Chapter 3: Wanting Her Mate

-Daphne-

“I don’t know,” my mom said as she walked around me and the tailors around me tried to take care of the last few things of my ceremony dress. It felt tighter than I thought it should, or maybe it was knowing my union day was about to approach that made me unable to breathe. I couldn’t say anymore. It always felt like I was drowning these days or couldn’t breathe. I had begun having panic attacks, but I didn’t know how to stop them. They came out of the blue, hitting me hard, and I knew if I told my mother how much I was regretting my decision, she would just look at me like I was crazy and tell me what a great opportunity this was to bring me back to my former status. While Roman had made it clear to everyone that there was no flaw in me and that he had chosen Ana because they were true mates, people loved gossiping. They loved seeing a star fall, so they could talk about it and make that star feel like trash.

I heard people whisper about me still, and while I could survive it, my parents did not like it because it reflected badly on them. They had me and only me. I was the face of the family. I couldn’t just go around and drag our name through the mud. So, I had agreed. I was engaged to a very powerful and wealthy lycan male. I had met him a few times, and he was definitely not the man I would ever choose to be with. He was arrogant and seemed to love his own reflection. I had always thought the reason I would never want anyone else was because in my entire life there had only been one man I had wanted, and that was Roman. He was best friend, but he was also the man I had fallen in love with and could not stop thinking about. He had not wanted me though, but had asked me to be his queen anyway, because he believed it would strengthen him. And since we were best friends, it wouldn’t be hard to spend our lives together. But I knew… No, we both knew that he would never fall for me. I was only a friend in his eyes, and he had not thought he wanted to find a true mate, since it had destroyed his father losing his mother. But after meeting Ana, he became completely mesmerized by her and had to have her. He forgot all about why a mate was something he had not wanted and only saw her. I was happy for them. I liked Ana. She was so kind and good, and she made Roman very happy, but now there was a different reason I didn’t want to get engaged, and not just because the man was loving himself more than anything.

Someone else filled my mind now. A werewolf. An alpha. Ana’s cousin, Jackson. The moment I saw him, when Ana introduced us, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Never had my heart beat for someone else. Never had I felt a desire for anyone else but Roman, but I couldn’t think about anything else but getting him alone and doing… things to him. I had little experience, since I had only wanted one person and my family was so traditional, it was costume to wait to get mated. Now my head was filled with very filthy ideas about what Jackson and I could do. The images often appeared in my mind at random moments, making me feel hot all over and making my pussy throb with need. It had awoken something in me I didn’t even know existed, but really wanted to explore. He hadn’t even touched me and I was burning for him. I had come to see him in the hospital and had sat down beside him, holding his hand. He had looked so happy when he saw me, but I knew I couldn’t stay. I had already broken one engagement. I couldn’t break another without losing everything I had. My family would never forgive me. They would disown me. I had never stood on my own two legs. I depended on them, even though it was shameful to admit I couldn’t take care of myself.

“It just doesn’t seem right,” my mother sighed.

“Mom, I’m sure it’s fine. You ordered this,” I said and held out my arms so the long peach-colored dress lifted from the ground, making the tailors hiss at me because I was ruining their work.

“Yes, but now it makes you look chubby.”

“Chubby?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s too puffy.”

“Puffy?”

“Can we tighten the waist some more?” my mother asked.

“Mom, I can barely breathe.”

“Good.”

“No, if you tighten it anymore, I will faint before we even get through half the ceremony.”

My mother rolled her eyes and walked closer, pulling on my dress and making me gasp as she tightened it a bit.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” my mom scolded.

“Me?”

If there was anyone here who was dramatic, it was my mother. She took the big prize!

“Yes, you.”

“Mom, I can’t breathe!” I growled, annoyed, and shoved her hands off me.

“Daphne!”

“What?”

I got down from the little podium I was standing on in front of the big mirror. Lately, I had had a very short fuse. I couldn’t help it. I was on edge because I was constantly thinking about Jackson, and it made me often try to find release myself, only to hunger for him even more.

“What has gotten into you?” my mom asked.

I crossed my arms and sighed. Should I just be honest?

You should, Cara said, my wolf.

I don’t know. You know how my mom is. She will never accept a werewolf.

But we want Jackson, yes?

Oh, we do.

Be honest then.

I looked at my mom for a little while, and it was clear she was waiting for me to speak.

“Can we get a moment alone?” I asked.

My mother sighed, not liking we were delaying the preparations.

“Out. Let me talk to my daughter alone.”

My family was powerful and my mother practically acted like she was queen. She was, in a way. She definitely carried the power of one.

“Well?” my mom asked as the tailors left.

“What if I was getting second thoughts?” I asked.

“About?”

“This. My engagement.”

“Then I am sure my daughter has gotten a brain bleed,” my mother said.

“Mom!”

“Daphne, you already broke it off with the king. What wouldn’t happen if you broke this one off?” she growled at me. “It would embarrass us all! We would never live it down!”

“But what if I was in love with someone else?”

My mother looked shocked at me. I couldn’t say what I felt for Jackson was love. It was too soon, and we had not spent any time together, but despite the time we had spent apart, something had definitely happened. I felt very attached to him. He had proven he was good and brave, and all I wanted was to learn more about him. Figure out who my mate was and if we could be happy together. I feared I might never find one. I feared my fascination with Roman would prevent me, but I didn’t believe that anymore. Not after finding Jackson.

“Sorry?” my mother asked.

“What if I was in love with someone else?”

“You have always loved Roman, but he is taken.”

“Not Roman!” I yelled. “Someone… else.”

“Someone else?” my mother asked.

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“He is from a high-status family,” I said.

“Oh, really?” my mother asked, more intrigued.

“And he is very brave.”

“Oh?”

“Rich.”

“Really?”

“And an alpha.”

“Oh,” my mother said, looking more and more happy.

“A werewolf alpha.”

“Sorry?” my mother lost her smile right away. “What did you say?”

“He is… a werewolf,” I whispered.

“A… werewolf?”

“Yes…”

There was a long pause, then my mother spoke again, “Over my dead body!”