Arranged Mating

1. The dreaded day

In the GRP – the Grand River Pack – there are a few rules. If you live according to the rules, there are no problems. If you decide to go against the rules… well… you are a problem. And problems are dealt with, the hard way.
One of those rules is if you’re a female wolf and you’re unmated by your 25th birthday, you are to be mated to a wolf of the counsel’s choice.
Guess what?
Today is my 25th birthday.
Guess what again?
I still haven’t found my mate.
As I lay still in my bed, pretending to be asleep, I can hear the voices of my parents downstairs.
Please… let me just die. Let the Goddess just take me right now so I don’t have to end up with who knows what wolf.
I squeeze my eyes shut and hold my breath but to no avail. I’m still as alive as can be.
“Argh!” I groan out and open my eyes, throwing the bedsheets off me in a wild motion.
The voices downstairs fade and soon I can hear the light footsteps of my mom walking up the stairs. A soft knock on my door a few seconds later confirms it.
“Yes?” I say and I look up as my mom peeks her head through the door.
Her dark brown hair is still uncombed and she looks more tired and wrinkly than usual.
“Hi honey, happy birthday”, she says with a weak smile.
I sigh.
“Thanks”, I answer her weak smile with a small one of my own and get up to walk to my closet.
I can hear the door closing and some shuffling behind me before hearing the bed dip.
As I quickly scan through my closet I decide on wearing a loose grey t-shirt and some skinny jeans. Maybe if I don’t dress up, people will forget today is my birthday.
I turn around again to look at my mom.
She’s staring at me with tears in her eyes.
“Oh mom, please don’t cry”, I ask her and I kneel down in front of her, holding her hands in mine.
“I’m sorry honey, I just hoped you would’ve found him last year on your trip…” she sobs.
Last year I’ve been traveling to all the neighboring packs in search of my mate. Unfortunately I didn’t have any luck. I had found out on the day that I came of age that I didn’t have a mate in this pack and since then I had sworn to visit as many packs as I could to look for my mate so I didn’t have to deal with the fate of some of the women here. Unfortunately it cost more to travel than I thought and I had to work for a few years before I had enough money saved up to take half a year off.
“Can I comb your hair?” my mom takes me out of my thoughts and I nod.
“Of course”, I tell her.
I quickly get up and grab my hair brush before handing it to her and sitting down between her legs on the floor.
The hairbrush combs softly through my light brown locks, which I’ve inherited from my dad. My green eyes come from my mom. And my nose… well let’s say it’s a family’s heirloom from my mom’s side. With a small upturned nose, a diamond shaped face, and a curvy chubby body, I’m not the prettiest and skinniest girl of the pack but it still gives me enough attention from single male wolves. I really wonder who they’ll choose for me. Even though hearing the stories from other females, usually we get mated to be a mistress of old and ugly men who can’t get pups with their first mate or who just want to get some young green leaf to play with.
Not exactly a future I thought I’d have. But hey, maybe I’m one of the lucky few who get mated to a son of one of the elite families. I mean, usually those spots are given to the prettiest and smartest girls so that those elite families will get the best characteristics but you never know.
I sigh as I feel my mom’s fingers rake through my hair and she starts to braid it.
We just sit there in silence, enjoying the possible last time that we can do this.
“Mom?” I ask her.
She makes a low sound in her throat.
“What if I won’t love him?”
She stays silent for a bit, debating what to say.
“Well, whoever you get will take good care of you. You don’t get mated to someone who doesn’t want a mate. And you’ll learn to care for him eventually, you’ll see.”
“Sure, I’ll care for him. But what if I can’t love him?” I emphasize the word ‘love’ , because I’m just dreading a life without love in it.
My mom pauses her braiding and sighs.
“I don’t know honey. Maybe the love will grow from the friendship you guys will build?” She whispers then.
“I hope so…” I mumble and she continues to braid.
“Marilyn? Jade? Are you almost ready? The counsel is here”, I hear my dad yell from downstairs.
Fuck.
My mom gasps and quickly finishes my fishtail braid before rushing me to my makeup table.
“Quick, put some make-up on”, she says as she quickly uses my comb to brush her hair and put it up in a bun.
