You Wouldn't Dare (Khaos Trilogy Book 1), стр. 4
From the moment they conceived me, my parents had already written my story, my life planned out to the finest detail, and it was too late to put my foot down and put an end to it.
I was the golden-haired angel, with a face carved from the Moon Goddess herself.
Mother spent most of her time teaching me ways to enhance my beauty, supervising me as she made sure I brushed my hair morning, noon, and night, with at least one hundred strokes until it shone under the light. Nothing was more important to her than showing off how beautiful her daughter was.
My brother was the lucky one. Mother left him alone, believing that the men made this world a better place by proving their strength and intelligence.
I was destined to be a trophy wife.
It sickened me to see her at her vanity table, applying layer upon layer of her expensive creams and youth serums. She was a shell of a woman, barely even alive. She refused to do anything that would require any effort, repeating time and time again that anything that was physically straining was also ageing to the skin. She had never wanted to be anything more; she didn’t care if she achieved anything or made her mark on the world. In her eyes, her role was fulfilled. She was the reigning beauty of the Atlantis pack, second only to her daughter. I’d be lying if I said her eyes didn’t cloud with resentment and jealousy when she looked at me sometimes. It was no surprise she was ready to marry me off to the strongest, most successful mate she could find.
Only the best for “little Violet” as she would say.
It sickened me to see her at her vanity table, applying layer upon layer of her expensive creams and youth serums.
She couldn’t wait for our little trip so she could hand out the small silver cards she had spent months picking out – they had silk border and real pearl trim, nothing but the best!
This was her time to shine, her chance to show off years of training and preparation. For finally, the day had come, her precious daughter had turned eighteen! In celebration, a ball was to be held in her honour, a chance for wolves to come together and bask in the beauty of the only daughter of the Atlantis pack’s Alpha and Luna.
No trip was ever really a social call, and this one was no exception. It was a chance to brag, to show off, and to network. Mother had finely combed through all the packs through Europe, ready to hand out her invitations to the ball of the century.
Only the finest young wolves from the most prestigious packs were to be invited, for this was not just a coming of age celebration, oh no! I was in the market for a mate!
I would be paraded in front of the Alpha sons from the moment I arrived. They would circle me, taking deep breaths of my scent, ensuring we were a match, that I appealed to them. If I pleased them in this way, and they were happy with my looks, they would permit their fathers to accept the invitation my mother had offered.
I couldn’t help but mimic her voice in my head as I replayed our recent discussion regarding the awful ball. I often wondered if she realised just how ridiculous she sounded.
The whole thing had made me sick to my stomach, and I had given no opinion when it came to the no-expense-spared party.
Lunas the world over were fighting for a place at the ball, and the last I had heard there was even a reserve list. Many times, I had tried to explain to my mother that my mate could be anyone, anywhere, and it wasn’t for us to decide, but that wouldn’t do for her.
Oh no, her lovely little Violet, who came from a long line of Alphas, would surely be mated to someone of equal importance and “pure blood”. She was immensely proud of her heritage - everyone in our family had been an Alpha son or daughter, from a very certain family of course. If by some chance none of these fine, elite young men proved to be my fated mate, my mother would pick the wolf she thought was best, based on their stats and credentials.
As though my mating were a job interview that only a select few could pass!
My mother applied cold, rational thinking to all her decisions. There was no room for feelings, we owed it to the packs to improve the social standing. We had to preserve the purity of the leaders, to ensure we were kept clean, remove it commoners. It was our “duty”.
I hated that word.
I cleared my mind as I tried to forget the whole charade, and my thoughts drifted towards the one wolf I had once upon a time hoped to be my mate.
Logan would never have met her expectations, regardless of how I had once felt about him.
He was too wrong for me, his rank too below my own.
Mother had found our relationship cute in the beginning and had encouraged us to show off our childish love. It had been a source of pride for her that her daughter had blossomed at such a young age.
There was no ugly duckling turned swan scenario with me. I had attracted the attention of the opposite sex the moment I hit puberty. It didn’t matter to her that the stares of the older wolves made me uncomfortable, my mother would tell me to proudly stick my chest out, to walk with my shoulders back and my gaze straight ahead, offering small, feminine smiles