Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Puppy Collar
Miles
The first thing I notice when my eyes finally crack open, besides Bellamy peacefully sleeping on my chest as if it’s her personal pillow, is that my skin is still glowing where she marked me last night.
The crescent moon and stars shimmer faintly over my heart, twinkling like the stars themselves. The mark has a rhythm similar to her heartbeat, almost like a beacon announcing to the world: yep, he’s claimed and he’s mine.
“Bellamy.” I nudge her, waking her from her slumber. “Your mark is still glowing. Should I be concerned?”
Her eyes blink open as she squints and groans. She lifts herself up on her elbow, really looking at it as her eyes widen. The purple shimmer reflects in her eyes as it seems to flash faster. “Oh no.”
“Oh no? What do you mean, ‘Oh no’?” I ask, panic rising. “Is that ‘oh no’ we should go see someone or ‘oh no’ like I’m dying?”
She rubs her temples. “It’s…neither? I mean, yes, we should go talk to my coven leader, but you aren’t dying. At least I don’t think you are.”
“You aren’t reassuring me at all.”
She puts her hands on my shoulders, her eyes flicking between mine.
“Miles, I’m going to need you to breathe.
It’s going to be fine. I’ve just never seen a magical marking like this before.
I’m more concerned about what the gossip mill will spread than what will happen to you.
Breathe for me, big guy. We will go see Mabel and see if she knows anything about it.
” She claps my chest a few times before climbing out of the bed.
“Fuck,” she grumbles before she rushes towards the bedroom window. “Get out of here.”
I glance over and see one of the crows look right at me before flying off. I swear it winked before chanting, “The puppy has a collar! The puppy has a collar!”
Groaning, I rub my hand down my face as Bellamy stomps across her room before flinging open the bedroom door. Oh boy, I fear there might be another crow incident today if I don’t slow her down.
I damn near fall in my horrible attempt to scramble out of the bed. The top sheet tangles around my ankle, my shirt’s lying on the floor exactly where I step down, and before I break my neck, I thankfully get my feet underneath me.
I’ve never been more thankful that I sleep in joggers than I am right now as I chase after my angry witch. Jogging through my cabin, I catch her right as her hand clasps around the doorknob of my front door.
“Wait,” I gasp out.
She whirls around, practically breathing fire already as her anger slams into me through our bond. Shit, I’ve got to tell her about that. We haven’t had any chance to really discuss what being bonded means.
“What?” she snaps.
“What are you so worried about? So what if people find out that you claimed me? Why is that something to storm after a crow about?”
“Because…”
I hook an eyebrow up, waiting for her to elaborate, but she doesn’t. Instead, she throws her hands down and begins pacing back and forth again. She’s mumbling under her breath, and I can feel the anxiety flowing through her.
“Talk to me, Bellamy. I can’t help you if I don’t understand what is happening.”
“It’s just that…I’ve never…What if people…” She’s not finishing any of her sentences, just starting and stopping before completing the thought.
I grasp her by the shoulders, pulling her to a stop in front of me.
“Come talk to me,” I say as I guide her over to the living room, which thankfully is right near the front door.
The couch is littered with my books and notes I’ve been taking in an attempt to learn everything I could about the witch lifestyle.
I swipe everything off the couch and onto the floor, praying to the Moon Goddess that she didn’t see it, but of course I can’t be that lucky.
However, it is what pulls her out of whatever was causing her to spiral. She chuckles behind me as I slowly turn back around to face her. My face is burning with embarrassment. I can feel the blush spreading.
“Don’t pay attention to that; it’s nothing.” I say quickly. Hoping she doesn’t want to discuss it any further.
“Oh no, we won’t be skipping the copy of Witch 101 and How to Win Her Over as if they weren’t sitting on your couch or that they already looked well loved.” She smirks as she sits down on the cushion, waiting for me.
I heave a sigh as I drop onto the seat next to her. “We should talk about yours first.”
She shakes her head slowly, a damn evil smile across her face. “Nah, uh. Spill it, Dog Boy.”
Ugh. “Fine. But we will circle back to whatever that was.” I swirl my finger around towards the door. She nods once, but doesn’t say a word.
“I’ve always known that I had a fated mate in the world, as I’m sure you are aware.
But throughout my entire life growing up, I felt sort of drawn away from Jasper.
Like, not really sure where, but this feeling that I needed to leave to find it.
When I turned eighteen, I started searching because, as a wolf once we’re an adult, the draw to our mate is stronger.
It took me years to find this place, lots of hopeless nights, and feeling as if I was crazy until one night an ad popped up.
