My Long Lost Mate - Chapter 164

Andrew stepped forward and hid me behind him, his eyes shooting daggers at the animals. It was the ultimate fight between werewolves and the king of the jungle.

There were all kinds of animals you’d expect to see in a jungle, except they looked much, much fiercer than the ones you’d see in a storybook. Perhaps because most of the animals in fairy tales are cursed by a witch and are actually princes from other countries. These ones are not.

A few animals’ mouths watered at the sight of us, as if we were a scrumptious meal ready to be eaten. Little did they know that it could most likely be the other way around.

“Let me show you who’s the king,” Andrew said, puffing out his chest towards the few lions and tigers before him. “It’s time to show the power of the second strongest werewolf alive.”

Hearing it, Jack cleared his throat, reminding him that he was here. “Third strongest.”

“That’s you,” Andrew winked, poking a finger into Jack’s chest. Jack immediately swatted his finger away. “Let me show you the power of the second and third strongest werewolves alive.”

Though Jack still didn’t like the order, he didn’t want to bother arguing with him when he himself already knew the truth about who actually was the second strongest—him. Obviously, Andrew didn’t think the same.

Before either of them could prepare themselves, a lion jumped and lunged at Andrew, tackling him to the ground. Seeing the opportunity, the other animals also lunged forward, marking their targets.

One of the lions in the group eyed me, snarling and baring its teeth hungrily. I hurriedly picked up a tree trunk on the ground and used it as my weapon. The lion jumped forward, ready to claw into me, as I picked up my weapon.

I froze for a moment when I saw the lion flying through the air, tightening my grip on my weapon. But then I saw another lion flying towards it and colliding with each other.

“Very impatient, aren’t you?” I heard Andrew say, brushing off his shoulders. He stood up and cracked his knuckles, warming up his body. “I guess it’s very hard to resist my charm. I’m almost irresistible.”

“Bullshit,” Jack spitted out, kicking a smaller lion angrily. It seemed that Andrew’s words had unintentionally riled him up. Baring his own teeth and claws, he walked towards the group of animals fearlessly, his eyes a brighter shade of blue.

Maggie, who had been quietly watching the scene unfold, whispered to Coco, and all of a sudden, Coco grew ten times larger. Upon seeing the tiny Coco turned into a giant, Andrew stopped wondering why his fluffy punch felt like he was punched by a real bear.

“Let’s go,” Maggie said to me, turning to the cave. Without waiting for my answer, she walked inside, leaving Coco with the two werewolves to deal with the hungry animals—who were starting to rethink their decision to go after us.

Seeing that I couldn’t even give them the help they didn’t need, I decided to go with Maggie to look for the gate to Larion. They quickly gave me a nod and a thumbs-up when I told them I’d be going in first, so as to not waste any more time.

Not long after I stepped into the cave, everything around me turned pitch black, and I was having a hard time seeing what was in front of me. The place was completely deprived of sound, and not even the growls and snarls from outside could be heard.

“Maggie?” I called for her, not knowing where she was. “Are you here?”

“What?” She snapped, and it turned out she had been standing right beside me the whole time. I jumped a little at how close she was to me, not noticing her presence beside me until now. “How come you still can’t use your magic? Make it brighter.”

Is she saying to make some lights with magic? I can’t even move a pencil with magic, so how am I supposed to do that?

“How?” I asked, and I could almost see her making faces at me. Wait—do I have to pay to ask her questions?

“With magic,” she replied nonchalantly, and I frowned. Perhaps sensing my disappointment, she added, “Your magic will listen to your wishes, but you must first accept them as your own. Be one with your magic.”

Accept them as my own? What does she mean by that? Haven’t I done that already? Isn’t it enough that I’ve accepted the fact that I’m a witch?

“But I already accepted them as my own,” I said, and I could hear her chuckle.

“Have you, really?” She asked, making me question myself. “Even I could tell that you and your magic weren’t one. A part of you still wishes you weren’t a witch, right?”

I stopped.

Is there still a part of me that wishes I wasn’t a witch? Why would I wish to remain the same powerless, weak human? I will have unlimited power with magic, and I will be able to accomplish things that I would never be able to do without it. So why would I?

Perhaps, fear.

I’m afraid of what this newfound power will do to me, afraid of what people will think of me, and afraid of what I will be able to do.

Despite the fact that I was still far from being a powerful witch, the thought of having unlimited power with this magic frightened me. What if, as I grew stronger, I turned into my father, who abused people with his power? What if I turned into the monster that he is?

It was unavoidable that I would need to be stronger in order to survive and help others, but what would I do if these compassionate reasons to get stronger eventually turned into greed over time? Then I’d undeniably bring more doom to the world, no?

And… if it weren’t for the fact that I’m a witch, Luke wouldn’t have to worry about his people rejecting me as their Luna, would he? I mean, I don’t even know if they’d accept me as their Luna even as a normal human, and now that I’m a white witch, it would only add to the possibility of being rejected, wouldn’t it?

He never told me this directly, but I knew that it was somewhere on his mind.

“So I’m right,” Maggie snorted, taking my silence as a confirmation of her question. “Magic is everything to a witch, so don’t expect to be able to use it properly if you haven’t fully accepted it as your own. It would be like trying to fit into someone else’s corset, which would be either too loose or too suffocating.”

Am I too much of a coward?

I haven’t even gotten started, and yet, I’m already scared of it. How am I supposed to walk forward if I’m being this way? Is it even right for me to be like this? Then what’s the reason of me being born a witch? To cower in fear?

I’ve spent my entire life wasting my time doing nothing. Do I want to keep living that way just because I’m afraid of what’s to come?

Though all I’ve been doing with my magic is harming people, this would not be the case if I could gain control of it and be one with it. I have to remember that as long as you use it for good, magic is good.

If I’m afraid that I won’t be accepted by others, all I have to do is show them that I can be useful to them rather than a burden, right? I can show them that not all witches are bad and that there will always be two sides to a coin.

If I have the power to change for the better, why hesitate?

“Well, maybe our little trip to the land of magic will help you get to know magic better,” she said, rummaging through her bag. I could hear bottles clinking against each other inside her bag, and the sound died down when she finally pulled out what she was looking for.

I sensed her shaking something in her hand, and all of a sudden, a bright blue light illuminated the dark space we were in. The sudden light blinded my eyes for a brief moment, and it took some time for my eyes to adjust to the change in light.

The light, it turned out, came from the bottle Maggie was holding, which contained a potion that would emit a bright light when shaken. It appeared to be a fairly ordinary potion, but with a little bit of spice.

Why did she ask me to make some light with my magic when she had to use a potion to do it herself? Though I wanted to ask, the question immediately left my mind when I noticed hundreds—no, thousands—of pairs of eyes staring down at us from above.