The Mute Bride

A letter.  That’s how it started.  Signed and curiously sealed, an elaborate CR imprinted into the long cooled wax.  Such a little thing and yet, with it, everything changed.

Kylan stared at the letter in her hand, her mind racing with rampant curiosity.  It held the seal of the Crescent River Pack, but this one bore the Alpha’s mark.  What could the Alpha of Crescent River want with her?  She ran her fingers over the grooves of the embossment, puzzled by what it could possibly mean.  Making her way into the house, the girl carefully broke the seal, her curiosity getting the best of her and apparent on her fair features as she started to read the missive.  Shock swept through her, reading and re-reading the words.  

Before she could make sense of it, it was plucked out of her hands.  As she spun to try to recapture it, her startled gaze settled upon the Alpha’s youngest son.  Kylan reached for the paper, but to no avail.  Philip held it above her head, laughing at her efforts even as he put his nose in her business.  Finally, she elbowed him in the ribs, taking off to her room with the paper.  As she ran off, she ignored the sounds of anyone trying to reclaim her attention.

Fuming as she slammed her door shut, Kylan flopped onto her bed.  As frustrated as he made her, Philip was like a kid brother.  Two years younger than her, she’d grown up with him and his family, as much a part of it as her own.  

It wasn’t like she needed it.  She was the beta’s daughter, trained side by side with the Alpha’s kids.  Alpha Cole and Luna Sierra had always been kind and welcoming to her, but especially after she lost her father.  They were more than her Alpha and Luna - they were family.

There was nothing that the two families wanted more.  When she was 16, her parents made an agreement with the Alpha, bonding their two families together by marriage.  Kylan was to marry Carter, their oldest son, and become his chosen mate when she came of age.  It wasn’t anything unexpected - fated mates were rare and the pack needed a solid foundation to continue to grow.  

Richard Ashe never said why it mattered to him so much, but his daughter suspected that it had something to do with how her parents came to Blackwood pack.  They didn’t talk much of those days, but she knew they had not always lived among these lands.  They would always tell her that she was born of this land and with it, she gave them new life.  The girl needed nothing else, trusting her family and those closest, happy to follow the path her feet had been set upon.

She rolled over onto her stomach and pulled out the letter to read again.  The Alpha had invited her and her mother to visit, wanting to meet the sister of his Luna.  Sister?  As far as she knew, she was an only child.  Her parents had never even mentioned anyone else.  Kylan didn’t understand and knew she needed to talk to the only person who could make it make sense.  It was that, or the Alpha was on some good drugs.  She inwardly laughed, the corners of her lips turning up in amusement.  Yeah, that was it.

There was a knock on the door, dragging her from her thoughts.  Of course, he would follow her here.  Rolling her eyes, she mused the inevitability of kid brothers who never could keep their noses in their own businesses.  Even if they did belong to her mate.  “It’s open,” she sent through the mindlink, turning to face him.  Most pack members gained the mindlink ability at 16, but the Alpha family could all use personal mindlinks regardless of age.  “What do you want, pipsqueak?”

Amused eyes met hers, the irony not lost that her favourite term for him was not accurate at all.  Where Kylan was petite with raven hair, Philip was almost 2 feet taller than her and built like a truck.  “Are you ever going to give up that tired old nickname, Ky?” His voice broke the silence of the room, responding with ease to the link.  She supposed she should be grateful; he never made her feel awkward for her differences.  

“Now, whyever would I do that, pipsqueak?” her lip curled as she taunted him.  She carefully tucked away the letter into her desk drawer as she waited to see what he wanted.  His face showed anxiety, although he was clearly trying to pretend nothing was bothering him.  Maybe poking the bear would get him to spill whatever was on his mind.  “I mean, what would you like me to call you, Mister Buff Majors or something?” she laughed silently as he flopped onto her bed, her eyes crinkling up in merriment.  

“As if you wouldn’t find a way to make fun of anything I came up with,” the younger teen drawled as he propped up, his blonde locks almost blocking his eyes.  “You ran out so fast, I didn’t get the chance to ask you about it.  I didn’t know you knew anyone in the Crescent River Pack.”

“Well, I don’t, not really,” the girl tilted her head, confused as she thought over the letter.  “I’ve never met anyone in it.  Have you heard the stories?”  The idea that she might actually have family from that cruel place floored her.  It couldn’t be true…could it?  Surely they were mistaken.  After all, she didn’t have a sister.  Did she?  “I…I don’t know why they’re sending me anything.”

“So what did they want?”  Philip could always be trusted to get straight to the point, even if it left him a little blunt at times.  She didn’t mind; Kylan found it to be part of his charm.  She rolled her eyes and shrugged, as if to say she didn’t know or could care less, but her brow furrowed as she thought about it again.  What did they want?  “Come on, Ky, you have to know something!  What did the letter say?”

“Apparently his Luna is sick and wants to meet me?” She shrugged as she responded through the link.  Honestly she didn’t know what to think.  “I don’t know, it didn’t make any sense.”

“What do you mean, Ky?”