Wolven Rising: Untold Stories

GR-11: Out of the Shadows

Shasta

I wasn't able to spend any time alone with Alana over the next few days, but it was enough to see her going about her business with a smile on her face. She always seemed to be busy, helping out with tasks related to the Gathering, helping to mind some of the pack's pups, or running other errands. She even joined us for a couple of meals. Those were the hardest though, since I had to be very careful not to pay her any special attention. Or even look at her too much, which was frankly all I wanted to do. But the presence of her brother side by side with Harlie was a stark reminder that doing that was not allowed. Still, sometimes I caught her eye, and she always smiled warmly—if fleetingly—at me. I felt my own insides melt a little each time.

It wasn't like I hadn't been busy myself, although it was with very different tasks and work. I continued to train, but we also had the trial for Peter and his stolen mate. Luckily, that led to a win for him, but it turned out to be a huge scandal for Canyon Trails, due to the arrest of their Beta and disappearance of their Alpha. I still couldn't believe it. I wished I could have helped look, but as we were still waiting for the Council's decision for official pack status, Kendria and Rowan both thought it was best if we stayed behind.

Now, I was sitting in the dining hall snacking on some bruschetta while finishing the book Alana had lent me. It was not only good, but it made me feel closer to her, reading something that she was interested in. Almost like showing me a small corner of what the world she escaped into looked like. That's how I felt about reading, anyway.

As far as I knew, nobody in either my delegation or in Harvest Moon knew that we had met each other, or had continued to speak. I tried not to think too hard about it, after how kind she seemed. Even when I accidentally became vulnerable, she responded with understanding and encouragement. At least, I thought it was. There was this little nagging feeling in my head, though, that she was keeping quiet about it because she was ashamed of our acquaintance.

I don't think so, Hunter said contemplatively. I was still getting used to having rational conversations with him regarding the opposite s*x. It was a nice change, but a little unnerving all the same.

Well, what do you think, then—

"Shasta!"

I looked up to see Kendria right in front of me. How did she sneak up on me? "Yeah?" I asked, closing the book with the cover face down.

"We have a council meeting in fifteen minutes. The Elders want to meet with the three of us!" Kendria exclaimed. "Hurry and change your shirt. Harlie said no plaid."

I leaped to my feet. "s**t. Okay. Give me five minutes."

Kendria eyed the clock on the wall. "I'll give you three."

"Back in two!" I called over my shoulder as I ran out of the dining hall. This was probably the last thing they needed from us before they made their final decision. It might be the most important meeting I'd ever attend in my life. Hopefully, I was ready.

I was so preoccupied getting all the pack business statistics straight in my head that I nearly crashed into Alana on the stairs. "Augh!" I cried out, wobbling precariously. "Sorry!"

Alana giggled. "You have nothing to be sorry for, you missed me this time!"

I regained my balance and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"While I have you, I finished the next book," Alana informed me while I tried not to get stuck on the idea of her 'having me.'

"Oh, already?" I was just about done with the book you lent me, myself," I said, showing it to her.

She beamed. "So you decided to read it?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I told you a few days ago, I was going to. You didn't believe me?"

Her cheeks reddened. "N-no, I did. I guess I wasn't sure if you'd read it until the end or not."

"After starting it, there was no way I was going to stop. It's good," I said, feeling a strange urge to reach out and wipe the blush off her cheeks with my fingertips.

"Well, I'm glad. I have it upstairs in my room. I can give it back to you if you want to wait?" Alana asked, trailing off.

Shit, the meeting! "Oh, I can't right now." I glanced up the stairs. How many minutes had gone by? One? Two?

"Oh, okay," she said, her face falling a little.

I panicked a little, seeing her looking sad. I never wanted to be the reason for that. "No, no, it's not that," I said, waving my hands. "It's just that I have to appear before the Council in like ten minutes."

"Oh. Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you," Alana said, standing off to the side so I could go up the stairs. "I'll just put the book on the floor by your door, then?"

I nodded, although I was disappointed she didn't want to arrange a time to meet later. "Yeah. Better yet, you can just leave it on the dresser inside my room, so it doesn't accidentally get taken or damaged in the hall."

"O-okay, sure," she stammered a little. "You should get going so you aren't late. Good luck!"

With that, she fluttered her fingers at me and exited through the door I had just come out of. I stood rooted to the spot, staring at the place she used to be.

Uh, earth to Shasta? Get your ass moving! Hunter ordered.

