Mark Of Change (Firemoon Book 1)

by Sky Wilde

  “You chose the dessert?” That is a surprise. He nods and holds me close by my waist as he snakes one arm around me and the other still cups my face. “How did you... know... that I have... an affinity for chocolates?” I wonder whether he remembers me as a child.

  “Oh December. There is so less that I have forgotten about you. I still remember you daring everyone to eat ten of these during your tenth birthday and eleven of these during the next year, and twelve on the next.”

  Oh... even I forgot that. It’s weird that I have forgotten everything related to my mate’s and my childhood. He unclasps his hand from my waist and claps once. A maid approaches, of course. He orders one more cup of the ice cream to be delivered to his room. The maid nods and starts leaving. He thinks for a second, about something, and claps again. The maid looks back. “Should I bring two of the ice creams, little master?” The maid asks, without any sarcasm to her credit.

  “No, take the one to December’s room. Not mine.” The maid nods and leaves. He turns to me and kisses me one more time. I am sad and a little bit angry at the sentence. For a second, I think that he doesn’t want me in his room, but as soon as his lips touch mine, it all goes to dust.

  He pulls back eventually and leans his forehead against mine. Our breathing rhythm is fast and same. Our heartbeats are fast and in sync.

  “My mom would kill me if I take you to my room, December. I so badly want to be with you all night, but she laid the law, ‘No hanging out after nine in the night. Mustn’t go into each other’s room after the curfew. If I find that you have broken this rule, you will not get my permission for your relationship.’ Her own words. So, December, good night.”

  “Good night, Grey.” He places a kiss on my forehead and my heart flutters. He winks at me and leaves the place.

  I sigh and leave the dining hall with a smile on me. True to his word, a maid brings in an ice cream right after I enter the room. I grin and mutter a ‘thank you’ to the maid. After she leaves, I start finishing up that cup too.

  If I get to eat ice cream as a dessert for every day... maybe a family dinner wouldn’t be so bad.

  I remove the dress and enter the bathroom. Now that the stupid dress is gone, I feel a huge sense of relief. I do what I do every day night. I shower myself for an hour, and take out a pair of shorts with a tube top as a nightdress, and climb into the bed.

  If my life with my mate is always this peaceful then, my life would be perfectly normal. But, I have a nagging thought in my mind.

  “Will it be?”

  Normal is overrated anyway.

  A Favour

  *December*

  Two days went on without any incidents. Other than Grey stealing kisses and hugs from me, or I stole them from him. Never mind, we made out anytime the maids were absent or looking the other way. Thank Nyx that my aunt didn’t catch us. I had enough embarrassment in the family dinner two days ago to last a lifetime.

  The dinners we had during the two days weren’t formal. And Grey sat without getting under the table. He kept smiling at me or staring at me when I was chewing, or winking at me when I caught him. At least the maids gave less revealing dresses for the past two dinners.

  Grey said that he couldn’t keep his hands off me, that it makes him sad and uncomfortable when not touching me.

  Funny, I feel the same way. Maybe it is the mate bond we share. I heard from my mated ‘acquaintance’ that she and her mate completed the mate bonding ritual in just a day. I still remember her blushing while saying, “We were unable to keep our hands off each other for even a single second. The mate bond is different, it pulls you together whether you want it or not. And we completed the ritual at night.”

  I wonder whether Grey really is a full human or part-blood. Can a mate bond occur between a human and a supernatural? I have no answers with me.

  So, I decided to ask someone who knows the answers. Grey took me out to the garden yesterday. It was stunning. Yes of course, we made out there. But the garden was good too.

  Hey, you can’t judge me for kissing my mate.

  Now, I enter the garden with stealth and my magic perspective at high alert. No one should catch me, when I am doing this. If they catch me, it will end up so bad.

  “Delilah. I need to talk to you...” I mutter.

  Her booming voice echoes in my head, a loud one that I had to cover my ears and it was still loud, “Sister! You forgot that you can’t order me around. Just so I didn’t turn you in last time, doesn’t mean that I won’t turn you in at all.”

