The Elemental Mate

Aurora POV

I gave him a small smile before I returned the sentiment, “It’s nice to meet you too.”

The smile that crossed his face was heart-stopping. I thought for a moment that his face might crack from the intensity. He looked like a kid in a candy store who was told that he could have anything his heart desired.

I’m not sure what it was, but it was like I could feel his happiness. It was a strange feeling, but it wasn’t one that I was sure I wanted to let go of.

The electricity coursing through us felt more intense than magic. After a moment, I finally realized the position we were still in. His hands were still cupping my cheeks, holding me close to him.

Reluctantly, I pulled myself away and shifted back on the bed to lean against the headboard. Moving too fast, a jolt of pain went through my side again. I winced slightly as it started to dull.

“Please be careful,” Xander tells me, scooching closer and laying his hand against the exact spot that was causing pain. The second he touched me, the pain went away.

“How did you do that?” I ask him.

“The mate bond,” he smiled lightly at me again, “When a bonded wolf is hurt, their mate can use the bond to take away the pain through touch.”

“That’s a neat trick,” I tell him, “I thought only witches could heal others like that.”

“Sadly, it’s not healing,” he tells me with a slight scowl on his face, “It doesn’t take the pain away or heal you any faster. It just replaces the pain with the feel of the bond. When I remove my hand, your pain and injuries will still be there.”

He still frowned as he looked at his hand. Without even thinking about what I was doing, I placed my hand over his. He lifted his eyes immediately to meet mine, “Then thank you for replacing my pain.”

We sat like that for a while as a million questions started to run through my mind. The first of which I needed an answer for now, “You said I had been here for two weeks,” he nodded his head before I continued, “If I’ve only been here for two weeks, how are all my injuries almost healed already? Do you have a witch here?”

He shook his head in response before hanging in head to what I think was shame. I didn’t understand his reaction, so I squeezed his hand to make him look at me. The guilt I saw in his eyes nearly broke me right there.

“When I found you, you were dying. You were bleeding out and we knew we wouldn’t be able to get to the pack in time. I knew you weren’t a wolf and you weren’t healing on your own,” he lowered his eyes again, “I had just found you and I couldn’t risk losing you already.”

I knitted my eyebrows in confusion, “What are you talking about? If I was dying how am I almost completely healed. What happened?”

He took a deep breath and lifted his head before he said anything, “I marked you.”

I let his words sink in as I thought about what it meant to be marked.

When I was younger, I had a fascination with the creatures that roamed the world. I would spend hours in the coven’s library, learning everything I could about the customs and history of each species. The one that had held my interest the longest though was the wolves. I knew what a mate meant to them and I understood that a wolf marked their mate to show that they were taken.

What I couldn’t understand was his guilt behind given me it.

My fingers instinctually went to my neck, connecting with the mark immediately. I could feel the raised skin form a design. The second my fingers brushed the area, I could feel something tug inside me as if I was being pulled towards Xander.

“It was to save your life. When a wolf marks their mate, some of the wolf’s traits are passed through the bond. I thought by marking you, you would get some of my healing abilities, and you did,” he rushed out quickly, trying to explain himself. The guilt weighed heavily in his eyes as tried to explain his actions. The thing I don’t think he realized though was that I wasn’t angry, “Please will you forgive me. I don’t think I will be able to live if you reject me, but I will understand if you can’t forgive my actions. I never wanted to mark my mate without her consent, but I couldn’t watch you die. It was the only hope I had, and now you are in front of me, alive. I know you might never forgive me for what I did, but I just couldn’t watch you die-”

Grabbing the front of his shirt, I tugged him closer to me before connecting our lips, shutting him up from apologizing any more.

Electricity. Sparks. Lightning. I couldn’t describe the intensity of the sparks that were passing through me as our lips moved in sync. When we both ran out of breath, I pulled away, gently leaning my forehead against his. A smile spread on both our faces as our eyes connected.

“Sorry,” I whisper to him.

“You can shut me up like that any time you want,” he replied, causing me to smile more as I let out a small laugh, “As long as I am allowed to use that trick as well.”

“I don’t know about that,” I smile, “I-”

He didn’t let me finish as his lips were back on mine with a heart-stopping kiss. When he pulled away, I was a little dazed. He just smirked at that, “I’m going to enjoy that.”

His smile was so contagious, I couldn’t help but smile back. We sat there for a while as we talked back and forth.

Growing up, the coven tried to seclude itself from the other supernatural communities but that didn’t mean we were completely cut off. I had met two of the alphas who had a territory near the coven’s land, and I had studied werewolf culture, but I still wanted to know more.

He answered my questions about werewolves and pack life. He told me he was the alpha of his pack, and I was a little shocked about that. I could feel that he radiated power, but I didn’t realize it was that much.

When he told me that by being his mate, that meant I would be the Luna, I almost stopped breathing. A Luna was meant to be a leader, to be the heart of her pack.

How could I be a Luna? How could I help to protect a pack when I have a coven of witches trying to kill me and anyone who gets near me? I think to myself.

Xander’s hand encloses around my mine, given it a light squeeze to accompany his smile, “Please don’t be nervous. The pack will love you, I’m sure of it.”

I give him a sad smile in return, “That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know if I can be the Luna for this pack. I’m not sure that I should,” I tell him honestly. There was something about being with him that made me never want to lie to him. I still wasn’t sure why I trusted him so easily, but I somehow knew that if I trusted him that I would never be happier.

He gave me an apprehensive look, “Why shouldn’t you be?”

“There are things you don’t know about me,” I tell him. I may want to trust him, but I don’t want to give him every detail yet. He looked at me with such joy and what I think might be something that might grow to be love, and I don’t want to see that disappear, “I could put your pack in danger just by being here.”

“How could you-” he started but seemed to stop himself as something seemed to connect with him, “When we found you, we were on our way back from a meeting between the packs. A witch crashed the meeting. She said she was looking for a red-headed witch named Aurora who had crossed into wolf territory. Are you her?”

I can feel the blood drain from my face as my heart starts to pick up again in fear, “What was the witch’s name?” I ask although I know what the answer is going to be.

“Iris.”

The second her name off his lips, I push him away slightly and move to the edge of the bed. Gripping the sheets, I push myself up to stand. As I stood upright, the long guy’s t-shirt I was wearing hung on me like a dress as it dropped to just above my knees. I try to take a step, but pain screams down my wrapped leg.

Xander is by my side within seconds, trying to make me sit back down as he wraps his arms around my waist. I push against his chest as I try to keep moving, but he just holds on tighter, “Stop trying to walk. You aren’t going anywhere on that leg,” he tells me.

“You don’t understand,” I tell him as I try to move again, but he just holds me tighter and gives me a disapproving look. I let out an exasperated breath, “If Iris knows I am in wolf territory, she will kill any pack that tries to help me.”

“We can protect you here,” Xander tells me, releasing one of his hands from my waist to cup my face, “You are safe.”

“Safe?” I scoff, “And how safe will this pack be when Iris finds me here? I won’t watch more innocent people die because of me.”

“Listen to me,” he says, pulling us even closer together, “I am not going to let any psychotic witch threaten my pack and I am sure as hell not going to let her anywhere near my mate.”

I stared into his eyes as I tried to find any doubt there. There was no fear or uncertainty. There was anger, but it was overshadowed by his determination. He honestly believed that he could stop Iris from getting what she wanted.

“If I stay here, you may not have a choice in the matter,” I tell him honestly.

I know what’s coming for me. I have been running from Iris for over a year and I know what’s she capable of. It’s only a matter of time before she finds me here.