Fifty six

OLAMIDE

A knock on the door was enough to cause me to freeze for a minute. Jason's weight was on me, hugging tight when another knock followed.

"Jason, Axel is awake," Pearl informed. I couldn't even breathe out of fear that she would walk in on us. Shit, I whispered to myself as Jason roused in the loudest way possible.

"Coming," He muttered in a baritone voice that suggested he had been asleep all the while he rested on my breast. I thought it was an after sex act. Turned out the bastard had used my breast as makeshift pillows. As he rolled to his feet, Jason pulled me along with him. It was all so sudden and quick that I didn't even have time to react when he took my mouth in a slow, long, and hungry kiss. I froze when he broke the kiss and proceeded to get dressed. I stood there red as a beetroot although he probably couldn't tell with that mental block and melanin protecting my forbidden desires and cruel body chemistry respectively. The moment sanity returned, I was sure I was going to hate myself. But it was the opposite rather. I enjoyed having sex with Jason. I enjoyed having sex with the man who turned my life upside down and practically took my freedom. It was unfathomable. It was sick in fact.

"You should get a shower," Jason suggested as he jumped into his clothes. "Pearl won't stop teasing you if she can smell me on you."

I was repulsed. Not because of the way he said it but because I realized Jason hadn't used any protection. Neither had I asked. "Sure..." I managed, cringing when he rewarded my awkwardness with a charming smile before he walked out of the door.

"Don't tell me the post-sex blues have gotten to you already?" A snarky female mocked causing me to jump to my feet in all my naked glory.

"Candice!" I hissed. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

The near translucent pale witch ran her finger on the moist table Jason and I had performed the act on and laughed. "You shouldn't hate yourself. Even if you didn't want to have sex with him, the heat would have gotten to you anyway."

The heat? Axel had mentioned something about that when he told me about the love bite. I caressed the nape of my neck as I pondered on Candice's words. Was that why I liked it? Was it all because I had given Jason the chance to mark me? "What do you want?" I demanded. "Is this about Sofiane, my brother, or your undying urge to get revenge?"

Candice simply ignored my querying and continued to educate me on the 'heat'. "You see the ritual is creeping closer. This is just a taste of the bout of ecstasy to come. Soon enough, you would barely be able to refuse his touch. In days to come, you will long for his attention and the sex, it will be electrifying."

I scrambled over for my bra and looked Candice square in the face. "You expect me to believe that is why you are here."

"Of course not," The witch chuckled. "But it does concern the ritual and your secrets."

"Care to expound?"

"The ritual is what makes shifters one with their significant other and for a mate to become one with their mate, they have to be naked." Naked? What did she mean by that? I was going to cut in but Candice could already register that I was clueless. So she raised a finger to quiet my incessant interruption as she continued. "You have skin Olamide and by that, I mean you have secrets. Many skeletons. Except you tell Jason right now that you share a telepathic connection with an enemy Alpha, share a body with a witch he despises and murdered in the past, this coming mating ritual is sure to go down in flames."

I didn't quite understand what Candice rambling was about. I could keep the mind block if necessary. Unless she was suggesting that the heat would mess with my rationality. I didn't see how things could go south even with the mating ritual.

"I'm not stupid Candice," I mouthed. "I can keep a mind block shield. As much as I hate to say this, your existence will continue to remain a secret until Sofiane can figure out a way to get you out of my body."

"That is not it." Candice retorted. "It doesn't matter if you are an expert in keeping a mind block. The moment you had Jason have sex under the watchful gaze of the goddess, all secrets will be shattered. Your minds will meld. That is what being one means. You'll be entirely naked to him. He'll know you for you are and that includes the secrets that you keep."

My eyes darted towards Candice. She could not be serious. The fact she seemed to be amused by my reaction bothered me even more. She found this funny? How could she find this hilarious? I slipped into my jeans and shirt before confronting the maniacal witch. "What is so funny Candice? You could literally die if Jason finds out about you."

"We." Candice corrected, sinking into one of the kitchen's side chairs. " We could literally die if Jason finds out about me. Jason might be fascinated by you but trust me, there is nothing stronger than that Alpha's hate. But, none of this would have happened if you had just done as I demanded of you in the first place."

"You mean killing him? You weren't innocent. You deserved what happened to you. You should be grateful for this second chance Candice. Not everyone gets it and all I have done so far was for my survival."

"Your brother got a second chance too. He's probably somewhere in the crevices of this godforsaken town draining the life of an innocent human." Her words struck a nerve. It was a miracle I managed to keep myself still. Even if I couldn't, what good could lashing at her do? I would probably go right through her. "You know, if you are going to continue to look for him, you should prepare your heart. Your brother might not be the sweet innocent boy you once knew. The curse of hunger does things to people. It changes them."

"Shut up!" I muttered.

"Also, telling yourself you let Jason mark and bang you for survival is a bloody lie." Of course, as she didn't shut up. Candice seemed to have developed a side hustle for belittling me and God did she enjoy it. "We both know you are already humanizing him. After all, he's just like you. A broken boy who lost everything. A man who is so afraid to have his heart broken again that he chose to enslave an entire population with the help of his accursed brother. Attachment knocked on the door and you let it in. It has blossomed to passion and it will fester to affection but that is none of my concern. My motives have changed but I might not see the light of day if I don't help your pathetic human ass."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

Candice smiled. "It's time we made use of the stolen bits of my family's grimoire."