Fated to Mate

Mating Ceremony pt1

Stepping out of the hostel building, Arya and Blair came out fully ready. Turning to stare at her friend for the umpteenth time that night, Blair couldn't believe how gorgeous her friend was, standing before her. Seeing her in her casual wears was nothing compared to seeing her in a dress. She wasn't overdressed, she wore an elegant black velvet s***h neck long sleeve with gloves, It hugged her body in the right places and the slit at the right side of the dress stopped half way up her thigh and her hair hung freely down to her lower back.

She indeed was looking gorgeous. She knew she wasn't bad either with her strapless black dress that stopped above her knees. It clung to her body, showing more cleavage than usual. She was also gonna turn heads but not as much as the birthday girl.

Arya felt a bit embarrassed at how her friend had been giving her those prideful stares all night. “Too much?" She smiled rather shyly

“No no, just perfect. You look amazing. How are you still single girl? If I had your shape, I'll be pulling guys all day” Blair teased

“Yeah right" She smiled

“Oh and happy birthday again"

“Thank you....again" She laughed. “Shall we?"

“Oh yeah. Its started already" They continued on their way.

“So what should I be expecting from the party?" Arya inquired

“Well, over the years the principal has made it to be more of a formal party, well organized and all that... You can tell by how formal the wolves are dressed, all dressed up in suits and dresses. It's a open and free party. Nothing for the witches to do but dance, make friends and watch the wolves get their mate, disappointed about not finding their mates or getting rejected by their mates. It's always quite an eventful evening"

“Well then, we better hurry up in other not to miss the fun"

“Yeah..." Blair paused as she stopped on her tracks. “s**t" she cursed

“What is it?"

“I left my phone on my nightstand...go on, I'll go get it and catch up with you" She replied and ran back before Arya could utter any word.

***

Walking side by side into the hall, Klaus and Theo both arrived just when the principal was rounding up with his speech. The hall was packed with wolves from different schools. Good thing it was a two thousand capacity hall. They leaned against the wall by the corner listening to what he had to say.

“You don't need me to tell you how this is done and you don't need me to stand here and talk all night. I know some of you have locked on the scent of your mates and are eager to go find them. So without wasting more of your time, the ceremony has officially begun. All members of staff are around to make sure there's peace and no trouble. You should know one thing though, no matter how it goes tonight, whether you find your mate or not, know that the moon goddess knows what she's doing and it's part of your fate. Goodluck!" Principal Dawn concluded and walked off stage.

Without wasting anytime, they all began moving around, paying more attention to their senses than the music blaring from the speakers. Finding your mate in that crowd isn't as hard as it seems. You just need to be near them and your wolf would lock on them, hence the constant moving around and chatting with friends and acquittances.

“Well, this is it bro" Theo turned to Klaus

“Goodluck lover boy" Klaus replied, turning away and heading to the opposite direction.

Klaus began making his way around the hall, watching as some engaged in conversations with friends or finding their mates. The joy on their faces and the look in their eyes said it all. He continued walking around, hoping to God he catches the scent of his mate. He wouldn't want all this to be a waste of time for him.

Seeing all these wolves together under one roof wasn't an experience he was looking forward to. He wasn't one for social gatherings. He wished it all could just end so quickly so he can retire to the comfort of his dorm room. His disinterest in socialization and lack of interest in group things often made him wonder how he was gonna fare when he's assigned to a pack after graduation.

Making his way through the groups of all too merry and cheerful wolves and witches, his eyes fell upon Arya and a guy, definitely a witch, both seated close to each other and engaged in a rather hearty conversation with Arya laughing occasionally. She looked gorgeous and amazing. She stood out from the others. He quickly shook the thought away from his head. Klaus quickly turned around and took a different direction. Something about seeing them together made him feel uncomfortable. It didn't help that he just had a s*x dream of her hours ago.

Not in the mood to face her or anyone he knew, he made his way to the drinks stand. He stared at the collection of drinks with a disgusted look on his face. “Really?! Sodas and fruit juice?! What are we 12?" He wondered. With a sigh, he picked up a can of soda and opened it. He returned his gaze to the people, watching on and hearing screams of excitement when they found their mate.

