It’s Friday, the day of the first mixer here at Ravenwood, the Fall Ball.

Believe it or not, Skylar’s popularity skyrocketed after the episode in which his prospective partner slapped him in the face in public only to apologize later when Headmaster Lockwood cleared his reputation in a school assembly. He dumped her right after she apologized to him, claiming he wanted a partner who believed in him.

I don’t know what it was in that speech of his, but women either love a fixer-upper or they love it when a man proves to NOT be a cheating bastard. These are my guesses so far, but Skylar’s dance card is almost full for the upcoming ball - leaving out only the male Omegas who are not on his radar.

All Alphas and Betas are required to dance with every Omega and Gamma from the academy, leaving a signature on a card attached to their wrists proving that they did. The idea was taken from the Victorian Era England.

The girls who were not yet prospected flocked to the handsome Alpha to sign up to be his dance partner. His former prospect though, the female Gamma is not doing so well but the student counselor has reached out to talk to her.

Rejection can be daunting to deal with, but to be fair she rejected him first. Facts are facts. Not that I am taking any side in this quarrel.

I am looking forward to having the opportunity to dance with Jayden. If it were up to me, he would be the only boy I'd dance with tonight. Alas, rules must be obeyed.

Seth and I filed up in line for breakfast as students had no other topic of conversation except for the Victorian Era Ball.

They are excited about dressing up and having a good time, even though alcohol is not permitted on the premise, there is always a workaround for the restrictions.

It promises to be one hell of a party.

Jayden sees me in the line and blows me a kiss from a distance - he is on another line to grab food. I swoon at his romantic endeavor. Meanwhile, a tall, brunette, tanned boy with impossibly beautiful green eyes stands in front of me with a peculiar expression on his face.

“Hi. I am Roberto. I look forward to dancing with you tonight.” He winked at me flirtatiously. His accent was thick, but his English was not actually bad for a non-native speaker.

“Hi, Roberto. I’m Jacob. It's nice to meet you.” I greeted him, a tad awkwardly. Here I thought I was invisible to everybody here except for Jayden.

“It's nice to make your acquaintance. I would have introduced myself earlier but that other guy is always with you. At least tonight we can share a moment together.” He spoke, boldly. Meanwhile, Jayden was not a fan of this conversation, much less of the way Roberto was looking at me right now.

I was blushing from his flirtatious gaze my way, but mostly embarrassed for Jayden to be witnessing this exchange.

“I am sure you'll have a great time. But I should warn you, I am involved with someone else.” I warned him, though that much should be obvious by now.

“Oh, I know! I just figured I should throw my hat in the race just in case you two don't work out.” He told me with a timid smile while his eyes were hungry for me.

“Woof. It looks like you have competition for your Omega, roomie.” Skylar teased Jayden in front of him on the line.

“There IS no competition!” He growled at him, sideways glaring at Roberto. Skylar was amused by this unusual situation. Meanwhile Seth, by my side, was giving me a look that said “What the fuck?!”

As if marking his territory, Jayden made sure to stop by my table after breakfast to hold me close and kiss my cheek, purposefully spreading his scent on me like a canine that pees to mark its territory.

I realized that right away, but I don't mind being close to him. Anyway, it's a win for me.

By the third period of the day, we were being taught a valuable lesson for the future.

We are inside the classroom. There is a laptop hooked to a projector that the teacher was using to show us a document on a huge screen assembled for today’s class.

“This is the reason why you are all here in Ravenwood. It is a standard marital contract. I brought this here for you today because you are about to embark on your first ever mixer. It's very much like speed dating for humans. You have one dance to make it count, I suggest you put that time to good use.” She was demonstrating for us the first two pages of the contract on the screen.

“When I say that this is a standard contract, I mean in the sense that each prospecting couple is allowed to tailor it according to their desires, especially the expectations of the Alpha.” She lectured, now showing us the next two pages.

“For example, the standard contract includes at least one progeny, but some people may add more children to the contract. I hear that Alpha Stronghold will add a stipulation that with each new heir, the spouse will receive a million dollars bonus.” She gossiped, turning the attention to the twins. To be clear, she was talking about Skylar’s contract. Not Seth’s.

“But not only that, you can pre-negotiate everything that you feel is important to you. From where you'll live to who gets to name the babies.” She continued, showing the next two pages.

“Whoever is claimed by Jayden will have to agree that their children will be named Lockwood. It's a family tradition and how every Alpha from the White Claw pack is known.” She informed us, glancing at the Alpha heir [Jayden], who got flustered by being called out like that.

Seth poked at my arm with a smirk after she said that.

“Excuse me, ma'am. Can I negotiate the last name of the second born?” I raised my arm timidly. Jayden widened his eyes at me from his seat at the front.

“Yes, of course you can. But you have to be approved first and the Headmaster has a very specific type for his grandson's partner.” She cautioned, pityingly staring at me.

I scowled at her statement, not that this was a surprise to me in any way.

“Yeah… Rich!” Skylar chimed in a mocking tone. Seth and Jayden both glared at his unwelcome intrusion. Another set of pages are shown on the screen.

“As I was saying, this is the blueprint for all successful partnerships. Every werewolf couple you see together nowadays is bound by a contract. Without the mate bond, it is our only assurance.” She warned us, raising her voice.

“When she was claimed, my sister was hopelessly in love with her former partner. She said at the time that she didn't need a contract. ‘Love will keep us together’ she once declared romantically.” The professor frowned her eyebrow as she was saying this.

“Sure. Now she is a single mother of three children while her former partner is married and has a whole new family of his own. He left her with nothing and since they weren't legally married, she didn't even have alimony. Our brother had to step in - he is a lawyer - and sued his ass for child support because if it was up to him, he wouldn’t even see his children.” She got really irritated as she was telling us this personal story.

