MY MIRACLE PRIESTESS LUNA

CHAPTER 2 - TEDIOUS ASSEMBLY - ELIJAH'S POV

I sat back in the carriage impatiently, I hated these tedious school visits, I'd much prefer to be doing something useful, but as King I often had to do things that bored me.

These particular schools were where we kept the witch children, I kept them open on the off chance one of them would show the slightest inclination that they had the power of a priestess, and we could use them to stop this dam curse, but so far the schools had yielded no results, I was beginning to think it was a waste of time, the priestesses were all dead.

"You look tense." Gwen smiled at me, she leant over and ran her hands over the front of my pants.

I sighed and shoved her hand away. I was really getting bored with her. Gwen and I had been on and off for the past few hundred years and I felt very much like an off period was on it's way.

"I'm not in the mood." I growled at her. "Keep your hands to yourself or walk home."

Gwen pouted and crossed her arms. "I don't know why you brought me along. If you're going to act like this the whole time, I should have stayed at the castle."

"You're right, you should have."

Gwen growled and kicked the seat I was sitting on, her little tamper tantrums were getting old too.

"Act your age, Gwen." I said lazily, and looked out the window at the passing forest scenery. "You're not a child anymore."

She didn't respond, but I could tell she was angry. My Lycan half, Asher, growled in annoyance.

'I really hate that infuriating girl.' He spat. 'I want my mate!'

'So do I.' I agreed. 'But it's not possible now, is it? So shut up.'

'I feel like mate is close by.' He said and began sniffing the air. 'Don't you feel it? Something is different today.'

'You're so old you've turned senile.' I rolled my eyes. 'Stop imagining things, our mate doesn't exist, we're cursed, in case you've forgotten.'

'We'll see.' Was all he said before he blocked me and returned to his void in my mind, he spent a lot of time there lately, but I suspected it was due to me dating Gwen again.

After we finally pulled up at the large school, my assistant Amery opened the carriage door and stood back for me to step down.

I didn't wait for Gwen. She could sit in the carriage all day for all I cared.

"Welcome, your majesty." One of the school mothers curtsied.

She was standing in a line of faculty members who all bowed their heads to me.

"Thank you." I nodded and stepped around her. "Shall we get this over with? I have a tight schedule today."

In truth, I'd blocked out the entire day for this visit, but I was ready to go home. Having to sit through fake platitudes always angered me. I wasn't one for a show.

"Of course." The mother said and rushed after me. "The children are waiting for you in the great hall, they've even organized a small performance in your honor. Can we get you something to drink?"

"That won't be necessary." I told her.

My guards ran ahead of me and pushed open the halls, double doors, and we entered the room. The entire school was waiting patiently and quietly, and I frowned in confusion when I sniffed the air. What was that?

'MATE!' Asher called out, and I felt a rush of excitement come from him.

I turned around and examined the room. This wasn't possible, no new Lycan's had been born in a thousand years, this had to be some kind of trick or spell. This was a school for the witch children.

"Your majesty is something wrong?" Amery asked as he began to look around the room.

"ALL OF THE BOYS SIT DOWN!" I ordered in my Alpha tone, even the witches had to comply with my commands, each new witch that joined the pack would have to drink a drop of my blood which connected them to me.

Every male sat down quickly, leaving the girls looking confused and frightened, I began to scan the room, and I followed the sweet smell of flowers and rain. I stopped in front of a young brown haired girl and pulled her out into the pathway.

She wasn't very remarkable, and there was a strange honey scent mixed with the scent of my mate that I didn't like. I hated the taste of honey.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl. It was strange that I wasn't attracted to my mate, and even Asher was disappointed.

"Gloria, your majesty." She said shyly, even her voice wasn't as appealing as I'd hoped, but then I realized the scent I loved wasn't hers at all, it was coming from the jacket.

"Remove the jacket!" I demanded, but instead of waiting, I pulled it off of her and smelled it. "Whose jacket is this?"

"Alpha, what is wrong with you?" Gwen asked in confusion. She reached out to touch my shoulder, but I growled and quickly pulled back.

"ANSWER ME!" I shouted when the young girl remained silent.

Tears filled her eyes, and she said the name of my mate. "Its Alyonas." Gloria told me, "My jacket was ripped, so she let me borrow hers, I swear your majesty, I didn't steal it. She said I could wear it."

"You-" I pointed to mother, "Bring me Alyona at once!"

