Page 9 of Tempting His True Mate
I found my way up the stairs, not wanting to listen to any of it another minute longer. I closed the bedroom door and slid down onto the floor, much the same way I had after arriving from the airport. This was crazy. Some version of a sick joke. All I needed was a hot bath and a good night’s sleep. Maybe I would dream and come up with a new plan by the morning.
I soaked in the tub and curled up under the sheets, too tired to care about missing dinner or that it was still way too early to go to bed. Sleep would make everything go by faster, and that’s exactly what I wanted.
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“Wake up, Ella.”
I groaned, rebelling against the bright light in the room and the sound of Mariam trying to coax me awake. There had been many mornings like this but usually they were completely reversed, with Mariam’s head buried in the pillow and my voice threatening that she was going miss the school bus if she didn’t wake up. Had so much time really passed since then? It didn’t feel like that long ago.
“Come on,” she pleaded. She grabbed one of the many extra pillows off the bed and began beating me with it.
I groaned louder before sitting up in a huff. “Fine, you win.”
“I always do,” she said, smiling sweetly. “But seriously, you’ve been asleep forever. The morning’s basically over,and I need your help.”
“You need my help?” I asked cautiously. “With what?”
Mariam gaped at me. “I don’t know, Ella. Maybe with the mating ceremony that’s happening heretomorrow.”
“Oh yeah,” I said, sheepish. I had spent the night tossing and turning, worrying about what to do about the whole true mate thing. I finally passed out in the mid-morning, and now my mind felt fuzzy from a lack of restful sleep. “Um…yeah, of course. What do you need me to do?”
“Like, a million things. Everything.” She leaned back against the headboard, chewing on her lip the same way I do when I’m debating what to say next. I waited for her to continue, knowing there would be more. “Look, I’ve been trying to give you space since the whole Gabe thing happened, but I also really need you. I want you to be in the ceremony, but if you want to just sit it out, if it’s too much—“
“No, I can do it. I want to do it.” I cringed at my own selfishness that she would even need to offer me an out like this. Mariam and I were all each other had. Without me, there wouldn’t be another family member to stand by her side at the ceremony. “I’m sorry I’ve been so preoccupied. You will have my full, undivided attention starting now. Promise.”
Mariam beamed at me.
“So, what’s the first order of business then, boss?”
“First,” she said. “You brush your teeth. Seriously, your morning breath is lethal, Ella. Then meet me downstairs in the living room so we can go over everything for tomorrow.
I threw a pillow at her.
A half-hour later, I was downstairs dressed, brushed, and ready to help with whatever Mariam needed. My eyes widened slightly at the whiteboard wheeled in front of the couch. It had a million words scribbled all over it. Thankfully, most of them were either crossed out or had a checkmark next to them.
“Okay, as you can see, pretty much all the decorating and food has already been handled. The music was finalized yesterday. Everyone’s outfits are good. If yours is okay, that is. You never got back about that, so I assumed the dress fits.”
I nodded. Not responding when she asked about the dress hadn’t been entirely intentional. I had meant to text her, but I kept putting it off until it was practically time to board the flight.
“Good,” she said, picking up the dry-erase marker. “That just leaves your speech, some loose ends with Jeremy, and the rehearsal tonight. Have you got everything figured out?”
I swallowed hard. Of course, I was aware tradition demanded that I make some kind of speech on Mariam’s behalf. It should be our father telling everyone about how wonderful she is, about how perfect Trace is for her. But with dad and mom gone, the responsibility was mine now.
“What loose ends with Jeremy? Is he here?”
Mariam frowned at my non-answer, but her expression quickly changed to a smirk. “He texted late last night and said he would be flying in today. Something about Neil stepping in while he was gone.”
I rolled my eyes. Mariam had always hated Neil, the beta of Dark Claw, and she made no attempt to hide herdistaste for him. “I’m sure he will do fine acting as pack leader while Jeremy is here. What’s wrong with Neil anyway? What’d he ever do to you?”
“Nothing. He’s just… Neil.”
“Well, he can’t exactly help being himself, Mariam,” I said.
“I’m not saying he can help it,” she snapped. “He’s just not the best, that’s all.”
Neil certainly wasn’t the most popular member of the Dark Claw pack, that’s for sure. Whatever Mariam saw that made her dislike him, she wasn’t the only one. When Jeremy had taken over the pack and announced Neil as his beta, there had been a lot of moaning and groaning, especially among the shifters our age. Even in school when we were kids, everyone had pretty much steered clear of Neil, and he acted like a loner. Mariam didn’t remember those days, of course. We were practically ready to graduate, then she was still running around in diapers. So that begged the question, what could she possibly have against him? As far as I knew, they hadn’t even really spoken to each other.
“What time is the rehearsal?” I asked, ready to change the subject. “Who’s going to be here?”
