Inevitably Yours

“Hello, Michael,” Haven greeted me pleasantly as I opened the door for her. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. No matter how much I wanted to dislike her, the witch was always friendly to me. I made it even more annoying. After my dad revealed how Lawrence cheated, I didn’t necessarily trust a witch coming in to save the day.

“Hi,” I replied, opening the door wider for her and stepping aside so she could come in. I was surprised to see she’d brought someone with her this time. She’d been alone on her other visits. He was taller than her and smelled like a wolf. I wondered if it was her mate, not that it mattered.

“The Goddess doesn’t give a s**t about the mate bond, or we wouldn’t be here right now. Lawrence couldn’t have done what he did, and I wouldn’t have been taken from Quinn before we even knew-”

“Felix,” the wolf behind her said, offering me his hand. His grip was powerful, but he didn’t try to crush my hand with it. “I just wanted to come along and make sure she was okay. This isn’t going to be easy for her.” His voice was quiet, but it held a lot of weight. I wondered what pack he belonged to.

“I hadn’t realized that,” I told him. “I hope it goes well. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to anyone else because of us.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Haven said warmly, touching Felix’s shoulder and looking up at him lovingly. “He worries too much. I am the daughter of the Coven Mother, and this isn’t more dangerous than what I practice regularly.”

Felix grumbled under his breath about how she never worried enough before leaning over to k**s her on the forehead. As he leaned over, I caught sight of a mark on his shoulder; these two were clearly mates, but I didn’t know witches marked their mates like we did.

Watching them together was making me feel sick, and I felt a pang of guilt for how distrusting I’d been. I didn’t know much about magic, so I hadn’t thought about it being difficult or dangerous for her to do this for us. I just didn’t trust anyone or anything anymore. Everything my life was built on was a lie, so why should anything else be true?

“Maybe she’ll be lucky, and I won’t be her mate. We still don’t know for sure-”

“Quit trying to make yourself feel better, dumbass,” Eros scolded me.

“I’m not… Good for her, Eros.”

“I’m not arguing that,” he growled before receding into some dark recess of my mind. He wasn’t interested in talking to me right now. I couldn’t blame him; I didn’t want to be around me right now.

I directed them into our living room, where we’d already cleared the floor as she’d asked. My mom was sitting on the edge of the room, looking nervous. She was dragging hard on her cigarette and bouncing her leg until Melvin reached a hand to rest on her knee and steady her. She gave him a look from the corner of her eye, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about what I’d just seen. Were they trying to rekindle something?

“I promise I will get you through this safely, Claire,” Haven told my mom as she walked in and saw her.

“I know,” she replied. “I’m just nervous.”

“No need,” Haven insisted. “We’re going to end the power he has over you. He won’t be able to use the mark to find you anymore.”

She nodded but still looked scared. I wondered if she believed that she could ever really be free of Lawrence. I often wondered the same. How far would we have to run before he couldn’t find us? We thought this was far enough, and we were wrong.

Haven set to work, pulling candles and other things from her bag. She started drawing a magic circle on the floor with some wand, etching runes as she went that shimmered as she finished them. She set a candle at the tip of the large star she’d drawn within the circle and white and blue gemstones at the other four points.

“Moonstones,” Haven explained as she looked up to see me watching what she was doing. “The candle will help me commune with our Goddess, and the Moonstones will help the magic connect to your mom. I have to ask for some divine help on this one.”

“I guess it’s better that you’re asking your Goddess instead of ours,” I sighed.

“I know things are hard right now, but that doesn’t mean she’s abandoned you,” Haven told me softly. Her eyes rested on Felix talking to my da- Melvin on the other side of the circle. “She’s worked wonders for me, and I believe she will for you and your family.”

“What kind of Goddess lets this happen in the first place? What kind of Goddess leaves children in an abusive home after letting their mom be forced into this f****d bond? I just don’t understand….”

“We’re not supposed to,” Haven answered. “I’m not going to tell you she has a plan, and it’s all for the best. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing that. But, everything that has happened has made you who you are today. You wouldn’t be you without it.”

“What if I don’t like who I am today?” I said low enough that I didn’t think she could hear me.

She looked me directly in the eyes and laid her hand gently on my arm, “Then fix it. You’re a kid. You have plenty of time to do something about that.”

With that, she turned and went over to talk to my mom. I hoped everyone had been focused elsewhere and not paying attention to our conversation. I didn’t know what to think, and I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it. Why did the Goddess favor some people and just give f**k all about others? I couldn’t be mad at Haven; she was selfless and here to help us. I’d misjudged her, and maybe it’s just that she deserved to be happy. Maybe the Moon Goddess could see ahead to if you were going to be a shitty person or not and judge accordingly. If so, it explained my circumstances; I probably deserved it.

Tyler still had plenty of time to see whether he would be more than his circumstances. When he lost his temper or tried to manipulate my mom to get me in trouble instead of himself, I could see flashes of Lawrence in Tyler’s mannerisms and temperament. It scared me for him, and I hoped he wouldn’t end up being his father just because Lawrence had donated the s***m to make him. I wasn’t much of a role model so I just hoped he was strong enough to overcome his genetic disposition.

“It’s time,” Haven said, clapping her hands together loudly as she walked to the circle’s center, startling me out of my silent spiraling.