The mother angered me by looking at another female student. "Cami, go collect her."

"Yes, mother."

The girl rushed out of the room, and I was very tempted to go with her, but then it dawned on me that she wasn't with the other students.

"Why wasn't Alyona here this morning?" I asked. I loved hearing her name on my tongue. "Is she ill?"

My mind went into panic mode in the few seconds it took for mother to answer me, she couldn't be ill, I only just found her.

"No, your majesty. She isn't sick." Mother told me, "But she um... Alyona is a very unruly child. She was punished this morning and sent to her room."

"Punished?" I said slowly as my eyes darkened. "Punished how?"

The mother looked worried as well as she should. If she'd done anything to my mate there would be serious consequences.

"Um..." Mother hesitated and looked around, no doubt confused by my concern for a witch, just like the others. "I hit her twice with my belt and I slapped her, but you have to understand your majesty, the girl is very rude and she's always causing trouble."

I could feel Asher trying to push for control, but I held him back. "If you ever lay a single hand on any of these children again, I will have your fangs removed!"

Mother took a step back and touched her mouth. Removing a Lycan's fangs meant they could no longer shift, if was a fate worse than death.

I looked around at the children impatiently and walked to the stage where several seats rested. I sat down in one and began to tap my foot impatiently. Where was she? What was taking so long? I looked down at the jacket in my hands.

It was old and thin. My mate had been living here in poverty while I enjoyed the benefits of the castle.

"How long has Alyona been living here?" I asked no one in particular.

Mother came over to me. "She was found with amnesia when she was 9 years old. She's 18 this year, so 9 years."

'9 years.' Asher growled angrily. 'She's been here in filth for 9 years!'

"You say she had amnesia?" I looked up at the mother. "Was there head trauma?"

"No, your majesty." She shook her head. "Not as far as I could see."

"Did you bother to have a healer check her out?!"

"Of course not. your majesty. She's just a witch." Mother said, as if it was a waste of time to care for her. "I don't understand why you are so concerned with the girl, she really isn't-"

Before the mother could finish the sentence that would have ended her life, the hall doors opened again, and two young girls entered the room.

I couldn't help but stand up as her delicious scent smacked me in the face, it really was her, it was my mate, how was this possible, how had I never noticed her before? I'd been coming here every year for the past 9 years, and she was here.

She was lovely, long thick black hair. Even from this distance I could see how gorgeous and blue her eyes were, her frame was a little too thin, but I would see to it that she was properly fed from this moment on.

I began to growl when I saw a large bruise on her stunning oval face. I looked at the mother. She'd hit her hard.

"Alyona, come here." The mother addressed her.

The two girls separated, one going back to her original position while my mate walked up to me with her eyes cast down.

She came over to us on the stage and remained silent. I wanted to hear her voice. I walked around her, examining her lovely body. She was tall but only came up to my shoulders, her hair up close looked like it was dead but with proper food and nutrition that would be taken care of along with her weight and her skin was a little too pale, she hadn't gotten a lot of sun.

"Hello, Alyona." I said as I stopped in front of her again.

"Hello, your majesty." She said back quietly and my heart throbbed. Her voice was amazing, like gentle music flowing around me.

"How do you exist?" I asked her in confusion.

I noticed her frown in confusion, and she looked up at me for a moment, her eyes widened, and she sniffed the air before lowering her gaze again quickly. She smelt it too. She knew from my scent that we were mates.

"I don't understand your question, your majesty."

"You are mine!" I announced, not just to her, but to everyone in the room.

Several of the adults gasped and looked at Alyona with interest while the students began whispering to each other. Gwen on the other hand looked like she wanted blood.

"So I ask again." I stepped closer to my mate. "How do you exist?"

"I'm not your mate." She argued, and I felt a sting of rejection. "I don't know why you think that way, but I can't be. I'm not a Lycan, I'm a witch."

"Yes, you are." I argued. I don't know why she lied about being a witch.

I reached out to touch her, but she cringed away from me in fear, it killed me that she was so afraid of me, and I hesitated for a moment before I gently placed my hand under her chin and lifted her face, my whole hand buzzed from the bond where we were connected, it was the most amazing feeling I'd ever experienced, an experience I thought I'd never have.

"I'm not a Lycan." She repeated and pulled back, breaking our connection. "I'm a witch."

