Chapter 2 – Getting Ready

LAURA

“Laura!”

My stepmother is yelling from downstairs, and I reach over to my bedtable, take my phone and touch the screen, so it lights up and shows it’s only 7.30.

“Laura!” Samantha yells again.

I get out of my bed and walk downstairs to our big kitchen, where I find Samantha and Leah, my stepsister, sitting by the table, Leah all covered in face masks while her mom is putting red nail polish on her hands. They will look like she had been dipping them in fresh blood.

“About time, get to work and prepare breakfast. I am busy getting Leah ready for tonight.”

“It is like 12 hours away. “ I argue.

“That might be. But we want Leah to look better than everyone else.” I sigh and begin to make breakfast for all of us.

Tonight our new Alpha turns 20, which means he can now find his mate. Alphas and other male wolves find their mate when they turn 20. That is so they can make sure they are mature enough to start the rest of their life with their mate. She-wolves, on the other hand, can find their mate when they turn 17. Every unmated girl will be there tonight, hoping that they are his mate, or if his mate isn’t there, hoping he will choose one of them.

I think it’s ridiculous that we all have to stand there like cows for sale, waiting to be bought and dragged away. And I wanted to stay home, which Samantha thought was a good idea. She doesn’t want me to steal and overshadow my sister’s chance to become the next Luna. But my dad told me not to be silly and to be there, even if he had to drag me there himself. He said this could be my chance because I still had not found my mate, and I soon turn 19. That was something my dear stepmother didn’t like. Leah had turned 17 just a month ago, so now Samantha had used a lot more money to make sure Leah would look better than me.

My dad and my mom had grown up together, and when none of them found their mate, they chose each other because they loved each other very much. Then dad was on a trip with their Alpha, and he met Samantha, his fated mate. Dad called my mom, being so confused and needing her advice. Being who she was, my mom told my dad to bring her to our pack so he could get to know her, and if the fated bond was too strong, she didn’t want to be in the way. So my dad did just that, but after some time found that he loved my mom the most. But before he could break the bond with Samantha, my mom was killed in a rogue attack and left him with me being only a few months old. Shortly after Samantha moved in, she became pregnant about a year later. And after Leah was born, Samantha would always try to make my dad love her more because she was, in her opinion, after all, his true daughter. But dad loved us both equally and never gave one more than the other.

-

The house has been busy all day. Leah and her snobby friends have been at it all day. So I decided to keep to myself and stayed in my room. A knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts, and my best friend Cora steps into my room.

“Hey, girl, are you ready?”

“Hey.”

Cora and I had agreed to get ready together. She enters my room, and we just do some small talk while we do each other hair and makeup. My long sandy blonde hair had been put in a long braid that began on the right side of my head to end hanging over my left shoulder, and she also put small hair clips with midnight blue stones into the braid. The makeup was kept light, with a blue eyebrow surrounding my blue eyes, a light blush on my cheeks, and a soft pink lip gloss. Looking in the mirror, I loved Cora's work and went to get my dress, a simple but long midnight blue silk dress with thin shoulder straps.

When it was time, they all left to walk over to the packhouse. Many girls were already standing outside the packhouse, and some dressed up formally. Some were dressed in skirts so short that it was embarrassing to look at. When it was finally time, an elder came out from the packhouse and stood on the stairs leading inside. The minute the door, a strong scent of fresh-cut grass and spices hit my nose, making Kali, my wolf, wake up inside of my head.

“Welcome everyone, especially welcome to all these beautiful house unmated she-wolves. We are here so that Alpha Miles can give or choose a mate, to be by his side as a loving partner, a mother to his pups, and to be his Luna.”

All us girls were now instructed to stand next to each other in one long line. Cora stood to one side of me in her emerald green dress and matching makeup. Or my other side was Leah in her blood-red dress, showing off her legs.

“I also have the pleasure of informing you that Alpha Miles have been able to smell a scent so alluring that it can only be the scent of a fated mate. And I just say that Alpha Miles are very excited to get out there and find her.”