With her arms still wrapped around my waist, I fell to my knees as pain ricocheted through my body. A scorching heat rumbled in my stomach shooting up into my head flushing my skin as it traveled. I winced, trying to hide the agony that boiled within me.
"You there! Get her back to my cottage." I heard Abigail yell to someone who was close by. The once private cubby was filled with curious eyes watching my face contort with discomfort.
Without missing a beat a young man scooped me up bridal style into his big, muscular arms. The coolness that radiated off of him felt so damn good against my painful skin.
"We have to get her back. Her mate is dying and he can feel all of her pain right now. This could literally kill him. Then she will give up and die herself." She said quietly to the man, but I heard every word that slipped off her tongue.
"I've got it under control, now let me be." His husky voice rumbled through his chest sending the vibration into mine, leaving my air constricted.
Another round of heat burned deep into my bones. "Make it stop," I screamed out. I couldn't take it much more. I was so tired of being in pain. So tired of the torture my body has continuously succumbed too. But this was different, it wasn't my mate bond. This searing, stabbing pain that developed inside me was like knives were dipped in alcohol before slicing my skin, the burn more excruciating than the cut.
"It's okay my angel, I'm going to help you." He promised into my ear. "Just hold on tight."
In an instant, the white room was gone and I could smell the scent of dirt and leaves. I knew exactly where I was. The woods were starting to blur, reminding me of my attack. My eyes hazy. Blue, green, and browns all dancing together perfectly like a collage of colors on an artists brush.
My small frame jostled in his clutch as he pumped his legs faster and faster through the forest. "We are almost there." He smiled. With every bump and leap and slithering pain, I stared at this man who carried me.
Before he could catch me staring I clutched my eyes tighter together praying to anyone that could hear my silent plea to give me some relief.
Then he stopped running. The spinning of the forest gently ceasing. He kneeled down in the dirt and brought his hands over to my face.
He began running his hands over my head, a green hue dancing over my skin. Slowly he moved farther down to my shoulders, than my chest, before lingering on my mid section. A mist rose out of me and into his hands, dissipating like a fog off a lake. The once beautiful green orb had transformed into a murky gray, making me cringe at the sight of it.
My vision obscured as my head slumped down onto his shoulder. My breathing evening out, rising and falling to the rhythm of his breaths.
"Thank you." I looked up at him from under my lashes and smiled slightly. The pain was finally gone.
"You're welcome my angel. I'm Ace by the way."
My heart started racing a little bit and the butterfly effect I so dreadfully hated came back to haunt me. Each time he blinked his eyes and looked down at me my stomach fluttered.
His strong square jaw only perfected his already good looks. His eyes were like emeralds piercing into my very soul as he gazed directly into my eyes. His short charcoal hair laid perfectly on his head, perfectly in place.
Why was this man having such an effect on me? I was marked, Sebastian was my mate.
"He's a healer, your kind. The bond you have with Sebastian is different than the bond you have with a healer." Abigail's voice rang in my head. "He is bringing you to me, I will explain more when you get here."
Ace rose to his feet, steadying himself before he started to jog. My arms still wrapped around his neck I looked up at him to find him staring at me. Heat washed over my face, creating rosy cheeks that his eyes jump to.
"Am I making you nervous?" He asked playfully.
"I, uh, no." I lied.
He was absolutely making me nervous. He was making my whole body nervous. Not because I was afraid or unsure, but because I was attracted to him. "Pure thoughts, pure thoughts." I chanted in my head.
The charm that was pooling off of his body was enough to make my knees tighten together. He didn't have to say a word. He didn't even have to look at me. His mere presence was irresponsible.
Turning my head to check on our progress, I could faintly see Abigail's little cottage in the distance. I was beyond thankful, I needed to get out of this mans arms before I lost all control and ravaged his body.
I didn't know who he was, what pull I had to him, but it was hard keeping my tongue in my mouth.
He let out a little chuckle before slowing down his pace to a walk. "You do know I can hear you right?" He smiled widely with his green eyes smiling and his eye brows wiggling up and down.
My eyes widened as I stared right at him. "Shit!"
All I could do was cover my face with my hands and attempt to make myself small. The embarrassment was enough to make we want to curl in a ball and hide.
