ONE DAY BEFORE THE WEREWOLF QUEEN'S HEAT REACHES ITS PEAK
"Please tell me the potion is ready!", I begged Anha with both hands as soon as I got to her kitchen.
She eyed me curiously before adding a few more herbs to the large pot on her stove. "Not yet, but I'm almost done."
I started pacing up and down in her kitchen.
The potion needed a day to be cooked so Mike and I had to spend the night here. Due to the whole situation surrounding my heat, Killian and Mike both wanted to watch over me while I slept to make sure Phoenix didn't try to take over. I made it clear to them that neither of them would be doing that and they both gave up and slept in their own rooms. I was shocked this morning when I woke up in Killian's bed with him lying next to me, watching me like a hawk.
He insisted that he moved me to his bedroom because he couldn't risk me going feral, but I knew it was because of our kiss on Mount Moria. That kiss has made an already brazen man, even more brazen.
When I ran out of Killian's room this morning, Mike saw me. I didn't even know what to say to him. He may dislike Mathew, but Mike treasures the matebond. He believes in its sanctity and he's the one who taught me that it should never be betrayed or taken for granted. Those who betray it always end up paying the price.
"Star fire!", Killian's voice came booming through Anha's little house. "I told you I don't want you to stray away from me in your condition." He pulled me into his chest before I could protest.
"I told you not to touch her!", Mike's voice followed as soon as he also got to the kitchen.
He tried getting Killian to let me go, but the red giant refused.
My anxiety was seeping into Phoenix and she was getting more antsy. This wasn't helping our situation. She was previously relaxed, but now she was growling in my head and banging against my head to be let out. She was annoyed, anxious and looking for any reason to be angry. Mike and Killian's constant bickering was enough to get her angry.
The banging in my head got louder while the shouting match between Mike and Killian also got louder. I could feel my body heating up while a vicious headache rose in both my temples.
"Liz! Liz!", I heard a distant roar calling out to me. "Liz, come on! Liz come back!"
When I opened my eyes, Mike had me pinned to the ground while Killian helped him to restrain me.
"Sorry!", I apologised through deep and quick breaths. " I was just trying to keep Phoenix from taking over."
He looked very worried. "Liz, Phoenix did take over", Mike sighed and helped me get up. "She growled at us, destroyed Anha's kitchen and even attacked us."
I looked up at the kitchen and only now did I notice the mess. There were broken plates and glasses shattered everywhere. Food was scattered all over the place. The windows were smashed in and most of the cupboards had their doors removed off their hinges. Killian's shirt was ripped to pieces and so was Mike's. Anha was the only one who seemed to have escape and the potion had luckily not fallen victim to my rampage.
I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself. This was bad. My blackouts were increasing.
"I guess we better hurry up with that potion then", I laughed awkwardly and tried to detract attention from the severity of the situation. "I'm sorry about the mess, Anha. I'll clean it up."
"No!", Killian insisted. "I'll call the omegas to come and clean this. You sit down, Star fire."
"You two are making things worse", Anha said with a stern voice. "Leave her with me. I'll watch over her."
It took some convincing, but eventually Mike and Killian left while omega gryphons cleaned up the mess.
It was only once the omegas were done, that Anha's real reason for wanting Mike and Killian to leave, became evident.
"You have feelings for my son", Anha narrowed her eyes at me as soon as the last omega left.
"Yes", I admitted coldly.
There was no use denying it. Whether I liked it or not, Killian and I kissed yesterday and no matter how much I wanted to go back to the day and erase it, I couldn't do that.
And yet, I couldn't deny that when Killian held me, I didn't mind being in his embrace. A small part of me, one that I was desperately trying to deny, thought that perhaps Killian was right. Maybe Mathew and I had no future. Mating each other would only buy us so much time. Phoenix and Orion would soon both demand that their mate bare their mark and Mathew and I wouldn't be able to give them what they need.
She stopped stirring her pot and eyed me curiously. "Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why I would make this potion even though my son clearly loves you?"
