Read ROMANCE: BBW PARANORMAL ROMANCE: Bear Prince’s Witch Bride (Bear Shifter Royalty Military Arranged Marriage Romance) (Paranormal Alpha Male Fantasy Romance) for Free Online Page B
Authors: Liza Lightwood
intentions, they can stay, even if those intents change.
As a student, I am safe.
At the age of nineteen, we gain a marking on our backs. It’s when the gifted become fully grown and legally able to be killed. To us, the marks are simply overdue birthmarks. They are different for everyone. They map out the destiny of their inhabitants, yet can be seen by anyone other than the wearer. After all, it is forbidden to know your calling unless deemed necessary by a prophet. Others are able to see pieces of the marking, but no one person can decipher the entire thing.
I turn nineteen years old in six minutes.
“What do you think your marking will say?” Coral asks from the bunk above mine. Her long red waves run down the side of our bed, and her excited voice energizes me. I am jittering from the anticipation of receiving my mark. What will the marking feel like? Will I feel an entirely new sense of importance once I am officially marked? I keep my eyes glued to the clock on the other side of the room.
“I don’t know. Do you think it will hurt?” I ask nervously. I was born at 4:36 PM on July 2, 2197, and I have been waiting for this moment my entire life.
“It shouldn’t. I call being the first to see,” she squeaks. I don’t allow my eyes to veer in Coral’s direction, but her hair disappears from my peripheral vision and I hear her walking around the room. Most people don’t have their best friend to comfort them while they receive their marks.
“What if I don’t have a great destiny?” I ask, biting my bottom lip. I pull my bleach blond hair over my shoulder and allow it to fall down my right side.
“Snow,” Coral starts, “your destiny is bound to be important. You are the only Elite mermaid in the academy.” I sigh and look away from the clock. Coral’s hair is the first thing that catches my attention, which is not unusual in any way. The mermaid warfare professor calls her Ariel, which is the name of an old movie character from the early 2000s. None of the students in the academy have lived nearly long enough to watch the film. All of the movies that gave monsters a positive connotation were destroyed. The average lifespan of a mermaid is about 300 years, so some of the professors were around to see the movies before their downfall.
“Being Elite means nothing,” I argue. It is simply the status a person gains if they are the leading individual in their species. They must have good scores in academics, battlefield strategy, ability control, and defense tactics. I just happen to have the best scores in each of the categories. Coral and I are both exceptional at controlling our abilities, so we room together.
“It means everything. You have more opportunities than any of us. We are all forced into the human world after graduation, but you can stay here forever because you’re an Elite,” Coral says. I nod and look back at the clock. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. “It’s time,” she says.
I feel a slight burning sensation ease up my back slowly, starting just above my coccyx and widening as it slides up my back. The sensation is unlike anything I’ve ever felt and it fills me with purpose. It continues for less than a minute before stopping at my shoulder blades. My entire back is covered and I run to our full-length body mirror. I turn and pull my shirt over my shoulders before looking into the mirror.
I see only tanned skin. “Is it there?” I ask.
She clears her throat, and I monitor her every expression through the mirror. Her eyes widen and she rushes forward. “It’s there,” she murmurs. I grin from ear to ear and attempt to decipher her shocked expression. She can only see a small portion of my prophecy, but what she’s seeing is causing her face to spasm with multiple different emotions.
“What is it? What do you see?” I ask.
She smiles and shakes her head. “Being Elite definitely means something,” she says with a smile. We both know that it is against the rules
As a student, I am safe.
At the age of nineteen, we gain a marking on our backs. It’s when the gifted become fully grown and legally able to be killed. To us, the marks are simply overdue birthmarks. They are different for everyone. They map out the destiny of their inhabitants, yet can be seen by anyone other than the wearer. After all, it is forbidden to know your calling unless deemed necessary by a prophet. Others are able to see pieces of the marking, but no one person can decipher the entire thing.
I turn nineteen years old in six minutes.
“What do you think your marking will say?” Coral asks from the bunk above mine. Her long red waves run down the side of our bed, and her excited voice energizes me. I am jittering from the anticipation of receiving my mark. What will the marking feel like? Will I feel an entirely new sense of importance once I am officially marked? I keep my eyes glued to the clock on the other side of the room.
“I don’t know. Do you think it will hurt?” I ask nervously. I was born at 4:36 PM on July 2, 2197, and I have been waiting for this moment my entire life.
“It shouldn’t. I call being the first to see,” she squeaks. I don’t allow my eyes to veer in Coral’s direction, but her hair disappears from my peripheral vision and I hear her walking around the room. Most people don’t have their best friend to comfort them while they receive their marks.
“What if I don’t have a great destiny?” I ask, biting my bottom lip. I pull my bleach blond hair over my shoulder and allow it to fall down my right side.
“Snow,” Coral starts, “your destiny is bound to be important. You are the only Elite mermaid in the academy.” I sigh and look away from the clock. Coral’s hair is the first thing that catches my attention, which is not unusual in any way. The mermaid warfare professor calls her Ariel, which is the name of an old movie character from the early 2000s. None of the students in the academy have lived nearly long enough to watch the film. All of the movies that gave monsters a positive connotation were destroyed. The average lifespan of a mermaid is about 300 years, so some of the professors were around to see the movies before their downfall.
“Being Elite means nothing,” I argue. It is simply the status a person gains if they are the leading individual in their species. They must have good scores in academics, battlefield strategy, ability control, and defense tactics. I just happen to have the best scores in each of the categories. Coral and I are both exceptional at controlling our abilities, so we room together.
“It means everything. You have more opportunities than any of us. We are all forced into the human world after graduation, but you can stay here forever because you’re an Elite,” Coral says. I nod and look back at the clock. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. “It’s time,” she says.
I feel a slight burning sensation ease up my back slowly, starting just above my coccyx and widening as it slides up my back. The sensation is unlike anything I’ve ever felt and it fills me with purpose. It continues for less than a minute before stopping at my shoulder blades. My entire back is covered and I run to our full-length body mirror. I turn and pull my shirt over my shoulders before looking into the mirror.
I see only tanned skin. “Is it there?” I ask.
She clears her throat, and I monitor her every expression through the mirror. Her eyes widen and she rushes forward. “It’s there,” she murmurs. I grin from ear to ear and attempt to decipher her shocked expression. She can only see a small portion of my prophecy, but what she’s seeing is causing her face to spasm with multiple different emotions.
“What is it? What do you see?” I ask.
She smiles and shakes her head. “Being Elite definitely means something,” she says with a smile. We both know that it is against the rules
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