08 Daughter of Fury

So Many Males

“Intentions?” I echoed the alpha’s word. Wondering what in the Doglands he meant by that.

“Yes. The males will have a proper chance to speak to each other about what females they desire before the moon. So they have a chance to come to terms on who will pursue which”

“Moon!” I gasped.

No. It can’t be the pink moon already? I thought. Trying to mentally calculate when the last one was.

“The Mating Moon comes soon,” The alpha warned. “and every unmated female of age, should be bred when it is high.”

Bred. I swallowed. Knowing that word’s meaning and hating hearing it used to describe me.

Mother had been very clear in explaining to me why it would be important for me to understand what would be expected of me once I hit maturity.

I am expected to breed.

My mouth went dry, words escaped me, and a sort of quiet panic settled deep in my bones.

I’m not ready. I was already shaking my head. Though no one seemed to care as they led me toward the center of the camp.

***

The stage loomed in the center like an altar for sacrificial offerings.

And I’m about to be the sacrifice. I thought. Feeling apprehension crawling through me until my breaths were shallow and my heart hammered so hard within my chest that I felt sure it might burst out at any moment.

I looked beyond the brothers flanking me and tried to see toward the ravine. Beginning to wonder if I might make it if I ran.

Maybe he would meet me there? Some old hope still lingered in me despite how long it had been since I saw my friend.

Fires burned around the stage to keep people warm, and nearby was the camp well. A brief thought of diving in it to hide to struck me. A thought which was quickly chased by how futile that effort would be.

A waste of time. They’d merely fish me out to face whatever consequences the alpha deemed appropriate.

We were near the front of the stage when suddenly the bigger male near me snapped his head in my direction. He looked over my head as if I were not worth his time as he caught me about my waist and absentmindedly set me atop the raised platform. Leaving me sitting there so my legs dangled off the edge.

As if I were no more than a bag of wheat he was setting in storage.

I seem to be of about equal concern to him. I noted.

The alpha’s other son rounded to the front of the steps to go up those on the heels of the alpha. He then walked over to offer me a hand up.

I used it as leverage to get to my feet.

His hand was larger than mine and comfortably warm.

I peered up at him as I rolled to my knees and stood. He was a handsome blonde male. With much kinder features than the larger one.

I couldn’t help feeling the calluses on his hands and wondering if he was the boy that’d once led me through the woods by holding my hand.

My immediate thought was ‘no.’ It was too much larger and not as rough as his had been. His hands had felt as if he worked everyday without rest.

That was a singular detail that stuck out in my mind.

Also, this male’s grip was different. Lighter and more coaxing. Rather than taking mine and running.

Perhaps it’s only because we’ve gotten older. I reminded myself not to lose hope.

I was looking at each male in the pack, wondering if any of them could be the boy that had taken care of me.

Could any of them be the one that was kind to me when no one else was.

The Alpha’s son led me across the stage and turned me around to face the crowd.

Madrik and his other son joined me there.

Madrik stepped forward. “I present to my pack, the only surviving daughter of the original wolf, Fury!”

There were resounding gasps.

“A pureblood female...” They were nearly breathless with wonder.

They whispered to each other conspiratorially. Speaking of me as if I were a rare mare rather than one of them. 

My blood isn’t entirely pure. I wanted to object. Mother was still mixed blood. A sorceress amongst wolves.

I looked to the alpha and saw he’d made his point. He has everyone’s attention.  

It was a revelation to me that what he was saying wasn’t a matter of fine details. It’s the point of how much pureblood I can offer a male of similar lineage.

I swallowed. That realization landed like a boulder in my stomach. Any male wanting stronger blood in their descendants will want to be the one to mate with me.

Suddenly I feared that I wouldn’t just be mated but possibly be commanded to have multiple mates. Or be given to someone as a reward. Or an incentive.

My pulse beat in my ears and my vision blurred. For a moment I was so lightheaded that I thought I might pass out.

“Devastation.” Madrik announced my name to them. “A fine specimen, indeed.”

The alpha thoughtfully lifted a twining blonde strand of hair which crossed over my shoulder and ran along my side to drape near my hip.

“A girl that has been healed by her own power. She can now see and hear. No longer the broken creature that I may be in a place of protection now. But that could change any moment.

I needed to watch what I said.

Even if it was the Spark’s power which healed me…

***

There was very little sound in response to his words.

I stared at all their faces in horror. Hating the greedy way they looked me up and down.

I don’t know what I expected, but they looked at me like I was some commodity they could acquire.

Several males gave grunting sounds of approval.

Others shifted closer to the platform in order to more thoroughly inspect me.

I glowered at all of them. Feeling humiliated and annoyed by the way I was forced to be on display for them.

