Beneath the surface: Forbidden love

Marisela

I watch Kael close the door and my shoulders instantly slump.

Why did I say that?

There was a light breeze and my body shivered slightly, I instinctively wrap my arms around myself.

I know before I came here, I wanted nothing more than to not be with Kael, but now that I am here... now that I've met him, it's different now

So much has happened since I arrived. With my little understanding of us being mates, I know for a fact that a part of me wants to be with him, but the other part of me isn't entirely sure of what I want.

My whole life I lived in Greemalia. All I ever knew was what was behind those castle doors. And now, now that I'm here in Calarrad, everything I've ever known was a lie.

I have a mate. One who is not only human, but a Lycan, king to all were kind. A person made specifically for me and I for him.

But that's not all.

I always thought my mother and I were the only ones of our kind. How delusional I was to believe that. Now, someone of my kind is after me.

Why!?

None of this made any sense. Did my mother know? Of course she had to have known something. But why lie to me and make me believe that it was just us.

And the prophecy? God, that just confuses me further. I have someone I am destined to be with, but on the other hand the prophecy clearly says that our union will bring destruction.

A freaking prophecy!

My whole life was planned way before I was even born, and I had not a clue what I'm supposed to do.

I knew I needed answers to get a better understanding. I could find a book that would explain all of it, but that would take forever. I needed answers now, and the only other person who I can talk about this with, hates me.

What do I do Marisela.

After an hour of thinking and not coming up with anything, I finally had enough. I had to put my pride aside and talk to Kael. With a deep breath, I got up off my bed and made my way to the one person who possibly doesn't want to even see me.

The hallways were empty, and the only sound were echoes of my feet hitting the ground. I should probably turn back. What if he's asleep? Or what if he doesn't want to talk to me. The former would hurt a lot less than the latter.

In no time I was standing in front of the door I had become familiar with over the past few days.

Before I could tell myself to just give up, I knocked on his door. After a few seconds there was no response. I was about to knock a second time before giving up entirely and going back to my room, when the door opened.

I took in a sharp in take of air when I saw him standing there shirtless. God he was beautiful.

"Princess." He says surprised to see me standing there gawking at him.

Get a grip of yoursel!

"Uh-hi." I blush, "sorry I didn't mean to bother you, I just- uh- can we talk?" I scramble. Kael watches me with such intensity before nodding and opening the door wider allowing me to enter.

As soon as I step foot into his room, I am engulfed with his smell. I am just standing there awkwardly while he watches me.

Speak damn it!

"Can you tell me more about mates?" I spit out the first thing that comes to mind, ignoring the blush that makes it's way onto my face. His body tenses slightly, but quickly relaxes when he nods his head towards the bed, gesturing that I take a seat.

"Sure, what do you want to know about mates," he says as he takes a seat beside me, keeping a much needed distance. "I think you know just about all there is about mates really."

"Yes, I suppose you are right," I sigh, "but I don't know, is there like a certain ritual that we have to do to complete it?"

Kael laughs lightly at this, which eases my tension.

"I suppose you could say that." He smirks, and I blush at the underlined meaning.

"Come on Kael, tell me." I blush feeling very fidgety. "What do we have to do."

"Well," he gets up and makes his way over to the tiny bar in the corner of his room. "In order for us to complete the mating process, we have to actually mate."

"Wait," I look at him confused, "mate as in actually..." my cheeks redden and Kael's grin widens.

"Yes, we have to have sex princess."

Realisation dawns on me and my cheeks redden almost instantly.

"You have got to be joking!"

"There's perks to competing the mating process." My ears perk up at this.

"We feel each others emotions, our minds open up to each other, we become one." He says like it's the best thing ever.

"Isn't that like an invasion of privacy?" I ask sounding completely appalled by the idea. Kael laughs.

"In a way yes, but there is way to block each other out from doing that, so it's not totally an invasion of privacy as you so put it." He says as he walks over to the bed with a drink in hand.

