The Crown's Entrapment

Clara did her best not to try and fight back as she felt Bella's embrace almost threaten to crush her body. She appreciated her friend's worry about her, but that didn't mean that she wanted to not be able to breathe properly.

"B-Bella… L-Let go…"

Thankfully, her old friend seemed to have gotten her intentions as she quickly let go.

"S-Sorry about that," Bella sheepishly apologized. "I was just excited to see you."

"I can tell," Clara weakly chuckled even as she straightened herself back up. "And yes, I've gotten better."

Jayra seemed to be content in letting the scene play out in front of her as Clara found herself tongue-tied on what to say. She knew she should thank Bella for her efforts, but with what words?

In the end, Clara decided on a simple sentence for the job. "Bella, thank you for helping me back there," Clara sincerely addressed her friend. "You really saved me."

"I only did what I had to do," Bella smiled, one that didn't have her usual teasing and smug attitude. "I don't know what I would've done if you died on us."

"My thoughts exactly," Jayra chuckled. "It was the right thing to do."

Clara gratefully smiled at the two women in front of her. Truly, even if she had lost the race for Darius's heart, at least she would still remain friends with such wonderful people.

[Don't even act like you're that upset,] Sheba called her out. [You've already moved on.]

[No, I haven't] Clara chuckled even as she lied. [And I'm not talking to you anymore for the next hour.]

Clara had just shut her inner wolf down when Jayra suddenly turned to her and asked, "Still, as a healer, I have to ask, are you truly alright?"

"I'm fine," Clara quickly supplied with a hint of humor. "In fact, I've never felt better in a while."

"More than better, I'd say," Bella smirked. "You're marked."

And just like that, Clara's joy dropped by a decent margin as she prepared herself for the inevitable teasing. Knowing the two women in front of her, she was sure that she'd never hear the end of it for a long while.

"Oh?" Jayra cooed, her interest clearly piqued as her brows raised. "How come I didn't see it?"

"She's hiding it under her shirt," Bella eagerly pointed out.

Clara sighed. Seeing as there was no way that they'd stop trying to needle her into submission, she took the initiative and tugged at the hem of her collar. Sure enough, her mark was exposed for the two of them to see.

"Pretty," Jayra nodded in approval. "It's Lord Gilas, right?"

"Yes," Clara admitted as she landed back down on the nearby seat. "I gave him permission."

"Ooh… So you two really are mates, huh," Bella hummed in both curiosity and giddiness. "I'm kind of happy for you two."

"Don't be," Clara scoffed. "At least, not right now. Before you two even ask, no we haven't done it yet."

Almost immediately after her confession, both of their expressions quickly deflated into disappointment. Clara could only shake her head. Really, they were that ready to pounce on her just on that topic…

"Aww… How come?" Bella pouted.

"Just… Drop it, alright?" Clara huffed.

Thankfully, the two seemed to drop the issue fairly quickly. Still, Clara could tell that the two were still electrified with their own curiosity about the current state of her love life. Seeing the state of the room, she decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, how is the work going for the protection spell for Lady Shila?" Clara asked.

"Oh, that? It's going decently well," Jayra replied, her tone taking on a more scholarly tone. "As you can see in the state of my room, I've been working hard to make sure that I can bypass all the particulars that enable Elder Nasser's abilities to inflict pain on her."

"That's good," Clara nodded. "Do you know how long you'll need to finish?"

"Don't really know," Jayra hummed in contemplation. "What I do know is that I'm on the right track. I just have to make sure it's stable for general use. Wait… I think I've got something."

"Got what?" Bella asked.

"Don't mind me," Jayra distractedly replied as she dove into her notes. "I have something in mind."

Clara thankfully smiled as she watched Jayra clearly pour her efforts into the spell that would hopefully help Gilas free his mother. Watching by the sidelines, she noticed Bella scooting over to her side as she looked up to her still standing friend.

"She sure is something, huh," Bella chuckled. "Sister-in-law can get very into her work whenever she realizes something."

​ "So it would seem," Clara agreed.

"So… What is it like feeling the Mate Pull?"

Clara was taken aback by Bella's question. She could hear the genuine curiosity in her voice, and the least she could do was to reply as she answered, "I don't really know. I can't really smell Gilas for me to even know what it's actually like."

"Oh?"

"It's… kind of weird," Clara continued, taking Bella's one syllable answer as her signal to explain herself. "I can't feel the Mate Pull normally, but whenever Gilas touched me, it's like… It's hard to explain…"

"Can you try?"

"Seriously?"

"Well, you've at least felt it somehow, right?" Bella teased. "Come on. You can do it."

Clara sighed. Digging deep, she tried to find the right words for the feeling before she began piecing together her response. "It's like my very being's being pulled towards his presence… Like we're two parts of the same whole…"

Or at least, that was what she thought would work as a description. She honestly still didn't know what to make of it, only that it was making her more receptive to Gilas being her mate. She could see his efforts in trying to make her comfortable, of course, but there was still one inkling in her that thinks that the Mate Pull was more weird than natural.

"That… kind of sounds generic, not gonna lie," Bella chuckled.

"Then why don't you ask Freya then?" Clara scoffed. "Surely, she has more experience with this thing than I do."

"Ah, but she hasn't been marked yet, hadn't she?" Bella teased. "Either way, thanks for the info. At least I have something to compare to once I do ask the Princess."

Clara shook her head even as she smiled. Bella was annoying at times, but she was still a friend, even if she was a bit relentless with her teasing.