I gulped. I must admit that thought had never even occurred to me. I just assumed she and Agatha were fellow witches who were helping one another.
"I'm sorry, Anha", I apologised with as much sincerity as I could. "It hadn't even occurred to me how hard this must be for you."
She shook her head almost as if she was annoyed with me. "You and King Mathew were never supposed to find each other, Elizabeth", she said coldly while adding more things to the potion.
I looked at her with furrowed eye brows.
"This curse ate away at your matebond", she continued. "There was no magical pull when you and King Mathew met. No beasts fighting to claim their mates. No tingles. There was absolutely nothing left."
"But then how did we...why did we ...?", I trailed off. I couldn't find the words. If there was no matebond then he and I shouldn't even have reached this point. We should be two strangers who happened to go to the same cafe once upon a time.
She rolled her eyes at me the way only an elder could. "The only way you two would have been able to revive your matebond is if you were attracted to one another and... loved each other without any magic involved. You had to have chosen one another without the bond. That's the only way it could have been revived."
I slumped down in one of the chairs and covered my hand with my mouth to hide my shock. I thought it was the matebond from the very beginning. I thought it was the matebond that made us feel an attraction towards each other. I had even doubted whether Mathew would have chosen me if it weren't for the bond. This doubt fueled the tension between us and instead of spending the few days I had with him showing him love and appreciation, I ruined it. I let my jealousy get the best of me and the last few days we spent were filled with fights between the two of us.
"This curse will go down in history books." It almost sounded like she was boasting. "Agatha is already writing it as part of her coven's history. Now that I've helped with the potion, my name and my coven gets to go down in history as those who were powerful enough to weaken a divine curse."
I heard what she said, but I wasn't really listening anymore at this point. Mathew wanted me and chose me. It wasn't just the bond tying him to me. He wanted me.
I felt my mouth curving into a small smile before Anha abruptly started banging on her pot to get my attention.
"Elizabeth, I'm telling you this because...", she took a deep breath and rubbed her temples, "because although you and King Mathew have done the impossible, this is as far as it goes. Unless one of you dies, your beasts will never say those words you two desperately wish to hear - MATE. He will never mark you and you will never mark him. His scent will give you euphoria, but you will never be able to tell what his scent actually is. This will drive both of you, as well as your beasts, mad with rage!"
"We'll find a way!", I smiled at her with a newfound optimism. "Agatha didn't think we'd even be able to be in the same room together, but she found a way to help us. She didn't think we would be able to mate each other, but you found a way around that. Someone out there knows how to break this curse, Anha. We just have to find them."
She exhaled loudly and shook her head.
"My son can make you happy, Elizabeth. He loves you and he can give you what King Mathew can't."
"I don't want Killian", I snapped at her. "I want Mathew."
"Do you know what he did when I told him of this curse?", she started shouting at me. "Do you know the havock he wreaked on his subjects when I told him that he held the keys to another man mating the woman he loves?"
I stood up and left the kitchen. I wasn't going to entertain this conversation.
"If you leave this house, I will spoil this potion!", she roared at me.
I balled my fists and stood still right where I was.
"I haven't told you the reason why I've chosen to help you despite how much it hurts my son", she snarled at me as soon as she reached the room where I had stopped.
She grabbed my wrist and made me look at her.
"I'm helping you because I know that your destiny is here with Killian."
I growled at her and tore my hand out of hers.
"HOWEVER", she raised her voice over my growl, "I know you will only reach this destiny once you realise you and King Mathew have done all you can to break this curse, but it just wasn't meant to be. Only then will you open your heart to my son."
I didn't even know how to respond. It was one thing to constantly reject Killian's advances, but now I had to do the same with Anha as well.
"You'll make an amazing Gryphon Queen." Her eyes softened and she even brushed a strand of my hair. "You will usher in a new era of tolerance, strength and kindness amongst gryphon-kind...something I was never able to do in my short reign as Queen."
