A Wolf Scorned by Taylor Spratt
Amira
Istood outside the large double doors of the pack room. A chorus of cheering and praises to the Alpha seeped through the doors and spilled out into the tunnel.
My wolf may have just awakened and I had absolutely no clue what to do with her. Now during what could be her first day on the planet I was about to expose her to a room of people who hated me?
Before I could consider turning around and trying to go back to my room, the double doors opened and a pair of rough hands pulled me inside.
“You're late, half-breed,” Beta Brandley said with a scowl, grinding his teeth together in annoyance. “Now find your place and shut up. The Alpha's about to speak.”
“Well, hello to you, too.” I shifted past him and entered the room.
I’d only been in here a few times before, and I still hadn’t gotten used to just how big it was. This was the largest cavern in the hole with high ceilings made of dense rock.
Over a thousand shifters stretched out in the cavern, waving and cheering for the Alpha who stood center stage.
I arrived at the pack room, still unsure of what the hell was happening inside me. Could my wolf really have awoken just like that?
My eyes browsed the crowded room. Most of the pack was here.
This was more than an assembly, this was a chance for those with rank to show off to those of us without it. To the front of the room was the Alpha’s stage, to the direct left and right of that was the super exclusive area for the Betas and their families.
Next came the Sentinels who were next in rank, and the elders and their families after that. It was a basic enough structure with those having the most rank being closest to the stage, and those with the least being furthest from it.
I stood right in the back of the room with the Omegas and the forgotten.
“Good Morning, my beautiful shifters!” Alpha Logan waved his hands in the air from the height of his glorious stage. He shook his head from side to side, allowing his long black hair to shift carelessly on his head. “Who's excited about the Moon of Mating tomorrow night?”
The room erupted in a sea of howls, hoots, and cheers and the Alpha’s face lit up with pride. Alpha Logan’s skin was a beautiful tan and even with the few thin scars on his cheek, no one could deny how handsome and masculine his features were.
His build was larger and taller than all his Betas and his strength was legendary. I used to think he was the most handsome man in the world. But then I saw Syrus, and now I’d have to put Alpha Logan in second place.
“Open the moon door,” Alpha Logan commanded, and in that moment the entire room went silent in reverence.
The moon door? I’d always heard about it but this was the first time I’d ever been lucky enough to see it myself.
A circular opening formed in the ceiling of the cavern about five feet across, and as it opened, in rushed the most beautiful white light. The majestic full moon shone bright in the night’s sky. Tears came to my eyes and rushed down my cheeks. My picture books did not do it justice. It was incredible, so perfectly round only the Goddess herself could have made something of such beauty.
I wasn’t the only one who thought so, as six Betas and four Sentinels shifted into their wolves and began racing through the open crowd in celebration of the momentous occasion.
We didn’t need the full moon to shift but it was always more fun to be in wolf form under the full moon, or at least that was what they said.
The wolves charged around the happy masses. It was as if the wolves were playing a game of hide and seek in the maze of people.
As the wolves ran faster and faster, in and out of the pockets of onlookers, the cheers of the crowd grew louder, and my heartbeat picked up pace as if I were the one who was running.
What the hell was going on? I felt so strange all of a sudden. My back was so sore it was as if someone had taken a sledge hammer to it. My eyes stung under the gentle moonlight and worst of all, I was overcome with overwhelming need to…
“Shift! Shift now,” a voice called out from within the dark recesses of my mind, starting as a whisper and ending as a growl.
Woaah, what in the world?
“Hello? Are you my wolf?” I asked trying not to panic from just how fucking weird this was.
“Shift now!” the voice repeated, sounding more angry than before. A sharp pain lit up in my spine and I arched my back while gripping my mouth so as not to scream.
“But only the Betas and Sentinels have shifted. If I shift now it would be seen as a disrespect,” I replied to this mysterious entity.
“Shift!” it said again like a broken record.
I was clearly trying to reason with an insane wolf. For years, I imagined what it would be like to finally meet my wolf, my inner beast.
Was I naive to think that she'd be more of a friendly little puppy than such a demanding rascal?
“Okay, wolf, here's how this is going to go down. You're going to behave yourself and then after we leave the assembly, I'll go back to my room and then maaaaybe I'll let you shift , am I understood?”
I planted my feet on the ground and balled my fists in a show of power, just to let this little wolf of mine know just who was calling the shots.
And in return I heard a loud howl and the pain in my back grew stronger and stronger still. Crap. She was trying to force me to shift against my will.
Stealing my attention, Alpha Logan neared the edge of the stage to speak into his microphone.
“Alright, alright now, everyone settle down now.” Alpha Logan made his call for silence, but the Betas and Sentinels continued roaming merrily through the crowd in wolf form.
“I said that’s enough!” The Alpha showed his fangs and a note of anger peppered his words. Crowd pleaser though he was, if there was one thing Alpha Logan hated it was disobedience.
Obeying their Alpha’s commands, the wolves reverted back to human form and reclaimed their places at the Alpha’s side on the stage.
The pain in my back changed from a dull ache to more of a series of what felt like electric shocks along my spine, ripping my attention from the Alpha.
“Shift!” my wolf demanded yet again, her voice sounding deeper and more visceral by the second.
I needed to make a break for it, and now. If I, a low ranked shifter, dared interrupt Alpha's speech, his punishment would be swift and ruthless.
I spun around and made my way past the few shifters between me and the doors. As my hand touched the wooden doors, I strained to push them as pain came alive within me, torturing me to the depths of my soul.
A whimper escaped my lips and a rough hand grabbed me by the arm and yanked me away from the door.
