HALF-HUMAN AND HALF-WOLF

Episode3 (HOME?)

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AVA'S POV

“Look at me."

A blunt instruction, one which left me shivering. I drew back, and steeled myself to look at her. Sitting across from me, the silver-haired woman was a beauty to behold. The witch.

Her face was weathered, worn. Not even the blinking of her eyes registered a movement when she capered and leaped round and round a circle, trilling words far from sense.

The council of elders lurked in the shadows, watching with a power that made me seethe. They had demanded to summon their moon goddess before accepting me into the Seamoon Pack, and now I was furious for every step that had brought me to this point that I stood.

"Look at me and remain calm" she instructed again, her voice firm as a stone. I obeyed this time. My heart thudded within my breast, louder than it does when I was trapped in the woods trying to find my way to this god-damned place. Seamoon Pack.

It had been the pendant that got me here. Following my mother's instructions. And here I was, standing before people who didn't value guests, nor know courtesy but only gazed with cold eyes. The dwarf that had led me here, whose gaze had not even reached mine had vanished into thin air.

Good riddance. He did what he came here to do.

“Annoying as hell", I growled, looking around the room. They all still stared at me like I was some decorated statue for attraction in a damned museum. My gaze darted to the door. The shithead had bolted. As expected.

I caught her eyes; Nana Gathy. The woman who once had family ties with my father. My mothers warnings lingered in my mind; “Watch out for Nana Gathy”.

"You seem stubborn like your father," she told me, lips compressed, voice broken with scorn. Her words struck a chord deep inside of me. The witch stopped spinning.

"She carries the mark. The moon obeys her. She is pure blood!. She is her father's daughter!" she bellowed. "She's Alpha Ballows' daughter!"

A gasp swept through the room. Even the walls seemed to draw breath with them. I felt the weight of their silence, the bite of their eyes. Nana Gathy's eyes never left mine: piercing, cold, deadly.

She searched for weakness. But I was not going to provide it to her. I've heard her story.

‘She has an evil underground agenda'.

My mother had warned. Her voice haunted me now more than ever.

“Your Majesty”, the witch cried, bowing so low I feared she'd snap in two. The elders followed, a tardy ripple of obedience.

"Medicine after death," I muttered, sarcasm thick.

A pity.

The hypocrisy was staggering. Their instant reverence came too late and too falsely. I hadn't asked for this. I didn't want their pack, their lines, or their worship. I wanted answers. I wanted peace instead.

"Finally, some quietness", I whispered, sarcasm interlaced with bitterness. But who cared? I wasn't here for legacy. I had a life elsewhere. A human life. This; this was madness.

"You think this is peace?" a voice snarled behind me. I spun angrily. A white-eyed elder stepped forward.

"Excuse me?" I commanded, though my heart already pounded with the wrong answer.

"Your existence is an abomination," he sneered. "Your presence here is a blight. Your father was a traitor. A coward who……"

"You will not speak of my father in those terms!" I spat, my voice shaking like steel before it cuts. "You have no right to besmirch his name.".

The old man blinked, shocked by my voice. He made a slight bow, but I saw it; the flashing of his gaze to Nana Gathy.

Something unspoken passed between them. Something foul.

"I'd not be standing here if not for the two wolves who brought me," I declared, my voice louder, brasher, flinging words like knives through the room.

The council fidgeted, hums vibrating like insects.

"Whom are you referring to, my lady?" the first elder inquired, his tone now less than certain.

"Enough!" Nana Gathy interrupted. "Let the young woman breathe." Her smile was honey over venom. "You must rest, my dear."

Rest?

As if that would snuff the war they had kindled in me.

However, I bowed. A little gesture of pretend peace. I followed the guard out of the room, but my eyes lingered on the old woman. I wasn't safe. Not exactly. Not yet.

But I would make it through this.

I will get back to my life. My human life.

The beauty of the peach garden fascinated me. An escape from the suffocating room I have been stucked in since my arrival. I didn't realize someone approached me.

Nana Gathy.

My heart skipped a beat. Anger. Hatred.

You walk like him," she said.

I stood there. "Excuse me?"

"Your father. He moved in that very stubborn manner; as though the world was obligated to answer him."

I moved a step closer, chin held high, "And you don't think it does?"

Her eyes, searching. Waiting.

"I am relieved to find you alive", her voice unyielding. No emotion.

My heart stuttered. I couldn't see through her.

Of all members of the council, I was most intimidated by her. Not because she shouted. Because she never did. Her silence was a sign of strength, heritage and judgment.

But when she emerged, her face wasn't cold. It was blank. Her eyes scanned me over, not suspiciously; rather, in awe.

"Thanks for staying alive", she touched my shoulder gently. A smile. Pretty one.

I stiffened. Watching her for any expression "And you didn't come fetch me?"

Her eyes met mine; gray, clear, old. "Your father requested I not. He said you'd be safer away from here. I didn't agree. But I obeyed.".

Something coiled deep within my chest. Believe

"You never hated me?," I asked

Nana's lips stretched into a sorrowful smile. "I was resentful. Not at you. To your mother, maybe. To your father, definitely. But never the child who never demanded any of it."

"The throne is yours, Ava. It awaits you", she smiled. Her white face glows in the bright sun.

My legs weakened, betraying me. I watch her stroll into the other side of the palace.

Why am I feeling this way?.

~~

Three weeks slipped like mist; thin, cold, impossible to grasp. Days blended together. The pack's rhythm pulled me in, even as I resisted. I trained with guards. Read yellowed scrolls about my father. Nodded through wedding ceremonies I didn't ask for. And somewhere in between, I caught myself being attracted to Lucas.

The man I was to marry.

It began as a duty. A name. A title.

But then I saw his smile in my mind's eye. How his voice softened when he was only talking to me. How he looked at me, like I was not just a stranger; all of them did look at me like a stranger, but him not exactly. Lucas made this worthwhile.

But not safe.

She kept watching me, I felt again; Ciara.

Always waiting. Always a warm smile, or so it seemed.

I did not distrust her.

But the tension dissipated anyway. Then the arrow came.

It cut across my ear, biting and cruel. I didn't have time to scream. I tried to shift, to dodge, but Ciara took me down.

We hit the ground. The world spun round and round.

Another arrow. Then another."Help!" I yelled.

Ciara pushed me again, and she stood in front of me and whatever was shooting.

Then…. A scream.

Ciara's scream.

The arrow had struck her leg. It was running blood. She fell. "Ciara!" I cried, trying to get to her. She thrashed, teeth bared. "I'm fine," she snarled. "Get down."

Guards flooded in, arrows flying, in hot pursuit of the attacker. But my eyes were still locked on hers.

The same one I was beginning to distrust… had been there for me. She's bleeding for me.

Why?" I breathed, pressure on her wound, hands shaking. Ciara attempted a lopsided grin. "Because it is my duty as your friend and sister. You must not die, your majesty".

Tears stung my eyes. "You saved me."

"Stop please, don't get all teary-eyed on me," she grumbled, trying to sit up. "I did it wholeheartedly."

"Who would do this?" I snarled, a gritty voice. "Who wants me dead?"

She said nothing. Simply look at me, as if she knew.

And then, abruptly, I wasn't sure whom I should be the most afraid of. The one hiding in the darkness who could kill… Or secrets waiting to leap from people's eyes.