CHAPTER 3 LEAVING HOME

TEGAN'S P.O.V

After a little while of driving, I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I looked over to see the queen's shining green eyes staring at me. She truly was a beauty with her raven black hair. Nothing like my vibrant red hair. I never got to go to the salon, all my haircuts were administered by Helena, and she was no beautician by any means. However, she knew enough to chop the dead ends off. I had long flowing curly red hair. Helena would have me sit at my vanity while she would gently brushed my long hair. She always loved me having long hair. She said it reminded her of my mother, which didn't bring me much comfort, especially when my family looked at me with such disgust. Maybe if I hadn't looked like my mother, then they would have loved me. It was a blessing and a curse, as my mother was gorgeous. But even I knew I couldn't compare myself to her. However, being told I looked like her made my heart swell. It was a compliment whether they meant it as one or not.

Helena was never blessed with a child of her own. Her fated mate died early on, and she chose not to ever mate again. Instead, she dedicated her life to raising me. She treated me as if I were her own, she always told me I was the daughter she never had, and the Goddess placed her with me for a reason. Now that I am no longer there, I am not sure what will happen to her. I wished with all my heart that she was coming with me, but she belongs to the Red Blood pack, her fate was not to be with me forever although I wished it had.

"Can you read lips?" The queen asked slowly. I shook my head up and down for yes. My being deaf and having a communication barrier may not help me with talking to them either. I doubt any of them knew sign language. She shook her head in response.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. I tried thinking of the best way to explain how I felt without saying how I felt. I rubbed my chin thinking when her eyes lit up in recognition. She turned her body while sifting through her purse before handing me a pen and paper.

"I don't know sign language, unfortunately, and I understand if you don't want to speak, so maybe this will help?"

Her words registered in my head, making me think about how many times I had tried writing to someone that I was trying to communicate with, only for them to rip the paper up while laughing at me before walking away. I nodded my head before I wrote down my words carefully. I didn't want to upset the Queen and make a wrong move that would end with my death. As much as death sounded nice, my father's words rang in my mind about how this was the only way I could serve the pack. I knew I shouldn't feel a duty to serve that pack, especially after the way they had all treated me my entire life, but I couldn't help wanting to please my father as terrible as that sounded. I lifted the paper showing her what I had said. 'Truthfully, scared.' She nodded in response.

"I remember when I was your age and my father signed a contract for me to wed the previous king, to create unity in the realm. I had no say in it either. Although I hated it then, I couldn't have been more pleased with the way my life turned out. You will learn to love your contracted mate, as did I."

I never knew she was also a contracted mate. In the werewolf world, fated mates were our strength, but the kingdom, however, did not take to the idea of fated mates. They said it was a weakness. Therefore, many years ago, they stripped away kings from ever sensing their fated mate. They put a curse on them at birth to never sense their fated mates so that when it came time to marry, they could marry for power and money. Which also has me questioning why I was chosen. I was not from money, only a pure bloodline, but not money or power, which is weird. The queen offered to pay my father too. Normally it was the other way around. Plus, I was not even a good option. I was broken on the inside and disabled. Nothing a king would ever want for a mate. I would not bring power or money. Only disappointment.

Sadly, me and the king did have something in common. The king's fate was not his choice either. He didn't get to choose his mate; a mate was chosen for him. Helena told me the love that fated mates shared was like no other. Someone not being able to sense or feel that love breaks my heart. But it was the way the kingdom worked. It was said that if a fated mate to the king ever met him, the elders would know. I guess the curse also made the female fated mate act in a certain way which, in turn, the elders would know who she was to the king, and they would kill her so that it would not disrupt the law of their ways of life. With the king still not knowing they were mates; he could not sense or feel the pain of the loss of his fated mate when she died.

I never really had hope of myself finding my fated mate. I prayed nobody in my pack was my fated mate. I couldn't bare the humiliation of the rejection. Nobody in my pack would ever love or accept me for what I was known for among my peers and then also for my disability. I guess the goddess answered at least one of my prayers because, on my 18th birthday, no mate appeared to reject me. I also don't have a wolf, so I thought maybe that was a reason I couldn't sense them, but surely, they would've been able to sense it and reject me, so when nothing happened, I was relieved.

"How old are you?" The queen asked next, breaking me away from my thoughts. I used my fingers instead and put up a 2, then a 0. That was simple enough to understand.

"And no mate?" She asked. I shook my head no in response.

"Well, maybe it is for the best. I never knew my mate either. At least not my fated mate."

I then wrote on the paper. 'How am I supposed to go about being a mate to a king when I am not worthy?'

"Worth is defined by what you can bring to the table. Just because you cannot hear does not deem you unworthy, there are so many other qualities that make a woman fit for a king's mate."

'Like what?' I wrote down next.

"Like being a virgin so that the king can breed a legitimate heir, meaning no other man has laid a finger on you. Virgins are hard to find, you see. There is also the bloodline. You are of an Alpha bloodline, one that dates back for centuries. Then there are also other qualities such as strength. What a woman has gone through speaks measures. But not only strength but knowledge and wits. A mate's qualities go beyond simple things like being able to hear. I wished I could not hear; it would be so much better than listening to the ignorance of so many people. Do you understand what I am saying?"

'Virgin?' I wrote down next. Her smile faltered a little bit before she recomposed her face.

"Unfortunately, by law, a king shall not take a mate that is not purely innocent. I have looked all over for such things, and so many girls spread their legs so easily anymore that virgins are a rare find now, unless you want to take a child, which could be an option as a last resort, but not one I was hoping for. A few Alphas have claimed their daughters are virgins, but they forget that we have a witch that can do a magic spell that shows the truth. She can bring forth any smell from a female. She can know how many men have scented on a woman, meaning how many have had intercourse with her."

Her words reeled in my mind before I wrote something else down. 'How do you know I am a virgin? This is our first encounter.'

"It is indeed; however, my witch has made contact with you and sensed the truth, you have laid with no other. Which is why I made the trip out here to retrieve you."

I felt violated in a sense, disgusted. But she was telling the truth. I have never been with anyone.

"We have a long drive, how about you rest up?" She said, ending our conversation. I nodded in response. I had too much on my mind to be able to rest. The main thing is, what the hell am I going to do now as a contracted mate who is a deaf?