~Avery's POV~
" Hello there. My name is Natasha. May I have a seat?"
I looked up at her in shock. She looked older than James and the others, the wrinkles clearly visible on her forehead and her cheeks.
She looked to be in her late forties, early fifties. She had raven black hair with tons of tiny curls falling right above her shoulders. Her eyes were grey-ashish. The color was hard to explain and difficult to see in the darkness.
She was quite tall, at least 5,7'.
I scooted over and gestured for her to sit. Something was eery about her and still i felt like I could trust her.
Before thinking, my mouth opened and out came words. Words of idiocy.
" So are you a werewolf too?" After I heard what I had just asked my hand slammed over my mouth and I mumbled quietly.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be rude," Natasha only giggled in response which made me drop my hand and release a sigh of relief.
" That's okey dear. That's a valid question." She said and nudged my shoulder with her own, playfully.
I smiled back at her.
" And to answer you, no. I'm not a werewolf. I'm a witch," my mouth dropped.
'Here I am getting used to the fact that I live in the same world as werewolves and now she tells me witches are real too?' I thought to myself in utter disbelief.
"Aha..." was all I could get out. My mouth was still wide open.
" Haha, sweetheart, close your mouth before you swallow a bug," she said as she took her index finger under my chin, bringing it up to where my mouth was now closed.
"It's a shock, huh? I get that. There is an entire world out there, Avery, one that you and every other human have lived among for as long as we've wandered the earth. This world is unknown to humanity. It was the way it had to be, in order to protect us as well as you, the humans." I understood what she was saying. I just couldn't quite fathom it all at once. I heard every word she spoke but it was like they got entangled in my mind.
"What else is there?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer, but my curiosity was more prominent than my fear.
" Everything that you have ever read about in fairytales and in mythology, it's all true. It all exists. And we all live amongst each other but we do not disturb each others' peace. We have learned to co-exist." She said as she looked out towards the forest.
"How are you here?" I asked.
"I thought this was a place for werewolves only."
" It is but you see, my mate is an Alpha of a pack not too far away from here. He is also James' uncle. Which is why I follow him to functions such as this." She said with such a loving voice that I almost felt a tear roll down my cheek.
" Isn't it dangerous? For you to be among so many of another kind?" Now I was definitely not scared. Just very, very curious.
" Yes I guess it is. Or at least it could be. But I could never imagine staying behind without him. Do you know what a mate is, Avery?" She asked, her brows raised and her eyes holding a questioning look.
I shook my head. "No."
" A mate is your other half. Someone who was made by the goddess simply for you and only you. The better half of yourself you could say. They posses the qualities that you don't and vice versa. You complete each other. You ever only get one mate, which is why when you find him or her, you hold on to that person for the rest of your life. They are the only ones that make you feel good when you're sad, comfort you in your times of despair. They make you laugh, make you cry even, everything with a flick of their hand. They are the other half of your soul. And if you were to ever lose them, it would be to lose the best parts of yourself. A pain not many can handle." Her eyes were still locked to mine as she spoke and I could see so many emotions that it was hard to pin point what I was seeing. Love, loss, despair and happiness.
"James' uncle, was your first mate?" She looked taken aback by my question and her eyes broke contact with mine and turned back to the forest.
"No, he wasn't. My first mate was murdered a few months after I met him. I went for a very long time with that pain before I met Carlos. At first I was planing on rejecting him. I had been in a spiral of darkness for so many years and there was no joy, love or happiness left in me. There was nothing left to love. But he wouldn't take it. He wouldn't accept my rejection. Instead, for three years, he found me only to talk to me and bring me flowers every Saturday. After a while I kept looking forward to Saturdays because I knew he would come. That was the first time in what felt like eternity that I sensed a smidge of joy growing inside of me. One Saturday he didn't come, I felt cheated, not by him but by myself, for letting myself feel anything but darkness. I had given up on waiting for him and was starting to work on some magic spells, when my door flew open and Carlos came in, all bloody and beaten, naked from shifting. He fell to his knees breathing heavily. ' I'm sorry, my love, that I'm late. There was a little war I needed to take care of, here' he said as if it was nothing and he raised his shaking hand and handed me a bouquet of broken, bloody, wilted flowers. It was the most beautiful ones he had ever given me.
I started tending to his wounds and we talked. After a while he told me that he needed my help with something. A family that needed some sort of...assistance." She looked down at her feet as the memory came back to her.
" So i did. I helped the family knowing the stakes. It wasn't easy but nothing in life ever is. After the family had left, it was just me and Carlos left. He looked exhausted but he always had a smile on his face whenever I was near. 'So I will see you next Saturday, my love?' He asked me. I shook my head at him and his smile faltered. He took a step back. His eyes held worry and I could see that my silence was tormenting him. ' I accept you Carlos as my mate. I never want to see you injured again knowing I could've been there to help' his smile came back, double the size and he wrapped his arms around my waist, lifted me up and kissed me."
Tears were streaming down my face by this point, both from the pain Natasha must have felt, but also from the joy and happiness that had followed. She seemed like an amazing woman.
" I'm so sorry for your loss. But I'm glad you allowed yourself to find happiness again," she smiled at my words and placed her hand over mine, which was resting on my lap, giving it a soft squeeze.
" Life is a bitch, Avery. Trust me, I would know. But just know that you too can have the happiness you deserve and desire, you just have to allow it to yourself." Her words hit my heart and I felt heavy, but not in a bad way.
" Things are about to take a turn for you. Now you can either embrace it, or you can run from it. The choice is yours. I know all of this must be driving you mad, but just remember that family isn't always the people who share the same genes and DNA as you do. You can also choose your family."
I was about to open my mouth to say something when a loud howl shook the ground. I looked at Natasha in panic but she looked as calm as ever.
" It's okay, Avery. Stay calm."