Alina’s eyes suddenly became of little worry as she righted herself to see a tall man, wearing the crest of the Alpha on his arm, standing in front of her. He smiled down at her and handed her a swatch of fabric. “The air can get very thick during the busiest time of the day,” he told her.
She nodded and took the offered piece using it to quickly wipe away the moisture that had gathered in her eyes. Once she was not looking through a blur of tears, she could see that the man before her was attractive and had a kind smile. She heard shuffling behind him and watched as he looked over his shoulder and nodded his head. She followed his line of sight, and her mouth dropped open as she realized who stood some distance away, though close enough that she had no trouble identifying him.
From the black clothing, that only the royals wore, to the piercing blue eyes he was known for, Alina realized that she was seeing the Alpha’s son for the first time. He was talking with a vendor, an older woman, who, being a Canis lupis, must have been very old to appear anywhere over the age of thirty-five. He handed her some money. When she attempted to give him some of her produce, he shook his head and pressed a kiss to her hand. Her heart clenched at his generosity and the obvious affection the woman had in her eyes for Vasile. As he turned back in her direction, she saw his dazzling smile only for a minute, and then his face was back to its neutral state that every dominant male seemed to wear.
“Please keep that.” The man in front of her lightly touched the hand that held the cloth. She looked back at him, and it was an effort to turn her gaze away from Vasile. “I wouldn’t want you to endure any more discomfort from the crowded street.”
Alina smiled up at him. “Thank you.” She bowed her head and tilted it ever so slightly as to show that she knew he was dominant to her, but she did not belong to him and therefore would not fully bear her throat to him. He watched her for a second longer and then turned and walked towards Vasile, and, now that she wasn’t completely focused on the young heir, she saw that he and the other men were dressed in a similar fashion. Those must have been the Alpha’s top wolves. She would not call them guards because it would be perceived as a sign of weakness if Vasile walked through the market under the protection of others. He walked out in front, with one nearly walking even with him and the rest behind him, making them appear more like companions. The protective way in which he maneuvered his body in front of the men showed that he was the one doing the guarding. He was not weak and he need not hide behind any other.
Alina opened her eyes. She realized she was on the bed in the small home of her parents and no longer in the busy streets of the market staring after a future she could never have. She sat up and stretched her tired limbs, her vivid dreams having kept her from getting a good night sleep.
“I thought you might sleep the day away,” her mother’s voice came from the kitchen.
Alina walked into the small area and watched as Georgeta expertly twisted dough that would become the bread for their evening meal. Her hands were strong from long hours working. The skin, tough and callused, still looked young and beautiful but obviously the hands were of one who worked the land. Alina looked down at her own hands and realized that, though they were still soft, they were showing the beginning signs of the effects of hard labor, even on a werewolf.
“What is going through that busy head of yours?” her mother asked.
Alina lowered her hands and slipped them behind her back feeling as though she had been caught swiping a bite of pie before dinner.
“Father said the new Alpha is visiting the villages,” she answered nonchalantly. Her mother knew her better than that, not to mention had seen Alina’s reaction to the few times she had seen Vasile.
“You have changed much since the last time you saw him.”
“That is what your mate said,” Alina’s eyes sparkled with humor. “He seems to think that there is a possibility that Vasile could be my mate.”
“And what is so impossible about that? Although you are still young for the mating signs to appear, your sixteenth birthday is not too far off, so it is not an impossibility that he could be your mate or that the signs would begin to appear.”
“I am more likely to be the mate of that old mare in the field than the mate of a royal, let alone the Alpha of our pack. And for the signs to appear even before I am sixteen seems quite doubtful.” Alina stepped up to the front door. It was open, as usual during the summer months. Her mother loved the fresh air and the sounds of nature. Alina knew it called to her wolf, just as it did her own.
“It is not like you to be so unsure of yourself, of your worth, Alina,” Georgeta’s voice chided her softly. “Vasile would be a blessed wolf if he were to have the honor of you being his true mate.”
“You have to say that; you are my mother,” Alina sighed.
