“So… you don’t know anything about her?” Orabelle asked before she took a bite from her sandwich. Haestus stopped midway from drinking his lemon juice before he asked, “Who?”

“Kiara. You didn’t find her in the bar?” She put the sandwich down on the plate as she asked.

“No. I went there looking for you,” He answered before taking a sip from the glass of juice. Meanwhile, Orabelle kept on thinking about her friend. The overwhelming concern for Kiara was eating her up from insides.

“How did you even find me?” She asked the question which had been bothering her all this time. Haestus put the empty glass on the table before he breathed deeply.

“Well… it wasn’t easy. I- “

“How did you even know about me? I have been running for years and keeping low for a long time. Who told you about me? How did you know my name?” Orabelle bombarded him with all those questions that had been bugging her ever since she found her in his room. He wanted to tell her everything but couldn’t decide where to start from. “And what about Arles? We are enemies. I am sure he wouldn’t be very pleased if he ever comes to know about us.”

“You were hungry right?” Haestus reminded her when her questions had started to overwhelm him slowly.

“Answer me, Haestus.” She pressed. The small flicker in his eyes when she called him by his name didn’t go unnoticed by her. She knew she was having an effect on him and for some reason, it internally made her happy and excited.

He wiped his hands on the napkin before uttering, “Come here,”

“What?” Orabelle almost jumped from her seat in surprise. She was thinking of all the things he could have meant by saying that. She felt her cheeks redden as lustful thoughts sneaked their way into her mind.

“Come here, mate.” This time he had growled lowly and to Orabelle’s surprise, she found herself following his order. She leaned into him but it seemed like it wasn’t what he had meant.

In the next moment, he was again wrapping his arms around her waist before she found herself sitting on his lap. “What are you doing?” She sounded out of breath but made no effort to move because internally, she was enjoying being so close to him.

“Close your eyes,” He spoke against her ear. It made a shiver run down her spine. Her body was heating up and she felt her stomach tighten as desire swept her insides. She squeezed her legs shut when she felt the juncture between them grow wet.

A low, tortured growl escaped his lips when he smelled her arousal. All his blood rushed to the organ that entitled him a man. It was throbbing to be inside her. His canines came out as his wolf stirred inside him. He wanted to sink his teeth right into her exposed neck but he didn’t.

Taking a deep breath while tightening his hold on her, he put a hand over her eyes and closed them before tilting her head back until it rested on his shoulder. She let out a shaky breath as he pressed his front to her back. She could feel him grow hard beneath her. It only made her sit still on his lap.

Her eyes were covered by his hand and she couldn’t see anything but she could feel him and her surrounding very vividly. She shivered as his hot breath blew on her exposed neck. She was waiting for his lips to descend on her skin with the same effect as that of a fireball. He lit her up with desire and she was more than willing to burn with him. But disappointment took over her when she didn’t feel his lips on her skin. Instead of that, he whispered a spell in her ear before several visions flashed in front of his eyes.

She saw him standing in the bar and looking at her dancing before the vision changed and they were in his bedroom, making love. The sight fueled the lust in her but before she could react to it properly, the vision was gone and he was alone in his bed, wide awake. She understood that he was showing her the visions he saw before meeting her. He had gotten visions of them meeting even before they met.

The vision changed again and now she found him flipping through books, raiding some bars and meeting some of the witch-hunters. There were so many flashes of various visions that at the moment, it overwhelmed her and she let out a tortured cry. It put a strain on her eyes as well as her brain.

She felt his hand drop from her eyes before a sharp pain penetrated her skull and she winced.

“Bell?” Concern filled him. He was afraid that he might have shown her more than she could bear and process. She let out a whimper before the food she had eaten threatened to travel up her food pipe.

Shifting from his lap, she ran to the small basin at the corner of the kitchen and threw up the sandwich she had just had. He was instantly by her side, holding her hair back as she emptied her stomach.

“I am sorry, I shouldn’t have shown you so much,” He apologized. His voice was laden with guilt. Had he known that it would have such a bad effect on her, he’d have been cautious and refrain himself from showing her so much.

The visions were painful whenever they greeted him. They shook him up from inside but slowly, he got used to it. He should have known that being new to such thing, she may not be able to take them the way he could. He was used to the pain and the turmoil of emotions after the visions were over but she wasn’t. He was blaming himself and so was his wolf.

