The mate finding spell business - book 1

OKSANA’S POV

Dima didn’t want to respect the human tradition of sleeping the night separately before the wedding, so the pair had an exceptionally peaceful sleep and almost delayed the whole thing. Instead of getting up at six a.m. like planned, they were woken by Zainab at nearly eight o’clock.

There went their time to get ready unrushed.

Dima barely had time to get his shoes on before Angus threw him out of the house with his things. Oksana hadn’t even gotten her morning kiss before her father took him away.

Zainab rushed her to the bathroom and left her a plate with dry toast and a cup of coffee with milk before she set a thirty minutes timer.

Meanwhile, while she showered and got dressed, Oksana’s room got invaded by hair stylists, makeup artists, her grandmothers, sisters, mother, Dima’s only female cousin, and mother-in-law. The spa experience she was going to have at seven a.m. had to be canceled due to them sleeping in, but the ladies still spared some time and came to her house instead. They were nice people.

“Oksana, honey, when you finish your bath, put on the robe and unlock the bathroom door for the spa ladies,” Ivy told her through the bathroom door.

“Alright, grandma. Give me fifteen seconds.” She answered and got out of the tube. She had already eaten the breakfast Zainab left her and socked in the bath for seventeen minutes, so she hurried out before she started to get her fingers all wrinkled.

Inside that bathroom, she went through a radical change, from getting waxed to cutting her hair and having her nails and toes done. It took almost three hours for all that, and there was still a lot to do.

And while that was happening to Oksana, Dima was inside his cousin’s room in the inn getting ready with his cousins and Malius, a friend of theirs that Kojo had found as a kid, raised and taken under his protection a couple of decades ago.

DIMA’S POV

At eleven a.m. Dima was at Nebrura’s great gardens, Elspeth, Angus, Malius, and his cousins at his side, helping oversee the final arrangements for the ceremony and greeting guests.

“Oh, dear, Angus?” A plump little old lady called for Angus, rushing towards him in small but fast and hurried steps.

“Mrs. Margareth? What are you rushing for? The wedding is at noon. There’s still an hour before you’re late. There’s no need to rush.” Angus assured the old lady and met her halfway.

“Oh, dear, I wanted to play the piano during Oksana’s wedding, and your girls granted me permission. It was going to be a surprise to your sweet daughter, but I have no way to bring my piano!” The poor lady anxiously cried. “Can you have someone help me bring my piano, please?” She pleaded, and Dima immediately stepped forward.

“Mrs. Margareth, I am Oksana’s fiance, Dima. If you show me where your piano is, I could bring it over with my cousins’ help.” The little woman’s eyes widened in glee behind her thick glasses, and she immediately grabbed his hand.

“Oh, god bless your soul! You really deserve our little Oksana. Thank you so much, dear!” Dima chuckled at the lady’s reaction and let the old miss drag him away.

“Kojo, Kato, Malius, two of you come with me, the other stays to help!” Dima ordered and saw the three arguing before Kato pointed at someone coming, and the three rushed towards him.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen, Dima. Mom is coming, and she brought the killer with her. You are staying here, and we will help this nice lady. After all, it’s your job to greet the guests since it’s your wedding.” Kato quickly reasoned with him, and the three left with Mrs. Margareth.

“Oh, my... Is he really a killer?” Dima heard Mrs. Margareth whisper to Kato, who was allowing the lady to lead him by his arm.

Dima turned his back on his cousins and went up to his aunt Soraia, meeting her halfway in case her husband caught wind of Kato’s scent and tried to kill him again.

“Aunt, didn’t I ask you to leave him behind in The Den of the Weird? I will kill him if he causes trouble during my wedding.” Dima warned his aunt. He had already asked her that during a phone call, and the woman had agreed, but now here he is, his uncle was here, looking as much like a bastard as he truly is.

“Oh, believ-” His aunt started saying, but her mate interrupted her.

“Is that how you greet your uncles?” His uncle Brutus snapped at him half aggressively. Dima glared at the man, and Mato showed himself, making Dima’s eyes flash.

