The Female Sigma - Book One

Chapter 17 - Elders and meetings

C H A P T E R
S E V E N T E E N

Elders and Meetings

Summer twisted on her bed in an attempt to get to her phone. As she checked the time, she grimaced at the bright light. The room was still completely dark. The sun's first rays had barely pierced the horizon and were lost in the wild trees. She massaged her eyes, attempting to shake off the final vestiges of her sleep. She pushed the covers away and stepped onto the cold, hardwood floor with a yawn. There was no sound in the house.

She sat and waited. Kept an eye out for telltale signals of her brother getting ready for the day. She stood up and walked to her closet when nothing moved, not even a breath. She swiftly changed into her workout clothes. She kept her ear open for any indication that her brother was awake.

The state of the house had not changed by the time she was ready. She proceeded down the hallway, her hair pulled back into a ponytail, to Jasmine's door. She made her way out the back door for her morning run after seeing the little girl was still asleep.

The morning fog was heavy on the back porch. Her pack huts sat silently around her, its people still snuggled into bed and their dreams. She was unaware that the air was cold. She slid down the stairwell and began running as soon as her feet touched the ground. Although streaks of light were beginning to appear in the sky, it was still gloomy. As she proceeded down the sidewalk, the streetlights were still turned on.

She ran faster after her muscles had shaken off the last of the stiffness from her morning sleep. Her thoughts chased after her as her footsteps hammered against the pavement. Her thoughts followed her, things she wasn't sure about lurking in the shadows behind her.

Mist landed on her face and clung to her hair. As their tires sped through small potholes, car headlights whizzed by. She pushed everything out as she ran. She concentrated on her breathing pattern, the steady pounding of her shoes on the street, and the thump of her bracelet as it wriggled around her wrist.

She ran and ran as the world around her altered. As more cars entered the streets, a sliver of sunlight began to burn away the mist.
_

By the time she got to her block, the sun had taken over the sky. The pack huts made a lot of noise. She strolled up to her house, thinking of ways to talk to her brother again, but she came to a halt outside her entrance.

Several cars were parked on the street. Cars she was familiar with.

As she glanced at the crowded parking lot, new questions flooded her head. She traversed the yard and entered the home, which was deafeningly quiet. Her gaze was drawn to the faint murmurs coming from behind the closed conference room door. Another meeting was arranged.

She stumbled into the question of what kind of meeting they were having right now while showering and getting dressed. She took a step into the hallway. Her thoughts ricocheted around her mind even in the wide space.

She walked over to the conference door before she could persuade herself otherwise. She was close enough to hear what they were saying, but it was still distorted.

"Thanks to your daughter, they've declared war!" One of them exclaimed. She recognized the voice as being that of an elders.

I activated the mind link and communicated with my father, who was there at the conference. 'Isn't it true that we're in trouble?'

'You shouldn't be eavesdropping, Summer,' her father replied. Her father sat in the meeting room, his palms clammy, listening to elders disparage his daughter's name. 'The Luna Moon pack made a declaration of war. Your rejection isn't going to go overlooked. They believe we orchestrated the entire rejection.'

Despite everything that had occurred, Summer was fully aware that something like this would eventually come to pass. She stormed inside her room, a torrent of anger flowing through her veins. She slammed the door behind her and hurled herself onto the bed. As her mind wrestled with her ideas, everything around her blurred. Images of her brother and mother reminding her of how weak she is clash with images of her brother and mother agreeing to the elders' slandering of her name. Conflicting emotions suffocated her as they ricocheted through her.

She pulled off her jacket, tossed it on the bed, and grabbed her boxing gloves without thinking.

She yanked them on with disproportionate force, straining at the velcro straps as she tightened them. As she battered the punching bag, endless scenarios of how simple her life could've and should've been ran through her mind.

Summer was oblivious to the sound of her fists slamming into the taut leather and the squeaking of the bag as it swung on the metal hook, her thoughts blotting out the world around her. As a vise clamped tighter and tighter around her heart, she forced life into her lungs. Her arms ached from battling the bag at such a breakneck pace, but she didn't stop. She slammed her fists into the tight leather, her actions spastic. She pounded away as the bag swung, oblivious to the burning sensation in her knuckles.

When the strain in her arms and the vast pain in her heart blurred her thoughts, tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked angrily, forcing the puddles in her eyes to overflow and run down her face.

Her blows became sloppier and slower, and she eventually came to a halt, unable to see the bag through her teary eyes. She cried as she clutched one of the bag's two chains and put her head against the chilly, black fabric.

Her melancholy, in contrast to her rage, was intense. There was no emotional whirlwind. There was just one deep, never-ending pit of agony that threatened to devour her whole. She didn't hear the door open, and she was only vaguely aware of her father's presence until he drew her into a one-arm hug.

She gave in to his comfort and turned to face him, burying her face in his shirt and releasing all the pain her body had been holding in.

She choked out, "Why have they come?"

Her father kissed the top of her hair and caressed her head. "Summer, it's not your fault."

They didn't say anything else, letting their pain to envelop them.