Mate for the Prince of Beasts

Chapter 5

Alana's POV

I woke up again, but I was finally alone.  In the light of day everything that had happened the night before took a different meaning.  I had slept with the enemy, I had been with a beast, betraying my soulmate.  I felt sick at the thought, something that had been happening more and more the last couple of days.   

I got out of bed and looked around, trying to see where I was.  I grabbed what was left of my dress from the previous night and went to the door, but as soon as I opened it, the old woman was there, and started walking my way, so I took a few steps back. 

"Good morning," she said brightly, "it's a good thing you're awake.  We have a long day before us.  We need to fit you for your new wardrobe, our dress makers have been working on it already, but we need to make sure they all fit perfectly, as our new princess it's very important to make sure you look regal at every moment, and we won't have a repetition of what happened yesterday."

"What did you do to me?" I asked.  I knew it was something they had done to me, there was no way I could have behaved that way without them doing something.  "Did you drug me?  Or is it a spell?  What did you do?"

"What the hell are you talking about?  We only calmed you down a little bit so we wouldn't have to hurt you," the younger woman said, entering the room.  

"But what happened with him," I said, pointing at the bed, "there's no way I would willingly be with that monster, you must have done something."

"That was because you are fated mates, and mates can't keep their hands off each other.  I'm sure as soon as he comes back there will be a repeat of what happened last night," the younger one said with a smirk.

"No, I should only feel like this about my soulmate!"  I couldn't understand what had happened, it couldn't be something natural, there was something else going on. 

"You are Prince Blaze's fated mate, and he must be your soulmate," the old woman explained, as if she was talking to a five year old. 

"That's impossible, there's no way he is my soulmate, he is a soulless beast, a monster!"

"You need to take care of what you say, you cannot disrespect our Prince, your mate," the older woman warned me, while the younger one was getting really angry. 

"That's really rich coming from a witch like you.  You should be grateful that someone like him decided to mate trash like you.  You are alive because of him, you should be grateful he not only spared your life, but decided to give you the chance of being with him.  He will give you everything, if only you accept it and appreciate it."

"I don't want to be here, I would rather be dead with the rest of my people than here being forced to disrespect their memories.  I don't know what you did to me, but I'm sure sooner or later I'll be able to overcome it," I was a strong witch, and as such, once I knew I was under a spell I could get over it, I only needed to stay strong and focus my will.  Something that would be easier as long as I stayed away from him.  Whatever they have done, it only affected me when I was near him.  

"Do we need to bring the slave to calm you down?" the older woman said.  "We have much work to do and it will be more difficult if you are going to be hysterical the whole time."

"Besides," the younger woman said, "there's not much you can do, you may as well accept your new reality and cooperate with us.  First, you need to eat to keep your strength, you will need it to keep our Boss satisfied, then, you will take another bath and get ready for the dressmaker."

At that moment a slave, one that I was sure was a witch like me, entered with a tray filled with food.  I decided that was something I needed, as much as I wanted to take that bath and clean my body, my stomach demanded food.  

I wasn't sure if I would be able to take on the women that seemed to be always around, but even if I could get past them, I could see a guard just outside the door, and I was sure there were more in the castle.  I needed to take it easy and wait to know more, I was sure that if I was patient I could find a way to escape that place.  The beasts were stronger, so I needed to focus and be smarter. 

Blaze's POV

I knew that I needed to focus, I had a lot of things to go over, reports from other posts, reports of what we have gotten from our last raid, and the day to day dealings of the kingdom, but my mind kept going back to my mate and our amazing night.  We didn't speak with words, but our bodies certainly communicated with each other, so much passion, so much energy.  She is perfect for me, the fact that she is a witch didn't even bother me, it didn't cross my mind in all the time we were together.  I claimed her over and over again all night long, and I would have done so again if it wasn't for my responsibilities.  I was regretting having the party, but I should have done so the night before, and it's one of those formalities that I can't let go.  She is going to be Queen one day, and I need to introduce her to everyone. 

"Boss!" Creto yelled, and I had the feeling it wasn't the first time he tried to get my attention. 

"What?!" 

"Did you hear a word I said?"  I only stared at him, I know we were friends, but I'm his superior and that's no way to talk to me.  After a moment he looked away in submission.

"No, I was thinking of other things.  What were you saying?" I finally said, letting him say his piece. 

"We didn't get as much food as we needed from our last attack.  I know you want to keep moving to the capital and take over all the witches' territories, but I'm not sure we have enough supplies to do that.  And if we don't move deep enough into their territory before Winter, we won't be able to move until the Spring."

"Don't worry, we will get what we need.  We have enough slaves in the dungeons to harvest the fields and between that and whatever we can hunt, we will have enough to continue our attacks."

"If they are smart, they may even surrender and save us some time," Prier said.

"I'm not so sure about their intelligence, but that's a possibility, it would certainly make my job easier.  Is everything ready for tonight's party?"

"They are working hard to have everything ready in time, don't worry, you won't be disappointed."

"Good.  I know I won't," I said, because the consequences if they did were ones that they wouldn't like. 

"So how are things with your mate?  Is she everything you expected her to be?"

"She is perfect," my mind went back to her and our night together, she was certainly perfect for me, all that I needed.  We were so compatible with each other, we didn't even need to talk, we knew what each other was feeling.

"I'm happy for you, Boss, I wasn't sure what to think, she is a witch after all," Creto said.

"Yes, she is," and now that I was away from her, that fact kept coming back to me, something that hadn't bothered me just a few hours before, but that refused to leave my mind as soon as I had the chance to think about it .  "Do you know if someone knows the spells to turn a witch into one of us?"

"Why?  Do you think she would want to?" Talon asked.

"It's something I'm thinking about, I feel like it would be better for us to share the experience of shifting, of running in our animal forms."

"I don't know if someone still remembers that magic, most of our books were burned when we were driven out of our lands by the witches and their fears for our new condition, but I can ask around," Talon offered.

"You do that.  So, what else is on the schedule for today?" I asked, knowing that I had a lot to do if I wanted to be able to focus on my mate later on the day.  Besides, I needed to keep myself occupied, or I could be driven to go back to my mate and I needed to give her time to get ready.  We would have all night to be together once the party was over.  But first, there were some obligations that I just couldn't let slide.  It was the problem of being in charge, I had to think of my people, and not only my needs.