The mate finding spell business - book 1

DIMA’S POV

A few hours later, around midday, Dima woke up to the sound of chattering and pans being banged around. Oksana’s alarm clock marked 12:05, and seeing as he had a date to prepare and, he didn’t have a clue of what Oksana might enjoy, he planned to use this opportunity to speak with her siblings and find out a bit about her likes and dislikes.

Dima made sure that Oksana was asleep before he unwrapped himself from her arms, kissing her forehead on the way out. He put on his shoes and silently got out of her room. On his way down, he stretched and cracked his back and neck before trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, entering the living room.

“Good afternoon.” He greeted the five siblings and their mother, earning back a series of diverse answers from them.

“Good evening.”

“Good afternoon.”

“Good morning.”

“Good night.” Kaavy hailed louder than his siblings and ducked his head in time to avoid getting whacked with a wooden by his mother.

“You and Dania had to be the contradictory ones, hadn’t you, Kaavy?” Zainab questioned the boy with apprehension on her face.

“You got it!” Dania exclaimed and made finger guns at her mother while attempting to wink.

“Kaavy, Axton!” Zainab yelled their names in frustration and reached for her wooden spoon again, but the two boys had already run away from the kitchen with Dania in Kaavy’s arms and Akir following close behind them. Dima and Jamila laughed at the scene, but Zainab shook her head disapprovingly at her youngest four.

“They’re always teaching crap to Dania as if she wasn’t already a little wild thing.” The woman complained and went back to her boiling noodles. “Thank the gods that Akir is as peace of a soul and rarely does those things.”

Dima entered the kitchen and went around Jamila, offering his cooking dotes to Zainab. He wanted to help make lunch for the big family to prove to Angus and himself that he was not a useless person and that he, indeed, could take care of Oksana.

Zainab was a bit apprehensive at first, fearing that the bear’s energy was still too low even after Vania’s potion, but after quickly checking him over, she relented and allowed him to make the meat for her bolognese spaghetti.

“Do you know how to make it, Dima? If you don’t, it’s ok. I can always do it or ask Jamila to do it.” Zainab tried to convince him, feeling a bit worried after hearing from Vania that the man hasn’t cooked in a few years.

“I’m fine, Zainab. It’s ok, but if it makes you feel better, you can boss me around while I make the meat and the sauce.” The woman shook her head, feeling bad for doubling Dima’s capacities, and squeezed his arm in support before showing him where everything was.

“Oh, this I have to see,” Kaavy exclaimed from the living room, and the four siblings came to seat at the counter attached to the kitchen’s window.

“You know, just because I’m a bear, that doesn’t mean that I can’t cook,” Dima commented while warming up a pan and with his back facing the siblings.

“Busted!” Akir exclaimed and high-fived Axton while both of them snickered.

Dima moved around in the kitchen with fluidity, filling the air with mouth-watering scents while feeling eyes on his back during the whole time.

“Does anyone have any allergies?” He asked while mixing the meat in the pan.

“No, we’re all good here,” Zainab answered him and went with her pan of noodles to the sink to drain them.

“Ok.” He answered before starting to mix spices and herbs with the canned tomatoes to make the sauce.

“So, Dima.” Jamila started, taking off her work glasses and neatly putting all the papers that surrounded her on a file. “I heard that you asked my sister on a date.”

Dima felt tense at the question, not because he didn’t want others to know about their date but because he was getting ready to be judged or shamed. His mind overthought and overanalyzed things, and his body overreacted, but that was how he was, he couldn’t change that quickly to stop reactions like this, so instead, he focused on stirring the sauce and answered with a curt “That’s right.“.

“So, what’s your plan?” Jamila kept on asking.

Dima kept silent for a few moments, waiting to hear anyone complain or cuss at him before feeling a bit more at ease after no one said a thing, all waiting to hear his answer. “I have a few ideas for the date, but I’d still like to ask you for help on some things, after all, you know Oksana better than I do.”

“Oksana loves to jog when she’s healthy!”

“She likes roosters!”

“She likes to read.”

“She likes to go to the market.”

“She likes to bake.”

All the siblings piped up with ideas, all excellent and helpful ones at that, Dima’s mind was working a mile per second to try and conjure the best date ever with all those ideas, but he wasn’t seeing how he would involve roosters on their date.

“What did you have in mind for the date, Dima?” Zainab asked him as she handed him the wand for him to pass the tomatoes with the rest of the contents on the pan and make the sauce.

“I was thinking of cooking us enough food for a picnic, and taking my tablet to let her redesign my house without her knowing, but now, I’ll try to also include your ideas and, hopefully, make this the best date possible.”

“Redesigning your house? Don’t you think that’s moving a bit too fast?” Kaavy complained with a raised eyebrow.

“I promised your father that I would do things right, Kaavy, and the sooner your sister and I mate, the sooner she will stop getting sick. I want my mate healthy and happy, even if that means rushing things a bit. I don’t want my mate to always have to worry if this is her last day with us or if she gets to see another day. So, no, I don’t think this is too rushed. There are many shifters out there that complete the mating process within an hour of finding their other halves. Most of them do it that way, actually, simply bitting their mates and quick rutting before anyone has the chance to take them away.”

