Beasthood

~Chapter 2- Spread~

There's quite a bit of information in this chapter but don't let it overwhelm you, it will all be explained later. And this chapter is more about the characters than all the info. Enjoy!

~Chapter 2 - Spread~

The previous year...

Saturday February 6th, 2010, 10:45 p.m. - Deer Creek, Arik’s study

Three weeks after the death of Lora Kormak, rumours spread like wildfire within the Deer Creek community.

People suspected she didn’t survive childbirth because she 'wasn't one of them'. And the Elders believed it was true.

“She wasn’t the right one,” Arik said. His face was lined with many decades of leadership. Tough decisions stained his memory and the consequences of them -good or bad- would haunt him forever. But it was his duty and he accepted it wholeheartedly.

His light blue eyes were youthful but severe as he gazed at his old friend, Maria across the table. The light from the hanging, ceiling lamp cast harsh shadows down both their faces.

“We don’t know that for sure,” she replied.

“Oh, come on, Maria! You've been thinking it for a while now. Don't treat me like a fool!” he growled.

She responded with a stern lip.

He blinked, washing away the anger from his eyes and flashed her a delicate smile.

Her face softened just a little, enough for him to notice, but she still did not return the favour. “It is possible,” she conceded. “But her twin died at birth. Her parents have already proven this. So it stands to reason that if Lora survived birth, she must be the pureblood sibling.”

He wafted a hand away as if that didn’t matter.

“Thorpe and Eliza would not lie to me. They are loyal to the Pack.”

“So why aren’t they here? Why don’t they live here, where they belong? I tell you why!” he shot out the words before Maria could respond. “They do not accept who they are, they never have. They prefer to live around ‘normal’ people over their own family! You're their mother and you haven't seen them in years! You didn't meet Lora until she was a grown woman! All this proves to me is that they abhor us, so much so that they didn't want any child of theirs to live like us. Who knows what they might have done to prevent that happening.”

“Might have done? Arik, what are you insinuating? Have you gone mad?” she whispered.

“You deny that it is possible that they could have lied about Lora's twin’s death, because in their mind they'd have been 'protecting' it from us? Because, lets face it, not many people happily accept hybrid children. Thorpe thought we would react the same.”

Maria said nothing.

Arik continued. “Your son hid away from us the moment he and Eliza left this place and when we finally found them and eventually got their acceptance to bring Lora here so she could get our support, they allowed it as if they were more than happy to oblige. It was easy; too easy. It didn't make sense to me. Garik agrees also.”

“Garik has always been overly paranoid,” she argued. She disliked her eldest son’s inability to believe anything without scouring every detail until he was certain it was true.