I'm getting WHAT!?" I shouted, standing abruptly form my seat. I was completely shocked and devastated. I couldn't believe this was happening.
"You're getting married Ava. It's been arranged," my dad said calmly. He stood up from the couch where he and my mother sat and walked over to me. He reached out to touch me but I smacked his hand away.
"Arranged? Are you serious? So what have you planned out my whole life? Do you know when my funeral is going to be?" I was starting to go on a complete rant.
"Now Ava that is no way to talk to your father," my mother interjected. "You are going to marry this boy and that is final!"
"I don't like this," I said. "Not one bit… I feel like my choice has been taken away from me. And I'm pretty sure this guy feels the same way too."
"He's not happy about it. He said that he would rather be alone but he doesn't want to go against his parents' wishes. He knew about this way before you did. His parents sat him down and told him about six years ago; just weeks before they were killed in a house fire."
I sighed in defeat and sat down. My dad sat down beside me and put an arm around my shoulders.
"Is he… different like me and the pack? Is he a…"
"Well that was another thing that we wanted to talk to you about dear," mom said cutting me off. "The difference between you and him is that he is not a shifter like you are. He's an actual werewolf."
"Really?" I asked. "Like full moon, silver bullet, all that stuff?"
"Yes, Ava. He is a lycan."
"So you set me up with a lycan." I stated. I shook my head and sighed. I heard a knock on the door and got up to go see who it was.
"Please be Ashton Kutcher!" I shouted as I walked to the door. I heard a laugh and immediately smiled. Once I was at the door, I opened it.
"Sadly for you, I'm not Ashton Kutcher but I hope that I might be better."
"Hey Jacob," I said. I let him in and he wrapped his arms around me.
"Hey Ava," he said back, letting me go.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to pick you up. Emily invited the pack for dinner so, here I am."
"Let me go tell my parents that I'm leaving and I'll be right back."
He nodded and waited near the door. I walked back to the living room and saw my parents sitting on the couch. When they were aware of my presence they looked up at me.
"Is it okay if I went to Emily and Sam's for dinner?"
"We're not finished with our conversation Ava," dad said standing from the couch.
"Well I am," I said. "At least for now okay? When I get back, we can finish talking for as long as you want. I promise."
They looked at each other and then looked back at me.
"Alright, you can go," mom said. "But be back by a decent hour."
"Thanks, I'll make sure of it." I turned to leave and walked to where Jacob was.
"You ready to go?" he asked looking concerned.
"Yeah, let's go."
"Ava wait," I heard behind me. I turned around and saw my mom walking toward me. Once she got to me, she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me as tight as she could.
"I love you sweetheart." I hugged her back just as tight but was conscious of the fact that I was stronger than her so I eased up a bit.
"I love you too mom." She let go and kissed me on the cheek.
"Jacob, take care of my baby," she said sternly while walking over to hug him."
"Don't worry Mrs. Wolf, she'll be safe with me," he said.
"Can we go now?" I asked. I was itching to get out of this tension filled house.
"Yeah came on," Jacob said leading me towards the door. Once I was outside, I felt like I could breathe again. The tension in that house was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"What was that about?" Jake asked.
"Don't worry," I said. "I'll tell you all about it when we get to Emily and Sam's."
Jake looked at me one more time and we started to walk to the car. We got in and drove in silence. It was somewhat comfortable but it was because I could tell that Jacob was dying to know what was going on.
How was I supposed to tell him that I was getting married? I mean he's been my best friend since birth and I could only imagine what he would think. But then I think about the rest of the pack and how they'll react to the news, especially Leah. Since I've been in the pack we have grown to be extremely close, mostly because we both know the feeling of having someone you love just up and leave you for someone else, and to add insult to injury, it was someone you thought that you could trust and you thought that not in a million years would this person betray you. The only difference between Leah and I, is that I haven't spent all of my time since then hating the people who hurt me and broke my heart. Micah – the one who broke my heart – was a big part of my life and when he left it was like my life was gone. He betrayed me and told me that I wasn't what he wanted in a soul mate and I would never be good enough for him, but my friend Nicole was. I thought that I could trust her and she stabbed me in the back, basically saying 'you snooze, you lose.' I was broken up about it, but after almost two months of moping and being the zombie that I was, I picked myself up and moved on. I think about it from time to time, sometimes I cry about it, but then I stop and tell myself not to dwell in the past and that better things were waiting for me in the future. But I never imagined this.