I took a deep breath and held her hand. I needed to set her straight. I couldn't allow Killian's fantasies to spread to others.
"Anha, one day I will find a way to repay you, your son and King Maxwell for all that you've done for me. All three of you essentially saved my life and you and Killian are the reason why Kendrick is alive today. I owe the Gryphon kingdom a great debt and I promise you, I will find a way to repay it." I took a deep breath. "However, I will never be the Gryphon Queen. If I cannot be with Mathew, I will go feral. I have already made my peace with that."
She sighed, but still smiled at me. "I guess we'll have to wait and see." She smirked and went back into the kitchen.
I watched as she left. I decided to wait in the living room. It was now clear that I may have to have this conversation with not just Killian, but also the rest of his family.
After about an hour, Anha was done with the potion. I immediately drank the foul thing as she instructed. It was brown and sluggish and tasted like saliva mixed with snot, but I forced it down. All that was left was for Mathew to drink his portion of the potion.
"You and King Mathew can...mate each other as soon as he drinks this." She looked uncomfortable giving me Mathew's potion while Killian was in the room. His eyes were red and we could tell that it was taking everything in him not to stop this whole thing.
"Thanks, Anha", Mike smiled as I handed the potion to him for safekeeping.
"Thank you, Killian", I said to the man whose claws were ripping out of his hands and digging into his fists.
"You'll be back", he growled under his breath.
Mike didn't want to waste anymore time and started leaving Anha's house. I turned to follow him, but Killian pulled me back.
"Star fire," he breathed against my forehead and closed his eyes. "You promised", he reminded me. "I expect you to keep your word."
"I will, Killian", I said in a whisper.
He sighed heavily while his lips remained inches away from my forehead. "I'll take you to Mount Galileo when you return." He lifted my hand and kissed it. "We will have our mating ceremony there."
I gulped and left the house without another word.
***
"Did Anha tell you about her cloaking stone?", Mike asked while he tightened his seat belt and started the car.
"Yea", I groaned. "She said now that I have Phoenix, it's much harder for her to cloack me. I guess we should hurry back home."
"Can't agree with you more!", he chuckled and sped off.
"So you and Killian...", he raised his brow at me, "something obviously happened. Do you want to talk about it?"
I just shook my head and drank some water.
"Okay, let me try this again", he said more sternly. "What the hell happened between you and Killian?"
I groaned and rolled my eyes. I was hoping I could have a peaceful journey back to the Werewolf kingdom.
"I kissed Killian", I confessed to him. "We were on Mount Moria. He was upset. I wanted to comfort him and before I knew it he was kissing me and I kissed him back."
"And this morning?", he asked with a voice filled with concern.
"He moved me to his bedroom in the middle of the night. I had nothing to do with it. I ran out of there the second I woke up."
"So it was just the kiss then?" He didn't sound too convinced.
I nodded my head.
He didn't say anything and the silence and tension was getting to me.
"It was a mistake!", I tried convincing him. "I don't love him. I love Mathew."
"Then you shouldn't have betrayed him." His voice was cold. Mike's voice has never been cold; not towards me. He didn't even look at me. How could I look at myself?
I didn't expect him to, but he held my hand and squeezed it. "I know you're probably already beating yourself up over this, so I'm not going to be a jerk about it." Then he took a deep breath and squeezed my hand even more. "Mathew loves you, Elizabeth. Ken and Keyon filled me in on what he was like before you came back. By the sounds of it, he wasn't going to make it much longer. He'll forgive you, but I'm pretty sure he's going to kill Killian."
I rubbed my forehead and groaned. The Werewolf kingdom needed that alliance with the Gryphon kingdom and I just made a mess of things.
"I just-"
Phoenix ripped out of me in our phoenix form without warning while I was talking. The car was completely wrecked and Mike had crashed into something, but was luckily not hurt. Again, without any warning she grabbed Mike and started flying with him.
"The warlock is here!", she roared in my mind while we flew with Mike.