You’re Not Normal

"Cameron Marion Berkley, your father and I would like to speak to you."

Welp, that makes one of us. Or two, but whatever.

I sit on the couch opposite my parents the next morning. My mother: a mask of displeasure. My father's expression: flat and carefully neutral.

"Well?" I ask testily.

"Why did you reject Davy?" she accuses.

"I didn't reject him!" I spit back, immediately angry. "He isn't my mate!" Seriously, what did David tell them?

"He may not be your soulmate, but that doesn't mean he can't be your mate."

"What? You can't be serious." They couldn't possibly mean that.

"Davy offered to choose you as his mate. It is a very high honor and you should accept."

Apparently they meant exactly that.

A chosen mate.

While marking someone who is not your soulmate is not expressly forbidden—like directly rejecting your soulmate is—it is still just as unthinkable as it breaks the potential bond between soulmates. Some werewolf fairy tales portray chosen mate relationships positively, but I honestly think it only happens in real life when a submissive wolf is raped.

The thought sends me into a sudden panic. "But—I don't want a chosen mate. I want a soulmate," I try to counter. Surely if they realize it's not something I really want, they will let it go. Right? They wouldn't force me into a loveless mating. Right?

"We understand this may be difficult for you to accept, but this way you'll get to be with Davy and be the Luna, just like you've been preparing for."

"But, I don't want him! I broke up with him!"

"You broke his heart. Don't think we don't know what you said to him."

I wince remembering telling David I never loved him. Did he really tell my parents about that?

"We are very disappointed in you." Her pitch rises as she forcefully enunciates each word.

"Why is this about you?" I shove down the guilt with anger. "This should be about what I want and I'm allowed to break up with someone who is not my mate, just like any normal person!"

"But that's just it, Cammy! You're not normal!"

I flinch at her words. "Why?! Because I'm a male omega?! Because I'm a freak?!"

"No!" Damn, I hate when Mom shrieks. "Because, the Alpha and I have been grooming you to become the Luna for sixteen years!"

Ew. My skin crawls when she says, "grooming". "Do you even know what that word means, Mother?"

"What?!" she squawks, her brows furrowing and lips squaring out in disgust.

"Yeah, the humans use the term 'grooming' to refer to sexual predators. You realize that's how you sound right now, right?"

"Where is this disrespect coming from? Did the witches teach you that?"

Dad puts a hand on her leg, "Hon,"

"No, I will not stand him speaking to me that way! It is my job to teach him and prepare him for life! I'm supposed to want what is best for my child! And what is best is that he mates with Davy and becomes the Luna."

"I won't. I refuse."

"You will accept his offer."

I am shocked. I knew my mother had strong feelings about me mating with David, but to think she would try to force me into a "chosen mating"? Into breaking the bond with my soulmate?

Then it hits me.

"You've been planning this all along," I whisper, wide eyed. "That's why you were always so confident. That's why you never worried that we wouldn't be soulmates. It never mattered what I wanted or what the Moon Goddess decreed. The Moon Path. Everything. It was a lie all along."

"This is the Moon Path, because it is what is best for the pack."

"You mean what is best for you."

"You will mate with Davy and that is final."

"You can't force me and David promised he wouldn't either." I hope he keeps his word.

"No, I can't force you. But if you want to avoid your responsibilities and act like a child, then that is exactly how you will be treated. You are grounded, young omega. Indefinitely. Forever."

"Dad?" I plead.

"You're mother and I just want what is best for you."

"I can't believe this," I mutter, my eyes feel like saucers. "What happened to 'I'm proud of you son' and 'The best day of my life was the day you were born'? I guess it makes sense now! You were so happy when I was an insipid, mindless baby, because it never mattered what I grew up to be or what I wanted! All the times you told me "love is about compromise" and "even soulmates have to make sacrifices", you were just grooming me to be a puppet!"

"Cam—" Dad looks like a kicked puppy.

Good. Let him feel guilty. He fucked up big time.

"No. I don't want to hear it. I'm going to school."

"You are not going anywhere, young omega," my mom vainly threatens.

"When are you going to get it? You can't stop me! I'm going to do what I want from now on!" And with that I storm out of the door. I'll walk to school if I have to.