Elena POV
"What is it, witch doctor?" Draven asked as the witch doctor drew several symbols on the ground with ash before kneeling in the center.
She didn't respond.
A wave of anxiety so strong I thought it would make me faint rose inside my stomach.
Was something really wrong with me? What if it were something that couldn't be fixed? What would I do then?
She knelt for a long time, switching between chanting and singing at intervals. Her song sent shivers down my spine, and I glanced at my arm to see that goosebumps had risen on my skin.
"I can't help you, Alpha." The witch doctor said to Draven, stumbling as finally she rose to her feet, her face as white as a plain sheet of paper.
Draven frowned when she finished speaking. "What do you mean you can't help me? It's your duty to find solutions to these kinds of problems."
"It's not that I don't want to help," she said softly. "I just can't."
"Why?" Draven asked, an edge in his voice that hadn't been there previously.
"There's a seal on her." The witch doctor said. "A very powerful seal, but it's cracking under the weight of the ability it's meant to suppress."
"W-what do you mean by an ability?" My voice shook as I looked from Draven to the witch doctor and back to Draven again. He looked just as stunned as I felt. "I don't have an ability."
"Are you sure about this?" Draven turned to the witch doctor. "No mistakes?"
"I'm sure." She said, her voice growing cold. "Have you ever known me to make mistakes?"
"I don't doubt your skills, Draven said. "I just find it a bit hard to believe, considering how she was being treated at her pack."
"Child." The witch doctor turned to me again, her voice softer now. "Can you tell me when you started experiencing this?"
"I-I don't know if both situations are related., I said, sparing a glance at Draven. "B-but when I rejected the mate bond between my previous mate, it felt as if something loosened within me.
I thought it was the mate bond at the time, but now I'm not so sure." I finished with a whisper.
"It was most likely the seal." She said, raising a hand to her chin. When she dropped it, a little bit of ash was left in its place. "What I don't understand is why it chose that moment to crack."
I swallowed dryly. "It's not supposed to do that?"
"No." She said. "It's not."
I swallowed thickly but couldn't stop myself from asking. "What kind of power do I have, witch doctor? When you held my hand, what did you see?"
The witch doctor visibly stiffened at my question, her lips parted for a while, but no sound came out.
Then she let out a long breath. "I saw darkness, child. It was like I had come face-to-face with an abyss that wanted to swallow me whole. It was nothing like any ability I'd ever seen."
She shuddered and continued. "Only the oddess knows how much stronger it would be once the seal finally wears off completely."
***********************
The walk back to the palace was silent, with Draven and me both lost in our thoughts.
I glanced down at the charms the witch doctor had made into a bracelet and given to me.
'It won't do much," she'd said. "But it will reduce the pain when the seal loosens again. Come to me immediately if you notice any cracks on the charms.'
I clutched the bracelet tightly, still reeling from the knowledge that I wasn't as ordinary as I'd believed.
Abilities used to be common in the old days, but they are rare now. Excluding me, there were probably only around ten people who had abilities, with Draven being one of them.
Draven stopped walking, and I bumped into his back. I looked up at him resentfully, but he was still facing forward,d so he couldn't see the expression on my face.
"W-why did you stop?" I asked when he just stood there without saying anything.
"You were sighing." He said coldly, turning to face me.
I blinked up at him, not knowing how to respond.
After a moment of quietly watching me, he turned around and continued walking, his pace much faster this time.
My thoughts were pushed to the back of my mind as I hurried to catch up with him, panting heavily.
**********************
I clutched my nose as I almost bumped into him again. Fortunately, I'd kept a small distance between us, so I wasn't caught unawares when he stopped in front of a door without any warning.
His face was colder than the wind on early winter mornings as he turned to me.
"Do you need something else? The pain has stopped now, hasn't it?"
I looked down at the bracelet. "No, I don't..."
"If you don't need anything," he cut in before I could finish my sentence. "Then go back to your room."
He gave me a once-over as he leaned against a wall. "You don't need me to carry you there, do you?"
Heat traveled from my toes to my spine before finding its way to my cheeks.
"No. I whispered. "I don't."
"Good." He said. "I've already accepted you as my mate, so you can stay for now. Whatever you want, you can ask the servants.
But that's all you get. Do not hope for anything more; there is nothing more."
I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat.
For now.
"What is it?" He asked impatiently when I opened and closed my mouth several times without a single word coming out.
"D-do you have someone else you love, Draven?"
His face turned dark, and he straightened up, towering over me in his full height. "That's none of your business.
I did not wish for this. I never wanted a mate. I never wanted you. I don't care what you do here as long as you don't overstep, but my rooms are off limits. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Alpha." I whimpered, suppressing the urge to fall to my knees.
He opened the door and stalked in, slamming it closed.
**********************
My thighs burned as I walked. For some reason, walking back to my room seemed to take much more time than when I'd been walking with Draven.
I wiped a line of sweat that had dribbled its way down my chin.
"Excuse me." I approached a man and a woman who were walking in my direction.
They stopped and looked me over. The man asks, "What is it?"
"I'm sorry to bother you," I said. "But can you lead me to my room?"
A crease formed between his brows. "And who are you?"
"I'm the Luna," I said. "The palace is so huge, and I haven't figured out how to get to my room yet, so could you lead me there?"
The look in his eyes changed, then he laughed. "You're the Luna. Right. Then I'm the Alpha king."
I looked from him to the woman, only to notice her watching me as well, her gaze lingering on my clothes.
"I-I just came here yesterday," I said, curling my hands into fists to stop them from trembling. "I haven't had a chance to bathe yet.
Please, if you could just help me out."
"I'm too busy for this nonsense." The man said. "I don't know what kind of delusion you're suffering from, but Alpha does not have a Luna.
I suggest you wake up soon before you get yourself in trouble."
He walked away, then turned back when he noticed his companion wasn't following. "Jessica, aren't you coming along?"
