Spell Bound
Eleven

Arabella

After our revelation that I have started a mating ritual with that damn mutt of an alpha Valentina joined me on the floor. Our food still sitting on the table, long forgotten.

“How do you know so much about wolves?” I asked her.

“Well when you told me your intentions were to go after an alpha I looked into them and I was just so fascinated by what I saw!” She exclaims.

I roll my eyes at her enthusiasm. “Fascinated by how disgusting wolves are?” I ask.

She lets out a small giggle. “Well yes, but I was just talking about the other things that I found out. Apparently the King found his mate and she has these weird powers.”

“Weird powers like what? She better not be a witch.” I’m sure she got this information from the small town full of humans a couple miles away. They are so fascinated by the wolves of the pack lands, they learn as much as they can about them. I’ve even overheard girls say they wish that a wolf would pick them as their mate. Absolutely disgusting.

“Like she can heal people, even though she isn’t a witch.”

That is weird.

“Well, please tell me that you found out that there is some way that you can stop this ritual.” I reach up and scratch the mark on my neck, only I had to scratch more than my neck, I had to scratch down to my clavicle. The itch starting to spread lets me know that whatever this mark was supposed to trigger will only potentially get worse.

She turns to me the frown still on her face. “No, and from what I read what you’re dealing with right now is nothing compared to what you will be feeling the longer the two of you stay apart. Soon your entire body will feel like it is on fire, then you will be in so much pain you won’t even move.” She lets out a sigh at the end of her sentence.

Why would he tie me to him like this? Is this his retribution? Giving me a small window of being the most powerful witch in this world for it to slowly slip out of my grip and be replaced with pain? He knows that I will never go back to where he is after letting him go. Me in the pack lands surrounded by disgusting wolves? That is the last thing I would ever want.

Valentina reaches up and twists some of my hair around her finger. “I’m so sorry, I honestly don’t know what you can do. Your magic is strong. There has to be some kind of spell that can stop this.” She said confidently.

“If I can’t?” I ask.

She gives me a sad smile. “You can always mate with him? I think everything will subside after you do.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Did you just suggest that I go lay down with a wolf!” I scream out.

She flinches slightly and in any other situation I feel bad about raising my voice, but not this one.

I move away from her so we can look one another in the eye. “I would never tell you to lay down with such a disgusting creature ever. For you even to suggest so, you must dislike me very much.”

Her jaw drops, her mouth open in shock at what I just said. “Dislike you? I am trying to save you! You can potentially die if you don’t. Just do it once and then we can flee to your grandmother’s native land. Please.” She reaches and clasps her hands in mine. "Only once then we can live the life that we have been dreaming for years."

“I would rather die than mate with a wolf.”

She sighs again. “You say that now, but when the time comes I know you will do whatever it takes to stay alive.”

I turn away from her, lifting my nose higher into the air. “In any other situation absolutely, but not this one. Plus I think he did this for me specifically for me to die.”

She grabs my shoulder and turns me to face her once again. “Why do you say that?”

“You have to promise that you will not freak out if I tell you.” The last thing I need is for Valentina to freak out more than she already has.

“Freak out? I never freak out about anything?” She says.

“Okay whatever. I don’t really know everything, but the whole thing with the alpha just seems like he set me up.”

She raises her eyebrows at me. “He set you up? It was your plan to abduct him.”

“I know that but the way he acted was just-" I pause, trying to articulate what I am about to say correctly. "Now that I really think about everything I know that he somehow knew that I was coming for him. Like when I captured him, he didn’t even put up a fight at all. You know wolves have superior hearing. I know that he heard me coming, yet he looked surprised as I used those herbs on him. Then when he was chained up he was just relaxed. He didn’t pull on the chains demand that he let me go or anything. He was surprisingly pleasant. You saw with your own eyes he never once attempted to free himself.” I let my stupid thinking put me in harms way.

