2

TWO

Willow

The last thing I was expecting was to find my mate today. Honestly, I just wanted to drink myself sick and not get noticed as Estrellume’s Crown Prince. My father rarely lets us leave the palace grounds since we’re either being put through grueling training or hours of history and royal practices, so most of the time no one even knows who I am.

But here I am, well past curfew and in a club just outside of the capital city, enjoying a few beers by myself when I feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Faeries say that when your mate is nearby and your connection sparks for the first time, it feels like the moons are aligning just for the two of you. That really doesn’t come close to the sensation I experience when I find her dancing in the crowd.

She’s truly sparkling under the fae orbs of the dance floor. Her soft pink curls are cascading down her back, leading me straight to her ass.

I’m not even trying to be modest about checking her out. She’s my mate and I don’t need to be discreet.

I can already tell how strong she is from here based on the control she has over her body. She’s swaying her hips, enjoying the music. I wish I could just join her and get a taste of her beautiful skin already. By the stars, are the moons trying to make me mad?

Although, I don’t know how intoxicated she is; all I can do is stare and pray that she feels the pull of the bond over the alcohol. Her friend next to her is dancing and basically eye fucking me. I continue to ignore that one and drink in my mate’s beauty. I think she’s a pink faerie which if that’s the case, by the stars, I’m a lucky man. Monochromatic faeries are few and far between.

I notice her friend whisper something in her ear, and next thing I see is my mate whip around to face me. Moving with the music, she starts to check me out. I begin to smirk, knowing she must feel the connection too. Then, a current of electricity starts in my toes. As her eyes move up my body - so does the current of the bond. Some say this is the moon’s way of solidifying its mating choice for you. Right now, it’s making it very hard to sit still and not jump across this bar and steal her away from everyone else.

I need to claim her as mine.

She meets my eyes and the mating bond snaps into place like a spark lighting a fire. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever experienced. It’s in between sweet euphoria and adrenaline. I’ve never met this beautiful creature before, but I know she’s everything I could ever dream of. A goddess waiting to be worshiped. And, oh man will I worship her.

What I didn’t expect was when she started running for the door.

Her friend abandoned on the dance floor, completely baffled. She met my stare with confusion, but she must have seen the silver rings in my eyes - marking the mate bond. The rainbow faerie’s jaw dropped to the floor.

Instincts kicked in and I chased after my mate.

I bust through the club doors and glance around the crystal crowded forest. It’s hard to see but I find her sprinting to the left of the other nightlife establishments, down an alleyway. Her heels continue to get lodged in the dirt and she struggles to run. She turns down an alleyway, which leads to the Lumon Creek that runs through all of Estrallume and its surrounding villages. The swirling fluorescent creek seems to be glowing extra bright tonight with whimsical fish and sparkling crystals blanketing the river bed.

She leaps across the creek and continues running south, leaving Gem’s Hollow behind. I don’t even hesitate to follow in her footsteps, clearing the glowing water faster than she probably expected me to.

“Wait!” I shout after her. She doesn’t slow down.

Dodging crystals that litter the forest floor and large sequoia trees, I finally catch her just outside of Comet Cottages - one of the smallest outer villages. I finally tackle her to the ground and I trap her glistening body underneath me. She’s squirming and trying not to make eye contact with me. My arms are holding her hands above her head. My legs are on either side of her hips. We’re both panting like wolves from the exhilaration of the bond and running for our lives.

But why was she running?

“It would be in your best interest to get off me, right now,” she hisses and says in between heavy breaths.

My chest cracks from the brutal greeting, but I’m sure there’s a simple explanation.“Only if you promise not to run again, my moon.”

She laughs. She actually laughs in my face. “Oh trust me, I’m not your anything.”

Before I can respond, she bucks her hips and throws me off balance. She uses her right arm and leg to shove me to the left of her body. Now I’m the one lying in the dirt staring up at this pink goddess, wondering what the fuck is going on. It’s not common for mates to be so resistant…

Standing over me, she takes off sprinting again. Before I can chase after her to ask more questions, someone approaches from the way we came.

“You probably don’t want to chase her right now. She just had the worst day of her life, and with this–” she motions at me on the ground like I’m a diseased animal, “It’s just the cherry on top of her really fucked up icecream sundae.”

Her rainbow colored friend from the bar enters the clearing. My muscles ache from the unexpected race, and I groan as I sit up.

“What happened? Why is she running from the bond pull? I felt the moon confirm our match and there’s nothing that will stop me from getting to her. I demand you to tell me what is going on here.”

She sighs, “Look.. you’re insanely handsome and I’m sure the moons mean well, but Em is just not the love type. I don’t have to tell you anything but I know you won’t stop because of the power of the moons. So, I’ll fill you in a little bit. Her parents were murdered when she was 12 and she blames their mating bond for calling them to the mystic forest. Even though the incident was public knowledge, no one seems to have any more information. You clearly aren’t from around here, if you don’t know that about her.”

Knowing why she ran and why she looked at me that way, I feel overwhelming heartbreak for my moon bound mate. The power of the bond being so fresh is still stirring me senseless and making me less composed than normal. If she would have just stayed, we could have gotten off on a much better foot. We could have spent the night going through the initial rituals and getting to know each other on a more personal level. She’s my equal. My other half. My moon. I trust in the cosmos to know that she’s everything I’ve ever dreamt of.

I focus back on the task at hand, “Well, what’s your name?”

“I’m Amara Starswirl. Em’s best and most loyal friend, of course. So, I won’t give you anymore information about her. She’s going to need time to process what in seven hells this is. And who might you be?”

“It’s a pleasure. I’m–” I tried to introduce myself, but I’m interrupted by a brute of a male bursting into the clearing. He must have run here judging by the way he’s panting, but the gawking is all him.

“You’re the crown fucking prince is who you are! Holy shit. Holy stars. Amara you realize who this is, right?!” the brute male exclaims.

Amara goes wide eyed and gawks at me too. “No way, you’re the prince?”

“In flesh and blood,  now covered in dirt,” I say as I try to brush off my leathers.

“Oh my stars! I have to go! I have to talk to Em. This is the craziest day ever.” Amara starts to run in the direction of her friend Em, my mate. Leaving me here in the dirt still.

I panic, not knowing when I’ll be able to leave the palace grounds again. Not knowing when I’ll be able to see my mate again. “Please tell me her name. Anything. Please, I have to know. I can be patient, but I won’t stop trying to find her, for fucks sake.”

Amara looks back over her shoulder, “What fine words the prince has!”

The brute laughs and pats my shoulder while he follows after Amara. “Her name is Ember, and you’re so royally fucked, your highness.”

And that might be the most beautiful name I’ve ever heard.

Ember.

She’s already lit my heart a light.