The Return of the Prodigal Alpha

08. The call of nature

DAVINA

Mate. A four-lettered word which seemed to occupy my mind fully. I was his mate, and it was difficult to process such information. Mostly because I did not feel it that way. Well, I did feel many things when being around him. He could turn me on with a single look, the deepness of his voice undressing me as if he was chanting in the language of magic. The attraction was there, and it couldn’t be denied. The pull was there too, I guess. But I also thought it would be more vibrant. Anyhow, I could not really compare. Just based on how my dad used to describe his feelings towards mom.

Mom had no clue about the mate bond in general. She understood the theory, of course, but as a human she had different feelings for my dad. It did not strike her as him. She had to develop love for him, and it made dad work his butt off to win her heart.

Was it the same with me? Was I in denial because I was partially human? That could have been a good explanation why the mate bond in me seemed to be dormant.

When Aiden announced that I was his mate, it frightened me. He pushed it too much. He started to speak about claiming me, marking me, making me his forever. And I was like – what the heck?! Why so much of a rush? We barely knew each other. I was not ready to be someone's forever. Moreover, he made it sound as if I was a property. A thing which he owned. I had my studies, and I wanted a career. And this guy, no matter how hot and gorgeous he was, scared the living daylight out of me. I did not want such serious commitments. Yet.

So, I told him we should take things slow, which he clearly disliked. He looked pissed and I was afraid. Not of him in particular. I knew that once werewolves found their mates, they were very protective of them. They fell in love almost constantly. He would never hurt me. But all that protectiveness could very easily turn into obsession. They were too dominant, too possessive of their mates.

Aiden proved himself as one of the possessive guys straight away. I asked for some space, and he refused to listen. I had to yell at him when I found him the next morning waiting for me outside the university. My regular driver most probably lost his job because Aiden decided to follow me.

I was not used to speaking up my mind. I was a shy person, an introvert. But with Aiden, I had to step out of my comfort zone quickly and explain to him to back off. And he finally listened. I haven’t seen him for the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday. Without being distracted by a super-hot alpha male, I could finally focus on my internship.

It was Thursday, my last day of the week in the Black Forest pack. Theresa started to train me in nature elements.

“The first step is to define which element is your dominant one. Witches can, of course, control all the basic elements, but there is always just one which speaks to them more clearly, more urgently. An element that defines their existence.” Theresa’s fingers were tapping on the wooden surface of her desk. On the desk, there were four objects, each one representing the basic nature element. There was a glass filled with water, a candle lit with fire, a single red rose in a pot and a colorful pinwheel used as garden decorations.

“So, which one is yours, Davina? Water, fire, earth or air?” She pointed at each object separately.

“I don’t know, to be honest. What if I can’t speak to nature at all?” I sighed in frustration. The truth was, I never tried to speak to my elements. I had no idea how to do that. And I avoided all classes which required manipulation of the natural elements. I rather assigned myself to witchcraft history, the use of ancient spells, the basics of telepathy and telekinesis and, of course, potions. So far, I have successfully avoided all classes related to combat or nature elements.

“I’m sure you can. You just need to find the proper way to communicate with your element. Look at me. My dominant element is fire.” She snapped her fingers and the tiny flame turned into a bonfire, the dangerous blaze licking the ceiling of Theresa’s office and killing all the air. It gave me a proper jump-scare and I fell from my chair. She snapped her fingers again, her face remaining calm, not a single muscle moving on it. And the devilish flames retracted, transforming back into an innocent little fire burning the candle.

“Whoa! How did you do that and how come the walls and ceiling are not completely destroyed?” I whistled while scanning the room and its white walls. There was not a single trace of ashes.

“As I said. Fire is my main element, so I can control it fully. I ordered it to stay clean, not causing damage. I communicated with it. It’s as if I could hear its whispering, it adores me and wants to stay close to me. Now you try it. Focus on the water in the glass and open your ears. Listen carefully to what it says to you. Try to understand its language.” She encouraged me.

