Samantha Skylar Wright
Ever since I was a young girl I have dreamed of meeting my mate, falling in love, having a few kids, and dying old together. And still to this day those dreams are still intact. Many people call me naïve because of it. But what's wrong with wanting to be loved? What's wrong with wanting to be in love? There's nothing wrong with love, just heart break.
Today is the first day of the Mating Ball. The Mating Ball is a three day ball where boys and girls come to meet their mates. The rules are that if you meet your mate on the first day you have to wait until the last day to meet them or see them at all outside of the ball. The second rule is that there is zero completion of the mating process during the ball or until the last day is over. There is one more rule, but I forgot it.
My mother is very excited for me to be able to attend the ball this year. Since as soon as you turn seventeen you are eligible to meet your mate. My father on the other hand isn't as pleased as he could be. I'm his baby girl and he's very overprotective of me. My brother attended his two years ago but we haven't seen him since. We believe that he found his mate and went to spend forever with her. Nice, isn't it?
I'll be going to the ball with my best friend, Genelia Mary Fosters, she's really pretty and tough. Just like me she wants to meet her mate, she's just unsure if she wants to do it now. I can't wait. My wolf is itching for her mate's love and approval. Call me crazy if I depend on a guy so much, especially a guy I haven't even met yet.
"Samantha! Are you getting ready!" My mother calls out to me. I sigh and started heading to the bathroom.
I take out all the things I need for my little relaxation. I strip out of my clothes and get into the bath. I put my hair into a mess bun and start applying the face mask I got from LUSH. The music I started playing was bursting in my ears. I'm listening to Vagabond by MisterWives. Something about this song relaxes me. I take deep breaths and sit there waiting for my timer to go off.
I get out of the tub and place my towel around my chest. I sit down in front of the vanity and started washing my face and brushing my teeth. Once I finish that I start my makeup. Normally my mother would do this, but I feel capable enough to do it myself. I'm a big girl right? After that I take my hair out of the bun it was so lazily put in. I straighten my hair and put it in a really neat ponytail.
The dress I'm wearing to the first day of the ball definitely isn't my choice. It shows a little too much skin for my liking but the dress is beautiful. I put my slip on and start to get into the dress. It's finally on. I look in the
mirror
and smile. I place the mask on my face and slip on my shoes and jewelry. Then I hear a knock on my door.
"Are you all done?" A small voice asks. I laugh and answer with a 'yes'. The door opens and I see my mother in tears forming in her eyes. "Sweetie, you look beautiful." She awes. I smile, "Thank you." A small blush forms on my cheeks. A single tears falls from my mother's right eye and I pull her into a hug. "I'm so sorry for crying like this, " She laughs, "But my baby's all grown up." She sighs. "I'll always be your baby."
I carefully walk down the stairs and I'm greeted by my father. "Samantha, you look amazing." He compliments. I give him thanks and we start taking pictures as if I'm going to prom. Which in a way I kind of am. Minutes later I hear the doorbell ring . "I'll get it." I offered and went to my door.
There in front of me is my best friend, Genelia. "Sam, you look gorgeous." Genelia awes. "Me? Look at you!" I throw the compliment back at her. But she truly does look amazing. She is wearing a red dress. It starts to flow out at her waist and the puff is made of miniature flowers. The top is a velvet material and she looks fabulous.
Genelia's mother and father walk in and they greet me, my mother and my father. We talk for a while until our limo gets here to pick us up. I take a few deep breaths and I say goodbye to my parents. I grab Genelia's hand and we walk out together.
"Miss Samantha Skylar Wright and Miss Genelia Mary Fosters." The limo driver calls for us. We hurry over to him, I mean, as fast as girls in heels can. We giggle as we get into the limo and we start our two hour drive to the Central Hall.
On the car ride I get the pleasure to meet many other girls. A few of them told me that it wasn't their first year participating. That's the last rule. If you don't meet your mate in your first year, you have to come again until you do. But this year, I hear we're having a special guest.
"I hear that he's never come to one of these before."
"So, he's like our age?"
"No! He's like twenty-six."
I listen very closely to the two girls' conversation. "Did you hear that Ginny?" I get Genelia's attention. "Hear what?" She says so cluelessly. "There's a man coming this year and he's twenty-six." I inform her. "He's been attending for... nine years!" Genelia shrieks in shock. "Goddess no! This is his first year." I tell her. "But the rules-" I cut her off. "He's a rule-breaker I guess."
"What's his name?"
"I'm pretty sure it is Alpha Hughes."
Gasps fill the limo. The Alpha Jack Hughes? He's the most feared Alpha. I truly feel bad for whoever his mate is. He's a monster. Stories about him circle around in my pack every month. This month he killed a family of six because they didn't obey him. What kind of man does that?
