Mated Enemies

Should I tell the others? If what I suspect is true then all our lives are about to change. I’d always hope that we’d find our mates together, had woven dreams of the four of us staying together always. But would my mate be satisfied living in the mortal realm, or would he insist on going back to our ancestral home?

What kind of person will he be? Will we get along? Just because you’re mated for life does not necessarily mean you’ll have a happy and smooth existence. There are countless stories among our kind of marriages that were miserable, loveless unions that lead to empty dispassionate lives.

It’s because sometimes someone may imprint on someone who does not return their feelings, something I find barbaric. At least the humans get to choose, well nowadays they do anyway. There was a time when girls were bound by the choices of their fathers, still is in some cultures come to think of it.

But for us and others like us, it can mean life of death. I rubbed my arms as a shiver ran through me. No sense in looking for trouble. I closed my eyes on a silent prayer as I hoped for the best. I’ve lived my life in such a way that I should be spared the indignity of a loveless marriage.

With that last thought and the knowledge that as the future ruler of my people I wouldn’t be expected to spend my life in misery I tamped down my fear and misgivings and got my sisters up and ready for school. It was getting harder to shield my inner thoughts while appearing normal but I got through breakfast with no one the wiser.

I spent another day hiding my feelings from my sisters and with the dreaded menses coming on was fast losing my grip on my much vaunted control. By the time we returned home from school all I wanted was a box of my favorite chocolate and a quiet room to hide away in and lick my wounds.

If that wasn’t enough, all day I’ve been plagued with memories of what had happened in the woods earlier that morning, one minute chastising myself for my fanciful thinking and the next being doubly sure that there had been something there. Something powerful…something dangerous?

The reason it was so hard to shake is because in all the time we’ve owned the land nothing like this has ever happened. The dark ones aren’t known to venture this far north and especially not to the sleepy little town where there isn’t much to do to keep their need for constant excitement satisfied.

The constant back and forth of my thoughts was making me out of sorts and lethargic all evening until I was making myself and everyone else crazy. “It’s Friday night, why don’t we go into town for a bite to eat?” Annalise came into my room already dressed which means I’m not going to be able to talk my way out of this one.

“Come to think of it a burger from Smileys sounds really nice right about now.” I showed real signs of life for the first time all day as I jumped up from the bed to get dressed in jeans and a light summer sweater. Spring was being its usual fractious self, one day cool and the other warm.

By the time we got into the car to make the drive into town I was feeling much better and the excited chatter of my sisters only added to my feeling better. What had I been so worried about? There’s nothing to fear here in the little town we’ve called home for generations.

No doubt whatever it was that I’d felt, sensed, was nothing more than my wild imagination. It has been known to get away from me sometimes. The reason that my furry friends hadn’t been out and about was probably nothing more than the fact that it had been so early, in that hour between night and day.

I decided not to dwell on the fact that that had never stopped them before. Nothing else had happened had it? The house had still been standing when we returned and nothing untoward had transpired all day at school. I refuse to dwell on my body’s strange reaction, it was probably just some other change that all young women my age go through.

I hushed the voice in my head that insisted I knew better. If my mating was close my mother or one of my aunts would’ve warned me. They’ve shared everything else with me thus far so why not something that important? See, I’ve been worrying for nothing.

And the fact that mom had yet to return my telepathic call was another sign that there was nothing major going on. No major changes that would affect our whole clan on the horizon.