Sweet Maeve Mikaelson

Chapter 8 - An Unworthy Mate

Klaus rung Freya who agreed to come down to see her brother's mate earlier than originally planned. She was surprised to see Klaus initially calling her a week ago but quickly agreed to help Elijah after hearing him so distraught on the phone.

It broke her heart to hear him in so much pain over his mate.

After making new arrangements with Klaus, she rung Kol who decided he wanted to join the family gathering too. They were both planning on bringing their mates who would arrive later at the Mikaelson house as to not overwhelm the terrified girl.

Rebekah had been encouraging Maeve to engage with her over the last few days but to no avail. The girl would not even look at any of the art supplies Rebekah had brought over.

No sketching, no painting, nothing. It was back to square one.

Elijah had been coming more frequently to talk to Maeve each day, telling her all about his family and how Freya and Kol would be coming to stay. He had actually eaten dinner with her and Rebekah in Maeve's room which he was delighted about.

He and Rebekah would share stories from the past and they were growing closer and closer each day thanks to his little mate. Although they would constantly joke that Elijah was seeing Rebekah more than her own mate was. There was some truth to that.

The Mikaelsons had decided that Maeve had been cooped up inside her room for far too long and so Rebekah planned on showing her the gardens. Maeve was beginning to feel more comfortable again with her and she took the opportunity to take her hand and walk with her to the door.

It took Maeve a long time to trust Rebekah was leading her somewhere nice, understanding tone of voice rather than her words in English. Maeve was nervous and jumpy but ended up trusting Rebekah more than she had expected her to.

The first day, they walked to the balcony while Rebekah chatted on about the balls the Mikaelsons used to throw downstairs. When Klaus appeared, Maeve pulled on Rebekah's arm in terror, ready to go back. It was important to Rebekah that the girl trusted her so she listened to every signal that she gave as to not push her too far. They retired to her room again, not to leave for the rest of the day.

In the following mornings, Maeve ventured out further and further but she was always accompanied by Rebekah. By the middle of the week she had walked around the gardens with her and was feeling a lot more confident provided they didn't see either of the brothers.

It was so nice to be outside where Maeve felt her connection to nature really strengthen after centuries being fully disconnected. Her magic was stronger than ever and she used each day outside to become even more so by grounding herself in it.

No matter how comfortable she was getting, Maeve hadn't given up her plan to find Mikael. She had no idea where to start so she spent a lot of time thinking about where he could be and how she might find him. She even went as far as trying a locator spell at night but she didn't have any connection to make the link. It wasn't as though she could casually ask the Mikaelsons for blood.

Still, she stayed up at night practicing her magic so when the day inevitable came she would be ready and able to use it. Defence spells especially, but she practised the lot, knowing it would come in useful.

Guilt pained her because she felt like she was betraying Rebekah after all the kindness she had shown her by planning to leave. But every time Elijah came to talk, she reminded herself that if they were happy to fake a mate bond to manipulate her, she shouldn't be concerning herself with how Rebekah or any of them would feel as it wouldn't be a betrayal.

They marked themselves as her enemies first.

***

Maeve had never felt so disappointed in herself. She'd let her feelings and the fake mate bond get her in trouble.