The Tribes Luna

CHAPTER 8

ASTRID'S POINT OF VIEW

I woke up with a jolt when Loki decided to be my alarm clock. He was flying in circles above my bed still kraaing loudly. I groaned and flopped back down onto my pillow.

"I'm awake now, you can shut the Hel up, you feathery asshole," I tell him. He lands next to my head on my pillow, tilting his head slightly to the side and gently tugs on my hair with his beak. "Why are so eager for me to get up? I ask irritated.

"Kraa."

"Is that so?" I ask raising an eyebrow, he nods. "Fine. Well, there's no point in trying to get to sleep now anyway. What's the time?" I look at my clock and see it's already nearly 10 o'clock, only on my birthday was I allowed a lay-in.

I sigh resigning myself to get up and get ready for the day. But as it's my birthday, I think I will take my time. I enjoyed my shower, washing my body and hair and shaving. I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body and another around my hair, I brushed my teeth. I went to my wardrobe and picked out a nice outfit, I decided no matter what happens today I'll enjoy myself and one way to do that was to press Mathias's buttons.

I put on my white smock followed by a red overdress, it was loosely stitched at the sides so you could see my white smock underneath, it was laced at the top of my breast, revealing a small amount of cleavage, before the edge of my smock was visible. It was tight fitted on my torso, so it showed off my curves, both dresses reached just below my knees. I went to my desk, where my small amount of make-up was, I decided I would just put on the red lipstick and some mascara. I brushed my hair free of all the knots and decided I would put the top half into a plate while I leave the bottom half down.

Once I was done, I looked at my reflection in my mirror in my wardrobe door. I was happy with what I saw, I looked sexy, but not slutty and I was comfortable with how I looked. I grabbed my black sandals that wind up to my mid calves.

"What do you think Loki?" I ask him, he was perched on my desk.

"Kraaaa." He said, nodding rapidly.

I chuckled and shook my head at him, I looked back at my finished look and nodded to myself as well. I really liked how I looked, I knew how I looked would annoy Mathias because even for me I looked too good, I briefly conceded changing into something less fitted. No, I deserved to feel good about myself especially on my birthday.

Someone knocked on my door making me jump out of my thoughts. I walked over to my door and breathed deeply, hoping that it wouldn't be Mathias. I sighed in relief when I didn't smell soggy hotdogs. I swung my door open and smiled at Geir that stood in the doorway.

"Happy Birthday, lady Astrid. You look beautiful." He said with a smile.

"Thank you, Geir," I say smiling.

"Your father sent me to escort you to the longhouse, in time for your birthday celebrations." He said.

"It's only half eleven. They are starting a bit early, are they not?" I question.

"Well, I believe that your father has something special planned for the whole day. Although I am not sure about what it could be." He says thoughtfully.

"Alright then. Well, we should not deprive my father of my company. Lead the way." I tell him.

I signalled Loki to come with us. He flew from where he was sitting on my desk, over our heads and out the front door. We walked for a few minutes before Geir spoke.

"You did not get your spirit animal." He said simply, it wasn't sneering or amusing, it was just a fact.

"I know." I sighed. "How do you think I will get it?" I ask.

He was silent a moment before he spoke again. "Well, as you are of age, it could be any moment, maybe your body just needs to adjust to it, instead of being thrown into the shift. Although I believe when you lay eyes on your mate, you will get your spirit animal, especially now you are of age."

I thought over his words for a moment before I asked. "So, my mate could be in this tribe age but I did not know it was them because I was not of age?"

"It is a theory. Although I do think your mate is around." He said and I could almost see the smug look on his face, even though he walks in front of me.

"Who do you think it is?" I ask excitedly.

"I'm sure you figure it out. You are intelligent, lady Astrid." He said.

I sighed knowing it is pointless to try and get a straight answer out of Geir. Although for the rest of the walk to the longhouse we didn't talk. I was trying to figure out who my mate might be in the tribe, though I didn't mind who it was so much as long as it wasn't actually Mathias. I figured that when it was time for dancing, I would try to dance with everyone in attendance, a process of elimination.

When we reached the clearing I saw that a bonfire was set up ready for later, there were a few warriors lined around the longhouse and the tree line. Loki flew ahead of us and into the longhouse. I could hear raised voices coming from the longhouse, I could also smell something new, something very enticing, it smelt like fresh pine trees and the smell of earth after heavy rainfall. Geir led me into the longhouse, still being in front of me, like he was shielding me from something.

"You do not deserve her!" Said a voice that made me shiver in the best of ways, even though he sounded enraged.

"It is none of your business what she deserves, she is my betrothed." Came the only voice that made me want to vomit.

Geir stopped walking and I stood by his side, Loki swooped over to me and landed on my right shoulder. I saw my father sitting on his chair pinching the bridge of his nose and rubbing his temple as though trying to get rid of a migraine. Just in front of the fire pit stood Alpha Erik and Mathias facing each other, almost nose to nose, no one seems to have noticed me and Geir have walked in. Behind Alpha, Erik stood his three brothers, Bata Camron seemed to be ready to jump in the middle, Gamma Logan looked ready to pull Alpha Erik away, while Delta Danny looked entertained and overconfident with the whole situation. When Delta Danny looked over at us he smiled and waved cheerfully, I smiled and waved back, feeling confused about what was going on between Mathais and Alpha Eric.

Alpha Erik and Mathias were growling at each other, clearly having some male dominance fight, even though I was confident Alpha Erik would win if it came to a real fight, I just really didn't want to have to deal with extra drama today. I really just wanted to enjoy my 18th birthday, was that really so wrong?

I desperately wanted to go to Alpha Erik and calm him down, but I didn't want to get in the middle of the whole dominance thing, that was going on, I felt that it wasn't my place to come in the middle of them. Mathias growled loudly but Alpha Erik's growl was enough to cause the ground you are standing on to tremble beneath your feet.

"I, Alpha Erik of the Ashwood pack, challenge you Mathais." Alpha Erik declared.

"I accept your challenge pup!" Mathias snapped at him.

An involuntarily gasp left my mouth and clapped my hands over my mouth, but it was a bit late, the sound had escaped and everyone turned to look at me. When Alpha Erik looked at me and our eyes locked on each other, I had barely a second to register the green, when my head started to hurt.

A pain like I had never felt before started to rip through my body, every cell of my body felt like it was on fire and my head was going to split open any moment, my bones felt like they were snapping and popping out of place. I was vaguely aware that I had fallen but I didn't make contact with the hard ground, instead, I was being cradled in strong arms against a hard chest. The feel of the person holding me made the pain fade but it was still there, they were whispering sweet words of encouragement to me but I couldn't concentrate on their gorgeous voice.

What felt like hours later the pain went, and I tenderly opened my eyes and looked around, everything seemed to be sharper and clearer. There were many new smells, that I didn't even know existed, so many more sounds it almost made my ears hurt and ring. I looked at everyone around me and they were all staring at me with awe and amazement.