Spell Bound

Lucian

I feel the moment that she leaves the pack.

I sigh, the disappointment sitting heavy on my chest. I was aware of what they had planned, but that doesn’t make me miss Arabella any less.

“I am sure that the wolves will deeply appreciate your contribution.” Artemis states sarcastically before slamming the door behind her.

Marisol sighs as Benjamin begins to laugh.

“Still not getting along with your mate?” Marisol asks solemnly as she takes the basket out of Artemis’ hands.

Artemis grows before turning away. I would take that as a no.

Marisol has directed us with different tasks. I am to separate all the clothes by gender and then by size. Benjamin is in charge of folding all of the blankets. Artemis is gathering all of the non-perishable foods while Marisol directs a few of the pack members on where to put everything.

“I am sick of hearing Artemis complain about who she is paired with.” Benjamin stated before laughing. “Instead we should focus on the positive. Lucian, why don’t you tell us about your mate. You haven’t been ungrateful when it comes to your mate.”

I chuckle. “Well it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing with my mate. In fact-“ I cut off my sentence to look at Marisol. “The queen has helped my mate escape me.”

Marisol freezes before dropping what she was holding in her hands. The clattering sound of the cans hitting the floor is irritating, but I can barely pay much attention to it.

Marisol’s eyes water and quickly tears begin to stream down her face. “I’m sorry!” She wailed. “I’m so so sorry!”

Artemis wraps a comforting arm around her. “You helped his mate escape? The one that has been plotting to kill us?” She asks.

Marisol quickly wiped her tears. “She said she would help me if I helped her.” She stated softly.

Benjamin nods along with her words. “See that’s great and all, but she’ll help you and then kill the rest of us.”

“No.” Everyone turns their head in my direction. “My Bella needed this. She needs space from me so she can see that she really does have feelings for me. The only person in danger from her is me.” I state with a chuckle. I think I will always be in danger when it comes to Arabella, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. “She will come back and help you, I know she will.”

Marisol wipes her tears and nods her head.

We all continue to stare at one another in silence, absorbing the information that I just gave them until Artemis speaks up.

“You’re sick in the head.” She states while shaking her head. “You laugh at the fact that she wants to cause you harm?” She throws her hands up in the air.

I smirk. “Potentially.” I say with a shrug. “She grew up being taught to hate our kind. A little violence from her end is to be expected.”

Marisol slowly bends to pick up the things that she got. Her hair curtains around her and I notice that it’s a lot more brown than it was yesterday.

I know my mate is doing whatever she can to find out how to help her, but she needs to be quick.

“Well she didn’t say anything mean when I went to see her yesterday. She was very guarded, but not mean.” Marisol states as she stands back up, carrying the items that she dropped to the table. “Actually you and I really haven’t had a one-on-one conversation about Arabella.”

I smirk, she wants to hear about how much my Bella is in denial about her feelings for me?

“Do you want me to help you carry the items to one of the cars? We can talk while still being productive.” I suggest.

Marisol smiles and nods. “That’d be great.”

“See now you and I can speak about the relationship with your mate.” Benjamin says before patting Artemis on the back.

She scoffs in response to him.

Marisol and I both pick up containers that are full of donations that this pack has made for those in need.

We laugh quietly as we leave the room, walking away from Artemis and Benjamin's bickering.

"I just want you to know that I really am sorry for helping your mate escape. I knew it was wrong, but I just don't want to live like this anymore." She breaks the silence as we drop the stuff off in the car.

"I understand why you did what you did." I reassure her. "My mate would have found a way to escape regardless. You helping her only saved this pack from the havoc that she would have wreaked. She is the most powerful witch on this planet and she knows it. She would have no problem using force to get her way."

A smile slowly creeps onto Marisol's face. "And you like that don't you?" She asks.

"I love it. I love her. Everything about her. She is impulsive, headstrong, fierce and strong." I smile as I think about my mate. She hasn't even been gone for that long but I miss her. I am desperate to follow her and be wherever she is, but I know that isn't what she wants or needs.

She needs to be left to her own to figure out how to save Marisol.

"Well I actually would like some advice." She asks as she leans against the car.

"Whatever it is, I hope that I can be beneficial." I lean up against the car as well.

"So your mate hasn't been the most receptive to you."

That's an understatement. "That is true, she was taught to see our kind as inferior." I respond.

"Well this is about Artemis. I worry for her."

"Is this about her also not being receptive to her mate?"

"They hate one another." She sighs and drops her head down. "I have never had to deal with anything like this ever! I have met witches who disliked who they were paired with less, and like you said they are raised to hate us!"

A smirk forms on my face. "Who is Artemis' mate anyways? I heard the end of the argument she was having but there were a few people there."

