"Bing Wen" Mrs. Xiu called the zoned out blonde. It hadn't been long since Lu Feng suddenly left and he was sitting alone deep in thought when he heard Mrs.Xiu call him. Standing up from his spot, he walked to where the elder was and sat next to her.
"Dear, What's wrong? You don't look so good." Mrs. Xiu asked worried. She considered Bing Wen as her own son and she truly loved and cared about the warlock. Unlike his stubborn children, Bing Wen was like an open book. She knew that the warlock had a crush on his son and how much it might have hurt him that he wasn't Hao Tieng's mate.
One day when the boys had come home for the holidays, she was going to the kitchen when she overheard Bing Wen confess his feelings to a sleeping Hao Tieng on the couch. Since it had become tradition that Hao Tieng would always come back for holidays with the blonde, Bing Wen had pretty much become part of the Xiu family.
It truly hurt her because she knew Hao Tieng was meant to be with the Quadbrid and not the warlock. She knew that no matter how much she had kept Hao Tieng away from the country, fate would soon unite him with his mate. No matter how powerful she was, fate was even more powerful.
When Gang Zhi came to her for his training, she was curious what she would find about the man her son was going to end up with. She had heard alot of rumors about the ruthless Quadbrid and all his deeds and her motherly heart wondered what kind of life her son would have with such a man but when she meant the immortal, she learned not to listen to rumors as they were mostly false. Through out their training, Gang Zhi never once yelled, attacked her or gave up unlike what she expected the immortal would be like or do.
Gang Zhi was humble and kind towards her despite his emotionless expressions throughout the training, the immortal never once smiled. She knew the tragic story of how the Chen siblings lost their parents and it hurt her to see her future son-in-law like that but she knew she couldn't do anything to ease the pain of losing your parents even so, she really felt like the immortal would be the perfect match for her hotheaded son.
"I'm fine it's just work stress." Bing Wen said honestly because it really was just work stress. He didn't know why the case suddenly got cancelled and he was sure to get to the bottom of it. The most anticipated case in his farm suddenly gets cancelled and the person he was going to represent was found dead earlier that morning. Something was really fishy.
"Don't lie to me dear. You've become so pale and you lost weight. I can see your bones trying to protrude. I told you to take care of yourself and not to stress yourself but you always don't listen to me." Mrs. Xiu worriedly exaggerated. Honestly Bing Wen didn't lose any weight and his bones weren't protruding, if anything the blonde had put on a few more muscles and looked healthier , he was just a bit pale.
"I promise to take care of myself better next time." Bing Wen promised and was immediately pulled into a hug.
"You know, I consider you my son and truly care about you. I just can't help worrying sometimes. I know your job is stressful but you also have to take care of yourself. I don't want you becoming like your father, he has alot of wrinkles due to stress." Mrs. Xiu explained pulling away from the hug. The royal warlock aka Bing Wen's Dad always stressed himself even with the littlest issues and he almost never came out of his quarters which were right next to the dragon guards' quarters. He always locks himself up there practicing new spells and discovering new herbs. "Did you see him yet?" she asked.
"Not yet, I'll see him tomorrow. If I go now, he's going to try and coax me into becoming like him, a royal warlock but I want to build my own legacy. I don't want to be known as Bing Lu's successor. " he explained to which the Queen just nodded in agreement. They continued talking for a while until Hao Tieng and Gang Zhi came back and for the first time Mrs. Xiu saw Gang Zhi smiling. Although it was a simple smile, you could still see that it was a genuine one.
Noticing their arrival, Bing Wen stood up almost immediately saying that he needed to use the bathroom and left. He wasn't angry or jealous or anything like that but it was still unusual for him to see the two of them together.
"Why did you two leave suddenly?" Mrs. Xiu asked with a serious tone. When the two flew away, she was curious to know why they just up and left just like that.
