Marked by Love, Chosen by Fate

Rush to Ready

My alarm rang indicating that I had a maximum of 15 minutes to get ready and head towards the meeting hall. Turning the water off, I quickly rushed to wrap myself in a towel and shuffle through my closet. I grabbed a pair of black slacks and a cream colored wrap around shirt before deciding on a pair of simple black heeled boots. I never aimed to stand out, but this would at least ensure I fit in. Time slipped by as I applied a quick coat of mascara and ran down the hall to meet Leila.

"Thank goodness, I thought you were never coming", Leila yelled as I reached the top of the stairs. She looked like she's been waiting forever, but we both knew that it couldn't have been more than a minute or so.

"I just wanted to make sure I was ready for Alexander coming home", I joked," you can never be too prepared after a few weeks away from your husband". I winked at her, before joining arms with her and heading towards the door.

"I'm so glad that Gabriel never leaves for very long, I don't know how you do it."

I shrugged my shoulders. Sometimes I wasn't sure how we made it work either. We barely saw each other at this stage in our lives. The only reassurance I had was that this union was made out of love and not obligation to tradition. We both had decided that our commitment to each other would never be compared to that of fated mates. We had never let anyone make us feel less for being Chosen Mates instead.

"Love", I finally replied," We are committed. One day it will all settle and we'll finally get to build on our lives together."

We walked to the pack house with few words spoken outside of trying to guess what the meeting would be about. There were scheduled meetings every other Monday to discuss border protection and any problems that were projected, so this was a bit unusual. The last minute announcement led us both to believe that something had happened. I had guessed it was another mating ceremony, while Leila wanted to hope for a more lively celebration.