The Beta's Daughter

Sunset

The pack house was rammed when I crept out of the library. I’d intended to get my bandages changed before dinner, but I’d become sucked into my research. I discovered that many Native Americans offered their animal fetishes cornmeal, so I resolved to find some for my little wolf. I also spent a long time noting down references in a word document, flitting between that and my mind map in an attempt to narrow down my focus. I’d found a folk tale about two wolves, one black and one white; one made of anger and the other forged from goodness. A grandfather tells his grandson that the one that wins is the one he chooses to feed. I liked the sentiment, and decided to use it as a focal point for my argument.

            It had been relaxing, to sit in the warm rays of the sinking sun. They streaked in through the windowpanes, garnishing the wooden bookshelves a deep gold. I would’ve liked to have stayed there through dinner, but I heeded Jacob’s message and packed up early.

            My family were seated informally when I arrived. When the Alpha and Luna were ready to be seated we stood and sat in our proper places with them, but before then it was generally acceptable to sit where we pleased. I could see Jacob talking with some of the warrior wolves, and sent him a smile when he caught my eye. I scanned around the room for Rosa, but I couldn’t see her anywhere, so I moved to sit with my parents who were deep in discussion.

            They parted upon my arrival. I slung my bag underneath my chair and smiled up at them. My dad reached over and gave my arm a squeeze. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

“Almost back to normal,” I beamed. There was still some soreness, but they didn’t need to know that. “How have your days been?”

“Good, thank you,” my mum replied distractedly.

“Do you know what this is about?” I asked.

“We do,” my dad replied unhelpfully. I shrugged to myself. I’d find out soon enough. Just then, Jacob’s parents entered the kitchen. We stood and bowed our heads in respect as they made their way to the head of the table. I saw Jacob bid goodbye to the warrior wolves, and he too moved to sit next to his parents.

            “I am sorry to interrupt your evening plans,” Liliana said. I was awed by her voice: it was commanding yet not loud; she spoke at a normal volume, but every word was sharp. “You are, of course, welcome to dine with us, but this is not a matter that will take long. I have asked you to gather here with me tonight for I have an announcement to make.” She paused, looking around the room. Everyone waited for her next words with baited breath. “The Silver Shore pack, our neighbours to the South, will be joining us tomorrow evening. Our two packs have long been allies, and I expect each of you to act with the proper decorum in welcoming our guests. They are here to celebrate at the upcoming Mating Ball with us. As usual, if any of you require further information, please feel free to find me.” She smiled, then, radiating the warmth of the sun. The fact that Jacob thought I would one day be worthy to take her place as Luna astounded me.

            “Those of you that are dining with us tonight, please – take your seats.” She smiled around at us all again, and we inclined our heads respectfully before we sat. Most of the warrior wolves left, and in their absence I could finally spot Rosa. She looked dishevelled and exhausted, and I smirked at her. She spotted me, and mimed putting a gun to her head. I snickered quietly, which brought Jacob’s attention to me.

            He raised an eyebrow slightly, peering at me. Years of silent communication from before we could mindlink had taught me that that meant Are you okay? I nodded slightly, making sure he could see me smile. In return I offered a slight twitch of the corner of my mouth, which meant Same question to you. He nodded, too, but his face had the same distant look that my mum’s had had earlier.

            I had a feeling that there was more to the announcement than Liliana had let on. I wanted to believe that if I needed to know, I would, but there was a burning curiosity that had been sparked in my chest. The strange behaviour exhibited by those closest to me piqued my interest, but I resolved to try and be patient in the hopes that maybe Jacob would tell me after dinner.

            Warm chatter filled the room as we ate. Even with the exit of the warrior wolves a large portion of those in the room for the meeting had chosen to stay, and it was nice to hear companionable talk and laughter filling the kitchen. My parents seemed to relax as time went on, and I too felt more at ease. My cuts were beginning to throb again, though, so I decided to go straight to the pack doctor as soon as I’d been excused.

            I was saying goodbye to my parents when Jacob appeared beside me. He tugged at the sleeve of my jumper, stepping smoothly in next to me, coming to stand between my mother and I. 

            “Hello. Sorry for interrupting,” he said, smiling politely at my parents.

“It’s not a problem, Jake,” my dad said, clapping him on the shoulder. “We were just about to head up to the offices anyway. Always more work to be done.” He winked at Jacob, then, and I rolled my eyes. Jacob, however, laughed.

“I know the feeling. Have you, um,” he paused and looked between my parents and me, his mouth slightly open. My mum quickly shook her head. “Oh,” he finished, finally closing his agape lips. I looked between them, my eyebrows furrowed.

            “What-“ I started, but my parents spoke over me.

“We’d better head up now, lots to do,” my mum said, slinging her arm around my dad’s waist and chivvying him towards the stairwell. I stared after them, my intrigue from earlier swallowed whole by a new, toxic feeling of being left out.

            “What do you want?” I snapped at Jacob. I was taken aback by my own aggression, and apologised immediately. “I’m sorry,” I said, my eyes downcast. “I just don’t know what’s going on. And I know something is, so please, don’t you lie to me as well.”

“It’s okay,” he said, rubbing soothing circles into my arm. “They asked me not to say anything,” he said, stepping in closer and lowering his voice. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you, though. Let’s go outside,” he whispered. I nodded mutely, but then spoke.

“I need to go to see the pack doctor. Come with me?” I added.

“Yes, I’ll come to the doctor with you,” he said, his voice exaggerated and above his normal speaking volume. His eyes looked around shiftily. I stifled a laugh.

