The Daughters of Gold and Silver

3. Second chances

DANIELLA POV

I folded in on myself, curled into a tight ball in my dorm room bed. I was over the moon at finding my mate, until his thoughts bombarded my mind. Sometimes I hated the supernatural gifts I inherited from my mother. It’s not like I was trying to read his mind, my perfectly placed walls slipped in a moment of weakness. The things he was thinking about Rosa and I had my stomach churning. Normally knowing that your mate is attracted to you is a turn on, but he was imagining forcing Rosa and I to do things… together. I shuddered at the memory. So I plucked his name from his mind and did what I had to do. After the rejection I couldn’t stand to finish the school day. My heart felt like it’d been ripped from my chest and thrown away. I had a feeling Rosa rejected him too. All these years I spent dreaming of my mate and this is what happens? I cried out and for the first time in my life I cursed the Goddess’ name. How could she be so cruel to do this to me? Why would she give Rosa and I the same mate? I’ve heard of identical twins sharing mates, but we have different fathers. I watched absentmindedly as the sun went down, slowly darkening my dorm room. My head popped up when the dorm opened, my gold eyes locked on silver eyes. Rosa looked away awkwardly and closed the door behind her. Her normal arrogance was gone, replaced with pity.

“So, I told the parents about what happened today.” She said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

“They have warriors stalking our every move so they were bound to find out.” She hurriedly continued. It was strange seeing her like this, fidgeting awkwardly and stumbling over her words. A ghost of a smile played on my lips as I looked at the back of her head.

“I’m sorry, Dani, you didn’t deserve that.” There was a beat of silence.

“Thank you, Rosa.” I replied quietly, but the stiffness of her back let me know that she heard me.

“Don’t mention it.” She gritted out before she stormed back out the door. This was probably the nicest conversation I’d ever had with Rosa. The circumstances are saddening, but maybe this is progress for us. I smiled at the possibility of having a better relationship with my sister.

I don’t know when I fell asleep, but next thing I knew my alarm was going off and the sun was peeking into my dorm.

“Turn that damn thing off.” Rosa grumbled from her pile of pillows and blankets. Getting out of bed felt like the most strenuous chore. My body ached and throbbed all over. It was a mixture of the rejection and sleeping curled up in a ball. I slid on a pair of flared blue jeans and a light pink scoop neck top. It showed off more cleavage than I’m comfortable with, but I didn’t really care. I felt numb, like I was on autopilot, my body just going through the motions.

“You look nice.” My head turned to Rosa’s direction. Our faces mirrored a look of surprise at her compliment. She shook her head, letting her dark, wavy chestnut hair tumble down her back. Rosa put on her normal outfit. A tight fitted black shirt that had a heavy metal band on it. Black cargo pants and black combat boots. She leaned in close to the full body mirror that hung on her closet door so she could apply dark eyeliner around her silver eyes. I sat back in my desk chair waiting for her to leave first. It was one of her rules that she didn’t want to be seen together. When she went to open our door she paused and turned to me slightly.

“You can walk with me.” She said and did what I assume was supposed to be a reassuring smile. I hopped out of my chair and slung my bag over my shoulder.

“Don’t get too excited, this doesn’t mean we’re gonna start braiding each other's hair and gossip about boys.” Her words made me flinch because it’s never going to happen. I rejected our Goddess’ gift, now I have to pray that someone would take me as their chosen mate.

“Dani, I didn’t mean- what I mean is-“ She let her words trail off like she was at a loss for words.

“Don’t worry, I understood what you meant.” I told her, giving her a half hearted laugh. Once we finished our short walk to the campus we were about to go our separate ways, but I paused when I saw Rosa freeze. A look of dread crossed her face as she stared at a guy who was absorbed in his phone. When his red eyes finally rose to look at hers his entire body froze.

“Mate.” It almost sounded like a question coming from Rosa’s lips. I gasped, my hand flew up to my mouth. The small sound brought Rosa’s attention to me, questions swirled in her eyes.

“He’s not my mate.” I told her plainly with a slight shrug of my shoulders. I watched the guy slowly approach Rosa, I picked up on the quickening beat of her heart.

“Dani read his mind and tell me his name.” She hissed in my direction, but kept her eyes trained on his. It was easy to pluck his name from his mind, but I hesitated. His mind was filled with overwhelming joy at the thought of finally finding his soulmate.

“Dani!” She snapped, finally turning to look at me.

“No Rosa, this is your second chance.” Her eyes narrowed at my words.

“I don’t want a mate.” She gritted out through clenched teeth. I watched the guy freeze just a few feet away from Rosa. Anguish and hurt marred his handsome face as he gazed at her. He quickly turned on his heels and stormed away from us.

“Damn it Dani, just give me his name.” There was venom in her tone, but for the first time in my life, I stood my ground.

“No, Rosalina, this is a gift and I will not help you throw it away.” I stood tall and straightened my shoulders as I walked away from her. I heard her stomp her foot like a stubborn child and storm away. I shook my head at her behavior as I made my way to my first period class. I felt a slight pang of jealousy in my chest as I thought about what happened. Does this mean I’ll get a second chance mate? Will the Goddess forgive me for rejecting her gift? Surely she will if she forgave Rosa for doing the same thing. It was hard focusing on school work as these thoughts swirled in my mind. So many unanswered questions. I wished that I could just speak the Goddess herself. Apologize and ask for a second chance, but second chance mates are so rare. I was gnawing on my lip as I stepped into my third period class when suddenly a scent of fresh pine and mint hit my nose. My eyes turned into saucers as I stared at the man standing a few feet in front of me. He was tall and lean, I gazed at his strong profile as he leaned over the professor's desk staring at papers scattered across its surface. Oh Goddess, is he my professor? I watched him stiffen and slowly turn his head in my direction.

“Mate.” I whispered the word as his red eyes connected with mine. I watched as pure happiness crossed his face before it was replaced with confusion and then his face turned completely neutral. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. I focused on him, pushing myself into his mind, but I hit a brick wall. My brows furrowed as I stared at him. Why couldn’t I read his mind? My heart leapt when the ghost of a smile graced his lips. When a student who was hurrying into the class bumped into me I snapped out of my trance. I slowly walked towards the front row, taking a seat directly in front of my mate. That thought sent an electric current through my body. This man is my mate. I gazed over every inch of his toned body, finally letting my eyes rest on his once again I realized he was a vampire. Then I remembered the guy from earlier, Rosa’s mate is also a vampire. Why would the Goddess first mate us to an Alpha wolf and then two vampires? Confusion continued to course through my mind.

“Welcome to English 1, my name is Professor Driscoll.” His voice sent a shiver down my spine. I could tell by the way he spoke and held himself that he was older, but he didn’t look a day over twenty five. That’s the lucky thing about vampires and witches, they stop aging at twenty five. Vampires can live until one hundred and fifty years old, just like wolves. Witches on the other hand can live until five hundred years old. Since my mother is half vampire she continues to look twenty five even though she’s thirty seven. We have no idea if Rosa and I will age like wolves or vampires. Being mated to a vampire makes me wish I would age like a vampire. The thought of him forever looking young and handsome while I turned old and wrinkly left a sour taste in my mouth. As he spoke to our class his eyes would drift to mine every once in a while. Every time they did it took my breath away. He looked so ruggedly handsome with his tousled blonde hair and stubble along his jaw. I wanted him more than anything. I sent a silent thank you to the Goddess as I continued to listen to his melodic voice.