Destined For Her Read online

  Destined For Her

  Laura Fang

  Contents

  1. Tess

  2. Cecelia

  3. Tess

  4. Cecelia

  5. Tess

  6. Cecelia

  7. Tess

  8. Cecelia

  9. Tess

  10. Cecelia

  11. Tess

  Cecelia

  About the Author

  1

  Tess

  I was pumped to be attending my first pride parade here in the city. The small town I’d come from wasn’t the most accepting place for gay people, so it was going to be a different experience being in a place where people were free to be themselves. I smiled. It was going to the first place where I was free to be myself, too.

  I tucked my notebook into my backpack and made sure my camera’s battery was charged. I wasn’t going only to enjoy the parade—I was going as an employee of the City Paper, the alt weekly. It was the kind of publication that covered cultural stuff like movies and museums as well as local events and businesses. I was lucky to have snagged a gig there, and I was loving it. Who else could brag that they got to write concert reviews as part of their job?

  Today, I was supposed to write an article on the pride parade and snap some pictures. It was a challenging assignment and researching and writing it was going to be a blast, so I was excited. This was the first big feature I’d been assigned, so I was determined to impress my boss, Shawna. I wanted to use my experience at the City Paper to really kick-start my career in journalism. If I did well here, the sky was the limit, especially at a small but respected publication like this one.

  I was glad it was a Friday, because I was looking forward to meeting up with my friends afterward. There were going to be a lot of parties and events at bars because it was pride weekend, and we were keen on having a good time. If I found a cute stranger to make out with, it was so much the better. Whether she was a shifter or a human, I didn’t mind. I simply liked to have fun with other girls.

  I hopped on the bus and headed downtown. While the parade was going through a planned route, I was thinking I’d hang out near the end, where I’d get to not only see all the floats, but also speak with some of the businesses and nonprofits that were tabling. The parade had quite a bit of corporate sponsorship, so a lot of businesses liked to run promotions for publicity. And of course, there were many LGBT organizations that tried to raise awareness for their causes.

  I felt a little awkward being alone—it looked like a lot of people were here with their families, friends, or partners. I slung my camera around my neck and held my notebook and pen, hoping I looked more like the writer I was and not like I was lost. I took up a spot in the crowd so I could watch the floats come in.

  I felt relaxed in this atmosphere. It was nice to be surrounded by others like me; there was a strong sense of community and a happy buzz of excitement. Everyone was anticipating the arrival of the floats.

  What I would have liked would have been to see if there were other shifters around, but that wasn’t easy. We generally kept on the down low, concealing our existence from humans. If they could barely accept gay people, how would they accept shifters?

  I could try to sniff them out, though. I had a pretty good nose, and other shifters at their mating peak put out a very distinctive smell. Hooking up with another shifter would be the absolute best. The only problem was that they, more often than not, ended up wanting relationships. I was more about the casual lifestyle. I hadn’t yet met anyone who made me want to change that.

  Focus, I told myself. I had to take excellent notes so it would be easy for me to write the article later. This was also my only chance to take good pictures. I perked up when the sound of music and chanting became louder; the first of the floats was rolling in.

  It was hard to tell which organizations were sponsoring which floats, because they were all so unusually garish and wonderfully colorful. I did determine that one float was sponsored by a bank, which was surprising. I couldn’t imagine any of the banks in my hometown sponsoring a float with shirtless, muscular guys and girls in sparkling costumes dancing to a pounding electronic beat. This was really different from anything I had ever experienced before. It was exhilarating.

  Many of the floats had dancers, while a few were the traditional kind, constructed from wire skeletons and tissue paper flowers. There was music emanating from almost all of them, creating a veritable cacophony. But the variety of floats and the music all jumbled together wasn’t jarring—it was joyful. I found myself immersed in the sensory experience, almost forgetting to write in my notebook.

  This went on for at least half an hour, but I didn’t get bored at all. I was transfixed. I had simply never seen anything like this. Sure, I had seen footage of other pride parades in big cities, but to be there in person was a different experience entirely. Even though I didn’t know anyone here, I felt like I was part of something bigger. It was a powerful feeling.

  Finally, the parade was over and people dispersed to peruse the tables and get lunch from the many food trucks that had set up shop in the area. I was hungry from being in the sun for so long, so I got myself a chicken sandwich and soda and sat in the grass with other picnickers, watching the people around me.

  It was heartwarming to see all the families, but I felt a pang of jealousy. I’d never be able to bring my parents to something like this. They didn’t like gay people one bit. And when I came out to them, things hadn’t gone so well. That’s why I was here, in the city. I had to escape their toxicity, as well as the toxicity of my pack. Some packs were cool with same-gender mating, and some weren’t. Mine was one of the latter.

  It was weird, I thought, how packs all functioned so differently. Sometimes people of the same gender were meant to be together. It seemed like everyone knew that. In most packs, these relationships were celebrated as fated mates. But in my pack, marriages were strictly heterosexual.

