The Choosing

Chapter 7

Eleanora's POV

I walked onto the stage; my legs slightly shaky from my nervousness. As I stepped up the stair, my dress flowed regally behind me. Eyes were all focused on me, including the females. As soon as I reached the middle, I flipped my hair over my shoulder, and folded my hands in front of me.

"Eleanora Valore, Daughter of the Beta of Crimson Blood." The announcer said. The crowd murmured quietly when they heard I was from Crimson Blood. The judges all came together and talked for two minutes while I stood there awkwardly. 

"We have all talked thoroughly, and we have all decided on your rankings. For strength we all decided on five." He spoke. Five? Five!! How was my strength a fucking five?! I don't want to be cocky, but I know that I am strong. I'm stronger than most females because of my rank, and my extensive training. 

"For agility, we all agreed on a seven." They added. At this point I was pissed! How could my numbers be so low? As a Beta they should be relatively high. I was really nervous... what if nobody wanted me as a mate?

"We've looked at your ancestors. Most of your family has been full blood werewolves, but there has been some breeding with humans. This causes the possible strength of your bloodline to come at a percentage of fifty-eight percent." They finished. 

My mind was blown. My stats had been so low! I looked over at my parents table, and all I saw was disappointment. My brother was almost laughing at my low score, and my parents couldn't even look at me.

"All those interested in this female, please stand. The highest-ranking male will get to keep her."

I looked around, and for a moment, no one stood. I kept waiting, and nobody stood up to claim me. The judges looked around nervously... something like this never happened.

"Because no male is here to claim Miss Valore, she will return to her pack, mateless." They explained. 

"Eleanora." Called out a faraway voice. I looked around, the stadium and everyone acted like they couldn't hear the voice. 

"Eleanora." The voice said a little clearer.

"Eleanora!" My mom said, shaking me from my sleep. My vision cleared, seeing my mom stand over me. I looked around and saw that I was in a room with two sets of bunk beds.

"You took a nap as soon as you got here honey. Come on, we need to go get you some food, and take you back upstairs to get ready for the ceremony!" She said excitedly. She started to pull on my arm to get me up, but I stopped her.

"Mom, you wouldn't be disappointed in me if my stats were low, would you?" I asked. I couldn't deal with my mother being disappointed in me. All my life, I've been trying to be the daughter she always wanted. I couldn't stand the embarrassment of letting her down.

"No sweetheart, of course I wouldn't. Besides, you're my daughter, and my daughter is freaking amazing. Your stats will be fine, and plenty of people will want you as their mate." She said proudly. I could tell she was so much more excited for the ceremony than I was. For her, the ceremony turned out great. She got a loving mate like my dad, and she had four children that she absolutely loved. But it didn't always turn out great for everyone.

I had heard of a story where one female had ranked high in all her stats. So high that two Alphas had gotten into a fight over her, while she watched horrified on stage. In the end, the cruel alpha won, and dragged her off the stage by her hair. Her parents just had to watch, not being able to do anything because she belonged to that alpha.

My mother saw my hesitance to get up and go get ready. She frowned slightly and sat next to me. "Eleanora, you will find a mate that will learn to love you. Whether it's your true mate or not, they will love you." She reassured. She rubbed my arm reassuringly and gave me a hug. We stayed that way for a couple minutes, just holding each other.