Falling For My Father's Right Hand Man

Jade “Ma! She's drawing again” my sister called to my mother. My father heard it first and stumped his way to the backyard. I was tired of all the bantering. I was tired of being denied the freedom to do what I loved the most. I was also tired of hiding. I sat there like I had no idea dad was coming. I completely immersed myself in my painting as one who was lost in a trance. I wasn't seeing anything else. “Jade! How many times have I asked you to stop painting?” I could feel the heat of his rage through my fabric. I was not listening to him. I didn't want to. He can decide to destroy this one like he had done the rest. I didn't care anymore. I was satisfied with the fact that I had painted something. It doesn't matter if I finished or not. I rarely ever finish. “Jade! Your father speaks. Give him a reply now!” My mother cut in. I looked up for the first time with tired eyes. I looked at my sister first, the perfect daughter. Then to my dad,who was towering me like a mini giant, his chest puffing in and out fury. Lastly,to my mum. She looked tired too. She loved my paintings in secret. Although she had never said it out loud, I caught her severally staring, in admiration, at a few of my paintings that had survived Dad's wrath. I believe she was living behind my father's judgement, ‘it's not safe outside’. “I'm sorry dad” was all I could mumble. I wasn't exactly sorry for what I was doing at the moment. But I was sorry for what I planned to do soon. I was the second among three children. My elder brother, Benjamin, was down to his roots in pack traditions. He was just like my father. He never missed pack meetings even when he shouldn't be there. My dad will insist on his staying with them, no matter how much the members of the pack complained. When he turned fifteen, he wolfed out making him one of the youngest to pull that off. At twenty six, he claimed that he had begun sniffing his mate. Everything came easy for him. My junior sister, Cassie, wasn't far from him. She was extremely beautiful and multi-talented. Dad said she took after our mum when she was younger. She was tall, slender, with the blueish eyes I've ever seen on anyone. Her black hair was long enough to grease her back arch. She had won the contest for the most attractive during the various pack competitions. She also had the voice of a star. I had always thought that she was wasting her talent in the pack. In fact, my brother and my sister were the golden children. But me… well, I tried my best. I wolfed out when I was eighteen _not too bad for a female wolf. I wasn't interested in the pack politics or any other thing related to the pack activities. All I've ever wanted was to pursue my dreams of being an artist. I've loved painting for as long as I can remember. It started from drawing things on the sands to drawing on the walls. It progressed to using pieces of items like stones, pebbles, sticks, anything I could lay hands on, to create an image of any particular thing. At first, my dad was so impressed with my creativity that he offered to send me to the pack’s school of art. I progressed to getting my first few paints. As I grew,I painted for influential households, decorating their homes with paintings of their choice. My dad grew resentful of my artistry when I brought up the topic of leaving the pack to the cities. He was strongly against it. He had told me that the humans and we must not mingle under any circumstance. It was among the pack laws. My people believed that humans weren't kind to us. They said that in the past, any wolf the humans captured will be either used as sports or is skinned to be displayed as achievements. So in order to stop this level of brutality, they stayed on their own in the farthest lands. Well…that was all in the past. I on my own part believed in second chances. If they had done this, there definitely would be new generations that know nothing of the past and as such, won't continue their legacy. But my dad wouldn't hear of it. Here, in the middle of a land so primitive, everything did nothing but restrict my skills and talents. I really have high hopes for the future. I wanted to see the world beyond my tribe. I've known it all my life. I needed a change and I needed it fast. Twenty-one and naive? It was too much to think about. I planned to run away. It would be extremely difficult not to get caught as our home was heavily guarded. But I had really high hopes.