  I wouldn’t have had much of a future if I’d stayed there. I’d have been forced to wed some miserable guy and we’d have been signed up for a sexless marriage. Or, I’d have remained a loner, still a part of the community, but whispered about behind closed doors.

  Would my home pack ever join everyone else in the 21st century? It was hard to say. All I knew was that I had made it out and I had no intention of ever going back. And if my parents continued to give me the silent treatment, pretending I didn’t exist, that was fine by me. It hurt, but it was for the best.

  Maybe, one day, I’d even have my own family. It was hard to imagine, largely because I was still getting over the pain of being estranged from my parents—I was still stunned that I had shitty parents who had abandoned me. But I hadn’t totally lost hope. It was possible that I’d get there eventually, if I met the right girl. I was excited to have kids, when the time was right. I knew I’d be the parent that my parents never were.

  That part, at least, was going to have to happen soon—at least that’s what my body was telling me. All shifters entered a mating peak in their early twenties (though I’d heard that it happened earlier or later in other packs). It was basically a compulsion to find a mate and breed, sort of like the “biological clock” I’d heard human friends discussing. I was ignoring mine, though. I wasn’t ready to become so intimate with someone.

  It was a powerful urge, hard to ignore. When I made out with girls, I was flooded with the urge to date them. It made it hard to hook up. The effect wasn’t as strong with humans, which is why I sometimes preferred to get with them.

  When the time was right, I’d go with the flow and follow the urge of my mating peak. But for now, I was enjoying my newfound independence. I had just gotten out from under my mother’s thumb and I was flying free.

/>   I finished the last bite of my sandwich and got up to find someone to interview. I also wanted to check out the tables; it looked like some of them were giving out free things, like water bottles and t-shirts stamped with their logos. Maybe I could bring some stuff back for the others at the office.

  One table in particular caught my interest. It was for a local software company. I had no idea what the software company was and to be honest, I didn’t particularly care. What I did care about was the incredibly gorgeous alpha staffing the table. From her smell—which was oh so intoxicating, feminine and musky—I could tell that she too was in her mating peak. Getting too close to her would put me on a trajectory I couldn’t control, but I was so compelled that I walked right up to her.

  “Hi there,” I said, gazing into her dark blue eyes. They glittered in the sunlight, showing their depths. Her eyelashes were tipped with gold, the color of her thick, soft-looking hair. She was gorgeous.

  “Hello,” she said. “You enjoying the day?”

  “Yeah,” I replied. “I’m with the City Paper and I’m covering the parade.”

  “Nice! You got any good quotes?”

  “Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to you?” I was glad she had given me the opening.

  She grinned, showing a gleaming smile. “Of course.”

  “Okay, first off, what’s your name?”

  “Cecelia Martell,” she said, slipping a business card towards me. “I’m the founder and CEO of Solace Personal Finance Solutions.”

  “Great,” I said, hastily scribbling it down in my notebook. “I’m Tess, by the way. Tess Posten. And what does your company do?”

  “We make personal finance apps to help people be better with money. The Solace app helps people budget and set financial goals. I want to help people be more financially literate.”

  That was pretty neat, I thought. It was cool that she had a business formed around actually helping people—I had pegged her as a stodgy businessperson at first. It still sounded a little dull to me, but she seemed to be into it. You had to be, I supposed, if you wanted to run your own business.

  “That sounds useful. What makes your app unique?”

  “Excellent question. It turns personal finance into a game. You know, ‘gamification.’ You get points for staying within your budget and stuff like that. And there are mini games you can play that teach you about finance concepts.”

  Oh, I thought as I wrote in my notebook. That was much less dull. This was sounding less like a boring tech company and more like a cool startup. You’d never find a company like that back in my town, but here in the city, anything was possible.

  “That’s awesome. So, why did you decide to table today?” I asked.

  “Well, I’m a lesbian. And I wanted to support the pride parade. Of course, you can’t tell from looking at me, but I wanted to be here to represent other gay and lesbian business owners.”

  The more she talked, the more impressed I became. This Cecelia seemed to be a pretty stand up person. I wondered if she could tell I was an omega. She had to know, surely. If I could smell her, she could smell me. Maybe she was too professional to do or say anything about it.

  “Did you sponsor a float?”

  “We did,” she said, nodding. “We went in on the one the bank sponsored. I suggested that they include the dancers.”

  I laughed. “I was wondering why a stuffy institution like a bank would have those. It was a good touch.”

  “I’m glad you think so.”

  “You didn’t want to go up and dance yourself?” I asked.

  “It’s not for me,” she said. But she gave me a piercing look and I knew that my flirtiness hadn’t gone unappreciated.

  “Well, I think I have enough for the story,” I said. “I ought to get quotes from other people as well. But it was great talking to you.”

  “It was my pleasure, Tess,” she said. We shook hands. “Maybe I’ll see you around again.”

