Fated mate (3)

Ophelia panicked.

Whoever this woman was, she was about to reveal something she shouldn't.

'There's magic on my necklace,' Ophelia thought.

Who was this woman to notice?

Hannah picked up on Ophelia's fear of it being mentioned here. She was fortunate to overhear what this pack thought about their luna. 'I gave him his mate and he isn't protecting her,' Hannah sighed.

"I would like the pleasure of speaking to the luna in private or should I say what I know right here?" Hannah asked, expecting Ophelia to pick somewhere else. 

"My walk ends here," Ophelia informed her maids and guards. 'Is this a test from Joel?' She wondered.

Ophelia looked over her shoulder at Nora and Alice. Their expressions mirrored her own with panic. 

Ophelia turned her attention back to the stranger. "I know where we can talk in private."

Hannah liked hearing this. "It's about time I get greeted with this kind of treatment. I like you."

Ophelia was stumped, not knowing how to respond to the stranger liking her. Since she arrived, this was the first time she heard her.

Unfortunately, Ophelia had her mind made up not to trust anyone. 

Ophelia and Hannah parted from the group, much to her maids' dismay, and went to a room to talk.

"Why are you walking around with magic? Especially one that is going to block your bond with your mate? You're just as silly as he is," said Hannah.

Hannah kept trying to spot what the magic was attached to. She thought of grabbing Ophelia now that they were alone and undressing her to find the source.

"I don't know what you're talking about-"

"You do," Hannah interjected, not having time for Ophelia to be in denial. "You can't hide magic spells from a witch like me."

Ophelia took a step back. "You're a witch."

"And you're a wolf blah blah. You know, a werewolf shouldn't react like this to a witch. You turn into an animal but I'm the freak here? I only turn others into animals by request. Now, explain why you want to hide the bond," Hannah said, curious.

Ophelia touched the necklace she was forced to wear. She was told it was for the Porter's scent and so far it had been working. "What bond?"

Hannah rubbed her temple. Ester was going to kill her.

"I've messed this up. I put a werewolf who doesn't know anything about mate bonds with an alpha who is cursed. Maybe you two were never meant to find each other and there I went putting you together for some ingredients to a spell," Hannah cried, for the first time regretting the work she did.

Ophelia was confused by everything the witch spoke of. "I don't understand."

"Werewolf fur is hard to get. What wolf is going to let me come up to them and cut a tiny bit off for my spell?"

"No, no, no," Ophelia repeated. "About the bond. You told the alpha that I was his mate."

"Well, I didn't say a name but I did say his mate was in the Porter home and he found you. That's fate. I ruined the grand gesture but you two ended up together so, did I ruin it?" Hannah asked, trying to take the blame off herself."Take that magic off and be with your mate."

"Sylas isn't my mate," Ophelia slipped up. "I mean. There's another one who has to be my mate," she decided to get some answers. 

"No," Hannah shook her head. She was around werewolves long enough to know Ophelia didn't have another mate. "You only have one and if you want to break the bond you have with Sylas, it's going to come with excruciating pain."

Hannah continued, 'Unless your mate is some evil bastard, I suggest you try to see why you two are fated for each other."

"Sylas isn't my mate," Ophelia repeated, refusing to believe they were meant for each other. That was too much of a coincidence. She was magically his mate after she was kidnapped?

"He is. If you take off whatever you have with a spell, you will feel it. He will feel it and come running to you. I must warn you that since it is strong enough to block the bond, it must be strong enough to stop you from shifting and you don't want that," said Hannah.

"I never shifted. I don't think I can," Ophelia shared.

"And you never will if you keep that magic on you. I don't understand. Every werewolf I've come across looks forward to meeting their mate. Even the cursed ones. So why are you doing what you can to turn away your mate?" Hannah questioned, puzzled by Ophelia's decisions.

"There is someone else who is my mate. I know it," Ophelia said, thinking of Alex.

"You know it? If you haven't mated with him or felt a strong connection to him, then he was never your mate. It's not unusual for some to fall in love thinking that person is their mate and then their real mate shows up. You have to accept that man wasn't the one for you. Sylas is," Hannah said.

Hannah saw Ophelia and Sylas as two fools in denial but these kinds always had an interesting love story. 

Ophelia touched the necklace she wore. She wanted to say what the witch told her was all lies but she had spotted the magic easily. 

How could it be that she was truly Sylas's mate?

"Let us say that as my father's bastard, I didn't live in his home before the wedding and before he used me to save the daughter he liked, I would have never been welcomed in his home. If you hadn't told Sylas how we would meet, how would he have found me?" Ophelia wondered.

Hannah shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know and we would never know now. However, I know for certain that without my meddling you two would have met there. Maybe you will figure it out one day and it will be better than this. Being used as a pawn to save another by acting as a fake."

Ophelia's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"I know my magic spells and I know what you are not. If you weren't his mate, I would tell him but I won't now. Your secret is safe with me. And my sister," Hannah quickly added, remembering Ester. "My sister won't tell since she doesn't like to get involved with things like this."

Ophelia didn't hear much of what Hannah was saying. She was too focused on the fact she could be Sylas's mate. 

She still couldn't think of how else she would be in the Porter home if she wasn't forced to be there.

'Should I take it off?' She wondered, her fingers hooking around the necklace to yank it off.