Teri was confused. How was that possible? “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Ashley agreed, but then reminded Teri how little she wanted to hear about what Ashley was doing. As soon as her sister started to talk about the things that she did with her husband, Teri shut it down really quickly. She didn’t want to hear it, even if Ashley was bursting out to say so. The idea that she would want to be gripped and slung around made no sense.
“Do you want me to explain it to you?”
Teri made it clear she did not. The last thing she wanted to hear was how her sister and her husband liked to abuse each other and liked it. She couldn’t get the last part out of her head. It made no sense, it really didn’t. “God, please no.”
“Well, you need to get your head around it, Teri. You are about to be mated. The man you are going to marry is probably already on his way here. There is a twenty-one-day ritual that will have to be recognized. It can be a good time to get used to the idea. You knew it was coming, so you have to have been thinking about it.”
Teri agreed that she did know about it, but she had pushed it out of her mind as much as she could. It wasn’t something she wanted to do. She wanted there to be a last-minute change to the rules, that would make her immune to having to be mated. Teri wanted to pretend like her father wouldn’t sell her off, even as she had seen him do the same thing to her sister. “I just don’t want to do this.”
Ashley agreed that it would be scary. “But trust me when I tell you, Teri, I am happier than I have ever been before. No, my husband isn’t gentle, and he doesn’t treat me like a piece of glass that will break so easily. I like that about him. I like that he treats me differently than anyone else ever has.”
Teri scoffed, mumbling under her breath that she was still owned and that was why Justin did whatever he wanted to her.
“You aren’t going to get it until you open your mind to the possibility that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. That’s what you have to do, Teri, just have an open mind. Your future mate is going to be here soon, and you don’t want him thinking that you aren’t interested. That would not be a good way to start a marriage.”
Teri shrugged. “It’s not like he would go away.”
Ashley clicked her tongue and shook her head at her stubborn younger sister. She tried to tell her that it was all going to be okay, but Teri wasn’t sure what to think of any of it. She didn’t really understand what came next, just that everything in her life was going to change for good. Teri didn’t like the idea of that at all. She liked her life and how it was now.
Following her sister downstairs, she went inside to the party, to hear the announcement that was going to change her life forever. One way or another, Teri was no longer able to hide. She had to come face to face with what was next, no matter how badly she wanted to run. Her sister’s words echoed in her ears, but Teri wasn’t sure if she believed them or if she even wanted to. It was going to be a disaster. She knew it.
Chapter 3
Ben
When Ben arrived, the first thing that he noticed was that his soon-to-be-bride wasn’t there to greet him. Her parents were there, as well as a few other people in their family to make the greeting big enough for who Ben would be one day soon. Soon, he would be the Alpha to an Alaskan clan of shifters named after the town they lived in, Divule. It was a position that would put his power above all others in the area, and Ben knew that he had to act in a certain way because of it.
“Where is she?” Ben hissed the question to his friend and confidant, Mark.
“I don’t know. Do you want me to find out?”
Ben agreed immediately. He wanted to know what was going on. His bride should have been there waiting to greet him. It was in poor taste not to be. How was that going to look for the rest of their lives, if she was starting out disrespecting him? Ben didn’t care as much as he should have. He knew what was going to be said and that bothered him, but he didn’t actually care one way or another about the rest of it.
He was still trying to orient himself in the heat. Her clan was smack dab in the middle of a place called Death Valley and once he was there, feeling the heat for himself, he wondered if he could ever survive there. The three weeks that he would be there were going to be miserable. He could see now that his new bride was going to have quite a change to get used to. Ben was going to have to hold her all night just to keep her warm. He already thought about what it would be like to have a woman in his bed after the fun was over. It was going to be a new experience, one he wasn’t going to be able to have if she wasn’t around to have it. He was perturbed, but as he got out and greeted his new in-laws, Ben tried to hold all of his questions and concerns for later.
“Thank you for the greeting, Evelyn and Ross. I was hoping Teri would be here, but I am glad to see you just the same.”
Ben couldn’t help but say something about her absence. He waited for an answer, but it wasn’t as forthcoming as he would have liked. Instead, the mom just nodded her head, looked down, and Ben was left to wonder what that meant.
Ross clapped him on the back and told him that he must be a strong man.
“How so?” Ben wondered.
“The Elders paired you up with my daughter, so there must be a great spirit on your part to match hers.”
Ben didn’t like the sound of that. Ross made it like his daughter, which he had been told was very beautiful, was a handful.
“Am I to believe that she is not here because she didn’t want to be?” Ben asked with annoyance. His future wife didn’t want to be paired with him? That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Maybe this all was a mistake. Ben had to remember that it didn’t matter. Mistake or not, he was there to get married. When the father said that the girl would come around, Ben waved it off. “If it is meant to be, then there is nothing that either one of us can do about it.”
Ross agreed, unsure what Ben meant. Ben wasn’t sure either. He hadn’t considered that she wouldn’t want to be with him. He was to be the Alpha of a large clan, in charge of thousands of shifters’ lives. Why wasn’t that enough for her or any woman?
Ben walked with his new in-laws and hoped that the rest of the trip would be more routine. He was there to get to know and then marry Teri. He couldn’t do that if she wasn’t part of it. He ignored the nagging worry that her absence caused. Instead, he took a look at the place he was going to call home for the next three weeks, and even though he was sweating to death, he was already started to acclimate himself to the area. It wasn’t at all like his home back in Alaska, not near as pretty either, but there was something to be said for people that lived in such harsh conditions. It was relatable, considering that many thought that his home was just as dangerous.
The two men walked long after the rest of the welcoming committee was gone. Ben was asked if he knew why he was paired with his daughter and Ben shrugged. “I have asked my father, but he says that you saved him, and a debt was given. The Elders took it into account when picking my mate.”
Ross’ face tightened for a moment. “Of course, he would see it that way. I like to see it as Fate put me in his path so that I could save him. My daughter will gain exposure as your mate and it will elevate the family, but it was Fate that made it all happen.”