“How unromantic!” Dania exclaimed. “I’m glad you’re not like them, Dima.” She said, and Dima felt himself blush a little at the child’s compliment, even though she did not know the meaning of half of what he said.

“Thank you, Dania.” He answered, and after that, he quickly bled the sauce and finished the meat.

“Can I taste it?” Dania asked him as soon as he turned off the stove. He looked at Zainab for permission, and the woman nodded her head with a smile on her lips.

“Sure.” He told her after getting the mother’s confirmation and took a bit of meat with the wooden spoon before softly blowing on it and giving it to the four-year-old. A big smile stretched over Dania’s face, and she stole the spoon from Dima’s hands, linking it clean of the sauce with a bright twinkle in her eyes.

“I have a new favorite brother, and it’s not Kaavy!” She shouted, and three pairs of angry eyes landed on Dima. Even the previously pouting Akir, who wanted to taste the meat, was now glaring darkly at him.

“Well, at least that means his food is amazing and won’t kill us while we digest it,” Jamila commented, trying to catch the boys’ attention and dissipate the tension in the air.

“Go set the table and stop glaring at Dima,” Zainab ordered the three and started setting the noodles and the meat on a tray.

“I’ll go wake up Oksana,” Jamila said as she got up off the table and quickly left the kitchen before Dima could complain. The bear shifter frowned and took off the kitten’s kitchen apron he was wearing to bled the sauce and started washing the pans and spoons used on lunch’s confection.

“You don’t have to wash those, Dima. Kaavy can do that after lunch.”

“No, it’s ok, Zainab. I used them. I wash them. There’s no need to make someone else clean after me.” He responded and kept on washing the dishes, using the task as a way of organizing his mind and puzzling together his date with Oksana.

~ Four p.m. ~

Dima was stressed, he finally finished making everything he wanted for their date, but he hasn’t seen Oksana since lunch. His bear was going crazy with their separation, and so was he.

Dima made a banquet for their date, he decided to take Oksana on a run until they reached one of the town’s parks, and, once there, they would make a picnic, he would hand her his tablet for her to re-design his house, and they would talk and get to know one another until the night falls.

He also got to speak a bit more with the siblings and found out that Oksana’s favorite animal isn’t quite that common. She loves chickens, and roosters, hence someone referring to the roosters when speaking of her likes. He discovered that that was something she has been begging Angus for years, but the man never allowed her, and on the worse days, he’ll threaten to eat the hypothetical animal, and that is why he decided to do the unconventional and offer his mate a rooster instead of flowers on their first date. He still has to go pick up the animal, but everything else is taken care of.

“Hey, I’m going to pick up the gift now. You can bring her back from your grandmother’s house.” Dima called Jamila to warn her and left the house.

“Alright, we’ll be back before you.” She answered and ended the call.

Zainab recommended Dima go to Mrs. Wu Yang to get the rooster. Oksana has helped that lady many times and, from what he was told, since the moment the woman found out about Oksana’s love for roosters, she has always kept one from each brood to gift her. But Angus has never accepted the animal, and Oksana didn’t want to risk her father’s wrath on the bird, so she didn’t take it either. But things were going to change with him in the picture. If Oksana wanted a rooster, she would get a rooster, and if she wanted a flock of them, so be it. He and his bear were more than happy to provide the silly birds to their mate as long as it made her happy.

Axton already went ahead a few hours ago to warn the old lady of Dima’s arrival so that all he needed to do was collect the rooster. Soon he was reaching the house Zainab indicated to him, and he could see the elderly lady already waiting outside for him with a grey and white rooster with its head peeking out of a box.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Wu Yang, thank you for getting me a rooster in such a short time.” The lady looked Dima up and down and nodded her head silently before letting a smile bloom on her lips.

“No need to thank me. Oksana does a lot for my family and me, and she doesn’t allow me to pay her. This is the least I could do.” Mrs. Wu said lowly and made Dima lower himself for her to be able to pat his cheek.

“Here.” She handed him the box, and the rooster made a sound before quickly hiding his head inside the box. “This is Choninhas. Oksana named him for being the weakest of the flock, but he acts quite like a little nice dog. At least he behaves like one.” She confided and gave Dima a big, kind smile.

“Thank you, ma’am. How much do I owe you?” The lady smiled and shook her head with a laugh.

“Nothing boy. You own me nothing!”

“Nonsense,” Dima exclaimed and took fifty dollars out of his wallet to give to the lady.

“No, son, I don’t want your money. But you should visit my restaurant sometime soon. You shifters are always very lucrative. And maybe bring a friend or your family. The more, the merrier!” The lady told him, beaming, and left him standing at her doorstep.

“Well, I just got astonished by a crazy elder woman. Crazy but smart...” He muttered and left the money in her mailbox. Afterward, he grabbed the rooster and went back to his mate’s house.

