Pawliday Love

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

LIDEY

F ated Mate

The sun climbed over the earth, warming the ground and waking the creatures who sang out in response, welcoming the new day. I rolled over in bed and turned away from the one square window in my room. I wasn't ready to greet the day yet; I wanted to lie in bed and dream of him again. It had been three days since I had seen him by the spring. In those three days, I often drifted off, daydreaming about him, about Si.

I wondered where he came from. I had never seen him before, which was odd. The village made up of our modest coven existed on the outskirts of a small town. If Si was new, he wanted people to avoid discovering him, which made me even more intrigued to learn about him.

I closed my eyes and pictured his body again. He wasn't the first man I had seen naked, but he was the most handsome. His upper body was chiseled and tanned, so it was clear he worked outside. His eyes—well, there was doubt he was a witch by the deep jade color, but from where? Why was he not with a coven?

"Lidey breakfast." My mother said, popping her head inside my room.

I groaned and tossed the blanket off my body. Angry, my mother interrupted the tranquil thoughts invading my mind about the mystery man. I slouched as I walked into the kitchen just off my room.

"Eat your porridge, and then go to the laundry," she said as she poured my breakfast into a bowl.

I rolled my eyes and sat down at the table built for four.

My mother announced, "Your father wants you to lead the ritual tonight, so you must practice after your chores."

I stopped my spoon in mid-air and looked at her.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Of course I am," she said, working the dough against the counter.

"I do not want to." I objected.

She stopped and turned her upper body to look at me.

"You are eighteen. It is time," she said.

I rolled my eyes and dug into my porridge, the same breakfast I had eaten since I could remember.

Sometimes, we got lucky and had chicken eggs, which was my favorite, but that was only once or twice a week.

"Are there any other covens close by?" I asked, my thoughts once again returning to Si.

My mother frowned. " Not too close. Why?"

"Just curious."

My mother, Glenda, smiled and said, "You are worried about finding a mate?"

I looked up from my bowl of semi-warm porridge.

"No," I stated.

"Well, that is good; there is no need to worry. Your father has a few prospects lined up for you."

"Prospects? I do not want him finding me prospects." I groaned.

"Well, regardless, he has a few men in mind for you from the coven. Granted, most of them are older, but that will be good for you."

I stood up and pushed my bowl away, my appetite gone.

"I better get the laundry started," I said, wanting to escape the horrid conversation.

I felt my mother's gaze follow me as I walked outside. The sun was bright and warm, and I was grateful. Laundry was much more pleasant when the weather was warm. There is nothing worse than trying to dry sheets in the rain.

I gathered the two baskets of clothes, which sat by the back door, and walked across the small village toward the washing well. Thankfully, only two others were washing now, so I would not have to wait. The washing well was equipped to fit six washers at once. I placed the baskets and grabbed the first item, dunking it under the water and scrubbing the soap bar against the cloth. I did this several times while pulling the item taut against a rigid piece of stone. Once that step was complete, I submerged it again, rinsing it clean of the soap. I tossed it in the empty basket and moved on to the next.

A soft hum escaped my throat as I moved along with my work, and the image of Si snuck inside my mind, making me smile as I worked. My laundry chore moved fast as I sang to myself and thought of the mystery man by the spring.

I lifted the two baskets, now full of wet, clean clothes, making them heavy, and walked back toward my home. I traveled around the house to the backyard—the two lines hung at the edge of our property, which overlooked the woods.

Our house was the last on the road of our village, so we had a direct view of the trees that lined the stream and the spring. The ancient ash tree was visible from where I stood by the clothesline. I looked out at it and thought of the stories told around fires about the old tree and wondered how accurate they were. Our descendants had performed many sacrifices and marriages in front of that ancient old wood. That was why our coven chose to build our village in this spot, and once the homes were established, a spell was placed using the tree as an anchor. The purpose of the spell was for protection, allowing only witches to cross and protecting our people from villagers who may have hate in their hearts for our kind.

I lifted a sheet from the basket and clipped it to the line, and as I bent over to grab the next, a stone hit my butt. I snapped up and looked around.

I rolled my eyes and called out. "Jeremy, I know that is you."

