Acquiring a witch who'd do your bidding without turning you to dust first is hard to find. This one was cast out of her coven for practicing resurrection magic on her sister, who had passed away from sickness and guess who immediately reported to her coven and got her sister cast out for helping?
We found her not too long ago on the banks of the river surrounding our territory and she was brought to me for trespassing.
"Kill her," my beta had suggested, but I had reasoned instead, deciding on whether she'd be useful to me.
"If I let you live, witch, will you serve me instead?"
My beta was going to protest, but I shut him off with a wave. She nodded frantically, her disheveled hair moving about in places.
I had arranged for her to dwell in the caves behind the pack walls, as I thought it'd be risky to let her live within the pack though I stationed two of my men to watch the mouth of the cave against intruders.
I mindlinked my men to leave their post and entered the cave, leaving just me and the witch.
"I've been expecting you, Alpha," I heard her voice before she came into view, raising my brows as to what she meant.
"You know why I'm here," I tested, to which she nodded and pointed a long finger towards a stone erection.
"I see her, the girl, your mate," she said, turning to look at me.
I was going to question how she knew but thought against it; she's a witch, and witches have many hidden talents.
"She holds a power she cannot wield. She's both a blessing and a curse," she said, the last part a little too sharply.
"What is she blabbering on about?" my wolf snarled. If I released him, I feared he might snap her neck, so I mentally silenced him to listen.
"She was linked to you as your mate by Selene."
I rolled my eyes at her statement.
"That is why I am here to know why she would attach such misfortune to me. I can't lay with her; with my werewolf strength, she'll break like a twig. Even she-wolves sometimes lose their ability to walk and have to be taken to the infirmary to heal. How will she perform her duties as Luna when everyone senses she's human? They'll look at me as weak. And how will she bear me pups? Her body won't be able to handle it!" I spat out in frustration.
The witch, unfazed by my outburst, seemed to understand what I was going through.
"You are to protect her. People will come for her. The only way to ensure her survival is to be mated to you which you must complete as soon as possible."
I stared at her, unbelieving of what my ears were hearing. Didn't she understand the part about her breaking like a twig?
"Did you not listen to a word I said, witch, or do I have to slice out your ears and whisper into them?" I snarled, to which she just shrugged her shoulders.
"It is what I saw; I tell to your ears, Alpha nothing more, nothing less. You must take heed, lest you lose her. And you know what that means."
I huffed in agreement, turning away and tossing the coins I had brought into the stone erect as I walked toward the mouth of the cave.
"There's also something else," she said.
I paused, turning slightly to look at her as she gingerly caressed the coins in the erect.
"What will that be?" I asked, turning fully to look at her.
"A prophecy foretold."
I cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to finish, watching as she raised her slender fingers toward the roof of the cave and began to speak:
" When the Alpha of Raven's kin shall rise,
Let him heed the whisper that never dies.
A maiden fair, of mortal birth,
Shall hold the key to his soul's worth.
In Selene's shadow shall she sleep,
Where secrets dark and ancient creep.
The drums of war shall thunder nigh,
Drawing enemies long fated collide,
'Gainst blood and bone the ravens cry.
When crimson stains the silver moon,
And fate's dread song becomes its tune,
Then shall the Alpha meet his bane
Bound by love, undone by pain"
I stared at the witch for what seemed like an eternity before opening my mouth to speak.
"Are you saying that mundane child will bring about my death?" I drawled, causing the witch to turn her face from the roof and toward me.
"Not necessarily, my lord. It's just a prophecy for you to heed. 'Bane' doesn't necessarily mean it is you who'll lose your life but something will be lost, nonetheless."
I stared at her once more before taking long strides outside the cave. I mindlinked my men back to their stations before shifting into my wolf and letting out a long howl. I sprinted into the woods, scaring away the animals of the wild and deciding to hunt for a while before I returned to my pack and my excuse of a mate, who is unfortunately now my bane.
I hope she likes deer, I thought to myself, immediately noticing a herd a short distance away.
Within the cave, the witch murmured to herself as her eyes glazed over. She peered into the indent of the erected stone, where she saw a vision of a field stained in red pale faces in dark cloaks levitating off the ground in attack, a blood-red moon, and a lone woman with glowing silver eyes, her hair caught up in the wind, arms outstretched as she levitated off the ground.
Another scene unfolded: two hands locked in a tight grasp one bigger than the other, both stained with blood. Immediately, another scene appeared the same lush field, but this time there was no blood. It was sunny, and there was a young, fair woman smiling happily and running through the field as she called to the Alpha, who locked her in an embrace, hands intertwined, as he bent to steal her lips in a kiss.
"Two prophecies… hmmm. The fates are humorous for this one, an Alpha whose fate, and the fate of his pack, is in his own hands."
She moved away from the stone and into the cave unknown to her, another prophecy was being brought into view.