Spell Bound
Forty

Arabella

I drag my hands down the long black dress that Valentina tried so hard to talk me out of.

If this is supposed to be my wedding I think I should be able to dress however I like.

Valentina and I argued for hours on end, she even went as far to tattle on me to Lucian and Archer. Lucky for me they were both on my side.

Lucian just wants me to have whatever I want as long as it’s reasonable, and Archer insists that everyone is lucky that I’m going through with this.

So I win.

“You look beautiful, Bella.”

My body jumps, Lucian’s voice startling me. I compose myself before I turn around and see Lucian smirking down at me.

I gasp. “You’re not supposed to see me!” I exclaim as I begin pushing on his chest.

He chuckles as he grabs my wrists. “You don’t believe in those superstitions.” He begins to place small kisses on my knuckles.

“And if I did?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer and begins to kiss my palms.

I roll my eyes at him, and pull my hands away. “You didn’t miss me that much. It hasn’t even been an entire day.”

“Being apart from you is agony.”

My cheeks flush at his words, and I step away from him.

The only word that I can use to describe Lucian is, clingy.

These past few weeks of being in the North pack have been consumed with Lucian.

He’s lucky that I like it.

He grabs my hips and slowly pulls me into his body. “Are you saying that you didn’t miss me yesterday?” He asked.

“I didn’t say that.”

Valentina attempted to put her foot down about us following some made up custom about Lucian and I not seeing one another for a week.

I was fine with it, but Lucian refused to comply. He would replace different ways to communicate with me. He went from mind linking me to using different kinds of spells. Honestly I had no choice but to be pretty impressed by his resourcefulness.

I didn’t exactly discourage his behavior either.

I snuck around to see him whenever he asked, and Valentina busted us every time.

In his room, in the room Valentina was forcing me to stay in, his office and even by the lake that is on the outskirts of his land.

When Archer arrived early yesterday he took Valentina’s side of ‘following tradition’ and dragged Lucian away. If there was someone that could make my mate listen, it was definitely his older brother.

He continues to stare down at me, I know what he wants me to say.

I sigh. “You know that I missed you as well.” I say before standing on my toes and giving him a quick kiss.

I attempt to pull away, but he just presses me closer to him before completely dominating my lips.

This is why I decided not to wear anything on my lips except chapstick. It would be so embarrassing to face the pack after Lucian smeared my lipstick all around my mouth.

I wrap my arms around his neck to steady myself as I let out a small moan.

“I should have known that the two of you would be together!”

I pull away from the kiss as Valentina comes stomping into the room. Archer laughs as he follows her into the room.

“I told you, there isn’t anything that can keep them apart.” Archer said with a shrug. “They cling to one another.”

“Hold up. I don’t cling to Lucian. He clings to me.” I correct.

Lucian smiles brightly at me. “You like it.”

“He’s wrinkling you dress!” Valentina said before pulling me away from him.

I shrug. “Wrinkled dress or not I know I look good.”

Valentina glares at me before turning to Lucian. “You need to leave.”

I slap my hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh. Seeing Valentina bossing Lucian around has had to be one of the most hilarious things that I have witnessed.

I am also glad that I’m not the only one around for her to nag at now.

“I plan on walking her down the aisle.” Lucian said before pulling me back to him.

She rolls her eyes. “Fine, but when this marriage doesn’t work out just know it’s because you both refused to follow tradition.” She warns before leaving.

Lucian and I glance at one another before laughing.

Archer sighs as he watches us. “The two of you are good for one another.”

“I think so too.” I agree with a sad smile.

I’ve been looking and I won’t stop looking until I figure out how to pull his mate out of the fire stone. I haven’t told him. The last thing I want to do is give him false hope, but I’m the most powerful witch on this planet. There has to be something that I can do about it.

“The ceremony starts in twenty, I’ll see you both out there.” He said before exiting.

I frown when I watch him leave.