“My point is: don't trust anybody at their word. But a legally binding contract… in that you can always trust!” She cautioned us in a harrowing voice.

We were all gobsmacked to hear her story. Judging by my mother's past with the man she thought he'd claim her, it's all too relatable. And scary that it could happen to me.

Except how am I to sue anyone in human’s court for child support? Humans don't even know of my existence! I can't claim I bore a child or I would be assassinated by agents who specialize in ‘silencing’ werewolves to keep our nature a secret. No, I am not making this up. If you breathe a word about our hidden existence to humans, you are in mortal danger. Yeah… no, thanks.

“Finally, we have reached the penalty clauses of the contract.” She announced as it was shown the last pages on the screen.

“Fail to produce an heir? The marital contract is null and void. If you get pregnant by someone who is not your partner, they will bankrupt you with the penalties!” She exclaimed, purposefully being louder as she spoke the last words.

I gasped in shock at hearing this.

“Make no mistake, students. The contract serves to protect both parties, but you shouldn't sign it if you are not willing to commit. For most of you, being a partner means an investment. You will be presented to the pack as their Luna. You are expected to behave a certain way and that will be legally required of you.” She cautioned us, causing chills to run down my spine.

Wow. I can understand her point clearly. It is a daunting task to be Luna, I am sure. But it comes with the territory, I guess.

At the end of the informative class, Jayden approached me with his reassuring smile which I am completely smitten with.

“Don't worry about what she said, it's not my grandfather who gets to sign off on my contract. I already have an Alpha to answer to.” He said with a soothing tone.

“I know, Jay. But something tells me the headmaster is not going down without a fight.” I declared, sounding defeated.

“I am sure he won't, but I can fight too. I am not giving up on us.” He stated and I swooned at his romantic declaration.

“You are the best, did you know that?” I melted at him with hearts in my eyes.

“At least you have a backup now. I hear Rio is very warm and has fantastic beaches.” Skylar interjected with his smug tone, being sarcastic. He is referring to the fact that Roberto, the foreign exchange student from Rio de Janeiro, has demonstrated interest in me recently.

“Dude, why do you have to be such a dick? As Seth said before, it's no wonder you don't have any friends!” Jayden snarled at his roommate.

“I have plenty of friends, I'll have you know.” Skylar protested, pouting.

“Sure…” Jayden rolled his eyes, doubtful.

“I would pay good money to exchange roommates with you. At least you got the good Stronghold.” He told me, sounding peeved.

“Tell me about it! I wouldn't want him as my roommate even if I had to sleep inside a broom closet like Harry Potter.” I snickered.

Most of the students laughed at that as we walked out of the classroom, including Seth and Jayden.

It's evening. Once restricted to the students, the third tower of Ravenwood is now open. At the end of the first floor, a ballroom beautifully decorated with wolf themed ornaments is welcoming all the pupils.

There are three stations with food to serve yourself. Given the special occasion tonight, we didn't have dinner but nobody is starving with the exquisite meals prepared for us.

There is a DJ hired for the party who is playing music to the werewolves’ level of hearing, which is low.

A minimum amount of staff is present except for the security officers who are crawling this tower to make sure nobody goes where they are not supposed to.

Despite the dance card rules, the intention here is to leave the students as free as possible to enjoy the evening.

I thought I was looking dapper until I saw the level of outfits the students were wearing.

“Oh my Goddess! You look fantastic!” I drooled at the sight of Jayden coming to greet me. The ebony god is wearing a two-piece suit matching perfectly down to his shoes.

“Well, I had to dress up to dance with you.” He flirted with me and I swooned at him. He greeted Seth who was beside me in a very expensive Italian suit that might as well be red carpet ready.

Speaking of which, teenagers are in style parading around in high fashion designer formal wear. And every time another student enters the ballroom is another fashion moment.

Jayden pulled me into the photo booth for us to take a picture, celebrating how incredibly good looking we are tonight. I would protest, but we really do make a handsome couple. If I may so myself.

My mom will be thrilled when she sees this photo of us together. She might even show me [and Jayden] off to her friends. This being a modern party, all pictures are instantly uploaded to Ravenwood's social media account for all parents to see.

Jayden grabbed us a drink while we took a seat at one of the tables spread around the room. I filled up a plate for us to nibble before the first official dance began.

Unfortunately for me, he will be pretty busy tonight being required to dance with all the students from my house, but I am sure I will be too since I am required to dance with all the Alphas and Betas.

Sean is sitting by Seth's side on the table as they also are taking the chance to eat something before the marathon begins. The English boy cleans up nicely with an aristocratic swagger to him.

Jayden and I talked for a while about our expectations for the night and he made me promise not to like any other Alpha more than him. Jealousy much?

I highly doubt that my time spent with any other student will change things for me. But of course, I cannot close myself off.

Don't get me wrong, I am very much into Jayden. Nothing is going to change that. I am completely invested in our relationship, may it prove to be fruitful and true.

With that being said, it's too early to tell if we are going to make it. There are so many hurdles ahead of us, a lot of hoops to jump through.

It's the way it goes with these things. I can't say that I came into the game blindly. I already knew the drill. I prepared for it as much as possible.

“Can I have this dance?” Roberto asked me in a dazzling blue suit that complemented his green eyes perfectly. Oh my goodness…

“Yes, you can.” I replied, politely. And off we went to the dance floor to perform our rehearsed waltz like we were in an episode of Bridgerton. Not that I am complaining. *wink*

A|N: Judge me or not, any time I get to include a song from HSM I am happy.

Next is “Beauty and the Beast”. I am feeling the classics lately.

Love,

Léo.