“Well he is known for being like the most level headed out of all the wolves within the pack lands. Maybe he is just calm all the time and then really calm under pressure.” She suggested, but I can tell that even she doesn’t believe a single word that she is saying.

What she just said didn't even make any sense. He is always calm normally and then extra calm when confronted with conflict? Even the calmest wolf was still a wolf. Their filthy insticts overruled any levelheadness that they may.

“That’s not all. When I did that stupid ritual with his blood he suggested that I give him some of mine too. I obviously refused, I assumed that he was just going to try and bleed me to death. Just as I was about to leave, he said my name. He emphasized it, like he really wanted me to know that he knows it.”

Valentina gasps and clutches at her chest. “He knows your name?” She asked keeping her voice low.

I nod. “I don’t know how, I signed into the hotel under the name Lucy, you know cause I was keeping Alpha Lucian there.” I let out a laugh at my stupid joke. “Anyways, there was not a single thing at that hotel that had my name on it. No books, papers, scrolls, absolutely nothing. That’s why I think he set me up, or at least knew that I was planning to abduct him. I cannot come up with a reasonable explanation of how he knew, but he had to have known. It is the only thing that makes sense."

“Honestly I am going to have to agree with you. He knew you were coming and instead of planning a defense to stop you he lets you abduct you and makes you unknowingly start a mating ritual with him. All of this for what?” She asks out loud.

An idea pops into my head. “I should just kill him. That should stop the mating ritual. We haven't followed through with it all the way so I should be in the clear."

“Do you think you can do it?” She asks.

My confidence has gone down a lot. I thought that I abducted the alpha because I was stronger than he is, but it turns out he was just playing the long game. I still hadn't completely humbled me.

“I’m not sure, but I would rather be dead than be mated to a wolf.” I mean it. There is no fate worse than being stuck with a disgusting savage for the rest of my life.

“Well if you don’t succeed would you like to be buried on your grandmother’s native land?” She asks.

Even though the question is quite gruesome, we both need to be realistic. “If there is enough of me to bury then yes, I would like that very much.”

Having to make arrangements incase of my death isn’t the most fun thing, but I can never be too sure. Especially when dealing with this alpha.

I step into the lobby of the crappy motel. I look around to see that it is empty except for a receptionist at the desk. That eliminates me from dragging his dead body through the front. There isn’t enough money in the world to silence a human when it comes to wolves. Let alone an alpha that I don't doubt that she would recognize.

“Hi Lucy.” She smiles as I walk by.

I wave back, holding in a snicker at my little joke.

I take the elevator, and I can’t help but feel anxious as I get closer to the room.

I reach up and scratch at the mark on my neck. The itchiness has gotten even worse as I feel my anxiety reach levels that it has never been at before.

Though the wolf was calm during everything, I doubt that he will be calm about me attempting to taking his life.

Even though he was really calm about tricking me into starting a mating ritual.

You know what? Screw being calm I am going to go in there and stab him with my knife repeatedly until I feel better. If he wants to put up a fight then fine, I could use it to blow off some steam.

I stomp out of the elevator, and I can feel my anger rising more and more the closer that I get to the door. I yank it open, the lock on it being broken from years ago and storm right to the kitchen.

“You disgusting wolf! Now I know that you tricked me into starting a mating ritual!” I yelled out as I yanked open the knife drawer. I pull out the one that I have been using the most. “I have the best way to end it-“ My yelling is cut off as I turn around and see that the alpha is no longer in the chains.

Before I can even let out a gasp I am yanked backwards, and a big hand covered in my herbs comes down on my face.

As I feel myself start to fade into unconsciousness I fight my body until I am able to raise up the knife and stab the arm of my assailant.

I was for naught, they didn't even flinch as the blood started to poor out of the wound that I gave them.

They don’t even flinch at the stab even though blood is pouring out of the wound.

“That is not very nice.” I recognize the voice as Alpha Lucian’s. His face comes into my view, his smirk is wide as he stands over me. “Looks like I am the predator, and you are my prey.” Is the last thing I hear before my vision turns completely black.