“He’s still grieving.” I said, when I was sure he was out of earshot.

“He always will be.” Lucian responded. He looked down at me. “I know what you and Valentina have been doing. Whatever you do, however you do it. Just make sure that the two of you are safe.”

I nod. “I will.” I grasp his hand in mine. “I’m the most powerful witch in the world.” I brag.

He throws his head back and laughs. “Yes, I will never doubt your abilities.”

I grab his hand and pull him to the full length mirror.

I stare at our reflections as we stand side by side.

“I never imagined myself being married, and if I had it never would have been to a wolf.” I say with a small laugh.

He beams at me. “But you’ve never been happier.”

“It’s true.” I lean into him. “I’ve never been happier. Marriage, kids. I never thought it would bring me happiness.”

I watch him in the mirror look down and stare at me.

“You want pups with me?” He asked.

I shrug as the slightest blush coats my cheeks. “I’ve thought of a few names.”

He pulls me into his arms and buries his face into my neck. “Tell me.” He demands.

“My grandmother’s name was Nalani, so I was thinking Kalani for a girl.”

I feel his smile from against my shoulder. “She will be strong and stubborn just like her mother.”

I giggle as I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me. “If that happens let’s pray to the moon goddess that she replaces a mate that has the same amount of patience as you do. I also like Lani, Malia, and Alana.”

“What about our son?” He asks.

“Ew gross. I only want girls.”

He lets out a playful growl before nipping my ear. “You will love our pups equally. Boys and Girls. There will be many.”

Many?

“Names, my little spitfire.” He requests again.

I roll my eyes fine. “I like Asher for a boy, because it’s similar to Archer. There’s also Kai and Malo.”

He places a small kiss on my ear. “Our first son will be Asher and our second will be Malo. One named after his uncle and the second being named after his mother. She always wins.” He growls out before placing chaste kisses on my neck.

“So two sons? How many girls?” I ask.

“As many as you want.” He responds before placing his hand on my stomach. “Let’s get started as soon as possible.”

I let out a small giggle as I ran my fingers through his hair. “Let’s hope that they all inherit my magic.” I said before I pulled away from his embrace.

“They will.” He said confidently.

I look down at our wrinkled clothes. “I guess Valentina was right.”

Lucian smirked at me before snapping his fingers.

I watch in awe as the wrinkles in our clothes start to slowly smooth themselves.

“You impress me more and more everyday.” I compliment.

He holds up his elbow to me. “I just want to show you that I am taking magic seriously.”

I slip my arm in the crook of his arm. “I can tell. Now let’s go get married.”

“It is an honor to be one the directing this ceremony. From being the person who helped you replace one another, to being the person who helps you profess your love to one another in front of your entire pack. Thank you.” Marisol says with a bright smile.

My cheeks burn when after her statement.

Professing my love for him in front of a large group of people?

Lucian smirks. “Yes.” He said out loud.

I refrain from rolling my eyes. “You’re welcome Queen Marisol. It is an honor to have you be the one to do this for us.”

She smiles at me. “Just repeat my words to one another.”

Lucian and I promised to have and to hold one another until we cease to exist. To protect and care for not only one another, but the entire North pack. We swore our loyalty to the members before cutting open our palms and dropping a bit of blood into a small bowl. Represented our souls that are now intertwined permanently.

Lucian grasped my hand before the cut healed and placed a small kiss on it. “You did wonderful.” He praised me before pulling me in for a kiss.

My cheeks burned with embarrassment as the pack celebrated. From the cheering, clapping and the obnoxiously loud whistles. They were not shy when it came to celebrating us.

Lucian cupped my face before he pulled away, and he let out a small chuckle. “You will have to excuse them. Archer let them in on my struggles with you. They are excited that you accepted me. Accepted all of us.”

I nod, and smile. “I’m so glad that I did.” I look down at the pack. “It’s about time that I stop hiding and introduce myself.”