Right! I snapped out of it and bounded up the stairs three at a time. I only had seven minutes left before I would be officially late.

---

Alana

I slipped upstairs to grab Shasta's book from my room. On my way out, I ran past my mom on the couch in the living room. "Hey, mom, I'll be back soon—"

"Alana, could you wait a moment, please?" My mom said in a serious tone, sipping her cup of tea.

I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned. "Yes?" I asked nervously. She usually reserved her serious voice for when Mason or I were in big trouble. It was mildly terrifying, since you had no idea how bad it was going to be.

"Could you come sit down here, please?" My mom said, patting the seat beside her. "Just for a minute."

I trudged over and sat down, tucking the book inconspicuously under my thigh.

"I'd like to talk to you about something," my mom said carefully.

"What is it?" I asked, clasping my hands tightly together on my lap.

My mom's soft fingers slowly pried my hands apart, and she took one of them in her own. "I've noticed you spending some time with the potential pack delegation, lately," she stated.

"I guess," I said, keeping my voice carefully neutral. "So has Mason."

"Mason is spending time with his new mate," my mom said, a small smile tilting the corners of her lips. She and my dad were keeping their distance for now at Mason's request, but I knew they were ecstatic that he had found his mate. Her smile was gone, though, as quickly as it appeared. "That does not explain your own preference for spending time with them."

"Well, I want to get to know Harlie, too," I said defensively. Was I not allowed to do that? Did I really have that little freedom?

"It's not Harlie I'm concerned about," my mom said, looking at me intently, "but another member of their delegation has given me cause for concern."

Against my will, my face flushed. There was only one person she could be talking about. But for some reason, I couldn't make myself come clean. "And who would that be?" I asked faintly.

Disappointment painted my mom's face. "Now, Alana, I didn't teach you to be deceptive. I won't claim to know the details, but I do know you had a secret rendezvous with their potential Beta in the orchard earlier this week."

"I-i-it wasn't a rendezvous!" I burst out. "We just wanted to talk about books!"

She raised her eyebrows. "Whether it was innocent or not, and I'm hoping very much that it was, you still put yourself in great danger. What if he had taken advantage of you? What of your reputation? If you are seen as damaged, your mate might reject you when the time comes, and I don't want you to go through that pain. You're lucky your father and brother didn't find out, or we might have had a diplomatic disaster on our hands."

I felt the weight of her accusations crash all around me. All that work. All that hard work I did, striving to be worthy of my family, worthy of being a Beta's daughter, went up in a puff of smoke. But what did it matter if I was perfect, if I couldn't have the one thing I wanted? I stood up quickly, pulling my hand out of her grasp. "Shasta would never take advantage of me! He has every consideration for my reputation! Meeting in the orchard was my idea! If my mate has any sort of brain, he wouldn't reject me for 'being damaged.' If he does reject me for something as stupid as that, then good riddance!" I ended my ranting, panting and chest heaving with my sudden burst of emotion.

My mom blinked, taken aback. "Alana! This is not like you."

"Maybe this is exactly like me!" I said, tears springing to my eyes. "I'm sorry I don't measure up to your idea of a perfect daughter, but—"

My mom pulled me into a hug before I could say anything else. "Alana, I'm sorry. I didn't think you would be that upset by this conversation. I just don't want you to get in too deep with this boy and live to regret it. I want the best for you."

I sniffled. "Okay."

"And Alana?" she said, pulling back and tipping my chin up. "You are the perfect daughter. Perfect because of who you are, not because of any so-called standards you think I might have. I want you to be happy."

I nodded, too choked up to speak. My mom sighed, releasing me. "I would advise you to refrain from meeting...Shasta one-on-one in the future, but you are nearly a grown woman now. I suppose you can make your own decisions. If you keep seeing him, there's nothing I can do to stop you. Just please, for your own sake, protect your heart."

"I will," I said, grabbing Shasta's book from the couch and hurrying out the door without saying goodbye. I took several deep breaths, calming myself down a little. That was the last thing I was expecting when I came up here, that's for sure.

I wanted to believe her, that she only wanted me to be happy. That she just wanted me to be myself. But I couldn't forget the disappointment on her face, the way she seemed more concerned about appearances than what was truly going on. I hated the fact that my mom passed judgment on Shasta so quickly. She didn't even know him! I knew her to be open and accepting of everyone. Why didn't that seem to include him? What had he ever done?

