My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 176: Intoxicated

Violet

Kael surfaced in my mind like a lifeline, and I grabbed onto it desperately.

’You have a mate already. This—whatever this is—doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.’

I shook my head and immediately turned to weave through the passing wolves until I couldn’t see or sense Rowan close by anymore.

This was fine. This was good.

Rowan should be with someone else. Someone who wasn’t me. I hated the way the bond was making me feel this way.

If anything, this would be better for Rowan.

I should be happy about this.

I told myself I was relieved.

But the annoying feeling in my chest wouldn’t go away.

I pushed the image of him together with that woman out of my mind and tried to focus on the festival again.

But it wasn’t the same.

I made my way to some stalls to at least enjoy the rest of the night.

I tried all sorts of things, and soon enough, the slight enjoyment I felt earlier was returning and warming me from the inside out again.

"Ul’s Eye Nectar! One cup and you’ll be seeing the water spirits themselves!"

I paused at a slightly crowded stall. A round-faced wolf with silver streaks in his beard was calling out as he passed out tiny cups from his station, filling them with a colourless liquid that looked like water.

The wolves around him laughed at the obvious exaggeration, but they were also lining up to pay and drink.

The drink smelt somewhat sweet with another smell I wasn’t familiar with.

I approached the stall and handed over a coin. He gave me smaller coins as my change and passed me the very small cup.

"Please, what is this?" I asked him.

"Festival special," he answered with a cheerful grin and just as quickly, turned to attend to someone else before adding, "Just try it. You’ll love it."

When I drank it, it was surprisingly as sweet as it smelled.

But it was too small.

"Another?" he asked, already bringing out another large glass bottle from some hidden compartment within the stall.

When I nodded, he served me and I paid, drinking three more cups in quick succession. The taste was so addicting that I just wanted more of it.

The man kept pouring and I kept drinking and a faint warmth in my stomach started to spread to my chest.

Soon enough, even the man paused with a shocked look on his face.

The warmth was spreading now, reaching my fingertips, making my skin tingle pleasantly.

"Careful there. Most wolves feel it after two. You’ve got quite the tolerance. But—"

"Is this—should I be careful drinking this?" I asked, suddenly worried.

He opened his mouth to answer, but a group of wolves swarmed the stall, shouting orders and waving coins.

What was I supposed to feel exactly?

’I should properly stop drinking.’

It seemed like the sensible thing to do. I had thought this was just a casual sweet drink, but if that wasn’t case, maybe there was a reason it was being served in such a small cup?

’But if it was bad in large amounts, why did he still give me more?’

I glanced at the vendor before taking my leave, hoping I wouldn’t feel any adverse effects from all that drinking.

[ - ]

I wasn’t sure when things started to change.

I was only just walking moments ago when everything started to feel strange.

The sounds around me seemed louder but also muffled, like I was hearing them through water. The music had a deeper thrumming quality, like it was vibrating in my chest instead of just in my ears.

The colours were different too. Brighter.

They seemed more intense and vivid. Almost alive. The lanterns no longer just glowed. They seemed to pulse and it looked like the light was... spilling out of the lanterns like it was liquid?

’What is happening?’

When I passed a stall draped in red fabric, the colour was so vivid it almost hurt to look at it.

I stepped away from it and the world tilted slightly.

The silver paint on some passing wolves bodies seemed to glow with its own inner light against their skin.

Another wolf in a bright blue costume walked past me, and the blue seemed to trail behind them, leaving streaks in the air that faded slowly.

Was that normal?

I wasn’t sure anymore.

My body felt loose. I felt warm. Also relaxed in a way I wasn’t used to.

What...

I turned my head, trying to stabilise myself, and for some reason, the movement felt strange and delayed.

It was as if my body wasn’t fully listening to me.

The sounds around me were shifting too.

It had on a pulsing quality that seemed to match my heartbeat.

What was in that drink?!

I needed to sit down.

I looked around, searching for somewhere quiet, and away from this place, but I couldn’t find anywhere like that.

I had to settle for the low stone wall facing a wide street.

My heart was already hammering against my chest when I sat down on the ground and leaned my back against the cool stone.

My head felt dizzy and light at the same time. It even almost felt like I was floating.

’This is... this is...’

I couldn’t even find the word.

My thoughts were slipping away.

Everything was almost too much, it was too overwhelming and I was so scared and... wonderful...

My body felt like slop as it slid to the ground. Somehow, I was looking up at the sky.

Bursts of light painted it in brilliant colours that lingered longer than they should. Trails of sparks hung in the air like falling stars, drifting downward in slow spirals.

It was so beautiful.

A sensation washed over me, warm and welcoming and somewhat ticklish. Something was holding me, but without any arms.

It wrapped around me like a familiar blanket, and I didn’t turn to look.

I didn’t have to.

I just leaned back further, my eyes still on the sky as I let the sensation settle over me.

The flares of light in the sky exploded again with funny sounds and I just watched the colours bloom and fade.