Destiny (COMPLETED) - Werewolf Romance

Chapter 1

Tomorrow was the day Clara had been waiting for her whole life. The day of the ritual. Her 21st birthday. That morning she woke up with butterflies in her stomach. Her family had a lot to do in order to prepare her for the following nights ceremony. Tomorrow would decide her destiny.

Clara rolled out of her old wooden bed that creaked with every move she made; her Mother had laid some clothes out on the chair for her to wear that day. Clara made her way out of her room and to the bathroom. The house her family lived in was not very big, they were not rich and so it was very basic. There were only four rooms upstairs, hers, her sisters, her parents and the bathroom. Then downstairs was an open space containing a kitchen and a small living space. It wasn't much but it was home for the four of them.

When Clara walked into the bathroom, she washed her face in the sink and then looked at herself in the mirror. Her blue eyes were glowing brighter than they ever had before. It was almost time for her to begin her life. Tomorrow night she would have her final meal with her family before leaving her home at midnight and heading into the woods. A smile grew on her face as the excitement grew in her stomach. She finished off in the bathroom before heading back to her bedroom to get ready for the day. She could hear her Mother making breakfast downstairs, she could picture her Father sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee whilst reading the newspaper while her Mother stood over the hob cooking some eggs and bacon for everyone. Usually her Father would be off to work in the mines for the day, however, he'd managed to get a few days off work to spend with his daughter before she had to leave. Her Mother was a stay at home mum, this was the norm in their town. The men would go out and work while the women stayed home, it was an aged tradition but it's just how it worked around the town.

After she had gotten dressed, she tied her dark hair back into a ponytail and headed downstairs to join her parents. Jane, her sister, would probably still be asleep. She was only 13 and was currently going through the lazy teenager phase of her life so she wouldn't be up until at least midday. Just as she'd pictured it in her head, her Father was sat in his usual spot at the head of the kitchen table, his glasses on the bridge of his nose reading the local paper. He looked up at Clara when she walked into the kitchen and a huge smile grew on his face.

"Morning honey, how are you today? Are you ready for tomorrow?" As he spoke to his daughter her Mother spun round with the same wide grin on her face. Her Mother was truly beautiful, she didn't look a day over 30 but she was closer to 50 years old. She had the same dark hair that Clara had and the same blue eyes. People often said they looked alike, you could even think they were sisters if you didn't know better.

"Morning guys, yeah I guess so. I've got a lot of things to do today but I'm ready." Clara sat down at the table with her Father as her Mother made her a cup of coffee and began plating up their food.

"Okay, so first things first we need to get you to the hairdressers. I want that mop on your head sorting out, and then we will go into town and get you a nice new outfit for tomorrow night. We'll get a few bits for dinner tomorrow." Her Mother sounded more excited about the whole thing than Clara was and that was almost impossible.

The family lived in a small town in England called Lakeside, this wasn't a normal town. Nobody ever moved there, and nobody ever left. Over a hundred years ago a treaty was signed by the Mayor of the town at the time with the man-wolves that lived in the woods. Whenever a person in the town turned 21 they would be part of a ritual. They would spend the day preparing themselves with their family, making sure that every detail of them was perfect. They had to look their best for the ceremony, then in the afternoon they would go out to the woods as a family and prepare a small area with flowers, candles, food and wine. They'd lay it out before heading home for the final supper together. After they'd had their final meal as a family, they'd say their goodbyes and then they'd head back to the are that they'd prepared earlier in the day and wait. Wait for their future to arrive. One of the wolves would come, their mate.