That’s all it took. I had to believe that the fates were finally shining down on me and I’d finally find my mate. ”
Bellamy nods along, not saying anything.
Bellamy’s knee bounces as she listens intently to what I’m saying. Before she finally huffs as she shakes out her hands. “So what you’re saying is you’ve felt a pull to here, all along. Followed it to the other side of the continent, alone, in hopes of finding me?”
“Well, yes,” I admit with hesitation. “Not necessarily you, because I obviously didn’t know you. But, my mate. Which is why I can confidently say I’ve known since the second I laid eyes on you.”
Her expression softens, her sharp edges rounding just a bit more, until her snark slams back into place, reminding me that it’s always going to be here. “That’s either the creepiest thing I’ve heard or the most romantic. Going to need to decide on that one.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s definitely the most romantic. So, yeah, the books were to help me understand you better and hopefully win you over. So glad I read them.”
She chuckles, but it’s not out of humor. “You think you’ve won me over?”
There’s a loud pop and Matilda appears on the couch next to us.
Her cigarette smoke billows above her as she puffs on her ghost cig. Today’s outfit is different from all the rest and I’ve determined at this point ghosts can change them.
“Of course he’s won you over dear. Don’t pretend he hasn’t,” Matilda says with a wink.
“Matilda it’s rude to pop into people’s houses without an invitation,” Bellamy says as she swats her hand in front of her face.
“Well dear, I don’t have to follow any rules…” Matilda leans forward, peering around Bellamy to my mark glowing faintly across my chest. My bare chest since I was home and just out of bed.
She claps her hands together. “Oh, now that isn’t something you see everyday!”
Before we can stop her, she pops out of existence again and Bellamy drops back onto the couch groaning loudly.
I curl my fingers into her hair. “So you going to tell me now why it’s such a problem?”
I laugh as she rolls over and buries her face into the pillows. Mumbling into the cushion she asks, “Do I have to?”
My hand rubs down her side. “Yeah, I think you do.”
A “Fine” comes from deep within the pillow before she sits up.
Bellamy sits up, tucking her knees with her chin, her hair a wild halo around her. You can already see the anxiety washing over her as she considers her next words. She doesn’t meet my eyes at first instead, staring at the faint glow above my heart.
“I’m not worried about myself, Miles. But this is also new to me.
I’ve never had my life be this public. Sure, people have talked about me, but it’s never been accurate.
Now, with us, it feels like everything is changing faster than I can keep up.
Then you add in a glowing magical bond mark that is synced to my heartbeat? ”
I twist from side to side, looking down at the mark as it strobes faster. It really does match her and I like to think the moon represents me and the stars, her.
“If it helps, I love the magical glowing mark.”
Her head falls back as she groans loudly.
“Of course you do. Why am I not surprised? You do realize the crows are telling everyone about the puppy collar and Matilda is probably half way through anyone that hasn’t heard the crows.
Next thing we know is everyone’s going to act as if we have a registry at the WitchMart for our wedding gifts! ”
I can feel my eyes bulge. “What do you mean wedding gifts? What’s a WitchMart? Do you want a wedding? Wolves don’t normally do them but Silas, my old alpha, did one for his mate. So I don’t see…”
Bellamy puts a finger over my mouth, stopping my tangent. “Shh, Dog Boy. We don’t have to get married right away, but to answer your question, yes I do want a wedding. Obviously. You don’t get to mark me, claim me, and pretend that’s enough.”
“Alr—alright. Guess we will talk about that more later?”
“Yeah, later. Maybe after we figure out what’s going on with your mark.”
Bellamy leans back, crossing her arms over her chest, a scowl permanently in place. I can’t help but smile, it’s so adorable.
I clear my throat. “So step one is to chat with Mabel?”
She leans back, her gaze tracing the cracks in the ceiling. “Yeah, she’s the coven leader and lore keeper. If anyone would know why—“ she points a finger in the direction of the mark, “that ‘puppy collar’ as you like to call it, exists, it would be her.”
“Great,” I say as I shove off the couch. “We’ll go see her after a nice breakfast and definitely coffee.”
She narrows her eyes. “You actually plan to walk through town with the flashing neon sign on your chest? Aren’t you worried what people will say?”
I shake my head. “Bellamy, wolves love to show off our marks. Especially from our mates. So no, I’m not worried and neither should you be.”
She groans, dragging her hands down her face. “I’m never going to live this down.”
As if on cue, a crow swoops by my open window bellowing, “The puppy has a collar!” Right as Bellamy throws a pillow at it, missing largely by a mile.
I cover my mouth with my fist, hoping to stifle any laughter. But man, if looks could kill, that crow would be a fried bird by now.