“As I was saying, he was supposed to stay behind, but in the last second, he decided to tag along, and I didn’t manage to get rid of him.” By hearing how harshly his aunt talked, everyone could see how strained their relationship truly was, but the glare she sent Brutus would cement everyone’s doubts.

“I’m warning you now before my mate arrives, you cause any trouble, and I will kill you.” Brutus knew Dima was serious, but he chose to roll his eyes and drag his mate to a café across the street.

“We’ll be back soon,” Was all the man said.

Shortly after that, Dima returned to his spot greeting guests. Axton and Kaavy arrived not long after that, Akir and Dania with them, and they rehearsed with the kids one more time before the wedding.

The priest arrived a quarter to noon, and at the same time, Mrs. Bethany and Dima’s cousins reached with the piano, and Gaivano, Dima’s best friend, appeared running out of a taxi.

“Geesh, dude, you came to the ends of the world! I was afraid of not making it on time.” The man panted, and Dima grinned at him.

“You dramatic fool, it’s not like the Den of the Weird is any better than Nebrura!” Dima exclaimed, and they did a bro hug while laughing.

“Dima, go get in position and take your friends with you. The guests are almost all here, and Zainab warned me Oksana is on the way,” Angus told him quickly and left towards the garden’s café a bit more than a hundred meters away from the big gazebo where he would be waiting for his mate.

“Who was that man? He seemed stressed and reeked of nerves.” Gaivano asked Dima, following the groom to the gazebo.

“That was my father-in-law, and as you can see, we’re not following normal tradition. We will be waiting for the girls to arrive, but you guys will not walk down the aisle with them. Angus was too paranoic with you buffoon’s around his daughters, so you will be by my side, waiting.” Dima explained and signaled his cousins and Malius to join him up front, as well as Kaavy and Axton, who were chosen as groomsmen to make them participate more actively in the wedding and to repay them for the date favor.

The guests, seeing the groom and the groomsmen walking down the aisle and to the gazebo looked down at their watches to check the time and went to take their sits.

Mrs. Bethany, Mrs. Maragareth’s sister, who was on the lookout for the car that transported the bride to warn her sister to begin playing, suddenly spotted the chic limousine coming and started waving her arms in the air to warn the others.

“She’s coming!” The tiny old lady yelled to her sister.

Just then, Erlik teleported his wife and son to the wedding, along with a few other demons serving as bodyguards, and they barely avoided landing on tiny Mrs. Bethany.

“Eek!” The lady exclaimed when she turned around and found those weird and dark figures right behind her. “You are almost late! Go take your sits, quickly! The bride is right around the corner.” She warned them and ushered them towards Elspeth, who was on her way to take her spot near the café to join her granddaughter upon arrival.

“Dad, mom, Arioche, you made it!” Elspeth cheerfully greeted them, giving them a quick hug and kiss on their cheeks before guiding them to their sits. “I’m sorry for rushing you, but Oksana asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, and I have to go to the garden’s café to join her.”

Erlik sweetly caressed his daughter’s face and allowed her to go, giving orders to his demons to be on the watch and for Vinico to take care of his girls.

The demons concealed themself all around the wedding venue, and Viriato followed Elspeth. They arrived just as the limousine’s door was opened by Angus, and Zainab was the first to get out.

Viriato had a feeling something big would happen today, and his gut had never failed him before. He stood guard over his boss’s daughter and her descendants, making sure nothing and no one dared to attack them, but he concealed himself to be invisible to the eyes of the enemies. All was well until a little girl got out of the car with the bride.

OKSANA’S POV

Dania had dirtied her dress while rehearsing with their brothers, so their grandma Elspeth had flown her on her broom with their grandpa Douglas back to the house. Their mother was already counting on it happening, so she had reserved Dania’s dress, and as soon as the little girl arrived, she went to change her.

It happened so fast that it still seemed surreal to Oksana. In just a short space of time, she would be married to her soul mate. She ‘gracefully’ pilled inside the limousine with her sisters, mother, mother-in-law, grandma, and Dima’s cousin, Keysha, with who she had bonded strongly and found a good friend, and they drove off to Nebrura’s great gardens, where Dima was waiting for her.

