Fated Mates: The Fae

Ronan Getting lost in a drawing was a sort of meditation I used a lot. I liked the way I could make something straight out of my mind. I was okay at drawing. My stick figures from my childhood turned into real ass hands and chins so chiseled I fantasized about licking them straight off the page. I also liked to use my creations on my body. It was a new thing I was doing lately. Tattoos. The sting of the needle on my skin was soothing. The hours spent lying on a table and focusing on just that made real life seem easier somehow. I was working on my next tattoo, shading the outline of Lux's ears when a hand shot out and nudged my own, making a giant, scraggly line on my page. A dog biscuit shaped like a bone is then unceremoniously dropped on the page. I don't look up. Instead, I stare at my ruined drawing and take a deep breath before picking up the dog biscuit and shoving it in the pocket of my hoodie. I crumple my paper speckled with crumbs and shove it into the same pocket. I look up to the front of the classroom that has been the bane of my existence for my entire life. Okay, maybe the classroom itself wasn't it. It was the entire building. No, scratch that, city. I painted an easygoing smile on my face and relaxed back in my chair as I heard the snickers of some of the other students in the back of the class. It's like this same song and dance never got old with them. For years they have watched me receive a f*cking dog biscuit on my desk day in and day out and always laughed. Like...get some new material, right? I take a deep breath and glance to my left across the room at Leif. He's scowling at the kids behind me and shaking his head. Early on in our school days, the teachers had learned to separate the two of us in class because we would always get into some stupid sh*t together. From lighting our homework on fire 'accidentally' to spraying each other's crotches with our water magic. The teachers here hated any type of emotion that wasn't stoic or forlorn. They crushed the fun out of people and were the most oppressive supernaturals that I knew. You would think vampires would take gold on that but you'd be wrong. The Fae acted like they were all cool and sh*t but they hid so much dark sh*t behind a thinly veiled curtain. "Attention, class!" Everyone stopped talking at once and looked forward to the old school blackboard at the tall, pale, balding Fae male that looked after all of us in this class. Mr. Green was our handler. For every age group, a teacher was assigned to get them through until graduation at twenty-one. Because like pompous assholes, they figured they needed to keep us in school into our twenties. Luckily for me, I was out of here after I turned eighteen. That was the deal my mom made with the Fae way before I was born when there was a human war and they needed the Fae's help to survive. Anyway, Mr. Green held up a sheaf of papers and smiled wide. "Since most of you turn into legal adults this year we have the pleasure of giving out the mating packets today. Each page holds a different person of your age group from not only our city but the other three Fae cities in the United States. It also holds power rankings from highest to lowest. Males have six months to choose up to ten females from the packet. Females will get to see the eligible men in their packets and pray to the Gods they get chosen this year." The corner of his lip pulls up in what I'm guessing is a smile. My stomach churns at the sexism that the Fae accept as the norm around here. Not a single woman has gasped or even scowled at the remark he made because this sh*t was normal here. Fae women were used to breed and pass on their powerful genes. That's it. They practiced for years just like the males just to be chosen to bear children for the male that chose them. They had to be pure and virginal or else they would be banished from society and their powers stifled by magi-cuffs. And no one could acknowledge them or they'd be sent to the same fate. It was horrible. Even if the woman was r*ped, she was punished. The male in question would go to prison for his part but...it was just disgusting. I was glad I was getting out of this place soon. I wanted to be home for good. Leif could come to visit and I never had to set foot in this place again. I sat back in my seat as I watched him pass out the packets. I looked around as he walked back up to the front. My desk was empty while everyone had a giant packet full of profiles. I didn't expect to get one. But when people started looking at me curiously. I started to feel uncomfortable. I crossed my arms over my chest and pressed my lips together, not showing them anything. A girl from the front looked back at me and then raised her hand. Mr. Green nodded at her and she frowned. "I was just looking and...Ronan Jones isn't in the packet. And he doesn't have a packet either." I curse under my breath as I hear a familiar snicker behind me. "Didn't know you were pining for a dog, Amethyst." Amethyst turned back in her seat to stare behind me a couple of rows back with a scowl. "As if. I'm just saying that he's one of the highest-ranking in our class. Shouldn't he be considered?" Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. There was a small laugh behind me. "Yeah, he may be powerful but he's a dog. He's not one of us." My stomach churns at the familiar insult. It hurts to not be fully accepted by either side. The wolf girls didn't like me because they were afraid of their pups being taken to the Fae and the Fae girls didn't like me for the same reason. I was a supernatural mutt that no one wanted and it sucked. Mr. Green clears his throat and ignores the question and the insults thrown my way. "Everyone needs to look through your packet and start trying to whittle down your options. Girls, you can look at the men in your power ranking level. If you want to be bumped up for better options, I suggest you start trying to wield your elements more proficiently." "What is Ronan going to do for the class period?" I heard someone else ask. I growled low and closed my eyes. Mr. Green ignored that question too as he started writing names on the blackboard. I took out a sheet of paper and began trying to recreate my earlier drawing of Lux, ignoring everyone else who started speaking. "Are we just going to ignore the fact that Ronan Jones is the most powerful man of our year? His name isn't up on the board either." I glance up at what Mr. Green has written and see Leif's name up top next to Ivy Hightower's name as the strongest of our class. Mr. Green's face turns an ugly shade of purple as he turns to the class and sighs. "Ronan Jones isn't in the packet or on the board because he isn't being considered for a Fae mate. The High Queen requested that he be left out because of his parentage. He is no doubt the strongest of the class, but he is a wolf. We don't pair with other supernaturals. That's it. No more questions about Ronan Jones." A tinkle of laughter from the back makes me close my eyes and wish for the next two months to hurry up so I don't ever have to listen to it again. "See? No one wants to pair up with a dog. They're doing us a favor by not including him. Why is he even here?" Leif, from across the room turns in his seat and glares at the girl who has made herself my archenemy since the moment she was able to talk. "Shut the f*ck up, Ivy. You would be lucky to get Ronan to even look at you let alone open your frigid legs. We're the ones missing out here." People laughed and for once it wasn't at my expense. I kept drawing, keeping out of it, but with a smile on my face. That's how Leif and I became best friends. Since the moment we met, he has always been by my side, defending me against anyone who dared to talk badly about me. I mean, I could do it myself, but there were strict rules against me here that tied my hands. For one, I couldn't ever transform. Two, no violence against any Fae. Male or female. Any altercations would be handled after arrests were made if I even laid a hand on a person and it wasn't welcome. And thirdly, I wasn't allowed to mingle with anyone of the opposite s*x no matter the circumstance. So I couldn't really defend myself here if I wanted to without getting into trouble. So Leif did it for me. And I thanked the Goddess every day that he was with me because I would have gone insane if he wasn't. "Enough. Everyone get back to work. Ronan, you're excused for the rest of the day." I nod and grab my stuff. I hear a scoff and I turn to look at the culprit. Ivy Hightower was the bane of my existence. She was beautiful with long black hair and purple eyes. But her heart was cold as ice and harder than a diamond. She insulted me like no other and I hated her more than I had ever hated anyone else in my life. I shoot her a smile and a wink and watch as her face contorted in disgust. Back atcha, b*tch. I take my backpack and hightail it out of the building and out into the parking lot of the school. I climbed into Leif's BMW glad that I had the spare fob on me and drove back to his apartment where I was staying. Dad and Peyton stayed in the same apartments as Leif had, but I moved in with Leif as soon as he got his a few months back when he turned eighteen. I unlock the door and throw my backpack onto the couch. I head to the fridge and grab one of the meal-prepped meals Leif's mom always made for us and sit at the small bar counter to eat. My phone pings with a message and I smile at the picture Leif sent me of the blackboard with possible power-ranked pairings. Leif was coupled with Ivy since they both matched each other. I sent back some laugh emojis his way and sighed. I look around the pristine kitchen and take a few breaths. If it weren't for Leif, Wyatt, Maddy, and now baby Emma, I don't think I'd be here anymore. I have struggled with depression for almost my entire life and it feels like they are my anchors to keep me here. When I'm alone like this, every bad feeling and thought creeps up on me and I have to force myself to breathe. The demons in my head poke and prod at me constantly to just end it. Get it done and over with. Which is why I end up calling Maddy to keep them at bay. When she answers I can feel the relief in my body and I start to eat. "Hey, Ro. What's going on? Shouldn't you be in class?" "I just miss Emma. How is my princess?" Emma was born two weeks before I had to come back and I spent those two weeks with Wyatt and Maddy, playing second daddy to the girl. I'd like to say that I did it because I wanted to help them out, but I was selfishly in their business so I didn't have to be at home where things were starting to feel weird around my mom. So I changed diapers, burped and swaddled Emma like a pro, and took care of her when Maddy and Wyatt needed sleep. Suffice it to say, she became one of my biggest anchors because she distracted the demons with her cute blonde curls, chocolate eyes, and baby gurgles. "Goddess, Ronan, you have no idea how much we miss you here. I think she misses you because she hardly stops crying until Wyatt plays your old voicemails. I told him to stop since you were describing how you thought your d**k piercings were infected and to call you back. But she calms down so, I guess it's okay." I grin and feel my eyes begin to tear up. "F*ck, Mads. I want to go home. I'm...I'm so tired of being here." She sighs heavily. "I know, Ro. Just two more months and you're done. We can do that, right?" I nod and let out a long breath. "Yeah. Just two more months. I can do that."