"James I-" I couldn't finish the sentence. The words were stuck in my mouth like glue and I just couldn't get them out. He looked over at me from the driver's seat and his expression softened. "Chase, I know you don't have the same feelings for me and that's okay, I will wait. As long as you need, I will wait for you. I just hate hearing you talk about other guys when I know the perfect guy for you is sitting next to you in this car." He stared intensely at the road as emotion poured from his words. I was speechless, unable to form a thought let alone a sentence. James Mitchell Garrison was in love with me.
"James," I said as he pulled into the driveway of my house. He parked the car and looked at me. His beautiful blue-green eyes stared through my hazel ones. His blonde hair was disheveled and slightly parted to the right. He was beautiful, and kind and smart. How could I not love him? Could I learn to love him as more than a friend? My mouth suddenly became dry and I swallowed hard. Reaching my hand up, I gently placed it on his upper arm and moved in closer. I had never kissed anyone before James had kissed me that day. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. "Kiss me," I rasped as I tried to tell him what I wanted.
His soft lips caressed mine like a whisper, testing the waters of what I was comfortable with. I didn't want soft and gentle, I wanted to dive right in. If I could throw myself into this, into him, maybe loving him romantically would be easier. I pulled myself onto him. Ignoring the tomato on my body. I sat on his lap without breaking the kiss. His breath hitched, surprised at my actions as I continued to kiss him. "Chase," he started as he broke the kiss and put his hands on the tops of my hips. "What are you doing?" He asked me with a smirk on his face, obviously knowing that these actions weren't really me. I sighed and shyly went to move back into my seat, but was anchored down by James's strong grip.
"I was giving this a chance... giving us a chance." I replied, squirming a little as a blush flooding my checks when I realized that my body was pressed against his own. "Are you sure?" James asked, moving my chin so that I would look at him. His eyes were filled with so much love, it almost made me feel guilty that I didn't love him back like that. I nodded and rested my forehead against his own. He leaned up and gave me a quick peck, then kissed my forehead slowly. "Go inside, I'll see you tonight." He said to me with a wink as he relinquished his grip on me and let me out of the car. I didn't know what this made us. My mind was still playing back my actions in his car as he pulled out of my driveway.
I walked towards my house, smelling the rain coming in the clean air. "You're home early," my mother questions as I walk in the door. I threw down my backpack and trudged into the kitchen to see her covered in flour. My mother was one of the worst cooks in history. She nearly burnt the house down boiling pasta when I was eleven. She was covered head to toe in flour and the island in the middle of the kitchen was a mess with baking supplies. "Your father got promoted at work today so I wanted to make him a cake.. I guess I just should have bought one, huh?" She questioned as I peeked inside the oven to see the concoction bubbling and boiling out of the small pan. I sighed and shook my head at my mother's actions. She loved my father with all of her heart, the way a mate should act towards her other half.
"James dropped me off," I say as I grab an apple from the refrigerator and munch on it. She gives me a hopeful look and turns back to clean up the kitchen. "You know, I've always liked James, and your father and I both approve of him. Maybe you should start considering searching for a mate. You are eighteen, this is the time to start looking." My mother had been pestering me for a few weeks about when I was going to be mated. I still had my whole life ahead of me, I shouldn't have to get tied down when this is the time to make mistakes. "Mom, James is wonderful and I'm... uh, giving us a chance I guess... But that doesn't mean that tomorrow we're going to be mated with four grand children for you." I say as I take another bite of the apple.
My mother gave me a toothy grin and came over to hug me. She has been waiting for me to accept James since I could remember, his mother was her best friend. "Why don't you get cleaned up and then we'll hug. I only have a few hours before-" My mother cut me off and grabbed me by the shoulders. "The Ceremony!" She yelled as she ushered me to the stairs. "Go take a shower! I'll be up later to help with your hair and makeup, go!" She rushes me to my room so fast that I leave my apple sitting on the counter.
