Because of the last conversation with mom, I had been avoiding her.

Trying to avoid her.

But how could I avoid her when she was low-key obsessed with me these days, just like Thomas had told.

She would bring breakfast, prepare bath and choose clothes for me. I was surrounded by her all the time that I felt suffocated. I had finally thought that today, I would get up early unlike other days and see what this training thing was.

Where would all these wolves go and train? I had to be curious about it since I was bored already. I had overheard Eva's excited voice about preparation for Mating Season. Maybe, preparation meant more training.

I felt like I could just go and hang out, watch like an audience.

So, this old stupid me decided to refuse to mom's advances on nudging me to get back to sleep and wake up lazily. Instead of doing that, I bathed early, wore this track suit I used to wear often when Gran and I would go to parks in summers. I had many of them but the bag had only two. One of grey-pink combination and one of grey-neon orange.

I chose the pink one and got ready with that iconic high pony tail, swinging it while getting downstairs with an excited smile.

Pete was only crossing the corridor when he stopped and looked at me. "You awake? Early?"

"Morning, big brother." I rolled my eyes at his confused eyes. "I decided to accompany you guys, today. These last three days, I spent being bored. There is nothing to do-"

"But you're here to keep mother happy?" He said, looking at me as I jumped off the last stair and walked towards the corridor.

"Mom's very happy. And she will be more, if she sees me mixing up with the pack."

A loud laughter came from my front where I wasn't looking at because I had my focus on Pete. The sharp voice cut the air of the corridor and my ears.

"Pack? You are talking about wolf pack, here." Eva muttered while walking ahead and reaching me. She crossed her arms across her chest, her flat belly giving me complex in that sports bra. "On a suicide mission, Misty?"

I chuckled humorlessly, "I thoughts, wolves were civilized. Here, you still directing they are barbaric and wild. Oh! You'll be one of them in next hour."

Eva's smirk faded in a blink. Fire glazed in those eyes and I sighed tiredly.

"When we train, we prepare ourselves for fight. For battles. It is not some morning jog to burn calories, not some sports wear show off for your social media accounts. There are claws and bites. And worst of all, father's gaze on each wolf present there," she explained, her voice sounding like a cold-voiced narrator in a horror movie.

"Enough," Pete intervened, reaching us. "Misty, go back and sleep. It's just five in the morning. You can have three-four more hours until breakfast. Training's not your thing."

"You guys saying things like that provoke the loner," I muttered, shaking my head. "I am curious and will only watch. Consider me just an audience."

Before Pete could say anything, Eva sharp tongue cut off my heart. "True. Because that's what you are to our lives, Misty. Just an audience. You can be with us. But you'll never be one of us."

My lips parted in hurt but the bitch didn't stop there.

"You might be a daughter of this house, but you'll never be a wolf."

My throat tightened from the lump that had formed. My eyes burned from the tears that welled up. I breathed, slowly and proudly for my upcoming comeback.

"Right! Because being a bitch like you is not my thing. The funny thing is that you really bark and bite at the places, you are not wanted," I said and turned around to jog towards the stairs before she could even see the tear slipping off my eye.

"Misty," Pete called out but I couldn't care.

I just wanted to fucking cry to sleep.

_______

The world is a shitty place and I was born in it as human.

Now, was that a thing to feel bad about? I wasn't feeling bad. But how could someone discriminate me like that.

I hated Eva for being so impulsive and calling on like that. I had nothing to do with her but she intervened and spoiled my mood. How could her day be spent so good after ruining mine?

The tears had stopped but the fire in my heart wasn't cooling down. I had turned off mom's breakfast and didn't tell her what happened. It turned out that she already knew about it because Pete had told her after returning from the training.

After feeling like I had spent enough time mourning over a shitty morning, I got up and bathed. I got presentable in a simple lower and t-shirt, and thought about going outdoors. I could find Thomas, I felt.

"Hey! Watch out!"

"Fucking s.hit!" I grumbled, seeing the bowl of a tasty looking curry down on my feet. I wanted to scream, half from the heat of the burning hot curry, half from the embarrassment because drawing room was filled with family members who were doing breakfast.

"God gave you eyes and ears," the rough voice came from the very calm Alpha of this pack, who had his eyes stern on me. "But didn't gave you mind to use them."

Eva let out a giggle, still in her training clothes while Natalie groaned, "That looked tasty, father. Now, what will we do."

I snorted, throwing a humorless smirk his way, looking in his green eyes. "God gave me a heart that is sorry for your loss," I said, stepping back to glance at the curry, noticed my lower was drenched below the knees. I looked back up at him. "I wish, he had given you that, and you'd been sorry for mine."

The pride look at that face had disappeared. Gilbert's jaws clenched.

A loud gasp came from my behind and I recognized mom's voice. "What just happened? How did that. . . Gilbert?"

"Things like this had to happen when I started my day with seeing bitch faces," I grumbled, turning around while knowing they all would hear me.

"Misty!" Mom's voice came from behind but she was immediately cut off by Gilbert.

"Oh I see, our little guest is angry from not being welcomed at training grounds." The Alpha chuckled out, stepping back as two maids came to clean them while mom helped them.

Just as she got up, Gilbert looked at me. The monster smiled, "Well, Misty Brown."

The pain on mom's face was visible when I glanced at her.

Did he give me his name? No!

"The thing is that training grounds is not for audience. If you want to see the training, you'll have to get trained." Gilbert raised his eyebrows at me and nodded. "You'll have to participate."

