The After Effect

Blake POV I opened my eyes. I was drenched in sweat for what felt like the hundredth night in a row. I hadn’t had a moment’s rest since my conversation with the moon goddess. Every time I tried to close my eyes her words would repeat in my head again and again, until I was practically shaking. As the days passed by and the beginning of the semester grew closer, I stopped being able to feed, even the thought of it made me nauseous. I was avoiding James like the plague. I had to. If he found out what had happened he would have to tell the elders and I would be killed. I wouldn't be able to blame them either. I'm a liability now. I stared at myself in the mirror, there was a packed bag by my feet and a timetable on my desk. I would just have to hope the ring would be strong enough to subdue it. •••••• A month ago, in the early hours of the morning, one of the coven elders, Marcus, called on me. I was supposed to become a student at Duke University. An inside job. A few wolves from nearby packs would be beginning their first semester soon. My objective is simple; test if the new wolfsbane ring works by attending a couple of classes with the wolves, even make friends with one. Then report back to the elders. I could start next month, or hold off until semester two and let James do the first one instead. James and I would be separated for atleast 6 months either way, which was never ideal for us. We worked best together and are trained to fight together. Not alone. So I couldn't figure out why the elders wanted us to go separately. Though it was only for a semester, I'd judge if the ring could work on the wolves for that long and then I would go back to the coven. Besides, a couple of months in my lifetime is nothing. Whether to go now or later was my only concern. Staring at the ceiling of my room, I began weighing up the pros and cons when a woman with grey eyes, waist-length white hair and dark glowing skin spoke to me. I couldn’t physically see her but she was a vivid image in my mind. “Hello child.” Her voice rung in my ears. Fuck, this cant be good, I thought to myself. I decided not to respond and continued staring at the ceiling above me with my mouth slightly open. “I would advise you to enrol soon, it is very important you are in attendance this coming semester.” She continued emotionlessly. It didn’t take long to guess who she was, the moon goddess. She's a deity to the wolves, which made the fact she was here talking to me very suspicious. Recovering from my momentary shock, I began to feel uneasy. She shouldn't be here. It's her job to help the wolves, not start fraternizing with someone like me. The enemy. I'm no regular vampire. The members of the coven are hand picked and then trained relentlessly to make the best possible fighters. And once a coven vampire is fully trained, we complete jobs dictated by the coven elders, jobs that are supposed to give us an advantage over the wolves. “For someone who is not my god, you are awfully comfortable giving me advice.” There was no change in her expression at my words, “you are ignorant young vampire, it is imperative you meet her.” My eyebrows furrowed “why now though?” I questioned. “I will be happy to meet her, whoever she is, in semester two.” “You cannot wait until then. Besides, why would you wish to hold off on meeting your mate?” Ah, it all made sense suddenly. She's trying to protect some pups' mate bond. Though that didn't explain why she was so set on me taking the first semester of the Duke job. “I don’t have a mate until I choose one.” I spat out. For vampires, there were no fated mates, just those who fell in love and chose each other. The way it should be, love shouldn’t be coerced the way it is with the wolves. “You will change your mind once you meet her Blake!” she replied, apparently unaffected by my response. Being part of the coven meant my knowledge on wolves and their customs was immense. I've read about the mate bond in several books. From what I know, I would be able to feel the bond too. Which left me with two options. One, I don't go to Duke at all, but then I would have to explain this whole moon goddess situation to the elders, which was out of the question if I wanted to live to see another day. And option two, James could do semester one so I can bide my time. At least then I could try to find a way out of this. There was also option three - though I didn’t even want to consider taking the risk. “You using my name as if I am one of your own makes no difference in my opinion. I don’t want and have never asked for a fated mate. I am no wolf. Don’t try and force this curse onto me,” I glared at her in my mind. "Besides, James will do semester one and by the time semester two comes I will have figured a way out of this mess." At my words, her expression changed for the first time, from indifferent to a look of sadness and then disappointment. Before she sighed and her face became devoid of emotions once again. “If that is what you believe, Blake, but hear this. If you are not there with her, she will die and you Blake will never find peace for as long as you live!" And with those words, she was gone.