It Came From Salem- A Lycan Story

Just a Coward Who Submits

My feet were starting to feel sore, and my bare arms grew new bumps with each breeze that blew through the trees. When I had started my trek into the forest, the Sun had still been up. Now, the Moon was starting to peek through the trees, all warmth from her mate's rays leaving in her wake. 

I felt bad for the Sun and the Moon, destined to be each other's, but fated to only be near a few times a year. 

Still, that fate seemed better than mine. 

This was the first time I had left the castle in nearly a year, the air outside having been claimed 'dirty' and 'inhabitable for barren women.' Nothing about the breezes felt dirty, instead, it felt free, light, and oh-so-right. 

I wonder if Dorsey has noticed my absence by now. Was he at home, waiting for me to return so we could attempt, in vain, to create a pup? Has he alerted the guards of my absence? Has a search party been sent to find me? 

A scoff ripped from my lips, filling the otherwise nearly silent forest with its echoing noise. My husband and the Council have probably given up on me; I wouldn't be worth the effort to search. 

Besides, I will return. I was not a coward who fled. 

Just a coward who submits. 

I froze in my tracks, a gasp rippling over my body. It was a voice I had not heard in years, one I had thought I would never hear again. Her voice was weak, tired. It sounded as if she had used every last ounce of energy to push through the barriers of the medications. Only to scold me. 

Never once had my wolf been happy with me. 

I stayed standing in that spot, unable to move my body, digesting what she had said. 

Ever since the day I was born, that is what I had been taught. Submit. 

We were once a dying species, being hunted by Witches and mankind. The females submitted to the power of the males, accepting his seed so they could bring about the next generation of Lycans. It was how we survived. 

It was necessary to do so. The Moon created the she-wolf with only one purpose in mind. To mother pups so our species could live on. 

I had been proud that I had bled early, knowing my body was preparing itself for its purpose. I had been excited to mate with Dorsey, finally being able to step into the shoes I knew I was bred to fit. The night I received my wolf, I was overjoyed that at last, I could achieve my purpose. 

But my wolf had howled in my head all night long on that first night. I had felt a heartbreak come from her. What she was so broken about I didn't understand, but she begged me not to submit to this man. 

I did not listen, knowing the Council was far wiser than the wolf in my head. 

So against her better wishes, I mated Dorsey. While I was happy, she was angry. The night we mated, she chanted between howls of anguish, 'Not our mate.' It was odd, of course Dorsey was our mate. We had completed a Chosen Mate ceremony successfully. 

I fought to subdue her in my mind, as every time Dorsey made advances on me, she bucked and howled. Little by little, day by day, her fighting grew quieter and her resolve had shifted. Then she just whimpered every time Dorsey touched me, still quietly chanting 'Not our mate.' 

When it was revealed that she was the reason I could not bear a pup, I was relieved they gave medications to shut her out. Her incessant whimpering in my head aggravated me to no end. 

And now, in this moment, as I stand in the forest under the light of the bright Moon, my wolf was aggravating me again. She was the reason I could not bear a pup. She was the reason my husband had hurt me and his painful handprint pulsed with sickening pain on my wrist. She was the reason the little blue bird resting in the shoe box in my hand was dead. She was the reason I was going to lose my mate.