"We're here," Jake said, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw that we were in front of the small cabin. I could see big figures moving in the windows. Suddenly it became real for me; I was going to have to tell them that I was getting married. I internally started to panic but I didn't let it show.
"Ava are you sure you're alright?" he asked. "Because you are freaking me out."
"Jacob I'm fine stop worrying," I said. "I promise that I will tell you and everyone else what's going on soon okay?"
He looked at me hesitantly and sighed. "Okay."
"Alright then let's go." I got out of the car and I walked towards the house with Jacob on my heels. We got to the front door and I knocked. The door opened and I was greeted be Embry.
"Bout time you two got here," he said. "Emily said we couldn't eat until everyone was here and I'm starving."
"Well hello to you too," I said as we walked in and hung our jackets on the rack that was at the door.
"Sorry. Hi Ava, hi Jacob. Would you two please sit down so I can eat? I am a growing boy you know."
"Embry be nice," Emily said emerging from the kitchen. She looked at us and smiled.
"Hi Emily," I said hugging her. I pulled away and she was glowing. Even with the jagged scars on her face, she still looked beautiful.
"Hey Ava," she said resting a hand on her belly. Emily was 5 months pregnant with twins. Both she and Sam were excited. I bent down and out a hand on her small bump.
"Hi babies," I cooed. In return I felt a small kick from one of them as if getting a greeting from them. I smiled and removed my hand from Emily's stomach and stood up right. Emily playfully swatted me away, laughing as she greeted Jacob with a hug.
"Hey it's not my fault they like me," I said. "I mean come on, who wouldn't?"
"Hmm let's see," I heard from behind me. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and looked up and saw Jared with a face that made him look like he was thinking. "Our teachers, our principal, that lady in the library who always gives us a hard time for talking every time we go in…"
"Okay, okay I get it; there are people who don't like me. But they're irrelevant so why should I care; I'm a very likeable person."
Jared removed his arm from my shoulders.
"Yes Ava you are a likeable person."
"Thank you Jared."
After Jake and I greeted the rest of the pack, Emily said that dinner was ready. The boys cheered while Leah, Emily, and I shook our heads and laughed as we watched the boys race towards the buffet and pile the food on their plates like mountains. When the coast was clear we went to the buffet and made our plates and sat at the table. I sat between Jacob and Quil, Emily sat next to Sam, and Leah sat beside Paul. We ate and talked, having laughs and basically just being a family. Whenever one of us talked with our mouths full, Emily would glare playfully and tell us to mind our manners or watch our language. She was like a second mother to me and the rest of the pack were my brothers and sister, they were my family. It was gonna be hard to tell them the news. I didn't know how they were going to react to the news. Would they be mad at me? Would they hate me? I couldn't stand the thought of that happening. It just hurt too much. I could feel myself getting emotional but I don't think anyone noticed. I had to get out of here before they did.
"Excuse me," I said getting up from my chair and started to walk toward the door.
"Where are you going?" I heard Embry ask. I turned around and looked at all of the curious faces, especially Leah and Jacob's.
"I'm just going to get some air," I said, my voice cracking a bit. Okay now I really needed to get out of here. I rushed to the door hearing everyone calling my name. I ran to the tree line, hearing them run out of the house, shouting for me to come back. I ran as fast as my legs could take me, trying to drown out the sounds but I knew that with my super hearing abilities that it seemed almost impossible. I didn't stop until I broke out of the trees and stopped at a cliff that looked over the waves of the ocean. I sat down and watched as the waved lapped up against the rocks.
I was trying to find some peace with myself before I could go back and face them. I sat there for a while before I finally let the tears fall down my face. All of the questions that I wanted to ask started to for in my head. How could my parents do this to me? Did they want me to be miserable? Who was this man that I was supposed to marry? Would he hurt me and keep me away from my family and friends? Where did he live? And the biggest question of all…
Why was like being so unfair to me?
I sat there for another 10 minutes until I heard some rustling in the trees. I looked to my right and sniffed the air. I sighed.
Paul
"Come on out," I said. "There's no need to hide."
