"Oh! The right jackass! Himself thought he would barge in accusing me of this and that, ordering me about. I am not one of his women. A body is entitled to her own privacy and when I told him I wanted just that, he decided to grab my arm and pull me towards him. And I don't know, I just snapped. I called him a jackass and now he is one! Oh this is awful." She said her temper giving way to more tears.
Sabrina who'd been standing there hearing it all spoke up first of the group.
"Well, being that he grabbed you, then I say he's gotten no less than he deserves for that! I've a good mind to make him stay in a stable for a day just as he is, but he's needed in this upcoming fight. I am sorry he put his hands on you, and believe me, I intend to have a GOOD long talk with him on this." She said narrowing her eyes at David who hung his head in shame.
By this time Moira and Ivy arrived with Jessa.
"Oh! Cool! A donkey!" Ivy exclaimed coming to scratch at David's ears as he tried to bite her hand indignantly.
"Not a donkey, a jackass to be specific…." Sabrina said "And also, that's David…."
"I see." Said Moira. "And how is it he came to be a mule?" she asked her eyebrow arched
"I lost my temper Moira, he grabbed my wrist and I just snapped out."
"Ah, well, I suppose we have to turn him back. Very well." With a flick of her wrist Moira's book and box of potions and potion making supplies landed softly on the table.
She took out a pewter bowl, her athame, several vials of dried herbs and liquids, some type of black root that smelled a bit awful and salt. She made a circle around the table. She placed herself at the northern point, Ivy at the west, Jessa at the south and Hazel to the east. They put their hands over the bowl and chanted the words from the book. Moira mixed the ingredients by rote as if she had memorized it years ago. Truth was, she had. She herself had a few mishaps, and Goddess knows Ivy had more than enough of her share in her school years.
After a few moments the potion, a dark green liquid, was done. She held it up to the light a moment and it flashed bright golden and then settled into a pale green. She walked to David.
"I am afraid this isn't going to be very tasty, or pleasant, David." She said, "But, it's also no less than you deserve for putting your hands on a lady."
David hung his head and made almost a groaning sound as he sniffed the vial she held. It smelled like bitter cherries, black earth and bark. It was gross. But he manned up and opened his mouth willingly.
The liquid poured from the vial into his throat and immediately he wanted to retch and spit it out but a flick of Moira's wrist took away his ability to do so.
"Uh uh. No you don't. you're not spitting that out. It tastes bad? Oh well, so sorry for you. Now I suggest you swallow it so it isn't lingering on your tongue then. Be quick about it."
David swallowed the vile liquid and began to feel something tingling deep in his body. It felt like when he was shifting into Gordon, his lion. But this started to ache, then burn, and hurt. He could hear himself braying loudly and it was horrible to his ears. Nothing like his normal smooth voice. He crumbled to the floor his legs, all four of them, refusing to hold him up any longer. Eventually what felt like hours later the pain gave way and his voice, while hoarse, turned into his own again. His mind was still reeling as his head whipped around to eye Hazel with wariness and a good healthy dose of fear.
"I'd suggest you to apologize to her, lest she turn you into something worse this go around." Ivy suggested on a slightly amused tone.
"Hazel, I…." but that's as far as he got before she stopped him. She walked to him and knelt down.
"No, David, I am sorry. I lost my temper. There is no excuse. I should've kept better control."
"And I shouldn't have put my hands on you." He said finishing the previous statement.
"Well then, it seems like we're all a sorry bunch then aren't we?" Moira spoke up. "But, there's things that need to be discussed and I'd rather not do it having to change people back into their own skins if possible, so I suggest we have a mediator for each side. Luna, would you be so kind? And Sabrina, will you?"
Sabrina shocked David and went to stand by Hazel's side. Luna Mae chuckled and stood by David.
"Now then. It is obvious that there are high emotions right now. Hazel, you hid everything, and while we can see why you chose to, you were still wrong." Moira said softly.
"David, you knew she was your mate. A bond she couldn't feel, but you could. Did you once tell her? No. because you were drunk and foolish." Jessa said.
"You BOTH were." Ivy added in. "And, as such you both made two beautiful lives between you. Question is, how do we proceed from here?"
"What do you mean?" David roared. "She's my MATE I'm not letting her go."
"You can't stop me!" Hazel yelled back. "What gives you the right to act as if you own me, David? Why do you get to decide what I'll do or not do with MY life? I have a life. A coven. Friends, chosen family. I won't just pack up and trot right along because you demand me to."
"Don't put us into this Hazel. We are a coven that is true, but the house we rent there we could easily rent anywhere. We have no permanent basis. So do not use that as an excuse." Ivy said.
"I went about this wrong." David sighed. "I should have first explained that you were my mate. I should have told you that you are perfect and amazing in every way. That I could spend days listening to you breathe and never be bored. That I could hold you for hours on end and still never want to let you go. That I need you more than I need air and if I had one breath left I'd use it to tell you how much I need you. That night though, all I could think of was getting my hands on you. And you seemed to have the same thoughts. And the next morning you were gone, not just from bed but the whole pride lands. Just gone. And I didn't even know how to begin to find you."
"I left that morning because I figured we had gotten our needs met and that would be it. I never stopped thinking about you or wanting you, but I figured it was my own issue. Once I realized that I was pregnant I thought that I knew it was my own issue. You would find your mate eventually and honestly what good would that do? I'd be cast off when you did and I couldn't bear the thought of that… I thought of sending you a letter, just to see what your reaction would be, but I chickened out unable to stand the thought that you might tell me to abort the baby or reject us altogether. I was a coward."
"Never would've happened. You wouldn't have been cast off. I know you didn't know that. But you do now. And I know my son loves you. And he loves these babies. As do I." Sabrina spoke up.
"We can always come to you Hazy, that's not a problem. And you know I sense gifts and connections. This man is head over heels for you and I think you could try to push back, try to ignore it, try to act like you don't, but you want him just as much." Ivy said.