Chapter 47: Soulmates

AXEL

~When the soul is ready, its mate will appear.~

I shuffled on my feet, ignoring everyone else in the room, my attention focused solely on her. Her soul screamed to me like it knew. It knew she belonged to me and I to her.

She called me her pair. I don’t know what that means, but that’s what came out of her mouth.

Grams had summoned the entire family. For what, we didn’t know, but I no longer cared. I needed her. I needed to know her name, to hold her, keep her safe.

She had a strong presence about her. She was a leader, or she would be.

My cousins Matt and Alex walked into the room, their attention straightaway on her. That made me angry. I stepped closer, blocking her from them.

“~Mine~,” I growled menacingly.

They took a step back and nodded.

I turned to face her. No one had spoken, but she just looked at me, amused. Her gaze shifted over my shoulder, and her aura ignited, blinding us all.

I looked to where she was looking and saw Milly clutching her head, her eyes shut tight like she was in pain. She dropped to her knees, nodding.

No one moved to stop her because they couldn’t. She had demanded control of the room, and she had it.

“Okay, okay,” Milly gasped out before she was released from whatever hold she was under. She knelt on the floor, panting.

“What the fuck was that?” Uncle Diego rubbed his head.

“You are no ordinary wanderer.” Grams mumbled.

I shuffled my feet again. “Mine.” My gaze was on her, and she returned it. That made me happy. My soul was dancing.

“Hi.” She blushed, twirling her fingers.

I shuffled again. “Hi.” My voice broke into a croak.

“Mother? Why don’t you introduce us to my son’s mate?” Mom took her seat at the table.

Dad sat beside her, looking over at the girl who had now sat back down, her eyes a whirlwind. A calm before a storm.

“I can introduce myself. Thank you, Gianna. My name is Storm. It is a pleasure to meet you. And I am a wandering witch, but we are better known as nomads or vagabonds.”

She held her hand out across the table. I couldn’t help but laugh at my mother’s shocked expression as she returned the handshake.

“A wandering witch? There are a lot of strong witches and wolves in this room. How did you manage to control us all like that, and why?” Dad spoke up.

Storm tilted her head at him. The light reflecting off her hair had me in a trance. I could smell her scent from there. Lotus blossom.

“Because he is my pair.” She nodded her head at me.

I sat up straighter. “What is a pair?”

She looked at me. My question clearly amused her.

“Let me put this in wolf terms. You are my mate. We wanderers, we call them pairs. We pair for life like wolves do, and without our pair we die. Like wolves do.

“I controlled the room for the same reason you snapped at those two when they walked in. I claimed what was mine. That was, of course, before she told me that you are cousins.

“For that, I apologize for any discomfort I may have inflicted upon you all. I do not, however, regret it.” She sat back in her chair matter-of-factly.

“No bullshit. No nonsense. I like you.” Diego slammed his hand on the table. She smiled appreciatively at him.

“Why are you here?” Mom questioned her.

“Covens won’t accept wanderers anymore since the rogue wolf attack a few months back, which claimed the lives of my parents. I barely escaped with mine.”

My heart began to race at the thought that if she hadn’t survived, I would have gone my whole life not having found my mate. The Goddess only grants us one.

Eventually, I would have descended into madness before possibly taking my own life to end it all.

She looked at me, smiling knowingly. I smiled back at her, itching to be close, to bury my nose in her neck, to memorize her scent.

“The wolves were from the Blood Moon Pack, which is why I called you all here. Chances are, if these wolves are, in fact, rogue, then King Kozan does not know about it.

“Frieda believes this is a challenge of power for my throne,” Pops spoke up, rubbing his head. He was trying to remain calm. We could all sense it.

Diego let out a growl. “Let them come. The Iron Soldier has been in a slumber long enough.”

Dad cracked his knuckles. “Reckon I could wake up the Berserker for one more fight.”

Storm sat in silence, surveying the room before her gaze landed on my mom. “That is not the only reason I came here, actually. I had originally come to ask for your help, Gianna.”

