Chapter Five

After helping the priest, I went back home to check on my mother again. She was still asleep thanks to the priest’s potions, but she was looking a lot better. My whole family were still watching over her anxiously, so I took the opportunity to tell them about the soulmate bond.

Lucas reacted first by bursting into laughter. I did not bother asking him what was so funny. I was sure that the joke was not complimentary to me.

Honey, on the other hand, seemed a bit too excited. She threw her arms around me and exclaimed “that’s wonderful! Congratulations!”

I quickly ducked out of her embrace.

“It’s not like that,” I explained. “We’re not getting married or anything. We’re just friends.”

“What do you mean?” she asked with a frown.

So I tried to explain everything that the priest had told me, but she still looked just as confused when I had finished.

“It’s a relief, either way,” our father interjected before Honey had a chance to ask anymore questions. “With that bond, I doubt the new alpha would be willing to risk doing anything that will upset you. That means that the rest of us will still be safe within this pack.”

Luca immediately stopped laughing. I supposed that my father’s words had led him to realise the new reality that we lived in. As the alpha’s soulmate, I had power over him and the rest of the pack. Of course, I would never actually use that power but the idea seemed to make Luca uncomfortable.

I should be glad of that, I supposed. Even though he was two years younger than me, I felt as if Luca had been bullying me for my entire life. I had always wished he would one day grow out of it, and yet the idea that the soulmate bond would change our dynamic sickened me. I wanted him to respect me for who I was, not because he was forced to by something outside of our relationship.    

Now it was evening and I had joined the rest of the pack at the temple for the leadership ceremony. A large bonfire burned at the centre of the stone circle. We all stood around it in our wolf forms.

The heat of the fire was making my fur feel uncomfortably warm. I wanted to shift back to my human skin, but I had to wait until the ceremony was finished. I silently cursed the priest for building the fire so large. Apparently it was necessary for getting the Moon Goddess’s attention, so that she could witness the pack submit to its new leader. As the lowest ranked werewolf, and therefore the least important, I would be the last to offer my submission. So I was forced to wait.

As tedious as the whole thing felt to me, I was sure that it was worse for Trist. I watched as he walked around the circle, the orange light of the fire reflecting off his white fur. He stopped before each wolf and sniffed at their face, then the other wolf would tilt their head back and expose their necks to his teeth. Trist had to do this over and over again, yet I did not sense any frustration through the bond. Just relentless calmness.

At last, it was my turn. Trist stopped before me, large and imposing. I forced myself to be patiently still as he leant forward to sniff me, his nose bumping against my snout and our breath mingling. Then he drew back and it was time for me to bare my neck.

Every instinct I had screamed at me not to do it. He was big, dangerous and despite our bond I did not fully trust him. Yet he was the alpha and if I wanted to remain part of the pack, I had no other choice.

I tilted my head and Trist gently pressed his teeth against my throat. An uncomfortable shiver wracked through my body. Then he was gone and the ceremony was complete.

Somebody began to howl and most of the pack joined in. I turned away and went to find my clothes, so that I could shift back to human. It was time for a feast, and I was responsible for getting some of the meat out of the storehouse. I ran back to the village and returned with a crate filled with recently butchered meat.

I passed the meat on to Mr. and Mrs. Thyme, who had set-up spits over the bonfire to roast it. I had to make several more trips to bring enough meat for the entire pack, but once it was done I was free to socialise. Or I would be, if they weren’t all still hovering around Trist.

He had shifted back to his human form and now seemed to be deep in conversation with Twig, one of Luca’s closest friends. It must have been a very boring conversation, because I knew for a fact that Twig was a very boring man, but most of the pack seemed riveted.

A few of the elderly wolves seemed to have already given up on winning Trist’s attention. They had formed their own, smaller group at the edge of the forest, but they kept throwing furtive glances towards Trist. They were probably gossiping about him, and I had no desire to join them.

I sighed and turned away, only to spot Trist’s mother, Daisy, standing by herself. In all of the excitement of a new alpha, the other new member of our pack seemed to have been forgotten. I did not want her to feel left out, so I went to join her.

“Are you adjusting to the pack all right?” I asked as I approached.

“Yes, thank you dear. Everyone’s been lovely. But I am sorry about what happened to your mother. Is she doing, ok?”

“Yes. My father said that she’s healing well.”

“Your father is the doctor, isn’t he?”

I nodded my head.

“That’s good. I’m glad she has someone like him to look after her. I’m not sure if you’ve already heard, but Trist has explained to the pack that he won’t be moving into the main hall right away. He doesn’t think that it would be a good idea to move her, so he and I will stay in the inn for now.”

Instantly, I was filled with gratitude. I had not even considered that my family would be forced to move out of the building that we had always called home. With the snow about to start, it would be impossible for the pack to build a new house and so we would all be forced to live in the inn which would be difficult with my mother’s condition.

“Then, I should thank him,” I said, glancing over at Trist who was now surrounded by most of the pack’s young women, some of them hanging onto his arms.

“When he’s not busy,” I added.

Daisy placed her hand on my arm, drawing my attention back towards her.

“I am very thankful for your…”

She leaned closer, her voice a mere whisper when she continued speaking.

“…bond. I think that having a connection with you will help Trist a lot. I’ve always worried about how he would adapt to a normal pack. You see, the pack we come from is unlike most others. The alpha used to be a human, as was I and all the other adults.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling guilty for the actions of my kind.

Humans that are bitten by werewolves would also become werewolves, almost like Goddess’s blessing was transmitted like an infectious disease. Ever since the humans won the war and colonised our land, they had implemented laws that made it illegal for werewolves to bite humans. Of course, many werewolves believed that human laws did not apply to them, so bitings still happened.

Daisy, however, shook her head.

“It was my own choice. I don’t regret it. The only regret I have is becoming involved with that pack. I should have realised that alpha was a bad man, but I was foolish. He was Trist’s father, you see. He used to be very proud of Trist, who was the strongest of all of his children. But as Trist continued to grow and become stronger, that pride soon turned to fear. He didn’t want Trist to take over as the new alpha, so he decided to kill him. When I realised what was about to happen, I took Trist and ran. We’ve lived as rogues ever since.”

There was a moment of stunned silence. I did not know what to say. I knew that werewolves rarely chose to live as rogues, but I had never imagined that Trist would be on the run from his own father. Thankfully, Daisy still had more to say.

“Trist has never had the chance to live a normal life. He needs someone to guide and support him. That’s why I was so glad to hear that he had you.”

Now I was feeling bad. My previous behaviour towards Trist could not be described as fair. He had agreed easily to everything that I wanted, yet I had acted irritably and irrationally. Even though I had told him that we would try to be friends, I had not actually tried. After listening to Daisy’s story, I realised that I needed to give him a chance.

So I lifted my head, looked into Daisy’s eyes and promised “I will try.”

The moment should have been solemn, except it was ruined by a sudden unexpected feeling. My head snapped towards Trist. He had his arms wrapped around the waists of two girls. One was plundering his mouth with her tongue while the other was rubbing up against him. I was feeling the echo of his pleasure.

Gross.

They broke apart, only for Trist to begin leading them away from fire towards the shadows of the forest. It seemed that his pleasure was only going to become stronger.

Good for him, but it was a feeling that I did not want to experience while talking to his mother. Or anyone else.

I quickly made my excuses and hurried home, slightly mad that I did not even get to try any of the meat that was still roasting over the fire.