Once Upon Many Times

Once upon a time. This is how so many fairy tales start, giving the reader, the listener, the sense that the fairy tales heard and passed down for many generations, will have a happy ending. This is not that fairy tale. I know. It’s my tale and I can tell you for a fact: I don’t see a happy ending for me. I, Ayailah, am the second-born daughter to an Alpha, who is quite disappointed in my birth. My father, like most typical males, wanted a son from his Luna, to continue with his legacy, his line, but instead, he had two daughters. My sister, Aileen, though female, had garnered our father's love and devotion, though it did take time. Her features were a reminder of his mother, whom he loved with all his heart but who was taken from him when he was young. She had not had the chance to be there when he had received his wolf, Romeo, nor meet his fated mate or first child. My sister was an almost spitting image of her, with blonde silky hair, eyes so blue they almost look unreal, her skin a lightly tanned glow. She is the most beautiful woman I have seen. My envy is tamped down because she is my sister and I love her greatly. When our mother found herself pregnant for the second time, the hope that she would bear the next Alpha heir was great. My father was sure that this would be his hope and wish coming to fruition. He had planned so much around the son he knew was to come. He didn’t let anything give him the possible doubt that THIS would be anything but a son. Upon the day they were to finally find out the s*x of their unborn pup, both of my parents had prayed that this would be it, their son was to be. Unfortunately, and obviously, this was not as they had hoped. My father was despondent to be told he was to welcome another daughter, his dreams dashed and shattered. My mother had been told after Aileen, that the chance of a second pregnancy was slim. Her body struggled the first time, so when she found herself pregnant a second longer pregnant, she hoped. She hoped to give her beloved a son, someone to pass the pack down to when her mate retired as the Alpha and her desire to give him that and then fail hurt her deeply. There would be no other pup to bear, her body would not be kind to her or the pup, so a decision was made not to try again. I am their disappointment and bear the brunt of that pain. When my sister was born, there was a celebration of her birth, the first child of Alpha Bellamy and Luna Damari of the Bloodstone Pack. Allied packs, and a few neighboring packs, were invited, some with a few of their unmated members, in the hope of making connections. The revelry was memorable, retold many times as it was the one time so many new mates were found, just like a freaking fairy tale. Yeah, I told you I sometimes get envious of my sister. When I was born, a celebration was held, because, of course, I was, after all, an Alpha’s child, but it was a lackluster affair. Because the first celebration, five years earlier, had brought so many finding their mates, hope was there to happen again. Can you guess what actually happened? You guessed it, nothing. Not a spark. Like seriously, why is this happening to me, why is my life so wrong? What did I do to be “rewarded” like this? Fate just hates me so much that I literally feel like a punchline to a very bad joke. To make matters worse, oh yeah it is, when I was born, there was a great shock to be had. I looked nothing like my family. My parents have a skin tone that looks like they were lightly toasted by the sun, a glow to them actually, with my father’s hair a dirty blonde coloring and blue eyes and my mother’s was such a deep black, it looks like it’s tinted blue with brown eyes. I, on the other hand, came out pale as the moon, with a shock of fiery red hair and deep emerald green eyes. Yep, I said it. I came out so wrong. Selene, help me. My mother had received accusatory looks from my father because of my appearance, but she had stated, emphatically, she had never cheated, nor thought to do so, and that there had to be an explanation as to why I came out the way I did, though she didn’t have one to offer. My father had no words. He ordered a paternity test and Alpha commanded the staff not to utter a single word about my mysterious appearance, as it would look bad that his fated mate had given birth to a pup who obviously did not look like either of them. He most definitely did not want to be the butt of anyone’s joke, whether said out loud or not. When the result came back, everyone was astounded. I was 100% his child, but believing it to be wrong, he had it tested multiple times, even going so far as to have it tested at a lab that was in the human world. They all came back conclusively the same, 100%. Shocked, my father had to accept I was his and that his mate had truly been faithful to him as well.