Amber Eyes

~ 1 ~ First Encounters

The rough red fur was the first giveaway. He was here. My soulmate was here. I felt his rough tongue licking and cleaning my satin white fur, it felt amazing and soothed my racing nerves rapidly. I slowly lifted myself from my relaxed laying position and turned around to look into his cold amber eyes. Once again, I was face to face with the strongest and most feared wolf in the whole pack, maybe even in the whole world, but I was not afraid. Scar proceeded to lick my silky fur clean and with every lick of his tongue I felt more and more safe, more and more protected from the dangerous world we live in. I could feel his razor sharp teeth grazing my softest skin but I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

I am one of the youngest she-wolves of my generation in the pack therefore I will have to prove myself to be strong enough and have the right qualities to be partnered with the alpha, but for now, I have been chosen for my desirably rare, silky white coat. Scar will take me as his paired companion and we will become a ruling pair. I don't know if I'm ready for the responsibilities of being the ruling pair because I still feel like I am only a maturing pup, but my mother needs me to be okay with this change. She's already lost one of her cubs and she needs me to do this for her. As a pair my responsibilities will change, once I become fertile I will be mated and then I am to keep the rulers going by producing at least 2 healthy pups, 1 male and 1 female.

As soon as I become a ruler, I will have a say in what happens to the entire pack. I will have a say in helping protect the puppies, I will make crucial decision but it will also be my responsibility to attend gatherings alongside my companion as a leader. I'm scared of the whole situation and it overwhelmed me greatly. However, there is still the possibility that I won't be chosen as the leading she-wolf, and is it bad to say I'm hoping that I don't pass the tests?

I got completely caught up in my head again and I didn't notice when Scar was looking anxiously into my eyes asking for some affection in return. I nuzzled his shoulder and licked his broad chest cautiously, the last thing I wanted to do was get the all high and mighty alpha irritated. I pulled my head back away from him before hearing Scar mumbling under his breath, "Aurora. What's wrong?"
I looked into his deep amber eyes but almost immediately looked away, his stare was excruciatingly intimidating to me. I stumbled a few steps back and cocked my head to one side moving my ears to the sides as though to say I didn't know what he meant. The fur on the back of my legs stood on end as he thoroughly analysed my body language. I could tell he knew I was anxious and afraid of the whole situation and he wasn't wrong.

Scar diverted his attention to something else that was going on in the southern tree courtyard. I looked too. Two pups were roughly playing, a squabble of toothless biting and playful scratching was playing out as the youngsters battled for dominance. I looked closer trying to identify who the two brawlers were only to realise that it was Smoke and Whistle. Smoke was a broad shouldered, strong jawed, black wolf cub. He was known for always brawling other puppies in his class and more times than not successfully leaving the fight untouched. His future is to be an alpha guard wolf among the other highly skilled guardians of the pack. Whistle however, was significantly smaller and much younger than Smoke but she still bounds around in her ginger coat and black ears, padding Smoke with clawless blows and toothless nibbles.

Scar shook his head in awe as the two played. I could tell from his soft expression that he thought that the two fighters were cute as they tussled in the sickeningly green grass. Nostalgia washed over me as I remembered my days when I battled the others in my class. The moment was ruined as I remembered the playful fights with my sister. Then luckily my mind switched topic and I wondered for a moment, does scar want pups?  The thought immediately left my mind as I remembered our duty. It wasn't a choice I could make, it was predetermined and there was no point in wondering what Scar wanted for the future. For all I know, he probably doesn't even want me. I sighed at the thought of being paired in a relationship without the guarantee of love. Could I really agree to be paired with someone who doesn't even want me? Someone who doesn't love me, someone who may not love at all. My eyes stung at the thought and I wondered if it meant I felt something for him. I couldn't decide if I liked Scar or hated him. He was always cold and I'm sure he thought I was stupid, but on the other hand, he showed me affection and seemed to care about me. I often pondered if he was doing it for show, but that was always countered with the fact that he was protective of me and didn't like when the other males got too close. He also sometimes nuzzled me in private. It didn't make sense. 

I padded across the dirt to where the guarding alphas stood tall. Their hind legs were always at the ready to bolt and their eyes were sharply pierced on the surrounding area. As I stood there, I wondered what the future held for me. I didn't like the idea of being unwillingly married without confirmation of love. I just wanted to be normal again.