There was more rustling and eventually Paul came out in nothing but a pair of cut offs. He has this look of concern on his face. He sat down next to me and watched the waves with me.
"What the hell was that back there?" he asked, looking at me.
"I got scared," I answered truthfully, more tears streaming down my face.
"Sacred of what sis?" he asked giving me a one armed hug.
"Telling you guys about a little arrangement that my parents set up."
"Ava whatever it is, I'm sure it can't be that bad."
"I'm getting married, Paul."
"What?"
"And you said it wasn't that bad," I chuckled humorlessly.
He stood and held his hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me up.
"Let's go back," he said. I nodded and we walked through the forest and back to the house. With our speed, we were at the house within a few minutes.
When we got there I saw the pack sitting in front of the house with worried faces. They all looked up and saw us walking toward them and visibly relaxed. Once I got to them, Jacob ran to me and pulled me into a giant hug.
"Ava, thank God!" he said. I don't know what happened but I just broke down in his arms. I started to sob and he rubbed my back soothingly.
"Shh it's okay. Don't cry."
"It's not okay Jake," I sobbed, my words were muffled due to the fact that my face was planted into Jacob's chest. "It is far from okay."
He pulled away from me and gave me a confused look.
"What are you talking about Ava?"
"Can we go back inside?" I asked. "I already told Paul and I wanna have to say it 3 times."
Jake nodded and led me back to the house. When we got to the front of the house, the rest of the pack hugged me and led me inside. Once in there, we walked into the living room. We took up and available space that we could find. I sat between Jacob and Leah. Leah took my hand and squeezed it. I gave her a sad smile and squeezed back.
"Ava, tell us what happened," Leah said calmly. I couldn't look at her, or anyone else for that matter, so I looked at my lap.
"Avie, please look at me," she begged. I slowly lifted my head up and looked at her. Her face was laced with worry.
"My parents…"
"Your parents what sweetie," Emily asked. I looked at her with sad eyes. She gave me a smile that said everything was okay and that I could say what I had to.
"My parents arranged for me to…for me to get married.
The room was quite for a while and I was afraid of what everyone would say. The anxiety was starting to kill me.
"So you're telling us that your parents set you up with a person that you don't even know?" Jacob asked. O looked at him and could see the shock and anger on his face.
"Yeah," I responded.
"Can't you get out of it or something?" Quil asked.
I shook my head. "Unfortunately I can't. If I had it my way I wouldn't marry this guy."
"This is such bullshit!" Jake shouted. "You don't even get a choice!"
"Tell me about it. This whole situation sucks."
"Do you know what tribe he's from?" Sam asked.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you the most fucked up part," I started. "He's not even like us."
"So he's human," Seth said confused.
"He is far from human," I said. "He's a lycan."
"A what?" Leah asked.
"A werewolf," I confirmed. "And not like us, we turn into wolves but he's the real deal like the ones you see in the movies. Full moon wolfs bane, silver bullets all that crap."
"How is that even possible?" Jacob asked. "For a shifter to be with a werewolf. Has it ever been done before?"
"I guess it might have because my parents are setting me up with one so it might work."
"Do you know anything about this man?" Sam asked.
"All I know is that his family was killed in a house fire about 6 years ago."
Before anyone could say anything else, my iPhone rang. I took it out of my pocket and answered.
"Hello?"
"Ava I need you to get home so we can finish talking." It was my mom.
I sighed. "Fine," I said.
"Don't use that tone with me Ava get back here!"
I hung up.
When I looked up I saw everyone looking at me. I'm pretty sure they heard what my mom had said.
"I gotta go," I said standing. "Bye guys."
They all stood up one by one and they put their arms around me, forming a group hug. They all let go and I walked to the door with Jacob right behind me.
We walked out of the door and towards the car. I opened the door and got in. Jacob got in the car and started it. We pulled out of the driveway and drove off.
We sat in uncomfortable silence for a couple of moments until he looked between me and the road.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I don't know," I said. "Sad, angry, confused. I don't want to marry some guy whom I've never met before. I want to be able to make my own choices. And what if I imprint on someone? What then?"
Jacob sighed and gripped the stirring wheel so tight that his knuckles were turning white. After about 5 minutes, we were at my house. Jake cut the engine and looked at me.