"Will we be able to mind link as well, you know that thing you do when you zone out?" I ask instead, he smirks at this.

"Huh, I didn't think you'd notice that."

"Really? It's so hard not to notice when your face looks like this." I try to mimic him and fail dismally. Kael breaks out in laughter which tugs at my heart. I've never heard him laugh

"Yeah," he begins once he's controlled himself, "you also get to communicate with the pack through the mind link."

The pack.

Woah.

I let out a breath, I don't think I'm ready for all of that yet.

"There's no rush princess, I will go at your own pace, whenever you're ready," he says sounding sincere, "but its really hard on my wolf, sometimes I can't control him and he takes over." He can probably sense me panicking beside him, ''he wants to mark you now, but I'm not going to allow him to do that, not until you're ready.''

My heart warms at how much he has been trying to fight his wolf for my sake. I can't begin to imagine what he must be going through. When our eyes eventually meet, my own soften at the sight of his.

So many emotions flicker in his eyes, none that I can call out, but one thing is for sure, Kael would never do anything that will hurt me in any way.

"Besides, in order for you to be able to communicate with the rest of the pack and become one with everyone, you have to meet everyone else first." He says, "there's a ritual that we both have to partake in."

"A ritual?" I repeat.

He nods his head. "The elders will set up a gathering with everyone in the pack, kind of like a wedding," he laughs quietly to himself, "and then at the end of it your mind will instantly become one with the pack."

I didn't say anything after that. My mind was all over the place taking in all the information he has just fed me. One thing however made me freeze.

"Wait, will the pack know that I joined the pack?" I ask him. I watch as his face turns a slight shade of pink and nods his head.

"That means everyone will know we had sex!?" I cover my face with my hands and groan. I hear Kael laugh beside me.

The nerve of this man!

"Hey," he says removing my hands from my face. The electricity that flows through me where he's hands touch do not go unfazed.

"It's natural for us wolves, so no one will think much of it, if anything they will be proud to have you as their Luna." He tells me with a small smile.

"Luna, means queen." He clarifies for me.

This warms my heart and eases my anxiety a bit.

""I trust you." I admit quietly as I turn my head to look at his face. I watch as a small smile plays on his lips.

"But I just need time." He nods his head in understanding.

"And about earlier," I continue awkwardly, he instantly freezes, the hurt flashing in his eyes before he looks away. "I didn't mean it that way, I'm really sorry Kael, I didn't mean to upset nor did I mean to hurt you." I watch as his eyes soften and his body physically relax at my words.

"I will wait for as long you need, love." My heart skips a beat at the endearment he had used.

''There is still so much we don't know about each other Kael.'' I whisper.

"I guess there is maybe one thing I haven't told you." He scratchers the back of his neck awkwardly.

"There's more?!" I almost yell. I look at him waiting for him to continue.

"What is it?" He looks slightly agitated. And for the first time, I see a tinge of pink on his cheeks.

"As werewolves, when we find our mates,'' he begins, "To let other wolves know that they are taken, we stake our claim." I look at him confused, hoping he would elaborate more.

"We mark them." My eyebrows rise in confusion.

"What do you mean mark them?" His eyes instantly wander to my neck and my hand instinctively moves to where his eyes land. I gasp at the realisation.

"You have to bite me!" I say incredeously.

"Yes," he says looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Are you insane!" I had meant to say that in my head but it slipped passed my lips.

''Can I ask you something else?'' I ask him a few moments later.

''Anything, princess.'' he replies.

''How come you aren't afraid of me?'' It took him a while for him to register my question, eventually he sighs.

''I could never be afraid of you, princess. You're a Siren, so what? I'm a Lycan.'' I wanted to smile at him, but I couldn't, he had no knowledge about Sirens, or what we're capable of.

Instead of saying anything to him, I nod my head and look away. Kael and I stay in a comfortable silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I feel him move to stand up with his arm stretched out to me.

