The Devil's Cursed Witch

"Would you have liked it if I was your mate?"

Ember didn't know Morpheus was staring at her since she was looking at the scenery. "Definitely. If it were you, I wouldn't have to be so cautious all the time. With you, it would have been fun. We could fly anywhere, talking and laughing as we roamed around the various places."

"Then do you want to?" he asked, looking at her intently.

As if sensing the heat in his gaze, she turned to face him. "I want to but..."

"But?"

"If I become your mate, then I won't be the King's mate anymore, right?" she asked.

"Yes, you will only be mine," he said. His eyes showed that he was taking this conversation seriously, but this human failed to see that.

"Then, I cannot do it. I cannot leave him," she said and remembered the few good things among the many that made her wary of Draven.

If Ember were to be asked, the one thing she wanted the most at this moment was to show her gratitude for the man who gave her everything when she had nothing.

Draven Aramis was intimidating, and it was awkward to communicate with him. There were many things she didn't understand about him, but it was because of that that she wanted to not give up on understanding him.

She remembered how he took care of her when she was scared after using her powers. He made sure everything was available for her without asking anything in return. When she was being thrown out towards the human villages, it was Draven who allowed her to stay by making her his mate...his family.

Most importantly, he gave her something precious to her that she longed for all her life--a name. Not only did he give her a name, he also allowed her to use his surname.

Ember Aramis.

It was Draven who gave her a family and an identity.

How could she cruelly abandon him when she's not yet even put effort into knowing her mate?

"The King, he is my only family. Even if I feel scared of him now, it's because I do not understand him yet," she said wistfully. "I am alive because of him. I am here because of him. I met you because of him. He had given me more than anything I could ever wish for."

Morpheus stared at her for a while.

"You have fallen for him."

While immersed in her own thoughts, she didn't clearly hear what he had just said and looked at him. "Did you say something?"

'She says she is scared of him, but it's simply because she cannot understand her feelings for him. That dumb Dragon. He doesn't deserve her at all,' he thought and then answered her question, "I was wondering if you are sure that you don't want to be my mate."

"I already have a mate...he is my husband...I heard from my nanny that women who have more than one husband are considered bad women."

Morpheus chucked at her what she said. "That's a human concept. What's important is your own happiness. As long as there is consent, beast people can have more than one mate. It is not considered a bad thing here."

"Is it?" she asked curiously.

He nodded in response. "But...I will not share my mate with anyone. If you are mine, then only mine," he declared.

"I wish you to soon get your own mate as well," she said, wishing good for her friend.

Morpheus didn't comment on it and simply looked ahead. He used to believe he would not get any mate ever. In fact ,he didn't want to have one until...until this human stirred up his determination, but it was too late. She was now someone else's mate.

'I have brought her here so she can be away from that dimwitted Dragon till he calmed down, but here she is, determined to stir up another person as her next victim instead. How can someone like her exist--someone so innocent and ignorant, yet able to provoke storms wherever she goes? What did I do to deserve this ordeal?'

While Morpheus was busy dealing with his chaotic thoughts, Ember sneakily moved her hand and finally touched his wing, causing him to jerk away from her as if he was electrocuted. Out of pure instinct, that wing tightly wrapped around her and pulled her closer to him, causing her to receive a shock of her own.

"Morph!" she called out while being pressed against his body.

As soon as she met his eyes, she realized something was strange. His normally playful ash grey eyes were looking at her face with an intense heated gaze. It was the first time she felt scared of the way he looked at her and she was unable to form a coherent thought. He didn't look like the same Morpheus she had known till now.

She was only able to return to her senses when she heard him say in a low voice, "Didn't I tell you to not touch my wings?"

"I-I am sorry. I just want to--"

"Do not touch my wings if you don't want to be in trouble. I won't care if you are someone else's mate," he warned, each of his words making its way out of his gritted teeth.

Their faces were so close that Ember could feel his hot breath fanning against her cold skin. Her entire body was covered in goosebumps because of the way he looked at her. It was not anger, but there was something intense in the way he looked at her.

Her eyes widened as familiarity hit her. It was the same kind of look that Draven had in his eyes whenever they were close enough for his scent to make her lose her mind. Her heart skipped a beat at the way he looked at her.

"Morph?" she mumbled in a weak frightened voice, as her scared eyes continued to look into his intense ones, and found her heart beating faster.