It was slowly dawning on him that he wasn't gonna find his mate, at least not there at the ceremony. He heard his wolf quietly whine with disappointment. Both of them not finding their mate was a heartbreaking experience. One he was prepared for but not his wolf.

“Dude! Dude!!" He heard Theo calling from behind him. He turned to see him running toward him. “Dude we've got it, we've got a lock on our mate's scent" He announced excitedly.

“Well, where is she?" Klaus asked, sipping from his soda

“I don't know yet. Come with me bro, let's go find her" He grabbed Klaus' hand without waiting for a response and dragged him along as he started following the scent, trying to find her.

“Slow down man"

“Not a chance, the scent is getting stronger. Such wonderful scent man, the smell of strawberries and rosemary. I can't wait to see her man. Sammy is just as excited as I am, if not more" Theo explained with a broad smile on his lips.

“Can you still smell it?"

“Yeah it's way stronger now. I believe it's right through here... Excuse me, sorry.." He pushed through a gathering of wolves and then stopped when he came face to face with his mate.

“Holy s**t!" Klaus and Theo called out simultaneously, staring at her with shock on their faces as they stood frozen to the ground.

Turns out they weren't the only ones that were shocked with the turn of event. “You've got to be kidding me" Lara said with widened eyes as she stood beside Ralph.

Glancing between the boys and his girlfriend, it took Ralph a few seconds to figure out what was going on and immediately his expression darkened. “Wait! He's your mate?" He asked, staring at Lara.

“I....I...yes" She stuttered

“This isn't happening right now" Theo ran his fingers through his hair with a look of disbelief registered on his face.

“I think I'm gonna leave you to it bro" Klaus scoffed. “Find me when the drama is over"

“No no..." Theo called but before he could stop him, Klaus had disappeared into the crowd.

***

“It's kind of nice to watch" Arya said with a smile. “Watching them find their soulmate, their true and forever love. It's nice. I wish witches were made like that.. you know, fated to one person. Someone who's just for you and you for them" She explained

“Yeah it is nice but to be honest, I kind of like the choice we have. We can be with whomever we want, love whomever we want and spend our life with whomever we choose and not one that has been chosen for us. The choice of choosing a life partner has been taken from them. What if they end up with someone who isn't right for them?" He countered

“I mean, for their mate to be fated, it has to be the right one for them, right? Their fate can't be sealed with the wrong person, it wouldn't make any sense" She replied

“Yeah true. For their sake I hope it is" He replied and then shifted his gaze shyly to her. “I'm Marcel by the way" He introduced

“I'm Arya" She smiled at him.

Falling into silence and staring at the wolves whilst also pondering on the conversation they just had. After a while of comfortable silence, Marcel shifted his gaze to Arya, he stared at her in awe, wondering how someone could be that pretty. He had seen her since the first class they had together and he had always had an eye for her, hoping for the right time to talk to her. Now seemed right, seeing how she was sitting alone previously.

“I'm glad I ran into you here" He stated nervously

“Same" She smiled just before the thought of Klaus crossed her mind, she hadn't seen him all through the night. She began eye searching through the crowd until her phone vibrated on her lap. She picked it up and glanced at the missed calls from her mom. “Hey! I'm sorry I got to take this, it's my mom" She annouced, standing up.

“Oh okay... I'll just go get us some drinks. I'll wait for you right here" Marcel replied

“Okay thanks" She walked away.

***

Sitting alone in the dark at the corner of the hall, Klaus rolled up his white sleeve and loosened his bow tie whilst undoing the top three buttons. He leaned back on the chair, sipped from his soda and began staring at the stars. “You're bright out tonight... I guess you're having your own party too" He said. The music and voices from the hall was disturbing. Hearing them laugh happily and screaming excitedly just reminded him that he didn't find his mate.

He had given up on his search. After leaving Theo to his drama, he had quickly made another round through the hall, hoping he might have missed her the first time but still, nothing. Realizing the situation of things, his wolf had been whining continuously, disappointed and heartbroken. “Would you quit with the whining? I'm heartbroken too, this was our chance to get out of our punishment and maybe be happy with our mate but I guess the moon goddess just wants to punish us some more" He blurted out to his wolf.

