Blood-Mage Hunters

Werewolf

Werewolves and mates. As cliché it sounded due to the overuse of the "werewolf and its fated mate" concept, mates really did exist; they just weren't what they were pictured to be. In most pieces of media or fiction, a werewolf's mate is another werewolf or being that had been destined to be with them since the beginning by some sort of divine being, an invisible force pulling them together by the strings of fate. However, that was pretty much bullshit. A werewolf was free to choose its own mate. When they met someone that they truly loved and wanted to spend the rest of their life with them, they could mark each other as their own, becoming the other's mate. The closest term it could be associated with would be marriage, but it was a little more than that. When a werewolf and another being decided to become mates, their souls entangled, becoming connected. They could feel what the other felt and a strong sense of longing always lingered in their hearts when they were away from each other.

That's why it seemed pretty reasonable that a werewolf went on a rampage when her mate had been killed. And that same mate was now crying in front of Reia and the other two, begging them to help her stop her fated lover from committing any other brutalities for her revenge.

"I've tried to stop her!" the ghost cried, her entire body shaking, "But she can't see me. No matter how hard I try to reach out to her, it's of no use. Sometimes it's as if she senses my presence near her, like my soul brushes against hers, but then it's gone and she goes back to killing. God, the way she... The way she ripped them apart -it's like it was no longer her!" she cried even harder, burying her pale face in her transparent, shaky hands.

Reia gently got up from his crouching position, looking down at the crying girl -who, on closer inspection, seemed to be around 20 something years old. "We're here to help," he said, the girl looking back up at him with glossy eyes. "Your souls are still connected, right?" he asked, the ghost slowly nodding her head in approval. "Then, you can still feel where she is at any given moment. Can you lead us to her?" Reia continued looking at her with a calm expression, waiting for an answer. The girl seemed to hesitate, obviously untrusting of their motives, scared that they might hurt her mate -even though she was responsible for 10 murders.

After a moment of silence, she also got up from where she was sitting, reluctantly nodding her head. "Ok," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Reia smiled at her reassuringly, understanding why she was cautious of them. I mean, for God's sake, the girl had been murdered and now her mate was going insane. That's a pretty good reason to feel pessimistic about life.

"Untie us, you fucking bastard!" Cyrus shouted, his voice beyond furious, making Reia lose his train of thoughts.

"What he said," Lucius mumbled under his breath, refraining himself from using any of the curse words that were brewing on the tip of his tongue, letting Cyrus express them for the both of them.

***********

"My name's Laila and my mate's name is Sam," the ghost answered their question, looking at the ground as she led them into the heart of the busy city, ignoring all the people passing right through her.

The three vampires and Laila had been walking for a few hours, the ghost leading them towards where she felt her mate. During that time, they were mostly silent, thinking about the weird and complicated situation, but, after two hours of awkward quietness had passed, Reia decided that he should try to spike up a conversation and perhaps try to find out more information.

"I died about a hundred years ago," she continued, feeling the question rising in Reia's head.

"Do you remember who killed you?" Lucius asked.

A brief moment of silence followed, Laila being deep in thought. "Not really... That memory is all fuzzy. I mean, I clearly wasn't expecting to die that day," she laughed a humorless laugh, her eyes being clouded with a sad look. "All I can remember is that they were a vampire. They came from behind me, sinking their teeth into my throat and ripping it apart. At least it was fast. All I felt was a sharp stinging pain that lasted for a mere second, then I felt a warm liquid flowing from my wounded neck. I gasped for air as they let me fall to the ground. And then... Nothing," she explained, putting a hand up to her now unwounded neck. Reia couldn't help but flinch at her words.