Page 1 of The Bear’s Darling

Chapter One

I stood frozen in the middle of the courtyard. Had I truly heard correctly? Around me students cheered as they would now room with their mates. I, however, had yet to meet my mate. That was about to change, though, seeing as he was now my roommate as well.

My cousins, sister, and brother beamed with their mates, happy to be living together after all this time where they’d been forced to sleep apart. I knew my mate was timid. Ulysis had told me as much when I was summoned to his room, watching his goldfish swim around until it turned blue with brown specs. He’d also mentioned that our path wouldn’t be easy, whatever that meant. We had no idea how he knew these things, but he’d been chosen to come here by The Magic, so I believed him.

I only had hours until I would meet my mate, and I needed to get myself in order. I’d won a lot of prizes from the treasure hunt Willa had us do, and one of those prizes had been for a haircut. Ignoring the fact that I was still in the middle of a celebratory crowd, I pulled out the sheet with my prizes and held the star icon next to the one I wanted to activate. Seconds later, I was summoned to a room where a handsome man welcomed me in and then asked me what I wanted.

My white hair had always been on the longer side, but I felt a change was needed. “Surprise me,” I said, feeling bold, yet terrified as the man cut through my layers. I found my green eyes staring back at me through the mirror, wide and hopeful for whatever would happen tonight.

“You want to look pretty for your mate?” he asked, knowingly. I could only nod as I watched him remove more hair than I felt comfortable with. I was so used to hiding behind it whenever I felt the need to escape for a while. That safety fell away as locks tumbled to the floor. “Don’t worry,” he chuckled, clearly noticing my squirming. “I want your mate to see your lovely face. And those gorgeous green eyes of yours need to be seen.”

Swallowing down my unease, I gave one final nod, trusting this strange man to know what I needed most.

“Nazuss!” Myve gasped as I entered the dining hall for lunch. I just rolled my eyes at my sister, intent on getting some food before my whole family started asking questions.

As predicted, as soon as my butt sat down at what was now our table, they eyed me up and down and then the questions came.

“I completely forgot your eyes are green,” said Nym.

“Do you think your mate will like it?” asked Jamie.

“How many haircuts did you win?” asked Ryn.

“Do you know who your mate is yet?” asked Myve.

I simply sighed, staring down at my half-filled plate of something. Ever since the news this morning, I’d felt like I wanted to throw up. My nerves were frazzled and even though I knew my family meant nothing by it, I still felt their pity. They’d all met and mated with their fated mates, and here I sat, one year into the two years at Hillslane Academy, and no mate by my side.

“I wanted to look nice,” I admitted in a whisper. We were all royalty, but I’d always preferred to look however I pleased. I wasn’t like many of the others, who’d loved getting dressed up for the parties and other gatherings. I hated getting all prettied up. Maybe that was why my mate had yet to show himself.

Myve’s expression softened. “You do look nice, brother. But you looked nice even before the haircut.”

“I do like that we can see your eyes better now,” Nym’s mate Harpy said, offering me a smile.

“I have to agree with Harpy,” Casey said, bumping into his mate.

Jamie cleared his throat. “Yeah. You look good, cousin.”

I snorted. Only my family could brighten my mood like this. “I hope my mate will like it,” I said, scooping up some of the rice from my plate.

“They will,” Casey announced firmly. “Or do you have a preference? Like, do you already know their gender?”

I nodded. “He’s a man.” They all just nodded as well, eating their own food.

The other students were chatting happily around us, the mood high now that we would all room with our fated mates. I was happy as well, just not as much as the others. The first time I would meet my mate was something I’d dreamed of since I was a child. Finding my forever person. Us sharing a room and meeting like that wasn’t as romantic as seeing him in class and knowing without a doubt he was mine.

Jamie hadn’t known Casey was his, though, so maybe it wouldn’t have been romantic anyway and I was just doomed to overthink shit like that. But honestly, who could blame me for it? This was the man I would be with forever. He was literally my entire future. Was it too much to ask for a grand moment between us?

Another insecure thought crept in, one I’d tried to quiet for months now.

“Hey, he’ll likely be just as nervous as you are right now,” Jamie said, his voice low. It wasn’t until I met his gaze that I realized we were the only ones left at the table.

“But what if he already knows I’m his mate? What if he stayed away from me on purpose?” The thought of him staying far away from me on purpose had kept me up at night, and soon I would know for certain.

Jamie’s eyes softened as he sat there, patiently waiting for me. “Speaking as someone who knows what finding his mate is like… he wouldn’t be able to resist you. And why would he? You have no idea who he is, so why should he know you’re his?” He made a good point there… “Besides, you’ll walk into your new room after dinner and then you can ask him.”

My spoon was carefully placed on the table as nausea took hold. I doubted I’d ever felt this nervous before. I was the calm one, the loner. I didn’t mind it, but now I feared I would be judged by it. By my fated mate.

“I just hope he won’t be disappointed.”