One & Only, page 9
Luckily, he was only taking from my werewolf magic. He couldn't tap into the king’s side of magic for its was an overwhelming part that I didn't want him involved in. I didn’t think it was even possible that he would eb able to handle it, it was my responsibility alone. Given a choice, I would have preferred to keep him home and pampered without lifting a hand but this wasn't my decision to make. Whatever the deities had in store for him was different as he had begun as my mate but along the line with his refusal of the bond, it had shifted, he was a protector. Maybe it was my wish as the voices of the old had told me that there was power in my wishes as they not only reflected that of the larger population but it tapped into their wants too. As my protector his coming powers meant he would not have the need to be far from me. He would always stay by my side, even when he didn’t want to as any other choice is death.
It was his fate, something that was both a punishment and a blessing as he would not suffer loneliness even if he never met his second chance mate. I however had the choice to give freedom. I know some would say it was slavery, but it's usually geared that way for protection purposes and most of the time the king was very aware of their charges. To me it was a bonus that he was my potential mate. Three bonds were binding us and if that was not fate, then there was nothing in the world that was fated. As I laughed at how his soul was abiding by his duties, to remove all potential “threats” form my side, even though they were my aides and the high kings. I felt him release a powerful surge of warning and a threat towards anything with hostile intent and deliberate or not, it filled me with pride. It marked the fact that at least his bond as my protector had been accepted and while the other two bonds with me might not have claimed me, he would still stay.
The two days of activities was one of the most interesting periods that I had ever seen the team engage in. The inner council members kept following him and they didn't recognize where they were because his hypnotic magic was awakening and his claim of being my protector meant that he was first in line for protection. With that, he'd also claimed them his charges by default, an amazing development that I had not seen coming owing to the fact that he was the youngest of all of them. There was an alignment bond, bright fiery red in colour that connected them and added an additional layer of an orangish hue to their energy. Appraising their powers, I also noted that on some level, they had also increased a feat that would be shocking to anyone who had as they were the epitome of optimal magic.
The inner council members genuinely served out of their own will because they believed it which was a good thing. Even without knowing that they, in their previous lives had been the most powerful priests and priestesses and at one-point had almost ruled the world because people had prayed and bowed to them. Voices of the old spoke of the primitive years when the species were not so many in variety and they were one of the beings that could directly communicate with the deities. However, despite knowing that, I kept them at bay because I understood how the human mind worked. Something so innately good can become innately poisonous with just a few words a trait that the human side of all supers had retained throughout history.
Evolution existed and living with the constraints of the same rules under same leadership over time ought to be exhausting, especially for weres who got to live for hundreds of years if not thousands. Even without getting to live that way, there were some who got reborn with the memories of their past lives remembering their transformation through history a fate that was tied to the main reason why they were within this realm and not their true home. For new were born of the evolution simplest creatures that walked in the universe, it was not so much different than with the old souls. Fates with humans were crossed at one point that made that change of reality into something feasible. My potential mate was a good example, his parents had no wolves yet they were supers and he'd been born with one.
I was another very good example, even though my history was complicated, my grandfather was a vampire and he'd laid with a mer-queen yet in a fluke that's never been explained before, my father was born. There is nobody living had been able to explain that and, in the deities, according to my research, he was and still is a fluke of nature which were just the right conditions for me, another a fluke of nature to be born. From the knowledge everyone before me had passed and from what was taught to me ever since I entered the palace, none before me had a true mate. The voices of the old were shocked when they realized what he was, the closet and with the most likely chances of being my mate. Happy in my delirium of that potential I failed to listen to their whispers of warning or even feel the worry of fates.
Waking up the third morning ready to engage in the final legs of the preparation or the social ball, I wanted to continue to stay in bed with the boy who had unintentionally crawled into bed with me. He was in a dream plane where he was making his vows to continue strengthening the bonds with the high kings. His colours and mine danced together and when his soul danced, my movements mirrored his. When his words were echoed through the universe, my energy went with them and I made the same vows though I didn't need to. I knew deep down in my soul I had made these vows before and they had been echoed in a soul that was plagued. Far in the distance a bond that connected me to another thumped with urgency as if wishing for me to remember and with that, I went into deep slumber as I tried to follow that bond in the realm of the spirits. Unfortunately, it was blocked by a wall of voices of the old in a mist of uncertainty, I saw the wisdom in letting the sleeping dog lie which made me turn to the bond with my potential mate.
