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Chapter 3

Jasper POV

I sighed, hiding my face in my hands as if they would make me disappear from this world. I didn’t want to participate in the Claiming. Not anymore. I couldn’t bear the deception every year now. I felt the control slipping through my fingers the more I witnessed it. Even if my father argued that this year was special and that I was compelled to attend.

Elders only told Alphas what was going down, and even if I was to enter my first lottery as my last step to take over my father's place as the Alpha and as a member of the Council, I wasn’t allowed to know. But I made up my mind already. I wouldn’t fight nor would I hunt any female. My future Beta, Kylon, would though. And he was the excited one that erupted in my bedroom, disturbing my peace while I was resting on my bed, postponing the moment I would have to pack up. He was the typical strong build, tall with broad shoulders, flirtatious man. Seemed like he had the talent to make the few females in our pack to fawn over him just by a look into his blue eyes.

“The hell you’re doing, still laying there. Haven’t you packed a single shirt, lazy slug?”

As an only answer to that, I let out a menacing growl, not even glancing in his direction, as he, himself, proceeded to pack my things into my opened luggage on the couch near the bay window. The sun was already high in the sky, and I was running behind schedule.

“You riding with me right?” he asked, throwing clothes at me.

Catching them before they hit my face, I shrugged, getting up reluctantly. “Of course. Why would I ride with my dad? I’ve heard enough for now about the rules and everything about the Claiming, and him talking strategy, riling up my ears any second about how much I need a Luna.”

I saw him wince. Even if he was hyped up and curious about the rumors of this year's batch, he was still affected by the unsettling vibe surrounding the concept. As us all.

As I slid under the shower, I couldn’t help but swallow the uneasiness and the disgust I always felt about it. That was my only motive to take over my dad’s place: make it stop. Years and years ago, wolves were regulated, yes, to keep the peace between packs and the human world. I envied their freedom. Free to meet and love one another. Whatever we did to upset the Moon Goddess to that point, it needed to be amended.

My dad, Alpha of the Eclipse Pack, like many others, didn’t get much chance. After years of waiting for his fated, he finally gave up and chose a mate. The Claiming was easier back in the day, as there were more females.

We lost my mom a few years after my birth, from which her body never truly recovered. He was broken, though she was not his true mate, he loved her dearly. It eventually pushed him to run for a seat on the Packs Council to see if he could help our species, our people, and me. I didn't know where he lost his will, but he didn’t do much. Not that I’m aware of or that I was ready to acknowledge as a real accomplishment.

Back in the day, they would proceed to the shift ceremony on the first day, right then and there, in front of everyone, alone, in the middle of the circle formed by the Packs Council. I'd been through the shift. Not fun. It was painful. I remembered wishing for someone to help me go through the pain, almost calling for my mom. But I would never admit that to anyone. Then, wolves would proceed into a parade on a stage like they were some merchandise for an auction, waiting for an escape, a fated mate bond to be created. They could shift back only after what could extend to hours depending on the attendance. These poor young wolves would have to shift back, showing all of their naked selves in front of hungry and desperate adults, without any consideration for what they were going through as teenagers and beginner shifters.

Now, a small change had been put in place a few years back: they also had to go through what they called a ball of coming-of-age, the ceremony was held the second night instead of the first day, with the Elders and a few special guests, still too many indifferent or ill-intentioned people, in my opinion. Maybe it was an improvement. Though I doubt it could appeased the Moon Goddess abandoning us, rumor slowly turning into belief that was spreading like wildfire, even in my heart.

Hunting is a primary instinct for a wolf, of course, but chasing another of your kind to mate by defeating another was bringing us back to being a single beast. I thought since the time our kind was created we would have evolved. But here we were.

At least, now, the number of males allowed in one claiming was controlled, considering many criteria based on the female part. The higher in rank, the higher the number of entries allowed. No mating was allowed on hunting grounds and no marking was allowed either. A chip would be implanted in the female so that the Council could track them on the ground and check on their vitals if things were to turn sour. I guessed we could consider that progress…

Young wolves had no choice but to comply. Adult wolves were desperate. We lost all freedom.

With that last thought, I turned off the shower. Time to go and try to do something about it.

