He Calls Me Ice Princess

Chapter 1- Meeting My Mate

People said you had to be smart to make it in the world. But I knew that was a lie. I was barely going to graduate, but I had the perfect future planned out.

I'm a Shifter. I turn into a tiger, one of the fastest animals in the world. I'm part of the Skelton Streak; a group- no a family- of people like me. My parents were the current leaders, but when I turn eighteen I can fight them for the title or wait until they pass it down. They'd agreed to make me Alpha when I found my soul mate. I couldn't wait.

Even though all my grades were C's, I believed I had everything planned out for a flawless future. That was before the universe decided to show me that sometimes plans don't work out the way you want them to.

It all started at seven in the morning on the Saturday before my senior year was to begin.

Today was the first day of the dance classes I was attending. It was a beginning class for ballroom dancing and my best friend, Tiffany, had insisted I sign up along with her.

I took a quick shower, careful to keep my hair dry, and changed into my favorite pair of exercise clothes which consisted of a blue tank top, black shorts, and a pair of floral sneakers. I tied my hair in a ponytail and finished it off with a sparkly pink clip. Then I hurried to eat breakfast before I had to leave.

Dad was busy cooking eggs while Mom sat at the table, reading a newspaper. My youngest sibling at the age of twelve sat next to her, texting. I tapped Tally's head as I passed, "Why are you awake this early?"

She swatted away my hand. "It's eight thirty, it's not early."

"Mitch says there is a new Streak that's settled into the area," Dad said, ignoring Tally and my bickering. Mitch was Dad's second hand man and always knew everything before everyone else. When I was in charge I would make my brother my second in command.

Mom made a noise of consideration, "Do they pose any threat to us?"

Tally scoffed, "Like they could! We're strong and I'm sure Casey would help us if we needed her." Casey was our older sister and had already married another Alpha and moved out.

"They could still kill some of our weaker fighters, do you want that, Tally?" I asked her as I dug into my scrambled eggs.

"Riley," Mom warned me. Although she had no Alpha blood in her, Mom could probably make a full grown man beg for mercy.

Between bites, Dad chimed in, "She's right, Monica. She's thinking like a leader. So Riley, what do you say? You want to go down to Mitch's with me and check out this new comers?"

"I would, but I told Tiffany I would go to that dance class with her." I had told him this before, but between four children and an entire group of Shifters he had to manage, I didn't expect him to remember.

He frowned. "As long as you don't forget your duties here."

"I know... If you decide to meet them, I'll go with you," I promised as I placed my empty plate in the sink. I hated disappointing him, especially when he was right, but it was too late to back out on Tiffany.

I had barely left my house when my best friend came out of her neighboring house, holding a trash bag. Unlike Tiffany, Jasmine was a Shifter like me, as well as my mother's best friend's daughter.

"Hey Jazz!"

She grinned as she threw away her garbage, "Hi Riley. You want to go shopping for school today?"

"I can't, I have dance camp now and a modeling gig at one. I get out at three, but then I have my dad's training. Does tomorrow work?"

Jazz sighed and brushed her jet black hair behind her ear, narrowing her bright green eyes. I loved my appearance, but it was impossible to look good next to her.

"We'll go tomorrow afternoon." She would be in church till twelve tomorrow with her extremely religious family and by the time we got to the stores they would probably be overflowing with people. I was sure we would have fun anyways.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

She held up a hand and sniffed the air. "Wait, did your dad make eggs?"

"You're a freak," I teased, wondering how she could possibly smell that from where we were standing. "But yeah he did."

"Okay, bye!" She chirped and sprinted towards my front door. She didn't bother knocking with how close she was to my entire family. I was sure Dad had saved her a plate of eggs.

I got to the dance room, a section of my regular gym, ten minutes early. Tiffany ran over to me and hugged me excitedly, "You're here!"

"I promised you I would be here," I reminded her, rolling my eyes. I'd only known Tiffany for a couple years, she'd moved in during the tenth grade from somewhere in South Texas. When people made fun of her accent, Jazz and I decided to befriend her- it had worked out wonderfully.

"Come meet the teacher!" She pulled me over to her, "Riley this is Ms. Skylar. Ms. Skylar this is Riley, she's one of my best friends."

Ms. Skylar put down the folder she'd been reading through to shake my hand. "It's nice to meet you. I heard you're a great dancer! Why don't you two start stretching while I welcome the other students?"

Tiffany and I found a spot near one of the windows and began lightly stretching. Really how much did you need for ballroom dancing? I watched as more students poured in until one caught my attention. It felt like the world had stopped and there was suddenly silence despite everyone in the room chattering. All that mattered was him.

The guy wasn't exactly my type, but I no longer cared. He had shaggy brown hair and enchanting green eyes, framed with black glasses. He wore a long-sleeved shirt and exercise pants, tight enough to hint at toned muscles beneath his slender frame.

My mate. My tiger spirit was going crazy. I wanted to run into his arms and kiss his amazing lips and- I cut myself off before I could zone out any further.

I jumped up and speed-walked to where he was standing, ignoring Tiffany's grumbling. The guy saw me coming and his eyes widened as he had the same realization I'd had. That meant he was definitely a Shifter- probably from the Streak that had arrived recently.

"Hi," I breathed when I reached him, attempting to memorize the face I'd never seen before.

His eyebrows drew inwards, "Hi." I wanted to say something more, but I didn't have the chance as Ms. Skyler was instructing us to pair off.

"You're my partner," I informed my mate.

He scoffed, "No thanks, Princess."

"Excuse me?" The fog in my mind seemed to get denser with confusion. While 'Princess' was usually a term of endearment he'd made it sound like an insult.

Ms. Skyler called attention to herself again. "Alright everyone, stand across from your partner and introduce yourself. Guys, or girls dancing a guy's part, put your hands on your partner's waist and girls, put your arms on his shoulders."

I did as she said, feeling thrills run through me at his touch. His hands hovered near my waist, barely touching me.

"I'm Tristan," he muttered. I tried not to swoon at the name, but I would've probably swooned no matter what he said. Maybe he was being shy and as soon as he got used to me, we would get along much better. We were meant for each other after all.

"I'm Riley."

I quickly learned that Tristan was a somewhat terrible dancer, continuously nearly stepping on my feet. Somehow that didn't matter. I was on cloud nine.