“Deak?” Zachary said in a soft, calm tone. “You need to take control of your wolf.”
Deak’s head whipped to look over at Zachary; his eyes had gold rings around them.
His voice was deep and husky as he growled out, “I smell my mate’s blood.”
“Listen, we will find Vita. There’s no sense in letting your wolf get angry right now and thrash the place while we look for clues. Please, Deak, calm your wolf and take back control,” Zachary told him.
Zachary took another step back as he watched the struggle between Deak and his wolf. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Deak was getting the advantage and gaining control once again over his wolf.
Deak’s breathing slowly calmed as he turned to look over at the Professor.
“I’m sorry. Thank you for talking me down. It has not been easy, keeping him at bay,” Deak explained.
Zachary nodded in understanding.
“It’s never easy when someone you care for could be hurt and you don’t know where they are or how to help them.”
Deak let out a sigh.
“So where do we start to look for clues?” Deak asked.
Zachary ran his hand through his hair as he looked around the room, trying to see if anything would stand out to him. Zachary held his hand above different places to see if he could detect any type of energy.
Zachary frowned as he began to sense something that threw him.
“What do you sense?” Desk asked as he continued to monitor Zachary.
“Another Coven,” Zachary said as he looked up at Deak.
Vita slowly started to stir, but she was finding a hard time moving her limbs. Her eyes opened as she lifted her head. Her heart started to beat faster as she didn’t recognize where she was; when she looked down she noticed that she was bound to a chair. Her breathing started to double as she left herself starting to panic.
Deep breaths, she told herself.
She closed her eyes as she tried to replay the last thing she remembered. Different images passed through her head as she tried to remember.
Her eyes flipped open when she remembered.
Persephone.
Vita sighed and shook her head.
She should’ve known, she should’ve never gone back to visit that coven. But she was lonely and wanted to feel a connection to her fellow witches. She was mistaken. These witches were nothing like her old coven. That was what she really missed—her family.
She wanted to reach out to Zachary, but she was afraid. Afraid of meeting that guy who yelled mate in her direction.
Who was he?
She shook her head.
This wasn’t the time to dwell on him.
She needed to figure out a way to get out of her predicament.
The manacles that were bound to her wrist must be spelled because she was not able to feel her magic flow through her.
“Well, well look who’s finally awake,” she heard in the darkness.
She looked up to see the dark figure walking toward her.
She knew that voice, and her heart raced.
Another reason why she left and didn’t come back.
“Triston, it’s been a long time,” she said to the dark figure in front of her.
He chuckled.
“After all this time, you still remember me?” he said as he walked slowly around her, making sure to say within the dark spaces of the room.
“You’re kind of hard to forget,” she said with a hint of annoyance in her tone.
Her head was yanked back as his hand fisted her hair.
She yelled out from the pain he was causing her.
“That’s hard to believe when you left me here, alone in the middle of the night. No note, nothing telling me where you’d gone or if you’d be back!” he yelled.
Vita could feel the anxiety growing inside her as her heart pounded against her chest; she tried to find the right words that may calm him down.
She looked at him and whispered, “I’m, I’m sorry.”
He released her hair.
She continued, “I just found out that my family was in trouble and needed to leave quickly to get them. I didn’t want you to get entangled in my family’s troubles. So, I left when you were asleep. I thought I would be back and able to explain, but by the time I got to them, they were already dead. I needed time to mourn and deal with the loss of my family.”
She lowered her head, hoping he would take her words as truth.
He dropped down to a knee in front of her, tucked his finger under her chin, and lifted her face so he would look at him.
“I could’ve helped you mourn them. I love you, Vita. i would’ve done anything for you,” he told her, his grip tightening on her chin.
She pulled her chin out of his grip and glared at him.
“I remember your love all too well.”
Tristan stood up as he continued to glare at Vita. his fingers tingled as his anger grew. He didn’t know whether or not to believe her story. He thought they were in love, that they were going to be together forever. But he guessed he was just a fool. A fool to believe that she loved him. He couldn’t take the anger that was building up inside him. He needed a release. He slammed his hands down onto Vita’s lower arms and felt his magic send an electrocuting current through her skin.
Vita screamed as the pain pulsed throughout her entire body.
“Tristan,” a soothing voice called out to him.
Tristan groaned when he heard the voice that was calling out to him.
“That’s no way to treat our guest,” she continued.
Tristan released his grip on Vita, the calm rushing through him and the anger no longer there.
His brows furrowed as he looked down at Vita and could hear her whimper.
“vita…I.” he tried to say as he reached a hand to touch her cheek, but she cowered away from his touch.
He clenched his hand into a fist as he pulled it away.
“Tristan, be a dear and leave us so I can speak with Vita alone,” the voice said in the distance.
Tristan looked at Vita, but she refused to give him a glance.
Tristan sighed.
“Yes, mother,” he said as he turned and made his way past the new figure that was in the room.
There was an awkward silence that filled the room.
“Oh, my dear Vita,” the voice finally spoke.
“My son was divested when you left us those years ago.”
Vita just sat there as she continued to keep her breathing calm and steady. She could sense the person walking closer into the room.
“You have to understand, we were all saddened when you disappeared that night, and then poof, you show up to one of our spelling circles like nothing had changed. But something has changed, hasn’t it, Vita?” Persephone asked as she grabbed Vita by her chin and lifted her face to look at her.
“You know who the Hybrid is.”
Mated to my Mate (Book 1)