The cat was standing on her back paws, scratching at the door that wouldn't budge. The sad, pitiful sounds she made, cut straight into Bella's heart. Once upon a time, she would have relished in it, taken the opportunity to drain the small creature of its power and strengthen her own.
And hell, the cat wouldn't even notice.
She would at most get tired and woozy, fall asleep, and then wake up drained and even more likely to fall into a pit of despair that a witch like Bella could feed on for years.
But thoughts of powers and strength were the farthest thing on Bella's mind right now. Watching her friend with that utterly defeated posture – head down and her short tail tugged tightly to her body as if trying to embrace herself – had Bella's legs moving without even thinking. Sitting down next to her, she pulled the soft bundle of fur onto her lap and hugged her tightly.
"He's never going to forgive me," Kat sighed, and had she been in her human form tears would have formed and rolled down her cheeks by now. The sliver of magic that still resided inside of Bella, longed to reach out and take the nourishment it needed. Her powers were all but gone and if she didn't get stronger fast, her chances of saving her sister would wither right between her fingers. But despite all of that, Bella also realized that the strange power that pulled her towards Kat was rooted deeper inside of her than any magic she knew. It was kindness and friendship like she'd never felt before. It was…
Hard to explain…
It wasn't noticeable at first, but you could feel it was there. And like an invisible strand, it had woven its way around Bella's heart and held on tight. And while it felt frail and weak, like a candle in the wind, it also felt more powerful and more all-consuming than a raging inferno. And if anything happened to Kat, then Bella would lose---
Unacceptable, Bella mentally hissed, hugging the small creature a little tighter. No! This wasn't how it would end. She refused to accept that! Willing or not, that pigheaded wolf was going to hear her friend out whether he liked it or not!
"Right," Bella said firmly, before picking up the cat and heading back to the living room. Kat watched as her best friend picked up the pendant and put it around her neck. Surprisingly, she instantly felt magic course through her, and she shifted back to her human form.
"Stay here!" Bella ordered, helping her onto the couch. "I'll be right back!"
Too weak to argue and too devastated to do anything else, she let Bella tug a blanket around her before she headed to the shop and left out the front door. A small smile tilted the corner of her lips upwards. Bella was probably on her way to buy more wine and ice cream.
Bless her soul, Kat grinned to herself, just as the tears started to roll down her face again. Magnus hated her, but he didn't know the whole story yet. She'd try and explain things to him next time she was human. All she could do until then was wait and hope that the mate-bond would work in her favor. But right now, she needed to have herself a good freaking cry. Watching her mate turn his back on her and walk away, reminded her all too much about all those times he'd look at her and see nothing more than a pet. Someone he could push aside whenever he felt like it. And while she couldn't blame him---
It still hurt damn it!
*
"Well," Milla muttered worriedly as she leaned down to Bjorn. "This is fucked up!"
"Since when did you become the voice of reason around here?" Bjorn asked, glancing at their self-appointed secretary before his eyes drifted back on Magnus. He knew he should tell the teenager to go home since it was late as fuck. But that would mean he would be alone with his partner. And right now---
That was a scary thought!
Magnus never really displayed the typical outwards signs of an alpha. He wasn't selfish, shortsighted, or narcissistic (the way Bjorn would have depicted every other alpha out there) and his alpha aura was usually contained behind a casual smile and laid-back manners.
Tonight, Magnus wasn't holding anything back!
He was furiously pounding a sandbag as if it was his greatest enemy. And the strength and power he put behind every hit, even made Bjorn flinch. Magnus was angry and frustrated, but above all that he was hurt, wounded, and feeling betrayed. Even a moron like Bjorn could figure that out, as he watched his alpha relentlessly murder another boxing bag before he ripped it off its hinges and replaced it with a new one; repeating the process. Hell, at this point Bjorn was beginning to regret alerting his alpha about the witch and his--- erm, not-mate?
Magnus was more than just hurt. He hadn't cried once in his adult life, but right now, he felt like curling up on a bed and cry. To disappear in the darkness and never return. To drown himself in the despair that filled his heart, that still made its presence known to him, by painfully slamming against his ribs.
Painfully and relentlessly.
His heart kept beating, but he wouldn't understand why. His wolf was howling in pain, fury, and confusion. He wanted his mate! He was too stupid to understand that---
That--- what?
That Kat wasn't their mate?
How could she be, when there was a witch involved? A witch she'd helped escape, knowing full well that it could spell disaster for everyone around them. A witch she made a deal with.
What kind of deal?
He didn't know and a part of him didn't want to. What if witches could fake a mate bond? What if everything he felt for her was all just a lie? Had they snickered behind his back? Had they laughed? Had she felt anything when he kissed her?
A part of him didn't want to know…
And that's why he left.
He didn't want to know. He didn't want to be the one fool to have fallen for a witch's black magic. To have fallen in love with someone who wasn't his mate…
"Alpha?" he heard Milla's soft voice cut through the silence of the training room, as yet another sandbag succumbed to his rage. "Perhaps---?"
"SHUT UP!" he roared, hoping that the sound of doors slamming was her leaving. "I don't want to hear it!"
"Too. Fucking. Bad!" a female voice replied, not a hint of fear in her tone.