Alyona raised her hand and fire erupted out of it. My guards acted instantly and charged the stage, but I growled furiously, and they all froze.

"TOUCH HER AND DIE!" I told them, and they all shrank back.

"See." Gwen stepped forward. "She's a witch, not a Lycan, you're imagining things Eli, I mean your majesty." She corrected herself quickly when I growled at her, I only ever allowed her to use my name when we were f*cking.

"I don't know what she is, but she's at least half Lycan." I said and looked down at my mate again. The more I stared at her the more I found desirable.

"No one can be half Lycan and half witch." Gwen argued. "It must be some kind of spell. The girl has cast a spell on you."

"You can not mimik the mate bond." Amery stepped in. "If the King says she is his mate then she's his mate, end of story."

"I don't want to be his mate." Alyona said quickly. "I won't ever be a Lycan's mate, I'm not a Lycan, I don't know why you think we're mates, but you're wrong."

"Am I?" I asked curiously. "So you're telling me you don't feel it, the bond?"

"No."

"DO NOT LIE TO ME!" I used my command. "DO YOU FEEL THE BOND?!"

"Yes." She cried out after she struggled and failed to keep her mouth shut and I smiled.

"Well, that's settled." I said confidentially. "Do you have any belongings to pack?"

"Belongings?" She asked and looked up at me for a second before lowering her gaze once more.

"Yes, do you own anything here that you'd like to keep?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Because I don't want you to leave anything behind that you love." I said simply. "You will be coming with me. The assembly is over."

"No." Alyona said suddenly and stepped away from me. "I don't want to go with you. I told you, I don't want to be your mate. She obviously wants you, to be with her." She pointed to Gwen

I growled, how dare she try to refuse me, I'd waited for her for over a thousand years.

"COME!" I used my command and began walking out of the hall. "Gwen, ride with Amery."

"You've lost your mind!" Gwen shouted, she grabbed Alyona"s arm and pulled her away from me, but I reacted instantly as Asher and I combined to protect our mate.

I grabbed Gwen by the throat and I lifted her into the air. "IF YOU EVER TOUCH HER LIKE THAT AGAIN I WILL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!" I threw her down hard on the ground and she cried out in pain upon contact. "I WILL FORGIVE YOU THIS ONCE BECAUSE OF OUR HISTORY, BUT NOT TOUCH HER AGAIN!"

I grabbed Alyona but her arm and pulled her towards the exit, I didn't let her go until we were in the carriage but when I looked down at her she was cringing in pain and holding her arm to her chest as she breathed hard.

"Did I hurt you?" I panicked, I thought I'd controlled my strength. "I'm sorry. I never meant to grip you so hard."

I reached for her, but she once again cringed away from me. "I'm fine." She said angrily and looked down.

I found myself hestitating again, but I decided to ignore her refusal. I gently took her arm back in my hand and pushed her sleeve down, I growled in anger when I saw huge welts over her skin.

"Did I do this?" I asked, but she shook her head and pulled up her other sleeve, showing me another wound.

"I was punished this morning." She said as if it was no big deal before she lowered her sleeves again.

Asher wanted to go back into the school and kill the mother who'd done this to her, but the carriage began to move.

I slowly reached out and gripped her chin again so I could tilt her face, I looked at her bruise and growled. "I'll make sure my sister gives you something to help you heal. She's one of our best healers."

"I don't need anything from you." She said and pulled out of my grip. I really hated her doing that, I wanted to touch her, hell I wanted to f*ck her.

"I know you haven't had the best experience with Lycan's, but I would never harm you."

"You don't think kidnapping is a form of harm?"

"I am not kidnapping you." I said angrily, "I am taking my mate home where she belongs... Alyona."

"Ally." She corrected me.

"Ally." I repeated and continued with what I'd started to say. "I don't think you realise what a miracle you are. You are the first Lycan born in over a thousand years. You could end the curse. If we can have children then perhaps-"

"I'm not having children with you." She said in disgust, and I hated to admit how much it hurt. "I am not staying with you. When I turn 18 and don't shift you'll throw me away and I can be free of you."

"Ally, even if you don't shift, I am keeping you." I told her firmly, "I have wished for you for longer then you can even imagine, I won't give you up just because you're not a Lycan."

"It's not up to you." She shouted, "You can't just keep me prisoner for the rest of my life, I don't want you!"