"I wish that I could give you the answers," he finally said. "But I can't. Unfortunately you can't get out of this and there's nothing that neither you nor I can do about it."
I nodded. He was right; it was out of our hands. There wasn't anything that I could do about it.
"I fell like this is just a bad dream," I said. "And at any moment I'll wake up and my life will be normal again."
Jake chuckled darkly. "Ava there was never anything normal about your life."
I shrugged. "Okay well aside from me changing into a big white fur ball."
We sat there for another 5 minutes.
"I don't want to go back in there," I whined, looking at the house. The house that I grew up in and have had so many good and bad memories. Now it's the house that I don't want to go into because I was dreading any and all confrontation when it comes to this subject.
"You're gonna have to," Jake said looking at me with empathy.
"Will you walk me to the door?"
"Of course."
I got out of the car, closed the door and waited as Jacob got out and closed his door. He walked to me, put an arm around me shoulder and walked me to the door. When we got there, I pulled his arm off of me and looked at him.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.
"I don't know," I said. "But if not, I'll call you."
"Okay." With that, he hugged me tight and I hugged him back.
"Bye Jake," I said, hoping that it wasn't the last time I'd ever see him.
"Bye Avie." He kissed the top of my head and let me go.
I unlocked the door and walked in, then closed the door and leaned on it.
"Ava, is that you?" I heard my mom call out.
"Yes," I sighed.
"Well come on in so we can finish talking."
I sighed and made my way into the living room and sat on the couch across from my parents.
"Now, Ava I know that you're having a hard time accepting the news," my dad started.
"A hard time is right," I muttered.
"Ava please," mom hissed. "Listen to your father."
I sighed and motioned for him to continue.
"The Hales have been friends of our family for years. When you were born, he was just a couple years old and as children, you became fond of each other. Six years ago his parents got suspicious of this girl that he was dating; they thought that she might have been a threat to their family. He at one point told them that he thought that she might be the one. They said that they would do anything to keep from marrying that girl. So your mother and I offered for you to marry him when the time was right and they said yes. And you already know how he feels."
"Yeah, you said that he'd rather be alone but he's gonna do it out of respect for his parents."
Did they have no idea how ridiculous that sounded? That the man that I am supposed to marry is only marrying me because it was what his parents wanted.
"This man knows nothing about me," I said. "Nothing at all and you want me to marry him? That is so sick!"
"Ava sweetie," mom said. "It's for the best. We only had your best interest at heart."
"Yeah right." I looked at her and saw the pain written on her face and my anger simmered down a bit. I sighed.
"What's his name?" I asked softly.
"His name is Derek Hale," dad said.
"How old is he and where does he live?"
"He's 20 and he live in Beacon Hills, California," mom said.
"California?" I shouted. "So you're just gonna send me to another state? Mom, dad, please don't make me do this! Please!"
"Ava Mackenzie Wolf, you will stop acting like a child and face your responsibilities!" dad shouted standing up and looking down at me with an intimidating glare. I stood challenging him.
"Responsibilities?" I shouted. "It is not my responsibility to marry a man whom not only do I know nothing about but he lives in another state! I won't do this!"
Then he slapped me. It didn't hurt but I couldn't help the tears forming in my eyes as I looked at my father in shock. I backed away from him for I was too shocked and angry to utter anything to him or my mother. I turned around and ran towards the front door.
"Ava wait," mom called. I heard them but I didn't turn around. I ran out of the house and into the forest. I was trembling so much and I knew that I was about to phase. I couldn't calm myself down enough to stop trembling. Just then I burst out of my skin, all of my clothes were confetti. As soon as my paws touched the forest floor, I started to run. I let out
a pained howl as I ran towards Jacob's house. I couldn't deal with this, not now. I needed my best friend. I needed Jacob.
Hey guys! So this was the crossover that I was talking about when I posted a chapter for another story quite some time ago. this is my very first crossover and I kind of had the idea of an arranged marriage and I was playing around with some characters and I decided to make up one of my one, just because I could. So I really like this story and I think that it might have some potential. And I know that I say that with most of my stories but I really like this one lol.
So tell me what you think; I'd really love some feedback and constructive criticism.
Thank you for reading :)
TTDH