Chapter 8
1383 Words
I slid out of my room. I was tired of cutting myself off from my new family. Just because Xander was a jerk and only wanted me to pop out pups, didn't mean the rest of the pack would be so dismissive.
If Rhys was any indication, then I might even be more welcomed at the pack house than I was in the human clan. I hadn't given anyone a fair shot, spending the last week in my rooms.
Had it only been a week? It felt like a lifetime ago when I had been congratulating my best friend for getting into Brighthaven.
I skulked down the stairs. The smell of bacon wafted up and my stomach growled. How long had it been since I had eaten? How long had I actually been gone with the fever?
"I heard humans are prudes." The voice cut through the general din and I paused on the steps. "Do you think she's strong enough?"
"She's a waifish little mite. I dunno that the Alpha won't break her in half." Someone answered, tone dripping with innuendo.
"But what a way to go. Have you seen the size of his–"
"Heather, hush now. That's the Alpha you're talking about."
"Doesn't mean he isn't a tripod. Seriously, she'll feel it in her throat from her–"
"Heather Donnely! Shut your trap." Rhys' growl made me blush. "That is your future Luna and you will respect her. Do I make myself clear?"
"Aw, I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, Beta. I was just saying she will have her insides rearranged." Heather chuckled. "It's just s*x. What's the big deal?"
"Apparently you're not getting enough if the s*x life of the Alpha and his Luna is constantly on your mind." Another voice answered. "I can help out."
"Yuck. Go on Bryce, no one asked for your diseased schlong."
"It's not diseased. What the fu–"
"Tell that to the omegas of Bloodmoon. You'd bang a bee's nest if it wouldn't fight back."
I giggled. I couldn't help it. The idea of someone putting their nethers in the hole of a beehive was hilarious.
The conversation halted immediately. The silence spread until I couldn't hear even a breath. I blinked, suddenly uncertain about descending the rest of the way.
'We are famished, human.' Eclipse whined. 'I want food!'
'Now you decide to talk.' I got the sense of Eclipse moving back into the shadowy corner of my mind that she enjoyed peering out of. Was she nervous?
A scent overwhelmed me, a spring meadow after a thunderstorm. The nuances of my new sense of smell was going to take some getting used to.
A girl about my age rounded the staircase, looking up at me. "Hello, Rapunzel. Decide to descend the tower on your own?"
"Rapunzel?" I touched my hair. It wasn't even that long.
"Well yeah. You've been stuck up in your tower for ages." She grinned. "Only the classic stories here, love."
"Maybe she's more like Red Riding Hood, waiting for the big bad wolf to gobble her up." Rhys appeared next to the girl, and I blinked.
They had the same face. One was obviously the feminine version. But same bone structure, same dark hair, same honey eyes.
"Syndony Timms, I would like you to meet my little sister, Heather." Rhys smirked at me as I nodded. His honey eyes drank me in, and I suddenly felt self conscious. There was a naked hunger in his face that made my thighs clench.
"Come on, I bet you're hungry." Heather waved at me. Rhys kept his eyes on me as I finished my walk down the stairs.
Heather glanced at her brother and rolled her eyes, elbowing him. "Not the place." She muttered. "Get it under control."
"I'm trying." He hissed back. I was confused. I stepped down in front of them and Rhys' nostrils flared as he swayed toward me.
Heather planted herself in front of him, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder and the smell of rain on flowers intensified.
Rhys shook his head, eyes sliding away from mine. "I'll leave you to it." His voice was strained and he turned on his heel, stalking away.
"What was that?" I tilted my head at Heather curiously.
"You have a lot to learn about wolves, Rapunzel." Heather shrugged. "Breakfast and a history lesson is in order, I think."
~*~*~*~*~*~
I dropped into a plushly padded dining chair. Heather had cleared the room as soon as she brought me into it. Curious stares and whispers had me wringing my hands with nerves. I had never felt so out of place.
"They're mostly harmless." She grabbed a plate, piling it high with eggs, bacon, toast, and sausage. It was more than I'd ever eaten at one time.
She shoved the plate at me, and poured a glass of juice from a carafe.
"So, history lesson?" I shoved a bite of eggs in my mouth, groaning with appreciation. I was starving!
"Unmated females are usually claimed by the Alpha or Beta of the pack. Unless directly related to them. Your scent is driving Rhys mad."
I blinked at her. "But I am mated. I think?"
She picked up a napkin, twisting it between her hands. "We all heard Xander's claim on you. We know. True mates are so rare now." She shrugged one shoulder. "You are an anomaly, Rapunzel."
"My name is Syndony. Syn, if you want." I muttered around a mouthful of food. "So what's this about true mates?" I noticed she didn't meet my eyes.
"It takes an act of the Goddess to find a true mate. The other half of your soul, basically. It's a rare thing. Especially for a newly turned wolf to suddenly be mated." She glanced at me, then her eyes slid away. "The fact you are still a virgin makes it even harder."
"How so?" I was curious. I was only told to remain pure for my husband and that I should please him in every way. I had been put on a special diet, taught the different ways to elicit pleasure for a male, but never anything about the actual Weres themselves.
"Most female wolves are mounted during their first change. We are adults when we shift so it's not weird or anything." She sighed heavily. "We don't put much stock in virginity. I don't know why it's such a stigma in the human clans. But humans were the ones to add that addendum to the Accords."
Weird. I'd always assumed it was the Supes that had decided the women should remain pure. "Then why collect a Bride? I was told the Supes needed human women to breed."
Heather blinked, then shook her head slowly. "Supes are breeding just fine." The look on her face made my blood run cold. "Human women with the genetic Supernatural marker in their DNA were to be given back to the Supes, daughters taken from us before the Fall."
"What?"
"The Fall was the war on humans for taking our females to breed them to create super soldiers." She looked confused.
"What do you mean?" The eggs sat heavy in my stomach. This conversation was making me queasy.
"Human governments found out about supernaturals and took our females to bear children in government facilities."
"But why?"
"To eradicate their enemies with soldiers that were genetically modified. Are you not taught this?"
My life was a lie. Some ancestors somewhere had been forced to bear children for the human government. Heather leaned forward, her eyes meeting mine for the first time.
"We don't need Brides to bear our children. The Brides are our children. Daughters stolen from us. You were never theirs, Syn."
I had never been fully human. It must've been how I survived the fever. I pushed back from the table, my heart hammering in my throat.
I needed to know. To learn more. My feet took off before my mind could even catch up. Cinnamon and wood smoke. I needed my Husband.
'You were born of love, your purpose is to love.' The words pounded through my head and a flash of sand under moonlight flitted through my mind.
No. I was born of lies. Did anyone else know this?! Shitballs.
- Writer
