Page 2 of My Unexpected Mate

Aria’s POV

My Dear,

If you are reading this, it means they have caught me. I am so sorry. I never wanted you to be alone. I spent 20 years of my life taking care of you. You are my sunshine. If I could, I would be with you forever. But these are dark times my Aria. Soul-wrenching dark. I am somewhat glad I don’t have to live anymore. To see all the suffering of our kind. But I would like to be with you through everything that is going to happen. Even though I know how strong you are, I wish I was by your side. To comfort you. To hold you like I did all those times through your childhood. You are the key to stopping this, Aria. I need you to find someone. Her name is Claudia Richardson. She lives somewhere in Moon City. She has a prophecy. You need to find her and let her know you are alive. I wish I could tell you more. I wish I could help you. I can only leave you knowing how strong and smart you are. Knowing you will make the pain go away.

I will always be watching you and taking care of you from afar.

Love, Grandma.

I couldn’t cry anymore. I’ve read her letter over and over. Each time I understood less. Who was Claudia? What prophecy? How could I stop the war between our kind and humans? I was nobody. A little witch who lived in a small village with her grandma. I wasn’t important or powerful. I didn’t have any special skills. I was not gifted with any unique magical powers like some witches and warlocks. It just didn’t make any sense. I decided to get off the dirty floor and try not to think about this anymore. It was the only thing I could do until I got to Moon City.

My heart hurt. I just lost the only person who loved me, raised me, and took care of me. She was the only family I had. My parents died in a car accident when I was just a baby. My Grandpa Jack was also in the car. I had no memory of them. She didn’t talk about them much. It was too painful. I lost a mother and a father, and she lost a daughter and a husband. My grandparents from my dad’s side died when he was a child. My parents didn’t have siblings. I am alone in this world. My Grandma Grace was everything to me. My parents, my teacher, my family.

I looked around the room. It used to be mine. Now there was nothing left. I sighed and walked to the living room. I took my bag and started packing a few things that survived the fire. My grandma was prepared. When the inquisition started, about a year ago, she sat me down and told me her plan. She removed some floorboards in our small living room and made a little safe where she put some important stuff in case anything happened. There was a picture of my parents, money, my documents, a picture of us when I was a baby and some spare clothes. There was also a locket that I couldn’t open but she said that when the time comes somebody will open it for me. I was confused but she said not to ask any questions. She must have added the letter after because I never saw it before this day. I placed the locket around my neck and packed the rest of the stuff from our little safe in my bag. I hoped I would have enough money to at least find Claudia.

My grandma and I earned our money by healing our fellow villagers. Maybe I could do that in the city. Earn some money. Try to rebuild my life. I wasn’t as good a healer as my grandma, but I was a quick learner. I could do this. I must. My grandma was an excellent healer and I learned everything I know from her. We even had our little garden where we grew our herbs. But that was gone too. I felt tears starting to accumulate in my eyes. I quickly wiped them and focused on packing the rest of my stuff. I couldn’t let myself cry anymore. I had to get out of here before they came back.

I tried to clean my dirty clothes. I was covered in ashes from the fire. My brown hair that fell down to my waist was now gray. My green eyes were now probably red from crying. I gave up, there was too much ash on me. I would have to clean myself in a nearby stream that provided our village with fresh, clean water. I walked out of my home holding a sob in my throat.

I was near the forest line when I turned around and looked at my village. There was nothing left. They burned it to the ground. I wasn’t sure if anyone survived. My heart clenched painfully in my chest.

This morning I had left to go to the market like any other day. My grandma and I used to go together but today she decided to stay at home and make her famous “limb growth potion”. Her potion saved a couple of village kids a few years back when they were playing around with spells and lost some fingers and toes. It was a lot of work and she told me to go by myself. I was gone for about an hour and when I came back inquisitors had already destroyed everything and left. I checked every house and every building hoping some of my fellow villagers survived. There was nobody. I was alone.

I glanced at my home one last time and turned towards the forest before I started crying again. I couldn’t let myself cry now.

Moon City was an hour away by car. It was going to take me a lot longer on foot. I could use a spell to transport myself there, but I was too scared to try. I couldn’t risk appearing somewhere I could be seen. Walking it is. It was 11 am and I was hoping I would arrive before dark.

The first thing on my to-do list was to find my childhood friend Annie. She was a werewolf. I really hoped they hadn’t caught her. She used to live here with her parents, but they moved to the city a few years back. We stayed in touch after they left, but I hadn’t heard from her in a while. I think she had changed her phone number. She told me a little about the place where she lived. She was an artist and a gifted one at that. When she described something, you felt like you could see it clearly in front of you. I could probably find her just by her description of her new home. At least I hoped I could. I must be very careful though. I can’t get caught.

CHAPTER TWO - Moon City

Gabriel’s POV

I woke up feeling like shit. Fucking red mush.

I got up and went to the bathroom. After I did my morning business, I turned the shower on and hopped in. The cold water woke me up from my drunken state. I need to quit drinking. Or at least drink something other than that thing Louis called wine. I always felt like crap afterward.

I looked in the mirror and smirked. Louis was right. I did look like a werewolf. My dark brown hair was a tangled mess on top of my head. I would cut it today.

My biggest assets are my green eyes. I was tall. 6’3 of pure muscles. I was pretty well-built for a 20-year-old guy. Women loved me. And I loved them. They were good for sex. I loved seducing them. But I didn’t see myself ever caring for any woman. I was fine on my own. I did not need nor wanted to love anybody. I got all the sex I needed without loving them or caring for them.

The only person I ever loved was my grandma. She was the only family I had. She raised me and loved me. I have her to thank for this roof over my head. She left me enough money, so I don’t have to work now. I spent most of my days perfecting my magic. She taught me everything I know about magic and helped me develop my special skill. I can project images into people’s minds. Any images. I can hurt them, confuse them, or make them feel amazing. I was always very good, but my grandma made me better.

I never knew my parents. My grandma said they died but she refused to talk about them. It was too painful for her. When I was a kid, I asked her about my grandpa, my grandparents from my dad’s side or any other family there might be, but all she said was they were gone. I was curious and wanted to know more, but I saw how much it hurt her to talk about these things, so I stopped. She was enough family for me.

She died about 9 months ago. She was captured by inquisitors and burned not long after. I did everything I could to find her, but it was pointless. I hadn’t stopped drinking since then.

It was like she knew she was going to die. She kept telling me where to go and hide if they came. I was angry because she kept assuming I would leave her and run, but she said I must live. She said I was important and that she was going to explain everything to me. She made it seem like she was living alone. I had to hide my stuff around the house and even take most of it to my neighbor, Nick. She didn’t want them to know I was there. At first, I thought she wanted to protect me, but now I think there was more to that. The morning they came for her she told me about a safe somewhere in the house that contained the most important items, and she was going to show them to me after I came back from my morning run. If only I never left. When I came back, she was gone, and my house was ransacked. I thought they would come back for me, but they never did.

I searched the entire house for that safe, but I never found it. It drove me crazy. That fucking safe and guilt for not being able to save my grandma were the two main reasons I drank that red shit. It makes me numb. And that was better than feeling guilty and angry all the time.

I heard a knock on my front door. It was probably Nick. He was the only one that came around anymore. Everybody else, even people I used to call my friends, fear me as I lose control easily nowadays.

Nick is my neighbor. A werewolf–warlock hybrid. I’ve known him all my life.

“Gabe? Are you passed out drunk again? I tried calling you. Your phone is off.”

“Just got up. I forgot to recharge it,” I said, coming downstairs.