The Devil’s Cursed Witch

Draven had already turned to leave when his sensitive ears caught the sound of her surprised gasp. Perhaps because this wasn’t the first time this happened, he was able to react fast enough to save her from falling this time.

‘And she says she’s not clumsy?’ he wanted to ask as he held back a smile.

His mate seemed to be very skilled in finding opportunities to fall down as if she were beloved by the ground. He wondered how she could survive in that dead mountain full of rocks and gnarly roots. How many times had she fallen like this and had hurt herself?

Once Ember was steady on her feet, she looked up at him with that same dazed gaze caused by the influence of his scent.

Fortunately, Draven was prepared and kept his own rationality. He held her on her shoulders before stepping away. He said coldly, “Get back to your senses.”

Ember felt like someone had poured cold water on her, and she also stepped back with her entire face crimson red. She dared not meet his eyes due to embarrassment.

“Your Majesty, apologies—“

“Is it a habit?” he asked, keeping himself calm by turning his face away from her. She was so close, a mere arm’s length away, and it was as if he could still feel her body in his hands even though he was no longer holding her. It was a relief they both stepped back.

His words puzzled her already messed up senses. “H-Habit?”

“Being clumsy, falling on the ground, tripping on something, hurting yourself…” he explained.

“Ah, no! Not at all!” she said in a fluster, faking a little confidence as she too explained what happened. “I am telling you, this is all coincidence. I wanted to accompany you and be a good mate to you but the bridge–“

The rest of her sentence faded into non-existence as Draven’s ears only caught words that left his mind blank.

‘….a good mate to you…’

Draven stared at Eber trying to recall those words again and again she had just said. His cold gaze turned a little intense with the anticipation to hear something useful.

He looked at her with amusement as he took a step closer to her, “And what else do you plan to do to be a good mate?”

Ember stepped back with him coming closer to her but had to stop due to the bridge railing behind her.

She felt a little nervous with the way he looked at her and stepped closer. She exhaled softly through her mouth to calm herself and recalled whatever Morpheus told her about being a good mate.

“If Your Majesty is working in the study, I shall help you with your work. When you take a stroll in the garden, I shall accompany you. I shall help you choose your clothes daily. I shall accompany you all the time and won’t let you feel lonely at all. I will be a good companion…I mean mate.”

Ember said in a single breath like she had recited it so many times and took it as a compulsion to follow it to be a good mate for the King.

He stood facing her at a step distance away, not letting his gaze move away from her anxious-looking eyes, “But all this Erlos does for me as well? Then what is the difference between you and him when you call me your mate?”

His words caught her off guard and she didn’t think about it and simply looked at the king with her puzzled and questioning gaze.

“Have you ever thought about why you are my mate and not someone else? What is it that makes us mate?” she heard him ask again.

She found her heart beating faster, not knowing whether it was because of nervousness caused by questions from the king or that intoxicating scent from him that she could smell.

“Focus!” he commanded as he saw her falling for his scent, “…think and answer.”

“B-Because Your Majesty has chosen me,” she answered, thinking it was the right answer.

Draven didn’t deny her answer as he wanted to know more about what she had understood on her own till now. She didn’t seem so dumb to not catch anything particular by now.

“And how do we become mates?” he asked.

She cleared her throat as she thought if she would be accusing him in her next answer, “Because you have bitten me and I have this mark on my neck.” She touched that mark with her fingers to show him.

He looked at that crimson blossom on her neck and could not deny it looked beautiful on her slender neck and that delicate almost translucent skin. It was satisfying to see his mark on his mate that told everyone that she belonged to him only.

“What do you find different between me and other males? Something that is unique which only belongs to me?”

Ember recalled having only two males around her other than the king and those were Erlos and Morpheus. It would not be wrong to say these were the only three men she had been around in her entire life.

She thought about what was the difference other than the appearance and it didn’t take her time to find the answer as that answer was messing with her senses already at this moment.

“Scent…Your scent, Your Majesty…”

Till now she had understood his scent was something that she could never ignore and instead she liked it. Whenever she was closer to the King, it was as if his scent had enchanted her and she would not have any control over her actions.

“What is it like?” he asked.

Draven was curious about what he smelled like to his little mate like how she smelled like fresh Jasmines and first rain to him.

She didn’t have to think as this was the scent that made her feel as if it was what she longed for all her life.

“Smell of the forest, a little of peppermint…It’s good…I like it…” The more she talked and focussed on his scent, the more she was going to lose herself again but Draven’s next question held her back.

“Did you find someone else’s scent affecting you the way mine does?” he asked.

She shook her head trying to be sane as commanded by her mate and only to hear the next question.

“How do you feel when you smell my scent?”

She gulped as her beautiful eyes stared into his intense one as if to find an answer in him, “How do I feel…” she mumbled under her breath.

“Hmm,” Draven nodded, “What do you feel like?”

The poor girl’s soul had too much of this torture of smell while her mate was trying to keep her sane by forcing so many questions at her when all she wanted was to go to him. She felt tired of it and felt like in an enchanting daze as she covered that step distance between them and….

Something happened that Draven didn’t expect as he found his little mate taking him by surprise. His body froze in its place as he found her hugging him, surrounding her delicate hands to him and resting her face at the top of his chest, His chin almost touching her head. Her scent filled all his senses that he was trying to control and made him gulp hard.

Draven didn’t stop her as he knew she had finally given up resisting and it was not bad for the first time. She endured for a long time. She did well and now it was the time for the reward of what she deserved and hugged her back to comfort her and himself as well.

‘Such a torture it was to hold back.’

Ember felt so calm as if she had been on an exhausting journey and finally found a shelter to relax. She didn’t want to let it go and continued to hug her mate. She didn’t know why she acted like this or felt the need to do so, she just wanted to do what made her feel better.

The servant working nearby or even at a distance could see this part of the garden as this bridge was curved and the king and his mate were standing on top of it.

The moment they saw the king holding his mate in his arms, all of their faces flushed red while their mouths were left wide open. It was not something new for them as mates usually acted like this but seeing their king like this was unexpected.

Everyone acted like they had seen nothing and focussed on working, not knowing the next moment something would happen that would make all of them stop working and disappear from the garden and area around.

Draven lowered his face to look at her and she looked back at him. He caressed her cheek with one hand gently to praise her, “You did well.”

She didn’t know what he meant and why he praised her and simply stared at him as if expecting something from him. Her gaze fixed on his lips as her own lips left open with a light gasp in anticipation.

Draven didn’t keep her waiting and leaned his face closer to hers as his one hand angled her face upward to his comfort.

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