17 Chapter SEVENTEEN
[Two years and SIX months ago…]
Amelia continued finding herself engrossed with her studies on the werewolf community in the months that followed. To recap, she was sure that they existed, and she was convinced that most of the people in Wolverstone, if not all of them, were werewolves.
Why else would they be residing in a cold, high-altitude area with many trees around them? No, why else would they be residing in a place that is mostly cut out from the rest of the world?
Much to Amelia's delight, things were starting to look up for her. After a battle with her conscience, she was soon able to take the books home without the librarian noticing. Olivia, Declan, Owen and anyone else who seemed to hang around them paid her no mind when she appeared on the school grounds. They all seemed busy with something, and Amelia was not curious to figure out what it was, even if it could provide useful information regarding the werewolves in Wolverstone. In fact, she was glad they had chosen to leave her alone. But seeing it had been months since they had come after her, Amelia was paranoid that they were planning something much worse than what they usually did.
That was why she had decided to sneak the books from the town library in the first place. Who knew how long her period of bliss would last. She wanted to be ready if they dared come after her again. More importantly, she wanted to figure out the species' weaknesses and ways to hide from them if she were to be attacked.
She woke up that morning with a particular title sticking on a page.
'Mates', it read. It was not what Amelia wanted to learn about, but she nonetheless read the contents.
'A mate can simply be referred to as the significant other of a person, like spouses in an ordinary human marriage. At first, werewolves did not have mates, and they were free to choose whoever they wanted to be with. However, most of the creatures could not be trusted to be with one person as they were sexual creatures. It brought marital problems that would lead to fights and varying increases in both birth and mortality rates. To solve these problems, a witch council was contacted to help find a solution. They developed a cure, known as the mate bond, whereby werewolves would form a bond with specific people with who they come in contact. The bond utilizes the spirit world to find the true pairing of a wolf. It did not matter whether the mate of the wolf would be a human, a witch, or a vampire. The werewolves would be attracted and instantly drawn to them.'
Amelia did not like the sound of that. She could not help but think about Declan at that moment. In particular, the last time they had talked to each other. Something about that incident glared at her, but she did not know the reason as to why.
'The mate bond was designed to speed up the mating process in werewolves. Moreover, it helped the creatures desire only one person to live the rest of their lives with, unless the mate died, whereby they could find another. The common characteristics of a mate bond found between individuals include: increased palpitations in the presence of the significant other, a heightened sense of desire for the person, thoughts of sexual relations with the person; and last but not least, intense feelings of love for the person.'
Amelia froze at the described characteristics. She remembered how she had felt a couple of months ago when Declan had touched her. She had looked at him, feeling some kind of attraction to him, even though he had hurt her. She had even developed thoughts and feelings of wanting to kiss him, and it freaked her out.
She was glad her thoughts had not gone further down the forbidden hole.
Reading the book seemed to confirm things for her. She did not want to believe she was Declan's mate.
'Is that why he has been avoiding me?' She thought. 'Could he be feeling this mate bond?'
Amelia shook her head in disbelief. She did not trust the mate bond, viewing it as some kind of force pushing people towards other people they did not want. At that moment, she felt like it was manipulating her emotions and thoughts. Declan was abusive toward her; she wanted whatever feelings of love she had for him to be the last thing on her mind.
Amelia did not want it. She could not accept it. She wanted out if there was a way she could find. That boy had hurt her as much as her parents had, and she would be damned if she found herself fluttering her eyelashes at him as if there was a bug in her eye.
With a determined look, she perused through the book's contents until she found what she wanted.
'A mate bond can be ended due to unforeseen circumstances. Usually, it is through the death of the person. Also, one would simply have to reject them, and to completely end the bond, the mate can accept it. However, this is dangerous as it can kill either party. The safest way is to involve a witch; he or she would chant a spell to destroy the bond without any party's life being affected.'
'Oh crap', Amelia thought. Where was she going to find a witch, seeing that they were all dead? As much as she hated the guy, she did not want Declan dead. It would be too much for her conscience, and who knew how the town would retaliate if she dared to do that.
"Amelia!" the sound of her father shouting shook her out of her focus. "Where is that bitch? She forgot to clean the bathroom!"
Amelia felt her face ashen with fear. She could not believe she had forgotten to do what her father had asked her to do about a day ago. She had been busy reading more about the werewolf community, searching for something that would help her escape the town without being noticed. However, that would not be a good excuse to get out of whatever punishment her father wanted to dish on her. Amelia knew what her father would do to her if he were to catch her, and she did not want to experience his hurtful yelling as well. For the months that had passed, things had been okay without her receiving physical injuries from the people she knew, and she did not want to break that streak.
"Amelia!" her mother called out, knocking hurriedly on the door. "Get down here this instant. Your father is calling for you!"
Amelia's heart thudded behind her chest. Without another thought, she grabbed the book she had stolen from the library and shoved it in her bag. She went for her clothes, looking for something that would warm her from the early morning cold.
If she were to leave early, she knew her parents would chalk it up to her having important work required to be done at school. For some reason, they wanted her to still go to school.
Probably so that they wouldn't have to see her face during the weekdays.
Either way, she would pay for not doing her errand later.
'Better later than now', Amelia decided.
The knocking sounded again.
She went for the door. She opened it wide, coming face to face with her mother.
"Where the hell do you think you are going, young lady?" she seethed. "You better go clean that bathroom or else there will be trouble."
Amelia narrowed her eyelids at her mother. Without a word, she bodychecked her to the side.
"Amelia!" the woman cried behind her. Amelia did not pay her any attention, moving down the stairs with quick steps. She saw her father in her peripheral vision, noticing he had sat down for a cup of coffee.
"Amelia!" he growled out at her when he spotted her. The man started getting up from his seat, a determined gaze on his face.
Amelia was not having any of it. She swung the door open, leaving her home in a rush. She could hear her parents call out for her as she ran, but she dulled out their voices.
Some minutes later, she finally stopped in the forest. She collapsed on the ground, hair in disarray as she panted for breath. Moreover, carrying the book in her bag had added to the weight she usually carried in the morning.
Amelia sat on the ground, taking in deep breaths to collect herself. Her stomach chose that moment to growl, reminding her that she had not yet taken breakfast that morning.
Her hands reached for her bag. She opened it to check whether she had some snacks she usually took from the school cafeteria during lunch. She relaxed when she felt a bag of crisps and a bottle of soft drink. She took them out, munching and gulping them as fast as she could. She was not sure if her parents had decided to give up on going after her. Either way, she was not going to give them the chance of catching up to her.
