The Dream
*Jonah's point of view*
Everything was dark. All I could hear was a voice. A very gentle voice. Almost gentle enough to make me forget about the darkness surrounding me. Ann... It kept repeating that name over and over again. Who are you? Who is Ann?
*Birds chirp*
When I turned eighteen, I began to have unusual dreams. I was in the dark all alone, but there was a voice. A voice that called out to Ann, it was a soft call, that somehow managed to reach me every time. I always wondered about this being. This so-called Ann, and deep down I wanted to meet her. Who could she be? Someone from my vague past, or possibly my mate? The more I thought about her, the more uneasy I became, but as the years passed, I realized it didn't really matter.
At twenty-three years old, I decided to stop worrying about a stupid dream. There were bigger issues I was facing. My father had recently decided to retire from his role as the Arcada Alpha. As his only son, I was next in line to become the leader of the strongest pack in Northern Bloodstone. The neighboring packs stood side by side, beginning with Corin, Archer and the furthest. Argils. They were strong too, but they relied solely on Arcada for trade goods and for full protection from the Rogues.
"J.R!" Called out my father.
I turned to face him almost immediately. He was sixty years old, but even at his age he stood tall and remained fit.
"Good morning to you too" I said.
"Are you busy? We must talk right now! It's urgent."
"I was addressing some written issues from the nearby village… Alright, let's talk. What is this urgent thing?" I asked as I placed the papers on my desk.
"I have found you a bride!" He yelled with a smile that was very intense.
I stared at him and I’m sure he could feel the tension radiating from me. He found me a bride? It was almost comical. These old traditions and rituals displeased me. Especially the idea of binding one's life to a "mate" because of a little something called destiny.
For as long as I can remember, everyone always bothered me about my potential mate, but it was never a priority for me.
I spent most of my nights with many beauties, indulging in carnal pleasures, but that was all. None of them made me want to stay or return for more. I felt nothing but emptiness. I was numb to those so-called feelings of love.
However, things would be different. I would marry the oldest daughter of the Archer pack at the request of my father, the Alpha. I would be forced to marry a stranger to protect our neighboring packs. Great.
*Aurora's Point Of View*
One week until I become Jonah Raeburn's Wife. I had been counting down the days from the moment I learned of my fate.
The only son of Arcada’s Alpha, he was well-known for his strength and for his cold demeanor. Many talked about his cruel pastimes and how he satisfied his emptiness by sharing a bed with beautiful women. A different one each night. Rumors came and went, but one thing was certain. I was going to marry an arrogant asshole.
No matter how sick to my stomach I was, I had no choice in the matter. My father, the Alpha of the Archer pack, started to ignore me after my mother, his Luna, left this world. I was only seven years old when my mother was murdered ruthlessly by rogues and my father… he drowned his pain and anger with alcohol and women. He wanted nothing to do with me because I reminded him of his life with my mother, a life that he would never get back and knowing she would not come back home to him made him depressed.
As I watched my father live in agony, I became scared of finding my mate. I never wanted to love someone as much as my father loved my mother.
He remarried three years after my mother's death and got back on his feet in no time. With the support of his new wife and daughters, he worked harder to strengthen his pack until Archer became only second in strength to Arcada, but with the increase in the Rogue faction, the two strongest packs decided to form an alliance that would protect all the neighboring packs. That’s where I came in.
My step-mother informed me of my upcoming marriage and argued that I was of age and that her daughters would wait for other marriage offers. She was also thoughtful enough to pass along my father's message in which he expressed his need to get rid of the only thing that reminded him of my mother. Me.
My birthday was only a few hours away, on the 28th of October. However, none of this mattered to my family. I stopped celebrating my birthday after my mother's death. I never left my father's estate after she was murdered, so I never made any friends or met the members of our pack and my half-sisters didn’t particularly like me either. I was deemed unworthy of courting because I had a scar above my right eyebrow caused by a shard from a whiskey glass that my father broke during one of his episodes. My back was filled with whiplash scars, courtesy of my step-mother, who insisted punishment was the only way to raise a virtuous daughter, so romance was a complete unknown.
I thought turning twenty-one would somehow bring about new change, but marriage was nowhere in my mind. I guess, in my own way, I was content to be leaving the estate for the first time, but I was not looking forward to my new life as the wife of Arcada’s future Alpha.
