Chapter Four: Catra

Catra’s personal life had been going to sh*t, so she had not been at the Palace in weeks. The great thing about being a powerful witch- and having a boss like Evans- meant she picked her working hours.

For the most part, anyway.

Which gave her time to deal with the sh*tshow that was her life.

But Evans had requested her personally for her latest client, Daniel Carver, and if the job went right, her bonus would triple.

There wasn’t really time to focus on the bonus though.

All Catra could do now was focus on her client and getting the job done.

Because if she didn’t, all Catra would think about was the positive pregnancy test that said she was almost four months along.

And she would think about Ryan, the father of her baby, and her eternal, chosen mate.

How the f*ck had this happened? How had this become her life?

She smiled as pleasantly as she could at the bellboy in the lobby of the Palace as his jaw dropped at her presence.

Catra knew she looked good in the nearly sheer gray dress that beautifully highlighted her frame. It had a square neckline that gave only a hint at the cleavage that it covered, and it cinched at her waist, but stretched softly across the folds of her body.

The dress was a beautiful creation, gifted to Catra by a Fae of the Unseelie court. It was spun from molten silver and held together by fairy dust, and the magic imbued in it ensured that it would always fit her, no matter how much her body changed.

She followed the bellboy who had shaken himself out of his lustful stupor and was dutifully taking her bags up to her room.

They entered the lift and she jerked with surprise when she looked at herself in the reflective glass. Before she had known she was pregnant, she hadn’t noticed the way her body had changed.

But now she looked at herself in a different light. Her stomach was slightly more distended, her bre*sts were larger, and her hips had widened even more.

Catra swallowed as she considered the future.

She loved Ryan, and she loved their baby, and she knew she was privileged enough to take care of it. But this would mean staying with Ryan for the rest of their lives. Letting him claim her as his mate. Letting him mark her.

Ryan was a werewolf and Catra was a witch, and while it wasn’t unheard of, cross-species mating was still considered unusual. When they had met five months ago, the mating bond had struck like lightning. There was no denying it, no matter how hard the two had fought to stay apart.

Pleasure thrilled down Catra’s spine as she stepped out of the lift, following the bellboy. Images of her first time with Ryan were burned into her brain, and she felt herself become wet at the thought of his hands and tongue on her body.

She almost slammed right into the bellboy who had come to a stop in front of her suite’s door.

He blushed and she cleared her throat, her hand going to her stomach instinctively.

Every full-time employee of the Palace enjoyed permanent residence in their own suite in the hotel. Having spent the past five months in Ireland and then Manchester, Catra had almost forgotten how her home away from home looked.

But when she stepped inside, the tense knots all over her body started to relax. Her suite was still beautiful and luxurious and exactly what Catra needed to unwind.

She would be there for five nights. The client was rich, and the case was intricate, and she wanted to be close by in case anything happened.

In case anything went wrong.

The floor length curtains sprang open with a wave of her hand, revealing enormous glass windows that gave stellar views of all of London. It was then that Catra saw the moon was rising. The moon was waxing crescent. In two more cycles the moon would rise Full and beautiful.

And Ryan would be coming for her.

Catra shook the thought away, as she considered how much she had f*cked her situation up. She had known, from the moment she met Ryan, what the process was.

When eternal mates found each other, they fell in love, fell into the sack, and then marked one another.

She had done the first two. But before Ryan could mark her and claim her as his, Catra ran away.

She wasn’t proud of her behavior, but the thought of being tied down for all eternity, of being someone’s mate made Catra feel empty inside. The thought scared her. Was that all that fate had in store for her?

Marriage, marking, mating, and babies? Because that was what Ryan expected from her it seemed. She loved him and right then she missed him, but she couldn’t take it back that she had run away from him.

When she called him afterwards to explain, she could almost hear the most feral part of him growling down the receiver. He was trying to control himself, and when he spoke, it was in his usual gruff, calm Irish accent.

“You have until the next Full Moon,” He had spoken slowly, and she knew he was restraining himself from howling. “If you do not come back then, I’ll come get you. And you can decide to reject me for good or be marked.”

It was only fair. She couldn’t expect to waste his time. Catra kicked off her pumps and carefully pulled the Fae dress off her body. She pulled on a more form-fitting dress and higher heels and grabbed a clutch from her luggage before leaving the room.

All she wanted for her time at the Palace was to not think about Ryan or their mating bond that currently hung in the air.

She had time before her appointment with the client, and she wanted to get in a show beforehand. The Palace of Souls was famous for its entertainment, and Catra was horny and tired. Maybe she could pick up a toy or two and think about Ryan while she got herself off.

She ran a hand through her hair and then left the room.

***

It had been hard to focus in the Vault. Even though several men, women, and other beings there had offered to give her the time of her life.

Catra had left eventually.

A feature- for want of a better word- that came with the mating bond, was that neither Catra nor Ryan were attracted to anyone else any longer. The mating bond ensured that they were well taken care of in every way imaginable.

S*xually, emotionally, and mentally. They were perfect matches for one another.

Once Ryan marked her- because Catra was realizing that the event was inevitable- she wouldn’t ever need anyone else again.

So why did it feel so wrong, to imagine a future with her and Ryan and their kids, in the Cashel pack compound out in the wilds of Ireland?

It was perfect and Catra wanted it desperately. Yet, when she imagined that future, it still felt like something was missing. She headed back to her suite thirty minutes before her meeting and got into more professional clothes. She also got her tools out, and her work robes, just in case things got messy.

Her client waited for her in the penthouse suite, and her skin started tingling with anticipation and excitement. Catra loved magic and she loved money and tonight she’d be able to do a lot of magic and make a lot of money in exchange.

Would she be able to do magic once Ryan claimed her and marked her as his? Probably not. She wouldn’t be allowed to do anything remotely dangerous, and once he found out she was carrying his child and the heir to his pack, she wouldn’t be able to leave the compound.

And Catra wouldn’t mind doing all that if it didn’t feel like something was missing.

Being with Ryan made her happier than she had ever been. But she couldn’t ignore the feeling that they weren’t complete. Maybe when the baby came, she’d feel more secure.

She loved Ryan desperately, and she knew she wouldn’t stay away too long.

The penthouse suite had a separate lift and the silver doors slid open when she stepped in front of it.

She had done a little research on her client. Daniel Carver was a human who wanted to transition to a magical being. It made sense. It wasn’t a good idea to be powerless when you did business with vampires and demons.

Catra had completed the spell successfully twice before, and it was very dangerous. A spark of excitement skittered across her skin, and she knew that her eyes were no longer simply dark brown. They were glowing golden as the magic in her body reached for the surface, eager, desperate to be let out.

Catra needed to use her magic, or she would burst.

The lift came to a smooth stop and the doors slid open silently. The quiet opulence of the Palace never failed to impress her. When she stepped into the lobby of the penthouse, she saw that Evans was waiting for her. He had given her the instructions when she left the Vault. Now he inclined his head graciously before the double doors in front of them swung open with a wave of his hand.

The air changed as Catra stepped inside. She couldn’t identify the change, couldn’t see the source of it. She only knew that it felt like lightning had struck her heart, at the very center of her. And when she turned to look at Daniel Carver, who was waiting for her, only one word crossed her mind, over and over again.

Mate.