Isabelle Slate had gone her whole life looking forward to finding her mate- the one who'd look after her, love her, and protect her. But when she's matched with the most narcissistic, possessive, gorgeous, and powerful Alpha in the whole Southern Pa...
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The hot spray of water pounds relentlessly against my back, stinging and burning with every droplet—He's actually going to make me do it.
Being inducted into a pack for a werewolf is already painful; however, the usual presence of the wolf takes the edge away and allows for less pain and more of a feeling of connectedness. But for unshifted wolves, it's grueling. I've heard stories of people dying when attempting to undergo induction while unshifted.
I guess something about Jaxon's Alpha blood and the Mistletoe "potion" will keep me alive. I don't think he'd care if I died, anyway. Only his wolf would care.
The shower curtain is suddenly pulled open and I shiver at the sudden cold air. "Oh, dear, let's get you out of here," Jaxon's Mother waves me out of the steamy cavern and I slowly do as she says. She instantly wraps a large towel around me and beckons me into the bedroom, "Full Moon is in a couple hours. You'll need to be ready before then."
She busies herself with towel-drying my hair and preparing things around the room. I sit on a stool in front of the vanity table and stare at my reflection. My brown hair limply hangs around my face and frames my somewhat slimmer cheeks and paler skin.
My eyes contain nothing— no emotion, no fear, no hate.
"Now, you'll need to choose a white dress. I have four here for you to choose from. Of course, Jaxon will have to approve it, but we want you to pick the one you like," She smiles at me in the reflection of the mirror.
You're not letting me have the future I want, so a dress makes up for that?
"It's not that simple, Isabelle," She states, and it's then that I realize I had voiced my thoughts.
I ignore her and look at the dresses. All are very conservative with sleeves, high necklines, and longer hemlines. The one on the end attracts my eyes and I stand and approach it, running my fingers down the side.
"I'll wear this one," I murmur, my voice cracking slightly.
"Great," She smiles before putting the rest back into a large garment bag. I sit back down onto the stool and stare at myself again, the unhappiness shining through my impassive expression.
"For what it's worth," She begins, coming to stand behind me, "Jaxon is only doing this for you."
"He's doing it for himself," I instantly snap back. "If he inducts me into the pack, I can't testify against him to the Council. If he inducts me, I'll be linked to everyone including him. If they have him killed for my accusations, myself and everyone else here will die.So, no, he isn't doing this for me," I meet her gaze in the mirror. "He's doing it for himself."
"I—" She starts, a stunned look on her face.
The door flies open and in comes Jaxon's sisters. I've never met any of them, except for Annabeth, the youngest, but from what I've heard (mainly from Grant), they're all handfuls. Three of them are younger than me, thirteen and fifteen, while the other two are older, eighteen and twenty-five.
