Chapter 218: Are You Ready?

**Alasia's POV:**

Why did I fall for this!? Why was I so gullible to fall for the fact that I thought my mate was gone?! I can not believe the pain and mental strain I put myself through! That was the hardest thing I have ever had to experience and here we are now, about to have my mate mark me! Here I was, lying underneath my mate while someone else was standing right next to us. Did he have to be here?! Did he know I was not clothed in anything, but with only one exception? I was covered by this thin cloth that Rameric was hovering over.

I closed my eyes, embarrassed about my condition as I tried to distract myself by thinking about something else. What was going to happen to me next? I tried to imagine what it was going to feel like when Rameric did do what he wanted. The thing I knew that he should have done all along. Should I wince when he does it, thinking I will somehow be in pain? Well, was it going to be painful at that?

I had never even known growing up that I was a Lycan. Not knowing there would be a need to be marked by my mate. Growing up, my mother never had the opportunity to tell me that *crucial* little detail either. Even when I saw her in my sleep dreams, she didn't get a chance to tell me about that, but she did tell me to trust him. She also told me that I would need Rameric and that he would need me as well. I had thought during the time I was in the cell, she might have had the opportunity to come to me, but she never did.

What was it going to be like? I was so weak on top of being even ashamed of myself for everything I did, and thought that I could have prevented myself from the pain of thinking I had killed my mate. What should I do after this is over? Should there be a point in trying to think about this further? For some reason, I was unable to get control over my thoughts. I didn't know what to think, how to feel, or even what I should do. They were just bouncing all over the place.

"Ala-sia," Rameric said slowly as he drew out my name when he spoke softly. He was using both of his hands, not just thumbs, to move my hair back by tucking it behind my ears when he spoke to me next. "Are you ready?"

"Am I ready? Am I ready for what?" I asked, still a bit confused. I had no idea what he was going to do or how he was going to mark me.

"Are you ready for me to mark you, my mate?" He asked me again this time.

I could not help it as I felt a shudder, or was it a chill that ran down my spine? He was still supporting himself on his knees, making sure not to hurt me as he hovered over my body. I was surprised he could handle being in that position for as long as he did. I know I would not be able to hold that position for as long as he did. There was no doubt that I was that strong! Then I thought about something for a moment.

"Is it going to hurt any at all?!" I asked before I realized I had asked it.

I was scared. I wasn't sure if he knew that, so I tried to turn my head to the side away from his glowing gaze staring right at me. However, he did let me look away from him. He even prevented my head from turning away from him too. I made sure to close my eyes, not wanting him to look into mine. That was when I felt him start to move his way up my body a little more. When I opened my eyes next, I found his face was now directly over mine instead of over my chest.

"There will be a slight pain, but, in the height of that pain, you will feel instant relief," he responded to me.

"That doesn't seem possible," I said, squinting my face as I looked back at him. I was no doubt confused about everything, about everything that was about to happen to me before I asked him, "How can you feel pain, then all of a sudden it vanishes, as if it was never there? That's not possible!"

"Do you know what the mark means, my mate?" He asked me as he stroked the side of my face with one hand. And with his other hand, he softly stroked the side of my hair.

Why was he being so nice to me? Well, he's always been nice to me, but the question I guess I was trying to ask myself was why now? Why did he care so much? To show all this kind treatment to me now. Why couldn't he have done this sooner? I can't express how upset I was. I knew in the back of my mind that I was the one that caused this situation. If only I had been stronger, I wouldn't be placed in this situation.

"Alasia, do you know what it means?" Rameric asked me again when I had yet to answer him due to being lost within my own thoughts.

I finally looked back at him and answered, "No."

Fear suddenly swept over me when I plainly said that one word. I closed my eyes again, fighting the tears threatening to fall as I tried not to look at him. He still refused to let go of the sides of my head. I could feel tears escaping as they ran free from my eyes as I continued thinking about everything so far.

After a moment of trying to compose myself, I finally opened them again. He was still looking at me, hovering over my face with a softened look as I said, "No, I don't exactly know what it means to be marked by my mate. I just know that I am supposed to be marked by my mate. I don't even know what is going to happen after that either."

I just watched him as his facial reaction changed before he said anything to me. I could feel a flutter in my chest when I stared deep into his glowing, dark yellowish eyes. You would have thought the winged moth was somehow caught in my chest at how he was staring at me.

"You know Rager and I know your wolf, Amora," Rameric started to say. "I will be the one to bite you, in your marking spot."

"Where is that exactly?" I asked, not sure I even had a 'marking spot'.

He moved one arm and gently touched me on the side of my neck right below my chin, but on the bone below. The tip of his finger touched the soft spot on the side of the bone. When his finger came in contact with my skin, it made me jump under the soft pressure of him touching that one spot!

"Wow," I said softly. "Now what?"

"Now I mark you," he said softly, moving his face directly over my 'marking spot'. "Remember, it will hurt slightly at first. But then, I will draw all of your pain away, and you will hurt no more! I will draw your pain into myself and you will feel my strength. We will be connected from that point on. Are you ready?!"

"Yes, I guess I don't have a choice but to be ready."

"Well, here we go!"