The mate finding spell business - book 1

DIMA’S POV

“Dang it, babe, you’re all covered in sand. I can’t let your father see you like this. He’ll think I had a quickly with you on the sand!” Dima realized in horror after collecting the blanket and Elspeth’s broom from the floor and taking a peek at his mate. Oksana laughed at Dima’s distressed figure and started combing her hair with one hand and dusting off her clothes with the other while walking toward him.

“It’s not like you’re any better, Di, and wait until my grandma sees us returning with the cookies and the tea intact. She’ll have a fit.” She laughed and reached Dima, starting to dust off his clothes while he facepalmed himself.

“Shit! How could I have been so stupid!? That should have been my second priority after covering you with the blanket.” Dima exclaimed, angered with himself for his momentaneous goldfish memory, and quickly sat Oksana gently on the rock and served her a cup of tea.

“Dima, it’s ok, this is not necessary at all, we could eat back in my room.” Oksana tried to persuade him, but seeing the focus and care he was giving to the simple task he was performing, she let him be. Besides, she knew if they showed up with the things untouched, her grandmother would flip.

“No, Ana, It’s not ok. I have been a horrible mate, and I forgot to feed you, that’s unforgivable! And if I showed up with you like this, dirty and hungry, your family would flip and deem me a disgrace of a mate. I will not let that happen. You will eat as much as you want, and when you’re ready, I’ll take you home.” Dima promised and opened the bag of cookies for Oksana. He made her sit down on the rock and handed her the bag of cookies, letting her drink tea and eat to her heart’s content while he tried to do something he hasn’t done in decades.

Dima closed his eyes and scrunched up his face in concentration while trying to focus on conjuring a comb or a hairbrush to take care of his mate’s hair. There was no way in the goddess’s name that he would allow himself to return with her like that to his in-laws’ house. Just imagining Angus’s reaction gave him the push he needed to start, and soon he felt small particles forming between his hands.

“Dima, what are you doing? Are you ok?” His little mate asked him, looking at his wrinkled face with worry.

‘Come on, Dima, do this shit quickly. You can do this, just imagine Oksana’s surprise and delight when you conjure the brush for her.’ He boosted himself, and with a long deep breath, he urged his energy forward and muttered the words he knew would bring onward the magic from deep within his soul.

“Brush of silk, brush of gold, form the perfect comb. Diamond strong, velvety feel, use my love, and seal this deal.” He whispered these rimes underneath his breath, and, within a minute, he was holding a perfect gold brush with diamonds encrusted in the back.

‘How fancy, I was not expecting this.’ He thought to himself and fell onto his knees before his mate, feeling completely drained from the spell.

“Oh my soul, Dima! Are you okay? How did you do that? Conjure such a fancy hairbrush, I mean?” Oksana asked him, feeling a mix of shock, admiration, and worry, seeing as the tall bear shifter fell on his knees and looked rather pale.

“I’m ok, Ana. Now, turn your back to me and let me brush your hair for you.” He ordered, but the headstrong woman didn’t move, choosing to fuss over him for ten minutes straight before complying.

Dima sat on his knees behind his mate and started softly combing sections of her brown-reddish hair, massaging her scalp during the task and enjoying the little signs she let loose while he took care of her sand-infested strands.

“My mother taught me how to do that. Up until I was fourteen I had regular lessons with her on the magic subject while my father taught me about general shifters’ culture, mates, and combat. I stopped practicing magic after I lost my father, but my mother still obliged me to train protective spells until I was twenty. I’m actually surprised that I managed to conjure this hairbrush.” Dima confided with Oksana and soon finished brushing her hair.

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Dima!” Oksana whispered and hugged Dima.

“It’s ok, love. It’s been twenty-one years, I’m over it now.” He assured her, lying through his teeth to make her comfortable. The truth is that Dima accepted his father’s death, but never the circumstances in which it occurred, still being hunted by the nightmares from the past, but he didn’t want to worry his mate, so he omitted that fact.

“Alright, love. You’re all set.” He said as he finished with her hair and handed the brush for Oksana to observe. She curiously handled the beautiful hairbrush and by accident detached some of the diamond-encrusted decorations.

“Oh, Dima, I’m so sorry! I’m such a stupid clumsy.” She insulted herself with tears in her eyes and showed Dima what she thought she had broken. Dima analyzed the intriguing decoration and soon realized that she did not break anything. She simply detached a hidden decorative comb, one of those clip-like things women put in their hair to style their up do’s and all that.

“Look, Ana, it’s a comb!” He exclaimed and made a simple hairstyle, taking two pieces from the front of her hair and tying it with a thread, then he took the comb, and placed it in the spot the thread held the hair. Oksana carefully felt around her hair to try to get a grasp of what he did and once she pulled her hands away, Dima received a kiss on the cheek.

“I love it, Dima, thank you so much!” He blushed at the compliment but smiled brightly at her happiness. Dima could never repay his father his gratitude, if it wasn’t for that man, he would have never known how to style a woman’s hair.