I searched the area for the young boy known for attempting to flirt with me. He and his friends were thirteen, and I figured they had recently discovered the opposite sex, and since I was eighteen, I was their target. I sighed and returned to the laundry when yet another stone hit me, this time in the back of my head. My hand shot back to my wound, and I spun around.

"All right, you shit!" I hollered, and my breath caught in my throat as a wild pair of intense jade eyes met mine.

"Sorry." Si chuckled as he approached me.

"You are the one throwing stones at me?" I asked.

He shrugged as a sexy half grin crept over his lips.

I raised my brows. "Childish, don't you think?"

He smiled at me, and I was gone, his smile melting into my bones.

"Maybe," he said, "but how else could I get your attention?"

"Oh, I don't know. Walk up and say hi. You know, like most civilized people do." I remarked.

He nodded.

"Are we, though?" he asked as he stepped toward me, backing me up against the hanging sheet.

"Are we what?" I whispered.

The lack of oxygen made it hard for me to articulate my words. Si was so close that I could smell him. He used cedar and lavender soap, and his eyes had dark green flecks.

"Civilized?" he whispered again, drawing closer to me.

Now, I felt his breath on my skin.

"I think so," I said and swallowed.

"Hmm." He made a noise from his throat, and I inhaled as a buzz of energy forged between us.

"What is that?" I asked.

"You feel it too?" he murmured.

I nodded, unable to speak at all now.

"I thought so." he smiled and leaned into me, his fingertips grazing mine.

"I didn't think it was a real thing until now. I felt it when I saw you in the spring," Si explained.

"I..." I mumbled; the energy and buzz between him and me was intoxicating and disturbing. "A real thing?"

"Yes, I didn't think the myth about our kind was true." He paused and then said, "You know how some of us have a mate, and then when we find them... it's--"

"Indescribable and irresistible." I murmured as the warmth traveled through me, and I felt weightless.

He smiled and slid his hand into mine. I gasped, and a fire ignited within me, searing through my blood and warming my insides. I felt a tug in my gut and clenched my thighs as every nerve tingled.

"You think it's a real thing?" I asked.

"I do, Lidey," he whispered. "Don't you?"

His eyes sparkled as his mouth grew close.

My name on his lips was too much, and a small whimper escaped from my mouth. I bit my bottom lip, trying to hide the emotions he conjured from me.

He touched my cheek and whispered, "I take that as a yes."

He leaned down, and I closed my eyes, waiting for my first kiss as he descended upon my mouth.

"Lidey!" my mother called into the backyard, shattering the tranquil warmth around us.

Si pulled back and looked into my eyes.

"Can we meet?"

I nodded.

"When?" he asked, looking around the sheet toward the sound of my mother's voice.

"Tonight," I whispered.

Si smiled and said, "I will come for you. When you hear the stone hit your window, come outside."

"Okay," I whispered as excitement tore through me.

Si kissed my hand and then turned, walking toward the trees.

"Wait! I called out, chasing after him.

Si turned but continued walking backward.

"I am being accepted into my coven tonight. I have to sleep out by the ash tree."

He smiled at me and said, "The one by the spring?"

"Yes," I replied; butterflies flapped inside my gut as he stepped toward me.

He swept a piece of hair from my face and smiled, whispering, "I will meet you when the moon is at its highest. The ritual should be over by then."

My stomach danced with jittery elation, and I murmured, overcome with how close he was to me.

"Okay."

He winked and turned, disappearing into the trees.

"Lidey!" my mother shouted again, tossing the hanging sheet to the side as she walked toward me.

I looked around to be sure Si was nowhere to be seen.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asked, staring at me in aggravation.

"Laundry," I replied and walked toward the clothesline.

My mother stood with her hands on her hips, staring at me, then turned and looked toward the woods.

"Well, move faster. You need to practice for tonight." She said, walking back toward the house.

I ignored her, grabbed the next sheet from the basket, and smiled as I thought about tonight.

Tonight, I will meet with Si.

I thought about our conversation about finding a mate. I heard that a witch could have a mate, a witch made for them. However, I had yet to meet any of our kind to experience it.

But Si was right. I felt it, the intangible cord between him and me.

There was no other explanation. Si was my mate. He was my fate.