"But Gilbert, she's human-"

"So, what!" The man cut off my mom again. "She needs to know that in our world, it's not all the fight with words. We fight here with claws and canines. We fight with power in veins and growl. We don't hoot, we howl. The training is no entertainment. It's our means for protection. If she is interested in our things, she'll respect the culture. Our rules.

"Like you're all so welcoming? Right-"

"And the first rule is to never cut an Alpha's words." Gilbert said, calmly. My jaws clenched when he further said, "Or the Alpha will cut your tongue."

I turned around in anger, breathing hard and not before glaring at mom who was in love with such a devil person.

"Sharp at five. Otherwise, forget it."

I only grunted in response and took the stairs to wash myself.

______

Crossing my legs the Indian style, I closed my eyes and breathed. Breathed and Breathed.

This world was a shitty place but I had the power to change this. I could create my own world if I'd follow my own rules. If Gran hadn't been here, she'd be so embarrassed of me.

I would have to rise up my value here. Gilbert insulting me was enough, but Eva began today. No, she was just two years elder than me. I deserved to be respected and I would be. . .

The sound of door burst open echoed around, followed by a loud laughter that cut off my meditation very well. I could hardly control myself from not opening my eyes.

Thomas looked like a freshly cleaned, hacker kind of a guy with that check shirt over black t-shirt, without the nerdy specs. "What are you doing?"

"Meditation. I need that too much in this house."

Thomas chuckled and sat on my bed. My eyebrows raised as I looked at him. "I heard what happened. Mother's unhappy about it," he smiled at me.

"Too bad, but it's the consequences of her own deeds-"

"Don't go there," Thomas had a stern tone and suddenly it changed into a bubbly one when he said, "I heard you wanted to go to the training grounds. Why?"

I closed my eyes and breathed hard. "That was a bad idea. I shouldn't even have thought about it. All those losers are now in the air, flying at seeing me getting interested in their shitty training thing."

"Misty, why do you need to see training grounds. If you are bored, you should have asked for me. I have games and books, I also have movies," he said, looking at me.

I smiled at him, sarcastically. "Damn great! But I don't need any of that anymore. I think, I am good in this room only. If I even leave this room, I get insulted and angry. I swear, I have never been this low, self-pitying ever in my life."

Thomas smiled in pity. "Misty, you think too much. Just chill out. I have an idea that is more great than watching movies or reading novels."

For a moment, I was quiet.

"What is it?"

____

"What the. . ." I gasped while looking around in shock. "Isn't this the same place where we were that day?"

"Yeah, but we came out from a different street. So, this is some feet away from that place in the ground. Look, there we were." Thomas pointed towards the street which was ahead on the ground. In our front, were the same forests which were off limits.

On our far right and left were the mountains. But there was a difference today. Today, families were out here enjoying and having picnics. There were lot like a busy beach.

"How many people are there in our pack?"

Thomas scratched his chin, "Six to seven hundred, I guess. Pete had prepared the record just days ago. He is good at the keeping up-work. We have forty per cent youth which is declining year by year because of some deaths."

"Why?" I asked looking around as some families had started to notice me standing on the edge of the street.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. "Long story. But it's the current issue so I'll give you a root of all this." He brought his finger and asked me while pointing far at the dense forests touching the grounds.

"You see those woods."

"Yeah," I mumbled. "Off limits. I know."

He nodded, "There is a reason. When you are in this pack, ask reason behind every thing. You'll find a story hidden behind it."

"What's the story behind not going to those woods, then?" I asked, enjoying the feel of evening air on my legs covered with a pink palazzo.

Thomas looked at me. "There's a big one. To know that, you can attend the pack meet, mythology classes that will begin in preparation for the mating season. But in short, those woods are dangerous. There, lives. . ."

"A monster?" I had humor in tone.

He breathed out while looking at the woods. "Monsters."

I gulped, looking at him. "Are you joking by any chance?"

Thomas shook his head. "Attend mythology classes and you'll know. And I don't lie, Misty. Mind that."

I gulped again, this time looking at the woods. "Then, why these families are having picnics here. So close to be seen and reach?"

Thomas nodded. "Because of the pack border. It protects us. The ground is our territory. Not theirs. They can't enter without the motive of getting punished." He sighed and looked around. "Do you want to sit or check another site?"

I looked around, observing the happy families, feeling nauseated. "Next one."

He nodded quietly while walking back towards the streets. We walked for sometime until an intersection came and in between was a big statue of a man.

My mouth parted as I observed the green color of the statue. The man had just a knee-length cloth tied on his waist. He has one hand forwarded and other fist-bumping in the air above.

"He is the founder of our pack," Thomas explained while I was still mesmerized by the handsome face of the man. Those eyes looked determined and the artist had done such justice. "He was a great man, Misty. Our pack worships him after the moon. We are grateful that he existed."

Something in that statue was calling on me as I walked forward and realized how big it was. He was barefoot and his canines were protruded.

"Alpha Rucus."

"Wow," I whispered out, looking up at the man. "What does his position depicts."

Thomas cleared his throat and chuckled, "I like your fast questions, Misty. The fist in the air is the depiction of his power. He was blessed by the moon."

My eyes hit with realization as Mom had mentioned it before too.

"The arm forwarded is begging for something. He is begging to his mate."

"What for? Why?" I stepped back, now looking properly at the expressions. The man looked determined and powerful. But his eyes had a little sadness.

"He is begging her to not kill herself."

I gasped, looking back at Thomas who was smiling at my expressions.

"She had killed herself."

"Why?"

Thomas sighed and smiled, "Mythology class."

I rolled my eyes and breathed out because I had a certain interest growing in for the story.

It was better than hitting those training grounds.

_______

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