CH 4

Nora She lay in her bed in her suite. Today was the anniversary of the day she’d changed her life; and she thought about how it had come about, all she’d done to try and change who she was from that girl to the woman that she was now. As she lay waiting for the moon to set and the agony that awaited her. It had taken all of her time at Rice University to come up with a plan that would see herself never scent like she had been marked and mated before; and to do that, she needed to have Jace’s venom removed from her body. The only problem with that was how to go about doing it. Three years of research into it and there had appeared to be no wolfen way to do it. She’d branched out wider into the witch’s world, both dark and light, to find out if there was a way, because she understood with an Alpha’s venom in her veins. She still smelled like a Luna-ranked wolf to all the wolves around her, and that unfortunately drew her unwanted attention at times from other male wolves outside of Silken Moon, her home pack. It had taken her a long time to find it, but during the year she had attained her Master’s in Engineering, she had finally found a way to rid the Alpha venom from her body. There were a few highly skilled dark witches out there that would do the job for a price. She’d been told it would be painful and had to happen on a new moon when she and her wolf were at their weakest. That it also had to happen on the day that her marking and mating occurred or on the day the rejection had taken place, otherwise it wouldn’t be truly complete and there would be ramifications. She’d given both those dates to the witch; her name was Caliver, she was born dark but lived in the grey zone of light and dark magic, dabbled in both according to her needs. Caliver had run the dates through a moon phase program used by all witches. Then she had told her, “Unfortunately, Nora, your Marking Day of the 2nd of February 2007, has no new moons fall up it until the year of 2060. Do you want to wait 50 years to achieve this goal?” “No,” had been Nora’s answer. “Tell me your rejection date,” Caliver had asked. “June 1st, 2007,” she’d answered. “Hmm, your bond didn’t last long, I see. Give me a moment to check it… Hmm, again the same issue, the year 2026 is going to be the new moon that falls upon your rejection date. Do you want to wait 19 years to achieve this goal?” Caliver asked again. “No, is there anything you can do, Caliver?” Nora had asked hopefully, “I’d really like to get rid of it as soon as possible.” “There are always ways around things in our world, but this particular thing… would come with residual side effects, which will continue to happen every year on either the marking or rejection day. Until the day it falls on a new moon, and then it will resolve on that day.” “Residual side effects?” Nora asked, now a little concerned. “Pain is what you'll feel. Specifically, it will be the same pain you will feel the day I remove the venom from you. You will then continue to feel that every year, until there is a new moon that sets on your rejection date, so the first of June every year. A blindingly agonizingly painful moment for years to come until that new moon falls on the same date as your rejection. "Which for you is luckier than others, seeing as it’s one minute of pain for every full moon that set while you were bonded to your Mate, and from what I am seeing, that was just 5 full moons you were bonded, so 5 minutes of pain once a year. Up until the day the new moon falls upon the date of either your marking or rejection, depending on which you chose to do the ritual on. “Do you still want to go through with it? If so, it’ll be best to find a new moon date as close as possible, preferably a day either side of your marking or rejection having taken place, because for every day away from that new moon, the pain is double in length. I did note a few next to the dates given.” She’d not even thought about it, she could accept five minutes of agonizing pain once a year for however long it took for that moment to fall on a new moon. “Yes, I still want it gone from me.” Nora had told her, “How soon can it be done?” “One moment while I get the best dates for you,” Caliver had stated simply. There had been a five-minute pause and then Caliver stated, “You have the option for your Marking date. The closest is the 3rd of February 2011. After that you’ll have to wait until the 1st of February 2022. "As for your rejection date, the closest to it is 2nd of June 2011, or wait until it falls on your actual rejection day of 1 June in 2026 as I previously mentioned, that last one will see no residual pain at all.” “2011 it is, which is best, the marking or rejection anniversary?” Nora had asked right back. “The rejection date is always preferred, makes it easier to pull the venom from you because that was the day you wanted to rid yourself of the mate bond,” Caliver had answered. “Then the 2nd of June 2011 it is,” Nora had told her, the sooner the better was all she cared about. “I’ll need payment six months in advance, and I will keep the venom as well,” Caliver replied simply. “I don’t need it.” Nora shrugged uncaringly. “You really need to think about that carefully. I could use that venom against the one it’s from,” Caliver warned her. “Do as you please with it, Caliver.” Nora stated she didn’t care what Caliver did with it as long as it was gone from her for good, and she’d never have to scent like a Luna ever again. “Send me the details of where I need to be and any preparations, I must make beforehand.” “Alright, there are no refunds, just so you know. It, as I've mentioned, will not be painless, agony is what awaits one such as yourself. It could also take the entire new moon phase to pull that venom from you. This is the only warning you’ll get before the payment is due. Do you still want to accept the deal?” Caliver asked. “Yes,” Nora answered with a sound resolve. “I’ll draw up the contract, courier it to you, and you'll not only sign your name to it, but you will drop a single drop of your own blood next to your name and then press your finger onto that blood, leaving a bloodied fingerprint as proof the contract is bound by your blood, that will be watched by the courier, they'll be of the coven. It will be binding, from that moment onwards,” Caliver stated. She was all business now. “I understand,” Nora had replied, and she did understand. She'd already done the math from 2011 to 2026. That was 15 years of blinding pain for five minutes on the 1st of June every year. She'd then just had to wait until the year 2011 to be free of Jace completely. She’d told Rosa she would find a way, and although it had taken many years of research. That date was only a year away from making the deal. 15 years was nothing to them, a minuscule part of their lifetime. 15 years, where just one day each year, on the anniversary of her rejection, she would suffer the pain of that venom being removed from her once more. It was just five minutes, because she’d been bound to him for the five full moons. Even though she’d rejected him on a full moon, it had set before she’d done so, so that last full moon counted as well. She could do that to gain her freedom from Jace completely; it was worth it in her eyes. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to rid herself and Rosa of his Venom. She marked the day in her calendar and smiled. “Just one more year, Rosa, and we’ll be completely free of him,” she’d told her wolf. “That will be nice,” Rosa had responded. They were not going to be bound to that man in any way at all, and without his venom in her, she knew that he likely wouldn’t recognize her at all. Because to him, she would naturally smell like a Luna Ranked wolf, and he’d be able to scent his own venom in her, likely something he was counting on, out in the open to find her. But no more would that be her scent. He would still recognize her if he looked right at her, but she knew wolves often smelled those around them before looking at them out in public. The moment that venom was out of her and Rosa, she was going to start the next phase of her plan to remove her mark scars from her, to not have anything at all left over where he was concerned, but that had to wait until after the removal of his venom. She’d wanted to do it prior and messaged Caliver only to have her tell her no, that was where the venom was pulled from. She didn’t think it would be that hard to remove her marking scar, they just looked like two circular scars just above her collar bone, and any decent plastic surgeon could resolve that, or at least she was hoping so. She’d have to wait and see if they would reappear after being removed. She didn’t think so, but there was nothing on that in any of the research she'd done. It seemed no one had attempted it or none recorded their attempt at it, if they had tried it. Probably thought it was a waste of time when the venom in one could always be scented, so what really was the point? She supposed, but she was determined to rid herself of everything about that ex-Mate of hers. But she would find out in just a year’s time, she could wait that long. She, personally, simply didn’t look at the scars above her collarbone anymore, and she wore shirts or dresses that covered the marks. They were easy to hide from everyone, even herself and Rosa.