The Beta's Daughter

Bird

“Watching me?” I gasped. “But why?”

“That’s why Silver Shore are coming early,” Jacob said. He stood and slid the chair back under the table, and then moved to stand beside me. “Their patrols caught a rogue between our border and theirs. They’ve kept her for questioning. She hasn’t said much, apparently. But she did let one thing slip. They haven’t told us what, yet, though. They said they wanted to discuss it in person, but that it couldn’t wait for the ball.”

            “I’m sorry we chose to keep this from you,” Kele said. “It was wrong. You fought off a rogue singlehandedly. I am ashamed that I thought you could not protect yourself, that hearing this would weaken you.”

“It’s okay, Alpha Kele,” I said. My head was swimming with new information, but I was processing it quickly. I moved to add a dot to the map, and placed it where Rosa and I had come across the rogue.

            “In future,” Liliana said, a twinkle in her eye, “I will make damn sure that you are briefed on any and all pack occurrences. Especially those that involve you.”

“Thank you, Luna,” I smiled. “I want to help. With everything that threatens this pack, not just me.” I bowed my head. “If you’ll excuse me, Alpha, Luna, I think I’ve far surpassed my bed time.”

“Could you do us a favour and take Jacob with you?” Kele laughed.

“Come on,” I giggled, holding my hand out for him to take.

“I want to go anyway,” he said stubbornly. “Besides. I think Ari needs some sort of protection detail.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Kele said. “I’ll have a few of the warrior wolves stationed around the pack house. Not to say you can’t look after yourself-“

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I don’t want to put anyone at risk because of me, but they might target others to get to me. I know we can all take care of ourselves, but we’re stronger as a team.”

“I wholly agree,” Liliana smiled. “Now, off to bed with the both of you. Be safe,” she added.

“Thank you,” I replied. Jacob towed me out of the office and towards his bedroom.

            I’d left my phone charger on the floor by his bedroom door. I picked it up as I passed, and followed Jacob inside. Despite being on the Alpha’s floor, his room was a little smaller than mine. It was painted a deep forest green, and was sporadically decorated. There was a floor lamp beside his bed, which he flicked on, and an orange candle that I’d bought him a year or so ago. He’d broken his spine in training – by trying to show off and backflip into a shift, which we’d all said he definitely shouldn’t do, even if he could – and he’d moped around for the next week and a half while he was stuck in bed rest. I’d wanted to get him something to cheer him up. The candle smelt like pumpkin spice lattes, which he used to drive over an hour away to get when autumn rolled around – though I was sworn to secrecy on that fact. I’d rolled my eyes, and told him that liking a tasty coffee was nothing to be ashamed of, but he refused to relent. There were some subjects that he remained pig-headed about, but thankfully they were rarely ones that mattered. The candle had been well used, and I smiled smugly. Maybe he was learning.

            There were a couple of framed posters, some of films, and others of landscapes which were mostly woodland scenes, and there was a wide corkboard leant against the wall. He’d used drawing pins to stick on a collection of photos and other things, like cinema tickets and little doodles we’d drawn in class together.

            His bed was at the back of the room, the warm wooden headboard against the centre of the wall. It faced forwards, towards the door. He smiled at me from where he was sat on it and patted the space next to him.

            I slid under the duvet, curling into his side. I opened my mouth to speak to him, but all that came out was a loud yawn. My eyes started to droop closed. It had been a long day.

            I felt his familiar hands start to stroke my hair. My body felt weak under his touch. His chest rumbled softly, as though he was speaking, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I shifted, so that I was tucked against his side, his warmth radiating through me. There, safe in his arms, I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

            I awoke the next morning with one of my arms and one of my legs sprawled across his body, my head lolling on his broad chest. Neither of us had thought to shut the curtains, so the first dregs of orange sunlight spilled into the room freely. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, desperate to hold on to the comfort that resting afforded me.

            “Morning,” he rumbled beneath me, his voice drenched in sleep.

“Hey,” I murmured, settling myself atop him. I let my eyes close again, bathing in the glow of light that fell across us. Jacob hummed contentedly beneath me. All of a sudden he stilled.

            “You might have to get off me,” he muttered.

“Why?” I was too comfortable to move.

“Just because,” he said, grabbing the duvet and rolling away from me. I moaned at being forced to move and the subsequent lack of warmth. Then it clicked, and I giggled.

“Bless,” I laughed. I sat up and tried to grab some of the duvet back. It stayed put, so I slipped out of bed and went to rummage through Jacob’s wardrobe. I found a teal grey hoodie and pulled it on, then clambered back into bed.

            “What’s on your agenda for today?” Jacob asked, rolling back over to face me. He kept the duvet in place, though, carefully covering the lower half of his body. I snickered.

“Now that I know what’s going on, I want to try to get to the bottom of it. It really makes no sense for the rogues to target me. Unless they wanted to take me and then try to exchange my return for something more valuable? I don’t know.”

“I can’t believe you’re so calm about this.”