“I am sorry, Orabelle. I’ll never do this again,” He pleaded as she threw up more. He rubbed her back while his firm hold on her arm had her standing upright. After she was done throwing up, he carried her back to the chair before setting her down. She put her head down on the table and put her hands over her head because the pain in her head was still there. It was excruciating. She had never felt pain so intensely.

“Orabelle,” He called out as he sat very close to her. Meanwhile, she was still recovering from the effects of the vision. It had disrupted her to the point that for a moment, she struggled to breathe. She had to take several deep breaths to remind her lungs of their responsibilities.

“Bell?”

“Don’t call me that!” She choked. The tone of her voice had him sitting up straight. It sounded like she was upset at him for doing that to her.

“I am sorry, Bell,” He tried again but this time she lifted her head and looked at him with teary eyes.

“I told you to not call me that!” She threatened him as she tried to wipe her tears away. With the visions, he had managed to bring some painful memories back that she was trying so hard to forget.

He had called her Bell.

Her mother used to call her that and now she was dead. She was killed by the witch-hunters. He happened to have reminded her of her beloved mother even without realizing. She was feeling so many emotions at once, it was taking a toll on her.

“I...” He trailed off, not knowing what to say to her. He wanted to hold her and make everything right for her but something about her stance spoke that she wouldn’t be pleased if he laid his hands on her then. She was wiping her tears away on the shirt’s sleeve as she sniffed.

“So, we are mates, right?” She asked stiffly. The tone of her voice didn’t hint the emotions she was feeling. Though her voice sounded heavy and rough due to throwing up and crying. Both the question and the way she asked it caught Haestus off-guard.

“Yes,” He answered as seriously as he could. By now, Orabelle was done erasing the traces of her tears so she turned to face him fully. Her eyes were still red from crying and her head still ached but now, she was much more composed than before.

“Mates do anything for each other, right?” She shot another question at him. It had him sitting up straight. His eyes were fixed on her face, trying to find any trace of emotion which could help him to predict where she was taking this to. But she was still and there was nothing on her face. She gave him a stern look as she pressed, “Yes or no?”

“Yes,” Haestus spoke as he gulped silently. She had turned so cold towards him all of a sudden that it made both – him and his wolf upset and concerned.

“I don’t believe you,” She said crossing her arms on her chest and raising an eyebrow at him. At the moment, she seemed like a determined woman who meant business.

“Believe what?” Haestus asked with a combination of anger and perplexity.

“I don’t believe we are mates. You could be making this up.” She spoke calmly knowing that her mere words were having a much deeper effect on him than he was showing on the surface. Her words completely ruptured Haestus.

He couldn’t believe his ears.

“I showed you my visions!” He growled at her, clenching his hands. His wolf howled inside him in pain. He gave her enough proof that she was his mate. He had worked so hard to find her. Heck, he was somewhat betraying Arles by keeping her in his wing without telling him. He was risking everything for her and she… she had to say that?

“Visions could be made and manipulated. I am a witch; I know better and I still don’t believe you.” She spoke tipping her chin high. Her eyes were hard on him, staring him down. By now, he was finding it hard not to let out the anger that was raging inside him. With a low growl, he leaned over her by placing his hands beside her. His possessiveness was slowly showing on his surface.

“You are questioning me?” He growled on her face. Had it been someone else, they’d be dead instantly. She didn’t bat her eyes at him. She looked him right in his eyes and answered, “Yes.”

The fear she felt for him previously was gone. Even though he was showing his dangerous side to her, she somehow knew it that he would never lay a scratch on her skin. She knew that the visions he showed her were true. She knew that he wasn’t lying when he told her that she was his mate.

Even though it had been only a few hours ever since she formally met him, she somehow knew too much about him already. It was as if she could read him. It surprised her too but it only proved the point more that they were mates and everything that they felt was an effect of the bond that came with being mates.

Then why was she questioning him?

Well, Orabelle was a witch. Besides sorcery, she knew manipulation- which she used quite often to get what she wanted and right then, she was doing just that. She knew that with power and authority came a high boost of self-esteem. To say that that the man in front of her had too much of that would be an understatement. She was knowing the limits she could push him to get the thing she wanted the most.

“What do you want me to do to prove that we are mates?” He growled. He was ready to do anything, even if it was a crime that would buy him a one-way ticket to the underworld. He had already moved hell and heaven to find her. He was breaking his kingdom’s rules by keeping her in his wing. He was ready to cross more lines and break more rules to prove to that woman how much she meant to him.

The corner of her lips tipped up as she realized that she had succeeded in trapping him.

“Find Kiara,”