Chapter 86: Tomorrow is another day
The words hung in the air between them, and Kurt felt the weight of them settle over him. His heart beat erratically, the pull toward Elle still strong within him, but now tempered with a sense of resignation and patience. He would wait. But it didn’t make the fear any easier to bear.
“Thank you,” Kurt said quietly, the doubt still lingering but tempered by the shaman’s wisdom.
The shaman nodded, a silent acknowledgment of the young man’s struggle. “You are welcome. Now, you must rest. Tomorrow is another day—and soon, you will see if Elle is ready to claim you, or if you must wait for her to come to that decision.”
As the shaman turned to leave, Kurt remained seated, staring at the door long after it had closed behind him. The bond was there, inevitable, but the future with Elle—how it would unfold—was still uncertain. All he could do now was wait.
The shaman moved through the dimly lit corridors of the palace, his steps heavy, the weight of his exhaustion settling deeper with each passing moment. The ritual he had just completed had drained much of his strength, but there was something more pressing on his mind—a truth he hadn’t shared with anyone. He had cast the fated mate spell on Kurt without hesitation, but when it came to Elle, his energy faltered, and with it, the magic he placed on her was not as strong.
He stopped for a moment outside his chambers, rubbing his temples in frustration. The spell he had used on Elle wasn’t the true fated mate spell that bound two souls irrevocably together. It couldn’t be—not when he was so fatigued. He had had no choice but to place something easier, something that wouldn’t require as much of his already strained energy. But it was not a spell that would bind Elle to Kurt with the same force and certainty as the one on Kurt himself.
What he had placed on her was a simpler spell, one that made her fate connected to the first person to touch her. Whoever that person was would, in essence, become her "fated mate" in her mind, though it wasn’t truly the same as the bond Kurt now felt. The flaw in this magic was that it wasn’t permanent in the way a true fated mate spell was; it was weak, temporary, and required immediate action to solidify it. The two individuals would need to claim each other right away for the bond to hold. Without that immediate claim, the spell would dissipate and fade, leaving no lasting connection between them.
The spell was not meant for fated mates, but rather for two people who were not destined to be together but desired to bond. It was often used by couples who were already in love but wished to make their union permanent—an act that required both parties to choose each other, to take that step to bind themselves irrevocably.
It was a spell designed for people who could choose their fate, not have it forced upon them. And because of that, the bond was fragile, easily undone if either person hesitated, if they didn’t claim the other immediately. Elle would feel the pull, of course—just as Kurt would—but the spell was weak and temporary, not nearly as strong or as absolute as the one Kurt had been given.
The shaman had done what he could in that moment of desperation, but he feared the consequences. If Elle did not immediately respond to Kurt, if she did not claim him back and solidify the bond with her own acceptance, the spell would simply fade away. She could resist it, push it aside, and the bond between them would unravel. The connection would remain there, but it wouldn’t be the deep, eternal bond that Kurt would feel—it would be something much more fleeting.
The problem was, with the political machinations of the kingdom pressing them both, the clock was ticking. The Lycan King needed them to be together, needed Elle to accept her role. But what if she didn't? What if Kurt’s bond wasn’t enough to make her claim him, to force her to accept the connection?
The shaman let out a deep sigh as he entered his quarters, leaning heavily against the door. He had done what was needed, but now it was in their hands. Kurt would feel the bond, would try to claim her, and Elle would either accept it or reject it. The strength of the bond would be tested, but the shaman knew: if Elle hesitated, if she was not ready to claim Kurt, the spell would falter.
And with that uncertainty hanging in the air, the future between them all remained unsure. The fated bond was never a guarantee, and with a spell as weak as the one he had placed on Elle, there was no telling what would happen.