THE BLOOD OATH

THE MORNING AFTER

ASTERA

It’s almost morning. I can see the daylight trying to shine brighter and brighter. I couldn’t close an eye. All I was thinking about was Maximus, his scent on my skin, on my bed, on my soul. Even though my mind refuses to accept him as my mate, my soul screamed his name in despair. Well, to be honest, it screamed it last night when I almost beg him to mark me. That was so crazy of me! What was I thinking? Was I even thinking? And you, Saradi, you did NOTHING to stop us! What is the matter with you?? Do you want everybody to die? If we mate, my so-called “father”, Maximus’s mother, OUR QUEEN, will die. Not to mention what can happen to us. If the Queen dies because of us, can you imagine what would that do to our pack? To all the packs? To the King? To Maximus… just picture it! What were we thinking??? This must never repeat. “not unless until we solve this problem” – Saradi said to me with a smirk on her face. Am I the only one who is doing all the hard work around here? Feel free to help. It’s not like I can spare it… we need to be more united than ever. What almost happened last night must not EVER repeat, and for that to happen, I really need you to be on my team, on our team. Eventually, if it’s meant to be, it will be, one way or another. If not, we will survive, I am sure of it. “All right, all right! Don’t be such a baby about this! So you kissed. Biiiiig deal! So you asked him to mark you and he pulled out his fangs in order to do it so… biiiiig deaaaal! Get over it, get over yourself, get up, and for the love of Goddess, take a shower, and go find dad!” Saradi told me with her harsh tone. She was right. I must get up, get dressed and go find dad. “AND TAKE A SHOWER!!!”. Yes, yes, of course! And take a shower before this day starts.

MAXIMUS

So, Xander, what was that all about? Are you crazy? How could you pull your fangs out? If she hadn’t stopped us, we would’ve marked her! Do you realize how bad could’ve gone? Do you? Can you? “To be honest, would’ve been THAT bad? Are we sure about that?” we can’t take any chances, especially when so many lives depends on this. “are we even sure that mating ar marking them would brake the oath?” Of course we are, you saw what happened to mom when Astera almost rejected Edric as her mate. “Oh, yeaaah. I forgot about that. But that does not mean that we can’t mate with them.” Xander said to me with a smug smile. I don’t even want to hear about it! If we would mate, I couldn’t help myself to mark her. And it’s not like you’ve been of much use for me, preventing me from making such a huge mistakes. Let’s not forget that we also have a certain silver blonde elven situation which YOU caused. Xander growled and after a while he hits me with “but her kisses felt divine!” that was a surprise! I didn’t imagine Xander as a romantic. He made me laugh with his sad sob… Although he was right, the fact that I knew I must not touch her until this situation is solved made me shudder. I have never seen Xander yearning for someone this much. He really cared about both of them, Astera and Saradi. I was just smitten by the lust that the mate bond was causing, but that made me wonder if there was something more than the mate bond. Would it be possible for me to start falling for her? How could that even be?! I don’t even like her! She’s not even my type! No, it must be the mate bond that makes us acting so crazy! S*it! It’s late! I must run down to the meeting!

-          “Good morning!” I said to everyone.

-          “Your highness!” everyone replied, bowing their heads. Everyone except Astera

-          “Things like this make you unreliable…” Astera said to me with an eyeroll. “We were waiting for you, YOUR HIGHNESS! For the past 20 minutes, all we did was wait. You lost the briefing, Idris will fill you in. You are lucky to have someone so responsible as your Beta. Maybe someday you could even learn a thing or two from him. Starting with how to read the clock. Let’s go! We are already late and we all know she is not the most patient of beings.” If things like being late are making me seem unreliable, things like that make her obnoxious. At least I got my answer. It’s definitely from the mate bond all the “feelings” that I have for her. “hahaha! You are so naïve!” Xander said to me laughing.

-          “Bro'! Help me out! Who are we meeting?” I linked my Beta

-          “A witch. She is one of a kind. We found out that Alpha Astera’s father might be in other realm in which we can get only through a portal.”

-          “Oh, so she is ‘Alpha Astera’. Great! So, now we are going to visit other realms without my consent?”

-          “Huhm… a… sorry, Alpha!” Idris responded embarrassed.

-          “Don’t even bother! At least you are still calling me ‘Alpha’… when is convenient for you…” I said to Idris with a laugh.

-          “Yeah, what was all that “reliability” nonsense all about? Are you really letting her go with that? Or… did you two????? OMG YOU DID, DIDN’T YOU? I thought I caught your smell on her, but I imagined it was from… I don’t know. From the plain, or something.”

-          “No, man! I mean, we did not get to… Wait! What? Do you think SHE is mad at me for not…?”

-          “Well, I did not expect from you to have problems… hmm... perform.” Idris said to me laughing

-          “Wait! What!? It’s not what happened! At all! She asked me to mark her and I…”

-          “NO! YOU DID NOT!”

-          “No, I did not. But… huh… you think that’s why she’s upset?”

-          “BUT WHAT???”

-          “But I may have been pulling out my fangs in order to mark her… Damn!”

-          “Well, giving your situation, you shouldn’t have done that either.” Idris responded with a frown.

-          “It was not like I marked her…” I said to him trying to sound less guilty than I felt

-          “But you almost did. That would’ve been so wrong!“

-          “I know. Should I apologize? What should I do?”

-          “Man, you must really like her! I’ve never seen you like that over some girl! Much less to come to me for women advice! Hahaha!”

