Page 3 of Arion
“I’ve been waiting twenty years for this day. Only four days left. So of course I’m not ready.” She giggled. “Maybe you could come over and help me pack? I’m not takin’ much, but my mother says I can take a bag filled with my special things.”
“Maybe you should come over and help me pack mine, too. I’ll have it ready for two months from now, and then I won’t be alone doing the packing,” Suzette suggested.
Jez squeezed her hand. “Deal. Let’s do it.”
The truth was Jezebel was incredibly nervous. She hadn’t slept well in weeks. Perhaps months. She’d been faking like she was strong and brave for so long she’d mastered it. No one—not even Suzette—knew that deep inside, she was panicking.
Four more days. That was all she had left of her childhood. And then she would be mated to an Alpha wolf. A Protector. One of the elite.
It’s a privilege, Jezebel. Make us proud.
How many times had she heard this in her life? A million. Usually from her mother.
Was it a privilege? She had no idea. Even though the Alphas and their mates did sometimes come down out of the mountains into town to shop and socialize, they didn’t share much about their lives. Everything about them was a mystery.
Yes. Jezebel was nervous. That was an understatement. No matter how many times she told herself her mate was a loving kind wolf who was going to adore her, the truth was she really had no proof he’d actually watched her all these years. Maybe she’d imagined it.
In four days, she would have at least some of the answers. She prayed she would not be disappointed.
ChapterTwo
“Jezebel! Honey, what are you doing up there? Come down for breakfast,” her mother shouted from downstairs.
Jezebel was a mess, pacing her room in a panic. She couldn’t possibly eat. Was her mother crazy?
A soft knock at the door had her spinning around to find her father standing in the doorway. He was huge and imposing, filling the frame with his size. He was also dressed for the ceremony, wearing a charcoal suit and tie. His dark hair had been cut recently, and it was slicked back, still wet from his shower.
Most people said the only thing Jez had in common with her father was his complexion. He was light skinned. All of her sisters were pale. It was her mother she most resembled. The woman not only had blond hair but it was still as pale today as it had been when she was a child—like Jezebel’s.
Three of Jezebel’s sisters had black hair. The other two had blond like Jez. Her parents had stopped at six, never getting a son. But her father hadn’t cared. He’d been the best father a girl could ask for. And she was about to leave him.
Jezebel rushed across the room and threw herself into his arms like she had when she was a small child. “Father…”
He rubbed her back soothingly. “Child, what’s this all about? I thought you were excited and ready.”
She tipped her face back. Tears were running down her cheeks. She shook her head. “I’m scared.”
He gave her a loving smile. “It will all be fine, child. You’ll see.” He rubbed the moisture from her cheeks with his thumbs.
At least she wasn’t wearing makeup. It wasn’t permitted among the marked, nor was it permitted at the ceremony. Girls who mated Alphas followed a strict protocol. Her dress was laid out on the twin bed she’d slept in for most of her life in the room she’d shared with two of her sisters until the last had mated and moved out recently.
“You’re not dressed,” her father pointed out, nodding toward her dress.
“Mother said to wait until right before we leave so it wouldn’t get dirty,” she responded.
“Ah. Good idea. You might spill breakfast down the front of you, after all,” he teased.
She wanted to giggle, but she couldn’t. She didn’t feel jovial right now. “What if he doesn’t like me,” she blurted.
“How could he not like you?” Her father took her hand and led her to the bed where he sat on the edge so he was closer to eye level. He took her wrist and turned it over, tracing the distinct birthmark she’d been born with. “This mark is special, my child. It’s your destiny. Your mate has one just like it. He has waited a long time for you. The mark binds you in a way that’s deeper than any of the matings your siblings have or even your mother and I. It seals your fate.”
“That doesn’t mean he will like me,” Jez pointed out.
“He will love you. Everyone loves you, Jezzy.”
She finally gave him a wan smile. Only her father called her Jezzy. It was kind of nice to hear it one more time before she left. She had no idea when she might see her parents again. After she was mated, it would be up to her mate to decide those things.
“We should go downstairs, child. Your mother is probably wondering what’s happened to us. You need to eat something.”