  A shiver went down my spine when she said that. I was glad that she’d given me her business card because I knew that I had to find her again. She had piqued my interest and I wasn’t about to let go. I reminded myself, again, that if I saw her a second time, I’d be put on a course I wasn’t yet ready for.

  But then again, maybe I was. Maybe finding the right person had unlocked something in me. I couldn’t pay much attention to these feelings now, with the job I had to do, but I filed them away for later. It was like meeting and seeing Cecelia had turned my worldview upside down.

  I spoke to several other people at their tables, and even considered going back to check up on Cecelia again, but she had left and someone else was in her place. Bummer, I thought. I was so into her that the idea of going out tonight to find someone to make out with wasn’t even that exciting.

  Was this how it was going to be? I wondered, as I hopped on the bus home. Now that my wolf had tracked an alpha’s scent, it was doggedly hanging on. It felt like the crushes that had consumed me in high school—but this time I knew it was the real thing. My wolf desperately wanted to find Cecelia again and see if there could be something between us.

  It wasn’t what the logical part of my brain wanted. I liked being a bit of loner, finding physical intimacy when I needed it and focusing on myself otherwise. But it was looking more and more like my brain was going to take a backseat to what my body and my heart wanted.

  There was just one problem: shifter etiquette. I couldn’t go and ask her out. It seemed dumb, but it wasn’t the done thing. Alphas didn’t like it when omegas asked them out; in fact, some of them found it a turn off. Alphas were supposed to be dominant, the ones who pursued the omegas.

  It was sort of like how in decades past, in heterosexual relationships, men pursued the women and the reverse was unthinkable. The only difference was that this had more of an innate basis. It was how we functioned naturally; it was what aroused us and piqued our interest.

  I could reach out as friends, but it was up to her to make a move, and a young omega asking a young alpha to be friends didn’t make sense. She seemed friendly enough. And she had told me that she hoped she’d see me around. But I didn’t want to flash back to high school and pretend that was anything meaningful. She was probably being polite.

  I was in a bit of a pickle. But I couldn’t think about that now. I had to get this piece to my boss as soon as possible so it could get into next week’s edition of the paper. It wasn’t going to be a long article, but I had to pick every word carefully. I wanted to get even better assignments in the future. I cracked my knuckles and opened my laptop. If I started now, I could hammer out a draft before meeting up with my friends.

  * * *

  On Monday morning, my editor called me in to talk to me. Shawna was a pretty reasonable woman and I liked working for her. She seemed to like me well enough, so if I played my cards right, she could be a great ally in my career. She had been with the paper so long that I bet she had great connections.

  “Tess, your article is fantastic,” she said, grinning at me. Her dark brown eyes sparkled behind her purple plastic glasses. It was one of the things I liked about her—she was always so cheerful and positive. I always felt better leaving her office.

  “Really?” I asked. I couldn’t contain my excitement and ended up grinning back at her.

  “Yep. I finished reading it and I’m really pleased with your work. I knew you’d do well.”

  “Wow, thanks,” I said. I was pretty proud of the finished product but I didn’t think Shawna was going to be so effusive about it. It was great to start off a Monday morning feeling like this.

  “In fact, that one tech lady you spoke to, Cecelia, seemed particularly interesting. I’d like to get an interview with her. Her app sounds neat; I haven’t heard of anything like it before. Did you get her contact information down somewhere?”

  “I did!” I said. “I got her card.” I was holding my breath, wondering if I was going to get another excuse to talk to Cecelia. It would be to
o good to be true. And an interview would be another major article. I knew that the pride parade assignment would lead to bigger and better things.

  “Awesome,” she said. “If you could give it to Leo that’d be great.” I must have looked crestfallen because she continued. “I know, I know. I promise I’ll assign you even better articles later on. It’s just that Leo has a lot of experience interviewing people, and he focuses on the tech stuff, anyway…”

  I didn’t want to push Shawna too much but I owed it to myself to try to get the article. “Are you sure?” I asked. “I mean, I did already talk to her. She knows me.”

  She gave me a funny look. “Well, I wouldn’t say that. You did only get a few quotes from her. Don’t worry, I’ll assign you something good this week. What about the new exhibition at the art museum? They’re bringing in some of the artists for the opening, so you could meet them.”

  “That’d be wonderful, thanks,” I said gamely. I didn’t want Shawna to think I was being whiny over this one article. I had done my best. And the art museum assignment really was a good one.

  “Excellent. Remember to give the card to Leo. And seriously Tess, you did an awesome job with the pride parade piece. You’re going to do well.” She smiled warmly.

  I returned her smile and went back to my desk. Shawna was so kind. And it wasn’t like she could know about the dynamics between an alpha and an omega. If we were meant to be together, we’d find each other again.

  I copied down Cecelia’s information before going to give Leo the card. Truth be told, I didn’t like Leo very much and I suspected that he didn’t like me either. He was a senior writer and this made him somewhat egotistical. He was always snarky when I asked newbie questions and he always acted cold towards me. It was hard to ignore in an office as small as ours, but at least everyone else was great to work with.