“Maybe.” She felt her mother's arm come around her shoulders and pull her close, the familiar scent of spices enveloping her. “Or maybe I am just the smartest female in all the land. Either way, I am right.”
Alina laughed. “And humble too.”
Weeks passed as Alina went about her usual routine. She laid out each evening in her field staring at the sky, dreaming of her future, wishing for the impossible. With every passing day she grew more and more anxious of the Alpha’s arrival. Some nervous part of her did not want him to come and wished that he would just bypass them all together. But then another part of her, namely her wolf, waited with baited breath for him to arrive. She had thought one night that maybe he had not shown up thus far because he had found his true mate in one of the other villages. This had put her wolf in a rage that ended with her phasing, running, and hunting until the possessive jealousy had finally cooled. When Alina returned to her human form, she was shaken by the intense feelings her wolf had for Vasile, a man whom she had never even spoken with. Could it mean that he was indeed her mate, or did she just have an unhealthy fascination with what she could not have? Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do but wait.
A thought hit her suddenly just as she decided to let the worry go. “What if I really am his mate?” she spoke into the dark night. “What then?” The Great Luna’s words replayed in her mind. “Be ready, child, the one I have for you comes with much darkness, much baggage, and he will need your goodness. For without you, his darkness will rule and he will destroy the Canis lupis race.”
Alina sat up abruptly.Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest as moisture collected on her neck and in the palm of her hands. Vasile was bound to have baggage; he lost his brother and now his parents. She knew that the males of her race struggled with the darkness that their beast brought with them until their true mate filled them with their light. How much darkness would the deaths of three family members deposit in a man’s already dimming soul with no one to help him bear it? And an even better question, 'Was she ready to be a mate to one such as that?'
Romanian Proverb # 4
Nu vrea sã audã.
There are none so deaf as those that will not hear.
“Your hospitality is greatly appreciated, Louis.” Vasile thanked the family once again for allowing him to stay with them during his visit to their village. He stepped out into the cool evening air and stretched. His third, Ion, and fourth, Nicu, were waiting for him near the edge of the village. He had decided to travel at night for a couple of days so that they could hunt. The only down side to this decision was that they sometimes had to ask for clothes in the communities they came upon. Not that any of them protested giving their Alpha clothes, but it was irritating to him to be an imposition on his people.
“That went well,” Ion said just as Vasile reached them.
“So far there have been none attempting to challenge me, which is making my life somewhat easier for the time being,” Vasile agreed. “I am surprised to see the state of things in some of these villages,” he confessed. “I am afraid I have not been diligent about monitoring our lands, even when my father was still alive. I did not know that the outer parts of the pack were suffering so. I guess that was one way in which my father’s madness was beginning to show in his inability to care for his pack and to protect them.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as the realization of just how much damage his father had done to their pack became clear. “When we get to the next village, Nicu, send one of the young males back to the castle. Have him tell Alin to send out financial aid, food, clothes, and anything else to the last four villages we visited. We will probably have to do the same to the village we are about to see.” Nicu nodded and Vasile could see the relief in the wolf’s eyes. He was a dominant as well and it was natural for him to want to protect those in his pack.
They had been traveling around their territory for more than four weeks now, staying for several days in each village they came upon. Anghel had been right. His pack had needed reassurance that they were still intact and that there wouldn’t be anarchy or a hundred challenges among the males vying for the Alpha position.
As much as Vasile hated lying to his pack, it was necessary. Sadly, with every telling, the story came easier and easier to his lips. He had repeated the tale so often now he was beginning to believe it himself. Anghel and he had come up with the simplest story possible. Vasile knew that the more intricate the lie, the harder to keep it straight. He explained that his father had been managing the boarders of the territory as he often did. When he did not return to the castle by midnight, Vasile took it upon himself to go look for him. He found him three miles away, his throat had been ripped open, and the artery there severed. He had bled out much too quickly to heal himself. Vasile had caught the scent of a bear, maybe two. He had held his father for quite a while before any of the other wolves had shown up causing his scent to mask that of the killers. Wolves and bears were natural enemies, and though it was horrific to lose their Alpha, they would not retaliate against predators engaging their natural instincts.