The trip seemed like it only took seconds. The atmosphere inside the car was lively and joyous, with everyone freely laughing and joking around. Jamila and Keysha had hit off as well, bickering and gossiping like there was no tomorrow, and always trying to include her. Oksana found Keysha’s childhood story’s about her summers spent with Dima and her brothers to be a funny delight. She was so engrossed in the memory her friend was recounting that she didn’t even notice they had arrived until her father opened the limousine’s door and her mother stepped out of the vehicle.

Oksana and Dania were the last ones out of the car.

Keysha’s lively yellow dress and Jamila’s attractive plum red dress were the centers of all attention of the guests until Oksana stepped out of the limousine in her simple white off-the-shoulder dress with the diamond band around her waist and her newly cut hair covered in a beautiful half-length veil.

Oksana and Dania’s view was obstructed by all the other women who had stepped off the limousine with them, but when the path was cleared for the bridesmaids to start lining up and allow Angus to reach his daughter, Oksana witnessed her little sister Dania, who had been holding her hand, go suddenly still and start glowing.

Dania had found Viriato’s concealed form and locked eyes with the burly demon. To the child, everything seemed to have vanished, and the man was the only thing she could see. Ivy, Zainab, and the rest of the family watched the event unfold with knowing eyes while Angus was silently stunned and suffering from chest pains.

Dania’s eyes turned white, the crescent moon mark on her forehead glowed with the goddess’s blessing, and the silver whitish aura that normally surrounded her expanded and started glowing brightly, turning visible to the humans’ eyes.

“I bind you to me with no curse, no thoughts, no remorses, forever mine like I am forever yours. May you cherish my soul for mine was gifted to you by my goddess’s loving hands.” The little girl chanted steadily and strongly, allowing her words to reach Viriato and to be carried all the way to the shocked guest and shifters waiting at the end of the aisle.

The scene seemed to have been taken out of a movie. With each word from Dania’s mouth, Viriato’s form became visible again, allowing everyone to gape at the 5′9ft (roughly 1.80m tall) burly man.

Angus had passed out holding his chest when Dania started chanting, but he only stayed down for time enough for her to finish her chant, for as soon as she began regaining control over her body, he was up and smoking in anger.

“HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!?” Both Angus and Erlik yelled at the same time and lighted up on fire, attacking Viriato with their flames and almost burning the shell-shocked demon who barely had time to shield himself.

“Um? Sana, Jam, why is dad trying to fry the handsome man?” Dania asked her sisters after rubbing her eyes with her fists, waking up from her trance.

Both sisters were still shocked, never having expected the first of the five goddess-blessed siblings to find their other half would be Dania.

“Aha... Dad had a stroke when he caught you staring at the man, and now he’s trying to roost him.” Jamila half-heartedly explained with an amused look on her face but a pained glint in her eyes.

“Um hum.” Dania hummed for a second while observing the handsome man she had bonded to herself teleport out of her father and another man’s ranging shot and made the balls of fire they trowed at him disappear in thin air before they could touch the people frozen in their spots.

The sisters were at loss about what to do, still fuzzy-headed from what they just witnessed and experienced, and instead of trying to stop the craziness from happening, they observed the man Dania was bound to.

The man had curly dark hair, its shade between dark brown and black, his skin was tanned from years in the sun, it seemed, his eyes were dark brown, his jaw extremely sharp and covered in stubble, and his face was rugged. He was covered in scars from what seemed like knives and, or sharp blades, obvious to the girls that he had to be or have been some kind of warrior, and he was very skilled at dodging every attack thrown at him by both men.

“Daddy, Weird Man, that’s enough of roosting Mr. Handsome!” Dania shouted at the top of her lungs when Angus’s whole body was on fire, and the unknown man was holding dark shadowed magic ready to throw at the handsome man. She ran between the attacking men and stood protectively in front of Viriato, but the two men hadn’t heard her and continued their attack, much to everyone’s horror.

Viriato didn’t know what to do when the little girl threw herself in front of him. He didn’t have the time to try to dodge or block the attacks before they hit him and the child, so he chose to protect the idiotic fearless kid, and in a swift move, he bent down, hugging her tight against his body and shielded her from the attacks, turning his back on his two assailants.

