Being Different

As Danika walked out of the hallway, she could not help but imagine what her father's reaction would be.

Ofcourse he would be disappointed in Damon, but she still wanted to see how he would when she comes bearing the news.

Normally, Danika dared not go to his chambers unless he summoned her presence. And those weren't frequent occurrences, only happening whenever he had something important to say to her.

Deciding to do the impossible, she turned and began walking towards the west wing that led to her father's chambers.

She didn't mind that she wasn't to visit him or request to meet him unless sent for. He kept his distance from her as if she were a dread ever since she was little, that she didn't mind. But now she needed to see him whether or not he wanted.

"She cannot afford to stay in our pack anymore,..... Alpha" Danika overheard a voice saying as she approached the room. The syllable in each word of his sentence was stretched to drive the impact.

" For how much longer are we going to let the doormat hybrid bring disgrace to our pack? Did you see the sneer on the Alpha of Raven wood's face? He must have considered us mates with their pack because you invited them to this embarrassing ritual!!"

The voice was sharp and cutting as it completed the words.

Danika sneaked past the door and hid behind a flower pot in front of the chamber.

Interesting. Or so it seemed.

She was well aware of the fact that her father's cabinet members didn't like her, but never knew it was to the extent of asking her father to throw her out.

Still, she arched her ear to eavesdrop more even though each word ached her heart.

She wanted to hear her father defend her. And as this was a first for her to encounter him in such a situation, she was curious to know how he would handle it.

She would probably go in and hug him when they were done with the meeting. The way Lyra always did. She would hug her father as well if he were to defend her before his pack members.

She hadn't done it before because she was never allowed face to face with him. Except for important times. With the eve of her sixteenth birthday being the first.

Then, he had urged her to prove her worth to him and the pack by shifting. She was already a disgrace from birth, she couldn't fail to.

But Danika's dreams of being close to him had shattered when she couldn't. Instead, Lyra whom she was older than by a few months had shifted that day before everyone . Further making the bond she had with their father close. If only she did too. Or in the subsequent years after.

"At times I wonder if she is even your daughter. What if her mother claimed her as yours because she was looking for the benefits? You are the most powerful Alpha in the entire kingdoms. Who wouldn't want to be considered the mother of your heir?"

Danika heard the voice clear and loud. One of the men had accused her mother of lying about her paternity.

She didn't flinch but kept quiet awaiting how her father would defend the legacy of her late mother, ....his late first love.

But seconds turned into minutes that passed and Danika didn't hear anything. In short, since when she had begun to eavesdrop on their conversation, she hadn't heard her father speak before his cabinet. He was so quiet. So quiet for her liking.

"I will not have any of you speak ill about the woman who saved this clan from a war!!" A low but cold commanding voice came.

Danika knew who had the voice all too well.. It was Urmaa.

In her moments of weakness she hadn't noticed her entering the room as she saw the hem of her dress still at the door.

The men greeted her and Danika was surprised.

She had raise some of the members children but she didn't know what she might have done also to speak her mind freely and whenever before them, without anyone punishing her and putting her off. It was a rare occurrence in the Crimson Veil pack.

And she couldn't help but wonder why Urmaa was always so daring and despite it, not punished.

"She has to leave this pack and that is final"

"She's no longer just the Alpha's disgrace, she's more than that now. She's the entire packs disgrace. Either she leaves or you descend the throne"

There was a momentary pause in the room when the last voice said what their main objective for being in the room clearly was.

Send her away from the pack or step down as the Alpha. They presented her father with two choices. Choices she knew the direction his answer would take.

Her chest tightened as she thought about it.

The Lycanshade Wolf council's pressures are already worse, now the clan's cabinet members were on their wit ends demanding she thrown out.

Why?

She had done every other thing she could. She trained and is the best skilled warrior of their land. Currently ranked the best archer because she never missed shots.

She had practically done anything in her capacity not to let her shortcomings get to her. She had shown herself too much yet the validation she's always wanted from them never came.

Her eyes stung the more. Of what use were all her efforts then?

"A wolfless hybrid can't rule over us, lest an omega. You need to make a choice before we are forced to do so on your behalf.... Alpha" There was a lace of disdain in the Alpha they had called him.

And with that all the men had began to walk out of the room. Six in number as Danika counted when they walked out.

Her legs trembled so badly that she knew if she were to stand up, she wouldn't be able to walk into her father's chamber to report what she had come for.

She was still contemplating how to force herself to when she heard her father speak.

He slammed his hands on a table , making objects on it to rattle. His voice trembled but his words still spilled out in a heated rush.

"Did you hear that Urrmaa?" His voice blared.

"How is it that I fathered such a child? I am a very powerful leader but did you see the disrespect laced in the words my cabinets just hurled at me? Did you see the mocking eyes I had to endure at the ritual?" He asked while pointing at the door where they left from.

"Why did I have such a disgrace as my first born?"