Little did I know that the alpha was saving the best for last. “Come the Mating Moon, she will run free, ripe for the taking.”

I growled slightly, stepping further back. Retreating from their view in my malcontent at hearing him say that about me.  

The Alpha’s head whipped to look at me as if my objecting noise were evidence of her words.

“See her,” He gestured to me. “She’s spirited and beautiful. A fine creature for any male to mount.”

I wanted to argue but was raised knowing better than to argue with the Alpha while the pack looked on.

That’s a good way to get killed.

I don’t need him making an example of me.

The slenderer one of the brothers was fumbling for my wrist. When he caught it, he used it to lead me down the steps off the stage.

By my wrist. I stared at his hold on me and was sure that the boy I knew would have never held me by anything other than my hand.

I gave this man a quick look. “What happens now?”

“Now you join us for the festivities in your honor.” He grinned. “A few banquets, the outside ball, and the gathering of course.”

I didn’t know what any of those things were.

I was feeling a lot overwhelmed, and more than a little queasy at the prospect of being so socialized, after spending so long locked away. “I’m not sure I can do this.” 

“You can.” He grinned again. “We’ll get you through this, won’t we Ajax?” He peered around me to spot the larger man who had materialized at my other side as silently as he vanished earlier.

So, he is Jamie then. I looked at the man gripping my arm.

That first day, when the Spark’s burn had still seared into my soul, it had been this boy who’d gone and gotten my mother. Without him I’d have died.

I gave his profile another study.

Remembering the shadowy outline of my boy as I looked at him. Hoping that I might be able to knit them together. But after careful examination of all the details I could recall, I still couldn’t tell.

I’m not sure I ever will. I thought, disheartened.

I sighed. Deciding then and there, that it would be my mission over the next few days to watch everyone’s faintest movement for any hint of the boy I knew.

The male I want for my mate. I mentally noted.

I will spot him. He’ll give himself away in one way or another. I told myself. We knew each other so well.

Still, I couldn’t help wondering why he wasn’t already rushing to the edge of the stage to declare that he was the one who’d been kind to me before and that I was already his.

He has to know it’s me. Has to. My heart screamed for him.

Perhaps I was wrong for thinking so, but I felt like he should be here, already staking his claim on me before all of them.

How can he not feel the same about me? I pondered. I was so sure that we were forever connected.

My eyes scanned the crowd. Landing on the most intent faces watching me. Could he be one of them?

There was the doe-eyed man was still lurking further back from the rest. Leaning against one of the pillars over the well as he watched all that’d happened on the stage.

To my left was the other man, the one that had bumped against me as we walked here.

The one I already don’t like. I assessed his black hair and blue eyes. He was massive, this eldest of the Alpha’s sons.

He was the one that had set me up on the stage so easily. There was some kind of unearthen beauty in his movements. He exuded an air of confidence and power that drew one’s eye.

But there wasn’t a shred of kindness on his face which meant he couldn’t be the one I searched for.

Nearby I caught yet another male watching me greedily. His gaze barely reached my face, as it roved over my body like wild hands trying to reach every bit of exposed skin. His red hair ruffled and his green eyes were a bit too familiar for my comfort.

I looked hastily away from him, feeling my cheeks heat.

“What are you blushing for, girl?” The rumbling voice calling me out on my shame, belonged to the mammoth sized male who had just stepped off the stage. That one that I was already finding abhorrent.

Ajax.

His black hair was pulled back into a tight tether at his nape. He was deeply tanned, and his expression was severe. As if he chastised me for flushing.

As if he’d chastises me for everything. I inwardly grumbled.

“This is all a bit much for me.” I murmured under my breath. Refusing to meet those cruel eyes.

“It’ll be okay.” Jamie lifted my wrist to pat the back of my hand in what seemed a rather awkward gesture of reassurance.

“Perhaps you should’ve come out of that shack a bit sooner than, aye?” Ajax tilted sideways to murmur to me. But it didn’t sound like a teasing comment. It sounded like judgement.

Because I’ve done nothing to support the pack? I wondered at his harshness. Shooting him a quick glance.

He was staring straight ahead, as though I mattered little more than a fly buzzing at his shoulder.

“Don’t mind him.” Jamie said. “He doesn’t like anyone.”

“Which is fine.” Ajax countered, glowering at him. “Since he compensates by catering to everyone.”

“Ohh.” Jamie gave his big brother a mock pout. “Your words cut like sharpened rocks.”

“I’ll cut you with a sharpened dagger if you keep being snide.”

Suddenly the brothers were arguing around me as if I weren’t there at all.

And somehow, I felt even more out of place then I had when I was almost completely deaf and blind.