The minute I left Asha's room back at her house, I had given Lilith a call. She was the only one I knew, who would be able to tell me what to do, and would be able to explain the prophecy to Asha.
"Can you give her a read", I asked her immediately. "You want me to read your mate", she asked incredulously. Even I knew it was a strange request but I had a feeling she would know why the minute she read Asha.
She looked at me a little longer and then shrugged before moving her chair right in front of the couch. With one final questioning look at me, which I nodded to, she placed her right hand on Asha's own and placed her left hand on her head.
With her eyes closed, she took a deep breath and went still. Everytime I saw her read someone it was always a wonder to look at. She stayed still for so long one would believe it if you were told she was a statue.
I had no further concluded that thought when her eyes sprang open in complete bewilderment. She stared at Asha long and hard before looking right at me, "She's the one. Isn't she?"
I knew what she was asking and I also knew whether I agreed or denied it, she was certain of what she knew. She was only asking to confirm if I knew or not. I gave her a firm nod in reply and her loud exhale was troubling to say the least.
"What is it?" I asked immediately. She removed her hand from Asha's and placed her hands in her lap. "She needs to be trained immediately and you also need to mark her as soon as tonight before her shift is complete".
"I know that she requires training but why do I need to hurry the marking", I asked warily. She looked at me like I was dumb for five seconds before replying sassily, "You do remember the details of the prophecy and the interpretation we got for it right?"
"Yeah I remember", I replied a little confused not knowing where she was headed with this. "Why are you so slow right now", she huffed. "If you don't mark her before her shift is complete, every wolf within a mile radius of her will know exactly who she is. And in case you forgot, that includes the dark ones who intend to do more than fulfill the prophecy with the she wolf."
It took a few seconds for her words to sink in but when they did I didn't know the best way to react and just settled for a full groan. This shit just got a lot more complicated. "She is still new to all this", I started explaining gently. "How do I give her the history of a specie she didn't even know existed before, the same day as I ask her to bear my mark, fuck!!!!."
"I don't know how you intend to do it but best make up your mind and fast", she replied blatantly. "You have less than three hours from the look of things, so if I were you I'd start the explanations immediately." And here I thought she was the understanding one.
"I'll be in the kitchen should you need my help", she stated as she got up to her feet and with one last look at Asha stepped out of the room leaving me in my dilemma. This day could not have gone any sour than it was going right now.
The mark of a Lycan caused more pain than that of a werewolf and it was also logical since we were the stronger of the two. She just experienced her first shift and I'm supposed to impose my mark on her again in the same day, what kind of monster would she take me for.
Consumed by my thoughts I almost didn't hear her stir awake. When she finally came to though, it was with a small smile directed at me. A smile that stabbed a knife right through my heart. "Hi", she said in a small voice, an effect of just waking up.
"Hey", I replied with a smile of my own. "Hope you're feeling better", I asked gently as I helped her sit up on the couch beside me. "Yeah, I do feel better", she responded with a shrug, "like a load came off my neck".
Not knowing how to get into the conversation we were supposed to have, my mouth glued itself shut. "I heard someone in the room", she said out of the blue. "Was there someone here before I woke up?" "Yes, my sister came by", I replied hesitantly. "Wow you have a sister", she said happily. "Oh I'd have loved to meet her". I could only mutter, "Me too", in reply.
"Did you hear anything clearly?" I asked just to be sure. "Not clearly", she replied absently. "I could just make out another voice but not the words". I didn't know whether to feel relieved or even more agitated by that news and smart as she was, she figured out that something was wrong with me.
"Hey is everything okay? You look a little troubled". "Absolutely, everything is okay", I found myself saying. "Then what's got you looking like that", she asked again. I knew this was my chance. I could just spit it out there and at least see how she would take it but I still struggled. Completely ridiculous.
"Did your Aunt Maia ever tell you about the mating process and all it entails?" I asked instead. "I wouldn't say all it entails", she replied vaguely. "She mentioned a few things but not all of it I guess". "Among the few things she mentioned, did the subject of a marking come up?" I asked in hopes that she already heard about this from Maia.
I waited for her reply but found her hesitating. She did hear about it. "She mentioned that", she replied with a small voice and wouldn't look at me. "Asha look at me", I demanded of her. When she didn't I used my forefinger to lift her chin, "you know you can talk to me about anything right?"
Whatever Maia had told her didn't seat well with her at all and I'm guessing it's the pain she's worried about, which was understandable. I would be scared too if I wasn't already in this path. "What did she tell you about the marking?" I asked softly.
With gentle hands she pried my finger from her chin only to use her hair to cloak her face from me. I didn't like that at all and before I got the chance to remedy that she spoke softly again. "She said I would have to get your mark before the end of today to ensure my safety and to make it impossible for others to be able to identify me as the she wolf."