  She is pissed. Yes, when was she never pissed with me...? Still, I need answers. “Delilah... I know it... I need your help... a favour for a favour. Please.” Bargain with the devil is struck. Now the devil will come. All I have to do is to wait.

  I take a seat at the bench nearby the huge fountain with a flower bouquet with water pouring from each flower at the top— instead of a mermaid, I always thought fountains have mermaids or cupids.

  The moon is not full, but still she shines bright. The stars seem to be muttering in my mind that they will be there for me, always. They give me comfort and willed that I will get through this night with my skin and soul intact. I don’t need my magic perspective to know that she is here now. She gives out this aura about her, an aura of power. She trots toward me with caution, and of course, an arrogance that she can’t get in trouble. Like a lioness who owns this ground.

  She takes a seat beside me, and I just keep staring at the fountain. “Sister, I need a help... as I said a favour from you now, for a favour from me later.” I start.

  “Any favour I want? Anything I need? Anytime?” Her voice holds a note of surprise, because I never gave anything like this to her. In one year and so much more days, I never asked for her help. Even when I was on the brink of getting caught, I didn’t call her. Now... it’s different. This doesn’t only concern this weak me. This concerns my mate and his mother.

  “Yes sister. Anything which concerns only me, and anything which doesn’t concern my freedom.” I want to leave no loops if this is going to come back and bite me in the butt.

  Delilah goes silent. She looks at the moon for like five minutes. Finally, “Sister, what is the matter?” She didn’t make me promise. That is a surprise.

  “I want you to swear secrecy first...” Her expression turns icy once again, but before she could speak, I add, “This doesn’t concern only me... it concerns more... it concerns the other half of my soul.”

  Surprise runs on her face. That surprised her?

  Wait! Damn... did I just say other half of the soul? She will figure it out...

  I start charging my magic neutralizer just in case she tries to leave.

  “I swear by my magic to keep your favour a secret.” Her voice turns eerie as the promise starts binding with her magic and mine. Well, my sister keeps surprising me. She is so mature now.

  “I swear by my magic to uphold my word on giving you a favour, which doesn’t concern my freedom, which concerns only me.” I decide to level the playing field.

  Her face softens. “Sister, I know you... You always keep your words. You didn’t have to swear about it. And... You found your mate, is this is about him?” No anger. No jealousy. Only serenity. Really, Delilah has changed. Or she is a real good actor. I doubt the later, so she has changed.

  I nod. “Who is it? What help do you want?” Her voice holds curiosity. I decide to put it out there.

  “Sister. Do you think a human can be a mate of a supernatural?” Her face goes impassive. She has no reaction on her face.

  “What do you mean? A human can never be a mate. It is impossible. You do know that mate bond is just ancient magic in our gene right? Then how in the hell are you wondering that?”

  I nod, ignoring her assaulting tone, “Yes... That, I know. But... my mate... has no idea about this world. And more, he has no sol particles in him. How is that possible...?”

  “I want to see him.” Her voice is demanding, like the alpha she is.r />
  My territorial instincts kick in and the word ‘no' is almost on my tongue. But, I needed answers. So I reel in my instincts and bite my tongue. Finally, I give a nod to her.

  “Follow me, but keep your arrogance at a low level.”

  She huffs out her disagreement on that statement, but doesn’t comment. We walk from the garden to the mansion. Her mouth becomes an ‘O' on seeing the huge mansion. “Your mate lives in a freaking castle?”

  I nod, not wanting to provoke her interest further.

  “What is his name? Is he hot? What is his family name? Where are his family? Where does he work? Does he own a company? How much money does he have on him?”

  Her barrage of questions and her... I shake my head at the thought. She was always like this, on one or two occasions when she acted a little nice to me.

  “You will know when you see him.” That is the only answer I am going to give her now.

