More thunder and lightning flash through the sky above us and turns into a wild storm raining down on us. As I hold Nina in my lap, I feel the electric static where ever our skin touches. It feels amazing. Our eyes turn black. ‘Mate.’ We say in unison.
Nina lets out another scream.
‘Try not to fight it, Nina. It will hurt less if you let your wolf take over.’ I say, stroking my fingers through her hair.
‘It hurts,’
‘I know, babe. I’m here, and I will help you through this.’
She nods and tries her best to relax. Black fur covers her as she shifts into her wolf. My breath is taken away. Her wolf is pure black with a white-shaped star on her forehead.
‘Nina, your wolf is so beautiful. You even have a white star on your forehead. I’ve never seen anything like this.’ I say, stroking her fur. She steps back, prances happily in wolf form, and then nudges into my shoulder.
‘You want me to shift too?’
She shakes her head.
‘Well, if the curse is broken, I should no longer feel any pain when I shift. Here goes.’
I remove my clothes and focus my mind, closing my eyes for a moment. Then, I open them to find I have shifted straight away, pain-free, into my sizeable white wolf.
‘This is amazing.’ I think to her.
‘I can hear you!’ Nina replies.
‘I can hear you too, and we can mind-link now!’
‘We were fated mates all along. Can you believe that?’ she cries.
‘We were never cursed, Nina. On the contrary, we had been blessed with each other all along.’
We rub our furry faces all over each other affectionately.
‘Let’s go for a run towards home,’ I mind-link.
Nina runs ahead with super speed. I can only just keep up behind her. We run for hours through the night until we are exhausted. Then, we lie huddled together and stare up at the moon.
‘Moon Goddess, thank you for blessing me with Nina as my mate.’
Nina nudges me and shifts back into her human form. I shift back, too.
‘That was amazing. We can both shift now, and we are fated, mates!’ Nina squeals and plonks herself happily in my lap. I nuzzle my face into her neck and inhale her Lavender and Mint scent.
‘You smell so good.’ I say. She giggles at my nose, tickling her neck.
‘You smell like chocolate and freshly chopped wood.’ She laughs.
‘Really?’
‘Yep.’ She grins.
Without warning, my mouth crashes onto hers, and we share a passionate moment.
‘Shall we skedaddle the rest of the way back home?’ she asks once we break the kiss.
‘Yes, let’s go.’
Embraced in my arms, she waves her wand around. ‘Skedaddle Dash, Skedaddle Dash, Skedaddle Dash.’
We blink multiple times until we reach Shadow Crest, except we land in the water of Shadow Crest Lake.
We burst into laughter in the middle of the lake. It’s still dark, but the sun will rise soon.
We kiss and wrap our arms around each other. Our teeth protrude, and we run our elongated teeth across the nape of each other’s neck, readying ourselves to mark each other. My teeth sink into the nape of Nina’s neck, and hers sink into my neck. A euphoric sense takes over us as we mark each other. We are officially mates. Nina is officially mine.
We lie on the grass as the sun rises, and we sleep as we wait for our clothes to dry. It’s almost lunchtime when we wake.
Nina is smiling and flinches when she touches the mark on her neck.
‘Tender?’
‘Yeah, but that’s expected.’ She smiles.
‘We better get dressed. I can’t wait to announce that you are my mate.’ I smile.
Holding hands, we giggle and laugh together as we walk through the town of Shadow Crest. Everyone stares and whispers. We arrive back home at the packhouse. Still holding hands, we enter together to see our families at the dining table about to have lunch.
‘Magnus.’ My parents yell excitedly.
‘Nina!’ her parents yell happily.
Everyone runs over to us, including Zak, Josie, Flint, May, and Pipsqueak.
They come to a stop and look down at our hands holding.
‘Magnus, what is going on?’ Mother asks, confused.
‘We broke the curse. I told Nina I want her, I love her, and I want to be with her even if it means me never shifting and her never gaining her wolf and that we don’t need to have the mate bond to know we love each other. We kissed, and she shifted. I can shift without pain as well. And you should all see her wolf! She is so beautiful.’ I turn Nina towards me. ‘Just like her human form.’ I say and kiss her in front of everyone.
Everyone is crying with tears of happiness. My dad and Leon shake hands, and our mothers hug each other.
There is a commotion outside. I open the front door to see half the town is yelling.
‘What is the problem?’ I yell.
‘There she is, the witch!’ people yell, pointing at Nina behind me.
‘This witch will soon be your Luna. So be careful what you speak!’
‘We will never accept a witch as our Luna. She doesn’t even have a wolf!’ Another person yells.
I smile at Nina to shift. She immediately morphs into her wolf, and everyone gasps at her unique and beautiful black wolf with the white star.
‘Your Luna is one of us! She may be half-wolf- half-witch, but you will all love and respect her as I do! Anyone that upsets or aggravates my fated mate that the Moon Goddess blessed me with and blessed you all with, to be your Luna, will suffer great consequences at the wave of her wand.’
‘What consequences?’ Someone asks.
‘Nina has my blessing to turn anyone of you into a frog if you disrespect her.’ I say.
Nina is trying not to laugh; she knows she can’t turn anyone into a frog. Not yet anyway.
The crowd gasps and dissipates, worried Nina will turn them into frogs.
‘I’ll see you all at the ceremony announcing Nina and me as your official Luna and Alpha.’ I say, waving.
***
One week later.
Nina and I walk hand in hand into the ceremony hall.
My parents await us on the stage. We walk up together and stand facing my parents.
‘It is with great honour I hand over my status as Alpha to my first-born child, Magnus.’ My dad says.
‘And it is with great honour I hand over my status as Luna to my son’s fated mate, Nina.’ Mum smiles.
‘With that said, I announce your new Luna, Nina, and your new Alpha, Magnus.’ My dad says.
The hall erupts with cheers.
I stand behind Nina, wrap my arms around her, and place a kiss on her head. She leans back against my chest and looks up at me, smiling.
‘You can let me go now.’ She blushes.
‘Nina, I’ll never let you go.’