"No!" She exclaimed. "I don't need anyone else taunting Artemis about her mate. I will say that he is not just a regular member apart of a pack."

I let out a laugh. "She is intimidated by him." I respond immediately.

Marisol scoffs. "Artemis intimidated?" She then begins to laugh. "Yeah right."

"It is the same with my Bella. She thinks that my strength takes from hers. Once she realizes that we are not enemies and we are stronger together she will finally see that we are meant to be. I can only assume the same is for Alpha Artemis."

I know that it can be hard to believe that two strong women are intimidated by their soul mates, but it makes sense. They fear that submitting to their mate makes them weak. When in reality, they are the ones who hold all of the power. They are the ones that are in control. They just need to stop worrying over how others perceive them and live in their truth.

Marisol nods as she absorbs the information that I just gave her. "What would you suggest that I do?" She asks.

"Alpha Artemis has always been on the." I pause in between my words, trying my best to describe her accurately. "Eccentric side. My best advice would be to explain that to her mate and speak to him. Tell him to be understanding, and gentle with her. Tell him to figure out his own way to show her that he doesn't want her position as Alpha."

Marisol gasps. "Do you think that is what she is worried about?" She asks.

I nod. "I know that is exactly what she is worried about, especially since you said that this male has a high rank. Artemis is proud to lead her pack, and they are proud to be led by her. If she brings a male that has a high rank his natural need to dominate might come at her expense. I wouldn't put it past her to challenge her mate for her pack if that were to happen. Just like I know my Bella would fight me if I do something that she doesn't like."

"Do you think she would win?" She asks. The mischievous look in her eyes lets me know that she is up to something.

"I believe that she would give me a run for my money. I have no plans on doing anything that would make her angry."

Marisol bites her lip in an attempt to contain her smile. "I think that I am going to have a conversation with Artemis' mate. It's suppose to be Benjamin's job since he paired them but he enjoys fanning the flames too much to do it properly." She grumbled out the last part.

"Which is exactly why he wouldn't call for me if it wasn't an emergency."

"You're right." She concedes. "I guess I will allow you to go speak to my mate."

I smile before walking towards the pack house.

It doesn't take me too long to make it to his office. I gently knock on the door, only stepping in after he acknowledges me.

I take a seat in front of his desk, nodding at him.

"I hope Marisol wasn't too angry about me stealing you away." He smirks after his statement. He already knows that Marisol attempted to give me a hard time about stepping away, and taunted her through their mindlink as I made my way up here.

"She wasn't too upset. She understands that you wouldn't have called me here if it was not an emergency."

"This is." He confirms. “Marisol doesn’t want anyone to know about this. So promise me that this conversation won’t leave this room.”

“Like you said yesterday, our mates want to keep secrets from us. We should be allowed to have some secrets of our own.”

Judah smirks at my statement. “I am worried for Marisol.” He shakes his head. “She fainted this morning.”

I feel my entire body tense.

“I tried my best to convince her to stay in bed and rest for the day but she was adamant on helping gather the donations.” His body slumps in his chair. “As much as I have been loving this new attitude of hers it may be causing her more harm than good.”

“My Bella will figure out how to save her soon. She and her friend are ready to go into hiding, so I am certain that she will only be gone for a maximum of two days. Until then you need to figure out how to convince Marisol to rest. Even if you have to chain her to the bed.” Under normal circumstances I would never speak this sternly to Judah, but we both know how serious this situation is.

Marisol wants to keep living her life as normal, pretending that she isn’t slowly growing weaker and that isn’t doing anything but making the deterioration happen faster.

That would be a disaster that none of us are ready for. We just got her as our queen, and the pack lands wouldn’t survive losing her so soon.

I take a deep breath, exhaling slowly. This part of the conversation I am not prepared to have, but I have no choice. “If my mate hasn’t returned after two days I will go find her myself. The punishment that she will receive from me will be severe if she is not looking for a way to save our Queen. She is the most powerful witch on this planet. If we don’t save your mate in time there has to be a way to bring her back. I know that it goes against everything that witches stand for, but my Bella has had no trouble breaking the rules before. Either way I will make sure that Marisol is standing by your side as your queen for many years to come.”

Judah began to hang his head during my speech. The thought of Marisol dying has to be painful for him, just as it is painful for me. Yet we have to look at everything, we are running out of time and options.

“Thank you.” He says stiffly. His eyes flash from blue to gold, letting me know that his wolf is surfacing. “I need to put my mate in her place.”

That was my cue to leave.

I stand up, bowing my head slightly before walking out of the room.

note : Just for fun can anyone guess who Artemis' mate is? (he's a character that has already been introduced)