Everyone watched in horror as the fire blast and the black shadow mist started flying rapidly at Dania and the man. The child’s loved ones yelled and gasped in fear, Angus and Erlik included, once they noticed what they had done, and all the witches and wizards present scrambled into action, trying to prevent disgrace from reaching them. However, it was not the witches’ powers that stopped the attack but Dania’s silverish aura that expanded and absorbed the attack.

“Oh my goddess, my heart feels like it’s about to explode from the scare I just caught,” Jamila revealed, holding Oksana’s arms tight with both leaning against the limousine.

“Me too.” Whispered back hoarsely, Oksana, who lost her voice from the shock.

The girls watched their mother cry and leave their side to run towards Dania, taking the girl from the man’s arms and checking on her before helping the man get up.

“I never thought this could happen on my wedding day,” Oksana whispered, a bit saddened, seeing almost all the guests frightened except for a handful that included the shifters, and Mrs. Bethany, Mrs. Margareth, and Mrs. Wu Yang., the three crazy old ladies.

“I’m sorry, Sana,” Jamila whispered to her sister and hugged her in an attempt at cheering her up.

“I just wish we could forget this ever happened, or at least the guests,” Oksana mumbled, watching her father’s frightened expression at realizing what he did and the scared look on the other guests’ faces.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, we will make it go away.” Her grandfather Amos, grandma Ivy’s bonded, and husband, promised, and the two girls watched as Ivy, Amos, Elspeth, and another woman resembling Elspeth but with auburn hair started using their wands to perfectly conduct their magic and perform the spell to freeze every human and shifter present. Afterward, they started tidying up the venue and gave the family some time to recompose themselves before they wiped the last few minutes off of the humans’ minds and made them go back to the moment the limousine arrived, making it seem as if the big fight hadn’t happened.

Once again, everything was recomposed. The family talked, and they found out the Weird Man, as Dania had nicknamed him, was their great grandfather, and the man bonded with Dania was called Viriato, and he was Erlik’s second in command. The shifters were left frozen during the time they recomposed the venue, and once the spirits were lifted and calmed, they returned to the wedding celebrations, unfreezing everyone and making it seem as if the limousine had just arrived.

The shifters’ memories were not wiped like the humans, so they were confused when they blinked their eyes and saw the exact same moment Mrs. Bethany yelled the bride was coming repeating itself before their eyes.

“We’ll explain later.” Gaivano read from one of the elder bridesmaids’ lips and conveyed the message to the others.

Meanwhile, while Dima was slightly panicking from not seeing his mate after so many hours separated and all that chaos, the bridesmaids started walking down the aisle and Angus was left with Oksana.

“I’m sorry for ruining your big day, baby. It was never my intention. I just...” Angus took a deep breath and stopped talking. He was nervous and anxious, and his chest hurt with each breath he took. He didn’t know if he was ready to let go of his baby girl. One was getting married, another wanted to find a mate, the youngest suddenly found her bonded, and he knew his boys sneaked out to party and go on dates from time to time. They were growing too fast, and he wasn’t able to keep up with all the sudden changes.

“It’s ok, dad. Everything is ok now.” Oksana calmly reassured her dad, seeing the pain in the man’s face. She knew everything was happening too fast for him, he was always cautious and overprotective of them, caringly taking care of all of them, and suddenly they are starting to leave home and find their life partners. If she had gone through the same he had, she would be like him too.

“This is just too much for me. I never prepared myself for the day you and your sisters started dating. Hell, even your brothers. Just two weeks ago, you found your mate, and now my youngest daughter found hers as well.” Angus lamented and accepted Oksana’s hug, wiping a stray tear that fell behind her back.

“It’s almost your turn, dad,” Jamila warned them after Zainab and Vania went down the aisle, leaving Keysha and Jamila to walk before Oksana and Angus.

“Ok, darling, thank you for warning me.” Angus stopped hugging Oksana and kissed Jamila’s forehead, giving her a small hug and wishing both girls good luck.

“Oksana, there’s something I have to give you before I hand you over to Dima,” Angus told her and fisted a small bag from his pants.