She paused, taking a breath before continuing. “I can see the doorways to the realms, but I cannot enter. No one has been able to show me how. I am the only wanderer to possess such a gift.

“I heard through a story from a pack on the coast that you can enter death freely without harm to yourself. I came to ask you to help me, as you are the only known being who possesses such a similar gift.”

A stunned silence fell on the room before Grams smiled. “Well, now it makes sense why you mated to Axel.” We all looked at her.

Storm raised an eyebrow in question. “Begging your pardon, my queen, but I don’t see how that relates to my needing help?”

Everyone chuckled softly before Grams spoke up. “Axel also possesses the ability to walk into death freely. He is the only one of my grandchildren who can.

“Reign and Alex are trackers like my son Diego. Matt and Milly are telekinetic like my twins Levi and Lucas.”

Grams pointed around the room to each person. As she spoke, they waved slightly when they were called.

Storm’s mouth formed a soft O, and I smiled.

“I haven’t gone into death much, but I’m sure Mom and I can help you.”

Mom nodded along with me. “You seem like a powerful witch. I’m interested in seeing what you are capable of.”

“All right, enough for today. Let us gather outside and eat. I do believe these two souls need to get acquainted. Boys, help Raphael start up the pit outside. Girls with me to the kitchen.”

Grams waved her hands, and we all fell into motion, following our orders.

I led Storm outside. “So, uh, hi.”

She laughed. The sound was magical. “Hi. I guess I’m, uh, sorry about your cousin. I guess I just got a bit, um, possessive?” She bit her lip, looking up at me.

Now that I saw her standing, I saw her body under her large cloak. She was short, probably about five feet, compared to my towering six feet five inches, but she was curvy and strong.

She caught me looking at her and blushed.

I swallowed hard. “It’s okay. Milly needs to be taken down a peg or two sometimes.”

I shrugged. She took a step closer, and I breathed in her scent.

“I’ve never heard of wolves and witches mating. How does it work?”

I could see her eyes better now, the most magnificent midnight blue. Her ears had a slight point, barely noticeable.

“I don’t actually know. But the Goddess granted you to me for a reason. Plus, my Pops is mated to my Grams, and she’s a witch.”

She nodded, leaning in closer to me, our breaths mixing in the night air. Her hand touched my chest.

I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her into me, leaning down. Our lips brushed gently off each other’s.

“How hard is it to light a goddamn fire pit?!”

My uncle’s shouts snapped us out of our trance, and we jumped apart, blushing. I ran my hand through my hair, laughing softly. She giggled, twirling her hair on a finger.

“Well, if you stopped breathing down my neck, I might get it done faster!”

“Do you want to be grounded for the rest of your life, boy?! ’Cause I can do that, you know!”

“Grounded for what?! Are you serious?!”

“Boy, back-cheek me one more time, I’ll—"

“You’ll what, Dad?! Yell at me?!”

“That’s it!”

“We, uh, better break that up.” I pointed over to the fire pit as snarls broke out between Diego and Alex.

We walked over to the pit, watching them circle each other. Aunt Liv walked out of the castle toward us, rolling her eyes. “Seriously? What is it now?”

“~He~ gave me cheek because I told him to light the firepit!” Diego pointed his finger at Alex, whose eyes went wide.

“And ~he~ threatened to ground me because I pointed out that if he didn’t breathe down my neck, I could get it done!”

They both pointed at each other, looking like toddlers in trouble. Liv rubbed her temples, mumbling something like, “Damn trackers.”

Storm cleared her throat. “It’s okay. I got it.” Everyone had joined us at the pit and watched her.

She swirled her hands in the air in a circular motion, flames building from her fingertips and growing into a ball. She bounced it from palm to palm, letting it grow bigger.

Once it had reached medium size, she threw it into the pit, igniting the wood into a roaring fire. The heat washed over us instantly.

“Now ~that~ was impressive,” Milly pointed out.

We all settled into our seats while Mom and Grams cooked the food. Aunt Liv dished it out.

I sat beside Storm feeling her warmth radiate off her. She was no ordinary witch, and I couldn’t wait to get to know her better.