“Now that we’re done here, let’s go back to your house.” He declared and got up, trying to call his bear forward. The plan didn’t go well and he ended up swaying on his feet and unable to shift. The energy he used to conjure the comb drained him and left him unable to shift for at least a few hours.

“Dima?”

“I’m fine. I just overdid it with the brush and can’t shift.” He explained, ashamed.

“Oh, Dima... You didn’t have to do it. Are you sure you’re ok?” He nodded affirmatively and stared at his mate in contemplation. How would they get to her house now?

“We can always use my grandmother’s broom,” Oksana suggested, and Dima started frenetically shaking his head, turning pale. He absolutely hated broom trips.

“No, thank you!”

“Oh, come on, it’s the fastest way of getting home, and you’re not ok. You’re paler than chalk and have panda matching dark circles on your eyes. Should I go on? Because I can keep on listing all the reasons why we should go on the broom and not get tired.” She challenged him, and he ended up giving in.

~ Sometime later ~

Worst idea ever!

They reached her house around seven a.m., Dima trowed up twice on the way over and fell off of the broom a hand full of times, ending up hanging from the stupid flying object during more than half of the trip. He absolutely hated flying brooms! The last time he had been on one had been on the same fateful day that took his father away from him, and that marked him deeply.

Angus opened the door for them and immediately embraced Oksana, hugging her very tightly, and apologizing over and over again while Dima leaned against the door’s frame, feeling sick and cold, probably dehydrated as well from vomiting so much.

“You look like shit.” Angus started with disdain when he looked at Dima over Oksana’s shoulder.

“Indeed.” Elspeth agreed and took her broom from Dima’s hands, looking at the bear like he had a contagious disease.

“Thank you very much.” Dima drily replied with an eye roll and held tighter onto the door frame when he felt himself sway.

“Your energy levels are extremely low, bear. What did you do?” Elspeth asked him apprehensively.

“He conjured a hairbrush and a comb for me, grandma. Can you help him, please? He hasn’t been feeling well, but he’s too stubborn to ask for help.” Oksana showed them her comb and turned to Dima to ask him for the hairbrush. He smiled at her and let go of the door’s threshold with a hand to reach his back pocket, yet, once again, his dizziness acted up, and black dots filled his sign, almost making him fall on his ass.

“DIMA!” Oksana grabbed hold of his arm and staggered back with him but managed to prevent their fall.

“I’m ok, Ana.” He looked down at his mate and murmured. The commotion caught Zainab’s attention, and she went to the living room to see what was going on, gasping at the sight of Dima’s face.

“Gosh! What happened?”

“The bear decided to be a wizard! That’s what happened.” Angus laughed and helped Oksana keep Dima up, receiving a slap at the back of his head, courtesy of his daughter, for being so mean to her sweet shifter.

“Ana, you need to rest. Don’t bother with my old ass, I just need to call my mother and I’ll be ok. This used to happen a lot when I was a kid, don’t worry.” Dima mumbled and kissed her forehead, trying to get her to let go of him and not tire herself more.

“But Dima, you need me. I won’t leave you now.” She responded and started guiding him towards the closest sofa. Before he sat down, he managed to take the hairbrush out of his back pocket, and Angus, seeing that the man was no longer being helped by his daughter, unceremoniously dropped him on the sofa.

“Angus.” Zainab hissed.

“What? He was already by the sofa, it’s not like I dropped him on the floor!” Angus answered her with a smirk.

Dima held his throbbing head but bitted back a groan and handed Oksana the brush.

“That’s beautiful, Dima. No wonder you’re so exhausted. You conjured a brush made of gold and diamonds for my daughter!” Zainab said, pleasantly surprised.

Angus and Elspeth were surprised as well. The old witch felt something inside her break and a bit of warmth entered her heart, she was starting to like this shifter who was crumbling her cold heart’s walls. It seemed that, after all, not all shifters were bad.

Angus was impressed with Dima’s work. The man was more bear than a wizard, but he still used the small percentage of magic in his blood to conjure a luxurious hairbrush for his daughter. It was obvious that the shifter had very strong feelings for his little girl.

“Now, go sleep, Ana. You have already helped me enough. I just need to call my mother, and I’ll be upstairs soon.” Dima tenderly demanded and kissed her lightly before she could complain. “Please, love.” Oksana blushed and rolled her eyes at him but complied. She kissed Dima’s cheek and left to go upstairs after whispering in her mother’s ear to take care of Dima for her. Angus tried to complain, going as far as to start burning again, but Zainab froze his hair, and he left the house while hissing profanities.

“Here, Dima. Take my phone and call your mother while I get you some warm water with sugar, you look ready to pass out at any time so it will do you some good.” Zainab explained and handed him the phone before hurrying to the kitchen. Elspeth left him alone in the living room as well and went upstairs probably to check on Oksana. Dima strained his ears to listen to the floor above and caught the sound of voices that he identified as Jamila, Axton, Kaavy, Oksana, and her grandparents.

‘Sounds like a family reunion upstairs.’ He thought as memories of his own family filled his mind. ‘I better call my mother now. She’ll probably chew my ass for taking so long to call her, anyway.’ He decided and dialed his mother’s number. It didn’t take long for her to answer, the phone had only rang twice before he heard her voice.

