Bonded By Choice

Chapter 3

    As we made our way through the halls of the castle we walked in a comfortable silence. It was why I loved Augustine so deeply, why I considered him my family. I could just be with him and not have to put up a facade of who I was. But as we continued to near the castle’s exit, I began to feel uneasy. My stomach was a nervous mess, and I wasn't sure why since I never got a nervous stomach before addressing a large crowd. Why would I? I had been doing so since I was seventeen years old and officially became Coven Mother and Queen to the largest coven in all of Anangiria, the coven of all dark witches and warlocks, Arcane. Maybe I just needed some fresh air?

    When we exited the castle, I removed my hood, lifted my face to the evening sky and took some deep breaths. The sky was a beautiful art piece of oranges, pinks and light blues that were very pleasing to the eye but did nothing to calm my nerves. Standing off to the side of the doors we had just exited I saw one of the castle’s many maids and summoned her. As she approached me, I began untying my cloak. "Please take this and place it in my room."

    "Yes, of course Coven Mother."

    I peeled the heavy coat from my shoulders and handed it to the maid, revealing one of my favorite dark red dresses. The top showed off just the right amount of chest without making me look like a courtesan. My dress sleeves landed just below my shoulders with a loose and comfortable fit. It was necessary that my sleeves did not impede on my range of movement in case of combat. Cinched around my waist was a front-laced black leather corset that accentuated my curves beautifully. The skirt to my dress had an A-line cut, meaning the front of the skirt barely reached the top of my thighs, whereas the back flowed down to my ankles. Underneath the dress I wore skintight, black trousers with pointed black ankle boots. Being a witch allowed me to dress a little more boldly than most women, and I relished in that freedom. Especially now that I was feeling as though I were overheating. But alas, even the removal of my cloak does not relieve the burning I feel beneath my skin.

    I do my best to ignore that my body is falling apart as we approach the large pack of warriors awaiting their King's arrival. The last thing I want is to appear weak to the army, considering I am about to assist in reprimanding them. Standing in front of the warriors, with his back facing us, was what I could only assume to be the lead warrior. It was not abnormal for him to stand apart from the rest as he ranked higher than they did. What was abnormal, however, was that the second I lay eyes on the back of his head the tips of my fingers on my left hand began to tingle.

    Dread suddenly filled my heart.

    No! No no no! Please don't let this be...

    Before I could even finish my thought, I saw him become visibly tense, and I knew he was aware of me too. As he turned to face us his big brown eyes became wide as saucers as soon as they landed on me, and my heart sank to the pits of my nervous stomach. As our eyes held one another's gaze, my soul screamed out the words I had longed to hear until this very moment.

    PROMISED ONE!

    How could this be!? It couldn’t be! It was illegal to interbreed between species. It had been so decreed by The Council.

    The Council was a much-feared group of powerful creatures. It consisted of one witch, one warlock, one werewolf, and one vampire as the leaders. And of course, a deadly mix of the four breeds to make up the Council Army. They were single handedly in charge of maintaining peace amongst all the species of Anangiria and enforcing the law of the beasts. One of the most important laws, the one that must never be broken, was that there is absolutely no interbreeding allowed between species. Balance must be maintained, and the power one single hybrid child would carry could be detrimental to said balance. And so, any time different species were found trying to mate they were executed under the charges of attempting to start a revolution and a new world order.

    But never have I heard of the Moon Goddess making two members of different species lines promised ones, or bonded mates in a wolf’s case. Why would she pair us if we are not allowed to be? Why be so cruel as to make me wait this long for my promised one, only to give me one I could not have?

    The warrior stood before us, shocked into a paralyzed state and I took the opportunity to drink in his beauty. He was tall with strong broad shoulders, his features manly and rugged, like a true warrior. He had the most beautiful golden-brown hair I had ever seen. It appeared to almost glow under the sun's rays, which gave him an angelic appearance. But his eyes, his beautiful brown eyes, captivated me like nothing else could. The way they held so much love for me after only seconds of seeing one another made my heart swell with pride. But when I saw him take a hesitant step toward me, I panicked. No one could know of the grave mistake the Moon Goddess had made! And so, I did what I had to do, to protect us both.

    I composed myself and gave him the most intimidating look I could. "Do you not know your place warrior?" I asked in a cold emotionless voice. "You dare look your superior straight in the eye as if you hold a similar title to mine? Do you know not who I am!?" I demanded.

    The hurt and confusion that filled his eyes broke my heart.

    "Y..Yes. Of course I know who you are. You are the Coven Mother and Queen of the Arcane witches and warlocks. The most feared of all witches. Known for their dark magic and impressive fighting abilities." He answered, adoration returning to his eyes.

    "Then learn your place!” I spat at him. “I care not that you are the leader of all these other warriors here. At the end of the day, you are but one of them. A commoner! And you will address a Queen in your presence the same way any other commoner must! Without eye contact and with a bow. With respect! Besides," I continued the icy coldness returning to my voice, "It is not as though you have impressed me with your leadership skills. Today I walked into your pack lands, strolled through your dense forests, walked among your fellow subjects of this kingdom, waltzed into the castle as though I owned it, and barged into the King's office without ever being stopped or questioned!" I was shouting by the end of my rant when I turned to address a very baffled Augustine. I would have to apologize to him later for the hostility I was displaying towards his people. Ultimately, they were not mine to reprimand in such a manner. "Your highness, warriors such as these will do me no good in a war if ever we were to enact our alliance."