  We walk in silence to Grey’s room. I can feel him now... he is like a little extension of me now. When we complete the mate bonding ritual, we will gain total sync; our minds will click, our bodies will connect, and our souls will merge. I follow the extension blindly and finally find his room. I don’t bother with knocking and just walk in, to find him typing something on his laptop. He jumps up a little bit at the sight of me.

  Maybe I startled him. I offer a smile and walk up to him. He places his laptop down and gets off the desk, walking toward me with a grin of his own type, that lopsided arrogant grin like he knows why I am here at this time of the day.

  He takes me close by my waist and murmurs, “Not able to sleep huh?” He leans closer and presses a chaste kiss to my forehead and whispers, “Or do you need something else?” My face warms and my body heat doubles as his words stir my mind into a lustful frenzy. Damn... why is he so... him. Even if he sounds nice, I can see his cockiness. He likes me being irresistible to be not able to spend the night alone. At least that is what he must be thinking. I can plainly see it on his face.

  I smile a little as I run my hand through his hair and he leans into my touch. Our height difference is huge. But, it doesn’t matter. He leans down to kiss me and I lean upward towards him. At the same instant, someone clears their throat from the door. Grey looks at the direction and his face pales at least ten shades. I turn back to see... my aunt with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed, at the door.

  I jump back from his arms, putting distance between us. Grey starts stammering, “Mother... Uh.... This... was... is... not... what...”

  She starts laughing. Yeah, laughing. Grey frowns and his fear becomes palpable in the air. I use my magic perspective vision. To find the truth.

  I trot toward her and slap her, not hard, but enough to sting. Grey gasps. My sister frowns and snarls at me. “December. You call me here to help you. You keep me waiting and make out with your mate. And you slap me for doing such a petty prank. Is this why you called me? To brag!?” Her voice is eerie now.

  Uh-oh... I pissed her off good.

  “Sorry... No... It’s just, his fear passed through me and I kind of overreacted.” I look down at my feet.

  She returns the slap. Using her magic as a whip, she lashes out at me with the same force. It stings badly.

  Tears fill my eyes and Grey rushes over to me. Delilah drops her glamour and enters the room, looking around like a child, not at all minding her now crying sister. She squeals at something and runs off toward the balcony.

  Yeah, she doesn’t care about me. At. All.

  Grey holds me tight. Seeing my tears must have put him in the edge. His body is tense and his lips are in a thin line. He presses his forehead to my head and wipes out my tears. I sigh and lean into him.

  “Should I kill her? I am pretty sure that the police will never find the body in this estate if I do.” His voice comes out in a low whisper. The question startles me. He is thinking of killing my sister for making me cry? And I don’t see any hesitation, and I do see a lethal edge in his eyes. I frown a little and shake my head. “Sorry about that. She... is... my sister.”

  His mouth opens in an ‘O' in shock. I shrug.

  “Why and how did she change forms? And how did you figure it out when I couldn’t...?” His words are fast and his voice holds panic.

  Stupid sister. She blew everything. Now, confession time.

  “Grey, there is something you don’t know about our family. About my side of the family.” I take a deep breath, “Umm... We are not... normal. We are not humans.”

  This confession is tough.

  “Oh my god. Are you aliens? Are you using human skins to cover yourselves?” His face keeps getting paler by the minute.

  “Where are you getting those kinds of ideas from?”

  Seriously, Aliens wearing real human skins? That’s bullshit. Most probably a supernatural came up with that idea and planted it in a human. Just for fun or as a cover up. He opens his mouth, but I cut it off with a wave of hand and come back to the topic.

  “We are not natural beings. We are what the humans called supernatural. My kind is the only one in high numbers. Other kinds are there, but are very low.”

  I can swear he is as pale as a ghost now.

  I approach him and he doesn’t step back like I thought he would; instead he approaches me, closing the distance, and puts a hand on my waist. “You are not human?” His voice is cool even though his body is tense. I shake my head. “So you are some kind of a paranormal being.” I nod. “You said ‘your kind’, what is your kind?”

  “Umm... I don’t know what we are called as a whole. But our kind uses magic particles. You might recognize sorcerous and sorcerer from books. We relate to that.” His gears of mind turning are visible on his face, on my revelation.

