Chapter 2

My sister cackled with laughter as she loaded our belongings onto the elegantly carved sledge, her shoulders shaking as she fought to catch her breath. I tugged the store door shut as I followed her down the street, wondering why she had gone completely mad, and if I myself had caused it.

It took several hours for us to make it home, the conversation between us bare and simple, as though we could hardly wait to be free of one another. Which of course was true, I couldn’t stand being around my sister for more than a few hours, our foolish bickering always driving my mind towards anger. Something not one of us could allow, anger made us dangerous, to everyone. Mortal or immortal.

 We delivered the cart to those whom we had been ordered, our paths once again parting ways as my sister returned to her own hut, preparing to cook for when her mate arrived home from the hunt. I turned away from her as she disappeared, glancing around my home in awe, the scent of fresh meet and herbs filling my senses.

My town was filled with huts and tents, utterly different from the brick buildings in the cities and town, just how we liked it. The humans had become weak and fragile because of how comfortably they lived in their stone palaces. Now vulnerable to the cold and the snow they hid all winter, barely leaving their homes when the storms came. But my people prepared for each one and continued as normal, we could move through and endure the harshest of snow storms, knowing that it cannot kill us.

Yes. We were a simple people, who only took what we needed to survive and luxuries were not something we cared for. But for it we had lived longer than any other tribe, refusing to completely integrate ourselves with the mortals. That is how the others died, how they lost their lives to the machines and the guns. How they were found.

The Alpha would never allow us to be found, he was careful and quick to move us when the risk came close to us. We had lived hidden for almost a thousand years, relying only on each other and how quick we were once trained. Though sometimes, I wanted more, something other from life than to mate and create cubs. But, as a women my options were not as open as the other men of the tribe, they could hunt and enter the villages whenever they pleased. I guess it was because they are naturally stronger, yet I wasn’t exactly sure. It was just how our world worked, and the world I had been born into. It wasn’t my job to change what I deemed unfair, nor complain about what I had.

The children played and laughed as they ran from tent to hut, carefree and happy. I envied that. Their innocence. Soon they would be divided from their friends, having different roles within the tribe, and the games would cease, fading only into memory. It was how it always happened, how I had experienced growing up. But well, no one could remain a child forever. Nor could the games continue when we all had our roles within the tribe, the adults knowing nothing other than the commands of their Alpha.

I wished that I could rejoin the children with their games and endless laughter, but I was no longer naive to the world and doubted that I could muster the imagination that I once had. The world seemed so different to me know that I neared my seventeenth year, and with no mate or suitors that have asked to warm my bed and build the fire in my home. Sometimes I worried the reasons, but my father insisted it was because of my curious mind and defiant nature; which for a woman of the tribe was frowned upon.

I strolled towards my small hut at the very end of our tribe, the bear skin soft and welcoming as I ran my hand across the fur. I had begun to enter when a sense of loneliness once again struck at my heart, was their no man in the tribe that could understand me? I was too old to remain with my father and mother, and the Alpha had forbid it, stating that I must find my own place within the tribe. Terious also said that I must find a mate before winter arrived, but it was already here and I have had no progress. I remain alone, watching as all my friends bare children and avoid me as though I was nothing other than a bad luck charm.

No one seems to understand that a woman can be both independent and need someone, it is all about how you are, how you act. Yes, I want a mate, but I do not want to be controlled by a man. And nor would a man wish to be controlled by a woman, it is equality and I wish that my tribe would mimic the human word in allowing such a thing. Though I suppose my issue was bringing such a thing up in one of the village meetings, but I had hoped some of the women would agree with me and stand up against the male population. And yet, their I stood in a room full of people, completely alone. My own father looking upon me as though I had committed a heinous crime that he could never forgive.

I ducked down and entered the slit in the hut, walking into my petite home, the fire pit in the centre blazing away; informing me that the fire starters had already been to the edge of town, ensuring that no one would be left in the dark once night arrives and the sun fades away. But surely it is not needed on a full moon, nor it it entirely wanted. Last full moon I had fallen asleep and the next thing I knew I had burnt paws and a very sore back.

