I'm Sorry

Chapter 1: Checklist

I hope you all had a lovely holidays, and hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

Chapter 1

Checklist

    The wind rustled with the wind, and Sebastian stood by the window as he waited for his mother to finish with the list that she was writing. His father had just told him it was only a few weeks until he met his mate, and even though he was excited, there was also a small part of him that feared what would happen in the next chapter of his life. 

    “Son, I need you to get these specific items for your mate that you meet at the ritual.” Sebastian flinched as he heard the word mate. It was something that he had to get used to hearing.

    He did not know much of the ritual, mainly because his parents, as well as every other werewolf parents, were sworn to secrecy to what happens in the ritual. It was something that was only to be witnessed by the ones who have been brought to the sacred place. As he stared at his reflection in the glass, he thought of himself much too young to have a mate and breed children that would have to go through the same process. 

    “Son?” His mother brushed her hands over his shoulder blade, her eyes worrisome as he gazed into the far distance.

    “I’ll be back soon,” Sebastian took the list from his mother and made his way towards his car. 

    He slammed his black enamel door, and the car purred as he pressed his foot on the gas. His eyes looked at his rear-view mirror as he backed out of the driveway. The car skidded onto the cement, and Sebastian switched gears- his knuckles tightened around the wheel as he made his way to town on the wet road.

    His pack members were going through the same process, one of the reasons why there had not been any meetings for the past month. They were stressed about the whereabouts of their future. None of them had many experience with women, mainly because the only full women pack was out north- the pack that they were forbidden to see until the  ritual because it is from one of the women in the pack that would later be their mates. 

    Though there were a few villagers in the market, that were female were-wolves but the females were meant for another male pack. In total there were two packs of females and males. Each located far from one another. Though there was also the possibility that the women at the ritual were too many for the amount of men, or vise versa- which led to no choosing for them until the next ritual arrived.

    Sebastian shuddered. He wasn’t prepared to have a mate, but that did not mean he didn’t want to be singled out until the next ritual. The ones that were singled out for the next ritual were likely to be disregarded, not cared for as the parents focused more on their other children. It was required for each couple to have three children. The first one represented security, the second one represented wealth, and the third one represented hope.  If the requirement was not carried though within the first three years of marriage, they were banished from the land that they were raised in, and forced to live in an unsafe community, to live on the streets, and from all of this, they- the couple- would be separated thus the reason for no hope of something better.

    The ritual could either shape your life for the better or for the worse, and Sebastian did not want to be left for the latter half. He parked his car by a local market, and began his walk though the parking lot. In just a few weeks he would be running errands for his mate, not often for his mother. 

    The doors slid open and he walked inside, the aroma of cinnamon and pumpkin spice lingered with every step he took as he passed through the candle section of the market. He pushed his hands into his pockets and his fingers came in contact with the thin paper his mother wrote the list on.