"Come on," he smirks, "it's getting late, let me walk you to your room, we can continue this conversation tomorrow if you'd like?"

I smile at the thought of him walking me to my room like a gentleman. I gratefully take his hand in my own, and we make our way out of his bedroom to my room.

The walk is quiet, but comfortable. Both Kael and I were lost in our own thoughts. Eventually we reach my bedroom door. I turn to face him and see that he's already watching me.

"Thank you for bringing me back to my room."

"Anytime, princess." He smirks.

"Goodnight Anna." He places a small kiss on my temple, and this time I allow him. When his lips finally let go, he takes a step back.

"Goodnight." I say to him as I wave a small goodbye and walk into my room. As I close the door, I lean against it and wait a few seconds before I hear Kael walk off.

** The next day**

''I get that Kael wants me to know how to defend myself, but couldn't he get me a much nicer trainer?'' I whine. Maria giggles quietly beside me as we sit on the grass in the woods.

Ever since we found out about the Prophecy, so much has happened in the last couple of days. Kael has placed a lot more guards than usual around the castle grounds, and he has insisted that I train and learn how to defend myself. Believe me, I argued with him on that.

Back in Greemalia, my Father made me train with one of his top loyal warriors almost everyday, but as I grew older I didn't take my classes as serious enough and eventually I stopped going. Besides, given the fact that I was a Siren, I had supernatural strength too, maybe not as strong as a Lycan, but maybe a werewolf.

I'll admit, my technique was a bit off, so I probably needed the training, but gosh Kael has gone over board with the training.

Currently I was sitting in the forest with Maria, after a long three hours of training with one of Kaels warriors, Kofu.

Bare in mind Kofu was rude and constantly had a sour look on his face. I knew training wasn't going to be fun, but I also didn't expect to be thrown across the woods like a sack of potatoes, it really felt like Kofu had it out for Maria and I.

To put it lightly, training was literal hell.

I had to beg Maria to join me on the training sessions, it would make sense that she did because she's always with me, and plus, having her around made training a little less dreadful.

''I think I broke a few ribs.'' I laugh at Maria. We really did look like we walked through hell and back.

''I'm pretty sure, I've got a few twigs and leaves in places they shouldn't be in.'' Maria laughs at me but agrees.

''Sela, if you don't mind me asking,'' Maria says after a few moments, catching my full attention, ''how are things going with the Alpha?'' slowly my smile starts to fall.

After that talk with Kael a few nights ago, things with him weren't so awkward or tense. We would make sure to always have breakfast, lunch and dinner together if he wasn't so busy.

He really meant it when he said he wouldn't rush me. He never broke his promise. We haven't kissed since that night, and if I'm being honest, I really missed the taste of his lips on my own. We never discussed it, but we both avoided intimate situations. It was for the best.

Besides he's been a lot busier as of late, so I barely ever see him, only sometimes in the evening. Throughout the day I spend most of my time with Cory and Maria, I've grown very fond of them.

I also spend time with Rosa when she isn't busy, we would go and have tea in the garden for an hour or two before she has to leave. She's been teaching me a lot about ruling a Werewolf Kingdom, and things that are expected of me as the soon to be Luna Queen.

Queen of all Were kind.

Crazy isn't it?

Had you told me I'd be queen to werewolves a few weeks ago, I would've laughed in your face. Now that thought doesn't seem the least bit crazy at all.

Ronaldo and Rosa have been very understanding, and I truly appreciate them a whole lot more.

''Things are great.'' I tell her with a small smile.

''That's great to hear.'' she begins to stand up and I watch her. ''Come on.''

''Where are we going.'' I ask her as I stand up dusting away the grass on my pants.

''On a walk," she says as I follow her, "by the creek." She adds for dramatic effect.

''Well if that isn't creepy then, I don't know what is.'' She laughs beside me and a teasing smile grows on my face.

''And yet you are still following me," she winks.

Touché.