The Elemental Mate

Aurora POV

Even after telling Xander the truth, he didn’t shy away. If anything, he pulled me closer. I still sat on his lap with my head on his shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around me. We didn’t speak for a while, but we didn’t have to.

With the way we sat and his occasional kiss to my forehead, he kept me calm. The only sound in the room was our heartbeats which seemed to beat in rhythm.

“I hate to destroy the moment, but we are about to have company,” Xander’s said, annoyance and amusement both in his voice.

I lifted my head to look him in the eyes, “What do you mean?” I asked him.

Before he could answer, I heard the front door slam open. I jumped at the sudden intrusion as Xander pulled me even closer, “Xander, where are you?”

I moved my head out of Xander’s neck and looked up to see two men staring at us. The taller one on the left was built like an ox with black hair. His brown eyes watched us intently as he stayed standing in the doorway to the room. The one on the right was shorter at about 6’2” with ruffled blonde hair. He was staring at us with a goofy smile showing off his dimples.

As I took in the sight of both men, they came further into the room, the blonde one dropping onto the other sofa from us.

“Good morning, Luna,” the blonde one says.

“Hi,” I mumble, unused to the undivided attention the three men were giving me at this moment.

“I am the amazing Asher,” he says, “I’m Xander’s bestest friend and beta.”

He dramatically waves his hands about as he says his name causing me to let out a small laugh, “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I tell him honestly.

He gives me an award-winning smile before Xander lets out a growl and pulls me closer, “Back off, Ash.”

Asher holds up his hands in surrender as he continues to smile, “Don’t worry, Xan. I wouldn’t dream of thinking the Luna would ever choose me over you,” he joked. Xander pulled me even closer to him. Asher laughed out again, “Careful now Xander. Wouldn’t want to scare the Luna away already by being possessive.”

Xander released another growl as I let out another laugh. He was purposefully egging Xander on and Xander was falling right into it.

The larger one cracked a smile at the two men as he sat down on the couch with Asher, “Good morning, Luna. I’m Hayden. I’m your gamma.”

I gave him a confused look at his words, “You’re my gamma?”

“You are our Luna. This pack is yours as much as it is Xander’s or any of ours,” he says, pride in his voice as he talks, “Therefore I am your gamma.”

I smile at his words. This pack seemed so different than the coven that I was raised in. When a new witch was to be inducted into the coven, they must pass a series of trials. The trials were said to be used to test how loyal and powerful the witch was, but they were mostly used to keep any outsider from entering the coven. There was not a single witch in my lifetime who had survived the trials.

“Luna,” Asher’s voice drew me out of my thoughts, “I hate to bring up any painful memories, but I want to ask you about how you ended up on the side of the road.”

I looked down at my hands that were placed on my laps. I wrung my hands together as I asked, “Did you find his body?”

I felt a light touch under my chin as sparks spread, “Whose body, Aurora?” Xander asked, confusion clear in his eyes. I looked at both him and the other boys. They all sat extremely confused.

“The man who attacked me?” my answer came out as more of a question. I felt Xander’s arms tighten around me as I slight fear sand into my bones.

“Sweetheart, we didn’t find anyone other than you,” Xander tells me.

“Oh god, what did I do?” I mumble, “If he didn’t die-” I stop, trying to comprehend the magnitude of my curse. If he isn’t dead yet, he is going to wish that he was, “I cursed his soul to a painful death. The amount of pain he will be in is nothing compared to what he did to me.”

“Damn,” Hayden mumbled.

“He deserves even worse,” Xander growls out as he pulls me closer. I give him a pointed look when he says that, “He hurt you. I finally found you and you almost leave me because of him,” he defends himself, “I will not allow anyone to hurt you, much less live if they have.”

I give him a soft kiss on his cheek at his words. I’ve never had someone care for me in the way that Xander just showed. He smiled down at me. I could feel his joy and happiness flow through me from the small show of affection, causing me to smile back.

“You two are just too much,” Asher fakes gags.

Hayden punches him in the arm at that before turning back to face me, “I’m glad that the wolf who attacked you will die, but he should still be punished.”

Before I could even respond, Asher beats me to it, “Punishing the bastard aside, why was the rogue even there?”

“All he said was that he had a job and needed a distraction,” I tell them.

“Why were you out there?” Hayden asked.

“After I left my coven, I started moving around a lot,” I said vaguely. Xander’s thumbs were rubbing circles against my hip, knowing that I was uncomfortable with the topic, “After so much time on the road, I knew I needed to connect back with nature to keep a hold over my powers, so I headed to my father’s cottage.”

“The nearest cabin was almost a mile away,” Hayden says, “Why would you go so far out into the woods?”

“I wanted to see the creek. I hadn’t been there since I was a child and I wanted to see it again. It was one of the last places my father ever took me before he passed. The second I made it into the clearing, he attacked me,” I tell them, trying not to remember the pain he had inflicted.

Asher nodded at the information, “Did he give you a name?”

“Cortez,” I tell them, “His name was Cortez.”