The Hybrid Fairy King's Lost Mate

4 The Past: The fairy prince couldn’t be her mate.

Her heart pumped hard in her chest as she walked away from him. Mystic resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to catch one last glimpse at him. He looked like nothing she'd ever seen before. Wisps of white hair hung around his face, while the mass of it was tied up on top of his face. His black eyes shone bright. His face was lupine shaped with long canines. He was…Mystic shook her head, as an overwhelming feeling filled her. Her wolf whimpered inside her, but she ignored her. She kept walking, needing to put as much space between them as she could.

She walked faster to the line of trees where her sister was waiting. She jumped off the fallen tree she had been sitting on and rushed towards her.

“Mystic, are alright?” she asked, taking her hand.

“I’m fine. I told you he wouldn’t hurt me,” Mystic said, heading to the main house.

“I heard him call you mate. Is that why you were sure he wouldn’t hurt you?” Mae asked, looking up at her. Mystic shook her head. She should have known that she wouldn’t run far.

“I thought I told you to go,” Mystic said, a little frustrated. Her sister never listened to her. “But you stayed to spy on me.”

“I wasn’t spying. I was making sure he wasn’t hurting you. I’m your sister, I wouldn’t leave you alone to face danger alone. And he looked scary. I’ve never seen anything like him.” Her eyes suddenly went wide. “Is he really your mate?”

Mystic bit the inside of her mouth.

Mate, her wolf said all over again, adamantly. The word echoed in her heart, making her miss her step. Mae tightened her hold around her hand and steadied her. For a little girl, she was strong.

He’s our mate, Zarie said. She couldn’t understand why she wasn’t acknowledging that fact, since she recognized him as their mate the minute Mystic turned around to face him. That’s how she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, because he was her mate…

“Is he?” Mae asked persistently as ever.

“No,” Mystic lied.

“Damn, if only he was. He would take us away from here to a place where you don’t have to work like a slave, and no one would shout at me. A place where we will be happy,” Mae grumbled.

“Life doesn’t work that way,” Mystic said, giving her hand a squeeze. She felt bad for lying to her. But there was something about him that was…Mystic didn’t know how to explain it. He was strange. And he scared her. She touched her chest as the fear she’d tried to hide from him swirled inside her. She wasn’t supposed to be afraid of her mate. She didn’t think she could be happy with a mate she was scared of.

“I can’t wait to find my mate,” Mae said dreamily. “He’ll be strong and big like father. His wolf will be ten times bigger and braver. He’ll come and take me away.”

“Are you going to leave me behind?” Mystic teased.

“No. You’ll have your own mate. A strong werewolf that will take you away too. And not the monster we saw in the woods. What do you think he is? I’ve never seen anything like him before.”

“I don’t know,” Mystic said, looking over her shoulder again. He was strange. Maybe if she saw him again. Maybe she was just startled, because she'd never seen anything like him before. Maybe, Mystic thought.

She came to a stop next to the guest house. She reached for her hair and started to remove the tiny flowers she had woven in her hair.

“You look pretty with flowers in your hair. You should be able to wear them whenever you want,” Mae said, helping her remove them.

“You know Aria doesn’t like it,” Mystic said, looking up at the house. Aria’s bedroom window overlooked the flower garden that was in front of the guest house. She hated it so much that they were banned from touching the flowers in the garden even though she wasn’t the one who tendered the garden. Mystic did.

She did everything in the house. From the day she arrived at Lanarrie’s house, she has been nothing but their slave. She cleaned, cooked, washed clothes and tendered the beautiful garden. She did everything so Mae won’t have to. Mystic couldn’t wait for the day her father came for them.

To this day, she doesn’t understand why he sent his daughters to a place like this. Even though they didn’t say it to her face, she knew that the fairies hated their werewolf blood. Mae begged her many times to go back home, but she knew they had to wait for her father to come for them, no matter how long it took.

Once they were done, they made their way into the house, through the kitchen. Gwen was already at the stove cooking. She turned to look at her as she walked through the door. From the look in her eyes, Mystic knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant night. She reached for the apron from behind the door, and moved to the table where the vegetables were still waiting to be chopped and diced.

“I told you to go and call your sister,” Gwen said, pointing a large spoon at Mae. “Did you go wandering in the woods?”

Mystic stepped between them. She could feel her wolf push through her to defend her sister. But she held on to her. “She came and called me. And we came back as quickly as we could,” the last bit came out in a growl. Mystic waited for Gwen to say something more. The silence between them became tense.

“What is it that I hear?” Aria’s voice filled the kitchen, breaking the silence. Mystic clenched her jaw as she breezed through the kitchen in a white robe that made her fair skin glow. Her blond hair shimmered as she walked. She was beautiful, and she knew it. Every male around wanted her hand in marriage, and she wasn’t shy to declare that she was only going to agree to a marriage proposal from the fairy prince only. “For a minute there I thought I had stepped into some pack house and not my father’s kitchen,” she said, turning her cold gray eyes on Mystic. “I told you to keep that animal of yours caged. This is not a pack house. It’s the house of Lanarrie. You should learn what that means. It’s not some barn for animals.”

“We are not animals, we are werewolves,” Mae chimed in, trying to defend her sister. Mystic grimaced as Aria turned to Mae.

“Did you say something, little girl?”

Mystic clamped her hand over her sister’s mouth before she could say anything else. Aria’s sister, Lin, looked on with pity in her eyes. She never said much, because she was also scared of Aria.

“She didn’t say anything,” Mystic said.

“I heard her say something. I should cut out your tongue so you learn never to talk back. Bring me the scissors. I’ll…” Aria began, but Lin interrupted her.