  “That is why your sister looked like my mother. Magic, hmm?” I nod again. “That is why you could push me back or pull me toward you using wind?” I nod once again. He smiles a little and his face is not as pale as before.

  I bite my lip and tilt my head up. He leans closer and kisses my forehead. I, finally, let out a sigh of relief.

  “So that is why your mom can’t come see mine?” I nod my head and add with a half shrug, “One of the reasons.”

  “Don’t worry December... I will protect you from her. I will protect you my whole life, if you will let me. You being a different kind of female— don’t take it as weird; you still are beautiful— don’t change my thoughts about you. Hell, I think I would love you if you were of another species, like with those creepy tentacles. You are still... you.”

  Tears press against my eyes. If I doubted whether I was in love with him or not before, now it is clear. I have fallen, head over heels, in love with my mate. He hugs me tight and I fit perfectly into his chest. Cousin or not. He is perfect, for me. And I am perfect for him.

  My life will get better, with my mate at my side.

  Not a Magic User?

  *December*

  Delilah enters the room from the balcony and lets out a giggle. “Sister, you really are cute with him. By the way, now let’s come to the matter at hand, shall we?” I nod my head and step away from his embrace. We must have continued the hugging and other interactions for minutes, because my sister now looks not pissed off like hell and is not going for my throat... yet.

  Grey holds my hand and smiles. I love how my mate unconditionally loves me. I love the way how he took this shell bomb. I love all of him. I now know that I love him with all my soul. The thought makes me blush and I look down from my sister’s examining glance.

  “By the way, you are Delilah, right?” Grey’s face holds neither surprise nor fear, only curiosity. My sister’s mouth goes agape. She looks at me and I just shrug.

  “Have we met before?” Curiosity now peeks out from my sister.

  “Yes. December and I used to play all the time. You were but ten or so when she vanished from my life. I am Grey Stone.” The name again makes her mouth go so wide that I might say without hesitation that she has her jaw on t
he floor...

  “Before you ask why your cousin is your sister’s boyfriend, know that I am your Step-cousin.” Grey adds before she could think that this is some kind of a taboo relationship.

  “Wow...” She looks at me and sighs, “Fate really fucked up with the matchup. Pairing off cousins...” She sighs again.

  I blush and wave it off before she hurts my mate, “Get to the test.”

  She nods and gets closer to Grey. He tenses up, his muscles twitching, when she presses her palm to my mate’s forehead. A growl leaves my lips without my permission. She sighs and takes it away. “You didn’t complete the mate bonding ritual, did you?” I shake my head.

  “What is that?” There is the curious Grey again, not the Grey who had instinctively tensed up his body for a fight before a powerful Alpha.

  My mate seems to be an Alpha of his own kind, because he still puts out massive amount of confidence before a supernatural being.

  Thank god... my mate didn’t know what the ritual entails or else this would be embarrassing.

  “Sex. That is that.” My sister says in a nonchalant tone. My blush deepens at her blunt word. And Grey laughs.

  He is so going to have a talk about laughing at me. Well, I will try my best to keep my hands off him and only talk.

  “What is your opinion?” I ask, deciding to take the talk away from my sexual life.

  Grey has his mouth agape now. I think back to the words and add, “About... the test...” He coughs and covers his laugh as I glare at him.

  My sister, of course, laughs hard with a hand on her stomach. I turn my glare at her and she doesn’t stop until tears fill her eyes. “Are you done?” My patience is running thin.

  Her face goes impassive and I know that she has found something. “He is... a human. He is not a sorcerer of our kind.”

  Irrespective of the mate bond, it throws out my hope. Hope that he is somehow a part-blood... somehow he could feel the pull of the mate bond too. If I complete the ritual with a human, who knows what might happen to us... to me. A Human may be able to walk away from a mate bond because there is no magic pull, in theory at least. While, if he decides to walk out, I will still feel the pull and if he stays away, it will destroy me. Utterly. To the very core of my being.