We left soon after my, too long, shower. My future Beta was excited as a child on Christmas day. He was a hopeful romantic, even after all these years with no result at the claiming, or all these she-wolves trying to catch his attention. Even human women we would meet on some trip tried their luck with him. Truth be told, he almost yielded completely a few times. But relationship matters were already so complicated that he didn’t last long into that twisted game. For my part, having banned the idea of a dreamy salvation, I did caress the plan to escape from the pack to mingle with just any woman. But I did not. At this point, I didn’t care to have a woman, fated or not.

Halfway through our trip, I wanted to throw him out of the car. He was insufferable with all his talking, and I was about to be done. But he brought up one of my touchy topics, knowing too well he would pique my interest. “Do you really think she abandoned us?”

I didn’t need to ask who he was talking about. I ran my hand through my hair, trying to slow down my train of thought and organizing them before opening my mouth. We were both on edge, I didn’t want to fight with my best friend though I wish I could screw his head a few more rounds on his shoulders to be sure everything was well connected. My silence and long hesitation made him laugh slightly before he shot down completely. I glanced at him. I was at a loss with comforting words. My hopes dried hard long ago, and I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him even if I wanted to, to save me from that sad puppy look he had when I knew he talked about it to get some kind of reassurance. Every male who still had to be mated entertained the thought they could be lucky. I couldn’t blame them. But we were getting closer to acknowledging that the Moon Goddess abandoning her children was the painful truth.

“Everything will fall into place; I’ll work for it.” Was all I could mutter to ease his mind without mixing my hard beliefs into it. It seemed to work as he turned his head to face me and grabbed my shoulder to squeeze it tightly. “I wouldn’t fight by your side if I didn’t believe you could make it happen.”

Both awkwardly comforted, we let the silence take its place. It felt heavy and brought me back to all the problems I had to carry and that, soon enough, will be not only for my pack but for all of them. But I said nothing. I kept it all in, like I was raised to. Like I wanted to. It was my burden, my fight. And it all came to realization when we were stopped at the gate of the Neutral ground.

Sarabella POV

I think I have been staring at the wall for at least an hour, my eyes lost in the void of my thoughts. Malia and I were confined in our assigned rooms up until the gala in the evening. I tried to sneak out and get back with her, but as soon as I peeked out of a small opening of the door and saw the huge guard at my door, I squeaked and forgot about it. At some point, I started to get ready for the gala, twirling in front of the mirror, touching up my makeup, and getting busy, burying my nervousness far away, in the back of my mind. Time was flowing so slowly that I thought I was going crazy when I heard the voice of my sister in my head.

‘Open to me please’. I went to the door quickly to find no one behind it. As I closed it back, a movement coming from the window drew my attention and I turned quickly to look. Seeing Malia perched on the railing under the glass, I ran to open the window, tripping in my dress, almost ripping it, and stumbling up to her.

“You almost killed yourself for me, how sweet of you.” She laughed, checking on me as soon as she stooped in. She took a few steps back to close the window and I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. “Lia, I need to tell you something. I…”

Before I could keep talking, a knock on the door interrupted me and Malia let out a big and annoyed sigh. “Let’s go right now. I don’t want to be separated from you more, so let’s just rush to the hall together right now.” She glanced at me, and I could see the spark of worry in her eyes, but I saw more comfort than I could tell, which made me smile.

She grabbed me and I followed her to the door, only for her to open it and fall face-to-face with our dad. Mom was nowhere to be found, and it was very odd to see them both separated for that type of occasion. Normally, she would be glued to her hip. Brows furrowed, and I could sense Lia noticed too because Dad sighed, shaking his head slowly, acknowledging our expression with a soft laugh. “Don’t worry, girls. She is more than fine, and she is in an undisclosed venue. There are too many males here, even if she is mated, I didn’t want to take any risk.” He whispered before we could ask anything.

‘Don’t you think it’s fishy?’ Lia suggested, and I nodded in approval. I thought I was excited, but reality was catching up very quickly with me. Our kind is going feral, even with all the work from the Packs Council to keep us strong, and right now, we were coveted. My dad's hands on my wrist brought me back to the present, and I couldn’t help but smile for him, in hopes of comforting him. “Let’s go!” I exclaimed, trying to hide the tremble of my voice.

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