The Taming

Prologue

          

                                                            

                                                           Prologue

Once a year, ten villages come together to have The Gathering, a ceremony where the daughters and sons of these villages, who are of eighteen years of age, participate in hopes of finding a mate. Families will wait in the center of the village and wait eagerly for their child to come back, hopefully with their other half. The girls will take off first, dressed in their best and wait in the woods for a man to come and stake his claim on her. Most males look forward to this occasion, they're excited about the idea of claiming a girl as their own, they see it as an opportunity to brag and commit an act of flamboyancy.

On the night of The Gathering a man will shift into his wolf, trust his instincts, and scent out a she wolf, and obviously claim her. But, if the girl a he-wolf seeks out is already claimed, they must search harder and follow another scent of a girl with a similar scent. Whoever gets to the girl first and claims her is the lucky man to have her for the taking.

I loathe The Gathering, it's a ridiculous evening where the men act like complete animals and commit acts of violence so they can find a girl to bear their mark and carry their pups, in my opinion. I want love to come naturally and then I'd like to be marked; The Gathering sickens me to my very core. I can't imagine waiting helplessly for a random guy to come and say "Mine!" It's cliche.

I was nine years old when my eldest sister, Veronica, was of age to par-take in The Gathering, which by then was two days away, and might I say she was all nerves. She hated The Gathering just as much as my sister Emilee and I did. She had no idea what she was going into since my parents found each other naturally. Back then they could find their mates naturally  but,  the amount of wolves mating was below average, the Elders decided to speed up the process by holding The Gathering once a year for teens of age, in hopes of finding their mates faster. So far it has been a success, couple wise, happiness wise,I'm not so sure.

I've heard stories about  abusive mates, I'm not positively sure that they're true, but, it definitely adds fear to the mind. Part of me wished Veronica was a rock and put up an invisible shield so I didn't have to watch her wallow in her own fears. I think Veronica was most scared about a story she heard at school recently; some girl told Veronica that most of the mates take the girls away form their families so they can start a new life together without anyone holding them back. Veronica was a caring soul and if anything, she loved her family.

The thought of Veronica being taken away in the night, never to be seen again actually scared me. If she left, our home would be dull. Sure, I'd have Emilee, who I adored, but what happens when she turns eighteen? What happens when I turn eighteen?

Everyone had something to fear, everyone had everything on the line to lose. Including me.

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The day of The Gathering was full of rush and haste. Mother spent all of her time helping Veronica get fitted into her dress and she looked absolutely stunning. I only prayed that when I got older I'd look just like Veronica: slim physique, light tanned skin, curves, long brown curls and... straight teeth. Veronica's dress really highlighted her looks, her dress was white and wavy with thick straps that hung loosely on her shoulders. She had silver, 3 inch heels that raised her high a few inches. She looked like a giant and I couldn't help but fall into a fit of laughter at how un-natural she looked. She'd have to be the tallest in the crowd. She glared at me as I laughed.