Her Forever

Orion’s POV

Several men were gathered in the smoking-room. It was filled with darker wood furniture and paintings of old warriors with nothing but pelts of animals and warrior regalia. Darker greens and reds kept the room a bit ominous, which is why I stayed away from this room. My father and Onyx used to use this place as a war room, or should I say Onyx used to sway my father’s decisions about the kingdom. Using filthy words of the deceit of how it would better the people.

Now it was being used for the first time in ages as a bachelor pad. There weren’t really any bachelors, but Luna Sadie said the men should get together just to “hang out” while the women do their thing.

Seth was sitting in the corner, sulking. The guy had some issues he needed to work on his own; his mate can’t be up his a*s all the time. Every few minutes, you could hear a growl from his wolf in disapproval of being away from Sadie.

Then again, who am I to judge? I want Willa all to myself, but hell, I just found her, and I didn’t want to let her go. Doesn’t that give me more reason to be possessive?

“So what does one do at a ‘bachelor party?” Annan took a sip of his wine as he sat gracefully on the couch. Seth threw back a shot of werewine, rolled his eyes, and planted both hands on the bar behind the sofa.

“Girls, man, there are usually girls,” Brenden had his head leaned back on his chair in boredom and tossed a grape in the air, catching it flawlessly. “Like strippers and s**t, maybe some lap dances?” Eamon scoffed in the corner, his arms crossed with a disappointed look towards his bother/.

“Eye, we are the only unmated men in the room,” Eamon smacked his brother. “Besides, you should be preparing yourself for your mate. I’ve got a good feeling we will meet them soon.” Eamon’s smile crept upon his lips as he chewed his cheek. “If my mate is as sweet as Marsha, I would be a happy man.”

“Whatever, brother,” Brenden scoffed. Brenden had long given up on finding his mate. Thus his d**k had become the head of the operation to any fantasies he wanted. If he wasn’t careful, his mate would catch him in the act with someone else.

My father walked into the room with a sizeable golden-colored box. Setting it on the table, he fiddled with the lock, and the contained squeaked open. Inside there were several pipes along with a few bags of herbs of various colors. Each pipe he set out on a felt pad with the utmost care as he fiddled with the herbs and stuffed each one.

“I do not know what a ‘bachelor party,’ is but I will tell you one thing. It is tradition to smoke these pipes the day before the binding ceremony. Even though you are already mated, Orion, I still feel like we just uphold this in honor of your grandfathers.” I nodded at him. I still wanted to keep up on certain traditions, which seemed very important for a binding ceremony. There were enough pipes for all of us. Brenden took the first and started to inhale the substance; he tilted his head with his eyebrows raised, looking pleased as he sat back down.

Annan, Seth, and Eamon followed suit, and Fionn would have to take a rain check since he was still tending to Marsha in the sick ward. My pipe was the largest, with a family crest embossed on the side. I took a puff as the room started to fill with smoke clouds.

“I feel funny,” Brenden leaned back on the couch. “I feel like I’m floating.” Brenden took his hands and waved them around his face, and started giggling. Others had different reactions, such as Seth, who only seemed antsier. He was pacing the room as soon as he took three puffs of the stuff. There was growling and a bit of swearing.

Annan sat stoically along with a faint grin on his face while he looked out the window. Several sighs left him as he finished off his pipe. I, on the other hand, felt alert and more in tune with my body. My heartfelt like it was being pulled out of my chest. I followed the pull, and it led me to the window where Annan was staring.

Juliet was in the garden sitting with several women. They were tending to her hair, and they were putting flowers in the braid. Juliet had opted to stay at the palace because she was freshly mated, and the thought of being too far away from Annan hurt her. My heart still would not rest. It was beating out of my chest that I wanted to scratch off my tunic.

Seth joined me at the window. “Sadie isn’t here,” he growled. “Where the f**k is my mate?” Seth grabbed my arm, but I quickly let the deep fae magic seep from me that scalded his hand. “The hell?” He wiped his hand on his shirt, leaving black smudges.

