"Careful!" Icen flinched, snatching her bare arm away from the advancing teenager as she sat on the edge of her bed.

"Put your bloody gloves on if you're that worried." Gila grumbled, and all too soon her face and shoulders were coated in a thick layer of makeup, concealing her ridiculously pale white skin. It was unnatural. Something the so-called suitors wouldn't like about her. Personally, Icen wasn't bothered by that little fact, but the Matron of the little orphanage wanted her to be chosen. Everyone in her town did, all bar one person wanted her out of their hair. They wanted her gone, and there was no better legal way to make that happen than to ship her off with one of the Alphas visiting their small wintery town. Less paperwork, than staging a little accident for her. Not that they hadn't tried. "Put your dress on. We're supposed to be outside in ten minutes..."

Icen's shoulders sunk. "Yeah. I know."

It was that day already.

The day where all unmated she-wolves were presented at the Choosing Ceremony, shown off like pieces of meat for the taking. Thankfully, her town was one of the last ones on the list of places every Alpha had to visit, which meant the whole line-up would take less time compared to the first city they all visited.

Still, being forced to stand out on a wintery day for several hours wasn't exactly appealing to most. Icen, however, wasn't really bothered by the cold. In fact, she'd never really felt it before. It was part of her curse – the same curse that left her with a skin temperature of sub-zero. No one could touch her without some form of protection, and even then, to Icen, they felt unnaturally warm.

Everyone in the town knew, which was probably why the Matron had selected an outfit with practically no skin showing. Icen wasn't complaining. She didn't like displaying that much of herself, especially not to the volt of vultures about to descend on them. She'd been to the Choosing Ceremony twice before – once a year ever since she'd turned sixteen – but thankfully she hadn't been chosen.

She only had to last eight more years, and then she'd be free from the mandatory attendance every year. Then she could travel the world and track down the parents who'd abandoned her in the forest right by the orphanage she'd been living in for the past eighteen years, because by then she'd be considered old enough to travel. She was still a child by werewolf standards, yet her body had matured enough for her to be considered a bride. It was stupid in her opinion. She should be able to leave her hometown. She should be able to travel around on her own. Sadly, the people who made all the big decisions didn't seem to agree with her on that, though.

Exhaling loudly, she stepped out onto the icy main street, her short blue dress fluttering slightly in the breeze. "I can do this." She mumbled, glancing down at the long white stockings she wore, smiling slightly. She didn't look classy or elegant, like most girls did, instead, she'd ended up looking like a little girl playing dress up.

It was a fact of life she'd come to understand very well. She was just a bit under average height for a werewolf. Though, it had played to her advantage over the last few years... and all she had to do was survive through another Choosing, and she'd be one step closer to her dreams.

"Icen." Two fingers prodded at either side of her waist as she walked towards her destination - beyond the silky blue banner tied between two lampposts, proudly proclaiming the start of the long line of she-wolves lined up for the taking. "Oy!" A familiar face peered down at her curiously, brown eyes peering into her electric blue ones. "You OK?"

"Rae..."

"Duh." The tall brunette smirked, pulling her forward by her gloved hand. "Come on! Let's grab two spaces next to each other and get this whole ordeal over and done with..."

Icen's shoulders sunk. "Tch."

All too soon they were waiting in the long line, having confirmed their attendance with the official wrapped up in a nice warm coat. They'd picked the spots at the very end of the line, hoping to minimize the chances of being chosen. The only ones who made it to the end of the line would be the Alphas or other high-ranking members of the Inner Citadel who hadn't chosen any one of the other hundred girls waiting in line.

As far as strategies went, it was a fairly decent one.

Icen was small enough as it was, so she hoped there was a chance they would simply pass her over. Who would want a silver-haired short she-wolf at the end of the day?

"It's starting..." Rae's voice stirred her out of her thoughts, making her blink rapidly as she realised she'd already been standing there for a while with a rather vacant expression on her face. "Better get your game face on, Icy." She said, placing a set of headphones over her ears, cranking the volume on her phone up, shutting the rest of the world out.

Switching on her game face was actually rather easy for her. It was, after all, the face she normally wore around everyone apart from Rae.

Rae was already in her game mode, happily ignoring the first of the many men walking towards the end of the line, having evidently found no she-wolf to their liking.

"Too plain..." The first man muttered, acknowledging Rae as she stared off into space. A small bronze armband identified him as an Alpha – a werewolf who ruled a small piece of territory given to him by the Alpha Lords – and then he was standing in front of Icen. "And what do we have here?" He peered down at her. "A little silver-haired girl... How rare..."

"Tch."

He tilted his head, shivering slightly when Icen's hair shifted out of her face, revealing two electric blue eyes which glared up at him with as much venom as she could muster. "Did you say something, girl?"

Icen gritted her teeth. "You're in the way."

"Excuse me?"

"You're ruining the view of the forest, filthy mongrel."

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