The Designated Mate novel Chapter 11

"Opposites attract I guess." She mused. "I always tell him I get antsy when he's not giving me attention and that's when I do stupid shit that gets me in trouble." She joked. I laughed before clearing my throat, debating with myself the best way to ask the question I was pondering over.

"Alright. Out with it." She demanded.

"Well, I just...I just want to know what the process of choosing your mate is like. I just turned eighteen a few months ago, but my mom never told me what it's like or what to expect." I said, a light blush coating my cheeks.

"Ooooooh, virgin girl." She said with a faux evil laugh.

"Shut up." I whined while splashing her. She protected herself with her hands from my attack before regaining seriousness.

"Alright, I'll tell you the low down but we gotta get out of here first. I'm starting to prune." She explained before hoisting herself out of the water and wrapping her body with a towel. I scolded myself for forgetting to grab one for myself, but thankfully Grace let me borrow hers to dry off.

Walking out of the room, I felt myself clam up as a group of men, probably in their mid-twenties if I had to guess, came walking towards us in nothing but swim trunks.

"Grace, who's your friend?" The shortest of the group ask while practically eye-screwing me. I wrapped my arms around my body, growing self-conscious of how exposed I was in my bathing suite. I never used to go swimming, so I'd grown out of it through the years and was spilling out in more places than one.

"She's off limits, Dearland." Grace growled out protectively before shoving him to the side and pulling us through the crowd. I felt someone try and make a grab for my ass, causing me to squeak and whip around.

"Who the fuck did that!" Grace snarled getting up in the faces of men twice her size. I hid behind her as she continued to grill each man individually.

I unlocked my car and apologized for how messy it was as we both got in. She gave me directions the entire way, though it was a pretty simple drive. As we drove, I got to see a lot of the pack and was amazed at how it was almost like a little village set within the woods. They had a beauty salon, nail parlor, hardware store, grocery, church, and a few more places spread throughout the land. After about ten minutes, we pulled up to what I knew was my new home.

The Luna wasn't kidding when she said this place needed some serious TLC. There was hardly any curb appeal to the place, but I could already envision some of the changes I wanted to make to the outside with some flowers and pavestones.

"Well if the inside is as rough as the outside, you're in for a big project." Grace husked out before nudging my shoulder.

"Well, the roof and a lot of the front porch needs to be replaced." I noted out loud. Approaching the front door, I moved the dead potted plant that was placed to the right and revealed the key. Unlocking the door I had to use my shoulder to shove it open as it was stuck. I fell through but caught myself before I hit the floor and began coughing as dust flew everywhere.

"Alright. First things first, we're going to the store and buying a whole cabinet of cleaning supplies, then I'll finally start telling you how you go about finding the man you spend the rest of your life with." She said with a mix between a cough and a laugh.