The Cold She-wolf

Chapter Eighteen: trust me, they'll love you

Ara's POV

   "Okay, I look great," I recited for the umpteenth time, preening in front of the mirror. Amabel who was sitting on my bed, reading from a book, rolled her eyes while Isobel chuckled.

   Iso pushed some loose strands of her hair behind her ear with a sweet smile on her face. "Come on, Ara, be yourself," she said with a teasing tone.

   "You don't get it. I'm going to meet his family today, I need to look presentable, you know," I said, adjusting my pants again. It was finally time to return to Cyrus's pack and I was moving with him. It felt kind of strange to move my life somewhere else. It didn't feel like the time I moved away from home for college, or even when I made LA my residence. Maybe it was because of the possibility that it might never be my home. His people could reject me, or his people would accept me and that place will be my permanent home. I already decided that the moment they accept me, the moment I'm sure Cyrus and I will be together forever, I'll tell him about my powers. I'll show them and explain everything to my parents because they would love to know where their daughter lives.

   The next arrangement was marriage. After his people accept me… if they accept me, we are going to get married. According to him, marriage wasn't necessary for shifters, but since I was human and a popular one at that, it was necessary. Dad was already planning my wedding and Kevin wouldn't leave my house because he insisted on becoming a werewolf too. It had been three weeks since we started dating. I knew it was bad keeping this away from him, as my mate, but I just didn't feel like telling him yet.

   "So after you confirm his family doesn't hate you, what else?" Amabel asked, standing up from my bed.

   "Get pregnant, duh," Iso replied thoughtlessly. I chuckled.

   "What's with you and pregnancy?" Ama asked with an arched eyebrow.

   "I honestly don't know," she said puzzledly. I chuckled. She's so cute, unlike Amabel. I looked at Amabel and intentionally shivered with simulated revulsion. She sneered, throwing her book at my face. I laughed as I ducked, causing the book to hit the mirror and crack it, but didn't break it.

   "Asshole," she murmured.

   "When did Amabel become the human version of Cruella again?"

   "More like the human version of the ice queen," Isobel snorted, "I think it started when she realized she's a nerd—"

   "I am not a nerd! And while we're talking about ice queens, let me remind you that you haven't told your boyfriend that you are the mini version of the ice queen and there's an actual one after you. Don't you think this will backfire?" It was a good question. I'd thought about it over and over again, but as much as it felt wrong to lie, it felt more right than wrong. I just knew it was better not to tell him yet. I couldn't figure it out yet, and I couldn't speak to the only person who could correct me. Raquelia was still out of reach.

   "I'll tell him after we're married with one or two kids," I muttered to myself, but she heard it and gasped outrageously. "Okay, fine. After the marking, I will stay with him for a while before returning for a human-view wedding. Werewolves don't do weddings and all those craps. Once he mates with me, I officially become his wife and Luna, then I'll tell him."

   "Wrong, you will undergo some rituals," Kevin butt in. I sighed. As I said, he won't leave my house. "So while you are away, this house is mine to do as I please, right?"

   "Only if Declan is staying with you," Amabel responded strictly.

   "But I don't want him, he's too clean and shiny and bossy and over-cautious," Kevin whined childishly.