-          “It must be from the mate bond! It makes us act crazy! I think it’s much stronger in our case, she being, ironically, also an Alpha… and me being the future King… this must be it.”

-          “Yeaa… neaaah. I don’t think so! I think you really like her! And you are catching some feelings for her! Royal style.”

-          “Enough about me! What’s with you and Michaya? Is she your fated mate?”

-          “Aaah? What do you mean?” He responded to me trying to look cool.

-          “I saw how you two look at each other. It’s ok. I think she will be very good for you. She will help you be a better wolf. I saw how demanding she is. She will not tolerate your ‘liberties’”. I said to Idris with a smile.

-          “Almost as demanding as Alpha Astera. Nevertheless, even if I knew what are you talking about, I think we must withdraw from this romantic nonsense. We stand no chance with this she-wolves.” He replied with a smart-ass line. He’s lucky he’s my oldest and dearest friend. Otherwise I wouldn’t let him get away with talking to me like that. No one dares to talk to me like he does, but even though we are close, he always knew where the limit was and when to stop. I liked that about him. He also had a dirty mouth which amused me, even more knowing how conservative his father is and how… let’s say “free spirited” he is. I am tons more responsible than he is. Astera was, as usual, wrong again about me.

ASTERA

-          “Well, it was about time you show up! 10 seconds later, I would’ve “poof-ed” my way back to my realm.”  Blacklilly said to me, visibly irritated by our delay. Blacklilly was the most powerful being there was. She was part fairy, part witch, but she had a rare combination of magic. She was gifted with white magic and also black magic and she mastered both worlds like no other. “Where we are going, time goes by very different than this realm. Also, there nothing is what it seems. Do not let yourself distracted, do not accept gifts from pixies, fairies, witches, elves, wolves, not even the Devil himself. You must all stick together. When you’re done, you say the words and I will loom in and get you out of there. If you are not in full formation, dead or alive, I will not be able to get you out of there. It is very important for you to understand NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING FROM THAT WORLD into this. Did you understand? Do I need to repeat myself? Looking at your silly faces, it would seem so. DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING FROM THAT WORLD INTO THIS. NOT EVEN A GRAIN OF SAND. There are beings specialized in such… activities. If you want something, you tell me and I will provide. Surcharge for this kind of ‘commerce’ goes without saying. DID YOU UNDERSTAND, you little pups?“ Blacklilly said to us with her grumpy attitude. She was one of the oldest beings of this world. It is said that the Devil himself seduced her mother, a fairy, and Blacklilly appeared from that bond. She was also my Godmother and she took care of me since before I was even born. I was very fond of her and she of me. Her harsh attitude was towards all the beings, and I bet no one in her position could manage that amount of power (not to mention… father) as good as she does. She has a real moral compass which is keeping her always on the right path.

-          “Yes, we do!” I responded to her without hesitation.

-          “All right then. Let’s get it over with! I have enough mojo to cross over just 5 of you. The rest must stay here. Who are the heroes? Beside my pup Astera, of course.”

-          “It will be me with Beta Dina, Gamma Michaya, …” and I didn’t get to finish my sentence when Maximus interfered saying:

-          “And us! Me, and my Beta, Idris.”

-          “Astera, dear, do you agree with this handsome fellow?” Blacklilly asked me visibly humored by this situation.

-          “Yes. They can come.”

-          “All right! Take this and put them around your neck.”

-          “What are this strange looking coins and trinkets that we must wear?” Idris asked curious

-          “The less you know, the better.” Dina responded with a smug on her face.

-          “These are coins for you to pay Kharon for the boat trip. You have 2 coins each, for a round trip. If you lose one, you are f*cked. Not even I could get you back from there. So be very careful with them!” Blacklilly clarified.

-          “Kharon? What kind of name is that? And we are going on a boat trip?” Idris asked enthusiastic.

-          “Yeah… it’s not what you imagine.” Maximus replied.

-          “Oh! Handsome and smart!” Blacklilly said looking at me. “The Moon Goddess outdid herself with this young wolf! Don’t screw this up, dear! I almost like him!” Blacklilly smirked

-          “Maximus, what do you mean? Where are we going?” Idris asked curious

-          “To the Underworld.” Michaya replied with an eyeroll. “You honestly know nothing, do you?”

-          “Wait, what? What do you mean by ‘to the Underworld’? Shouldn’t we be… dead for us to go there?” Idris asked almost afraid of the answer.

-          “Well, what would’ve be the point of my presence here if not for opening you the portal and keeping you alive and safe during your journey?” Blacklilly said with a hint of boredom in her tone. “So, you have the coins to pay Kharon, you have the unicorn finger to keep you undercover and you have the thread on which all this are tied to keep you safe from all the hungry ghosts that are out there. You must not, by any circumstance, take of the thread! Even if it’s preventing you from shifting to your wolf, it will protect you from the unimaginable threats that exist out there. I repeat: DO NOT TAKE OFF YOUR THREAD! With the thread on, you will not be able to shift, to link, to smell, to trace, not even to… fart like an werewolf. You will experience the boring ordinairly human life. THIS is what will protect and really keep you alive in there. If someone figures out you are wolves, you will be dead, like… dead dead, in a blink of an eye. Do you understand me?”

-          In unison, we all answered “YES!”.

-          “Good! There are some things you must now but we do not have the time now. You will figure them out. buh-bye’!” and she opened the portal. It was an orange energy field, round shaped, which felt really hot. We hung the threads like necklace, making sure they are tightly closed, and we went through the portal.