Mated

Thirteen

Malik

'I'm surprised you're being so patient with her.' Ares said once I got back to my car. 'This is all new for. What are supposed to do force her to be our mate.' Dominic said. "We will be as patient with as we need to be," I said. "Ares I will not let you take her from me. I've waited too long for her to let you get in the way." I spoke. Ares fell quiet. I was about to pull out when I saw an elderly woman struggling with a bag of groceries. I quickly got out of her help with her bags.

"Here let me," I said scooping the bags out of her hands. She looked up at me surprised before she smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Ahmad. You're too kind" She said respectfully bowing her head. I gave her a gentle nod before I followed her to her home. "Thank you again, Mr. Ahmad." The older woman said. "It's no problem," I said before turning to leave. "The family next door—" She said pausing making me halt all movement. I turned to look at her and I watched as a bright smile spread across her face. Her eyes shifted from their light brown color to an almost teal color. "Hafidi" (my grandson) She said. I looked at her before her appearance began to morph into the familiar face of my grandmother.

"Jida? (grandma)" I said in disbelief. I hadn't seen my grandmother since the day she died. She smiled walking towards me. I've missed you so much, Jida." I asked as she cupped my face before I pulled her in for a tight hug. "I know, hafidi, I know." She said. "Why are you here?" I asked. "I found out that you found your mate." She smiled. I smiled nodding my head. "I did," I told her. "I want you to listen to me." She cupping my face making me look at her. "Don't let Ares control your relationship with Ahsha." She said surprising me and waking Ares up. He growled lowly. "What do you know?" I asked. "I can't say but don't let Ares turn off your humanity. Don't lose yourself." She said before she kissed my cheek. She hugged me tightly once more before whispering. "Tell the boys to behave and that I love them all very much." She said looking at me. "Please be good to your mate, hafidi." She said. I nodded my head. She gave me a gentle smile before stepping away and I watched as turned back into the original woman.

--

"So how did it go?" Cairo asked we walked into the living room. "I- Where's dad?" I asked. "His office," Cairo said. "Go get Jericho and meet me in his office," I told him before heading back. I walked into my dad's office to see him looking over some documents. "Everything okay?" My father asked. I nodded my head as Cairo, Jericho, and Alex came in. "Jida came and visited me today," I blurted out. They all looked at me surprised. "What did she say?" Cairo asked speaking first. "She said she loves you all very much and to behave," I said looking at each of my brothers before looking at my father. I watched as the three of them processed what I said before we all turned to look at me.

"Malik have a seat." My father said. I sat down and waited for him to continue. "Before you got here I was looking over some documents about Ahsha's family." My father said. "What about them?" I asked as my brothers came and stood next to me. "Ahsha is a direct descendant of a long line of very powerful high priestesses." My grandfather said. "She hasn't mentioned it." I shrugged. "She doesn't know." He said. "So, what does that mean?" I asked. "There's a lot we need to discuss." He said.

Ahsha

I walked inside closing my door and headed towards the stairs only to hear my name being called. I turned to see my parents coming from the living room looking worried which quickly turned to relief as they laid eyes on me. "Hi," I said softly with a small wave. They stared at me for a while before my step-dad spoke. "Are you okay?" He asked softly. I looked at my mother. "Yes," I said. "But he didn't hurt you?" My mom asked. I shook my head. "No, he didn't," I said. "I'm okay. I promise." I said. They both nodded their head before heading upstairs.

I was sitting in a bubble bath when I felt myself unwillingly falling asleep.

--

"Wake up, dumpling." I heard a voice say. I slowly opened my eyes seeing my nana and grandma Marie standing over me. I smiled happily as my nana helped me up before I hugged both of them before I got worried. "What's happening?" I asked. Before they could speak the ground began to rumble before something huge crashed into the distance causing a huge split to come racing towards us. I looked off into the distance to see what looked like an enormous sinkhole sat. My grandmothers both stood in front of me in a protective stance. I watched as the figure appeared from the crash and began walking towards us.

"What are you doing here?" Grandma Marie said. I looked past her and my jaw dropped. "What in the world?" I thought I whispered until I felt his eyes on me. "Who are you?" I asked the dark-haired white man stare back at me. "Hello, little sweet mate." He said attempting to take a step towards me, but he was stopped by my grandmother. "Mate?" I questioned. "You telling me I have four mates?" I asked. "What the hell is going on?" I mumbled to myself. "She needs to know." He said. "You know the rules. She will learn when it's time. You being here is already overstepping." My nana said. "Now you need to go, this is a sacred place." My grandma Marie said. He looked at her before his gaze shifted to me. "We'll meet again, my love." He said gently as his eyes softened.

Before I could ask what he was talking about I began to feel funny. "Ahsha?" My nana called before felt myself being pulled and before I could blink my grandmothers were gone. I found myself standing in front of Malik confused as a headache beat down on my head. "Malik, what is happening?" I asked trying to catch my breath, but it appeared that he couldn't see or hear me. He walked past me, and I watched as he stood in front of an older woman. "Malik you have to stop." The older woman said. Malik stood quietly not looking at her. "You have to—" "Don't." He said. "Your mate is coming but you'll lose her if don't get a handle on Ares." I stood confused as I listened intently. From all the stories I had heard Dominic was the one who had been out of control, so to hear that it was Ares, I was surprised. 