            We walked to the pack hospital in companionable silence. I imagined that he was gathering his thoughts, so I didn’t pry. I trusted that he’d tell me when he was ready. Instead, I listened to and focused on the feel of the spring of the grass beneath our feet, and tried to catch the golden rays dripping from the sunset in my fluttering eyelashes. After a while, as we rounded the woodland which drifted towards Rosa’s cottage, I felt his hand take hold of mine. I smiled up at him.

            The sun caught his face, the tan of his skin deepening in the gilded light. His hair was, as usual, stuck up at all angles, a dark mop that fell about his face, framing his high cheekbones. He smiled back, his plump lips stretching effortlessly into a sweet grin. His scent pulsed stronger, then, and I nudged his side. It felt as though I was reassuring him, but I wasn’t sure why.

            The pack hospital wasn’t far from the pack house, so we reached it in a matter of minutes. Jacob gave my hand a comforting squeeze before he let go, and then followed me inside.

            The doctor wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but there was a nurse on duty. He was even younger than the doctor, and I recognised him from training sessions. He smiled warmly at me, and his name popped into my head. Michael. He had dark skin, darker than mine, with kind wide eyes and full lips. He was looking through some patient notes, but he shut the thick notepad and came over to me. He bowed his head, and I bowed back. It wasn’t necessary for me to bow, as a higher status wolf, but I thought every member of the pack deserved to be respected. Michael did important work, too, caring for the sick and the injured. He was easily as worthy of a bow as I was.

            “Michael,” I said with a broad smile.

“Hello, Arienne. Are you here to have your dressings changed?” He nodded slightly, an almost imperceptible motion towards the bandage around my neck.

“I am, yeah. If that’s okay? I don’t want to interrupt if you’re busy.”

“Nonsense,” he said, laying the book down on the table. “My administrative duties would never come before the care of a patient. Especially one so notable as yourself.”

I snorted. “I wouldn’t say I’m exactly note-worthy,” I chuckled. Michael stepped out from behind the table, and gestured towards a freshly paper-lined bed. He moved to the small sink in the corner and washed his hands up to his elbows as he spoke.

“You are the Beta’s daughter,” he said. There was a slight reverence to his tone. It made me squirm.

“That may be, but my birth right doesn’t make me any more important than anyone else.” I fidgeted, looking down at the immaculately clean floor. I didn’t realise that Michael had come to stand in front of me until I heard the snap of his latex gloves.

            “This shouldn’t take long,” he said, pasting a supportive smile across his lips. He gently peeled the bandages and gauze off. When he stepped away to dispose of them, I caught sight of my neck wound in a small mirror facing me on the opposite wall. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, having felt the pain and blood that it had oozed. The sides of the gash had closed up, leaving an angry red welt between them.

            “Does it need to be wrapped again?” I asked when Michael came back.

“I’m afraid so,” he said with a slight frown. “Probably just this once, though. With your accelerated healing I think that by tomorrow evening, at the latest, you should be back to normal.”

I grinned. He quickly re-bandaged my other cuts, which too seemed to be healing well. I was surprised by the difference; I hadn’t taken any pain medication in a while, yet I felt nothing, other than the occasional twinge.

            I pulled my sweatshirt back on, eager to hear what Jacob had to say. I thanked Michael and we left, heading out into the dying rays of the sun. Jacob tugged at my jumper, and smiled down at me.

            “You like it, then?”

“I love it,” I beamed. I hadn’t taken it off since he’d given it to me. “Thank you.”

“No worries,” he said, with a devastating, heart-melting grin. “Now. I don’t want anyone to overhear us, and you know how nosey wolves can be. So I figured we should go into the woods, just over there.” He raised one arm and pointed towards a dense thicket. I nodded, but was surprised by the clench of fear I felt at the notion of going into the dark woods. I ignored it, though, and we walked into the woods together.

            The beauty that filtered through the trees during the day had dissipated along with the sun. Its final glow filtered through the leaves above, casting sporadic shadows and creating menacing shapes amongst the moss and ferns. We didn’t walk too far in, and I was thankful for that.

            Jacob ushered me along to an upturned log. Its roots had been torn from the ground, upended and left to lie beneath the heavy canopy of leaves above. I shivered. Jacob put an arm round me, rubbing his hand up and down my bicep in what I assumed was an attempt to warm me up. I shuffled closer to him, letting his body heat warm me.

            “Do we have to be so far from civilisation?” I teased. I felt more at ease immediately. Jacob laughed, and the sound seemed to drive away the chill, and the monsters that lurked in it.

“Well, not exactly. I thought it might, well, be romantic.” He looked embarrassed, which was rare. If anything, Jacob was at all times sure of himself, and often overconfident, too. Seeing this side of him was cute.

“If we’d caught it before the sunset, I’m sure it would have been.” I smiled. He seemed disappointed that his woodland retreat hadn’t gone to plan.

“It’s okay,” he chuckled. “You don’t need to sugar coat it. Besides, we both know you’re only here to find out what’s been said.”

“That’s not true,” I scoffed. “I’ve not seen you today. If you’d wanted to, say, watch a film and not talk about pack business, that would’ve been fine too.”

“Okay,” he said with a smirk. He gently peeled me away from his side and stood up. “What film do you want to watch?”

“Jake!” I laughed, lightly smacking his outstretched arm.

‘Okay, okay,” he said, sitting back down and holding his hands up. He then pulled me back in close and wrapped his arm around me again. Shamelessly, I snuggled in even closer.

“What my mum didn’t say at dinner was why Silver Shore are coming so early. Notice that she didn’t mention when any of them were arriving before? It was because none of them were coming before the Mating Ball itself. Silver Shore have important news, Ari. News that concerns you.”

I was about to ask what news could possibly concern me when, from behind us, I heard an unmistakeable crunch. It was the sound of a twig being snapped underfoot.