    Augustine collected himself and wiped the confused look from his face before he turned to address his head warrior "Yes, I must sadly agree with you. Why, Draven, was no alert of an intruder sent to me through mind link?"

    Mind linking was a power only werewolves had in which they could speak to one another in their minds.

    My promised love lifted his chin as he glared at me before reluctantly lowering his gaze as he turned to Augustine. "I am truly sorry my king, I was the one patrolling the borders and I, for some reason...” He paused, flashing me with a glare, “smelled no threat. I take full responsibility for this mistake and accept whatever punishment you see fit." He continued.

    He smelled no threat?

    No, of course he didn’t, since I, his bonded mate could never be a threat to him.

    Augustine seemed genuinely surprised at the warrior's admission. "I am very disappointed Draven, I expected better from you, of all people. But your admission of guilt does not excuse the rest of you from fault!” He called to the other warriors of his army. “Our lovely intruder here still should have been stopped along her way at some point!" He spoke. “I pay you all to patrol my kingdom day and night specifically so that you can stop and question anyone who is not from here. So today, as punishment you will train for four hours rather than two! Am I understood?" He demanded.

    "Yes, your highness!" Shouted the warriors in unison.

    I focused once more on my handsome wolf, my heart feeling as though it had broken in two after treating him the way I had.

    "Thank you, your highness!" He said, with his fist over his heart in a show of devotion for his king. He then turned to me and bowed as deeply as he could. "Coven Mother." He said, his voice thick with sarcasm, and then he turned on his heel and walked off to begin the long training he had ahead of him.

    As I stared after him the tingling in my fingers turned to a burning sensation. My body craving to mark him. Witches and warlocks mark their promised loves in a very different way from how werewolves mark their bonded mates.

    When a werewolf finds their bonded mate their canines ache with the need to claim them. It's a nearly unbearable pain, eased only by the act of bestowing their mark. By burying their canines into the soft flesh where the neck meets the shoulder, they intertwine their soul with that of their mates for life. Once the wound is healed it leaves behind a soft silvery mark that shines like the moon itself when the light touches it. It's quite a savage process, fitting for such savage beasts.

    But when a witch or warlock finds their promised one, it's their fingers that burn and ache, yearning to lay their mark over the heart of the person who will be theirs until death separates them. It's a much more romantic and sophisticated process in my opinion. While the witch and warlock share their first intimate experience, in the midst of their c****x they place their left hands over the heart of their promised one, imprinting their hand there forever more.

    I stared down at my burning hand, wondering what I had done to anger the Moon Goddess in such a way that she felt this torture to be a fitting punishment. Yes, I was a witch of the dark arts, but I was not evil. With light comes darkness, there could not be one without the other. I and my people brought balance to the world of magic, or the Moon Goddess would not have created us.

    Augustine cleared his throat, breaking my concentration from studying my hand. "Achlys, please do not take this the wrong way but... The way you spoke to Draven today is not the type of reprimanding I approve of in my kingdom. And I know it's not how you talk to your subjects either. Are you feeling well?”

    “I am sorry brother; I did not mean to disrespect your ruling style. I assure you that was not my intention. And no, I don’t really feel well. Do you mind if I retire for the evening?”

    He pondered over my words before nodding. “Do feel better sister.” He told me before he walked towards the training fields to oversee his warriors.

    As I shut the door to my bedroom I casted a privacy spell so that no one could hear me from outside, slid to the ground and wept. I lay there, a crumpled ball on the floor for hours, regretting all the things I had said to my love, the disrespect I had shown to my other half, my equal. When I could not stand to lay there for another moment I stood to my shaky feet and made my way to the bathroom. My reflection in the mirror was nearly unrecognizable. My icy blue eyes were red and puffy, and my white hair was knotted and disheveled. I gingerly splashed some water on my face to wash away my tears and ran a brush through my hair. Once presentable, I gathered my courage. I had to apologize to him, but most importantly I had to end this before it cost us both our lives. The Council would not rest until they had our heads. They would spread the word far and wide that we were revolting, attempting to create a new breed of beast so that we may disrupt the balance and peace of our world. Our children would be persecuted. I could not allow that to happen.

    I changed into a loose-fitting olive-green dress so that I would be comfortable while I walked through town. If I knew where Draven lived, I could just teleport there, but I didn’t know, so I had to walk. I put my cloak back on and exited my bedroom window, using my powers to levitate myself safely to the ground below. Although I knew not where my love lived, I could sense him, and so I followed my instincts to a quaint cottage on the outskirts of town. It was nestled into the edge of the forest, and I could imagine how nice it must be for him to just walk out the back door, shift into his beast and run for hours through the wilderness. As I approached the front door, I absent mindedly massaged my left hand which was burning with need. I was building the courage to knock when the door suddenly swung open, and I was face to face with the big brown eyes that would forever haunt my dreams.