Chapter 28

Charlie sat across Ma'am Dodda on the dining, he couldn't understand why his mood was as awful as it had been when he went to bed last night. He looked around hoping to find Ariel but he didn't, she seemed to have vanished into thin hair, he didn't even catch a glimpse of her as the maids served breakfast.

Where was she? Maybe she was tired of bothering him with her baseless stories and had decided to rest, but why did it bother him so much? Somehow, he had waited for her to show up in his room last night but she didn't. He had little hope of finding her among the maids this morning but he didn't find her as well. Has something happened to her?

Charlie didn't know he looked so bothered until Ma'am Dodda asked him,

"Son, is something bothering you?"

He groaned inwardly, not today again. Was he always appearing very bothered before her these days?

"I am fine Ma'am Dodda" He flashed her a smile which he only hoped would be convincing enough.

"You look restless, are you searching for someone?" She asked again.

"Oh no I'm not. I'm totally alright" He smiled again, this time revealing more dentition than he intended.

"Let's eat before the food gets cold then" He only nodded and began eating, not like he was hungry.

Earl and Nellie did not come down for breakfast, he was hoping to ask Nellie about Ariel since she was her personal maid or Ariel might even be with Nellie. That made sense, but why was he so bothered? He had told her to stay away, maybe she obliged.

"Where is Lydia?" It was Ma'am Dodda.

"She went back home, to be with her mother"

"She is your mother too" Ma'am Dodda chided, Charlie made a mental roll of his eyes.

The woman barely existed, she was as good as dead. Most times Charlie wondered what it would have been like if his father was still alive, most of the things he had to do now would probably have been on his father- like being the Beta.

Charlie stood up from the table and thanked Ma'am Dodda for the meal. He thought of going to Earl's chambers to check on him but decided against it, they were probably having their breakfast in the room, he should have done the same too.

There was still time before the Witcher arrived, he could use a little sleep before then, hopefully. Charlie made his way up the stairs, a maid with a shiny brown hair had her head bowed and waiting for him in the hall, Charlie walked doubled his steps as he approached her, he really hoped it was Ariel.

He couldn't curb the disappointment he felt when the maid raised her head and it was not Ariel, he had to stop himself from screaming and snapping at her. Terrified, the main scurried away.

'What the actual fuck is wrong with you Charlie?' He kept asking himself over and over again, why was he feeling so miserable over a girl he had gotten to talk with just a few days ago? He had told her to stay away, why was he feeling bad now?

Mate. She had seen they were mates, he never believed in that, he didn't think he was that lucky to have a mate, or rather so unlucky, each time he thought about his parents the concept of having a mate was usually a very unnecessary thing.

His mother… she might know about it. She had a mate once so she should know, Charlie felt he had to know what it felt like and how to know if one had a mate, how did Ariel appear so confident? And what if she was right?

He decided he was going to visit her, but before then he hurried into his room with the hope of seeing Ariel in there at least but she was not there. Sigh.

Charlie left the castle with a few guards trailing behind him, they would never let him be, he thought. He rode his horse at a very slow pace, the two guards he had allowed to go with him trailing behind him at the same pace.

As a child, going home after a long day outside was always one of the few things he looked forward to each day, but all that changed after his father's death. The home became hell and thanks to his bond with Earl, he decided one morning to move in with Earl in the royal castle.

Why did he leave the house? Charlie told himself he couldn't stand the sight of his mother suffering, from a series of mental traumas to the aftermath of losing a mate. All that only changed her for the worst, a very bitter and sad woman with two children, Charlie became the man, as tender as he was, he had to work between looking for doctors, ensuring Lydia had the best home school teachers and organizing his father's castle, all that he did from the royal castle.

Soon, his horse came to a halt in front of the massive mansion, his once peaceful family home. Behind his tough persona, Charlie hoped he could make the house into a little heaven someday, with his wife and kids- if that was even possible.

He stood outside for a few more minutes, trying to decide if he should go in or go back. His mother was probably in her room, staring out the window. That was her habit.

"How long do you intend to stand out there?"

Oh right, Charlie had totally forgotten he had a nosy sister.

"I was just about coming" He walked towards the door where Lydia was now standing, her long blonde hair glowing in the morning sun.

"I see. what brings you here, dear brother?" She gave him a light peck on the cheek.

"Surely it's not a sin to stop by my family castle, once in a while?" He returned her peck with a wide grin.

"No one said so, you should do that often actually. Do come in" She led the way into the house.

Charlie paused at the door and took a deep breath as if to calm his nerves. They walked into the parlor, it was still as elegant as ever, a huge painting of his father and mother hung on one side of the wall, next to it was a larger one which had the entire family smiling widely. His mother looked so full of eyes in the portrait, her golden eyes flickering like the moonlight on a dark evening, her rich blonde hair was styled in different twisted patterns that added color to her milky skin. The smile on her face was very evident and genuine, in the portrait, she held his father with one hand and the other hand groped Charlie who sat in front of her, little Lydia was straddled on her laps and their father's hand held her in place protectively.

That was his mother as he choosed to remember, but the woman whose cold eyes pierced into his soul held no resemblance with the woman in the portrait. Her skin was as pale as ice and her grayish blonde hair was left flowing down her shoulders. Sitting there and staring out the window she stared back at Charlie like he was part of the furniture.