“Dad, you don’t need to-” Oksana started, but Angus quickly interrupted her.

“Your mother’s parents left this to you. Your grandparents didn’t want anything to do with us, but they cared about you. Two weeks after you were attacked and we left, your mother murdered them. I found out not long ago that they simply wanted to drive us far away because they knew your mother was going to come back to finish what she started. They died protecting us.” Angus revealed and took a thin gold bracelet with four diamonds from the paper bag. “They wanted you to have this.” He said.

Oksana was shocked and emotional. She had thought her grandparents didn’t want her, that they were bastards like her biological mother, but it turns out they died for her and still left her a gift.

“I love it, daddy. Please help me put it on,” Oksana whispered with tears streaming down her face, and she gave him her left wrist to Angus.

Angus complied and helped her put on the bracelet, adjusting it before he wiped her tears away and took her arm to guide her down the aisle.

“If you want, I can help you enchant it later so that you can see your grandparents. They were the last ones touching that bracelet, so some of their essences should still be there.” Angus whispered to her, and Oksana agreed.

“It’s not too late to run now, you know?” Angus suddenly said when they were already halfway down the aisle. “I can think of at least half a dozen ways to get us all out of here and away from the shifters and the stupid demon.” Oksana laughed at her father and hit his shoulder lightly with a smile on her face.

“Dad!” She exclaimed, amused, and a few guests that heard what he said laughed as well. Only Dima, who had used his sharp hearing to hear what they were speaking about, did not find Angus’s words funny at all and growled his displeasure.

“Shut it, bear. I’m handing you, my daughter. You will see what it’s like when your turn comes.” Angus sneered and kissed Oksana’s cheek before begrudgingly handing her to Dima.

Oksana and Dima took each other in, happy to be together again after so many hours apart, with the bond painfully pulling them towards each other.

Dima caressed Oksana’s knuckles and took in her appearance. Her long hair had been cut short, a little bit above her shoulder, her veil was transparent and allowed him to see her beautiful face and desireful lips, and her dress showed her milky skin and the beginning of her cleavage tempting him. Dima’s eyes darkened, and he huffed, shaking his head and looking away from her cleavage.

‘Oh, it’s going to be a long day with this horny bear peeking all day long.’ Oksana amusedly thought and squeezed Dima’s hands to get back his attention away from her boobs.

Dima was wearing a white suit with white shoes and a red tie, he looked good in white. It made his newly acquired muscular physic stand out sexily.

This time it was Dima who softly squeezed Oksana’s hand to catch her attention. Oksana blushed at being caught checking out her mate, and Dima sent her a mischievous wink while his groomsmen snickered at them. Oksana sent an apologetic smile to the priest, but the young man didn’t mind.

Priest Daniel had noticed that the groom and bride had yet to pay attention to anything he said but seeing the enamored looks the two were sending each other made the priest feel happy for the couple. Happy pairs like these were what gave him hope that love was not completely lost to the world.

“Now let us humbly invoke the Goddess’s blessing upon this bride and groom, that in her kindness she may favor with her help those on whom she has bestowed the Sacrament of Matrimony.” The priest said, and after that, the sky started turning dark with clouds.

“Ha, Ha, ha, Ha! Ha!” The laughter was heard first, and Oksana and Angus’s blood started chilling just from hearing that wicked laughter. Then a spark like the one from a lighter flint appeared in the sky, and a woman materialized in the sky.

The woman had sickly pale skin as if she had never seen the sun, her hair was dark brown and wavy, and her eyes were a dull brown color, wide with madness and surrounded by black veins. She looked like a drug addict with all her veins on show, black and blue eyes covering her skin. Her lips were plump and painted in bright red, and her nose was straight and slightly upturned at the tip with a septum piercing. The woman was dressed in a short black dress with heavy cleavage, but the thing that sanded out in her was the jewel attached to her neck. A sapphire was attached to a black shocker on the woman’s neck, and that revealed her identity even before she spoke.

