Beneath Your Fur

“Next!” A deep velvety voice resonated through Carly’s ears, nearly shattering her eardrums.

Hearing this, her ears pricked in alarm as her heart began thumping in her chest, and the base of her neck tingled.

She could feel fear setting in deep inside the nook and crannies of her mind. Without being told, She could have sworn her face was etched in horror and was white as a sheet when a twig snapped in the distance confirming her fears that she was being followed.

Behind her; she heard grumbling which came from whoever was trailing behind her, her hands drove frantically down to her dress which was now powdered in dust, she began shuffling through the dark corridor, her feet gilded with such familiarity.

She exhaled in puffs as her head raised just to have a view of her surroundings; darkness engulfed her as she projected through it with a stranger behind her.

Her gaze roved deeper as she saw a beam of light blazing at the end of the corridor.

“What a scenario?” She thought wallowing in her pool of thoughts.

It was just like the saying: ‘there is always light at the end of the tunnel’.

But this was no tunnel, it was the corridor that led to the eclipse pack house’s courtroom where the judgment was carried out on any member of the pack who had failed to keep to the pack’s rules or was allegedly accused of something by another member.

The reason she was called to the pack’s court session which she couldn’t tell but rather knew for a fact was that she was accused of something by either one of her enemies for she wasn’t taking the corridor other pack members took.

Any punishment declared on any pack member by the Alpha was final for only he had the final say.

Not even the police could interfere for no one dared to tamper with the ruthless Alpha Oswald.

Being birthed into the eclipse pack was indeed a quagmire— her quagmire for she had to bend to the pack’s demands not to get punished by the ruthless Alpha Oswald.

According to rumors he was unable to find his mate and had to marry his Luna just for the upkeep of the pack.

“Move!” A thick voice seethed as she jerked back into reality and was shocked to see that she had made it and was just a step away from where the lights beamed out from.

She took a step into the light as the cold chilly wind of the courtroom hit her, her chin fell as her hair parted in waves covering her face as she shuffled into the courtroom with her heart thumping hard in her chest.

Her hands trailed on her dress as she walked towards the high platform where the Alpha, his beta, his gamma, and his Luna sat.

The Alpha, Oswald, by name, was highly feared among all packs for he was the cruelest of all Alphas and had always come out victorious in any war he embarked on.

She strolled nearer to the platform and paused in her tracks giving a proper ‘curtsey’ before the pack leaders.

“We are gathered here today to bear witness to the trial of Carly Hayes who was allegedly accused of seducing a mated wolf,” A voice reeled out as an authoritative aura engulfed the atmosphere.

She could feel chills running down her spine at the mention of her name, Carly.

“Carly Hayes, do you swear in the goddess name that you will tell the truth and nothing else but the truth,” The voice chimed again.

“Yes,” Carly's voice came out to be a feebly shaky one as it tensed the air.

“Who reported this case!” A thick familiar voice bawled as her eyes lit up in shock as recognition sparked.

It was Alpha Oswald.

Carly could feel her neck hair stiffening grimly as her gaze roved through the strands blocking her view.

“I did,” A feminine voice called out behind Carly as she heard footsteps, rhythmic ones at that. Anxiety pumped into Carly's bloodstream as she felt compelled to brush her hair sideways and turned to look.

Her gaze beamed on Tabitha, Ryder’s mate. However, she wasn't shocked after her previous encounter with her.

They had been in a relationship for what seemed to have passed some months now and he lied to her that he was unmated and was also searching for his mate just like her.

The fact that she was unmated and yet to find a mate was Carly's quagmire and her ‘wolf’ was growing more restless by the day, she had an emptiness in her for a mate, someone she could rest upon, someone she could dream about, someone that will make her his.

But no.

Her dreams didn’t go just as planned but rather she was there at the pack’s court session for she was allegedly accused of seducing a mated wolf.

Ryder was a jerk, at least he was. She had broken up with him after finding out that he was mated to Tabitha. He had a sweet coated tongue and spoke so charmingly she took interest in him at first glance immediately and began developing feelings for him.

Thinking of him only made her feel angry, what a jerk he had been for flirting with her.

Or was it the other way around?

No.

She wasn't the flirt, Ryder was, although she was rather desperate in making him hers he came to Carly with his legs at a nightclub she attended some months ago.

“Carly Hayes how do you plead,” Her gaze reverted up to the spokesman who was dressed in a blue royal suit, he had milky blonde hair that halted at his ear, and he seemed to be in his mid-sixties for the roughness of his face and the sudden huskiness in his voice.

“Not guilty.”