"We had some things to talk about Mom." Hao Tieng simply said sitting next to his mom while Gang Zhi sat on the chair next to his mate. They sat there in absolute silence not a single word came from the three. The only sound heard was Hao Tieng nervously tapping his fingers on his knee. This of course didn't go unnoticed to the observant Queen.
"Is there anything you want to tell me, Hao Tieng?" Mrs. Xiu asked sipping her wine while looking at her nervous son. Hao Tieng hesitated for a second before he stammered the reason making Mrs. Xiu spit out her bitter sweet drink.
"W-we want t-to ha-ve our m-ma-ting ritual this month." Hao Tieng stammered. While they were lying on the grass next to the creek, he suddenly remembered the mating ritual that his mom had told him about. He also remembered his mom telling him that the mating ritual was supposed to be performed as soon as mates found each other. So he and Gang Zhi decided they would have their mating ritual then Hao Tieng would move in and start living with Gang Zhi. They also talked about other things, like Gang Zhi introducing him to the whole world so that everyone could know he was absolutely off market and wasn't the most allegible bachelor anymore which kinda made Hao Tieng nervous.
It may seem like they were rushing into things but this was normal. As soon as mates found each other, the mating ritual would take place then the two would start living together. Plus Hao Tieng had become sexually and emotionally frustrated ever since he connected with his Dragon it's like all his senses were intensified. For the past week when Gang Zhi wasn't with him, he felt empty inside like a part of him was missing and he greatly missed the immortal. So much that he was sure he would have gotten sick if he hadn't seen the immortal today.
"You can't." Mrs. Xiu simply said as she composed herself.
"Mom?! You can't do this to me!! You can't keep me away from my mate. I love him and I want to become his whether your against it or not. We're having the mating ritual." Hao Tieng said trying to prevent himself from crying. He couldn't believe his mom was against it. He really thought she was going to support him.
"You stupid! unfilial child. Who said anything about being against you?" Mrs. Xiu asked. "Nothing would make me happier than my son finally becoming one with his mate and giving me grandchildren but you can't have the mating ritual this month. You'll have to atleast wait for two months." she added making both Gang Zhi and Hao Tieng confused. So she wasn't against them? then why do they have to wait for two months to have the mating ritual.
'What does she mean by giving her grandchildren? Am a man, I can't conceive a child. It's biologically impossible.' Hao Tieng mused shaking the thought out of his head but he didn't know that soon he'd find out that what seemed impossible in the human world wasn't impossible in the supernatural world.
"Why do we have to wait?" Gang Zhi asked since his mate seemed like he was flabbergasted.
"Because of your werewolf side." Mrs Xiu replied "Since your part werewolf it would lead to dire consequences if you didn't have the ritual on a full moon night and this month already had it's full moon yesterday and next month is a dark moon month which means there won't be a full moon next month so you'll have to wait until after next month and I advise you not to have sex or any kind of penetration before then, for your own good." she explained to which the two disappointedly nodded. It's not like they wanted to have sex with each other as soon as possible but because they wanted to become one. Gang Zhi wanted to mark Hao Tieng and show everyone that he only belonged to him so if he had to wait two months for that then he'd gladly wait.
"I've heard having the mating ritual on a full moon night intensifies the feeling." Mrs. Xiu said making the two snap out of their daze. Dragons, Sirens, Vampires and Warlocks don't have to wait for the full moon to mate so when they find their mate, the mating ritual is immediately conducted. She then stood up and left the two knowing they wanted their privacy.
Gang Zhi turned and looked at his pouting mate which he found adorable. He couldn't help falling in love with him even more. He leaned forward pecking him on the lips and his forehead making Hao Tieng smile then he helped him stand up and they proceeded to the living room where almost everyone was except Yung Tang, Bing Wen, Quang Ho and Lu Feng. Thinking they were already asleep, they proceeded to Hao Tieng's bedroom. They took showers separately cause neither of them wanted to get tempted. After bathing they settled in bed cuddling and they soon fell asleep.