“Oksana, dear, were you planning on getting married without mommy’s presence? Where is my invitation? I’m sure you haven’t forgotten about dear old me, after all, my master did tell me that sucking one’s magic out of their body would leave them with an unforgettable scar in their psychological no matter how old the subject is.” The woman’s harsh voice and wicked smirk triggered everyone’s reaction, and before the dark witch could understand what was happening, everyone changed.

Dima shifted and got ready to attack the woman, all the shifters present followed his example and growled aggressively towards the treat. Surprisingly, his bastard of an uncle was also included in the bunch. Mato tried stepping in front of Oksana, but with an agonizing scream from the bride and two identical ones following, Oksana, Axton, and Angus shifted into their demon. All three were different, but all emitted a deadly threatening aura aimed at the uninvited guest.

Every demon present revealed themselves. Erlik even allowed his inner demons to separate from him and come forward. The witches and wizards all took out their wands to perform strong, and well-conducted spells. Douglas being an alchemist took out his deadly potions and the family’s children started glowing their silverish aura strongly. Their moon-shaped mark glowing and their eyes unfocused. Dania had flames joining her aura, an attempt from her inner demon of coming forward, and Viriato was right beside her, fully shifted in his demoniac form.

The three crazy old ladies, Mrs. Bethany, Margareth, and Wu Yang all had taken guns and knives out of their pockets, with one hand holding the rosary and the other their weapons. Mrs. Wu Yang even went as far as grabbing a grenade to throw at the witch.

Seeing the big army her daughter had backing her up, Virmina got anxious and staggered back in the air. She never expected her to have demons and shifters backing her up. With the witches and wizards, her coven could deal with them. The same for the shifters and the crazy humans. But demons? That was something they could not even attempt to do! And now her daughter and ex-fiance are demons. Since when!?

“I do not associate with bitches, no matter if the blood inside their veins is the same as mine.” Oksana’s voice fused with her demon, spoke, her fiery gaze fixed on the woman that activated the demoniac gene in her but almost killed them.

“You are not welcome here!” Angus lava-like demon bellowed, and he jumped high, catching the witch’s calf and burning her, leaving his hand printed on her flesh and bone.

Oksana and Axton’s demons attacked as well, both sending a bolt of black mist towards the screeching bitch.

The shifters roared, the old ladies fired their guns and trowed their blades, the witches and wizards chanted spells while using their wands, and even the priest used an ancient blessed amulet to repeal the screeching woman’s dark magic.

“This won’t end like this!” The witch screeched in pain.

“Of course it won’t, we will end you!” Oksana’s demon barked back, and with an impulsive move, she ran to Axton’s demon, and the demon propped his hands down and sent her flying upwards. She shot a black purplish mist of power and hellfire and got the biological mother in the chest, branding her.

Virmina’s screeches were the last thing everyone heard before a black portal opened behind her and swallowed her, only leaving behind her spilled blood and the smell of charred flesh.

Axton’s demon flew up to catch his falling sister, and he settled her down on the ground beside her mate. Angus’s demon’s heavy body fell to the ground after he burned the woman who betrayed them, and he created a big cavity on the ground.

“Well, second times always work better.” Oksana’s demon said, and she kissed Mato’s muzzle. The bear didn’t want to disappoint, so he stood up on his hind legs and partially shifted to an extremely furry man with some extras such as claws, big teeth, and the bear’s short tail, and he reciprocated his sexy demoness’s kiss.

Once again, the witches and wizards present had to fix the whole venue. The dark clouds left with Virmina’s departure, but the witch had started a fire on the gazebo without anyone noticing. This time they didn’t wipe anyone’s memories and simply fixed the park, the gazebo, and everyone’s clothes. Erlik had to help reign in some possessive touchy feeling demons (Angus and Oksana’s demons) and keep Axton’s demon from going mate-seeking.

“These demons are all horny and longing for their mates!” Erlik exclaimed when he forcefully managed to reign them all in, and extinguish Dania’s flames that were starting to climb up Viriato’s form and purposely sting the demon who kept his mouth shut.

Close to two hours later, everything was taken care of, and the ceremony was resumed.

“Second time is a charm,” Oksana whispered after the priest declared them husband and wife, and the beautiful chaotic ceremony ended with a load of ravenous guests demolishing the banquet ordered for lunch.