So, when we woke up, I could feel him everywhere and I knew our bond was much stronger than before, whether that was a good thing or not, I couldn’t tell. But there were no ways at this juncture that it could be broken without serious repercussions, not just for us, for the existence and laws of our nature. I didn't care what being exists on the planet or outside of it, but the one thing we all had in common is the fear of getting hurt. It's not the physical hurt that can always be surpassed but the hurt you feel deep down into your existence that it changes you. Fear of that hurt drives us to insanity and leading to committing all sorts of unimaginable deeds. I wasn't any different, this was my potential mate but we both understood that he was going to say no. He was already showing signs of rejection towards me and it wasn't that strange that as I sat there watching each of the ambassadors try to prove themselves, I wasn't really concentrating.
The morning that we walked into the hall after his incident, he'd already proven himself he's going to put my protection first above anything else but that had nothing to do with me. That was his fate so whoever would have been in my place he would have still made the vow. What I was most afraid of was him choosing to stay just because I was the true king and being forced to be with me just because there was the mate bond. It was the main reason why in my soul I could recognize that I was accepting the rejection slowly by slowly. I wanted love, I wanted him crazy about me and when he really decides to stay in my arms it would've because he truly from every part of his existence doesn't believe he could find something better. It was selfish of me but I wanted him wholly mine, especially since I wasn't even wholly my own being and right at that moment while I was thinking this, I felt him at the balcony above, his usual spot, and I wanted to cry. Unfortunately, I didn't wholly belong to myself so I ended up affecting some of the ambassadors in the floor by projecting my emotions.
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It was the morning of the social ball which begun my biggest headache yet starting with me almost breaking down in nervousness. This was one of the rare moments when my human side caught up with me and the situation. Luckily, only Ladilla was with me and unluckily she was also having a small breakdown of her own as her mate was going to Dragonia kingdom, where he was the most hated person for having chosen to sire with an ice-dragon, a species that was considered an abomination. However, while there were several species of dragons and she was not the ice dragon that had brought that hate to her husband. Since dragons were rarely polygamous, as they gave their heart to only one person, her husband had taken another mate an instance that not only forced people to ask what was wrong with her but to question their mate bond. Since she was royal, everybody has expected he'd be satisfied by only her and even if he would have taken another, it should have been from the fire-dragon and within her family or clan. It had been a shocker and though she had forgiven him and allowed him, he had not been forgiven by her people.
Her breakdown however was mostly because her children were also worried since she'd overstayed in the human realm. They were threatening to come and take her away forever, which they could if they enforced a certain code of law. The downside with the law is that once evoked, it would mean she was a prisoner of her family and it was the only reason that they were hesitating. So, we were like two crazy people trying to calm each other and while we argued about it, I could smell tears and then I felt the pinch on my heart while there was a similar reaction to the bond with my potential mate. I turned and saw him looking at us strangely and since I was already grumpy and weirdly surprised by his stealth approach, I questioned him and it came out rudely. There were so many other factors also at play as his wavelengths and life-force were bursting in colours just like they always did around me and for the first time his heart beat marched mine. Despite the still that dark knot in him that hated me, it was the first time that he had seemed to have acknowledged out bond which was confusing as there was nothing in the situation itself that would warrant that. I was irritated with the day already and as I too busy trying to hide my own frustration, I couldn’t register the hope in his possessiveness.
The need to reach out to him and calm him was there but he had left before I could react so I brushed it off. I turned back to Ladillawho wanted now to learn who Tyler was. When raised a brow, I just nodded my head in agreement, afraid that if I spoke it out loud, I might jinx the small light at the end of the tunnel that was dimly shining. In silence, we walked to breakfast with her on my arm. Everybody was already on the table waiting and as usual, they stood waiting for me. I pulled her a chair near me and as I did, I felt the pinch again so I turned to be potential mate who looked furious trying to stop a growl. Beside him, the alpha king was looking from me to the woman then to my mate and He looked amused, he'd figured it out. I didn’t mind as it was easier for wolves to understand the workings of a mate bond better than most supers. Him being a true alpha and the parent pack to Tyler, he would not be vocal about until we acted upon it since it could potentially mean conflict and unwanted attention.
"It's good to have breakfast with all of you. I am impressed with the team you all sent." I told them all.
It was true, the whole team was amazing and it was the first time in a while that the inner council would also each pick a member from the general population both for training and for renewing treaties in place.
"I think I speak for everybody in saying that we are glad that this year things have been good. I sure am glad that the inner council will be able to pick three people. " The raven king said
"I think you are mistaken." Alchemy said, "we have only identified one candidate."