I grab my mascara and eyeliner and draw a quick line on my eyelid before dabbing a soft tone lipstick on my lips. With one last look, I pack my stuff in my toilet bag and place it in my suitcase, zipping it shut.
“Ready?” mom asks then as she gets up.
“As ready as I’ll ever be”, I say then while grabbing the suitcase in my hands.
We both walk through the door and my mom walks in front of me down the stairs.
Our counsel exists out of our Alpha and three beta’s . Two of them are grumpy old men, and one is a bit younger, beta Steve. He’s about 35 years old and has a kind face. He also happens to be the only one looking up the stairs and sending me a charming smile.
“Ah Jade, happy birthday”, he says with a soft clap of his hands.
I glance at my dad, but he just sends me an apologetic look.
“I see you’ve prepared and packed as instructed. We will be taking you to your new dorm, where we will prepare all the wolves for their mating ceremony”, beta Steve says.
I nod at him and then turn around to my parents.
“It will be fine”, I lie with a soft smile, “we will see each other again soon.”
My mom sobs and hugs me tight, kissing my forehead before letting me go so I can go and hug my dad.
“Good luck kiddo, I know you can do it”, he says and he kisses my forehead as well.
“Thanks”, I whisper.
Then I turn back towards the counsel, waiting for me with smiles on their faces, I decide to make the best of it.
I straighten my head and grab my suitcase, walking behind them out of the door.

“This will be your new home for a while”, Counselor Jack says as he waves around the room.
It’s a huge room with several beds placed next to each other. Next to each bed is a side table and a closet with drawers and some hangers. Across from this room, they’ve shown me a bathroom which also has to be shared between all the wolves. We have cleaning duties once a week and all meals will be eaten together in the cafeteria downstairs.
I see that five more wolves are laying on their beds and glance at them.
They eye me curiously.
“Whenever we need you, we will call for you. You are not to leave this room unless you’ve been told, is that understood?” counselor Jack says.
“Yes, sir”, I answer as I look him straight in the eye.
“Good”, he nods and then turns around on his heels and leaves me alone to unpack.
As I throw my bag on my bed, I sense some of the wolves getting up and coming closer.
“Hi, I’m Mel, short for Melanie, but you can call me Mel. Everyone calls me Mel”, a barbie blonde girl says as she stands in front of my bed.
“Hi”, I give her a polite smile.
Mel immediately claps her hands a few times and glances in my bag.
“Did you bring some snacks? Candies? Anything from the outside world?” she asks as she peers inside.
I frown.
“Not really… they only told me to pack the essentials for a few days”, I answer.
“Ugh…” she sighs and rolls her eyes, “I’ve been here for three weeks and they still didn’t decide who my mate is going to be.”
I was stacking my shirts in the drawers but that makes me pause and turn around.
“You’ve been here… three weeks? Inside? Without going outside?” I stammer.
“Uhm, yes. We’re not allowed to go outside, remember”, Mel says and rolls her eyes again.
Goddess, she acts more like a teenager than my niece does, and she’s thirteen. Maybe that’s why they didn’t find anyone for her yet. I quickly close my eyes and take a breath. That’s not a nice thing to think, Jade.
“Don’t pay too much attention to Mel,” one of the other girls says, “My name is Jess. What’s yours?”
I turn my attention on the girl called Jess.
She has a pretty and friendly face. She’s pale and has pitch black long sleek hair, and a skinny frame.
“My name is Jade”, I answer her and continue to unpack. The sooner this is done, the faster I can go around and explore this place.
“Fits your eyes”, she notes and I smile.
She’s the first one to notice.
“Thanks”, I tell her.
Jess introduces me to the other females and then tells me that there is also another ward for male wolves on the other side of the building. Sometimes if we’re lucky and there is a social event while being in here, we are allowed to mix with each other and dance and drink. But I can’t think of any upcoming social events so I guess that won’t be for me.
The other women aren’t very eager to come over for a chat so I just leave them be.
When I finish unpacking, I slide my suitcase underneath my bed and then sit down.
“So is there really nothing to do here? No library or garden or anything?” I ask them in disbelief.