Concentrating, I could feel Willa was not here either. “Where are our mates? Where are the warriors?” I spat as I went to the door. My father stopped me and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Easy there, son, they are alright. They went to Atlantis to partake in her people’s traditions. Sadie went willingly as well as your Willa.” The room shook as Seth growled in frustration.

“Bring them back,” he whispered; his claws were becoming exposed. Worrying of him shifting right here in front of a bunch of high-ranking warriors high as a kite, my father waved the smoke around the room with a large fan.

“The herb is called Caspis; they are found in the Western mountains. Their properties when you inhale them let your body take on your emotions to get you drunk on your desires.”

“Damnit, father, you can’t give that s**t to Seth.” I took Seth’s pipe and shoved it back into the box. Those with mates had raging boners, and Brenden had fallen asleep.

“It’s unbearable,” Eamon grabbed his knees. “I don’t have a mate, and I yearn for her. This was f****d up.” Eamon stood up and left the room while I scowled at my father.

“Why would you give that to him?” I growled out at him, but he only laughed.

“It only means his mate is near. It can also make the pull stronger if you haven’t been mated. She must be in the palace somewhere.” My father had a sick sense of humor.

“Then I’m guessing it does nothing to those that don’t have mates and are not near? “Father laughed while scratching his head. “Yeah, who knows where his mate is,” father laughed. “Come on, its a funny prank that has been done for generations! Live a little!”

Seth continued growling; a few sprigs of Caspian’s hair started to poke through. “Well, you just gave some of your herbal stuff to the most possessive werewolf to date; that’s the future king of the Moon Kingdom.”

Father stepped back a few feet, “oh, well, that’s not good.”

“Do you not keep up with times, old man!?” I yelled as Seth’s bones began breaking.

“Where is she?” he growled as his shirt tore.

“Sadie is in Atlantis! She’s with Willa; calm down and go back to your human form and I’ll have a witch show you!” Seth licked his fangs as he stopped panting.

Luckily a witch was walking down the hall, and I pulled her in. “I need you to find someone for me,” I looked back at Seth. “And fast.” The witch nodded her head and sat at the desk.

“Who do you want to see?” Her bag popped open as a glass orb was set on the table with a stand. “Luna Sadie of the Warrior Pack, future Queen of The Moon Kingdom.” Seth’s chest purred hearing her name while my father packed up the herbal s**t that got us in this mess. I barely got a puff out of it, but the way everyone was acting, I was glad I didn’t.

“I need something of hers. Do you have anything, Alpha?” The witch’s voice shook. Seth reached in his pants pocket and pulled out a bright pink pair of lace underwear. No one dared laughed or said a word as the witch gently took the item and placed it on the ball.

Seth stood stoically still as he stared at the piece of cloth-like it was a lifeline. Thank gods I’m not this bad. In my mind, I’m just roaring in laughter.

A few enchantments of words and the ball threw a picture inside; Sadie, Evelyn, and Willa were sleeping on the bed. Both of the adults were curled around Evelyn, keeping her in a little nest.

Once Seth saw his two precious girls were safe, he snatched the underwear, put it back in his pocket, and sat down in the corner to sulk.

Thanking the witch as she left, the others started to come out of their drug trance and shook their heads in confusion. After a quick summary of what happened, they were all pissed at my father, which I didn’t blame them. He could have given a warning. However, he was now laughing with a red face and all almost on the floor.

Never had I seen him act like a child, but something had happened since Onyx was no longer in control. He had given up his past life and was now moving forward. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this prankster in him, but whatever works.

The rest of the day we spent separately. Many wanted to spend time with their mates here, and Seth wanted to make sure his warriors were up to guarding the palace giving my warriors a rest. There was talk about another uprising in the South, but that would have to be dealt with later. I had too many things on my mind, and the biggest one of all was Willa.

There were crowds of people, primarily unmated, that were attending the ceremony tomorrow. Willa wanted it to be a ‘mating fest’ so people could find their mates.

I marched back to our room, the bed had already been made from this morning, and I could still smell her faint scent. Her bags had been packed by the maids, ready for our departure tomorrow evening after the party. We were going to be flying to the winter palace so she could experience actual Bergarian snow. Instead of the white snow covering the Earth, Bergarian snow had faint bits of colors in their snowflakes that give it an iridescent look.