He then sighed, rubbing his brows. “I'm sorry... I guess you might be suffering more than me, I shouldn't raise my voice at you. You're the one that's been locked up for months with no sight of freedom. It's killing me too, but don't worry, we are gonna get through this together and we are also gonna find our mate and you're gonna be happy. I promise" He assured.

“Who are you talking to?" He heard a voice call out from beside him. He turned swiftly with a bit of jump scare as he was caught off guard.

“s**t! You should know better than to creep up on a wolf, little witch" He shot at her.

“I didn't creep up on you, you seemed out of it... who are you talking to? Are you talking to yourself?" Arya questioned with a curious look.

“No.. I was talking to my wolf"

“Your wolf? Does he hear what you're saying?" She inquired

“Of course he does, he's inside me you know, just at the backseat of my head. He hears all I say, sees all I see and feels all I feel"

Fascinated by this, she walked up to him and sat on the empty chair beside him. “Does he talk back to you?"

“Sometimes... we are one, so we understand each other. What are you doing out here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be inside, enjoying the party and besides, I think I saw you with someone"

“I came out here to talk with my mom but the reception today is kind of bad, she's been trying to reach me all day... Why are you here though? You're supposed to be inside too. Aren't you supposed to be searching for your mate?" She questioned

“Yeah well, the moon goddess forgot about me. My mate isn't here" He averted his gaze, trying to hide his disappointment.

“Oh, I'm sorry about that" Arya replied calmly. She also averted her gaze. She squinted her eyes, surprised at how she felt about hearing that. For some reason she felt relieved. She shrugged it off and changed the topic. “What were you saying to your wolf about being locked up? Is it about your punishment of not being allowed to shift?"

“How do you know about that?" He questioned with a puzzled look.

“I have my ways... What happened? Why are you being punished?"

“Well you've seen my eyes and you know what I did. Something like that doesn't just go unpunished. So yeah my punishment is not being allowed to shift" He explained

“For how long?" She asked with furrowed brows

“Till I graduate and I'm part of a pack" He didn't know why he was so quick to tell her about all these. He doesn't tell anyone neither does he like talking about it. Just Theo knows. But somehow it felt easy to talk to her and he felt comfortable doing it.

“That's still almost a year from now"

“Yeah and it's been two years already" He bobbed his head

“A three year punishment. Oh my God, that's not good" She said softly with genuine concern in her eyes. “I'm sorry"

“It's fine, we'll survive but you can make it better though if you can just change this soda into whiskey or bourbon with some spells"

“Yeah right" She laughed

“Where's your friend Blair?"

“I don't know, I haven't seen her since we left the room. I really should probably go find her and also return to Marcel, he'd be waiting for me" She replied standing up.

“Oh, that's his name huh?!" He stated, keeping his poker face. “Yeah, yeah you do that. Oh hey, Happy birthday!" He flashed her a smile.

“How did you know?" She asked surprised.

“I have my ways" He shrugged.

“Well thanks" She blushed before she walked away.

***

Opening his previously shut eyes, Klaus adjusted on his seat, he didn't know how long he had been sitting there but it was nice being alone and away from the party. The party was still as active as before and didn't seem as though it was gonna end soon. “Is this seat taken?" A voice broke through his thoughts.

He turned to the direction it came from and saw a girl he could only describe as beautiful standing there. She had a silver colored wavy hair that fell to her shoulders with baby blue eyes resting on her diamond shaped face with full lips. The blue spaghetti strap gown clung tight to her curvy frame. She wasn't thick or anything, she was a bit skinny but her curves gave her a nice frame. “Is it?" Her mellow but bold voice snapped him out of his reverie again.

“No it isn't" Klaus replied with a smile.

She sat down, staring directly at him with a cute smile on her lips. He could tell she wasn't a shy type by how confident her stare was. “Klaus Moon, right?" She asked, still smiling.

“I'm sorry, have we met before?"

