rain in your heart - patpran

17.

When Dissaya first met Ming, she was only fourteen years old. Their fathers, the head alphas of their respective rival packs, had been at war for the past month, and had decided to call a truce- a fragile one.

That's when she sees him, in the tents of Ming's father's pack, in the dim light of the setting sun, and with her knees aching from the tiring journey.

When their eyes meet, suddenly their father's voices become background noise.

They exchange no words, only shy gazes- uncertain and confused, too young to understand the meaning of the fluttering in their stomachs. When they part, it's with a silent bow, a gesture heavy with unspoken curiosity.

Dissaya hadn't known why she prayed to meet the other alpha again, only that she did.

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When Dissaya turns fifteen, her brother sits her down in their shared tent. The air is filled with something heavy.

"P'" Dissaya asks, voice small, eyes wide with curiosity as her eyes flicker over the bags that her brother had been packing scattered on the floor next to their bed. "Are you moving to another tent?"

Her brother glances at her, and then at the bags on the floor. "I guess you could say that," he replies, eyes shining fondly. He sets down the clothes in his hand on the bed in favour of running a hand through Dissaya's hair, an effort to calm her down.

"What does that mean, P'?" she presses, her voice trembling with uncertainty, unshed tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Her brother smiles at her sadly.

"I'm sorry, Dissaya." he murmurs softly to her, "I'm leaving the pack."

Her heart plummets. "W-What?"

His smile only becomes sadder, the hand in her hair stilling, "I found my destined mate, Dissaya. If I remain here, father is going to force me to marry that arrogant alpha from the islands to forge an alliance."

"But-" Dissaya protests, "He only wants the best for us, P'. For the pack."

"I know what's best for me, my star," he replies gently, eyes hardening a little, shoulders drooping as he picks the clothes back into his arms, gently placing it into one of the bags. "I love my omega, and my omega loves me just as much. If our father found out that I, an omega, want to marry another omega, he'd definitely go feral with rage. You know how he is."

A minute of silence passes by, and Dissaya stares at him, trying to absorb his words. She asks, voice quivering, letting the tears fall in fear of losing him forever, "Will you come back for me?"

Her brother pauses, his hand still in the middle of packing, and looks at her with a mixture of love and regret. "Maybe."

Dissaya nods, slowly understanding the situation, accepting it. She whispers. "I will miss you, P'."

Her brother doesn't come back.

🥀˚｡🍷✶🖤

When Dissaya is sixteen, she meets him again.

She's in the woods and by the river that runs between her pack on the hills and the rival pack, when she hears the noise of struggling.