"But isn't he like a hottie?"
"I don't know! If I get ten feet of him he might kill me!"
"That's preposterous."
"No, if he can kill he's own parents, he can kill me."
"What if he's your mate?"
"HE ISN'T!"
Fear filled in my veins as I make myself listen to their conversation. I know I shouldn't eavesdrop but this is too good to not get in on! How come none of us heard about his appearance at the Mating Ball? "Hey! Sam! Snap out of it." Genelia orders. "Sorry, I was thinking." I apologize. Genelia rolls her eyes and continues her story.
"The chance of us finding our mate is about eighty-seven percent." Genelia is a wiz with math. I never understood how she does it. "How did you get that!" I say. "Okay..." She goes on explaining to me about how she got her answer but I was too busy thinking about my mate.
He's going to be loving, nice, and very cute. He'll treat my like I'm the only woman in the world. I can see it now. We're dancing together at the ball, his hands are on my waist but they aren't going too low. I'm looking up at him with so much admiration my heart breaks open. He looks me in the eyes with a look that says 'I love you' but we can't call it love yet.
I dreamily sigh at my mental movie. That's all I want. Love. It is a beautiful thing. I see the Central Hall! Girls start screaming and yelling with joy as we reach the entrance. "Girls, when you get into the ball please sit where your name is and don't move until instructed to do so. And lastly, have a wonderful night."
We all exit the limo and I thank the driver for driving us to the night of our lives. "We're here." Genelia laughs. I join her. "Are you ready?" I ask. Genelia looks at me sadly and shakes her head. "Don't worry, babe, you'll be fine." I encourage her. She smiles at me and we proudly walk into the Central Hall to attend our first Mating Ball.
"Welcome to our 127th Mating Ball! Ladies and Gentlemen put on your masks! Now, may I have all the ladies come up here!" Lady Beatrice cheers. We all stand up and go to the stage. "Okay! We will be rating you on your strength and beauty that you all tested for last month."
Each of the girls went through and because my last name was Wright, I'm one of the last. "Samantha Skylar Wright!" I walk towards the podium. "Age: 17, Strength 7, Beauty: 10." I smile in satisfactory that people think I'm beautiful but the glares lead me to think otherwise. I look down and carefully exit the stage.
Afters the girls, all the boys went up. "Alpha... Jack Hughes?" Lady Beatrice calls. The crowd silences at the mention of his name. I look over to where Genelia is sitting and she's already looking at me with so much fear. I shift in my chair awkwardly.
"What's he doing here?"
"Who's his mate?"
"He's kind of cute."
"I hear he's really strong, if you know what I mean."
"He's not cute! He's a monster!"
"Come off it, he's nothing but trouble."
Those are a few of the things I could hear throughout my section of the ballroom. Lady Beatrice clears her throat and continues calling the names. I secure my mask on my face and wait for further instructions.
Once all the names are done we all go down to the dance floor and have our first dance. "Genelia-" I stop my sentence short when I see her walking off with red-haired man. I smile at her and give her a thumbs-up and go sit down. I'm the only girl sitting down. Then a smell hits me. It was a mist of Rose and Vanilla. The smell intoxicates me.
Mate.
I look around to see if anyone is looking at me. But no one is. I wonder around and the smell gets stronger the closer I get to the boys' side of the ballroom. I find his brown hair facing the opposite direction. I see him tense and he turns to face me. My eyes widen, and fear is the only emotion I am able to feel. He won't love me.
I turn my back so I'm not facing the monster that so happens to be my mate, collect myself, and I get out of there. I never look back just run. I hear footsteps behind me and I see him chasing after me. "STOP!" He orders. As an Alpha he has full control over me. I stop and turn around. I close my eyes waiting for him to say the words. "What are you doing?" He questions. I open one eye and then open the other. "I-I was w-waiting-" He rolls his eyes. "Spit it out."
"I-was-waiting-for-you-to-reject-me."
He pierces his lips and nod. "I'm not rejecting you." He looks at me. The look isn't filled with love, or any emotion. "Y-You a-aren't?" I'm full of bewilderment. "Stop stuttering." Alpha Hughes says impatiently. "S-Sorry Alpha." I look down. "What's your name?" He asks. I clear my throat, "Samantha Skylar Wright," I whisper. "What pack are you from?" He quizzes me. "Midnight Shadow." I whisper again. He nods and walks away.
I stand there for what seems to be forever. What just happened? He cannot be my mate! He's a murderer! A monster! He's probably going to kill me after the third day. Tears fill up in my eyes. "No." I whisper and fall onto the ground cradling myself. All I really want right now is my father to tell me it's all just dream. Alpha Hughes just cannot be my mate. He just can't be.