I shrugged. “Worrying just means you suffer twice. May as well put my concern to good use. What are your plans?”

“Same as yours, really. I think I missed training,” he said, eyeing the rapidly rising sun through the window. “So I’ll go to the gym at some point.”

“Such a cavalier attitude towards training, Alpha Jacob,” I teased. He pulled a face.

“I couldn’t have gone if I’d tried. Your little body was weighing me down.”

“See, you’ve invalidated your own argument there. If my body is so little how could it have weighed you down?” I laughed. Jacob leapt on top of me, duvet and all, and pinned me down on the bed.

“I wouldn’t laugh too much if I were you,” he chuckled. I squirmed beneath him, trying to flip us. I managed to hook a leg around his back and pulled his body flush against mine. I could feel his slightly laboured breathing against my lips, his mouth centimetres from mine. When he spoke I could feel the movement of his lips brushing mine. “You are little, though. All little and all cute.”

            Using the leg I had strewn across his back, I managed to roll us over, so that I was on top. “Don’t underestimate me,” I breathed, looking into his eyes. Warmth and fondness emanated from their sea-blue depths. I felt myself begin to fall into their waves, but Jacob used my distraction to flip me onto my front, with my arms held together against my back.

            “Oh, Ari,” he cooed. “But you are cute. Stop wriggling and admit that I’ve won.”

“Never,” I growled. I flung my feet at his back, causing him to loosen his grip on my wrists. I yanked my arms free and pulled my front half up, then spun around and elbowed him in the chest. He fell back, wheezing, and I quickly took advantage and held him down, laying my entire body across his.

            “Okay, okay,” he mumbled, his face forced down into the bed sheets.

“Say I win,” I demanded, trying to mask the laughter in my voice.

“You win,” he said, and I let him up.

            I left not long after that to get ready for the day. As I felt much perkier I put on a little makeup, and decided I was ready to go back to wearing shorts. I packed my bag, wished my little wolf a good morning, and headed out to get some breakfast.

            As much as I missed pack breakfasts, I had already slept in and I wanted to get to work, so I nipped into the kitchen on our floor. I chopped up some strawberries and a banana, and pulled some blueberries and a big pot of soy vanilla yoghurt from the fridge. I chucked it all into a bowl and sprinkled a hefty amount of cinnamon on top. I’d just picked up my spoon when my mum poked her head around the door.

            “Ari?” She said softly. I turned around in my chair, still holding onto my spoon.

“Hey, mum,” I replied. She came and sat beside me, eyeing my breakfast approvingly.

“That looks good.” She nodded down at my bowl. “After you’re done, can you come to my office? I’m going through the arrangements for the Mating Ball, and I thought you could help me.”

“Sure,” I agreed with a smile. I could push my plans back a bit, and I wanted to speak to my mum about the rogue situation, too. “I won’t be long,” I added.

“There’s no rush. I just thought it would be good for you to see some of the more administrative tasks you may have to do, as a Beta or Luna.”

“I’d like that.” As much as I wanted to teach, I knew the reality was that I would likely end up in one of those positions – neither of which came with a lot of free time for reading, studying, or teaching.

            My mum left, and I ate quickly after her departure. I thought about the rogues as I ate, and by the time I started to wash up my bowl and chopping board I was feeling quite excited to talk to her. I wanted to confront her about the secret keeping, partly, but I wanted to hear her opinion on the rogue sightings.

            Once I’d washed and dried everything, I made my way along the hallway towards my mum’s office. I gave a quick knock and popped my head around the door. She beamed at me and waved me inside.

            Her office was fairly small, with floor-to-ceiling windows along the outer wall. Her desk was pressed against these, with a desktop Mac and her laptop sat on top of it. Two large floor lamps stood either side of the desk, and there were a few filing cabinets to the right, with some shelves to the left. She too had been the victim of one of my candle-buying sprees, and a few of them were burning on the shelves and desk. A number of houseplants littered the room, too: trailing ivy and small potted succulents, and flowers. Whilst I didn’t really care for keeping flowers in vases, my mum loved them.

            She pulled out a second chair, and gestured for me to come and sit beside her at the desk. “How are you feeling today?” She asked.

“Much better, thank you,” I smiled. “I saw Michael yesterday. He said that I should be able to get these off by this evening.” I held out my arm to demonstrate that I meant my dressings. I paused for a moment, gathering my thoughts, and then spoke again. “Look – I know about the increased rogue sightings. I know that you think I’m the common denominator here. Why didn’t you tell me?”

            My mum sighed. “We didn’t want to keep it from you. Alpha Kele felt that it would be best to keep it between us until we had more information. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I assume you’ve been briefed about what happened last night?”

“We have,” she said, her voice dropping. “Another sighting so close? It’s worrying, Ari.” She curled the ends of her brown hair around her fingers. “Especially with you at the centre of it all.”

“What do you think about their accelerated healing?” I asked. It didn’t add up to me, and I wanted to hear my mum’s thoughts on it. She frowned.

