Two Hearts, One Future

Chapter Three

*** Jessamine's POV***

It is Friday morning. The ball is beginning at 6 pm tonight. My stomach hurt knowing that my father was trying to find my mate. No part of me wants a mate. The idea that I could not choose my own future, my own love, made me so mad. If I were to find a mate outside of our pack then I would have to forfeit my right as the alpha to my pack. I wanted to lead my pack, I wanted to be an alpha, not a luna. 

I had already done all the morning training, and even extra training, so I was walking with Cal to the kitchen to grab some lunch before my mother stole me away for ball prep. I hopped onto the counter as Cal started going through the fridge. He grabbed some sandwich ingredients and came and stood next to me. 

"Jessa," Cal was staring at the bag of bread in his hands and his jaw was tense. I leaned towards him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Yes?" I close my eyes. Worried that what was about to take place would just hurt us both. Cal cleared his throat.

"If... if you, you know, don't find your mate... maybe then we can be chosen mates?" Cal stuttered out. My heart jumped to my throat. I loved Cal, I knew that. But I also knew that it wasn't that simple. We were both so young and if we met our destined mates one or both of us could end up heartbroken. 

"I," I started to speak but my voice got caught in my throat. Cal pulled away and placed his hands on either side of my face. He was caressing my cheeks so gently and I could feel myself blushing from the intimate gesture. Cal's brown eyes looked so scared and troubled. He leaned forward and placed his forehead on mine.

"I love you, Jessa. We would be perfect together. I know it. But I know what I'm saying is a lot to take in. Just please think about it. Okay?" Cal spoke so softly. I could hear both of our hearts racing. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Of course I will think about it Cal," I say back just as softly. He pulled back and grinned at me. He started to open the bag of bread but my appetite was nonexistent. I cleared my throat, "I think I am actually just going to take a shower." I hopped off the counter and ran up to my room before Cal had time to object. 

I needed to take a nice long hot shower and think about what just happened. I knew that I loved Cal, I knew that we would be amazing together. But something about it didn't feel, right? I wasn't sure, I couldn't put my finger on it. I shook my head and turned my shower on, once it was steaming I stepped in and let the hot water run over my skin. 

Calloway was undeniably hot. Almost all werewolf men were though. He was tall and muscular and had brown eyes that reminded me of the sweetest milk chocolate. I knew I needed Calloway in my life, I knew that I cared for him, so why did the idea of choosing him as my mate feel weird? I turned the water even hotter so it would burn my skin and distract me from my thoughts. 

I need to focus on preparing for this ball. My loyalty is to my father, to my pack. I washed my blond hair and it took a lot of my shampoo because my hair was all the way down to my butt and very thick and wavy. I shaved my body and made sure I was smooth all over. I took my favorite cucumber and mint body wash and scrubbed my body down. When I stepped out of the shower I smelled and looked the cleanest I've been in a while. I was a warrior and never scrubbed my body this hard, but I knew my mom would want me to for the ball tonight. 

I put my hair into a loose braid to dry. And went into my bedroom to start looking through my closet. When I stepped out of the bathroom my mom was already in my room.

"Mom! Please I can do it myself," I sighed. I know she wasn't trying to annoy me but I was already so irritable because I didn't want the ball in general. My mom frowned slightly.

"Jessamine, you could be meeting your mate tonight, this is a big deal!" She sat down gently on my bed. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was 2 pm. 

"Okay Mom, how about this. Why don't you go choose your top ten favorite dresses and I will choose from them. I am going to go take a quick nap because I trained from 5 am till 1 pm, so I want to be rested for the ball." I offered.

My mom smiled, "That sounds good Jessa dear, get some rest, I will have the dresses waiting for you." And with that, she quietly made her way out of my room. I threw on some comfy clothes and hopped into bed. I had seriously overworked myself to relieve my stress. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep in record time. 

...

I woke up and stretched. That was a great nap. I rolled over and glanced at the clock. It read 5:32... Holy s**t! The ball is starting at 6! My mom is going to kill me! I jumped out of bed and saw ten dresses hanging on the backside of my door. I grabbed the darkest color there was. It was a dark wine-red satin dress. I threw it over my head and slipped into it. I quickly zipped up the side and ran into my closet to grab my black stilettos. The dress was long and rested just above the floor. It had a huge slit that went all the way up to the top of my thigh. It was tight and hugged every curve of my body. I walked quickly to my bathroom, as fast as I could in these heels, and took my hair out of its braid. It had dried perfectly wavy and wild. I decided I wanted to keep my hair like that so I moved on to make-up. I grabbed my favorite mascara and painted my long blond eyelashes pitch black. The mascara helped my green eyes pop. I grabbed some blush and then finished the look with a glossy lip oil. Done!

I ran to my bedroom door just as I heard angry knocking. I whipped the door open to my frustrated mother. 

"Jessa!" she started to yell but then she looked me up and down and saw that I was all ready. "Oh wow, I thought you would still be sleeping! You look amazing darling!" My mom hugged me and grabbed my hand and started dragging me down to the ball. "Jessa, some guests have already begun to arrive so get your social face on now."

I took a few deep breaths and prepared myself to walk into the ballroom.