In her mind, he probably ravaged us in the orchard, Zusa said.

This is no time for jokes, I retorted, swiping angrily at the last of the tears on my face.

I'm not joking.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to take a few more deep breaths. This time, it helped a little more. Regardless of what she thought, she should have asked.

I agree. But her heart is in the right place.

I sighed. I know.

The more I calmed down, the more ashamed I felt of how I had reacted. I mean, what other conclusion could my mom have arrived at, based on the evidence? I had been hiding Shasta, hiding him like a dirty little secret. In reality, he was anything but. I wanted to be able to see him, talk to him whenever I wanted, for my family to accept him as they had Harlie.

We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, Zusa said softly. We still have a few months to go before we turn eighteen. He might not be ours.

Oh Zusa. At this point, I don't know what I'll do if he turns out to belong to someone else, I replied sorrowfully, hugging Shasta's book to my chest. How could this be? In such a short time, he had become my primary focus. I treasured every word of every conversation we shared, both in public and in private. Never, out of all the male wolves I met both within the pack and when traveling, had I ever felt like this. If he wasn't mine by fate, would he agree to be mine by choice?

Remember his pack values, Zusa reminded me quietly.

Oh. Zusa's words reminded me of a conversation in the dining hall only the day before. Kendria, leaning her head on Rowan's shoulder, had said it in response to something stupid my brother said.

"Blue Hills didn't allow chosen mates," she had said simply, squeezing Rowan's bicep. "We believed that the Moon Goddess gifted us all with fated mates, whether or not you were lucky enough to meet them. If Lonely Haven becomes a pack, we intend to uphold the same values when it comes to mates."

After that, Shasta and I were left as awkward fifth and sixth wheels while the two couples conducted some brief public displays of affection at the table. I remembered glancing at him and catching his eye, smiling at him but feeling a little uneasy inside.

So, Shasta would very likely not want a chosen mate. I frowned to myself, trying not to get upset.

Girl, you have got to relax. We have three months. Then we'll know for sure, one way or the other.

Tell me, Zusa, do you want him to be our mate?

I like him. He is fine, and I bet his wolf is, too. Plus, I like the way he treats you and the way he makes you feel. He is good to you. He's good for you, Zusa said.

I smiled. I could feel her longing, much the same as my own. She was right. We had three months. In that time, I had to get to work. I wanted my mom to see Shasta in a new light. My dad and brother, too. And for that, I had to show them the kind of person he truly was.

I marched down the stairs to the guest floor, intending to drop off Shasta's book before sitting down and making a plan for changing my mom's perspective of him. However, just as I was about to open the door to his room, another door down the hall opened, and a middle-aged woman from his delegation emerged.

Hastily, I let go of the doorknob, switching to knocking on the door instead.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked kindly, coming up to me. "Shasta isn't here right now."

"Oh, he's not?" I asked innocently, even though I knew he wouldn't be. "Okay, then. I was just hoping to return his book, but I guess I'll come back later."

"You're Alana, right? I'm Tamara," she said, shaking my hand. "It's nice to formally meet you, after seeing you at the dinner table a few times."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I should have introduced myself earlier," I said, lamenting my lack of courtesy. Shasta was more of a distraction than I thought.

"Oh, it's nothing," Tamara said dismissively. "I like to keep out of the way of you young folks. Especially now that my daughter is navigating the waters of matehood."

"Who is your daughter?" I asked inquisitively.

"Harlie is, honey," Tamara said with a smile. "So I suppose, in a way, we're in-laws."

"I can't believe I didn't know that!" I said emphatically. "That makes me happy," I said, meaning it. She seemed really nice.

"I'm glad," she said, smiling wider. Now that I was paying more attention, I could see Harlie's features in her mischievous eyes and wide mouth. "Well, if you're looking for Shasta, he's down in the event building, meeting with the Council with Harlie and Kendria. I can't imagine they'll be too much longer, if you want to try and catch him there."

"Oh! Thank you, I think I'll do that," I said. "It was nice to meet you, Tamara."

"Nice to meet you too," she said, her eyes crinkling at the sides with delight.

We said our goodbyes and went opposite ways down the hall. I felt practically giddy. Tamara, bless her, had unwittingly just given me my first opportunity to start showing the world that Shasta meant something to me. To show him that he meant something to me. Even if it was just as friends for now.

It was time to take that first baby step out of the shadows.