After the romantic date, we had with the kids and an intense night with my mates, I stayed indoors for two days. Yeah, I was feeling so sore that not even my wolf powers could heal me fast. Why? My mates obliged me that night by replaying the first sex we had together. Odd as that might sound, but I craved it. I believed they turned me on that first night. A woman who always thought she was a soft-core person became a masochist, begging for hard sex any time she could.
When I finally left the room, confident I wouldn’t walk funny, I met Devon, whom I begged to give me a contraceptive, one effective enough to stop me from getting pregnant ever.
I don’t know about my mates, but I knew I didn’t want babies anymore. The six I have are sufficient for me. Another one wouldn’t have hurt, but knowing my mates are twins and the possibility I might deliver twins or triplets in the next pregnancy was high, I had to stop it before I ended up knocked up only to deliver quadruplets. That would be 10 kids in total! Not at all. Thank you very much.
Devon, always the darling, was always ready to help. He gave me the contraceptive after cooking it. It was bitter as hell. It tasted like bitter leaves mixed with scent leaves, then with other bitter herbs. Swallowing it down was a work on its own, but I managed. Anything that would prevent me from giving birth to a crowd was welcome. As long as it wouldn’t kill me, which is.
After a few days, my mates left the palace again for another meeting. This time around, they weren’t meeting with the heads of the kingdoms. They were meeting with hybrids. Just like Devon, there were hybrids in hiding.
Da Ankora mentioned it to them when he visited a few days ago, so my mates sent words around. They didn’t tell me what messages they sent, what I knew was it was a coded one, as Devon helped them. This way, none of the so-called pure blood would know the hybrids were meeting.
With my mates gone and Chrys at school, I took Devon to the garden once more, to practice my powers. I wanted so much to unlock my witch powers because each day; I kept on feeling like something was coming undone within me. I needed to get it released so it wouldn’t burst out within me and overwhelm me.
Devon stood in front of me with his silver eyes fixed on mine. He folded his arms, his focus on my face as we stared at each other. This was the first practice. He said I needed to learn how to block him.
It was impossible at first. I had never stared into his eyes for a long time without feeling like he was trying to suck me into his eyes. The first ten tries didn’t yield any positive results.
I kept averting my gaze each time the stare became too much because I didn’t want to overwhelm myself.
“Focus, Bella. You need to keep me out!”
I frowned, glaring at him. Just because I permitted him to use my name, he was making it sound like he was a father admonishing a child. Why else would he use that tone on me just because I didn’t do what he asked?
“It’s hopeless!” I argued, scowling. “I can’t do it. Holding your stare is next to impossible!”
“No. It’s not. You can do it. Impossible shouldn’t be a word someone like you should use. You can work out it, Bella. You have got to do it. Show me what you are made of!” He drew some steps back and stopped before focusing on me once more. “Let’s try to do it from this distance. We can always come closer when you feel comfortable enough.”
Nodding, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply before opening it. Fixing my eyes on him, I tried to hold his stare. Just like the first time I tried, it became so overwhelming that I had to tear my gaze away from him.
However, on the fifteenth try, I did it. I held his gaze for so long, he was the one who averted his gaze, not me.
“How did you learn to block your thoughts?” He asked, closing the distance between us, but not too close to touch me.
“What do you mean?” I frowned.
“I tried to read your mind, to look into your eyes and see what lay beyond it, but you stopped me. You didn’t even let me peek in,” he pointed out.
“I blocked you? Are you certain about that?”
I hadn’t been able to block my mates from reading my thoughts, which was why hearing him confused me.
“Let’s try it once more.”
Close as he was, holding his stare was a little more difficult than the first. It took all the strength I could muster to hold his stare until he averted his gaze, nodding.
“You are a natural, Bella. I couldn’t even read through your mind. Who taught you how to block other witches?”
“My mum. I guess?” I couldn’t recall most of the things that happened in my childhood, but I believed my mother had taught me.
“She taught you well.” Grinning, he stepped back. “Now, let’s go to the next. This one is important. I’m going to guide you through the process of unlocking your powers. I don’t know if it will work, but I believe the breathing exercise I taught you will be enough to help you through it.”
My eyes sparkled at his words. Finally, it was time to unlock my powers. I might not know what would come after this, but unlocking my powers sounded so dope to my ears.
“Okay. I’m ready.” I drew another breath, and closed my eyes, practising the breathing exercise he taught me, to calm my soul and make way for whatever new teachings he had. I might not be as ready as I would have loved to be, but I believed now was the perfect time for it.