Silver Light (ONC 2024) LONGLIST

Chapter 3

The feeling was magnetic, it pulled a Nevanthi like an ethereal string wrapped around her neck. Her paws slowly moved on their own accord, carrying her towards this silver wolf who had yet to even take their own eyes off of her. SHe should have felt ashamed or embarrassed for her own staring, the very action rude and not at all what she had been taught while growing up. However, the male wolf staring back was hypnotic, which made it rather difficult for her to pull her gaze away and focus on anything that may be going on around her. 

Nevanthi barely managed three slow paw steps before her ears perked up and she forced herself to stop in place once more. 

"Nevanthi, not another step." 

Rolling her golden eyes as she came back to her senses, Nevanthi couldn't dismiss the sound of her father's demanding voice. Though, there was a worried undertone within the background of his demanding words, the frustration and irritation not too hard to miss as he spoke. 

"Care to explain where you've run off to last night?" 

"Nowhere really, I was still on pack territory and not far from the den." 

Nevanthi slowly turned so her back was no longer turned towards the wolf addressing her. Her gaze landing on the alpha that stared her down, she somehow managing to remain calm in the presence of her father, Sivara.

Standing before her was a large brown wolf with raven black eyes that mimicked an endless void anyone could have fallen into. So many times had those emotionless dark eyes struck fear into quite a few wolves over the past years. However, those bold enough to challenge her father never lasted very long. They either ended up with debilitating wounds and scars, or they lost their lives completely in battle against him. It was the reason behind the scar that adorned Sivara's left eye, it only adding to his intimidating demeanor. 

"That doesn't matter young lady. Night can be a very dangerous time for any wolf and we've just had someone trespass onto our territory. What if-" 

"Father, I'm fine. Nothing happened to me. Though, I did notice the newcomer in the den. Who are they?" 

Nevanthi was quick to cut her father off, not wanting to hear a long and overly drawn out speech about her safety. She may be young, but she wasn't a pup anymore. She could handle herself in a fight if push came to shove and she hadn't been that far from the den to begin with. Though, the sudden look on her father's face had her recoiling a little, maybe having overstepped her boundaries a little with cutting off her father like she did. 

It was hard to miss the way Sivara's black gaze narrowed in frustrated anger and his brown fur bristled in warning despite the alpha trying to keep a level head while talking to his daughter. The very sight had Nevanthi's ears flattening against her head, her body lowering towards the ground ever so slightly as if to protect herself for a lashing she was certain to get. She was never one for the anger and scoldings that her father could give, then again, she was pretty sure no one liked when her father scolded them. 

"You shouldn't concern yourself with that outsider. We're still trying to decide what to do with him and if he's an actual threat or not. He hasn't spoken and won't release which pack he's from." 

As if realizing his daughter was shifting subjects, Sivara let out a frustratingly warning growl and stepped up to Nevanthi. This was his way of intimidating the pack, getting them to immediately listen to him when it was needed. He peered down his nose at his daughter, watching as Nevanthi shrank down towards the ground even more than what she had already done, protecting herself from the anger resonating from him. A sigh left Sivara and he relaxed a little, his fur falling back into soft tufts while his facial features softened ever so slightly.