“No but I know who you are, I mean most of us do. You're a bit famous or rather, infamous. They kind of talk about you at our school, Raven high. Using you as an example and a basis for what not to do"

“So you mean I'm a good example and a lesson to others" He scoffed

“I mean you're the yellow eyes young wolf. The youngest wolf to have taken a human life. Of course people are gonna know who you are" She explained

“Well you don't seem to care"

“I'm fascinated by you. The rebellious wolf. How does it feel not shifting for many moons?"

“Well, you aren't shy with words. Why do you wanna know?" Klaus inquired.

“Actually what I really wanna know is considering how rebellious you're made out to be, why haven't you disregarded your punishment and shifted anyway?"

“Because if I'm caught, it'll only get worse"

“That hasn't stopped you before" She gave a wicked smile and then stood up abruptly. “Come with me"

“‘Come with you'? I don't even know you" He gave her a curious look.

“My name is Cassie! Now you know me a little bit more, now come" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, running toward the wooded part of the school.

“Where the hell are we going?" Klaus called after her

“To break some rules" She called back, holding his wrist tightly so he wouldn't stop.

Soon they got to the edge of the woods and they stopped. She turned back to him with an excited look and a mischievous grin as she began undressing, nor caring that he was looking. “What the hell are you doing?" He asked, turning away from her.

“Undressing"

“Yeah I can see that sparkle girl. Why are you doing that?"

“Well i can't shift in my clothes"

“Why would you want to shift? It isn't full moon and you know it isn't quite allowed to shift at just anytime. Besides aren't you supposed to be looking for your mate?" Klaus pointed out.

“Don't be a downer Klaus. I wouldn't be here if I found my mate. That's part of the reason I need to shift, to clear my head. I need to go for a run, I need to feel the night air on my fur. It would do me some good and after all those months of not shifting, it'll definitely do you some good too. So stop being an uptight wolf and be the rebellious Klaus you're known for" She blurted out.

Klaus looked around with mixed feelings, contemplating about the idea. She was right, he needed it. It would do him and definitely his wolf some good. He could hear his wolf edging him on. “Fine!" He groaned. “No howling, so no one would hear us" He said, still facing away from her.

“Yay!" She laughed excitedly and seconds later, Klaus could hear bones breaking and reforming, taking new shape. She cried out from the pain and after some more seconds of bones reshaping and cries, he heard a low growl. He turned to see a huge wolf standing before him. White fur with brown running streaks across her back. Her eyes bright blue.

He admired her wolf some more before quickly getting out of his clothes. He dropped to his knees and with how eager his wolf wanted to come out, it didn't take time for him to shift but the pains of shifting was skipped. He felt claws coming out in place of his nails and fangs protruding from his gum.

Seconds later and fully shifted, he stood in all his glory, a white wolf, his fur pure white with not even a hint of any other color. His wolf possessed a massive frame that reached 6ft at his haunches and at least 8ft at the top of his head. His yellow eyes glowed under the darkness of the night.

Feeling the smooth breeze caressing his fur, he remembered how exciting, free and joyful shifting was. Freedom never tasted so good. Feeling the earth under his paws felt amazing. ‘Race you!' he heard Cassie's voice in his head through mindlink before she dashed off into the woods. Without wasting anytime, Cane ran after her, letting his wolf take full control, running off wild and free.

***

Getting to the front of the girls hostel, Arya glanced at her phone before looking back up at Marcel. “Blair just texted that she's inside already. I should go meet her and see what's wrong. Thanks for walking me back here and thanks for the night, I had a great time" She smiled.

“Yeah, so did I" Marcel bobbed his head, feeling a bit nervous just standing in front of her.

“Well, goodnight" She waved, turning to leave.

“Goodnight. See you around and in class" He replied before walking away

Arya smiled, noticing how nervous he was acting around her. She turned, heading back into the hostel. Immediately she stepped in, she felt a burning sensation in her chest. She dropped to her knees, crying out in pain as the burning feeling only increased.

Simultaneously, in the woods, Klaus stumbled, crashing to the ground when he too felt the burning pain from his chest. He growled loudly in pain as the burn continued. And immediately, both their eyes glowed red before they dropped, passed out. Klaus in the woods and Arya by the door.