The chosen mates

Emily's plan

*Emily’s POV

I am walking back to the pack house from training. The training today was way too much, it was almost three hours of it. But so, refreshing. I am walking through the pack house when I hear my parents talking behind the door of my dad’s office.

“William, she refuses to find or choose a mate. What are we going to do?” My mom says to my dad. They are talking once more about me. Why they don’t leave me alone, for real?

“Darling, I don’t know. She must find a chosen mate; she is living under our roof. She has to…” You must be f*cking kidding me, right? They don’t think they will force me into that. Do they? My head is going a million per second, I can't believe my parent would force me into something.

“What if…” What if what, Dad? “What if we choose for her?” What the h*ll. No way.

“Do you think she would accept, William? I don't think so, you know how stubborn she is with that…”m my mom says, I can’t hear that anymore. Ayla, my wolf is fuming by this point.

I can’t f*cking believe it, they wouldn’t do that to us, right? – she asks me as if I know the answer. I am as shocked as she was.

Don’t know, Ayla. I don’t understand what is happening… – I confess. It is true, I don't know what is going on inside my parents' minds. How could they think like that?

I can’t hear this anymore so I walked back to the field where we train. I need air, I need to get away from here. I don’t know where, but out. I get to the training field and I just run, I run as fast and as far as I can. I don’t want anything to do with this pack at this moment. I feel my legs burning and I know I have to stop. I can’t go further.

Let me! – Ayla yells to me. I smile and think about her, I let her take control of my mind, my body, and my soul. I start to feel my body parts change into a hairy wolf and in a matter of seconds I am a wolf. I love Ayla, she is beautiful. She is grey overall, but her hair gets darker at the top. We are strong, we have been working out and training our shifting since we met, but more since we lost our mate…

She starts running into the woods, deeper into the forest. My favorite place. She stops at a lake and sits down on the grass. I can feel the breeze on her face and instantly relax. I like it here.

Let me go back… – I gently ask her and she sighs but let me take it. I take my time to shift, even if we mastered the process it is still painful. I grab the clothes she left there and I put them on. I sat at the shore of the lake and just stare at the water. The water is my favorite, I love being in the water and the smell of rain. Jason smelled like rain. Goddess, why? Why did you take Jason away from me? We didn't have much time. Tears start coming out from my eyes, in the past years I didn’t let myself be weak, I was always strong and trying to hide what I was feeling. But enough is enough. I don’t have a mate and I am a burden to my parents. I stay there silently crying for I don’t know why long. I miss Jason, we used to get along so well, we were so happy, Why something like that happened to me?

I don’t want to think about that anymore. I grieved Jason, I cried for him so much, I am better now. The first few months after his dead, all I could think was blame myself and think about all the time we could spend together. Now, when I think about him I get sad, yes, but I remember him with love, with adoration and admiration. He was the greatest man out there.

I let myself sink into the memory of Jason some more and then shift back to Ayla, so we can go back to the pack house. I have been here for I don’t know how long, I should get back.

I arrive at the training field and shift back. I put on my clothes again and start walking to the pack house when Mia ran into me.

“Where were you? We have been looking for you everywhere!” she yells at me. What does she mean, I have been out not that long…

“What are you talking about? I was running and letting Ayla out…” I say trying not to drag much attention to this.

“Emily, you have been out for seven hours!!” she yells again. “We were so worried,” she says and hugs me.

“Don’t worry, Mia. I needed to get away,” I say trying to hold back my tears. She looks at me and grabs my hand as she starts walking towards her house. She has been living with Tom in a separate house from the pack house before they take over the pack. I don’t want to complain or ask about her intentions, I just follow her. We arrive at her house. She prepares some tea and sits down with two cups of tea on the kitchen table.

“What happened, Em?” she asks me. Looking at me with her deep brown eyes. I don’t want to talk, but she always manages to take everything out of me.

“They are willing to choose someone for me to marry…” I start. Tears coming from my eyes. “I heard my parents talking. They were saying that they needed to choose a mate for me, they want me to choose someone and marry. They don’t want me here. I’m a f*cking burden to them, Mia.” I say, now sobbing.

“You’re kidding me…” she says in disbelief. I shake my head without saying anything. “Em, you’re not a burden. I’m sure your parents are just worried. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t excuse what they are thinking. But you’re not a burden. I love you, Tom loves you.” she says and motions me to drink from the tea. “I am going to say something and please, don’t get mad at me…”

“What do you want to say? I know you can’t help it to yourself.” I say smiling a bit.

“What if, Em… What if you let them choose with conditions?” What is she talking about? She looks at me and notices my confusion and laughs a little. “Well, since the death of Jason, you have always thought about leaving here. What if you accept, what if you marry for a while and then they have to leave you alone?” She asks me. I think about it, I let it sink in my mind.

“Mia, you seem like a cupcake, but surely you’d kill,” I say laughing. At this point, the anger I have was gone. “It’s not a bad idea, I can get something from this. I can get out of here and when the time is up I can live my life freely.”