I wasn’t the only one; I saw everyone’s heads snap towards the center of the room at the sound. The tension was thick, and I hoped this would work without anyone getting hurt. I’d never even heard of being able to break a mate bond before, and now Haven’s mate was here, worried this might be dangerous for her.

“Goddess, keep them saf…” I began to pray, but it felt hollow. I didn’t trust there to be someone there to receive it anymore. I would have to put my faith in Haven and whatever Goddess she was asking for help.

“If you could come and join me, Claire?” Haven asked, holding her hand out for my mother’s. Haven helped position my mom in the center of the circle and then stood outside of it at the point where she’d placed the candle. Haven lowered herself to her knees, now looking down at my mom. She was only a few inches taller than her, but she looked powerful as she snapped her fingers, and the candle sprang to life with a small dancing flame. The lights in the room flickered and then turned off, leaving us in total darkness, except for the candle and the now glowing circle beneath my mom.Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

A low hum emanated from Haven. The flame flickered in her eyes, and I noticed that they were a deep honeyed brown for the first time. With the candlelight framing her face, it was hard to ignore how beautiful she was. I was immensely glad Felix couldn’t read my thoughts to get the wrong impression. He was a lucky man, though.

Haven waved her hand over the flame, and it grew much larger. As it sat perilously on a wick that looked much too small for the baseball-sized flame, it turned a pure white color that reached the moonstones on either side. They reflected the light until each stone was connected, creating a frame around my mom. She was wearing a shirt that allowed her mark to show, and I could see the bite softly glowing. My mom looked uncomfortable but not in any real pain.

“I call on you for your grace. I call for your mercy,” Haven muttered lowly, looking directly into the flame. “I ask you to help me release a child of the Moon Goddess from her forced bondage. Release her from the grasp of a wolf who would pervert the bond for his own twisted use.”

I watched my mom double over and scream, the mark now a searing gold as if she’d been branded. Haven was sweating, and she looked like she was strained in some way.

“Haven,” Felix called out, his voice worried.

She waved him away, not breaking her eye contact with the flame. B***d started to trickle from her nose until it became a steady stream. Nothing about this indicated it was going well, and I began to worry about them. Felix and Melvin looked panicked, and my mom was panting, clearly in pain. Another scream broke out, and the mark flamed a more angry red. I could see the second mark below it glowing with a silver hue. Had her original mark somehow survived what happened?

Another scream rang out from my mom, and I looked back to Haven. The b***d wasn’t only coming from her nose now; it drew red lines down her cheeks from her eyes like she was crying crimson.

“You have to stop!” Felix demanded, stepping forward. He was pushed back as he reached the circle as if an invisible wall wouldn’t let him go further.

“I can do this, Felix,” Haven told her worried mate in a steady voice. She stood up, walking into the circle to stand before my mom. She kneeled again, pulling my mother up to face her as Haven placed one hand on my mom’s forehead and one on her marks. “I release you. You are free, Claire.”

In succession, the Moonstones sparked and exploded at each star point, leaving only the candle behind. Haven made a motion across my mom’s shoulder, and when she was done, only the faint silver mark remained. The two looked at each other, and as abruptly as it began, it was over. They both collapsed next to each other, hitting the hardwood with a solid crack. The lights came back on, and candle snuffed itself, the circle disappearing with it. Whatever had been keeping Felix back was gone because he was at Haven’s side in a flash, pushing her hair out of her face and trying to get her to respond. Melvin reached my mother only a moment after, and I thought I should keep myself from interfering, assuming she was okay.

I saw Haven smile up at Felix as he fussed over her, “I guess I overdid it, huh?” Her voice came out scratchy.

“I told you I was worried, damn it,” he grumbled to her quietly. He pulled her up into a hug with his face buried in her hair for a long time before helping Haven to her feet. My mom roused shortly after, and Melvin helped her onto the couch. I went to get a warm wet rag to let Haven wipe her face clean and orange juice and snacks for both of them. I remembered the humans gave juice and cookies at b***d drives to help their bodies recover.

Both women accepted the refreshments gratefully, and Felix thanked me for the rag as he helped clean up Haven’s face with a frown on his face. He still didn’t look convinced that she was okay.

“Do you feel alright?” Haven asked my mom, looking down at her.

“I should be asking you that?” she laughed in return. “I do feel like a weight has been lifted off of my chest, though. I’m not sure it will fix everything, but at least I’m not connected to him anymore.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. It was just divine magic, a lot of it. It takes a toll on your body, and I just need to rest. I’ll be fine soon. I’m glad this worked, and I could cut the connection between you two,” she smiled warmly at my mom.

“Now that we know everyone is okay, I’ll be taking my mate to rest,” Felix announced. His tone left no room for argument, or so I thought.

“Stop it,” she protested. “I’m fine.”

“For me?” he asked, his face softening as they met each other’s eyes. By his appearance alone, I doubted much phased the wolf; Haven was obviously his weakness. My stomach turned; Quinn was mine just as easily as Haven was Felix’s.

“If you insist,” she answered, sighing. She looked at each of us in turn as she told us, “If you need anything, please call me.”

“We will,” Melvin assured her.

Felix ushered Haven through the door, and we were just the three of us once more. Tyler went to hang out with the only friend he made here one more time before we left. My mom and Melvin didn’t think he would be able to handle what had to happen, so they encouraged it. Mom was free now, so it was time to leave.