A Sense of Mate

The Pull Away

Our car turned off Emporium Drive and headed towards 'The Edge', an area of LoneBay designated for Omega families.  LoneBay itself is a cove town, sitting in a kind of valley. The ocean and town at the front, while cliffs covered by a thick forest, form a protective semi-circled edge around the back of the town.  Our house is located on that protective cliff line, hence the name, I just realised the irony; living on the edge of town whilst being on the edge of pack society.  Ten years ago, before Alpha Graham and his Beta were challenged and killed by our now current leader Andrew, pack life was very much different.  My family and other's like us were treated fairly and equally.  We actually used to live in a townhouse, five minutes away from the boardwalk and my Dad's restaurant.  All pack businesses put a quarter of their earnings into the clan account, not to make Alpha Graham rich, but to ensure that when the tourists had gone home we all had enough to survive on during the winter months.  All the pups played with each other, there was no segregation, and Goddess help any of the kids caught trying to force a submission command.  But that was ten years ago.  When Andrew took over that harmony ended.

       It took less than a day for Andrew to rip our community to shreds,  although I was seven at the time I remember the wave of grief that flooded through the pack.  Any wolf that was an Omega was no longer free and were to be treated as such.  If you had a problem with that order, you were taken to the packhouse, forced to shift and collared to a post.  You were kept there until you either changed your mind or died from the wounds inflicted by the silver band around your neck.  It only took the loss of a couple of wolves before that resistance stopped.  A few weeks after that houses at the 'Edge' had been built, and our townhouse which my parents owned was given, not sold, to a Gamma family.  We couldn't fight the command order, so we went quietly. 

    A decade later and here we still are.  As mom drives along our row I stare out the window at the houses.  Outwardly they all look the same.  Simple, grey painted wooden house-shaped structures, with gravel drives at the front, and small fenced-off gardens at the back.  When you compare them to the homes in town they were far from modern, but thankfully they weren't shacks either.  Anyway, a house is just a shell really, it's the inside that makes it a home.  Mom pulls onto our little driveway and cuts off the engine.

    "Jessa, when we get inside I need you to go to your room and not say anything. Not to your father and definitely not to Tara. Do you understand?" my mother says quietly, staring directly at the house.

    "What! why?" I ask stunned at her request.

    "We need time to process " she sighs. "We need to prepare Tara and I cannot do that if you are there in front of me".  Still, she doesn't look at me.

    "Prepare Tara for what Mom? this is happening to me too.  I deserve to understand what this all means for us" I could feel the tears begin to well.

    "Damn it, for however long is left, you are still a child living under my roof and you will do as you are damn well told" she snapped at me.  "Now.  Get in the house, go to your room and stay there".  With that I watched my mother get out of the car and slam the door behind her.  I've seen mom angry before, but this was new.

     It took all of my will power to get myself out of the car, and my legs felt weighted with each step I took towards the house.  Mom was already at the front door, and I could see her patience was gone as she waited for me to pass her.  Dad was standing under the archway that separated our front room from the kitchen.   Anytime that Tara or I were out of the house for a while, then Dad hugs were demanded as soon as we got back.  Instinctively I went over to see him.  

    "JESSA!" my mom growls, I flinch. 

    Hoping for some form of reassurance I glance back to my dad, but I get nothing.  Instead, he just turns away from me.  Panic sets in and turn around and bolt up the stairs to my room.  I lean against the door as it shuts behind me.

    "Esti, what the actual f**k is going on?" my thoughts fill with panic.  "Mom growled at us, dad turned away from us.  I don't understand why they are being like this?".  Esti paces quietly in my head for a few moments.  Then a wave of sadness begins to knot in my stomach.

    "Jess, they're rejecting you" my wolf whispers in a gentle tone, and I feel her crouch down to nuzzle my mind in comfort.  Feeling empty, my back slides down the door.  I bury my head into my knees and allow the tears I had been fighting so hard to hold on to out.