There was a knock at the door as I placed her bags by the servant quarter doors. As I opened it, I saw Fionn standing there with a small cage. The Frost Fairy Fox, when Willa had first visited the market place had been kept in a safe place by the servant’s children. She had been well tamed and taught by several of the animal-loving children.

“I’m glad you got her this. This was the only thing that caught her eye in the entire market. She passed by the jewelry and clothes and only wanted the little furball.”

“Thank you Fionn,” I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. Fionn would be the godfather to our children once we had them. Even though I wanted them now, Willa wanted to wait.

I’ve already started taking my herbal sterilizer to keep us safe for the month, so I know she will be happy not to do anything on her side of fertility. She had gone through enough, so why not the man take care of not having children too soon?

Taking the Frost Fairy Fox, I opened its cage and let it on the bed. I would be staying here for the night while Willa would be returning soon and staying in the bridal chambers. The fox curled up in the bed on Willa’s side, probably already sensing that she would be her master. Fionn spoke about how the fox liked her just through the cage.

My heart filled with warmth as I felt Willa set foot in the place. The bustling of people walking down the hallway had piqued my interest, but I continued to lay still. I could feel Willa’s presence as she stood at the door. I wanted to jump up and take her to bed with me, but one night of a tradition my mother thought was so important took root in me. Taking every bit of my will, I stayed in bed as the fox whimpered at my distress.

I felt Willa press on as people ushered her down the hall. This was going to be a long night until I saw her at sunrise.

….

After several hours of sleeping, I felt a pull at my chest. Distress, I felt Willa was in pain. I flung the sheets off the bed, and as soon as I stepped onto the floor, I felt a stab in my leg, causing me to fall to the floor.

“Damn!” I looked down at my leg, and there was nothing there that could only mean one thing.

I started screaming for warriors on the other side of the doorway. I gripped my sword with nothing on but my trousers as I burst through the living room. Several warriors looked in panic as my disheveled self approached. “Check the bridal chambers!” I barked as we all ran.

The hall continued to become longer as we ran. Her room was clear across the palace grounds as we stepped outside in the darkened night. The large building, mainly suited for traveling royalty, held her room. It was heavily guarded on the outside, but no one was concerned. As I approached with my warriors, they all stood at attention and questioned.

“Willa is hurt; where is she?” The guards stood confused as I brushed past them. Running up the stairway, I found her room to be closed and locked. Pushing it forward, it wouldn’t budge. Banging on the door with the butt of my sword, I called for her. “Willa!! Open the door!”

No sounds.

“BREAK IT DOWN!” I roared; my wings exploded from my back, and black sludge dripped down my claws. Once we entered, the room was not disheveled, and there were no signs of life. My heart continued to pull in pain as I felt a sharp prick in my neck.

“She’s here, in the palace. Split up and FIND HER!” Wolves started howling while Sadie and Seth approached me outside.

“Willa is missing; she is here on the palace grounds. I feel her!” Sadie’s calming aura swept over me as the grip on my sword became light.

“We’re on it; let’s go, Seth.” Sadie shifted, ripped her nightdress to pieces, and began running in the small red fox form of a wolf. I followed not far behind her as Seth turned half form to secure the perimeter.

Another flame of pain ripped through my arm, and I gripped it tightly. Sadie looked back only to beckon me to follow her. Sadie must have her scent if she is this determined.

My heart became heavier, feeling Willa’s emotions of hopelessness. She was giving up. She was going to leave me if I didn’t get there in time. I spread fury through my feelings, praying she could feel it. My desperation to find her, taker her with me, and never let her out of my sight consumed my soul. I would reach her, and whatever the hell took her from me will pay dearly.

Sadie stopped at the stairway to the dungeons. f**k no.

We both ran to the bottom, now several fae and wolf warriors behind us. Snarling, growls, and angry men clogged the hallways. Passing by Onyx, he only let out a low laugh as I passed his cell.

“Good luck,” he sang.