The Marks

II.

A week later
The Night of the Shipment.

Celeste grumbled as she made her way downstairs, she couldn't sleep and it's all her fur's fault bugging her about something they both know that they can't have: a mate. Ever since they were little, one particular phrase was drilled into their heads: "Hide it and hide it well." Their Father being the voice to those words. Without asking much, they took his words as testimony, abiding by it everyday of their lives. Now it is warring with their wants and their needs.

Celeste remember the first time and only mates were brought up among the sisters was when they came across a flowing stream to have a drink of water. She was the one to bring it up earning a solid slap and tongue lashing from Aura. She never understood why the topic was such a taboo when all she wanted was have a love just like their Mother and Father. To have someone look at them with the utmost respect and cherish every little thing that they do. But she complied, and the dream was only just that - a dream - never to be spoken about again.

Striking a match, she lit a candle brightening up the kitchen area. The dishes clinked as she grabbed a cup and pot to make some chamomile and lemongrass tea. She filled the pot with water and set it on the stove before lighting the wood burning stove. She shuffled through the cabinets until she found her chamomile, lemongrass, and sugar. She set up her cup and sat on the counter waiting for the water to boil.

Tonight is the night of The Shipment. A harrowing process that leaves families broken and in despair. It was Rex that told them the workings of The Shipment. At the end of each year, the Alpha looks through all the documented files of the unmated females - if one thing has to be in order amongst chaos, is the documents of the females - to see which female goes to which Alpha. Once that is done, letters were sent out to the suspecting families to prepare them to let go of their daughter or daughters if they are of the age sixteen and above.

Two days before the Shipment, the Alpha has selected warriors go around collecting the females depending on the size of the pack due to time. They are then held in a holding building until the night of the Shipment were all the Alphas meet on Common Ground along with females and whoever they trust to help with the handoffs. It is said that parents can come to see their child or children but haven't been practiced or the handoffs would take longer than expected due to families not wanting to let go.

Learning about this forced the girls to realize why their parents did what they did as a ploy to get them to know about each other and live as a family but Celeste still yearned for her mate no matter how unwanted the feeling is. The steam rose high, alerting Celeste of its readiness and she doused the wood stove in water to out the fire then poured the boiling into her cup and let it steep. Her fur bristled, the happenings of the Shipment are just below the mountain that they are staying. She's curious as to how it looks and her fur was nagging her to go, but she will not - she refuses - the girls must stick together and stick together they will. Satisfied with the wait, she started to sip her tea; hopefully this will put her to sleep as it always has.

*****

It was hopeless, she had to go and look. Opening her closet, Celeste packed her gear and clothes into her backpack and quickly changed into her snow gear. Once set, she peeked out her bedroom door to see that the coast was clear and made her way down the stairs, her fingers were just centimeters away from the door knob when a bubbling growl stopped her. Her adrenaline was beginning to rise, preparing her to defend herself if need be, but no attacks came. The strike of a match flickering into a light shone on the culprit... or should she say culprits.