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I was immediately struck by her beautiful dark skin, the white braids that framed her face, and those piercing blue eyes. With her billowy top, she looked almost ethereal as she stepped in.
"Jane? My name's Nati. I’m here to help you get ready for the ceremony,” she said, offering me a kind smile. “I’m sure all of this must be difficult for you, but I’ll try my best to make this transition easier for you.”
Despite how much I internally protested the thought, something in me didn’t want to be rude. She seemed genuinely kind, and I had the feeling I would do a lot better with someone on my side.
“This is your way of telling me I have no way out of this?” I asked, pushing myself into a sitting position.
Her smile turned more empathetic as she entered the room and put a hand out for me. “I’m afraid so. I understand how fast this must seem, but you shouldn’t resist it so completely. You never know what might come of this. Besides, the ceremony isn’t a guarantee. The Goddess will offer her judgment, and we will go from there.”
The thought of being judged by the Goddess was nerve-wracking, especially since it would be with someone as intense and domineering as Levi. But she was right. It wasn’t guaranteed.
Sighing, I moved the blanket and shuffled out of bed. As much as my stubbornness wanted to fuel my bed-rotting, the thought of talking to someone else and seeing other things was appealing. I was sick of being in that room.
“If you don’t mind, it’s time for your pre-ceremony bath,” she said, suppressing a quiet laugh. And no, that isn’t meant to be a jab. It is customary.”
Grateful for Nati’s kindness, I took her hand and allowed her to guide me to the ensuite bathroom.
She carefully ran the water and added various oils and flowers to the clawfoot tub while gently brushing my hair. In my despair, I paid minimal attention to it and knew my hair was pretty tangled.
But as the warm steam filled the bathroom, I eventually undressed while she looked away discreetly and got into the pleasant water.
The moment it touched my skin, I felt myself melting. Easing into the tub, I let it overcome me, and soon enough, I found myself not wanting to leave the water at all.
I half expected Nati to leave once I was soaking, but she gathered several tools instead and sat on a small stool behind me.
When she reached for my hair, I felt incredibly guilty for wasting her time.
“You don’t need to bother, I can take care of it myself,” I said, not wanting to be a burden. “I don’t need to keep you here.”
“It is customary for the alpha’s prospective mate to be pampered before the ceremony,” Nati explained, gently tipping my head back as she used a small bowl to cascade the water over my hair. “Levi has customary requirements of his own to attend to, but they look a bit different from yours. It is said that bathing both parties thoroughly welcomes good luck as you are seeking the Goddess’s favor.”
“I didn’t know that,” I murmured, feeling embarrassed all over again.
“Nobody expects you to, Jane. I’m assuming this is your first offering, and all you need to do is enjoy being pampered. Can you do that for me?”
Catching the slight amusement in her voice, I let myself relax, and I nodded. “I can try.”
I sensed her smile as she continued washing my hair, fingers dextrous as she worked out the tangles.
It was strange that even if I had been in a pack my whole life, there were still customs I didn’t know about since I had never found myself in such a position. I always thought the mating process was rather simple, but I had the feeling it was about to seem a lot more complicated.
I had watched many others from my old pack go through with their ceremonies, many of which had been fairly private, but I never thought I’d go through my own. I especially didn’t think it would come to be in such a strange way.
The longer I was cared for in the bathroom, the more the reality of it began to set in.
Levi and I would offer ourselves to the Goddess and ask for her favor. It wasn’t something I had made up in my head. It was real and still impossible to understand.
As my heart rate picked up, Nati released a gentle breath and rubbed a fragrant oil into my shoulders. “I had been prepared for my future mating ceremony since I was a little girl. It wasn’t meant to happen until I was much older, of course, but I had been promised to a young man in my pack who was meant to be alpha one day. Things didn’t go according to my parents’ plan.”
Curiosity pulled at my heart, and I glanced up at her. “What happened?”
“I was groomed to be ready for all of it. I knew what was expected of me and never questioned whether he was right for me. I was a dutiful daughter and didn’t plan on being anything else. But on the day of the ceremony, the goddess revealed my powers to me, and my betrothed and his father called it off. They accused me and my parents of trying to trick them into mating me—a witch and wolf hybrid—to their precious son. They said I was a bad omen due to my abilities, and we were shamed for it,” Nati explained, voice laced with deep sadness as she spoke. “We were exiled for it and struggled every day after the fact. My parents had been so distraught, and my mother became very ill. When she passed, my dad followed soon after from a broken heart. I was left to pick up the pieces on my own, and eventually, I stumbled across Levi and his pack. There had only been a handful of wolves then, and he was more than willing to accept a priestess. He saw value in my powers where the others didn’t, which meant so much to me.”
“I’m so sorry, Nati,” I said, feeling awful for her. “I don’t imagine helping me is easy for you at all.”
“No, no, it’s perfectly fine,” she said, moving her fingers soothingly across my skin. “Helping you through this makes me feel like I’m making amends for what happened. My experience was awful, but yours doesn’t have to be. In a way, I hope I can help make it easier on you.”
“That’s very kind of you, but you don’t know me. Why would you feel inclined to make this better for me?”
