The Witches Fated Mate

Building

Marissa

It took five years to rebuild the damage that had been done. A small group of witches returned to the village first and claimed the remains of the witch Melody, preparing her fur a funeral pyre. When they were ready the rest of us returned and adorned her pyre with flowers and blessings before they lit it, and we prayed to the gods and goddesses to take her spirit home. We all joined hands and lent our magic to one another as High Priestess Yvonne and her sister Priestess Ella cast a spell to conceal the coven from the outside world, shielding against other potential attacks. Soon after my mother returned me to Coven Blue and left me with the other children while she went to help rebuild. Sometimes she came home each night but often her and many others spent days at a time working. A few months after the attack we were able to return home together. Our house was one of the ones spared the fires and we worked together to help rebuild the others.

Rebuilding the houses was the first priority and it took a year for everyone to be able to return. Some of our coven however didn’t. I never saw the man who was with Melody’s daughter again, amonst others. They had moved on while the rebuilding had happened, some were just too broken by the attack. Some had lost faith in our coven leaders, while others were scared of the witches who would turn on their own and align with witch hunters. Still the village returned to normal and we thrived.

I was twelve when the attacks happened and seventeen when they were finished. I always marveled at the way we aged as witches, childhood passing like any other humans, but when we reached twenty years old our aging slowed drastically, allowing us to reach the age of five hundred if we take care of ourselves and nurture our magic. I was eighty when my mother died. She hadn’t made it to the tender age of five hundred, and it devestated me to lose her.

In spite of the work our coven had done to rebuild, so many other covens had suffered the same attacks, each marked by the combined violence of the witch hunters and the chaos magic that led them. As technology evolved their attacked grew more sophisticated and so many witches were wiped out. My mother formed a team of witches who went out to track down the survivors of those attacks and bring them to safety. As our numbers grew our village did as well, thriving from the various styles of magic that came through, the different gifts helping to create a safe and beautiful home for all who came to us. It was on one of her quests to find survivors that she was attacked by the chaos witches, having become aware of her mission to help others, they targeted her. Setting a trap they had their witch hunters lay in wait, until she approached the recently destroyed coven, setting a starting point for her search for survivals. As she moved among the rubble, the hunters attacked, killing her before she could react. When she didn’t come back Yvonne helped me portal to the village to look for her, finding her body discarded on the side of the road. I clutched my mother to my chest and sobbed, screaming a promise into the night that I would hunt down the men who did this to her.

After we held a ceremony to release my mother’s spirit and I spent several weeks grieving I packed up a single suitcase and left the coven. Yvonne helped me portal to a city near the village my mother had been murdered in where I rented a motel room and worked on tracking down the witch hunters.

Two weeks into my hunt I saw him for the first time. Waiting for a coffee in town at the only decent shop for miles. I was in the line nehind him when he turned and his eyes locked onto mine, seeming to stare into my soul. He was tall with broad shoulders that led down his solid chest and tapered waist. His green eyes bored into my blue ones while the sun lit up his blonde hair. I should have felt thrown by his staring but I only felt pulled towards him. I lowered the walls I used to filter others emotions and let his in. Love, passion, desire all fought as they raced through him, his heart hammering in his chest.

“Jackson” A voice called out and he half turned but his eyes remained locked on mine. “Black coffee for Jackson.” The voice repeated in irritation. He turned towards the counter taking the coffe and I took advantage of his distraction to duck out, heading away from the shop. I was a block away when I felt a hand on my arm, pulling me back and I turned quickly, attempting to break loose, meeting those green eyes.

“Wait a moment.” He said gently. “Please.” I was mesmerized by those eyes.

“I-who are you? Do I know you?” I asked furrowing my brow. He shook his head.

“No but, my soul knows yours.” He smiled but my confusion only deepends.

“Your soul.” I repeated blankly and a laugh rumbled through his chest.

“Yes. We are fated. I can feel your soul calling to mine. You don’t feel it?” He asked in his own confusion. I could feel he was genuine but the idea of someone being fated to me scared me.

“ I have to get home.” I said as I began to walk away.

“W-wait a minute.” He stuttered trying to stop me but I moved quickly away from him. Catching up he tried to stop me again but I waved him away.

“Listen it has to be a mistake okay? Whatever you think you feel is a mistake. I am not fated to you. I can’t be.” I explained as I tried to move past him again, shaking my head. He persisted however, following me down the sidewalk.

