Chapter 4

Terious smiled wildly, his eyes blazing with something i had never seen before. “Take your time. But after the full moon, i want you to declare that you are mine.”

I took another step back when he began to walk towards me, struggling to answer; I nodded. How could I possibly make such a decision in one day?

“you’re dismissed.” He said after a long silence, seeming to finally notice my sceptical mind.

I nodded, forcing a small smile as I turned to leave, my mind racing over a thousand possibilities and questions.

“Tomorrow then.” He called after me, his toothy smile once again sending shivers of confusion down my spine.

I smiled, exiting the tent as I spoke. “Tomorrow.”

I stood in the centre of the village for a long moment, unable to process the people around me as I fought for breath; praying that it was all somehow a dream. That I would wake up and everything would be back to normal. The Alpha of my pack did not ask for my hand and instead allowed me to stay out of putty, not lust.

I shifted my glance towards my parents tent, wondering if they would allow me to have a short conversation with them, so i could tell them what happened. Inform my family that Terious wanted to marry their smart minded daughter. The very same one that they banished from their home because she was too outspoken and headstrong. Would they be happy at the news? Praise my existence once again, just as they did when i was a child.

Deciding that facing my family was better than sitting alone in my small hut, I began to stroll towards where I knew my mother would be; expecting nothing other than a sour welcome. I walked along the hundreds of homes that each family built themselves over hundreds of years and several generations, each one identical to the next. I stopped just outside the one i knew to be my old home, dreading the thought of even entering without an invitation, though still the thought of being alone tonight forced me forward, my heart beginning to race as I stepped through the small opening.

My mother was sat back with my younger brother Terion on her lap, the four year old cub craving her attention. Her blonde hair and green eyes showed nothing if where i got my looks from, neither did her curvy form; one that most women of the tribe would be jealous of. Terion looked just like her with the same shade of emerald eyes, his small frame and black hair reminding me that we were if the same blood.

My father, the head of our bloodline stood at the other end of his large home, watching as his daughters talked and laughed, a warm smile spreading across him rough features. He was over six foot tall with raven black hair and a scar that spread across his right cheek.

I ignored my younger sisters Paterna and Niey and cleared my throat, calling for the attention of all those in the hut. Green, blue and brown eyes all making their way around towards me, the laughter fading from the air.

Paterna scoffed, shaking her head as she rose to her feet, her sunshine blonde hair pinned back at the top of her head. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to speak with our parents, not you.” I growled in return, taking a threatening step towards the thirteen year old cub; knowing that she would back down.

Just as I thought, Paterna took a step back, lowering her head slightly to show that she wasn’t any threat. My smile only growing. I had never gotten along with any of my sister’s, and nor did I intend to, they showed nothing of who I was, or what I wanted to be and would do nothing for the tribe when they grew into womanhood. And yet, I knew that they thought the same of me, as none of them would care should I be thrown from the tribe tomorrow.