Stunned Magnus looked up--- and came face to face with the last person he ever expected seeing here. But the Salem witch was no illusion! She marched right up to the alpha, a storm of fury blazing in her blue eyes, and she didn't stop until she was nose to--- well… mostly chest, but that didn't deter here…
"Because you're going to listen whether you like it or not!" she snapped at him, poking his chest to prove her point. But the alpha wasn't in any mood to be placated.
Especially not by a witch!
"Just because I haven't thrown your ass in jail again doesn't mean---!" he roared, but quickly found that you didn't mess with witches!
"Shut up!" she spanned and before he could say "jack", he was transported across the room, his back pressed against the rough surface behind him. Jump ropes were flying through the air and within seconds, Magnus, Bjorn, and Milla were all tied to the stall bars facing the witch. No matter what he did he wasn't getting free…
"What the hell---!" He heard Bjorn growl low, and he looked up at his friend. And suddenly being tied down didn't seem so bad. Because the witch had tied him up like a burrito and put him upside down. Much to Milla's amusement…
Magnus let out a low growl of his own. His wolf was pissed, not only because he was trapped, but because he blamed everything that had happened, on her! Not that it seemed to bother the witch much, because she marched right up to.
"You're going to listen to me, ok?" she said sternly, glaring at him. "Kat is the most brilliant person I've ever met. She's kind and funny and she has a heart of gold! She's sensitive and a total romantic which drives me nuts more times than I care to count, but that's just one of the reasons I love her!"
Stunned, Magnus and his wolf both when quiet. Off all the things that he expected coming out of her mouth…
"She's my best friend and she's survived everything that life has thrown at her so far, because that's how strong she is," Bella passionately continued, gritting her teeth. "If you can't see that, you don't deserve her!"
"Deserve--- her?" Magnus carefully asked. Because while it hurt to talk about his mate, everything that Bella had just said were reasons he'd fallen in love with Kat too. She was kind and funny. And beautiful. On the inside and out. She was brave and strong. She was everything he wanted…
So what, if she wasn't his mate?
Would it really matter?
But the witch's next words blew everything he thought he knew out of the water…
"She's your mate!" Bella exclaimed exasperated with the drama. "But you can't recognize her because the curse messed with her shifter ability! She's a shifter, just like you and she recognized you the second she set eyes on you!"
Magnus blinked.
Blinked again, as if that would change the last couple of seconds. But it didn't. And never in his life, had he been happier to get such shocking news.
Kat WAS his mate!
His wolf was yipping around their shared mind like a lovesick puppy, only to stop dead in his tracks, when he realized…
Curse?
What curse? He had never heard of a curse – not a real one anyway. What did he do? Could he save his mate? Was she in pain? Would something bad happen to her? What---?
"You are her soulmate, and she was stuck as a cat. What did you expect her to do? Walk away?" Bella continued, throwing some truths at them that they needed to hear. "She needed my help and--- yeah, she might have broken a few state laws when she freed me, but she did it to be with you! Her soul mate! And YOU cheated on her, I'll remind you, so you can't---!"
"WHAT?!" Magnus cut her off with a roar of his own. His wolf was furious too. "I've never---!"
"She had to watch you date another woman," Bella cut him off again, before he could finish, and reminded him, that Love the Cat had been in his life much longer than Kat had. And his heart froze in his chest…
Shit…!
"Flirt with another woman and act like she wasn't even there! That she didn't matter to you," the witch continued, making guilt twist in his guts. "How would you feel if you had to watch helplessly as the other half of your soul disregarded you and threw you into the fucking bathroom, so she could have sex with someone else?"
Suddenly he understood how much forgiveness and understanding his mate had. How lucky he was to have her. And how much he had to explain…
"You tore her heart out, yet she came back to you because she knew what you two could have, is special," Bella continued, not sparing anyone. "Everything she did, she did to be with YOU! The other part of her soul. The one person, who could make her whole."
She took a deep breath and watched the shifters in front of her. All of them looked stunned, that a witch – a being that was rumored to be completely emotionless and coldhearted – give them a hard-core lesson on mates.
And the true meaning behind them…
"Now," she huffed, shooting her hips out like an angry mother would, before turning her attention back on Magnus. "Is that something that's worth anything to you? Or are you going to throw it away because you hit a bump in the road?"
Magnus didn't have to think about it. He nodded and Bella understood. With a flick of her wrists, the ropes around him fell on the floor and he quickly stood.
"Where is she?" he asked, not wanting to waste a single second of this second chance.
"The hut," Bella replied and held her hand out. Magically, the key to his car appeared in her hand and with a smile, Magnus reached for it. Only for her to snatch them away from him at the last second.
"And you better make it right or so help me," she threatened, narrowing her eyes at him. "There won't be a bone left in your body to break when I'm done with you!"
He tried not to smile – but it was really hard not to.
"I will," he replied and this time, surprised Bella by engulfing her in a wolf-hug. He sat her back down and smile widely at her. "And thank you."
Bella shook her head as she watched the alpha run out of the training room. She'd never admit it out loud, but hugs were starting to grow on her.
And for a witch, attachments were a dangerous thing…