“At least tell me your name.” He demanded as I hurried along. Before I could answer a voice from the shadows spoke.

“Marissa.” I turned in time to see another man step from the shadows, two additional men flanking him. “Heard you’ve been searching for us.” He glared as they moved towards us.

“Friends of yours?” He asked as I backed away.

““Not at all.” I answered as I backed up, bumping into him.

“We thought we would help you join your mother.” The leader snickered as they closed around us. I felt him against my back as my eyes darted from one man to the next. I fought my inner fears but in the thick of that fear I felt a calm. Focusing on that calm I realized it was coming from him. I turned my head and looked at him, noticing a smile.

“Who are these idiots?” He asked, c*****g his head to the side.

“They are hunters. They killed my mother.” I explained. A snarl sounded from behing me and I turned towards him, watching as he stripped out of his clothing.

“What are you doing?” I asked but before he could answer the closest man to me grabbed me by the hair, yanking me to the ground. I cried out in shock as I hit the ground. A growl sounded from his throat as he finished removing his clothes, and his bones began to crack. I gasped in shock as he changed, a white wolf taking the place he had just been in, and he stepped foward, shielding me with his body. The witch hunters dove at him and quickly a fight ensued. Grabbing the first man in his jaw he yanked him to the ground, pinning him with his paws before crushing his wind pipe in his jaws. The second guy was dispatched just as quickly, meeting a similiar fate. The ring leader stepped forward, driving a knife into the wolf’s side, sending him to the ground with a yelp. Blood stained his white fur as the hunter stood over him, reaching down and yanking out his blade, then raising it above his head to drive it back down. Realizing what his plan was I shot back to my feet, aiming my hand in his direction and screaming.

“ARDEAT!” Fire flew from my finger tips, engulfing him, and he screamed as he fell to the ground, burning to death. I stood there panting, having never thrown fire from my hands before. A whimper pulled my attention and I ran to his side kneeling beside him. I grabbed the shirt he had taken off and placed it against the wound on his side, staunching the blood. I then placed a hand on his snout, releasing calming energy through him and his whimpers stopped.

“You’re a f*****g wolf.” I murmured as I held the shirt tightly to the wound, the blood slowing until it stopped. “Can you shift back?” I asked looking in his eyes. They slid closed a moment before he slowly shifted back, lying on his side and looking at me, his green eyes staring at me in the darkness.

“A witch.” He panted weakly while I took stock of the situation we were in. Standing up I whispered a spell, turning the remains of the hunters to dust which blew away in the wind. Turning back I reached down and helped him to his feet. Slinging one arm across my shoulders, I helped him as we hobbled down the street looking.

“My God you’re heavy.” I groaned as he hobbled along with me until we finally raeched my motel. I unlocked the door and pushed through it, dropping against the bed as he collapsed into it. Helping him scoot all the way into it, I went back and closed the door, latching it. Moving to my table in the corner I dug out some yarrow for his wound and lavender for his pain, grabbing some strips of cloths and returning to his side. I peeled back the blood soaked shirt, gently applying the yarrow, and then adding some lavender to the area around the wound, I wrapped it in the strips of cloth. He turned onto his side, keeping his eyes closed. Unsure of what to do next I gingerly moved to the side of the bed near his head, lifting his eyelid and peeking at him.

“Not dead.” he murmured and I let go, moving back.

“I cannot believe you’re a wolf.” I muttered.

“A f*****g wolf, I believe you said.” Shaking my head I curled up in a chair in the corner. “And my mate.” He added sending a shiver down my spine.

“Not possible. We aren’t supposed to get along. I’m a witch.” I replied.

“I had noticed that when you torched that man with your hands.” His tone was teasing and it stoked annoyance in me.

“So we can’t be mates or fated or whatever it is you think.”

“Yet here we are.” He chuckled. I sighed, folding my arms across my chest and hardened my stare at him, thoughts swirling through my head. Before long I realized he was snoring softly, sleep taking him. I got up and moved to the bed, staring a little too long at his body, naked except for his bandaged wound. My eyes roamed from his chiseled jaw to his chest, and down along his belly. Stopping myself as I glanced for a moment just below his waist, I grabbed a blanket and tossed it over him, tucking it around his shoulders. Realizing he was taking half of my bed, I stacked a few pillows alongside him and curled up on the other half, keeping my back to him, as I also succombed to sleep.