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11 The mate bond

***POV - Enigma

“What did we do?” Puck tries to sound blameless.

“She must be angry at the wolf.” Zagon is also the epitome of innocence. Chris swears and walks up the stairs. Sometimes I wish I can just switch off my super-hearing to get some much-needed peace and quiet. I could try going back to sleep … but that won’t work cause I’m too annoyed - my hormones reffed up in the red.

And anyway … the commotion woke up every soul; and grandma is now in the kitchen, busy with breakfast. I keep on pacing while talking to myself; as I said - it’s an elf thing.

“Did all the fricking nutcases band together to torment me? Do they have a bet on who’s going to make Enigma lose her mind first? Yep, I’m a fucking magnet for every narcissistic egotistical psychopathic jerk out there! Isn’t one curse enough, you could ask?”

“You got it wrong … egotistical, psychopathic – maybe, but I’m not a jerk.”

A snort sounding like a mixture between a pig and a donkey erupts from my lips and I continue to pace, trying to ignore the sexiest one of those ‘nutcases’.

“Enigma, can we talk for a bit?” My name falling from his lips immediately wakes up the fireflies in my tummy and I come to a halt.

When I manage the courage to raise my eyes to his, I realize he’s put on a T-shirt. Thank heavens for that. I take a seat on one of the steps leading to the garden, wringing my hands together to avoid doing something embarrassing. He joins me, securing a ghost-touch between his leg and mine. Teasing. Seducing. And nailing it.

“Listen, I wasn’t expecting to meet … eh … my … eh … to meet well … you.” He can’t even say it … and the stab in my heart is more painful than I would like to admit. And the reason for the pain is something I for sure don’t want to annalize.

“By you, you mean your mate. You can say it. Well, do you think I wanted this to happen? My life is already complicated enough … I don’t have the time and space to include being some asshole’s puppet somewhere in there!” In this instance denial is the best defense.

I quietly observe him and it’s as if he’s torn – looking both relieved and sad at the same time. He lowers his gaze.

“And I don’t need some chick to try and rule my life, but I guess there’s nothing we can do about it, we’re fucked,” he says hesitantly, but his words still sting more than they should.

“Fucked?” I’m confused, “Zagon, do you know how the mate-bond even works?” I ask and his perfect profile is disoriented. Didn’t his mother teach him anything?

He runs his fingers through his hair and a smile spread on my face to hide my true feelings.

“Eh … when your eyes connect you fall in love magically by the force of Selene. Then there’s a bond between you that you can’t ignore … and later you mark each other to secure the bond. And you don’t have a choice in any of it, it’s like a curse.”

So I’m a curse now … something he’s forced to bond with? Gmf! The asshole clearly knows nothing about mates. And it seems that he’s just as ignorant when it comes to love. My hand wipes across my face to hide the fact that I’m annoyed. He probably only knows how to screw around, bloody man-whore. I’ll inform him that he’s not obligated to stay around, he’s free to take his sexy ass and his jerky attitude and leave any time he pleases. Bastard.

“You actually got it all wrong. A mate, Zagon, is just a suggestion of who Selene feels would be the ideal match for you. It’s not a forced deadset thing; you always have a choice.” The fact that I’m cheesed off can be heard in my voice, I make sure of it. “There’s no magic or forced love shit. The bond doesn’t automatically create any feelings whatsoever, it just makes you sexually aware of each other.”

His night-sky eyes are still flummoxed, so I explain some more. I genuinely need him to understand this. He shouldn’t feel obliged to do anything.

“Think of it as a little flag telling you – hi, here I am, the most likely person on the planet to be your soulmate. And that’s all it is. Love happens naturally over time if you let it. Do you understand?” I watch the frown on his face, his eyes unreadable and I’m not sure if he gets it.

“So, I guess what I’m saying is that you can walk away right now, if you want to, without suffering any consequences or damage to your heart.” Please note, I’m saying he can … cause I already went and catch feelings for some fucked up reason.

Granted, we just met, and it’s in contrast to everything I just said about the matebond, but it’s as if an unseen force is drawing me to him, a force even I can’t fight, and I’m not sure I want to. Point is, I don’t want him to leave. But over my dead body will I admit it to him.