"Oh!" I whispered in realization. She already knew what had to be done, that makes this a little better considering the fact that she's had time to think about it and make her choice. "Is that all she told you about the marking or there's more", I asked just to be sure.
"That's all she had time to tell me", she whispered softly. "There's more though", I said quietly. "Would you like to hear about it?" I asked encouragingly. She gave a small nod making her hair do a small dance similar to the one my heart was doing right now.
"Essentially the mark is meant to be exchanged between mates", I started softly. "Since it links their souls together, giving meaning to the word soul mate. It's a bite given by the canines of our wolves and the level of pain differs for both werewolves and lycans as I'm sure you've noticed with other things." Another small nod.
"There is one vital thing to note though", and this was the part I hated the most, "the mark is irrevocable". I heard her sharp intake of breath and knew she had no clue that was part of the package. "Once a wolf is marked, there is no breaking that connection until death".
I waited for a few seconds to let her assimilate that before piling on any other info. She took her time and when she finally spoke I hated myself. "So you're telling me, if I allow you to mark me tonight I can never be free from you until one of us dies?" She asked calmly, her face still covered with her hair though she had raised her head.
Not liking the way she worded the question I selectively gave my answer, "You will be free since you're not my captive, it just works like a marriage of sorts. Only divorces don't exist in this one", I explained lightly. "Still the same thing", she countered turning to face me, finally.
It was hard listening to her compare such a scared bond to captivity, but I also understood her plight and wanted to help her out any way I could. "You still have a choice and you can choose not to accept the mark", I told her quietly.
"Whether I like it or not I have to let you mark me or be doomed to a life on the run from people who seek to use me for their own personal gain", she replied blatantly. "Don't sugarcoat it for me Xander, there was never a choice for me here."
"You still have a choice", I insisted. "If you do choose to forego the mark I will protect you". "And how long do you think you can do that?" she asked unbelievingly. "You have an entire pack to protect so how can you say that you'll protect me when your pack just recently got attacked".
"You are my Mate, Asha", I replied fervently. "Mine!!! Never forget that. As much as I hate that your options are limited, I have not tried to force anything on you. So don't be undermining my words simply because my pack got attacked. I've been the alpha of this pack for a very long time and I can tell you that when I say I'll protect you I don't say those words lightly."
If it was any other person that dared to question my words like she did they'd be wishing for death but she was my mate, my other half. She was supposed to trust me and not try to belittle me, fuck!!! This is all going wrong.
We were silent for a while, each person stewing in his thoughts. The alpha in me was not happy that she undermined his strength and authority, the human though understood her worries and the reason for her doubts but that didn't make it any easier to calm the alpha. I need her.
"I'm sorry", we said at the same time. I turned to look at her to find her already looking at me with sad eyes. I wanted to say more but I could see she had a few things to say too. "I'm sorry Xander", she repeated remorsefully. "This is just turning out to be more than I thought and I didn't know what to believe and I never should have doubted you."
With one look at her sad eyes, the struggle to make the alpha understand ceased instantly. Now all he wanted was to wipe that look away and make her smile again, we were agreed on that.
"I'm sorry too", I apologized. "I should've been more understanding of the situation you've been placed in and tried to help instead of getting angry with you." She waved her hand in a gesture I've come to identify with her as, 'it's done'.
"I should leave you to think about this and make up your mind", I said decidedly. "When you've made up your mind, just give me a call and I'll come back so we can discuss the next course of action." Without giving her the chance to say anything, I gave her hand a gentle squeeze and walked out of my office.
******* Asha's POV*******
Xander left the office a while ago and since then I've picked up a few books to scour as much as I could about the whole marking shit and have been able to come to a few conclusions of my own.
1 – If I let him mark me we're practically married for life and as much as I really like him, marriage is not on the agenda at the moment and I want to be able to say I made the choice on my own and not out of compulsion to save my life.
2 – If I refuse the mark then that means I have practically become the hunted in a world where I haven't even started crawling so how the hell do I run when attacked. Meaning my life and its security rests in Xander's hands and those aren't bad hands but they are occupied hands.
Meaning I would need to step up to save my life more times than I'd like because if any of those hunters are smart, they'll just give Xander's pack hell so he can leave me unprotected even if for a second and then boom Asha's dead.
Which brings me to 3 – Getting to know as much about Xander as possible with what little time I have left to complete my shift. No matter how stubborn I am even I can admit that I will not survive this world by my sheer force of will. So I have to know more about Xander to decide between one and two which option would help me live longer.
Which leads to 4 – If I end up choosing two and somehow along the way one becomes a reality because of three, then that just means I suffered and went the hard way for nothing when I could've had it a lot easier just by going with the easiest option no matter how crazy and life altering it may seem. Whoop!!! And some people thought I was insane.
Feeling secure about my options, I called Xander to let him know I was done. Time to get this whole shit done with.