“What’s wrong with you? Can’t you see the Alpha is speaking?” Beta Bradley grumbled and he whipped me around to meet his fearsome gaze.
“I-I need to pee. I’ll be right back,” I lied, knowing full well I’d get no sympathy from this jerk if I told him the truth.
“You’re a big girl, get back to your place and hold it.”
“And if I can’t?” I grounded out.
“Then piss yourself. As long as you're listening to your Alpha, that's all that matters.” He shoved me away from the door and back in the direction of where I was before. The other two Betas at the door laughed as I hopped back to my spot, trying to mask my discomfort.
There was nothing I could do now except try my best to keep fighting the shift until I was allowed to leave.
“If only someone would be a little patient that would be a lot fucking easier!”
“No easier, shift!”
“Geez, I got the fucking picture already.”
“This year’s Moon of Mating is a very special one. Because I believe that this year will finally be the year that my mate bond to the love of my life will finally be blessed by Goddess Selene.” The Alpha continued speaking and his girlfriend, Nelenia, met him center stage.
Her long golden hair was filled with so many luxurious curls that it seemed too perfect to be real. Her eyes were so green that they were a force of nature unto themselves. Her every facial feature was so delicate and feminine it was unfair to every other woman in the world just how much beauty she possessed.
Nelenia, with a bright smile on her face, took the Alpha's hand in hers and the room erupted in cheers for their Goddess blessed union.
“I have loved this wonderful wolf beside me for many years and I just know that this year will be the year that Goddess Selene confirms what we both have known since the moment that we met, that Logan and I are true mates,” Nelenia said before blowing a kiss to the pack that adored her so.
Once again the room cheered for the ‘it’ couple of the pack. The single greatest love story in the history of the hole was theirs. They even had a damn romance novel dedicated to their love.
“Thank you, Darling.” He gave her a kiss and she waved before leaving center stage. “Now, where was I?”
He cleared his throat before continuing. “Many of you here are new to the mating ceremony so I wanted to give you a little run down of tomorrow’s ceremony.” He tore the shirt from his back and threw it to the ground. His mountain of mouth watering muscles were now on full display as he proudly displayed them to the room.
Some women fainted and others cried at the sight of their half-naked Alpha.
He pressed the pad of his index finger to the upper left area of chest and said, “This is where it will appear. Once the moon door is opened tomorrow night, a symbol will magically appear right here for those blessed with the mate bond this year. The symbol will first show up on the chest of the male wolf, and the matching one will then form on his one true mate.
His eyes roamed the room and he paused for a second to make sure everyone was listening before continuing. “Once the symbols appears the male wolf will be irresistibly drawn to his mate. He will seek her out and once he’s found the woman with his same symbol, the mate bond will be complete. At this point they will never wish to part for as long as they both live.”
As long as they both live? True love? Not a single man in the entire pack has ever shown me kindness and now you want me to be attached to one of them for the rest of my life? No thank you.
In that instant I noticed the pain had drastically diminished and I could finally stand normally. Had my wolf given up trying to force the shift?
My wolf remained silent, but instead of words I could feel her emotion.
A deep sadness roamed through me from the inside, bittering my mouth and running my blood cold.
Was she sad to know we would never be mated? Never to know was it felt like to be loved completely and unconditionally by another?
My wolf moaned as she struggled in the grips of her first heartbreak.
“Don’t be sad, Wolfy. Maybe we weren’t meant to find true love but at least we can have each other.”
The Alpha wished us all luck in being mated tomorrow and his speech came to a close.
Thanks but no thanks, Alpha. I’ll be long gone by the time your precious Moon of Mating begins.
The door of the pack room opened and slowly everyone began rolling out the doors.
The brush of someone’s hair on my arm stole my attention but I kept wading toward the door.
The woman beside me gave a horrified gasp before nudging me away.
“Hey! What’s your problem?” I turned to the woman who nudged me. She was an older woman with jet black hair that reached her thighs.
“Oh my goodness. Did you see that? The half-breed just touched me!” Throwing a judging look in my direction, people gathered to look at the commotion. “What if you got your half-breed stink on me? I demand compensation!”
“Here’s your compensation.” I gave her the finger and she covered her mouth in surprise.
I knew I wouldn’t be leaving without some type of confrontation. I never could be around the pack for longer than a few seconds without someone trying to mess with me.
“You insolent little wretch.” Her words cut like a knife as she waved me off. “I pray to the Goddess that none of my sons get mated to trash like you. Any mate of yours would be the disgrace of the pack.”
All those who’d gathered to watch merely laughed and nodded in agreement. I didn’t give a damn what people like them thought. Or at least that was what I told myself because it still hurt like hell. Nothing was more painful than the sting of rejection.
Wolfy growled, scared and confused by the mean glares from those who should be her companions.
They were our pack. Of course Wolfy would expect them to care for us, but painful as it was, she had to learn fast that life wasn’t how it’s supposed to be.
“As if I’d be interested in any shrively-dicked sons of yours, lady. I’ve got standards.” With a wave of my long red hair, I showed her my back and strutted towards the door.
She continued to berate me to my back but I kept walking, even as they all laughed and ridiculed me. I kept my head held high because that’s who I was, a fighter.
I would never allow myself to be stuck down here forever. Tomorrow was my last and only chance to get out of here. If I were mated, even if my new mate hated me, he would never let me go. I’d be forced to rot down here till old age brittled my bones.
I left the pack room and journeyed back to my room to plan my big escape. I’d show them who was trash.
By this time tomorrow I’d be a carefree surface dweller, and all those jerks who laughed at me would be left down here in the dust .