Finding Destiny

Girl Talk

Destiny’s POV

Hours later

*knock, knock*

“Desi! Open up! It’s time to get ready!” Kiara yells from the other side of our adjoined door. Goddess, at least I don’t have to open the hall door and potentially come face to face with my mate.

Speak for yourself. I’m dying to meet him - sure we can’t mate him per say, but we can mate, wink wink, with him if you catch my drift.

Artemis that is such a terrible idea and you know it.

“Still here and still waiting!”

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming,” I yell and hurry over to the door, unlocking it from my side and letting Kiara in. She pushes her way in, both arms loaded down with makeup boxes, hair products, and dress bags. I can always count on my wonderful Luna to be over prepared and it’s absolutely wonderful. She sets everything on my bed and turns around with her hands on her hips.

“Okay, spill,” she says in her no nonsense tone, which means she means business. Yikes.

“Uh, about what?”

“Desi, don’t make me use my Luna command on you. I don’t ever use it, but I will if needed. What is going on with you? You literally shut the door in mine and Luna Reese’s faces. That’s not like you. Did something happen? Did the Moon Goddess show you something??”

Might as well tell her, Des. She can help keep us in check if we see our mate.

Ugh, you’re right. She’s going to freak. Prepare yourself.

“Um..so, I’ve been having dreams of my mate,” I no more than get the words out and Kiara is throwing her arms around me with a squeal.

“Desi! Why didn’t you tell me??” She pulls back and looks me over, instantly noticing my pained expression, which causes her to instantly tone down her first reaction.

“You know I can never mate with anyone. Not if I want to keep my gift.”

“Destiny, come on. You seriously can’t expect to never mate with your moon blessed mate, right? You’ve been dreaming of him for goddess’ sake. How much more of a sign do you need? And how does all this have to do with how you acted before?”

“I can’t give my gifts up, Kiara. I was chosen by Selene herself. I help our pack members and they rely on me - what would they do if they didn’t have me to come to anymore? Who would guide them?”

“I think they could manage, babe. Seriously, you deserve to be happy too. You can’t sacrifice your happiness just so others can find their’s easier. Now what about slamming the door in my face?”

“I..well, ugh goddess I’m screwed. My dreams are more than dreams. I can actually smell him, so I know what his scent is. As soon as we got to our floor, I smelled him all over. Every damn direction. All over the freaking place. He’s been here and he’s been on this floor enough to have his scent seeping through every crevice. I panicked.”

“WHAT? He’s here?! Ohmygoddess! That’s amazing! We have to find him!” Her face lights up as she pulls me into another hug. I shrug out of her hold and give her an apologetic smile.

“No, Kiki. We can’t. I can’t do this. Do you know how upset Leo would be? He literally brought me here to show me off. Everyone knows pack oracles can’t mate. If I meet my mate tonight everyone will assume I’ll give my gifts up. It’s just..easier to not meet him. I thought I could do this, but goddess I don’t think I’m capable of meeting him and not giving in.”

“Hmm..the mate bond is strong, especially when it first hits you, but you’ve already smelled and seen him in your dreams. Maybe it won’t hit you as hard since you already know what to expect? And technically, you don’t have to mark each other, but you can definitely screw around - you deserve that much, don’t you think?” Of course she’s on the same page as Artemis - I swear they are the same person sometimes.

“No. Absolutely not. What if I bite him by accident?”

“HA! Oh sweetie, you can hold back, believe me. Wren has been freaking out to me almost every day how bad his wolf wants you. Believe me, if he’s able to hold off on marking you with as badly as he wants to, you can control yourself.” Wait..she knows? f**k, of course she knows. Wren tells her everything. And Wren wants to mate with me? Why the hell hasn’t he said anything?? “Yeahhh, I’ve known pretty much since the beginning,” Kiara says as she laughs.

“Okay, that’s another topic for another day,” I hide my face with my hands freaking embarrassed or shocked or I don’t even know what I’m feeling, “the point is I’m freaking out here. He’s here, on this floor. He’s a flipping witch! What if they feel a stronger pull? I know nothing about witches and mate bonds!”

“Wait, he’s a witch? Shit..Leo won’t be happy about that,” Kiara’s face falls as she thinks out how this could play out tonight, “Okay, no. It doesn’t matter. This is your mate we are talking about - I don’t care if he’s a damn fairy - you deserve to be happy. And even though I was totally rooting for you and Wren, this is a big deal. You can’t just let your mate walk on by without meeting him. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

And there it was. I knew I would regret not meeting him. I knew I would regret everything I had to do, but how could I throw away my gifts? I helped people on a daily basis - the pack relied on me for guidance - our alpha relied on me. I was - no, I am - special. Oracles are rare and to be blessed with the gift of sight, I couldn’t just toss it aside for my own happiness.

“Okay..I’ll go tonight. If I see him, I’ll remain in control. But I won’t throw my gift away.”

“Yes! I’m so excited for you! You deserve to find your mate more than anyone, you know that right? Now let’s get you ready! We have to make you look perfect for your mate!”

And perfect she made me - literally - there wasn’t a single strand of hair out of place. My hair was curled up tight, giving its natural curls even more bounce than usual. Kiara gave me smokey dark plum eyes with a dramatic black eyeliner and the perfect nude lip color. The dress she chose for me was all black and absolutely stunning. It had a sweetheart neckline, strapless with a sheer floral corset. The satin gown fell at my hips with a dramatic high slit up the thigh. And this was a masquerade ball, so of course masks were required. I wore a half mask that fell right at my cheekbones - it was a shimmery silver color with black and silver intricate beading.

After pinning my mask in place, I twirled around to see Kiara ready to go and getting her mask on as well. She had chosen a midnight blue dress that shimmered with every movement. Her hair was pinned to one side and curled in waves that cascaded down her shoulder. She looked gorgeous, though she always did. Leo knocked on the adjoining door before opening it and stepping inside wearing a matching midnight colored tux, only having eyes for Kiara as he took her in from head to toe.

“Wow. You look..” he started, but Kiara cut him off.

“Yeah, yeah! Let’s go! Big night!” She glanced back at me with a smirk and then grabbed my arm and his, dragging us both out the door behind her.

This was it. The moment I had waited for my entire life. I just hoped the moon goddess knew what she was doing playing with fate like this because I sure didn’t.