DARK DAYS

CHAPTER SEVEN

To say that the rest of the pack didn’t take the news of Christiana’s new status as a member well would be an understatement.  There was just something about her that the pack feared, nobody just collapsed on pack land from exhaustion and was taken in. It wasn’t done, and it was a dangerous precedent to have. Christiana was adamant about the fact that she would not be living with Micah, instead he set her up with Delilah and Marianne, two single females in the pack who lived a few houses away from him. He understood why she didn’t want to live with him, while she was healing it was one thing, but if it had continued it wouldn’t look right in the eyes of the pack. 

The one reason there hadn’t been total anarchy when Micah made the announcement was that she was perceived to be a minimal threat, a scrawny teenager who was too stupid to survive, Micah wasn’t too sure about their judgment of her but noted that she didn’t argue with it. She didn’t want to be anything else to the others, which made him all the more suspicious that she was more. 

The three women got along well considering the tensions in the pack. Christiana’s room was small but had everything she needed, it was a far cry from the home she had lived in with her father, Dee and Marianne finally convinced her to go on a run with the pack two weeks later. Micah and Dante met Christiana and Delilah half way to the gathering site. “How’s staying with the girls going?” Dante asked purposely-ignoring Delilah.

Christiana didn’t even glance at him as she responded, “It’s going well.” Micah hid a smile, no matter how hard Dante tried he never could get her to say more than a few words at a time. 

Dee punched Dante playfully, “You are so rude, and you can’t even say hello! We practically grew up together he was my sparring partner. I always won.” She informed Christiana. 

Dante looked at Dee quizzically, “I’m sorry do I know you?”  He added when she narrowed her eyes at him, “You never won I let you win. I was taught never to beat a girl, always let her come out on top.” 

Micah laughed, knowing that was probably far from the truth. “You okay Ana? You seem exceptionally quiet.” He inquired watching her. 

Christiana nodded, “I’m fine. I’m just not sure about this. I mean you did warn me not to run around naked remember.” She responded trying to brush it off.

Micah placed a hand on the back of her neck, “Don’t worry, you’ll only be naked for a few seconds, then you’ll be furry.  If anyone gives you a hard time I’ll deal with it.” He assured her as they neared the clearing.  She nodded again, this time a little less sure. It wasn’t a normal feeling for her, insecurity; she wasn’t used to this and didn’t like it at all. Micah had been the only one to see her completely naked, Wes had examined her ribs and done nothing more.

Christiana felt scrawny, she was fifteen pounds lighter than she usually was, she was very aware of every bone that showed a bit too much. In society the extremely thin look was in, in a pack it was seen as a sign of weakness.  She refused to hesitate as others shed their clothes and got ready to change form. She stepped out of the pale blue dress Delilah had loaned her. 

It’s not a big deal; you grew up within a pack that was very comfortable with nudity! She scolded herself; it worked for the most part, until she looked around. Micah was just ten feet away he looked at her like he looked at the rest of his pack. Just a bit more assessing, making sure she really was healed enough to join in on the hunt. Delilah and the group of women she was standing with looked at her differently. They were checking out the competition and didn’t like what they saw; she was skinny yes but toned. Her body matched her face; it was all elegant lines, lines and curves that men dreamt about. 

She looked away from the women; to the rest of the pack she took an involuntary step back and cursed herself for it. She hated showing any sign that she feared these people, from the time she was fourteen the men in her pack had looked at her differently. Her father being alpha had kept them in line; her age had kept them in line. But she was older now, and her father didn’t rule here; Dante and the chemical bond that was between them was a little to close for comfort. If she could have she would have growled at him, warning him off, she wasn’t interested in having a mate especially not him. 

She felt a hand land on her back and forced herself not to jump, it was only Micah. If she was a bit skittish she had reason to be, the three minutes that had passed between her taking off that dress till when Micah spoke felt like an eternity. “What are we waiting for? Let’s hunt.” He ordered.  

Before she let herself transform she heard Micah mutter, “Watch your back, the women wouldn’t mind scarring it or worse.” 

Though no one was outwardly hostile towards her as they ran Christiana got the message, she wasn’t welcome here. Just because their alpha let her stay didn’t make her pack, and she understood that, she knew what a pack was and how they operated, and why she wasn’t welcome. She held back and ran near the back of the pack, not wanting to make matters worse by outshining anyone.  Freya slammed into her side, making her stumble slightly, but Christiana kept going, nobody else noticed.  She wasn’t a part of bringing down the kill; she didn’t have the status to be allowed that. 

When Micah had taken his share the pack fell on the stag, she stepped forward towards the food cautiously and hadn’t gotten a good bite before someone turned on her and the snapping and growling began.  As a human Christiana could hide her status very easily, but her hackles rose at their treatment of her. Her responding growl was easily understood; she was not omega and would not be treated as such.  Still a group of them started towards her, she backed up trying to get them to leave her alone she wasn’t strong enough for a challenge yet. Legally they couldn’t demand one, but that didn’t seem to deter the five of them from trying to drive her off.  

When teeth met with fur Christiana yelped and snapped back, smelling her blood being shed. “Enough!” Micah yelled as all of them ganged up on her. Christiana took advantage of their pause to run. “Dante, Nathaniel go after her.” He ordered. Micah wasn’t big on using force to punish his members, but nobody turned on one of their own and got away with it.  “She is a member of this pack whether you like it or not! So you better get used to it, she is here for as long as she wishes to stay just like the rest of you. If you can’t handle that then you can leave! If this happens again I will take it as a personal challenge to my authority!” He bellowed, though the rest of the pack hadn’t joined in, in the attack they hadn’t tried to stop it either. 

“What is so damned special about this girl Micah?” Freya yelled, she had been the first to tussle with Christiana.

Micah stalked over to her and growled towering over her, “She is just a kid, she’s seventeen and an orphan. That is what is so damned special about her. We do not turn away our kind because the women are jealous and afraid that she will attract a mate. I will tell you this right now Freya, you never had a chance to become my mate, I wouldn’t take you if you were the last woman in this pack!” 

Micah knew he had gotten to the root of the problem by the look in her eyes. Never mind that Freya was more than a decade older, any unattached female looked on him as a challenge. One that they did not want an outsider to have and that wasn’t acceptable.  Before turning to catch up with Nathaniel and Dante he looked over his shoulder at the rest of the pack, “I will mate whom I please.”