Alice

1

My mother brushed my hair gently as I sat between her legs. It was late, I had just gotten into my pj's.

"You know one-day, Mommy won't be here to do this for you," she spoke as she ran the brush through my hair again. I scooted myself away before I turned to look at my mother.

She looked so much like me, brown wavy hair with green eyes that looked like fresh leaves. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears.

"What do you mean mommy?" I questioned, "Are you going somewhere, can I come?" She shook her head at me.

"It'll be when you are older," she smiled. I nodded before I turned back around the let her finish brushing my hair. "Do you know what a mate is?" She suddenly asked. A mate? I shook my head at her. "You know how Mommy loves Daddy?" She asked I nodded. As a young child, I knew my parents were deeply in love. They showed it as much as possible.

"Well, that's because Daddy and I are mates," I could hear the smile in her voice, "it means we love each other unconditionally. We are bonded through souls," I heard her sniffle slightly.

"I want one of those," I smiled, I pretended I knew what she was talking about, but I was still stuck on what the word unconditionally meant.

"Well that's a good thing, when you are older Mommy and Daddy will take you to the neutral ground, and you'll get one," she chuckled.

"How do I know which one is mine?"

"They will pick you, it's a big game of hide and seek in the forest only meant for unmated wolves to find their mates."

"Oh."

"Hopefully, he'll brush your hair just like this," she smiled.

That was the end of our conversation for the night we did talk about mates every night. Appropriate stuff like what I would want to wear or how I would have my hair. As I got older, I learned more about mates and how they bonded.

Three days before my eighteenth birthday, was when I went to the ceremony. I had to beg my parents to ask the Alpha if I could go, since it was so close to my birthday, at first they didn't want to, but after a few months of pestering they gave in and asked the Alpha, he agreed immediately, as long as I signed a bunch of consent forms.

The night of the mating ceremony was chilly. I only had on a navy blue dress with my white cardigan hugged tightly to me along with my winter boots.

As promised, my mother and father were there along with my stupid younger brother, Carl, who was only a year younger than me.

I stared at all the people lingering around, waiting for the whistle to blow, most of them were girls my age or a few years older. I haven't seen many guys that seemed attractive enough, I felt bad, but they all seemed like teenage dirtbags, who thought they were all Alpha males, who would get free pussy for the rest of their life.

"Remember what I told you," my mother broke me out of my train of thought.

"Always be obedient," I smiled as I tried to hug the cardigan tighter to me.

"It'll be over soon," she rubbed my arms, an attempt at trying to warm me.

"What if I don't like them?" I felt my chest tighten.

"Then you can reject them," my father stated simply. I nodded, thankful there was a way out in case I didn't like the man who chose me.

I was about to speak once more, but the whistle blew.

"All the girls line up please," a plump woman shouted in front of the forest. My parents gave me a tight smile of encouragement while my brother just nodded at me.