(Amaia)

Rahria makes it through the balancing beam before her rivals. We cheer and clap until she jumps down and rushes to join us.

My heart swells seeing Kacir cheering her on.

"Good job." I give her a thumbs up and she smiles at me.

Mintaka has already turned and inserted his fingers between the planks, ready to start climbing.

The whistle sounds and Saiph’s sharp and deep voice comes.

"Guild Leo, start your ascend. One member at a time, but you can guide and help your guildmates."

Mintaka moves like a panther, agile and quick, he climbs the wall without difficulty

Kacir follows him and it doesn’t take him much time to climb. He stays at the top with Mintaka.

Rahria goes next and both boys extend their hands and effortlessly pull her upwards. Rahria and Kacir jump on the other side, while Mintaka remains on top.

"Come, Amaia," he ushers me. Alnitak holds me by the waist as if I were made of cotton and raises me up. I don’t even have to climb and Mintaka collects me, extending his strong arms downwards.

He pulls me up and helps me sit on the top of the wall.

Both of the other guilds are also climbing the wall now using their own strategies. Alnitak follows me, and within a few seconds, he is on the edge of the wall beside me.

Mintaka jumps down and lands on his feet like an agile wolf, followed by Alnitak, who plants himself just on the side of his brother.

He then straightens and faces me.

"Jump, I will catch you, my lassie." That sunshine smile he carries has my heart doing flip-flops in my chest.

With full faith and trust, I push myself off the wall and fly through the air. My breath is dislodged from my chest as I land myself in his outstretched arms and he catches me without breaking a sweat.

I cling to him, my heart pounding. The whistle blows from Saiph.

"Guild Leo wins. 25 points for them."

We erupt into celebration, jumping up and down in excitement. Kacir and Rahria hug each other. Mintaka raises his arms in triumph while Alnitak catches my beaming face in his hands and does the unthinkable.

He merges his lips onto mine, kissing me in front of everyone, staking his claim, showing others that I belonged to him.

"Whoa!" Mintaka calls out while others stare.

The murmurs reach my ears as he deepens the kiss, making sparks descend on me like a shower of rain.

"Are they mates?"

"Is he claiming her?"

The members of other guilds murmur while Kacir lets out a slow whistle.

"This is not a making-out session," Saiph grunts from behind us, and Alnitak slowly lets go of my lips.

The overflow of emotions, the exhilaration of the win and the suddenness of Alnitak’s actions make my head spin. I stagger on my feet, and a blackness covers my eyes; sunspots dance in my vision.

"Hey!" Alnitak’s strong arms prevent me from collapsing on the ground. My head keeps spinning as I hold it.

"Take her to the infirmary, it could be heatstroke," Saiph’s thick voice comes, and before I know it, Alnitak is lifting me in his strong arms and sprinting away from the training ground.

I can hear Mintaka’s heavy feet just beside me. "What’s wrong?" He asks, concerned.

I open my eyes and my gaze meets Alnitak’s blazing one. He appears pissed.

Oh no!

"I bloody know what’s wrong. Should I tell him?" He asks me not very kindly.

"It’s not because of that," I answer quietly, not wanting to anger him further.

"You very well know it’s because of that, Amaia. You lost so much blood in that dungeon that you needed a blood transfusion and now you are being reckless," he states, pissed off.

He does have a point but I can’t help myself when it comes to Rigel. The pain he carries, the one he doesn’t even share with me, propels me to even award him my heart if he needs it.

"Someone tell me what’s going on?" Mintaka asks again, a bit frustrated. His eyes waver between his brother and me.

"She let that bloodsucker feed on her," he says with such disgust that all the veins in his neck go taut.

Hatred radiates off him, making me wonder how I am going to get all of them to even get along.

"What? Why?" Mintaka’s questioning gaze swivels towards me.

"She is convinced he is her mate. Actually, one of her mates. He feels the mate bond, and she does to some extent, but not like the werewolves do" he distastefully explains to his brother while I hide away in his chest from embarrassment.

"That makes me wonder if I am her mate, too, because the mate bond doesn’t seem to work in the conventional sense for her."

Mintaka’s slight gasp comes. "Oh! That’s why you have been so clingy to her lately. I do wonder if it’s because of how rapidly our world is changing that we can’t even properly feel the mate bonds."

They are forming their theories relating to this but they don’t even know that I am cursed.

"We should ask someone instead of playing the guessing game. Someone who can guide us and has a deep knowledge about mate bonds," Mintaka suggests.

He makes a valid point. Maybe in that way, they would be able to identify the curse on me and figure out I am their mate.

"We are visiting the palace this week. Why not speak to Mama? I think she will quite like Amaia." Alnitak suggests to his brother and dread surrounds me like a choking blanket of smoke.

Not the queen. But at the same time, she is a powerful witch, and maybe she will be able to identify the curse on me.

"Yes, she is our best option because there has to be an explanation for this."

We arrive outside the infirmary and Mintaka opens the door so Alintak can carry me inside.

Larissa, TJ’s daughter, ushers the twins to put me on the bed.

"What’s wrong?" She asks as my eyes waver behind her to a vase where a single red rose rests, leaning against the glass wall.

A smile spreads on my lips seeing that.