𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠
(𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻): one of a matched
pair.

•••

I woke on a bed with a headache pounding at my temples. Sitting up, I struggled to open my eyes fully.

"Pandora," Beast greeted, towering over me from the bedside. His eyes pierced mine, searching for something. "Are you alright?"

I looked away. "I will be if you let me stay out today. You can't lock me inside."

He growled. "And who's going to stop me? You can barely stand. For once, listen to m—"

"No," I interrupted, my voice hard.

His eyes darkened. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I don't care for your warnings, Beast."

Just like I shouldn't have cared for him.

All at once, his arms were either side of me, his face inches above mine. "You care, Pandora," he seethed. "Your want is so strong—," he took in a sharp breath, "I can smell you from the other side of the Court." My face grew warm as he continued. "This is my Court. And here, you will follow my orders."

"I only care about the Sins, the Virtues and the Ophidians," I muttered as a flush crept up my neck. "Don't flatter yourself."

His scent blurred over my senses as he leaned closer—heady and dark. "You forget that I'm also a Sin."

"Fuck you," I bit out.

He chuckled lowly, the sound sending heat rushing between my legs. "Trust me. I can't wait to train you."

"I'm willing to persuade you otherwise, Beast." A red waft sliced through the air as Wrath materialised before us.

Beast took his sweet time getting off me.

Wrath dropped into the chair by the edge of the bed, an exhausted grin lining his lips. He looked pale—so pale that the darkness of his hair seemed twice as black.

I shot out from under the bedsheets, worry gnawing at my chest.

I'd done it. I'd harmed a Sin without meaning to. I'd lost control. I'd hurt— I'd—

"Are you o-okay? Did I—," I swallowed, "did I hurt you?"

Wrath chuckled weakly. "It wasn't your fault. It was Gluttony's Sin. But I'm not getting on your wrong side any time soon, pet."

I leaned back against the headboard, my limbs complaining of tiredness. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't be. You still have Envy, Pride," he listed on his fingers, "Greed, Sloth and Lust to go."

I turned to meet Beast's gaze. "Who is next?"

"Sloth is." Beast frowned, letting his eyes sweep down my body. "But not today."

"Well, you're not locking me in, so—"

Wrath interrupted me, holding an apologetic hand up. "We all lock ourselves in on the full moon. It would make sense for you too as well."

"You lock yourselves in? Why?" I looked frantically between the two Sins, my mind racing.

Of course, Beast walked out.

I wanted to pace after him and—

"Because it's when we crave our mates." Wrath answered absentmindedly, his attention fixed on the door through which Beast had walked out. "You've already seen that not all of us want to mate with our Virtues."

Slowly, I nodded. "But why should I lock myself in?"

"With us all locked in our rooms there'll be no one to turn to if someone breaks into the Court. It'll be safer if your door is also bolted."

"What about the Ophidians?"

Wrath gave me a lopsided smile. "What makes you think the Ophidians don't have mates?"

The thought of Silsela and Nadine having mates brought warmth to my chest.

Everyone here would have a happy ending.

Everyone but me.

I shot a glance out of the window; the horizon had begun to darken, swirls of the night overtaking the last glimpses of daylight.

"You are going to start locking yourselves in soon, then," I mused.

The Seraphics had placed their mates before them, with them, but only Wrath and Patience had been granted their urge as mates. How many more years would they be tortured?

My fists curled with rage beside me.

"Yes." Wrath stood, hissing as his wings edged out of his back. He eyed my clenched fist. "And you should, too."

He walked out, brushing past Envy as she skipped in.

"Feeling better?" She asked, holding a metal box to her chest.

I stepped out of the warmth of the bed. "What's that?"

A shadow passed over Envy's face. "The moon is to appear soon. We're going to lock ourselves into our rooms in an attempt to escape the mating bond." She shrugged. "Except for Wrath and Patience. Maybe."

Pride paced into the room, her purple eyes strained and nervous. She sighed, spotting Envy.

"You're taking so long," Pride rummaged through the metal box in Envy's hand, shifting from foot to foot anxiously.

"What's wrong with you, Pride?" Envy's eyes narrowed. "Are you—"

"No! No, I'm not." Pride fished a heavy padlock out of the box, the metal hanging from her hands.

She turned impatiently on her feet and bumped into another figure in the doorway.

Their purple eyes landed on each other. Humility spotted the padlock in his mate's grip and he let out an animalistic noise.

Within seconds, he'd taken his own lock from Envy, too.

They both turned in opposite directions and we heard their steps as they rushed away from each other.

"Perhaps it will be more than just Wrath and Patience tonight," Envy murmured. "Come," she held a hand out to me, "help me hand these out before there's a murder."

We went around the rooms lining the floors and corridors. Each mate had chosen a room that was as far away from the other mate as possible.

Even Wrath and Patience were on different floors.

Patience's hands were shaky as she fumbled with her lock. She muttered a quick thank you before slamming her door shut.

Finally, Envy stopped outside her room. Her door was marked in a blue star, as bright the colour of her Sin. She snapped her fingers and the metal box disappeared; only two locks remained in her hands.

She pushed one toward me. "Promise me you'll lock yourself in. We won't be able to do anything if someone breaks into the Court." Her expression was clouded over in worry: serious and scared.

"Okay," I whispered, turning in the direction of my room. My feet ached—every fibre of my body did—and I was desperate to fall into bed.

The moment I walked into my room, my sight was drawn to the window. Moonlight drifted in through the glass, coating my room in a silver hue.

I dropped the lock onto the bed and moved to pull the heavy velvet curtains shut.

That—that was when the tugging began.

The metal lock on my bed was long forgotten.

Like a string stretching between a puppet and its master, something tugged at me.

Another tug. Tighter.

I followed the feeling out of the safety of my room, Envy and Wrath's warnings growing silent in the back of my head.

Tug. Tug.

The string pulled taut—painfully—and a need settled in my chest. The air knocked out of my lungs as I travelled blindly through the Court, my breathing growing frantic.

There was something I wanted—no—there was something I needed.

Suddenly, the feeling grew stronger. It pulled at my feet until they were moving of their own accord—it pulled at my eyes until I was searching for something unknown to me.

With a soft whimper, I dug my heels into the ground, gripping the wall as I forced myself back around.

I had to get back to my room.

Promise me you'll lock yourself in.

Every step I took made the tug grow weaker as if I was cutting at that string that had pulled me here.

And then a prowl sliced through the air—low and menacing.

"Not so fast, Pandora."

•••

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Love,
Laila.