When he reached the place, he caught Angus giving him the sticky eye through a window, and just to taunt the man, he took the rooster from the box and lifted him high enough for the wizard to see. The man started to turn a scarlet color, small flames coming alive on his hair, and Dima couldn’t help himself and grin widely at the sign. Angus pulled at his hair and left the window with a pissed-off look on his face.

The rooster was complaining widely in his hold, but Dima managed to calm down the animal and hid him behind his back before he went to ring the doorbell.

Dima hesitated for a moment before he rang the bell, Angus’s mad face fueling his resolve. He could already see that his relationship with Angus was always going to be a troubled one, but that’s the common between a father-in-law and a son-in-law he just hopes that his mother likes Oksana. He would hate to see either one of them upset because of their relationship.

Suddenly the front door opened, and a breathtaking Oksana stood there with her wavy brown-reddish hair tied up in a ponytail, her amber eyes light and shining with happiness, and her soft lips glistering with lip gloss looking as tempting as jewels to a dragon. Her pale skin glowed in the sunlight and Dima felt his mouth water and his gums ache at the sign of her in her camo crop top and black leggings, looking as captivating as an angel with the clothes hugging all her soft curves.

Oksana’s face started turning pink, and Dima realized that he’s been staring at her the whole time, but he couldn’t advert his eyes from her. He and his bear were too deprived and starved of her persona to be able to look away now that she was with them, even if they did it just for a second.

“Hi...” She shyly mumbled and averted her eyes from his intense gaze, playing with her fingers absently. Dima used his free hand and softly turned her head up to be able to stare at her face again.

“Hey...” He mumbled and dipped his head down to kiss her, letting all his longing and desire fill their kiss.

“I missed you.” She breathed out when they separated a few seconds later.

“I missed you more, my soul.” He replied, and pecked her forehead, hugging her against his chest for a moment to take in her scent, and memorize the feel of her against him. They stayed embraced until someone coughed very loudly and yelped immediately afterward, the sound of someone wheezing filled their ears.

“I have a gift for you,” Dima whispered in her ear, still not ready to let go of their moment. Oksana looked up at him with excitement dancing in her eyes, and a big smile filled her face. Before she could ask what it was, Dima took a small step back from her and brought Choninhas from behind him, showing him to Oksana.

She looked shocked for a moment but then she started jumping up and down in place, like a hyper kid on a sugar rush, and carefully took the rooster from Dima’s hands.

“Choninhas! Thank you so much, Dima!” She squealed and started petting and cuddling the animal. “This is the best gift ever!”

The amount of attention she gave to the bird was making his bear jealous, but Dima held him back and ignored the beast’s feelings, choosing to be happy for his mate’s happiness.

“We should get going.” He suggested when he saw the clock strick close to five p.m.

“Up, up, up, up.” Zainab immediately jumped onto her feet and came towards them to block the door, pulling Dima inside the house and effectively blocking their path. “No one is leaving this house without drinking an energy drink. I don’t want either one of you fainting in the middle of the streets.” She warned them sternly, with her hands on her hips and a menacing look on her face.

~Half an hour later ~

They were finally on their date, jogging through the small town’s streets with Oksana telling him about every building, statue, and street, as well as informing him about the people they passed by. Every time someone saw them, they would cheer at Oksana, wolf-whistling and clapping at her. Everyone knew that she would only go jogging when she was feeling extremely well, and that didn’t happen often.

They alternated between jogging and running, with Dima always controlling their route to go to the park he had planned for them to have their picnic on without Oksana noticing. When they reached the street before the park, Dima challenged Oksana for a race to the park, and the both of them crossed the streets with a fast sprint, Oksana winning the racing duo to Dima getting winded at the park’s entrance.

Dima was doubled over panting, leaning on his knees to keep upwards, and watching Oksana, who was besides a fountain with a huge smile on her face.

“Gods, I’m too old for this.” He mutters breathlessly. “I need to train more to be able to keep up with my mate. I just hope my stamina is better than my sprinting endurance.” His grumbling was cut short by Oksana’s giggles.

The sweaty, red-faced woman was spinning on the ball of her feet, her arms spread wide open and the happiest expression he’s ever seen was splattered on her face. Her happiness was contagious, and before he noticed, Dima was beside her smiling.

“Thank you so much, Dima! I feel so freaking alive after this jog! This is the best date ever.” She exclaimed and trowed herself onto Dima’s arms, nuzzling her face onto his neck and hugging him tightly.

“You are the best mate ever.” She whispered in his neck and quickly peaked his jaw before hiding her face back on his neck.

Warmth bloomed in Dima’s chest, and his bear grumbled in happiness. All he’s ever wanted was to make his mate happy and to hear her say those words made him realize that he accomplished that with a simple jog on the streets, that even he is capable of being a good mate.

Unable to utter anything, Dima’s only response was to hug his Ana tightly against his chest and kiss her hair, inhaling her scent deeply.

His Ana... Dima loved the sound of that.