“Well – we don’t know that it is all of them. It could just be that rogue. An outlier. In that case, it would still be concerning, but less so. But look,” she said, moving the mouse on her computer screen. She pulled up the same image that Kele had on paper upstairs, the map of the pack’s territory. I leaned in closer. “Rogues don’t usually move in clusters like this. The very definition of a rogue implies that they’re solitary, on their own. This seems organised.”

            A cold shiver ran through me. “Mum,” I said, my tone urgent. “Last night, the rogue left without a fight. But it was sudden – like someone told it to back off. The expression it had was the same as when we’re listening to a mindlink. But a rogue can’t mindlink, because they don’t have a pack. But what if…” I trailed off.

“What if the rogues have formed a pack? I don’t know if it’s possible.”

“Last night, Alpha Kele said that our pack had taken rogues in before. So if a pack existed they’d be able to join it?”

“I suppose so,” she said, her frown deepening. “I’ve heard of rampaging packs before, led by a tyrannous Alpha, but never rogues coming together. Anyway,” she shook herself, as though ridding herself of a bad memory. “For now, we have a job to do. And part of it is working through the security measures for the Mating Ball. The Silver Shore pack are arriving tonight, too; whilst the Omegas will take care of the preparations, we need to prepare for our emergency meeting with them. My job for today is going through the key points I think need to be brought to light, and coming up with a proposal for security. I’ll then compile my notes with those of the Luna and Female Gamma.”

            I nodded, taking it all in. I pulled out my laptop and opened up a word document. “Okay. Where do we start?”

            The day went by quickly. Working with my mum was hard work, which was something of a surprise to me. I’d never thought about how much the higher ranking wolves had to do, even though I’d been brought up by them. We took a break for lunch and ate in her office, and that was when the personal questions came out.

            “So,” my mum had said, around a mouthful of cold pasta, “has anything new happened with Jacob?”

“We’re waiting until after the ball to see what happens, so, not really.” I shrugged. “Jake seems really keen to just go for it, and part of me wants to, but something is telling me to wait.”

            My mum put down her fork. “I think waiting is for the best. I love Jacob, and it’s clear how he feels about you. But the Moon Goddess truly knows who is right for you both. I know it might seem like you know your own hearts, but I promise you, Arienne, that she knows them better.” She paused, and smiled fondly. “You want to know how I know?”

“Of course,” I said, swallowing my own mouthful of pasta. “I’ll listen to anything that helps me make this decision. Plus, you know I love your stories,” I added with a wink. She laughed, and then cleared her throat as though she was about to perform for an audience.

            “In my old pack, Star Creek, where I lived before I met your father, there was a girl who waited tirelessly for her mate. She searched for him, too, in fact, going on long, lonely trips up and down the continent. She never became impatient, though at times she was, naturally, frustrated. She trusted in the Moon Goddess, until one day a man offered himself to her. By this time in her life, she was around thirty, which as you know is old for us wolves to find our mates. He too was older, in his late twenties, and the desperation to find someone – anyone – was eating away at him. She declined, though, still confident that the Moon Goddess would reveal her true mate to her when she was ready. The man, despondent, joined our pack, saying that he was in need of a change. They became close – as close as friends could be. They both drew strength from their friendship, and just when the man had finally found peace with waiting, he found his mate. She was a small, birdlike woman, with beautiful dark skin and black hair; but she was ferocious, too, despite her delicate features. He immediately fell in love. A few years later, our pack clashed with another. The pack – the Blood Shrine pack – were on a rampage, under the orders of their Alpha. The man and his beautiful mate died at the hands of the pack, leaving behind an orphaned daughter. Now, this lady, who had waited all those years, longing for pups of her own, took in the girl, knowing she would bring her up as her own. A member of the Blood Shrine pack surrendered to Star Creek, saying that she would rather face death than cause another. Our Alpha decided to grant her wish. And he would have, too, I’m sure of it, but then –“ she paused, her eyes wide and her voice low for added dramatic effect – “the lady saw her. ‘Mate,’ they both breathed, frozen in their shock and awe. All of a sudden the spell was broken, and they rushed towards one another and kissed. It was like time stood still. Of course, within pack law it is, for lack of a better term, illegal to kill a pack member’s mate. She was spared, and their bond was immediate and definite. The lady had never considered that her mate may be female, but when they met everything seemed to fall into place. They raised the orphaned child together, and they dedicated their lives to protecting orphaned pups. They took in any and all that needed homes. They were wonderful, your grandmothers,” she finished with a dazzling smile. I was speechless.

            “My… I – they were my grandparents? You were the orphaned pup?” I gasped. She nodded. “I wish I could have met them.”

“Me, too,” she said, with a sad smile.  “Having a pack school was their idea. I brought it with me, when I mated with your father and moved here. They would be so proud of your ambitions to teach in one. But,” she paused, “I feel like you are destined for other things. I’ve been waiting to tell you that story for a long time. Only now did it seem like the right time. The Moon Goddess provides guidance for us all. We only have to listen.”