Outcast

Chapter 3

Taliyah slipped through the heavy oak door, her socks padding against the cold floors. The smell of cinnamon wafted through the hallways, the scent practically nauseating as she crept closer to the kitchen.

"Mom?" she called out softly, any anger from earlier had vanished, and she was filled with the unusual feeling of calm, even Ostanda was placated by the soothing humming that echoed through the house.

A lilting voice called back, even softer than Taliyah's, "I'm in the kitchen, child."

Walking with more confidence, Taliyah quickly found herself in the kitchen, the gas stove hissing away as a large pot bubbled angrily above it. The kitchen itself felt straight out of the 50s, even her mother's blouse and straight leg pants lent to the feeling that Taliyah had stepped into another time period rather than her own home.

"When did you get back? I thought court meeting was meant to end after the fall equinox?"

Her mother glanced at the short blonde, eerie blue eyes empty of the warmth found in her voice before focusing back on the book in front of her, "The can survive one meeting without me, the unseelie aren't one for order anyway," she chuckled, "But a little birdy told me that my child would need me today."

Taliyah's face fell, "Oh, so you already know."

"Just because I knew what would happen doesn't mean I know how you feel," her mother turned away from the book, her perfect figure leaning gracefully against the soft pink bench, strange eyes trained on Taliyah. "You're allowed to feel hurt."

It was strange to see her mother acting so genuine for once. She was cold and heartless to most, Taliyah guessed that's why they lived so far out even before her father's passing, but what did you expect of a creature who was older than America's discovery.

It was hard for anyone to comprehend how Taliyah's mother was hiding a century behind her eyes, yet alone a millennium. She looked thirty if anything, yet those neon blue irises hid the tales of death and destruction that most of living humanity had never witnessed.

"I'm fine, mom."

Those perfectly arched brows furrowed into a look of sadness, "Taliyah, you don't need to lie to me, mates are a very important part of wolf culture. If you're hurting, let me know."

"Yeah, but why should I care? I've never been attached to anyone in my pack, let alone Richards."

She heard her mother's breath catch, her expression going blank.

"Mom?"

The older woman shook the blank look off her face, staring intently at her daughter, "Did you say Richards? As in that Evan boy?"

"Yeah, as in the alpha's eldest kid," Taliyah snorted, "He was a dick anyway."

"Child. Do you understand how severe this is?"

Taliyah look at her mother in surprise, Ostanda snapping awake in her mind, "Mom, it's just a rejection. Plenty of wolves get rejected when they find their mates this young."

"No, not for Alphas. If the Moon Goddess gives an Alpha a mate, that's their one true love, that's their destiny. You can't escape that kind of fate, Taliyah."

"But I'm an Omega." She dropped her satchel to the ground, "My say in pack politics or dynamics shouldn't matter."

The older woman sighed, "My child, you are more powerful than you can imagine. Do not let stupid wolves put you in place you don't belong."

"Mom, I-"

The stove suddenly shut off, the lights dimming to a cold white. Even the birds outside stopped chirping. Her mother's tan skin turned a ghostly white, the blue of her eyes even more prominent. Taliyah shivered, cold air seeping into her skin.

"I must return to the court," the woman glanced at her child, her beautiful face almost skeletal in this lighting, "Do not, and I repeat, do not do anything stupid before I return."

"Mom!"

But in a flash of light, she was gone, tendrils of blue smoke the only implication that she was ever there. Even the kitchen was suddenly spotless, the scent of cinnamon replaced with a cold emptiness.

"Damnit, mom..." tears stung Taliyah's eyes, and she slammed her fist against the cool stone bench.

"Why are you never here when I need you."

Author's Note:

I'm trying to write, but I stupidly got another piercing and because of its placement, a lot of the cartilage is sore, and I keep fucking hitting my ear whenever I brush my hair out of my face.

I was a fool.