I laughed to myself and pulled a small plastic doll from within my coat, its hair the yellow shade of the sun. I had saw it back in the human town and decided that I couldn't live without it and the small dotted black dress that it wore. Smiling at the plastic beauty I placed it bellow my fur blankets, hoping that no one in the village would find it. Because whoever did would instantly inform the alpha, and then he would see me as even more of a burden on his village.

I stood and decided to change back into my animal skin dress, the rough material itchy against my sensitive skin. The brown leather was dull and unwelcoming in my eyes, but it was how all the women of the tribe dressed, how the men wanted us to look, the low neckline and short skirts speaking to them.

I moved back towards my bed and began platting my raven black hair, the length often too much to handle when I didn’t own a brush, nor did any other women in my village. I wondered if perhaps I should have it cut, though I had never done so and worried that it would change my fur once I changed at the full moon. Something which would make me even less appealing than before.

My sapphire eyes and slim figure made for a bad mate, the men of my tribe preferring more of a rounded woman to bear their children and keep their place by the fire warm. But I didn’t believe I was all that bad, nor did I want the men to think so, I often liked to believe that at least one man found me attractive. Whether they wanted to be my mate or not. It would be nice to be appreciated for my curious mind, but in a place where women are only seen as cold and child bearers, it seemed a lost cause.

I jumped when someone approached the outside of my tent, their scent slightly off and human. Had Terious allowed a mortal into the village?

“Lycia? It’s Jannen.” The strangely scented wolf called, lightly tapping on the wood that balanced my roof. “May I enter?”

I quickly looked around my hut, ensuring that the doll was safely under my pillow before I responded, my tone almost pleasant. “Of course Jannen, please come in.”

Jannen was the only male that spoke to me as though I was any other woman in the tribe, the others brushing me away with harsh comments and cold shoulders. I thought once that I would become his mate, but he never asked and the years went by, leaving me with a sore heart and a disappointment that would never fade. And yet, I couldn’t blame Jannen for the way I felt, even if my love was one sided.

He entered with a soft smile slithering it’s way across his features. “Terious wishes to see you, he ordered me to tell you that winter has arrived and the first snow has fallen.”

I sighed, frowning at the thought, my time has ended, and I still had no mate. What would the alpha so with me now? Would he banish me from my home, and the village? Damning me to the human world.

“Lycia? What is wrong?” the beta wolf asked softly, his tone once again warm and welcoming, sending shivers of appreciation through my chest.

I could always count on Jannen to make a dire situation seem so trivial and unimportant. But perhaps this time he couldn’t, how could anyone change the alpha's mi d should he want me to leave? And who would risk it for the burden of the village?

“Nothing Jannen, I’m sure that everything will be fine.” I assured him with a smile, not wanting to encumber the only friend I  left within the village with my worries.

“Very well, I suggest that you see the alpha right away, you know he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Jannen growled lightly, suddenly distant and cruel.

Could he not see that it was a sensitive subject? That I didn’t want to depress the man I love with details of how I may be thrown out of the pack for not finding a mate?

“Please don’t be angry with me, Jannen.” I whispered, lowering my head to hold back my sadness. Why couldn’t he understand that I didn’t want him to know? That I wanted to protect to man I love.

“You better get moving Lycia.” He replied coldly and turned to leave the hut, barely taking a glance back at me as he spoke once more. “Your strong minded attitude is the reason your alone.”

My heart lurched forward as the cruelness of his words registered, littering my thoughts with regret and sorrow. How could he be so cold and vicious? What had I done to deserve to be treated in such a way just because I was different from the other women, or because I don’t want to be controlled as all of them are?

I lowered my head in shame as I walked through the tribes people, not one of them giving me a second glance as I made my way to the alpha’s hut; knowing that he hates me more than the rest.