“Okay, I get it,” he says then absentmindedly and I’m holding my breath, “but I think I’ll stick around a bit.”

I close my eyes, say a silent thank-you prayer and take a deep breath cause the grasp of dread that restricted the flow of oxygen to my lungs has dissipated. He’s staying for now. Of his own free will.

I raise my one shoulder and stare into those magical eyes. “Okay, if you insist.”

I shriek when he unexpectantly pulls me into his arms with one very fast rapid motion; as if I weigh nothing. My body is pressed up against him and my face is inches from his. I swallow hard, my heart drowning in stormy seas of blue; slowly turning darker and darker with each spiral of the small tornados spinning in there – I’m hypnotized.

My chest heaves up and down in a struggle to maintain my oxygen levels, rubbing my already perky nipples against his chest with each motion. His eyes wander down and I know the blobs are incontestably visible through my thin PJ top. A vein jumps in his tight jaw and I must be delusional but it’s super sexy.

“You have the most tempting nipples I’ve ever seen,” his voice is husky as if he’s drugged or something. But then his words drill into my mind. Tempting nipples … freaking player!

“Just how many damn tits have you seen in your life?”

“Enough to know I like yours best.” He doesn’t even seem faced. Prick! “They’re so freaking seductive.”

“You’re such a soulless insensitive horny clod!” I try to push him back unsuccessfully. Damn the man is strong.

“And you are a stubborn little teaser.” His breath is now warm against my earlobe.

“I hate you!” My mouth is saying one thing, but my heart and body another.

“Right back at you MATE!” He grabs my head and bruises my lips with his, his tongue exploring the inside of my mouth. I can’t stop the soft moan escaping. He roughly grabs hold of my hair at the back of my neck. My wolf surrenders completely and my arms move around his nape. My first kiss. And it’s everything I ever hoped it would be.

“Eh … Eni, what are you doing?” Jeren asks unsure from the door and the demon lets me go so abruptly that I need to cling to the step even though I’m sitting; it feels as if I’m still being twirled around by those tornados.

“Did she just make out with the demon?” Jeren asks unbelievable, needing confirmation of what she just witnessed.

“Her first kiss … I swear Eni is my idol, dol,” Kayla comments back although I’m right there; they tend to do that rather often, talking about me as if I’m not in the room.

“Hi loverboy,” Luan is suddenly standing between the girls with a big smirk on his face. Great, did everybody witness our smogging session?

“Marrok called. It’s about the fays. We need to go.”

Zagon gets up and shoves past my 2 friends still standing there with dropped jaws.

“I’m coming too,” I get up unsteadily; my knees still jello.

“NO!” I can hear in his voice that it’s not debatable, but he doesn’t know me very well – I don’t do orders.

“You can’t tell me what to do!” The authority of the royal alpha hiding inside can be detected in my voice and I can see he’s surprised – but not submitting. He leans forward until his mouth is against my ear.

“If I see you anywhere close to those fays, I’ll mark you right on the spot,” he whispers seductively, his voice even more dominant than mine. I suck in my breath, knowing deep inside that he’s deadly serious, no kidding. I swing my hand in a pathetic wave.

“I’m not in the mood for a fight anyway,” I whimper, all the royalness in my voice now lost. He winks at me before leaving with his brother.

“Let’s grab some coffee, girls,” I’m trying to regain my composure and fix my bearings; my legs are still wobbly and my mind foggy, but at least my heart rate is slowly returning to something more normal.

We find Gran making omelets, with a little magical help of course, while Puck is busy toasting bread. I keep myself occupied with the coffeemaker, aware of the onlookers’ curious gazes on my back. I hand each one a cup and take a deep breath.

“Girls … Zagon is my mate,” I declare softly. Jeren chokes on some spit, giving a few coughs, while Kayla doesn’t blink and just stares at me with an open mouth. Grandma appears unsurprised as if she knew all along – and I’m sure she did.

I wait it out … thinking this would be a good time for some instrumental suspense background music to start playing.

Du-doe du-doe du-doe du-doe … I repeat a melody in my head until they gather their thoughts.

