𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬

Chapter 16

When I was young, I remembered gushing about mates to my family. Mother would always laugh and say I'm crazy. Father would encourage me and would even say I'm destined to be with a handsome prince. Weiss wouldn't entertain my giddiness and excitement but she never stopped listening to me anyways.

I've always been so over the moon about the idea of having a mate, a soul mate, the person the Moon Goddess chose for you.. it was a fairytale. I'd imagine being mates with a mermaid, an elf, a vampire, a wolf, and a witch or wizard as well. I was always eagerly waiting for my eighteenth birthday to come.. for when I would finally be able to feel the mate bond. I.. always imagined it to be as amazing as magic where time would stop and everyone will disappear when I would lay eyes on my mate.

I'd swoon and I'd let the prince sweep me off my feet.

Prince? Yes, even I used to be straight.

So there, on my eighteenth birthday, I waited for my prince charming to come. But he never came. Father still encouraged me, he told me not everyone would meet their mate early on, some met their mate at a very old age. His words sparked something in me and I never lost hope.

Until years passed, along with Father and I've discovered my sexual orientation, I was a lesbian. Mother didn't care much, in fact, she stopped caring about anything else outside our family. One day, I asked her about mates again and she got angry with me. She told me how unfair it was that Father went first and that they should've went together.. that Mother shouldn't be alone in a world where Father didn't exist anymore.

Then Weiss was crowned and Mother smiled for the first time. I thought she was healing. Turns out, she was only waiting for Weiss to be crowned to make her move. On the same night of Weiss' coronation, Mother killed herself.

I remembered Weiss and I crying, it was one of the few moments where Weiss would shed a few tears. Mother never really forgave Father for leaving so early. She only waited for Weiss to mature, so she was sure someone would take care of me. Then without a care, she was off to scold Father for leaving without her.

Then came my history of sex.. where I'd look for women, hoping they'd turn out to be my mate but to no avail. I felt lonely from searching and searching until I started having sex with the women I hoped to be my mate. I'd worship their bodies, but it never satisfied anything. None of them were my real mate, after all.

Surprisingly, after years, Weiss found her mate. When she and Sapphire were finally together, I was happy. But I was also seething angry.

Weiss had never shown interest in the mate bond all throughout my life.. yet she found hers faster than me. I remembered being jealous but I'd always mask it with a smile.

I thought I had something when I fell for someone else first, for Pearl, the queen of werewolves. I thought I finally had someone I could fight for but she already had a mate. I was heartbroken. When was my turn?

Until finally, Gaia appeared.

And disappeared.

For a lot of times.

Now.. Mallory? I don't even know what to say.

As we were stuck in my room for almost two days now, we've not had a single coherent conversation. She'd tell me to try and use my magic but I wouldn't stand up from the floor. She'd ask why Weiss would do this to us but I never replied. Whenever our food magically appeared, Mallory would eat alone, whilst my plate would always be left untouched.

I honestly didn't know nor understood why Weiss did this as well. I mean, I understood that she locked Mallory here because she despised witches but why was I here as well? When Weiss knew how much Mallory mistreated me? What if.. what if she wanted to see if Mallory would change? If Mallory would stop yelling and would start talking? Ugh, I didn't know anymore.