barely anything. Until they started using wolfsbane in hand-to-hand combat, causing hundreds of us to die from our wounds. They are a cruel couple, and they’ve gotten too big. I don’t want you to worry, but when the day comes that they come here, you and the others who won’t be fighting will have to leave.”

Before Yasmine could say anything her teeth were barred and her fists clenched in anger. A low guttural no escaped her throat at the thought of having to leave her home again. Her wolf had shown up again, outraged at the idea of having to escape again, triggered by it, and before she could leave a small whimper echoed in Yasmine’s head, something that Yasmine couldn't interpret the reason why for, “I’m sorry, I can’t control her anymore. The truth is, I don’t see much of her anymore.”

A curious look overcame Lance’s face. He tilted his head to the side as he looked at Yasmine. Her statement made him realize that Yasmine’s wolf was very faint within her. In fact, he could barely recognize Yasmine even had a wolf to begin with. He could almost mistake her for a regular human if he couldn’t sense the strength she had within her, “It is strange, your wolf is very faint, but you hold a lot of strength. Do you know why she’s left you?”

Yasmine’s hands moved to rub her arms. She had an idea as to why her wolf left, but she didn’t want to admit the reason to Lance. She assumed her wolf was ashamed of her. Yasmine had always known Saguna was a wise wolf, she had been with many generations before her and was proud of her lineage and servitude. Without the strength of their wolves and the power they were blessed with they just be regular humans. Yasmine wished she could show her wolf the respect she deserved, but as long as she was still living with Jason and doing as he said without protest, Yasmine feared her wolf would never come back. She was afraid she would sit in the shadows of the back of her mind, watching and waiting for the day Yasmine would stand up, “We’ve been through a lot, I assume she’s tired now.”

Lance didn’t want to pry, but he was unsure what a lot even was. He and his wolf had been through a lot as well. They had seen their comrades die in battle, and friends and family be slaughtered in front of their faces, yet his wolf stuck beside him. He didn’t think Yasmine could have done something to anger her wolf, but you never know, “I see,” he wouldn’t pry as Lance wasn’t a gossiper. He moved at everyone else’s pace, knowing that other people needed more time.

“I don’t want to keep you hostage in here,” Yasmine decided that she had heard enough. It was nice talking with Lance, he made conversation easy, but these topics were starting to get heavy. She hadn’t had a conversation of substance in a long time, and her head was starting to get dizzy from the news, “It’s just a lot, you know?”

“I didn’t mean to overwhelm you,” Lance stood up with Yasmine as she started to walk out of the room, “We must talk more later. I want to hear about the wedding and everything.”

“Here I am getting all this information from you and haven’t told you anything,” she grinned sheepishly while rubbing the back of her neck, “Okay let’s go to the kitchen. Our wedding book is in the china cabinet and I can show you. That’s a conversation I can handle talking about.”

Lance followed behind her as she made her way to the dining area just next to the kitchen. He waited patiently as she dug through the bottom of the China cabinet and pulled out their wedding album. Yasmine looked pleased when she finally popped, a small smile on her lips as she looked at the front of the album. She looked up and met Lance’s eyes with her own before beaming at him, “You found it?”

“Mmhmm,” Yasmine placed the album on the kitchen island as it was higher and opened it for Lance to see, “The day we got married,” she pointed to the pictures and started describing the day. To the dresses she picked out and the décor and how his family had shown up and the roles they played. Yasmine did not have a father to walk her down the aisle, so Jason’s father did instead. The day she got married was also the day she severed the connection to her mate. Hours before the wedding, she had to start the ceremony alone.

An old woman with the wisdom of their customs helped her in the ritual. They had no one who knew who lived in their pack, so she had to travel an hour out at five in the morning to start the ritual. The ritual was conducted in the mountains where the old shamanic wolf woman was most comfortable living and working. The old woman lived in a cave lit by candles, some entrances had been carved out and some walls smoothed. The place was cold as it was nestled secretly in the mountainside. When Yasmine saw the entrance she almost turned back. Yet she pushed on to great the woman standing in the shadows.

“Hi, my name is Yasmine,” she stuck out her hand shakily, as she was a little scared of the woman.

“Ulrica,” the woman’s voice was warm and non-threatening, she led Yasmine inside the cave through the passageways. She was informed ahead of time that Yasmine was coming as it was custom and knew exactly why she was there. There was no need for small talk, “You know once this is done you cannot undo it without the help of your mate?”

“I don’t have a mate,” Yasmine said definitively. Once the ritual was done, Yasmine would know for sure if her mate was dead or alive. It was the only way she could know for sure without meeting her mate in person. She felt she needed to do this, Jason or not.

“I see,” Ulrica did not regard Yasmine any longer, she told her to kneel on the cold floor where a circle of lit candles were. The woman walked over to a table that had a mysterious liquid in it. It was black and she dipped her thumb in the liquid and started marking Yasmine’s forehead while chanting. The smell of the black stuff reminded Yasmine of tar and burnt rubber with a bit of iron to the stench.

The chanting was rhythmic, Yasmine was unsure how long it would take, or what else she should do besides kneeling there. The woman grabbed a plant from the table that Yasmine couldn’t recognize before she burned it and started waving it around. The smoke formed a circle above Yasmine’s head and the air grew thick. Ulrica grabbed another liquid, this time it was bright red with a more pleasant smell; it smelt like roses. She thumbed the liquid onto the exposed part of skin on Yasmine’s chest. Yasmine was told to wear a tank top for this very reason, and then Ulrica continued her chant as she walked in a circle around Yasmine.

The markings on Yasmine glowed, and then Yasmine felt a huge relief from her shoulders and the heaviness on her chest that was lifted that she had never noticed before. The smell of roses had turned sour and the liquid was now a muddy brown marking on her chest.

Ulrica stood back and looked at Yasmine as the smoke was beginning to clear, “Since you are not in pain. I am sorry for your loss,” if the connection between Yasmine and her mate was good and healthy the pain would have been immense during the ritual. This was also something mentioned to Yasmine before she got there. The old woman did not want to waste time with instructions. A dead mate equals a weak connection. An abusive mate was also the same but not completely painless. “The ritual is to sever the connection between you and the goddess’ help to find your mate. It is the connection that keeps you divinely linked to your mate. I usually say it doesn’t mean that you can never meet your mate, just that they will not be easily found by you, and since you initiated, they will not be able to recognize you, but your circumstances are different.”

Yasmine nodded her head. She was secretly hoping she would feel something, that her mate was out there, but glad to know her life with Jason would have no questions about what if, “So it’s true then, he really is gone,” she sighed and stood up, “Thank you, Ulrica, I am happy to know now.”

Ulrica took a damp cloth and wiped the dried liquids off of Yasmine, “Your journey is not over child. This is a new beginning for you.”