Her Forbidden Mate

CAROLINE'S POV — The sun shines in through my arched window, the white curtains blowing back and forth with the cool wind whistling through the cracked window,the stone walls still cold from the crisp, icy night. Today is the day I probably seize to exist— and I'm perfectly okay with that. I'd rather rest with the Moon Goddess than spend the next two years of my life training to become an elite warrior. Apparently, it's brutal. My eyes fall on my sack of clothes, but there isn't much I could fit, and less to even take. My family isn't rich, but we live comfortably. My mother, Silvia, makes beautiful clothes, some even the princesses have bought, and my father, Charles, makes weapons with beautiful engravings. My brother, Eric builds homes, and he has a beautiful, loving mate, Mara. But me? I get the privilege of being shipped off to the Warrior College. And the reason? I didn't find my mate in time. The biggest and most brutal rule of Lunias, our city of wolves, is that if you turn twenty one, and still haven't found your mate, you're going to Calaris, the elite college where your mind is broken, your soul shattered and death knocks on your door with every sunrise while you train to become an elite guard. Meaning of that? You fight to the death. "Care." Eric's voice draws my attention away from my crumbling life. He stands in my doorway, his broad shoulders filling the space. His eyes flash with horror, worry, and the worst of all, pity. "You can still run." he steps inside, his encouragement lingering for a second before it vanishes. My shoulders sag, "If only I could." If I run, who knows what they would do to my family? There's a possibility of my mate being out there, beyond the border of the city, but the possibility is slim, because beyond the border is other packs, rival ones, ones that want what we have. They steal, kill and trot past the territory line like this is their home too. "But you can," he closes the wooden door behind him, but anyone who wants to listen in can do so effortlessly. "Brian can help you escape. He's on duty today, if you go now...", "Eric." My voices bounces against the walls. My eyes flutter shut as I inhale a deep breath, forcing my galloping heart to slow down. "I am not going to run." his face falls along with his shoulders. "You will die," thanks for the trust. My eyes roll as I turn, looking away from him. I can fight, we all can, it's what we've been taught since we were children. "I'll have a fair chance." Since I turned twenty a year ago, I've been training more, getting stronger, faster. Is it enough to survive Calaris? Fuck knows. "You won't, you're not strong enough," he inches closer. Ignoring him, I haul my sack off the floor, tossing it over my shoulders, "I am going, end of discussion." Strutting past him, at least trying to, he grabs my arm, "Mom won't make it if you die." He whispers, his eyes a pleading with me to not go, "And none of you will survive if I run." I stare up into his eyes, and watch as his certainty turns into stone cold realization. Realization that I can't escape this. Realization that he can't help me. He lets me go, his chin dropping against his chest, "I'm so sorry, Caroline." he breathes, using my full name for the first time in years. Nodding, I head out of the room, silently moving through the four bedroom house, avoiding my parents at all cost as I leave the comfort of our home, heading straight for the tower of doom, the large castle like building. Calaris The walk is therapeutic as the rays of the sun become warm, kissing my skin in a smooth bliss. Calaris sits on top of a secured mountain that has twenty foot walls, a large steel gate, and every inch of the outside is black with engravings carved into every inch of stone, the towers tall with varying heights. It looks like a hell house, and it's exactly what it is, but I force myself to head straight for it before the royal guards come seek me out. "Caroline!" the familiar voice that lights up the darkest of my days has me halting in the middle of the street. I turn, facing Valerie, my best friend. I run over to the side of the quiet street, dropping my sack and embrace her as her arms wrap around me in a tight grip. Valerie is a year younger than I am, but we've been best friends since I was six, and she was five. She has dark chocolate locks in contrast with my bright gold wavy hair. Her dress fits tight around her top, loosening at her waist, flowing down to her ankles, whereas I'm wearing leather pants, and a loose black blouse. I had Mom made the pants for me for winter once, for below my dress, and now I wear it in public. My mother would call it a scandal if she saw me now. "Don't go," she pleads, fear flashing through her honey orbs. She also hasn't found her mate, but I know that she will. "I have to Val," I step back, putting the needed distance between us that will help me walk away. I'm going to die, and my parents and Valerie wil hear it from a complete stranger. "Please...we can leave, we can run." There hasn't been a day that has gone by without Valerie being apart