“No, we only get called out to go on these conversations or therapy sessions, and we can go to the bathroom, but that’s about it”, Jess says.
“Therapy sessions?” that’s new.
“Yeah, you’ll see. You’ll probably get your first one tomorrow”, Mel says and I lift my eyebrows.
The rest of the day passes by ever so slowly. We’ve been brought lunch in the room and I’ve had a small chat with the other three girls, who have been here between one to two weeks as well. Apparently I’m the last new one and Jess has been here five days, so she came in just before me. Mel has been here the longest.

“Girls, you are expected for dinner in 15 minutes. Please make sure you look appropriate”, a voice over the speakers says.
I look around, checking where exactly this voice came from but I can’t see any visible speakers in the room.
Mel screeches and runs back to her spot, pulling her closet open and looking through her outfits.
The other girls are checking their outfits as well, and are grabbing their hairbrushes and make-up bags.
I frown and sit still, not understanding why everyone has the need to get redressed.
As Jess pulls a tight black dress over her head she looks at me.
“Are you going to wear that to dinner?” she asks me with an arched eyebrow.
“Uhm yes?” I say hesitantly.
“Dinners are kinda special. All the men who want to get mated come to take a look at you. You always have to look your best”, she tells me.
I shake my head in disbelief.
“You are telling me that while we are having dinner, men are just going to watch us and check us out as if we’re some clothes behind a window of a store?” I ask in a high pitch tone.
“Exactly that”, Mel says excitedly and starts putting on some make-up.
My mouth falls wide open and I feel some kind of rage.
I will not be regarded as an object. As I clench my teeth together I sit down. Whatever I’m wearing is good enough for my mate. It’s not like I’m going to be dressing up every day for him anyways. So he better takes me as I am or doesn’t take me at all.
I sit down on the bed and keep looking at these girls trying to get pretty for their potential mates.
After several minutes, the door to our room opens and one of the female guards leads us to the dining room.
I can see that the dining room has a very high ceiling and on the upper floor there are windows built in all around the room.
Behind the windows we can see the faces of many men, young and old. Some of the old ones have dirty grins on their faces and a shiver runs down my spine.
“Please, take a seat”, the guard says and stands before me, pointing to a chair.
I look at her and place myself on the appointed chair in silence.
The other girls also keep quiet and throw the occasional glance upwards, trying to see who is watching.
A bell rings and a few seconds later, five waiters rush inside of the room and place our plate in front of us.
The dinner looks and smells delicious but somehow I can’t manage to eat anything.
The other girls are eating ever so politely, with small bites and while toying with their hair, engaging in small polite chatter with each other.
I just lay with my hands in my lap and my eyes flicker between my plate, the girls, and the men upstairs.
Not one single person causes the sparks or even a hint of it, once more confirming that my fated mate is not up there.
Dinner passes, but I haven’t been able to take a single bite.
With an empty belly, I get sent back to our room.
I sigh while laying down on the bed. That was the weirdest thing ever.
Immediately the heavy door of our room slams back open and I sit up in a gasp.
The angry eyes of counselor Jack find me and he points his thick sausage finger towards me.
“These men are coming for you. To watch you. We expect you to be on your best behavior during dinner. This is your first and only warning”, his eyes darken as he takes a few steps towards me.
I gulp as I nod and look down.
“I’m sorry, counselor Jack. I was too nervous to eat and I am still getting used to this new routine”, I say with my eyes glued to the ground. I sit on the edge of the bed with my hands in my lap when I see his feet appearing on the floor in front of me.
“Why don’t you come with me and I will explain this new routine to you”, he says and he grabs my arm and pulls me up.
Before he turns around, his face softens and he looks at one of the girls behind me.
“Kelly, sweetheart, Alpha Black would like to see you in his office. Can you be a doll and run there, please?” counselor Jack says with the sweetest tone and the girl behind me squeaks in happiness.
“Thank you so much counselor!” she says and quickly runs out of the door.
I throw a quick glance behind me and catch Jess’s face, who has tears in her eyes looking towards me.
Why is she crying?
Counselor Jack now pulls my arm roughly and forces me to walk with him, out of the room and to the right.