"You didn't tell me she was out here!" Charlie whispered to his sister who was now standing by his side.

"So you could run back off?" Lydia pinched his hands in an attempt to urge him towards her.

"You know you can just turn around and go back" Charlie froze at the sound of his mother's cold voice.

Right. He had forgotten she was an ancient wolf, her senses were as heightened as they could be, she sat there, in a blue satin dress that blended perfectly with her pale skin, staring out the window into the fields. Then, when she just lost her husband, she sat by the window every evening waiting for him to ride into the castle as usual, those days were the beginning of her wild years. Now, twenty years later, she still sat there, waiting and believing that he would come back.

"Mother" Charlie moved over to where she sat and stood directly in front of her, hoping she would turn around and look at him with that same tender love and affection she gave when she returned from playing out as a child. But she didn't.

"You came. Why?" Was all she said in reply, her eyes still fixed on the fields outside the window.

"I came to see of you are feeling better, mother" His voice was as calm as the winds on a chilly harmattan morning.

"Is Erik back?" His mother asked in the same calm tone with which he had spoken.

"No, but mother…" She turned around now, her cold eyes were enough to make the words stuck in his throat. What was he going to say to her? That her son whom her husband, her mate had laid his life to protect was here to see him? Definitely not.

"Then you have no business being here. Erik will come back, until then I'm waiting for him" She shifted her gaze back to the window as of he was never there.

"Charlie we were just about tea, sit and have a dessert" Lydia pushed Charlie down on a seat away from their mother.

"How do you cope with her?" He asked Lydia as soon as he sat down.

She shrugged, "You sent me back here to make sure she is safe, I have to try bedsides she is our mother"

Charlie felt sorry for his sister, "I am sorry" He muttered.

"You don't have to be, don't let whatever she says get to you. Like the healers said, she is only suffering from the impact of losing a mate, we just have to be patient with her" Lydia reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"It's been twenty years Lydia, twenty whole years and she is still like that, sitting by that fucking window with that cold look in her eyes. I would like to think she has punished me enough for her mate's death"

"Shhh… whatever happened to father was never your fault, don't ever blame yourself. You were only a child and he did what any loving father would have done which was to save the child"

"Did you see how she looked at me? Like some piece of furniture! Maybe I should have died with father Lydia, it hurts that I caused our mother so much pain" Charlie covered his face with his palms to stop him from shedding the tears that threatened to fall.

"Charlie, you are the bravest person I know, you are paying enough for our father's mistakes already. You work yourself to the bones protecting the Alpha and regardless of what mother does or says to you, you keep making sure she is safe and okay- that is the highest form of bravery. And trust me father is proud wherever he is, mother loves you just as much, she is not just herself right now. All this is just as a result of the trauma due to the loss of a mate, it will pass" Lydia stood up now and stood behind his brother, gently patting his back.

"Actually Lydia… I want to know everything about the mating princess. I don't know, I just haven't given it much of a thought before now but I want to know now"

Lydia sat back down on the seat beside her brother. "Well, it's just like marriage but in a deeper sense.

"Okay…?"

"Usually, when a wolf finds his mate, he marks her and they become connected. They can still get married in the human way but the bond they share will be stronger than the human bond of marriage, most times they can share feelings and feel things… like pain and the likes for each other. They can do other things like speak in each other's head and sense or smell the person from afar" Lydia observed him keenly as she spoke.

"So what is the marking process like?" Charlie was intrigued.

"Usually the male wolf marks his mate by biting the female wolf here… more like sinking his fangs into her" Lydia pointed at the area between her neck and her shoulder.

"That is a painful process" Charlie breathed.

"Yes, but I heard it's pleasurable for the female"

"Hm. But is it possible for the female to recognize her mate? Like assuming the male wolf has not realized or does not know his mate even if he sees her, is it possible for the female to know?"

Lydia seemed lost for a while and was about admitting she didn't know that part since she had not read about it yet.

"Yes it is possible, but on very rare occasions" They were both very shocked to find their mother standing before them, her eyes held a little emotion this time. Her eyes rested on Charlie, but as usual she looked at him like he was not there.

"Mother"

"When I first saw your father, I just knew it was him. I don't know if it was love but it turned out he was my mate after our first night" She gave a weak smile that faded as soon as it appeared.

Lydia's face flushed with embarrassment as she understood what her mother meant by first night, a wolf only marked his mate when they were getting intimate, it was part of the mating process.

"That first night resulted in you and a mark of undying love and bond, but today your father is not here. He promised he will come back and I will wait"

Rosalyn shifted the hair on her neck to reveal the spot where Erik, his father had marked her. It was a faint mark of two fangs that now looked reddish on her pale skin.

As quietly as she had come, Charlie's mother went back to the window and sat staring out again.

Lydia gave him an apologetic look which he only nodded to. If all he had heard were true then he had to understand his mother's state, losing someone you shared such a bond with was not something that could fade easily, the feeling of emptiness- In the soul and body.

As he rode back to the castle that early afternoon, Charlie realized there was a possibility that Ariel was telling the truth.