My Hunted Mate
Chapter Eighteen

Corinna

Sneaking around in a house full of vampires was an extremely difficulttask, but somehow I'd managed to grab a bag pack I'd bought toreplace my lost one, gather a change of clothes and the box withMalakai's ring and then leave the house off the balcony, again, withoutwaking or alerting anyone.

My paws hit the ground at a great speed as I raced to visit a witch whoI had met a few months after I'd escaped my pack. I had just aboutmanaged to get away from one of my uncle's delightful hunting partiesbut not without being badly injured. It was when I had collected one ofmy many stab wounds, one of them had pinned me down long enoughfor another to jam a knife into my shoulder, I'd already been bleedingprofusely from many bite marks and the only reason why I'd gottenaway was pure chance that my gifts decided to come to the surface.The only problem was that I had no control at the time, so on top ofsetting a couple of my old pack members alight, I'd also burned half ofthe forest down too. That's what drew Helena to me, she brought me toher home and healed me, taught me how to gain control and a fewsimple spells to get me by, the rest I'd learned over time as I bumpedinto other witches or covens.

I had absolutely no idea how Helena would be when I showed up at herdoor after so long, asking for a favour of all things. When I'd fullyhealed two days after she'd saved me, she'd demanded I leave herhome as she feared it would be putting her unborn child at risk if Istayed.

She was right to ask me to leave, I didn't realise how dangerous Iwould've been for her at the time but I was naive then. I didn't put up afight when she sent me away, but it deepened the rejection I'd alreadybeen feeling because of my own family and pack.

By the time I reached her cottage, the sun had already risen in the skyand it was about mid day. I sat down on her doorstep, letting out aloud bark, moments later the door opened to reveal the familiar pale,white haired woman with purple freckled black eyes.

Witches tend to have bright, unusual colours speckled into their naturaleye colour. It's usually purples, teals, golden or silver colours, butsometimes their natural eyes only hold one colour and glow, theirdifference to humans always obvious. That's why my wolf's eyesbecame a glowing purple when my gifts surfaced but for whateverreason it doesn't show in my natural grey eyes.

In her arms she held a pale toddler with white hair and ruby red eyes,something unusual even for a witch baby. " Corinna? Is that you? *Helena asks.

Instantly I shift back. " Hey Helena. How have you been? Cute baby. ""1. Thank you. Her name is Dyna, short for Diana but she seems todislike the latter. " Helena tells me, shifting on her feet awkwardly.

" oh! " she shouts with wide eyes. " Come in."

She steps aside, allowing me to walk inside the cottage. She leads meto the living room that joined to the kitchen, the two rooms werepacked full of plants, herbs and flowers, bulks of lavender were hangingfrom a ladder that was attached to the ceiling for an unknown reason,the black wooden floor had a colourful rug on it, the fire was burningintensely in the black fireplace, after I was dressed in a pair of yogapants and a long oversized t-shirt, I sat down on a dark grey armchairnext to where Helena had taken a seat on the matching sofa with Dyna.* Listen Corinna, I just wanted to apologise about sending you away. "Helena looks ashamed of herself as she refuses to meet my gaze.

" No hard feelings Helena, you have a little one to be thinking of andyou ended up being better off. * I admit.

Helena nods, giving me a small smile. " Well what can I do for you? Idon't think you've travelled here for no reason. "

"1 was wondering, if there was a way to cast a protection spell on anitem so a vampire could walk in the sun without burning. " I explain toher, smiling at Dyna and giving her a little wave when I notice her rubyeyes are fixed on me.

Helena hums. " I suppose there would be no reason why not, but itwould have to be a personal item belonging to the vampire and theywould have to wear it any time they plan to be in the sun or always.Why are you asking? "

"1 found my mate. He happens to be a vampire and well I'd like to replacea way to help him be able to walk in the sun." I tell her. " I also figuredas much about the personal item, that's why I've brought this. " I reachinto my bag pack, pulling out Malakai's ring.

She purses her lips for a moment. " I suppose the least I can do is showyou how the spell works. "

She sets Dyna down on the floor then stands up to walk into thekitchen, I grin at her as she does so then look around nearly giggling atthe amount of half melted candles lying around the room. It only takesseconds before Helena is back in front of me with a small bowl used formixing herbs, she opens her hand for the ring which I place in her palmDyna has now crawled over to my feet and is trying to use me as ameans to stand up, I chuckle lightly lifting her onto her tiny feet. I holdher hands, making sure she is balanced and doesn't fall over while Iwatch Helena place the ring in the centre of the bowl then draw a circleof salt around it.

She closes her eyes, holds her hands above the bowl and begins tochant loudly, I take in every word she says in Latin very carefully as Istudy her. Suddenly the bowl erupts in flames, I clench my teeth as thethought of the mini campfire in the bowl melting my mate's ring andme trying to explain it to him but I keep my mouth shut.

Moments later, the fire vanishes and Helena picks the ring from thebowl, handing to me. " The salt is what you draw the protectionenchantment for, the fire happens because if a vampire is out in the sunfor too long they burst into flames, it's a whole thing. " she waves herhand.

" Thank you Helena. " I reach over and place a hand on hers gently, onlyto feel as if someone has dipped my hands into a bucket of burningcoal.