And Then She Was Gone

Elena: July 1763

"Elena... you need to wake up. He is not a good man, can't you feel it?" her mother pleaded to her now in the privacy of her work area, having pulled her daughter away from her mates stark gold eyes, a challenging feat in itself to say the least.

"Mother, he is a good man. He treats me well, he is kind, he loves me." she said back with a sigh, her blue eyes wishing that her mothers matching ones could feel her earnest.

"What you feel from him is not love. He wants to own you, I can feel it. You are not his equal and you never will be." she whispered, her eyes warning her own daughter as her hand reached out to grasp hers. "He is wearing a very good mask, but it will be only a matter of time before it begins to fade.. Do not let your bond fool you."

"I think you're overreacting. I know I shouldn't have wandered off and I should have let you know where I was, but we just got so swept up in the moment... We weren't thinking about how you would be impacted not knowing where I went.." her shoulders slumped and her fingers began to fidget within her hands as she felt immensely guilty for causing her family to worry as much as they did.

"And... he didn't want you to come, did he?" her mother eyed her suspiciously, she had a great sense of intuition and she had already marked the Alpha for what he was. She could see it in his eyes, he had a smile that did not reach them and his laugh was empty of joy.

"Well.. he is busy and did not feel comfortable with me traveling alone, so I had to wait for him to free himself." she said looking away to the closed rustic wood door, not being able to hold eye contact with her mother.

"Has he hit you?" she questioned more directly, causing her daughters eyes to widen and snap over to her.

"No! He would never." she quickly spoke, with a shake of her head.

"Don't be so sure of that.." her mother stated firmly, with tight lips. "Does he know what you are?"

"No.." she shook her head lightly, "I don't want him to be uncomfortable... you know how we're viewed." she said quietly, her eyes returning down to her lap where her fingers continued to fidget within themselves, delicate fingers picking at the skin around her thumbnail.

"I'm going to place a spell of protection on you... It will give you strength, you will need it.." her mother said with a nod, and her daughters eyes looked at her with unease. Her insistence on her mates demeanor was making her rapidly uncomfortable, but she was hardening her resolve against her mothers cautious words, for once her mother was incorrect. Everyone had to be wrong at some point.

"I don't think that's necessary..." she said biting her lower lip as she carefully spoke against her mothers words.

"It is, Elena... And even if it is not, then it will do no harm. I just want to ensure that you will be safe." her mother said standing up and walking to the corner of the room to grab at several different types of dried herbs in their sorted pots, grinding them into a fine power with the mortar and pestle. "Let's hope it is not needed." she said without looking at her, delicate fingers reaching into another pot and sprinkling a deep yellow sand into the herbs. "However, I doubt that will be the case... so I am going to set a parameter on the spell..."

"What do you mean?" she questioned quickly, her brows furrowing once again as she watched her mother splash a flowery liquid into the mixture and grind it into a thick paste.

"If he hurts you, he will hurt himself ten fold. You will strengthen and he will be weakened." she said lowly, "It will enable you to protect yourself, and hopefully teach him a lesson should it be necessary. It will be more prevalent than the bond you two share.."