"Will you not even give me a chance?" I asked her, my heart breaking by her constant rejection, Lycan's must have been so cruel to her. "I am willing to give you a chance. We are meant to be together, the goddess made us for one another, no one can make you happier than I can."

"I don't want to give you a chance." She argued, "I don't care about your i***t goddess, she can go to hell, I will decide whom I spend my life with, not you."

"I think perhaps we should spend the rest of the ride in silence." I said firmly. My temper was rising. Her rejection was doing something to me, I found myself loosing control, I was afraid I'd force myself on her to claim her.

'Just mark her!' Asher demanded, 'She can't leave us if she"s marked.'

'The mark won't stick if she doesn't concent to it.' I reminded him. 'It'll just fester and make her sick while it heals.'

Ally glared at me and crossed her arms before she looked out the window, I watched her from the side of my eyes as we rode to the castle, I was afraid if she was out of my site she'd vanish, I noticed her pull a small black stone from her pocket and play with it, it must have been a comforting habit, I saw writing on the stone, and I wanted to ask her what it said but she still looked angry and scared, so I remained silent.

There was so much about her I wanted to know, I had thousands of questions running around my mind, but I held my tongue, the shock of simply finding each other was enough for both of us today, there would be time for questions tomorrow.

It took two hours to get to the castle, we drove in through the first gate, the castle grounds were divided into three rings, the outer ring was for the omega's and Delta's and witch servants, alot of stalls and shops and an underground market resided in this area.

Ally looked around as we rode through the village but remained as silent as ever. We made it to the second gate and passed through, this second ring was were the Beta's and Gema's lived, along with many restuarants and gardens and the prison.

Again Ally looked left and right as she leant towards the window for a better view, I smiled to myself, Lycan's were very curious, yet another clue that she was in deed a Lycan.

After an hour, we finally reached the inner gate that lead to the castle. Several important Beta's and Gema's lived here. We also kept the main hospital near the castle as well as a smaller forest that I loved.

There was a huge forest outside the walls, but I hadn't been in them in years.

Alyona's eyes widened as she took in the castle. It was massive, seven stories high and a few miles in length, I had an entire wing to myself. Ally would live with me there from now on.

'Should we give mate her own room?' Asher wondered.

I hadn't thought about that, I wanted her to share my room and more importantly my bed, I wondered if she was a virgin, not that it mattered to me, or did it? I didn't like the idea of anyone touching her, but I wasn't exactly a virgin, so I couldn't judge her if she wasn't

"Alyona." I said to get her attention again, she reluctantly looked at me, but she kept her eyes cast low, a habit all witches were taught from birth. They weren't allowed to look Lycan in the eye unless they wished to die. "Do you want to share my room?"

"No." She said instantly, and I felt rejected again. Would this sting ever let up?

"Very well." I nodded and tried to hide my pain. "You can take the bedroom next to mine until you're ready to be together."

"I'll share your home?"

"Yes." I told her. "I'm willing to do separate rooms... for now... however I will not let you live in another part of the castle. You will stay with me, if not because you are my mate but because your life could be in danger now."

"Why would my life be in danger?" She asked as her heart began to race.

I slowly reached out and held her hand that was on her lap, she looked down in surprise.

"You are the first Lycan born in generations." I reminded her. "Until you are marked, my enemies will try to claim you."

"What enemies does a King have?" She asked, pulling her hands away from me.

"My cousin Landon has always wanted to take the throne from me." I admitted, "There have been small incidents over the years but nothing I could prove he had instigated and his father, my uncle tried to take the throne from my father after the war began. If Landon thinks he can claim you, he'll try. We could solve this by me marking you."

Ally shielded her neck with her hand, "I will never let either of you mark me." She told me as her face screwed up in anger. "I would rather die."

"Why do you hate me so much?" I couldn't help but ask, "Am I really so unappealing to you?"

I'd never had an issue with women, and yet my own mate couldn't stand me.

"Because to me, you are the most exquisite creature I have ever seen."

Ally blushed and looked out the window again. "It's nothing personal." She said, "I just don't want to be with a Lycan."

"Are you really so against your own kind?"

"I am not a Lycan!"

'Don't push her.' Asher said quickly when I went to respond, 'Just be patient, she's so young and she must be terrified, she's just lost everything she's ever known, give her time.'

'Fine.' I sighed and sat back, all I wanted was to pull her into my arms and kiss her and all she wanted was to run from me screaming.

Her lips looked so soft and tempting. This was going to be so hard.