of it. She's been a constant, the sun on the stormy days. "We can't," She inches closer, and I grab her arms, "You have to go, Val. Go live your life, and I'll see you after two years. You'll have found your mate, but do not dare to get married without me, got it?" I bite back the tears, my throat contracting. Tears swell in her eyes, the sun catching the waterworks, making her eyes glisten. She nods, sucking her lips into her mouth, "I promise I'll wait." she forces a smile as I let her go, and back up, inhaling a deep breath. "Go." I need her to turn and go back home, because if she stays and looks at me like that, I won't be able to walk away. Luckily she listens, and walks away, giving me the strength to pick up my sack, and continue to walk, but not without a few tears rolling over the rim of my eyes and down my cheeks. It takes another two hours to get to the gates of Calaris and six guards are stationed outside, standing against the walls. I feel like a teeny putrid human against the tall gates, especially when the two guards closest to the gates step forward, "What are you doing here?" the one asks, his cold eyes fixated on me. "I am now twenty one, without a mate." A shuddered breath leaves my lungs as I seal my fate. There's no turning back now. The other takes out a notepad, "Name?" He asks, holding a pen. "Caroline Sutherland." I gulp, trying to wet my drying throat, but it becomes the desert. "I'm glad some women wear pants," the one snorts as I pass by through the gate that's cracked open for me to enter. There's no doubt that he's staring at my ass. Goodbye outside world. Hello hell hole. The pathway has lanterns planted along side it, and they're probably only lit when nightfall arrives. My eyes fixated on the large wooden oak doors, the bronze decorations sitting symmetrically on both doors, one at the top, and other at the bottom. They take the shape of the back of an old fancy key, cut off at the middle. The swirls extend like little branches growing out of it. On the stem of the key, there are buckles, latching over them, looking movable, and at the very end of the stem are different looking branches spreading out into crescent moons. The buckles on the stem move, shifting slightly as a click barks through the air before it creaks open, and an older man appears. His cold eyes meet mine as his shoulders fill up the gap in the door. "Caroline, right?" he opens the door further. Fucking creepy. "Come on in," I force my feet to move, and bid one last goodbye to the freedom I had twenty four hours ago. Maybe I should have run. The door shuts behind me, and my eyes drag along the large empty space, and at the very end where two large staircases begin, curving at the top to probably even more stairs, there's a large wolf statue right in the middle of where the steps start. Its head is tilted up, and it looks like he's howling. "Come," the man passes me, and I follow suit. "You have your wolf, right?" He glances back at me over his shoulder, and I nod. We ascend the stairs, the dark polished hardwood steps glisten with the sunlight shining in through the arched windows that has swirls at the top, and as the sun rays pour in through the windows, a pattern forms on the wood. "This is the commons floor. Kitchen, dining hall, living room." He struts down a hall and I follow suit. We end up at another staircase, and this time it's going down. Fear pricks at my scalp, infecting my heart. Its beat increases speed with every step as the hall grow darker. "I presume that you know the rules?" Another quick glance over his shoulder. It's like he's afraid that I'd kill him. "You act like I've prayed to get here." Huffing out air from my nose, my head jolts back an inch, a golden lock falling into my face. "And you act like this is a crime," Amusement sparks in his deep voice. "It is." I hiss. They steal time from my life and act like it's a blessing. Ridiculous. "Being an elite warrior is a great honor." he's all chuff sitting in this college as a teacher. I hum in response. There is no arguing with someone who believes so strongly. "First rule, no love. Second, no killing without reason. Third, attend every class, and lastly, no leaving." Simple right? Wrong. Taking down the last step, we head for the door, that leads to a courtyard so large that I can't see the end of it, or the end is simply just a cliff. Bodies are scattered across, some sitting below a tree, reading and others sparring. The air shifts, the sun becoming hotter and sweat coats my chest under the tight shirt. "Welcome to Calaris." he huffs, and three large men approach us, the one looking deadlier than the other as my eyes flick between them. The middle one, the tallest, the broadest, the muscle machine halts five foot away, his body visibly tensing at the sight of me. I seize breathing as his cold steel eyes lock on mine, and they turn harder by the second. Inhaling a sharp scent when my lungs threaten to give in, it hits me. The sweet musky scent mixed with sweat hits my nose, altering my brain and has my heart galloping. This can't be happening. Mate.