Chapter 2: Marked

Silja POV

I make it up to my apartment. I took two painkillers and a long hot shower. My appointment with my client isn’t until three in the afternoon. Some woman and her mother are coming to take formal pictures. I look in the mirror, and my eyes go wide and in horror. I’ve been marked. I mated and was marked by a complete stranger.

‘Pau! What the hell? Why are we marked?!’

‘Why else? We found our mate last night. We mated and he marked us. We marked him too. He was delicious in bed.’ She said, stretching in my mind.

‘I lost my virginity to my mate and I don’t even remember. I also left. Why didn’t I sense he was my mate when I woke up?’

‘You still had the aconitum in your system. It screws with the senses. I was trying to tell you he was our mate, but you couldn’t hear me.’

No. No. No. This cannot be happening. Some rich guy with a gorgeous back side is my mate and he is a wolf too.

‘Relax. We will find our way back to him. Moon Goddess paired us, remember?’

‘What did he smell like? At least give me a clue here.’

‘Cashmere and Incense. He smelled like he was clean and waiting for us at the altar.’ She smirked in my mind.

I put my head in my hands. Now what do I do? I didn’t even see his face, and I don’t remember anything from last night. Romy said his name was David. What I do remember is his body is built, light tan, and his hair is black. He also took up a lot of the bed. Weird detail, but it tells me he is a big guy. I can’t do anything about it now, so I need to focus on getting through my day. Then I can commence a proper breakdown. Romy is going to have to sit with me through all of it. I need her to help me through my suffering.

I rest for another hour, getting some light food in my system before getting ready and heading out the door to walk three blocks to the studio where I currently work. My dream is to open my own studio one day and build myself an empire. In my imagination, I would call it WildeScapes. That way my family’s surname would be included, and it would pay homage to them. I miss them. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been back home to our pack.

I skipped through several grades as a kid. Everyone thought I was going to be a doctor, lawyer, or something fancy. My passion was always photography though. When I left the pack to study at the university, I majored in photography and graphic design. With technology advancing the way it has, I figured it could help my career when the time came. I always stay up to date on the latest technology too. One day, when I have my own company, I’m going to make sure I use all the tools at my disposal to have the best photography business in town.

I make it to the studio thirty minutes ahead of schedule. I start setting up my cameras and laptop. I pull the lighting out and the back drops. When the front door chimes, I make my way to the front. I see two very refined women standing by the front desk. One of them is holding a garment bag and I presume that it is the dress that is going to be worn for the pictures. I put on a bright smile and approached them.

“Trina Mayer and Mrs. Mayer, I presume?” Greeting them warmly.

The older lady scoffed, “I’m Mrs. Sinnett. Trina Mayer is my future daughter-in-law.”

“My apologies Mrs. Sinnett. Trina said her mother would be coming. I guess that is a huge compliment to you that she thinks so warmly of you as a real mother.” I said, easily smoothing things over.

Mrs. Sinnett smiles at her future daughter-in-law and Trina smiles back at Mrs. Sinnett with a gentle look in her eyes. It makes me want to gag. I have captured sincere expressions behind a lens before and hers is anything but. Clearly, Trina is only kissing up to Mrs. Sinnett. The finance must have money. That’s the only time a woman would have that fake expression on her face when her eyes clearly want to tell the old woman about herself.

“Right! Well, as we spoke before Ms. Mayer, I have the backdrop and the props set up for the photoshoot. May I see your dress?” I asked.

Mrs. Sinnett the interrupts, “Why? We prefer to have her wearing it first.”

“I understand your concern ma’am. I need to see the fabric, shine, etc. It will help me with the lighting and make sure I capture Ms. Mayer in the absolute most perfect and ethereal light.” I said.

I can tell by the approving look in Mrs. Sinnett’s eyes she is satisfied with my answer. “Very well.” She said, gesturing to Trina to hand over the garment bag. When I opened the bag and held it up, it was apparent that this was a Luna dress. I quickly look over to the both of them.

“Luna Ceremony?” I asked.

They both stopped and looked at me shocked. “How do you know that?”

“I’m a wolf too.” I said. Looking at the dress, I held it up against the props and I started thinking that I could really make this photoshoot, beautiful, sexy, and glamourous at the same time.

“What pack are you from?” Mrs. Sinnett asked me.

“My family is from Mountain Mist Pack.” I said.

“I’ve been there a couple of times for the moonstone gems.” Mrs. Sinnett said. “You’re a long way from home.”

“Yes, I came here to attend the university. I recently graduated top of my class in photography and graphic design. I stayed in the city to start my career.”

Trina smiled gently but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes, well now that you’ve seen the dress, can you please give it back so I can go change?”

“Of course.” I said handing over the dress. “Also, looking at the dress and knowing the occasion is it for, would you be open to an alternative setting? I will of course keep the original idea, but if you can humor me with an additional twenty minutes, I would like to take pictures with a different backdrop that I think you will love.” I said, trying to get an additional sale.

“I suppose.” Trina said.

“Great! I will get everything ready while you change. The dressing room is down the hall. First door on the right or left, whichever you prefer.” I said and then turned to Mrs. Sinnett, “Can I offer you a water?”

“Yes, thank you.” She said.

As I hand her the bottle of water, I start pulling out the additional props to make a quick change and make sure we have everything ready. For the second set of pictures.