The other inner council members agreed and I was of the same opinion, but the kings didn't seem to agree. There were murmurs of dissatisfaction which was escalating by the minute and luckily, I didn't have to say anything, as my potential mate send out a wave that created a cover over them and in a minute, they were all quiet and subdued. He was still a little shy about it, so he looked at the alpha king in apology then the other inner council members who smiled at him. I didn't need look at him but I was proud.
"I want to understand why the high council think there is more to be identified and since all of you seem to agree on this, I want to hear you out." I calmly set aside my soup bowl and asked.
"It's the year of the prophesy, the stellar alignment is right just like in the prophesy and the signs have been there leading to today." the council spoke person, the mon-vampira king said.
The mon-vampira were a breed of vampires born of human origin, the bitten vampires. They could be very beautiful as human and actually live as one, until you seem them transform. Their faces change and contort to become beast like as two fangs on either side of the upper jaw grow. They were the deadliest vampires since they rarely fed on human blood and if they did, it was a massacre since their thirst was so strong that no single human can satisfy them. I liked them as they had spunk and they rarely participated in conversation unless there was benefit to their cause.
I knew of the prophesy they were talking about as it was of the child king who was expected to open a new world to all supers. It was prophesied that this king would gather them all, let them lead in freedom before taking them to eternal paradise. What they failed to realize was that this prophesy was born so many eons passed, and that after the war of the deities it had actually been fulfilled. It was history that was attached to a dark past that the voice of the old talked ominously about but never really told me the details. What I understood was that the war had taken toll on all super and the true king, by then, a gifted mage, had opened up a portal for the survivors who had ended up in the human realm. This had already come to pass and the paradise they were looking for was already here. I guess to keep people still hoping for a better life, no one had passed down this knowledge or along the way it had become forbidden knowledge, the library of Gamre in the castle had a lot of those. I understood the genius behind that, because if they found out they were already in paradise, yet it didn’t match their dreams, it would be a little difficult to really have a purpose of live. Ladilla covered my hand in encouragement as she smiled, knowing that I was overthinking it. To her this was funny as it was her family line that the proclaimed that prophesy and when I tried to scowl at her, she smirked.
"I need a vacation!" I thought as I rubbed my temple in frustration that she wasn’t making things any better.
Unfortunately, the words had come out of my mouth and everyone turned to look at me. It was one of those moments where you want to turn into a joke, but then you don't know how since you really meant it, and in my position, those moments weren’t supposed to happen. Even if I knew a joke to use to cover it up then, I couldn't have, the bonds couldn't allow it as it was a desire so strongly projected. That's why they were not only staring at me, but I could almost feel the guilt and regret that they felt thinking they had made my life a little bit difficult. Seeing their reaction, I made up my mind, my leadership needed to have a purpose, I was going to fight for their freedom of free will and cut the bonds from the deities. At that moment it hit me that the bind was made so long ago and mostly by people who were either gone or didn't care anymore. The whole super pack needed to be finally let free to make their own mistakes and learn from it. This felt like my real purpose. I was going to be the last true king. If only at this moment I had the full knowledge of what the bond was cemented in its place and like the voices of the old had said, my wishes were not just my own, they were voices by a very powerful and large population that would shake the heavens. I sat straight and tried to placate them.
"It's a huge responsibility that you think am the one in the prophesy. I am sure the deities have also given you the signs for a reason. They have not given them to me so you must all surely realize my surprise in this." I said confidently and squeezed Lanny's hand as she wanted to laugh as I continued. "The collective council know this better than I do. I think you should prepare yourself for it. When the deities deem it important for me to know then we can be ready. You were all called to serve at this time within this period in our cycle of existence, I am sure you were all meant for this. I will therefore trust in your abilities to make ample preparation for this journey with all the ambassadors. You can all see that the high kings and I we were only able, which itself is a bizarre situation. T must mean that the rest of them are placed at stations that warrant the loyalty and amazing gifts that can only be realized through their local leadership. You have all shown that and maybe by the time we need them, we should have natured more talent that will lead us to this new world."
I finished plumping their egos but the inner council members were now looking at me as if I had run mad. I kept squeezing Lanny's hand harder to stop her from breaking into laughter. Buttering the council up was a skill I learnt from one of the old voices. He seemed to be the laziest of all of them and his work had always been done by others and his tactics came in handy. I couldn't blame him actually; he was royal born in the human world and had only stumbled in eth super world after being bitten. By the time I was done with the high council and high king members, they were sitting up straight with a proud chip on their shoulders while they smiled and clapped. It was really shady of me but I had made my vow and I was going to do whatever it took to make it come true. I wanted my next lifetime to be perfect. A simple life with a mate who adored me, and who wouldn't feel intimidated by the power I yielded. The walls would be much easier to break down if at least we were on the same level.
