I jump off my bed and scan the room. Nothing.

Was it just a dream?

Sunlight creeps around every corner of the room, leaving no object concealed.

A plate full of fresh fruits lay on the bedside table.

I briskly head over to my bathroom to brush my teeth.

While I clean my teeth, I notice a faint tattoo-like mark on my neck. Right where the mark my mate is supposed to give me.

Mate.

Oh goddess! All of yesterday night's events come back to me.

I found my mate!

Mia's sister is back after a decade.

Don't forget that you left mate hurt.

I'll make it up to him later.

Kasey finally stops bothering me. Now, the mark on my neck? I didn't do anything with Lorenzo, I'm sure.

Goddess, what if he snuck into my bedroom and marked me without my consent?

But it's beautiful. It is a single rose with a thick stem and sharp looking thorns.

"Chloe, my office, now!" A voice that only a scolding mother could use blasts in my head.

Arg! Mia knows I was out last night!

Could my life get more complicated?

The answer to that is. Yes.

~

"So not only did you sneak out of the castle, putting yourself at risk, but you found your mate, and won't tell me who it is?"

I stare at the ground and shuffle my feet while Mia sits at her desk, fuming. I had just finished explaining everything that happened last night and Mia doesn't not look the least bit impressed by my reckless behaviour. Well, everything except that Lorenzo is my mate.

"Do you know how much danger you put yourself in? If anyone saw you and told the whole pack, things would get ugly!"

"I'm sorry Mia. I truly am, but no one got hurt. And no one except Kaden, Anastasia and Anastasia's mate knows that I was ou-"

"Well, you're grounded."

Excuse me? Did she really just do that?

"Mia, you honestly can't do that, I'm the crown princess of the werewolves, I can't just stay locked up in this castle forev-"

"What is that on your neck?"

My hand immediately shoots up to cover the small mark.

"I don't know, I woke up with it on me."

"You know what? Just get out of my office. It's too early to be worrying and I'm fighting wrinkles here."

"Looks like they won a few centuries ago." I mutter under my breath.

"What!?"

"Bye Mia!"

I run out of her office at top speed and end up in the kitchen where Kaceline is making a lot of pancakes.

"Hi there dear!" Kaceline says and gives me a a wide tooth exposing smile. Not the normal kind of smile, the psycho kind.

"Hey Aunt Kace. What're y-"

She stops what she's doing and walks to me with her arms outstretched for a hug.

She stops about four feet away from me and gives me a perplexed look. She steps back and walks forward, but when she reaches the four feet distance again, she stumbles backwards as if she hit a wall.

Am I missing something here? Or is her mate's death taking it's toll on her?

I take a step closer to her and when I do, she stumbles backwards again.

I try sticking an arm out in her direction and I find myself struggling to get any nearer.

It's like trying to push the like ends of two magnets together; impossible.

Why is there a force separating us? Does it have to do with the mark on my neck?

Not caring whether I've eaten or not, I dash to the library at a speed even Sonic the hedgehog would get jealous of.

I frantically search for the section on witches and find it near the corner of the room on a high shelf that I needed the ladder to reach. I pull out three very heavy and dusty books.

Mysteries on Witches

Witch 101

The Miscellaneous Guide on Witches

I climb down the ladder and plop down on a fuzzy green beanbag. Darcy would love this.

I'm sure anyone would know that green is her favourite colour.

I search through all the books for anything related to marks that prevent selected people from getting near.

Aha! Out of all three books, only one gives a snippet of the information in a single paragraph.

"𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔟𝔶 𝔞 𝔯𝔬𝔶𝔞𝔩. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔪𝔞𝔶 𝔳𝔞𝔯𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔱𝔬 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔢𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔭𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢. 𝔄 𝔰𝔞𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔦𝔰 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔲𝔭𝔬𝔫 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔞 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥 𝔬𝔣 𝔯𝔬𝔶𝔞𝔩 𝔟𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔰 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔬𝔯 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔠𝔞𝔫𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔡𝔬 𝔰𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔳𝔢𝔰. 𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪. ℑ𝔱 𝔞𝔩𝔰𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔦𝔯𝔢, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔥 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔫, 𝔞𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥.𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔟𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔰, 𝔰𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔟𝔢𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔯."

Isn't a sire a vampire who turns another being into a vampire?

It seems that the term may apply to witches, but for a different purpose. Does this mean aunt Kaceline has bad intentions for us? Is that why she can't come near me?

What's important is who could've given you that mark on the spot that only mate should have access to?

You know what, let me listen to someone with rational thinking.

I block Kasey out and mind-link Anastasia and Kaden.

A few moments later, they both walk in through the large French doors and sit down in front of me on the carpeted floor.

"Alpha?"

"Kaden,call me Chloe. Anyway-"

Anastasia interrupts me by pointing at my neck that is exposed thanks to my purple tank top.

"You're marked already?"

"Was it by choice? Goddess forbid it wasn't!"

"You found your mate?"

I am bombarded with a continuous flow of questions.

A slight migraine makes it's way into my head before it morphs into a throbbing headache.

I rest my head on my palms and close my eyes. My hair falls forward and creates a curtain, shielding from the outside world.

"Chloe, are you okay?"

My vision starts to double and I feel light-headed. I use Kaden for support as I try to stand up.

I am lead to a small sofa, on which I sit between Anastasia and Kaden.

A glass of water is handed to me but it's of no use, the pain in my head is still present and it's not recessing.

I double over as a sharp pain pierces my lower torso. What's happening to me?! It feels like a dagger is being dragged slowly across my stomach.

"Chloe!" Mia's voice booms through the walls.

I raise my head and use the mind-link to tell her my whereabouts.

She bursts through the doors looking disheveled.

"I just got call from Queen Emalyn. Darcy is missing. And Kaceline is gone."

"What?!"

Rage clouds up my mind and all I see is red.

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