Filed to story: Wolf Crying Mate of the Alpha by Jazz Ford
‘You saw it, but you didn’t realise it at the time. A Vampire’s eyes turn blood red when they glimpse their Blood flame. It nearly appears like we have a fire in our eyes. We’ll stay that way until our vampiric mark is placed on your wrist. It signals to other vampires that you are blood-flamed or, in other words, taken. It’s also why fated partners are called Blood Flames, because of our flaming, blood eyes when we first see you,’ He explains.
Subconsciously, I touch the mark on my neck. It tingles. ‘Just like a wolf marks your neck to let other wolves know you are taken,’ he frowns. ‘Then I touch the mark on my wrist, and it has the same tingly feeling. I gasp, and tears begin to glide down my cheeks. I shake my head and run towards the black door on the opposite side.
‘Please, wait, my darling, don’t leave me just yet,’ he pleads, his voice sorrowful. I open the door, lock it behind me, and double-check that the sigils are still there. Reaper is waiting for me as I open the next door. As I close the door behind me, he leaps onto my shoulder.
He mind-links, ‘Your crying?’
‘I need to go to the enchanted garden,’ I sob, open the middle door, and walk through the extensive spacious library until I find the double doors and enter the garden.
I sit in a grove of bushes, sobbing into my hands. Gnomes move closer every time I glance up to wipe my tears, yet they freeze like statues every time I gaze at them. I ignore them and cry until I feel a swarm of tiny hands on my legs and back. All of the gnomes appear to be frozen around me, yet they placed their hands on my legs and back to console me.
‘Luna, you must tell me what has happened?’ Reaper pleads.
I nod and hold my wrist, showing him the mark.
‘You’re a vampire’s blood flame!’ Reaper caws in shock and almost falls off my shoulder in horror.
‘Not just any vampire’s blood flame, Reaper, the vampire king, Alec’s blood flame,’ I say.
‘The vampire king! The first time you came here, I sensed something happened to you. He marked you, didn’t he?’
I nod my head.
‘I had no idea what he had done at the time.’ He grasped my wrist and left a mark, and I couldn’t stop thinking about him in the same way that I couldn’t stop thinking about Magnus. My body was drawn to him, and I desired to be near him. What am I supposed to do, Reaper? ‘How will Magnus react when he learns that Alec is my second mate?’
‘I wish I had the answer for you, Luna.’
May enters the enchanted garden along with the other witches.
‘Wow! so beautiful. Look at that gnome!’ May says and pokes its belly. The gnome doesn’t move, but when no one is looking his expression shifts to one of irritation. ‘You weren’t joking when you said there was a unicorn,’ she says, approaching us. ‘Nina, are you okay you look like you’ve been crying?’
‘Oh, no, I think I’m just allergic to some of these flowers. My eyes went all red and puffy after I smelt them,’ I force a laugh.
‘Fern and the others are going to take me to see the Grimghouls, the Shadow Reapers and the vampire king next! Are you going to come with us?’
‘You know, the vampire king isn’t some kind of freakshow for you all to look at!’ I lash out angrily. Everyone is staring at me strangely because of my outburst defending the vampire king. ‘I apologise, I didn’t intend to….’
‘We understand you are under a lot of stress, Luna, with everything going on with the wolf council,’ Fern explains.
‘I know, but I still should not have snapped like that. I’m sorry.,’ I with a frown.
‘It’s fine. You don’t have to go with us,’ May says.
They leave the enchanted garden and enter the dungeon.
‘Let’s have a cup of tea,’ I say to Reaper.
We walk into the kitchen and notice the iron kettle hovering above the fire. I grab a teacup, place it on the table, and fill it with one scoop of sugar and a teabag.
Waving my wand at the iron kettle, I exclaim, ‘Lifto Levitatous.’ It floats over to my teacup and fills it with hot water.
‘You should probably tell Magnus about being the vampire king’s blood flame,’ Reaper says.
As I begin to tremble at the thought, the teacup starts to wobble. I set the cup down and take a deep breath, attempting to relax.
‘I can’t tell him, Reaper, not just yet. But there could be a way to break the blood flame?’
‘I’ve never heard of a way to break a blood flame, but you could always reject Magnus and break the mate bond? That way, you would only have one lover instead of two?’
‘Reaper!’ I growl. ‘I love Magnus, and I am his Luna. We grew up together and have known each other all our lives. My love for Magnus is not something I will throw away. Can’t I reject Alec instead?’
‘Doesn’t work that way with vampires,’ he says.
‘Well, then how does it work?’
‘All I know is that it’s different with vampires,’
‘That’s not very helpful information, Reaper,’ I sigh. ‘Maybe we can find some information in the forbidden room back in Shadow Crest?’
‘Perhaps,’ he says.
Yiselda, May and the others return to the kitchen.
‘I’m sorry if he frightened you, May. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I’ve never seen him in that state before.’ Yiselda says.
May is shaking. I stand up from my seat and run over to her.
‘What happened? Are you okay?’ I ask.
‘I will be fine. It was a lot more terrifying than I thought it would be going into that dungeon,’
‘How so?’ I ask-my heart races with worry.
‘The vampire king was worried, pacing back and forth in his cage and pulling at his hair. He appeared to be quite anxious and was constantly muttering to himself. As we approached, he turned savage, screeching loudly through the bars as if famished of blood, setting the Grimghouls off. They tried to attack us by advancing their arms through the bars and clawing at us. I didn’t have a choice except to put the vampire king to sleep for a while. And being the vampire king, he is stronger than most, so our sisters had to help cast the ‘Dreamus Sleepous’ spell as it had no effect on him even when I had cast it onto him myself.
A dreaded feeling consumes me. I’m forcing myself not to run to Alec. What if they hurt him? Was it my fault he became feral?
‘Is he going to be, okay? Has he not been getting enough sustenance? Why would he turn feral like that?’ I ask, clearly worried.
Yiselda laughs, ‘My dear Luna, what has gotten into you? It’s the vampire king, and you shouldn’t worry yourself over him. But for what it’s worth, he is not hurt. He is simply taking a nap and will hopefully return to his normal self once he awakes. He hasn’t missed a meal, so I am confused about why he turned. Vampires do not die if they haven’t consumed blood in a long time. They simply lose control and become vicious, losing all control of themselves.’
I force my tears back, ‘I need to go home. Thank you for the tea, Yiselda,’ I say and dash out the front door and enter the circle. May, Fern, Ria, Ela and Lilac appear behind me. But I don’t wait for them. Instead, I race inside the packhouse and up to my room.
‘Reaper!’ I growl. ‘I love Magnus, and I am his Luna. We grew up together and have known each other all our lives. My love for Magnus is not something I will throw away. Can’t I reject Alec instead?’
‘Nina, is that you?’ Magnus yells out.
‘Um, yeah, it’s me. I’m feeling exhausted. I’m going to go lie down for a while,’ I say and climb under the covers and hug my knees.
The door creaks open, ‘I know you’ve only been gone for a few hours, but I’ve missed you,’ he says as he crawls beneath the blankets with me.
He pulls me in closer and nuzzles my neck as he snuggles up behind me. I turn to face him and caress his cheeks. I’m overcome with guilt and begin to cry.
‘Nina, it will be okay. If you think Alpha Bennet and the wolf council will exile you from your own home and pack. Then he has another thing coming. I’d give up my Alpha status if it meant staying with you,’ he says, wiping my tears away with his thumb.
‘Magnus, I could never ask you to give Shadow Crest and your status away,’ I sob.