I sat back on my chair and pierced the glass of water with my stare. I tried to clear my head and listen. But there was nothing. Nothing at all. The water was silent, not speaking to me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. And when I opened them again, the water started to swirl slowly, creating a small whirlpool.

My lips twitched into a smile. Was it me doing this? I looked at Theresa briefly and she nodded, acknowledging my control over the water. But once I broke eye contact with the nature element, the water started to be unstable and knocked over the glass on the table.

“Oh my Goddess!” I yelped, quickly wiping the running water with my sleeve before it could drop on the carpet. Theresa chanted some foreign words and the water retracted, slowly returning to the glass.

“OK. Water is not your strongest element. Next one.” She stated without showing any emotion. She was a strict teacher.

I tried the same staring thing with fire but the only thing I achieved was blowing off the candle. The fire was gone and it refused to come back.

“Huh. You just used the air element while focusing on fire. I did not expect that at all. Seems like fire is your weakness. Try to spin the pinwheel too?” I followed the instructions and focused hard on spinning the paper curls attached at its axle to a wooden stick. And it worked. It started to move, rotating the curls in one direction. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not create a huge wind, just a calm breeze.

“That was better. Air responds to you nicely, you just need to master it a bit. We can work on that. I guess we found your element.” Theresa clasped her hands, smiling at me proudly.

“What about the rose?” I looked at the flower which had not fully bloomed.

“You could try it as well. Go ahead.”

I looked at the rose in front of me. It seemed to be sad, lonely. Just like me. She was alone in her pot, her petals still closed up, hiding its true beauty. I knew it was a red rose due to the coloring of the petal tips, although it could hardly be recognizable. I closed my eyes for a brief moment.

“Why don’t you open up, red beauty?” I asked the flower, even though it must have sounded ridiculous. I was talking to a plant! It was a living organism but unable to speak, unable to think. It only responded to other nature elements and to the sun.

“I’m afraid.” A voice echoed in my head. A voice that sounded as if it was not human, yet I could still understand it. I was not sure if it was the rose speaking or if I was just hallucinating.

“Afraid? Of what?” I asked, hoping for the voice to speak up again.

“That I will die alone. If only other roses could accompany me and watch the sunrise with me.” The voice answered with sadness. I felt sorry for it. My heart ached because the flower was depressed.

“Let me help you with it.” I said, although I had no idea how. But I wished so much for the rose not to be sorrowful anymore. I imagined the garden full of other roses of various colors, shapes, and sizes. Butterflies and bees were flying above them, caressing their petals with their fragile wings. The sun was shining brightly, encouraging flowers to open up and feed themselves with the warmth of its rays.

“Thank you. It helped.” The voice talked again. It sounded cheerful, filled with joy. And it gave my heart the necessary comfort.

“Davina.” Theresa called my name. I opened my eyes, realizing that I had most probably dozed off.

“I’m sorry. Did I fall asleep? This is so awkward.” I apologized, hiding my face behind my palms.

“Well, you were in some kind of trance for almost an hour. But look what happened in the meantime.” She touched my hand, putting it down from my face. And I almost forgot how to breathe. The rose in front of me was fully bloomed, the dark red petals opened wide. It was much taller now, and it was not alone. Three more roses bloomed alongside it within the same pot.

“Whoa. Did I do that?” I still couldn’t believe my own eyes. I just talked to the rose and made her grow, open up to the world.

“It’s not just this. Look behind you.” Theresa pointed her finger somewhere behind me. I rotated myself on the chair and my eyes almost popped out from their holes. There was a full rose garden. Roses in various shapes and colors just like in my vision. They grew up to the wall, curling up around the furniture. And the biggest bizarreness was that butterflies and bees were flying and buzzing above each flower blossom. But how was that even possible?

“What is all that insect doing here?” I gaped, still being very much amazed.

“I don’t know. You must have called them to come to your roses. And I guess we can officially announce that you are an earth witch, Davina. The nature element within you called for you and this is how you answered.”