Bonded By Choice

Chapter 2

    After Sitting and talking with Yeva for nearly two hours, it felt as though we were on our way to being fast friends. I loved her fiery personality. Although only a subject in this kingdom she was anything but soft and you could tell that letting people walk all over her was not something she allowed often, if ever.

    “So, tell me sister. How is it that you are due to have this child any second now, and yet, you met Augustine only a month ago?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Wolf pregnancies are fast, but they are not that fast.”

    Yeva and I giggled while her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

    “Well...” She started in a quiet voice. “Have you ever heard of a chosen mate?” She asked.

    I nodded slowly. “Hasn’t everyone in Anangiria heard of them? It’s the mate gifted to you by the Moon Goddess.” I said confidently.

        “No, that is a bonded mate. A chosen mate is, well, just as it sounds. It’s the mate you choose for yourself.” She explained.

    I knew she had more to say for I could see in her eyes that she was pondering how to start her story, so I waited patiently for her to continue.

    “Jakob and I had grown up together.” Yeva began “We started as neighbors and quickly became best friends. We did everything with each other. And when we started to realize we were developing romantic feelings for one another, it was scary. Wolves are not like humans. We are actually quite uninterested in the opposite s*x until we meet our bonded mates. And yet, there we were, courting one another and falling in love like a couple of silly humans. That is until the night our parents saw us sharing a kiss. They had yelled at us, telling us that we were disrespecting the Moon Goddess! Disrespecting our bonded mates. And so, although our feelings for one another had not gone away, we ended our courting. The thought of our bonded mates finally finding us and then rejecting us for daring to love someone beside them was just too much to bear at that time.” She recounted.

    “Wait.” I said, interrupting her story. “What do you mean reject you? Can a mate chosen by the Moon Goddess do that?” I asked surprised.

    “Oh yes! Both members simply have to state their full name and their place of birth along with their rejection of their mates full name and place of birth.” She explained. “But it is very uncommon, for who would not want to experience the truest and most pure love one could ever fathom?” She asked rhetorically.

    “I have never heard of such a thing. I'm sorry for interrupting, I just had to ask. Please, continue sister.” I urged her on.

    “There is no need for apologies!” She laughed. “It is quite a complicated story if I do say so myself. But anyways, as the years came and went, and our bonded mates did not, we both started to believe that maybe we were one of the unlucky ones. Did you know Achlys, that it's actually quite a common occurrence for us lower class citizens to have our bonded mates die before we ever find them?” She asked.

    I shook my head, eyes wide with shock. “How can that be possible?”

    “Well, it is mostly the lower-class wolves that make up the kingdom’s army. And it is mostly young wolves joining from the early age of sixteen, since that is when the Moon Goddess bestows upon us our beast. But she does not reveal to us our bonded mates until we are at least eighteen. And with only one chance at a bonded mate, it leaves a lot of us commoners very unlucky.” She explained.

    “What a horrible notion to think that one might go their whole life never getting to experience love.” I told her.

    I should know since I am now 28 years old and still without my promised one.

    She shook her head at me with a smile. “No, Achlys! That’s the point of the story. Jakob and I realized that just because we could not experience the love the Moon Goddess had intended for us to, did not mean we could not experience love at all! And so, we chose each other. We chose to mark each other, and like the lovestruck little humans we were behaving as, we chose to marry each other. And then like two people who are truly in love, we chose to create life together.” She gazed lovingly down at her baby bump as tears welled up in her eyes, wiping them away as she laughed. “And then, as if I wasn’t already surrounded with enough blessings, the Moon Goddess brought me my Augustine. I have thanked her every day for giving me my bonded mate and my chosen mate. For receiving a bonded mate like my King, my Augustine who respects that I chose a mate before he came along,” her hand grazed the two marks on her neck, “and is willing to share me. One who is happy to love a child, that isn't his own by blood, as if it were. I am beyond blessed.” She finished with a watery smile.

    I placed my hand on her belly and felt the energy of the child within. A pure and beautiful soul, this child would be its family’s and its people's defender, I could feel it with each tiny beat of its heart.

    “It would give me no greater pleasure than to bless this sweet baby of yours, Yeva.”

    Just then Augustine returned from the business he had been attending to, happiness filling his eyes as he took in the sight before him. “Ahh, what a sight for sore eyes to see my three girls getting to know each other.” He boomed.

    I c****d my brow at him “Three girls?”

    “Yes! My mate, My sister and my baby.” He said confidently.

    “Oh! Are you a psychic now Augustine? One who knows the s*x of babies before they even leave a mother's womb?” I asked.

    I heard laughter as another man walked into the room, giving Augustine a friendly clap on the shoulder.

    “An excited father to be, our King is! So much so he gets ahead of himself at times, but I must admit I am no better than he is, now am I love?” The man winked at Yeva causing her to blush.

    Augustine put his arm around the man's shoulders. "Mark my words Jakob! Our Daughter will be the most beautiful girl we've ever seen, and a true defender of her people!"

    "So, you are the Jakob I have heard so much about today?" I say with a smirk.

    "The one and only! Thank you so very much Coven Mother, for coming here to not only bestow a magical blessing upon our child but to make sure she and Yeva are safe during the birthing process." Jakob said with a deep bow. “I am forever in your debt.”

    "You’re very welcome Jakob! But formalities like bowing are not necessary amongst family, and please, call me Achlys." I told him.

    "Thank you Achlys. I only came to inform you both that all guards and pack warriors have been gathered for this evening's trainings. And they are ready and awaiting only for your arrival. I will stay here with Yeva while you two handle the affair of punishments. Just in case our little girl decides she's ready to come out tonight." Jakob said with a wink in Augustine’s direction this time, which was met with a strong clap on his shoulder.

    "That's the spirit my friend! If you think it, then it shall come to fruition. It's called... Achlys what is the word I'm trying to remember?"

    "Spiritual manifestation, brother." I responded with a soft laugh.

    "Yes! Precisely. I will leave you two, Jakob and Yeva, to the task of manifesting me a daughter! Now please, Achlys, accompany me to the training fields so that we may teach these sad excuses for warriors a lesson they shan't forget!"

    I gave him a sarcastic curtsey. "Gladly, your Highness!"