82 Chapter 81: Wolves and witches

"Hey can I ask you something?" Elize asked, turning towards her friend.

"Sure." Agatha said, closing her eyes, her chest rising up and down in quick successions.

"Why don't witches get along with werewolves?" Elize asked innocently.

From the time that she had reached the Island, all she had heard was about the rivalry between the two. The rare sighting of the two species getting along was limited to people from their generation. Even among them, all the witches that this was applicable to was not really from the Island. Another peculiar thing was that she had not seen anyone with a witch bloodline in the pack even as the mates of wolves. Even when she talked to Agatha, the witch had always found the notion of mating with a wolf, ridiculous. Was this natural or did the two not get along with each other by choice? Elize really wanted to know. 

"Well, we do usually get quite well along with each other." Agatha said, deep in thought. Nodding her head she continued, "It's just that we can't procreate with them. Our blood burns them remember? That is usually a turn off for most wolves, since they can't bite us during sex. And then werewolves usually have a fixed mate unlike our kind, which usually is a human or a female wolf. Of course your parent's case is quite weird because that's the first time a male born of a witch became a wolf's mate. Naturally, you became an anomaly- one that has never occurred ever before. It must be because of your status as the chosen one."

The information slowly sunk into her head. She remembered Aileen telling her something along the lines long back. The head witch had told her that the bond between her and her mate would be special in the sense that the blood he drank from her would burn him if he touched another woman. She had been quite happy at the time thinking about that. But now, she wondered if that condition was a weight on their relationship. Did he think of it like that? Maybe if she wasn't so special, they could have had a normal life as a couple. There would have been no abuse, no attacks, no resentment that seemed to surround the both of them from all sides ever since they chose to be with each other. 

"Why me?" Elize asked, her head bent low in guilt.

"That's a hard question." Agatha said, chuckling. "I mean I've always asked why I've been born a witch and not a dragon or a fire sprite. It would have been way better if I was born a witch who was gifted, like those from the elite families. But then it is what it is. I'm just an ordinary witch. You learn to live with who you are as the time passes."

"It's not fair." 

"I know right?"

"Do you think Zack hates me?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the plain white ceiling.

"No way."Agatha said with a gentle tone, "Wolves can never hate their mate you know. How much ever they try, the bond that they share with their partners will always bring them together. It's a curse at times, and a blessing at other times. If you both really want to be together, there's nothing on this earth that can stop you." She paused and yawned loudly. "On that note, I'd like to propose we sleep now." The witch said, turning away from her and curling up into a ball.

"I really have to tell him how sorry I am." Elize mumbled.

There was a heaviness pushing against her chest. The memory of Zack tearing his pack members apart flashed in her head. It was the first time that she had seen him like that. She was not a fool who did not understand how deep the bond between a pack and its Alpha was. Each and every single member of the pack would have laid their lives down for Zack if he had asked for it. For an Alpha, the members of his pack were like his own children. Torturing them like that would have taken a huge toll on him, even if it was to protect his own mate. Yet, he had chosen her over his pack and even his family every single time when the situation so warranted. 

She had seen the pain on his face after the incident, despite him trying to hide it from her. Thankfully, no one died that day. She couldn't have lived with herself if anyone had. She didn't even have the opportunity to tell him how sorry she was. He had left the Island without even telling her about it. Maybe the incident had finally woken him up from his dream. Maybe he really started hating her for what she had done to him and his pack. How was she ever going to make it up to him? Elize thought sadly.

"You can tell that to him, once he arrives. Now please let me sleep." Agatha whined throwing a pillow at her blindly.

Elize didn't dodge. The soft cushion landed on her face, blinding her view of the ceiling. Although it physically didn't cause any pain, her eyes teared up. Silent tears flowed down her cheeks, only to soak into the pillow cover. She wanted to cry with all her heart, but she was unable to. There was a block in her throat that was squeezing against its inner walls. Everything from her chest upwards was hurting. 

"What if he is fed up with me?" Elize murmured into the pillow. "I've brought nothing but pain to him ever since I-"

Agatha's loud snore interrupted her episode of self pity. She sniffed helplessly, trying to hold back her tears. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down. She slowly removed the pillow from her face, which was muting her sound. A quick glance towards her left ensured her that her friend was deep asleep. Elize quietly slid down from the bed and switched off the only light in the room. Making sure that her friend was tucked nicely inside the blanket, she walked towards a pair of narrow glass doors hidden by light airy curtains in white. 

Careful not to make a noise, she slowly creaked open the doors and stepped outside to the balcony attached to their room. A slight wind was blowing from the West, making the finer hairs on her head blow against her face. The moon was shining bright in all its glory on that night, casting an ethereal glow on her body. The white shift dress that she wore danced with the wind, as if pulling her gaze towards the East. Elize turned longingly to the direction of the entry gate of the academy. She could see its outline like a small building far away from her. Agatha had said that he'd come to the institution soon. Would he still avoid her then? She thought sadly, her fingers unconsciously grazing the spot where his mark was on her chest.

--

"Wake up sleepy head!" Agatha's loud voice echoed in her head.

"Mmmm! Leave me alone." Elize whined, pulling the blanket over her head.

She was up all night in the balcony and had only gone to bed by dawn. Elize didn't feel like waking up. Her eyelids were too heavy and she didn't want to take the effort to open them. 

"You've been sleeping all day like a sloth!" Agatha complained, pulling at the blanket. "You need to get your ass off that bed and start getting ready. Or else we're going to be so busted."

"You can go. Let me sleep." Elize said, clutching on to the padded blanket that shielded her face from the sunlight which was pouring into the room.

"I can't let you miss orientation. It's a huge thing here."Agatha said finally letting go. Just when Elize thought that her friend had given up, she heard a click and all of a sudden, the blanket vanished from her side. "We'll be taking our pledges today! Get up!" The witch said, clocking her fingers once again. Elize felt her body slowly rising up until she was levitating a feet above the bed.

"Ugh! Fine I'm up! Now put me down!" She complained, opening her eyes.

Agatha quickly whispered a spell and the next moment, Elize fell on top of her bed. She glared at her friend as her body bounced up and down the mattress.

Agatha bent down, ignoring her stare. Taking a black bundle from a bag, she threw it at Elize and said, "Now, wash up and get into this."

Elize caught the bundle and unfurled it. She looked at her friend in disbelief. "A hooded cape? Really? Where did you even get this from?"

"Irina came while you were sleeping." Agatha explained. "We went out and collected these from the office and then went to have food and-"

"Ugh. I'm hungry." Elize interrupted, rubbing her stomach.

"There'll be food after the ceremony. It's going to be a huge banquet." Agatha said with a smirk.

"Fine. Just because there is going to be food." Elize said, sliding off the bed with the cape in her hand.