I strip myself of the tomato soaked clothes and throw them in my hamper. Turning on the hot water, I step inside the shower and sit in the bathtub, wrapping my arms around my legs that are pulled to my chest. The calming water rushes over my back as I think about James and my mother and the Ceremony. "This is your fate," I think to myself. "You will mate and marry James. You will love him and make horrible cakes for him. You will have his four kids that will grow up and have kids of their own. Your family will be proud of you. You will grow old with James and eventually die. This is your life." I think to myself but can't help but feel an unidentifiable emotion. After what feels like ages, I scrub my body and hair clean with my vanilla and lavender soap and turn the water off.
As I stand in the steamy air, I feel a twinge of guilt that I'm going to the Ceremony with Braxton instead of James. I don't have much of a choice though. Braxton is the future Alpha and is not to be messed with. You do not disobey an Alpha, ever. Thoughts of the dark haired man suddenly flood my mind. I still didn't know who he was or what he had been doing on the land, but as soon as he had came, he vanished. I had asked my father if he knew anything because he worked on border patrol with a few other deltas. He was the fastest out of all of them. He could outrun the Alpha if he tried.
I patted my body dry and combed through my wet hair before tying it into the towel on my head. I opened the bathroom door to see Cecilia sitting in my bed staring at the ceiling. "So I heard you and James are going to be mates, congrats." She said as she swung her feet to the side of the bed and made her way to grab my dress from the closet. "We're not mates, he's more like... my boyfriend, I would say." Werewolves rarely had "boyfriends" because we bonded our souls together with our mates. Humans didn't have mates, they had husbands and wives and did not tie themselves to a person forever. They were lucky enough to be able to change their decisions, to change their fate.
"Ohhhh," Cecilia said with a nod as my mother walked into the room with a plastic bag in hand. "Go put these on, then we will put on your dress." She said to me with a giggle. I took the bag and dress suspiciously and walked back into the bathroom to change. Inside the bag was a pair of black, lacey panties and matching bra. I blushed and put them on quickly, trying not to think about the fact that my mother had bought me lingerie. At the bottom of the bag were strapped, sparkling, open toed high heels. I set the beautiful silver shoes on the counter and unzipped the dress.
The beautiful material slips through my fingers like flowing water. The stunning burgundy color reminded me of flowers that grow in the forest by my house in the late spring. As I pulled the dress over my head, an indescribable feeling hit me deep in my chest. It wasn't exactly excitement, but it wasn't withdrawn from the idea of the Ceremony. I walked out of the bathroom and twirled for Cecilia, who clapped her hands and giggled. "You will be the most beautiful girl there in the entire pack." Cecilia cooed as she left the room to fetch my mother. This was all so much work for an Alpha that wasn't even our own.
"Oh my word, you look amazing sweetheart," my mother clapped her hands together and held her hands over her heart as she walked into the room. "Let's get you all dolled up," she shrieked as she sat me down and began to roll curlers into my hair. "Ow, ow!" I complained each time a pin was scraped against my scalp to hold the curler in place. "Beauty is pain baby," my mother sighed as she shoved another pin into my hair. I held back a screech as the hit curler touched my aching skin. "Let's do your makeup now!"
Cecilia had always been the one to care more about appearances while I was always training and working. She loved makeup and dresses and all things stereotypically girly. I heard the words 'foundation', 'highlight', and 'eyeliner' and it felt like she was speaking another language. I vaguely knew what these were, but I had never used them before. She blended a cream over my face and neck and used all these different colored powders and then a black gel on a stick and finally she used a black gel on a spiked stick. "All done," Cecilia said as my mother pulled the curlers from my hair and pinned it into place with silver pins. I looked at myself in the mirror, but didn't see myself. A knock at the front door tore me away from my thoughts as I sighed. Here goes nothing.
YOU ARE READING
To Catch an Alpha
Werewolf"I will not do this, I refuse!" I yell at the Current and future Alpha sitting before me. "You will, Chase! I demand it!" Alpha Dalton screamed back as he slammed his hands on the wooden desk. Though his office was beautifully decorated, I can't i...
