Ivy's Pov
The thought of my birthday filled my mind as I ate my breakfast. Finally, I will be allowed to marry the love of my life, Aiden.
We have been dating since we met two years ago, at the mating annual ceremony, but my mom had stopped us from getting married, she wanted me to be twenty before I could completely be with my mate.
Coincidentally, the annual mating ceremony day usually falls on the same day as my birthdays, and this year, it's not just any birthday, it's my twentieth birthday when I would be set free to be with my chosen mate.
My heart overflows with happiness, as I stuff pancakes into my mouth and push it down my throat with my cup of hot tea.
"Ivy," my mom called, interrupting my happy thoughts and imaginations
"Yes, mother," I answered her calmly.
"Your twentieth birthday is tomorrow, and you will have to go be with your mate in another pack," she said, her voice shaking.
"Another pack?" I asked, confusingly.
My mom stares at me sympathetically.
Puzzled at her reaction and body language, I furrowed my eyebrows and raised them as if telling her to chill, and not worry about me. I'm a grown woman now.
She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
"You know...." She paused, and poured the remaining content in her cup down her throat.
"When your father, the alpha of this pack, was killed, a ransom was paid to spare our lives," she said, swallowing hard.
"Does this mean we are still in debt?" Elena asked, inquisitively.
"And what does it have to do with my twentieth birthday, my mate? And leaving our pack to another pack?" I asked, almost immediately after Elena's question.
I could see tears gather in my mother's eyes.
"This has to be dead serious," I murmured to myself.
She couldn't hold it anymore, the tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.
Elena and I rushed to where she was sitting, and she immediately held us tightly in her arms, as if something was coming to snatch us away from her.
"You were used as a ransom, and they are coming to pick you tomorrow," my mom said, her voice trembling.
"Who?" myself and Elena asked, simultaneously.
"Ivy, you will have to go with your betrothed mate tomorrow," my mom broke the sad news to me.
"Betrothed mate?"
"Was I betrothed to someone?" I asked, my entire senses jerking up from shock.
"Yes, you are, and he is coming to pick you on your twentieth birthday," my mom said, her gaze fixed on the dining table, avoiding eye contact with me.
She couldn't stand my shattering heart.
Elena was shocked and heartbroken, I could tell from the tears pooling in her eyes.
For a few seconds, my brain was blank, I was unable to process anything.
The awkward silence in the room grew as each of us was thinking about how our lives were about to change.
"What is the name of the pack? And who is their Alpha?" I asked, with a tinge of sorrow in my voice.
"The Night Walker pack," my mom replied, her voice trailing away
"Night Walker pack?"
That name rings a bell.
I have had dreams of seeing myself in that pack.
Was the dream going to manifest in reality?
"You have to assume the place of his Luna as a virgin. If you refuse to go with him, we will all be wiped out," my mom said, her voice cold and her gaze fixed on the table.
"No!" I blurted out.
"He is not my mate, I don't love him, and I will not go with him," I said, loosening myself from my mom's arm and running out of our room to Aiden's apartment.
*********
"Look who we have here," Aiden shouted, immediately he sighted me.
I gave him a short smile.
"Good Morning, Aiden," I said, chuckling.
"Happy morning to the queen of my heart," he replied, joyously.
My heart beamed for joy as he hugged me tightly, while I sniffed his scent.
I ran my fingers through his deep brown hair as he kissed my forehead.
"You are out so early, going to pick some herbs?" he asked, raising his left eyebrow.
"Yes," I agreed, even though my intent was different, and I didn't come with a basket.
He went in to get properly dressed and soon, he was out with a medium size basket.
"Shall we?" he asked, smiling at me.
"Yes, please," I said, nodding my head and smiling sheepishly.
He gently held my hand as we walked into the bush to get some herbs.
I wanted to give him my virginity as a compensation for leaving him tomorrow, but I didn't know what to say or how to do it.
"Sit and relax, while I get the herbs," Aiden said to me, bringing me back from my wild thoughts.
I sat on the root of a big oak tree as the thought of seducing him filled my mind.
I
"Aiden," I called out loudly, faking a teary voice.
"I have been bitten by something," I said, crying.
I saw him running towards me, and I fell on the floor, and spread my legs widely.
"In here," I said in tears, pointing to my lap, as I shifted my skirt, exposing my private well enough for him to see.
He looked at me in suspicion, but said nothing.
He bent over to where I laid to help me massage the spot I was pointing at, and then I let out a soft moan and quickly placed his left hand on my right breast.
"Stop it! Ivy, you know if we are caught doing this, we would be punished for it." He angrily stood up, and walked away.
"Aiden, you're resisting me," I cried.
"You are seeing another person, and you don't love me anymore," I accused, hoping my manipulative tricks would work.
"No, Ivy, tomorrow is your twentieth birthday, when we would be free to do anything we want with the blessings of the moon goddess and our guardians,"
"The long-awaited day is near, let's wait and make our patience worth it," he said, looking at me from a distance.
If only he knew.
If only he knew tomorrow marks an end for us, and a beginning to what only the moon goddess knows.
Determined not to give my precious virginity to someone else, I walked over to where he was standing.
He didn't budge, so I moved closer to him, my lips brushing his beard. I stood on my toes, and raised my face, and his lips touched mine.
I saw the feelings in his eyes, the heat between us, I had to seize this moment.
I grabbed his head and planted a deep kiss in his mouth, he plunged his tongue inside my mouth and kissed me passionately.
We went to my father's cave, and there we had our first sex.
"Hey, what are you two doing there?" a masculine voice questioned. My heart sank when I turned, and I saw an elderly man approaching us with a scary look on his face.