Lucian and I walk down the steps and are immediately greeted with a few of his pack members.

A woman holding a baby meets us at the bottom of the steps. A man that I am sure is her mate follows close behind.

“It’s an honor to finally meet you.” She said before bowing her head. “I am Paige and this is my mate Jackson.”

“Jackson is one of my top warriors, he is in charge of training all of the wolves and making sure everyone is in top shape.” Lucian informs.

I smile at them both. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

She removes the blanket from the pup’s face. “And this is Koa.” She said.

I peer over at the small baby.

“Warrior.” I whisper.

She nods. “Everyone in the pack wants to embrace you and your culture. We all want you to know that you are welcome.”

My eyes fill with tears as she gently places the baby in my arms.

I’ve never held a baby before, but I do know that it’s important to cradle their head.

The baby lets out a small yawn, but doesn’t do anything else as he snuggles into my arms.

I look up at Lucian. “He’s beautiful.”

He gently brushes his thumb across Koa’s face. “See a boy wouldn’t be so bad.” Lucian said before placing a kiss on my cheek.

I let out a small laugh. “You were right. Let’s have five.” A tear falls from my eyes and swiftly falls down my cheek.

Paige wipes it with her thumb. “I am so glad that you are this pack’s luna.”

I nod. “I’m glad too.”

I hand her back her baby, even though I had the strong urge to hold him for the rest of the night.

Instead I met with more pack members, slowly getting to know everyone.

Every couple that had a baby eagerly handed them to me, and the number of pups that Lucian and I agreed on seemed to be getting higher and higher.

It’s now been a couple of hours and the sun has set, but the celebrating is far from over.

A few pack members lit bamboo torches and danced the night away.

How could I ever think that I was better than these people.

While I was hating them for solely being wolves, they learned about my culture. I’m sure that some people here know more about it than I do.

The pack is filled with plants that can be found all throughout the North pack. Coconut trees, uala, and Lucian and I’s personal favorite, Teuila.

The pack members most know the story behind that as well because the vibrant red flower can be found all throughout the pack.

The music, the dancing, the food, the decor and so much more is all saturated in things that are important to my people. Now it is important to the North pack as well.

Lucian holds up the fork to my lips. “I hope all of this is to your enjoyment. Our chef worked hard on the Moa Fa’Asaina.”

I take a bite of the chicken, smiling at him as I chew the food. “It tastes amazing.” I say before grabbing a fork and feeding him as well. “This was one of my grandmother’s favorite dishes to make.”

She would have loved this.

She would have loved him.

Lucian beams at me, obviously listening in to my thoughts.

He presses a small kiss to my cheek. “I want to do something. Come with me we will be right back.” He said as he grasped my hand and lead me away.

Lucian guided me away from the celebration. I doubt any of the pack members noticed, they were all too busy dancing and chatting with one another to care.

He finally stops when we make it to the edge of the woods.

“I just want to show you how much I appreciate that you have given my pack and I a chance. I will do any and everything that I possible can to ensure that you are happy with me. You will never regret choosing to accept me as your mate.” He said before placing a kiss on my forehead.

“I will do the same for you.”

He smirks as he takes a small step away from me. “I know you will.”

I roll my eyes. “Hurry up, I want to go back and dance.”

He holds his hands out and a beautiful arrangement of flowers appear in his hand.

“Lucian.” I breathe out.

“Haku Lei. I did this myself. No magic.” He said as he stepped toward me.

“Oh, Lucian.” I gush as he places the flower crown on my head.

“I know that we were supposed to do this in front of the crowd, but I wanted this to be a special moment between the two of us.” He said before placing the lei around my neck. “I used a flower preservation spell. We will have these forever.”

I immediately wrap my arms around him and bring him in for a kiss.

He has done nothing but prove how much he accepts and loves me over the short time period that we have known one another.

He truly is perfect for me.

I will spend the rest of our lifetime trying to be perfect for him.