𝐙𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐚| 𝟏𝟖+

𝟎𝟏| 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

Leaping over a fallen branch, my wolf ran back towards the pack house. God, it felt good to let her out. I needed this for the night I was about to go through.

"First impressions are everything...take pride in everything you do."

My mother always knew what to say to make me uncomfortable. But wasn't that everyone's mother? No? Maybe it was just mine, I mean after all, she was the Alpha of our pack. My wolf huffed and pushed her legs faster, coming to a stop by a tree we knew all too well. Although we weren't the largest pack, we were heavily respected. For a female pack, with predominantly black females, we held our own. After my father was killed in an attack, my mother made some drastic changes. She banished all the men from our land, along with their mated females, and made it her duty to train every female to be the best of the best. My mother did everything in her power to make sure our pack was recognized amongst all others. That is what I admired most about her. Through all the grief and pain, she stood tall, stayed strong and did what was needed for her family. Truth was, as much as I disagreed with her ways, I was proud to have such a driven and focused woman raising me.

I was 4 when my father was taken from us. He was my world, as I was his. My mother was worrysome and made sure I was preparing for my future duties as Alpha Female of our pack, while he just wanted me to have some sort of childhood. When my Alpha training was through for the day, we'd sneak off to get ice cream or he'd take me to the park and let me play with the other kids in our pack. Losing him was hard on all of us, especially my momma. He was her mate, in this life and the next. Made for her as she was made for him.

Mates. They were a weird thing. My father passed on and my mother felt I didn't need to know about the mating bond between wolves. She would tell me over and over that love was a weak and fragile thing I shouldn't make time for, let alone think about. I thought otherwise. Love was a beautiful thing. I knew what it was by watching both my mother and father love each other. Cater to each other. Shifting back, I grit my teeth and picked up the clothes left for me from within the hidden part of the tree and quickly slipped them on. Shifting was painful, you never got used to it, though the pain became bearable.

My mother, a victim of losing her other half, knew where I stood when it came to the subject of love. To be destined to someone wasn't something I wanted...it was something I longed for... It was in every wolf's nature to long for their other half, as the Moon Goddess willed it so. I'd do whatever I could to find my other half, I just hope he felt the same way.

☆ ☆ ☆

Today, the elders were throwing a ball in honour of a new alpha taking position in place of his late father. Something we had in common I guess. My mother was forcing me to go, said I needed to, "Know my people," and "Figure out who my future allies could be," Sighing, I shoved my wild curly hair underneath a showercap and turned on the shower. My mother had a dress handmade for me. If it was one thing my momma knew how to do, it was dress. She worked with the designer to make sure the dress would capture attention but still be elegant for the event. I didn't know what it looked like, but I trusted her fashion sense.