"I'm really sorry. I don't know what's coming over me. I'm not like this, I swear. I have a mate." I mumbled, trying to convince not only him, but myself.
"It's normal to think those thoughts when you're attracted to someone." He teased. "It's human nature."
I closed my eyes for a second trying to think of a rebuttal, but my mind was blank. I was completely at a loss for words. Sebastian was the very first hot guy to pay me any attention. To even look in my direction. Now I had two?
Sensing my uneasiness he quickly changed the subject. "We are here." He said joyfully, kicking open the front door with his foot and knocking my head on the door jam.
"Geez Ace, couldn't you have been a little more gentle when you did that." I screeched, rubbing my now aching head.
"Oh you're fine, I'll heal you." He winked before placing me down on the couch. He wasted no time plopping himself next to me and putting his feet up on the coffee table. I smirked a little inside, happy he didn't just put me down and leave.
"Thank you for bringing her Ace." Abigail bowed to him.
Instead of answering he just nodded his head and slid his arm up to the back of the couch. I could feel his fingers touching my hair lightly, wrapping a strain around his forefinger and twisting.
"What would you like to know first?" Abigail asked, hunching forward in her chair.
My thoughts were still running crazy. All I could picture was Ace shirtless. His lips on mine. Everything I shouldn't be thinking, I was.
"Veronica?"
"Yeah, yes, I'm uh." I must have sounded so dumb, but this man was messing with my mind and I couldn't stop it.
"Ace maybe you should leave." Abigail ordered, rising to her feet.
"No!" We both yelled, before staring at one another and grinning.
"Okay, this isn't going to work. Let me get to the nitty gritty." Abigail said with quiet amusement. "Now that you have come fully into your healing powers you have just made yourself the most eligible bachelorette."
I blinked a few times. "I did what?" I asked.
"Even though you have a mate, a werewolf mate and are marked, you are destined to.." She trailed off, hesitating for a moment. "You were, I should say, destined to be with one of your own kind."
I sat dumbfounded for a minute. My own kind? Humans were my own kind, not supernatural, fairytale beings.
Why didn't she tell me this in the beginning. I never would have agreed to fully develop my powers if I knew I was mated, or whatever they call it to someone else other than Sebastian.
Whatever this was between me and Ace, he wasn't Sebastian. He never would be. I could never betray him.
"So what now? Can't I just refuse a healer mate or bond or whatever?" I asked, irritation apparent in my voice.
Her head hung low as she fiddled with her fingers. "No, my child, you can't. The only thing you can do is resist the urges you feel. The pull you feel to your promised."571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQ4UcrGgGb
"My promised?"
"Yes. In your world you have soul mates. In Sebastian's you have mates. In the healers world you have the promised. The healers promised. They feel the same pull, the same agony, the same everything as every other bond that is between ones true love." Abigail breathed.
Before she could finish Ace turned to me, pulled my hands into his and took a deep breath.
"As healers, we do not live in the future. We do not live in the past. We live in the now. Every healer is promised to another, but as you have been told that promise can be broken. Resistance and rejection aren't common, though it does happen. We don't hurt the way the wolves do during a rejection, we die instead. There is no pain to be felt. We heal others, not ourselves."
"So every male healer will be draw to me until I find my promised?" I asked, still a little confused.
"Yes."
"Exactly." They both said in unison.
"And how do I know who my promised is?" I asked. I really didn't want to know the answer, but I needed to be prepared. I needed to know who to look out for so I could remain true to Sebastian.
Ace and Abigail exchanged glances. She slightly shook her head no.
"You'll know when you meet him." Ace dropped his eyes to the ground before looking back up at me with a smile. He was so breathtakingly handsome that I continuously had to catch my breath. He actually made me feel hot like I had a fever.
A wave of nausea swept over me, interrupting my swooning over Ace.
"I think I need to lay down, I'm not feeling too well." I said out loud, sliding deeper into the couch.
"I know my dear," Abigail whispered as she came to kneel beside me. She ran her fingers across my forehead to move hair that was sticking to my face. I was sweating.
She took a deep breath and leaned in closer to me. "You're in heat."
Then everything went dark.
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