The Mate Mark

The phone fell from her hands and she quickly moved back looking at him horrified.

"What is this? Are you telling the truth?"

The man nodded pitifully and stretched his hand to comfort her but she moved back. What was happening to her? Was she hallucinating or some sort of extended prank was being played on her? Verena glared at him.

"And why would I believe you? Show me some proof."

She didn't know what she was asking for, she just wanted some clarification, in any way possible. Her weary eyes traced his movements as he moved his sleeve up to show some sort of a birthmark. It was a black mark on his inner arm, a little up from his wrist. The mark was a beautiful black rose.

Verena looked at him stunned. She didn't want to believe it. She too had an identical birthmark on the left side of her stomach near where her heart was. The mark laid just a little down to her chest and she had never revealed it. Even if someone tried to prank her, it was impossible to know about the birthmark. She stuttered, "wh..what is th..this?"

"It's a mate mark assigned to our couple. Your highness too should have such a symbol on some part of your highness's body." Verena gulped. "Are you telling the truth?"

To the man sitting in front of her, she was just like a child, torn between wanting to believe and scared of trusting him. He nodded softly. "Your highness must have an identical birthmark too. Can I see it?" Verena choked on air.

"First of all, stop calling me your highness. My name is Verena. Call me Verena and refer to me as 'you.'"

He nodded obediently. "What's your name?"

"Eros." His obedience tickled her heart but right now she had a bigger problem. The dorm she lived in was located in an all women dorm building and men were strictly prohibited inside the building after 7 PM. Being caught breaking the rules could end up with her subjected to heavy fines and being kicked out from the building and she couldn't afford any of the two at the moment.

She was still stuck between believing or not believing the strange phenomenon but since the situation was already created, she had to take some measures.

She spent the next two hours asking him questions about his world, his life and also explaining to him things about her world. Compared to her, Eros's world was quite old fashioned. Although his time on earth inside a mobile phone had taught him a lot of things about this world, he was still inexperienced in the matters of functioning in this society.

One more thing she noticed was, she was unable to resist his pull. There was something inside her heart that kept wanting to go embrace him and merge herself into him. And while she kept herself under control, the same could not be said about this man named Eros who claimed to be his mate. He kept trying to hold her hand or move closer every chance he got like an abandoned kid finding solace in his savior.

He looked young, around twenty four years old, the same age as her. His eyes held curiosity and at the same time he looked at her as if he hadn't seen a woman as beautiful as her. They were filled with admiration, reverence, love, and… desire? Verena found it hard to avoid his bright eyes that followed her every move.

As the time ticked, Verena had eventually come to realize that whatever was transpiring was true. She really was delivered a handsome mate and that she wouldn't be dying alone. She almost screamed when her gaze went to the wall clock to see its shorter hand nearing the digit two.

Leaving the rest of the discussion for the next day, she decided to sleep. But what about him? Her dorm was small with only one queen sized bed, two chairs and a small table that she also used as her study table. Other than the bedroom area there was only little space for a kitchenette and a bathroom. Left with no other options, she had to let him share the bed with her on the condition of not crossing the line.

He almost sulked. They were kissing just fine until she realized that it was not a dream. Why did she have to hold back from something she enjoyed just because it was not a dream? To that, she had no answer except urging him to go to sleep.

When she turned the lamp off to lie on her side of the bed, she felt him changing sides again and again restlessly. Verena decided to play dead. After some time, he slowly moved closer to her and hugged her from behind. In the dark room and hyper aware of the handsome man hugging her from behind, Verena found it hard to breathe normally.

It took her lots of effort to stay calm and not turn to look at him. Eventually, while trying to calm down, they both drifted to sleep.