“When will dinner be ready? The prince is joining us this evening,” Lin asked timidly, changing the subject completely. Aria wheeled so fast to the housekeeper, Gwen dropped the spoon she was holding.

“I uhhh…it will be ready soon.” She leaned down to pick it up.

“Did you see him?” Aria asked, moving closer to Gwen. She blinked her eyes dreamily. “Is he as handsome as they say?”

“Yes, he is. His hair is whiter than white and…”

“Oh come, let’s go to my room. I want to hear everything,” Aria interrupted her. He took Gwen’s hand. She dragged her out of the kitchen. Lin smiled at Mystic and then followed her sister out of the kitchen. Mystic turned to Mae, and shook her head at her.

“What?” Mae asked innocently.

“You know what?” she said, moving to the stove. “I told you to keep your mouth shut in the house. Now, let’s cook this dinner and we will be done for the day.”

Mae complained, but she moved to the sink to wash her hands. For the next hour, they prepared a feast for Lanarrie’s guest. Once they were done, her sister helped her set the table. Gwen came back around seven in the evening. She inspected each dish with narrowed eyes as if she was looking for the smallest mistake.

“You can take them to the dining room,” she said, moving away from the table. Mystic carried each dish to the table. When she came back for the last one, the kitchen door was opened and in walked the handsomest male she'd ever seen. She stared at his white hair, thinking of the other whited-haired male she saw in the woods. From Gwen’s description earlier she immediately knew he was the fairy prince. Mystic blinked her eyes as she suddenly felt she was seeing double, like they were one and the same person. But the prince didn’t have that overwhelming presence that took her breath away.

Are they the same? she asked herself, feeling like she was seeing things. She felt her wolf’s sudden joy deep inside her as she stared at him. They were one and the same.

Please don’t say it, Mystic begged. The fairy prince couldn’t be her mate.

No. Her hands started to shake. The dish rattled badly in her hands.

“Careful,” Gwen snatched the dish from her, which made the prince turn their way. He came to an abrupt stop when he noticed her standing there. His eyes went wide, but he contained his surprise.

Oh s**t…he recognized her too.

Mystic turned to Gwen, and took the dish from her. She rushed out of the kitchen to the dining room. She placed the dish on the table, and took the long way back to the kitchen. She walked out of the front door, and rounded the house. She hoped that he wouldn’t be there when she returned.

Before walking back into the kitchen, she peeped through the window to make sure he wasn’t there. Mae stared at her through the window with a frown on her little face. She walked to the door and opened it for her.

“What are you doing outside?” she asked, staring at her curiously. “You didn’t even say hi to the fairy prince.”

Mystic ignored her, and quickly tidied up the kitchen. She wanted to be out of there as quickly as possible. She’ll come back after dinner.

“Let’s go, Mae,” she said, pulling her towards the door.

“No. I’m hungry,” Mae whined.

“We’ll eat after dinner. You know we can’t eat before they do,” Mystic said, opening the door. For once, she was happy about that rule. It meant she wouldn’t run into any of them when they came back into the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Gwen asked as she walked into the kitchen. “They need you to serve the wine. Come, quickly.”

Mystic clenched her jaw, feeling like she could scream. They could serve the damn wine themselves.

“Come along,” Gwen said, turning to walk back to the dining room. Mystic followed her. She entered the room and walked to the serving table where they had the wine waiting to be opened. Aria’s voice filled the room as she flirted with the prince.

“I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting the royal house, your Highness. I would love to, though. I hear you have a spectacular garden,” Aria said.

“No. Please call me Kalan. And yes, the garden is lovely,” he said. His voice was smooth and deep. But yet different. Mystic wasn’t sure she had met the same person. She resisted the urge to look at him again. She focused on opening the wine, and moving around the table to serve anyone who wanted it.

“Oh that would be my pleasure, Kalan,” she laughed shyly. “I never dreamed of calling you by your name. You must feel relaxed around us to allow that.”

“I do, your hospitality has been great so far,” Kalan said.

“It’s good that you’re already feeling at home. That will help with the long hours of learning you’ll have to get through,” Lanarrie said. Mystic turned to him. He was smiling politely at Kalan. On the outside, he looked welcoming and kind. But Mystic knew a different side to the older fairy. She poured him some wine, which he sipped loudly. Mystic cringed as she moved to Lady Lanarrie, she was quiet as she ate her food. She was more like Lin. Beautiful and kind in an unassuming way. She mostly stayed out of her husband’s way, and let him have his way. Much like Lin did with Aria.

Mystic poured Lin some wine, and moved around the table.

She felt eyes on her. She looked up, and found Kalan staring at her. And so was Aria. She looked at her, and then back at Kalan. Her nostrils flared.

Shit…Mystic looked down, and moved towards her as she lifted her wine glass. Mystic tilted the wine bottle to pour the wine into her glass. But she shifted the glass slightly so that Mystic missed her mark. Red wine splashed onto her white robe, turning it a bloody red.

Aria screamed, jumping to her feet. She slapped Mystic across the face before she could move out of the way. Her eyes filled with tears, but she held them back.

“How dare you!” Aria screamed. Chaos broke around the table. Mystic felt strong hands push her to her knees. Her wolf pushed to get out, but she held on to her.

Not now, Zarie, not now, she begged her. Her wolf was an alpha, she could only take being pushed around for so long. She raged within her, but eventually she gave in. She prowled deep inside her, rage writhing through her. Mystic felt it all. But she held it inside. She couldn’t fight back. This was where her father wanted her to be. Even though, she didn’t understand why. She knew he had his own reasons. He wouldn’t leave her and her sister to suffer, not like this.

He must have his reasons, she told herself.

“Apologize now!” Lanarrie said, staring down at her.