"It has been centuries and she hasn't made herself known yet, I'm done waiting," Malik said although it was clear that Ares was pushing his way forward. They were both hurt that much was clear. "Besides if I'm going to be taking over for father someday, I think it's best to let the world know the type of leader to expect from me." Malik or rather Ares at this point said. "You sound just like your grandfather." The older woman mumbled. "Is that such a bad thing?" He countered. "Yes, it is. Your grandfather wasn't always the way he is today. He used to be a loving and caring man now he's cruel. Do you want to be like him? Not caring about anything but power." The older lady said. "I can't control him." A voice I hadn't heard before pushed through as he spoke softly. I had no choice but to assume that was Dominic speaking. "Ares craves our mate too much and the only way he finds relief is by taking out his anger on others. Malik has given up on him and I can't fight him back on my own." He said before he looked up. 

His eyes were unlike anything I had seen in the few weeks I had known him. They were swirled mixture of his beautiful pale green color which gave him an enticing yet terrifying look. "There is a spell that can be performed to separate Ares from you two." The older woman said. Dominic shook his head. "And let Ares roam free and wreak havoc on the world," Dominic said. So she was the one who thought to separate them. "I'll do it," Dominic said. "Dominic you don't have-" "I do. It'd better for everyone to keep Ares bonded to Malik than to have him roaming around." He said.  

I stared on in awe. Dominic nodded his head before turning towards me. It felt like he was looking right at me the longer he stared. He was only about a foot away from me when he froze closing his eyes inhaling deeply. His eyes slowly opened and connected with mine making me gasp. I watched as the green in his eye began to eclipse by redness. "Dominic you are amazing for doing this. Please don't think that this sacrifice is going to go unnoticed." The older woman said as Dominic continued to stare me down. Suddenly, water began to pool around my feet and quickly rise before Dominic and the woman disappeared. 

--

Soon enough I was underwater and losing oxygen fast until I shot up out the water. I looked around seeing that I was still in my bathroom.

I pushed my hair out of my face and decided that bath time was over. I changed and headed downstairs to find some food. I found my parents, Isa and Veronica sitting at the dinner table. "What's happening?" I asked grabbing some food. They all looked at each other before looking back at me. "I was asking them about the mating process," Isa said. "Why?" I asked before looking at Veronica. "Oh, ew," I said making a face. Although I understood why she reacted the way she did I couldn't get past the first encounter I had with her. "Ahsha we think you should you hear this as well," Ali said.

"Clearly the bond that each of you shares with your mates is growing stronger. We didn't handle this situation correctly in the beginning and for that we're sorry but now we just want to be as transparent as possible about what to expect next." My mom said.  

"During the mating process, there are several stages. The first was finding your mate, then developing a bond between each other. Thirdly you must choose to either accept or reject your mate. If you decide to reject the bond, the ties with your mate will be severed over time. This decision does not come without consequences though. There will always be a lingering and longing pang for something that something is missing. Now if you accept your mate the next step will be to actually mate with each other." I couldn't help but look away from my parents because Malik had already explained this to me. "Malik already explained this," I said which made their eyes widen. "Did he— Did you two—" My mom asked. I shook my head no. "No, he just explained the process," I said.

"But continue," I added. "For Isa," I said. They looked at me a while longer before continuing. "During the mating process, you will be marked," Ali said. "Marked? Like property? Oh nah." Isa said shaking his head. "Well, it's more so to keep others from hurting you," Ali said showing his mark. "Hurting me for what?" Isa asked. "Its basically like a wedding ring. It shows that you're already taken." I said. "Oh." He said calming down a little. "However, for you, the mating process will be very different," Ali said looking at me. "What? Why?" Isa asked. "Her mate is a royal," Veronica said. "Your body will go through a shock as it tries to adjust to the bond being created between you two. When Tyla mated with Cairo she was out of it for a couple of hours before she woke up. However, because you're a human I have no idea how your body will react." Veronica explained. The more I learned about this world the more concerned I became. I was beginning to feel overwhelmed by everything again. "I think I'm going to go lay down," I said almost in a daze.

I stood heading upstairs to my room before I sat at the foot of my bed. I eventually moved towards the headboard and decided to watch some tv to distract myself before I heard a knock at my door. "Come in," I called staring at the tv. I looked at the door to see Isa standing in the doorway. He didn't say anything as he walked in and laid next to me. "This s**t is crazy." He finally said and I couldn't help but laugh. "Can I be honest?" I asked Isa. "Duh, what are twins for?" He said looking at me. "I don't like your mate," I said. He sighed. "I get it. Your first interaction was a little shaky." He said. "That girl was rude to a complete stranger over some d**k," I said. "I know but her reaction was because she wasn't normal. You can't hold it against." He said. "I can," I said. "Ahsha, you're my twin and my best friend. Try for me." He said looking at me. I rolled my eyes. "Way to pull the twin card," I mumbled. "I wouldn't do it if it didn't work." He said smiling. 

 "Can I say one more thing?" I asked. "Shoot." He said. "I've been having these dreams about nana," I said. "Or visions I don't really know what to call them, but she's been visiting me," I said. He looked at me as if he saw a ghost. "Me too." He said.