“Hello?” She sounded anxious, but he was already waiting for that. After all, she had sent her only son through a portal to find his mate, a non-tested portal, and hadn’t heard from him ever since.

“Hi, mom.” He mumbled tiredly. It seemed as if his energy was fading quicker now that Oksana was upstairs, probably a side effect from the distance.

“DIMA! Oh, thank the gods! I was starting to think that I had killed you. Don’t you ever do that to me again, do you hear me, young man!”

“I’m sorry, mom. Things were a bit crazy yesterday.” Dima took a moment to rest and started speaking again once he heard his mother worriedly call for him. “I’m here, mom, I just...”

“You just what, child? Did keep your mate awake all night, and now you’re tired? Am I going to be a grandma soon? I’m still too young to be a grandmother. Do you hear me, Dima Odin Jeanne Misha?! But any child of yours will always be well received by your mama.”

“Jeesh, mom! I drained myself today when I conjured a hairbrush for my mate to brush sand out of her hair.” And yes, Dima had to be very specific with his words. Otherwise, his mother would start with the mating conversation again. And he did not want to talk about that with his mother.

“What!? Gods, child, almost twenty years without practicing that kind of magic, and you suddenly decide to conjure a brush out of thin air!? Are you trying to kill yourself? Now I have to go make you the restoring potion, and I don’t even know where you are. I bet you don’t even have the energy to make it while following my instructions. AARGHT! Only you, Dima, only you. My crazy son.” Zainab walked inside the living room and handed Dima the sugary water, mumbling a small “Here.” before sitting beside him, monitoring his movements in case he lost his strength and let the cup fall.

“I can’t make it, mom.” He mumbled before he started to drink his sugary water. “But maybe, if it’s not too much trouble, my mate’s mother could. You even know her from your academy days.” He gave Zainab a pleading look, and the woman immediately nodded her head.

“There’s no need to give me that look, Dima. I’ll help you in any way I can. Besides, it’ll be good to talk with your mother again.” Zainab said, and Dima handed her the phone, falling lower on the sofa.

“Hey, bitch? How have you been?” That was how their greetings started, much to Dima’s surprise.

“You, hash brown-colored whore, you’re still alive!?”

“Really, Vania? You’re still hung up on that?” Zainab asked, laughing. “I’m not hash brown colored, and you know that.”

“You BURNED my hash browns!” Dima heard his mother yell. If there is one thing he knows to never do is to mess with his mother’s food.

“It was an ACCIDENT! And it only happened once, Vania. Once!”

“I was hangover, and you burned my food. There’s no excuse for that!”

“Why are you still so mean?” There was a moment of silence from both sides, and then, suddenly, both women started laughing hysterically.

“I missed you, Z!” Dima heard his mother say in between teary sniffs.

“I missed you too, V!” Zainab exclaimed and wiped away her tears. The sniffs of both women filled the air for a few minutes, and then, just like their laughing fit started, his mother started their banter all over again.

“If you’re not hash brown colored then you’re crispy bacon toned!”

“Really, V? You’re really hungry today aren’t you? Do I look like an orangy reddish mess to you, woman?”

“Who knows? For all I know, you could have a small softball-sized gut like Dima!” Dima rolled his eyes, and Zainab fake gasped, starting to laugh again. “At least now I know he’s going to get rid of it. I miss my stupidly burly boy.” He heard his mother mumble and lowered his head in shame.

When he used to get drunk daily, his beer gut was larger, but since he stopped drinking, it shrank. It only didn’t disappear completely due to his bear not caring about it, otherwise, he would be flat. Not muscled, but at least his stomach would be flat. He was going to have to work on that. He didn’t want his mate to have to put up with a fat, unfit, and unkempt man like himself. He let his head fall in between his knees and closed his eyes, thinking about all that he had to do. He was not going to keep on being his family’s disappointment.

His cousin was 147 years old, unmated, and had never been through a fit like his. Dima would have to contact him to get back to training with him. It would be hard in the beginning, and he would have his ass kicked by his cousin many times, but it would be worth it in the end.

“Dima! Are you ok, darling?” Zainab’s panicked voice brought him back to the present. “Shit, V, we lost so much time messing around that we forgot your son!” Dima slowly rose his head and saw Zainab let out a huge sign of relief.

“He’s still awake, thank the goddesses.” She whispered and put the phone on the loudspeaker before whispering an enchantment that made it float and went to help Dima get up to go to the kitchen with her.

“Up we go.” She mumbled, and with one of his arms over her shoulders, she helped him get up.

Half an hour later, the potion had been made and drunk by Dima, who was non his way to lie down with his sleeping mate. Zainab had stayed on the phone with his mother, and after asking her to send over some of his things, including his clothes, tablet, and wallet, Dima had gotten off of the kitchen chair and staggered up the stairs towards his mate’s room.

He took off his shoes and laid on top of Oksana’s covers, giving her a peck on the forehead and falling soundlessly asleep beside her with a smile on his face.