Tiger, Tiger

Tiger, Tiger: Chapter 6

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Mum moved over to the large book cabinet in the corner, withdrawing a thick, black leather box from amongst the mass of titles. Her hands were gentle as she handled the old box, gently unlocking and lifting the lid. It contained her most precious memories of dad and her parents, all of which had passed away before my birth.

She placed it down and began to search through it. Carefully faded pictures, family mementos and notes and trinkets from dad were removed, each one placed lovingly down. I watched her, wondering what could possibly be in there to show me. Until finally, her delicate hands sought what they had been searching for.

A small, deep dark blue jewellery box was extracted and placed gently beside the larger one. The boy’s eyes flickered in my mind, being such a similar shade of blue. As Mum walked over and placed herself down onto the sofa beside me, I scolded myself for thinking of him. He was a stranger. No more, no less.

My eyes landed back upon mum as she stroked the lid of the box. It seemed that her previous excitement had been lost, replaced with reminiscence. ”This," she said quietly a moment later, opening the box, "was given to me by your father." She turned it to face me.

I peered inside, my mouth gaping. On a navy cushion lay a dainty pendant. The green gem, an emerald I presumed, had been faceted so that it sparkled perfectly under the lights despite the wear of age on its surface. Swirling fingers of gold clasped the beautiful stone tightly. "Wow," I breathed, taken aback, "May I?"

Her blue eyes met mine. It looked as if there was sheen of tears to them and I knew that looking at such a precious gift from dad made her sad. "Of course," she laughed, seeing the mystified look on my face.

Slipping my fingers under the cool pendant, I gently pulled it out from the box and let it sit in my palm. I was careful about how I handled it, not wanting to damage the gorgeous piece. I ran a finger over its glistening surface, imagining Dad presenting it to Mum.

“It has a lot of meanings,” she sighed, making me look up, “the emerald.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “It’s supposed to be a sacred stone of Venus, given by one lover to another to strengthen and bring success to their love. Or so your father told me,” she chuckled softly.

“Is that why he gave it to you?” I asked, enchanted by the thought of my parent’s love story.

She laughed gently and shook her head. “No, it’s an Alpha’s pendant. Since the position of Alpha is usually passed from the Alpha male to his oldest son in our pack, the necklace will stay in the family for generations. This is the Matthews pendant. The Alpha male will give it to his mate soon after they have met for her to protect. Your Dad’s other part was just a sweet idea to make me swoon.”

“Oh. So this is belonged to all the generations of our family that were Alphas?” I questioned, flipping the gem in my palm. Each time I did I became more amazed by it. It was even more precious than I had originally thought.

“It sure did,” she nodded, gazing out of the window, “It an antique. Our ancestors believed that the colour of our eyes was incredibly special, like part of our soul. That’s why the pendant will be the colour of the first Matthews Alpha male. It’s amazing that those beautiful eyes passed all the way down to you and your father.”

“That’s amazing. And it’s so beautiful,” I murmured.

Mum smiled, playing with the box in her hands. “That it is, sweetheart,” she replied. There was a silent pause before she whispered, barely audibly, “It’s meant to help to heal the heart, too, but it’s failed so far.”