Among The Wolves

Marking

Prior to entering the Moon Room I had had a large suspicion that Próta Epsilon Ty'Bin was going to be on the other side. In my mind I went through the consequences of accepting or denying the judge. I reflected on all our past interactions. His generosity when he gave me the book, his patience in the library, his thoughtfulness at the bleachers, and his gentleness just this morning when he undid the ropes and carried me. All that, in contrast to Kun'Zim's impulsive, possessive, callous, and lust-filled behavior, made the choice easy. At the moment I really did not have anything negative to say about him. No reason to deny.

My heart raced knowing what this meant for my future but I wanted it. There was security and stability. Lins needed that. While I did not love Ty'Bin, I was fond of him and he was one whose virtuous character would make it easy to make the commitment to love.

However, my doubt came from the way I had treated him. Thinking he had been mated I abruptly cut him off many times. I could not see why he would have an interest in me. At least I could blame it on cultural shock, they wore no rings here so identifying the mated wolfbloods had to be learned by word of mouth.

"How did this happen?" He murmured, still keeping me close to his chest.

I did not know so I let the silence be my response. Nothing made sense, especially for me in a foreign world. Yet, still, I was glad for it.

We stayed in each other's embrace for some time until Ty'Bin quietly broke the silence. "We only have a few moments before the moon passes over."

I looked up to meet his eyes again, disappointed in myself for not taking initiative to look at them sooner.

I wanted to speak but felt afraid I would break the spell. Perhaps cause myself to wake up from this wonderful dream and find instead some other unkempt wolfblood in front of me. "I had no idea... until today that you were... him."

He tipped his head, "No?"

I shook my head ever so slightly. "I had no idea."

His hands went down to take a hold of mine, his lips breaking into a small grin, "Now, you do."

His smile was contagious and I could not keep my own down. "Yes."

I could see his focus change to a more somber thought. "Are you scared?"

I paused at the question. Was I? Earlier I was petrified and no doubt smelled strongly of it. Did he still smell fear on me?

"Of you, no. Just of the unknown."

Nodding in understanding, Ty'Bin reached up and caressed my cheek. "I am too, Vae'Lee. I fear I will hurt you."

My heart felt touched. "Will you help me? To know what I am supposed to do next?"

With a gentle smile, he lifted his head just as the moon passed over to the other side of the center frame. When it did, the bright glow began to dim incrementally.

I heard a rhythmic pinging from beyond the curtain that had both of our heads turning. Saddened that our time was already ending, I waited on Ty'Bin, watching him so that I may copy his moves. He let his hand fall from my face but trailed my arm and curled his fingers around my hand.

We waited a few seconds before the heavy curtain pulled back. There was a huge expansive room. Big enough for hundreds of people to occupy. Chairs lined up neatly took up most of the space. There were a great deal of windows and the white glossy floor matched the texture of the walls and ceiling. The ceiling was decorated with hanging, glass beads and the walls had intricate designs with more symbols but this time everything was white.

The light from the fading glow reflected off the glass beads making it hard to adjust my eyes for a minute but then I could see that only a fraction of the chairs were occupied. Alpha M'est'r, Beta, a few Etas, such as Eta Woo'Min and his mate Kia'Ry. There was also Hem'Lar, the general-like guy, Theta Ty'Mee, and a few other random faces I did not intimately know were all sitting relatively close to the front. There were a few occupants near the back but without clear lighting I could not make them out.