“Fuck!” Dense smoke spiral from the toaster and Puck struggles to remove the charred bread, burning his finger. He swears again and zaps the appliance with a magic spell, setting off an electrocuting noise and array of sparks.

This seems to shock my friends back to life and Kayla takes my hands to pull me forward towards her, ignoring the fire hazard disaster in the background.

“This is because of the new year’s party, isn’t it?”

Jeren points her finger at Kayla and shakes her head in agreement.

“You think he’s your mate so you don’t have to go with Chris … or … did he threaten you? That’s it … the asshole threatened you! Harron left and you got stressed and didn’t think things through … maybe we must take you to a therapist … come to your senses girl! Agreeable he’s smoking hot … but you’re too young to mate … bond … whatever you call it,” Kayla talks very fast when she’s stressed, something you get used to over time, while Jeren points her finger and nods her head with the occasional “Yes” in between.

“Girls,” I try to intervene but they are in their own little conversation; dismissing me completely.

“He must have intimidated her. He’s very … eh intimidating … yep, he’s bullying her!” Jeren and Kayla are rivaling each other up.

“No, tsk,” Kayla clicks her tongue, “maybe it’s fake … or he put a spell on her …” she continues. Enough!

“Girls!” I raise my voice slightly to get their attention and they stop their charades, “Firstly, do you really think anybody can threaten me?” I wait for them to shake their heads before I continue, “And secondly, demons can’t do magic spells. Girls, you can’t fake a matebond, Zagon is my mate.” I drag the last words out for effect and to let them sink into those stuffed human brains.

“Are you fucking kidding me now?” Jeren screams. I pull my shoulders up and sigh at their reaction.

“I like him … A LOT,” Grandma speaks for the first time, “And he's not bad looking either!” She winks at Kayla. “And here I was almost starting to believe that Eni won’t find anybody. You know why?” She looks from one girl to the other, but they’re half-frozen again. Even Puck is quiet for once.

“Cause it would take someone extraordinary to not be intimidated by her stupid grandfathers, not to mention Harron and even Stephan. But something tells me this demon doesn’t get intimidated easily; not even by royalty.“

“He is pretty amazing, isn’t he?” I unintentionally let it slip, staring dreamily into my coffee.

“Holy cow! You already fell for that baby-face, haven’t you?” Puck is sitting on top of the fridge now. Flip. I accidentally leaked my freaking feelings. Ug.

BLOB. FLOP.

Someone stumbles on the stairs … maybe Amy woke up.

“Girl, you fell in love! Aw! And you will make such a perfect couple,” Kayla’s sudden soft voice hints that she’s altered her tune at the thought of romance. That’s dream-hearted, head-in-the-clouds, Kayla for you. She can make a 360° turn in her head in mere seconds – especially when it comes to love. I want to deny everything, but Jeren jumps the line.

“Kayla if you say one more thing about love I swear I’m going to kill you!” Jeren doesn’t believe in love, “She just met the man, YESTERDAY, for cow’s sake!”

“No law that says you can’t fall in love at first sight,” Kayla sighs, her eyes dreamy.

“I’m going crazy right now,” Jeren holds her hands as if she’s going to strangle Kayla any moment now.

But Kayla is on a Don Quixote high and claps her hands softly, not in the slightest affected by her friend’s negativity.

“Why are you applauding for now?” Jeren asks, her hand still in the air. Kayla stops and points a finger back at herself, “Eh me … oh … just because of the beautiful babies they’ll have.”

Jeren gives me a look as if she’s asking permission to kill our friend with her bare hands. Then she looks at Puck for backup.

“Well, if he kills Chris, I’m willing to hand Eni over to him on a silver platter,” Jeren’s face falls and I give Puck a deadly stare. Freaking traitor!

“What? I’ll even help him dispose of the body.”

“Well, if I get those beautiful great-grandchildren, I’m in all the way!” Grandma backs up Kayla while stuffing some egg into her mouth.

I roll my eyes and close my face with my hands. Why can’t there be just ONE normal person in my life?

“I’m gonna get dressed before I puke,” I say and walk up the stairs, my mind in the clouds.

A sudden small sting makes me grab the side of my neck and then it’s all dark.

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