Feral

39

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She hadn't wanted to get up. The entire night she had felt off, as if something was going to happen today. Her intuition had been correct.

And now she walked with her judge, jury, and possible executioner. He was intimidating

"Tell me, shewolf, everything about your life, from your earliest memories until recent," caiaphas said. He talked in her native tongue which somehow did not surprise her.

And so she did. She began with her earliest memories, nearly crying when she talked about her first hard lesson in life.

Caiaphas had remembered the wolf she spoke of, he had been eradicated shortly after taking her pack. She was relieved to know that, but at the same time she was wary, even more so than she had been.

He asked her questions. One that seriously hit home was when he asked her why she never looked for any of her own kind. She didn't know how to answer it. Ultimately her decision had been because of what her kind had left her with; the pain and humiliation, the scars. She wanted nothing else from that.

She told the wolf of her time with her pack, the freedoms they had, the things they'd do. How each season brought new wolves or old wolves left. Remembering these things gave her heartache.

She told him of her first encounter with humans, and he seemed understanding of her desire to protect her pack and territory, which she saw as a good thing.

He was particularly interested when she explained her first encounter with Damien. Shae told him how everything was just upended afterwards. After she had spent so many years alone without a mate, and then he walks into her life. Of course she was interested from the beginning, but if she knew now what she knew then, she would have stayed far away from humans as possible.

It was a selfish thought, and thing to say. She would never regret Damien, but this life had caused her so much pain, happiness too, but the pain outweighed that happiness by miles.

Maybe, if she could go back in time, they would have met under different circumstances; ones less violent and unforgiving, and things could have been better for everyone.

"Life, it's such a fragile thing, isn't it?" Shae was caught off guard by the question. She had just gotten done explaining her fascination with toilets when she started living with Katherine.

"I do not understand," she responded.

"Life, so fragile. We are born, we live, and then we die,"

"Yes,"

"Tell me then, shewolf, do you want to die?" No, she didn't. Now, now she wanted to live, to love, to laugh. She wouldn't want the strife again, but it was now that she had gotten a taste for what she had so longed for, she didn't want it to end.

"There were a few times if you asked me, I would say yes, but I do not want to now," she said. She wanted nothing more than to live right now.

"You will have limited time left little one, if you choose to live."

"I won't die?" She asked, perplexed

"Not today, but soon you will, the council doesn't permit feral wolves to live among us. As displayed by your friend Katherine's knowledge. There would be people who would want to kill us of they knew," he said.

"I want a family before I go, can I have that? A little pup, and to see my mate hold them,"

"Yes, I suppose you can, but after that, I'll give you three months," he bargained.

"Okay," she said. She had more time, but her days were numbered this time. They walked back to the others. A weight had been lifted from her shoulders, but she knew it was onky temporary.

"We have made a deal, my fellow wolves. Once this shewolf has bore a child, and three months of its life has passed, she has agreed to meet her end," she saw Damien reel back. She should have known his reaction wasn't going to be good. Tears stung in her eyes. Alpha Raymond cried in outrage, but it fell on deaf ears, and the mangled wolf staydd silent.

"I expect you to keep in touch, shewolf," she nodded. She didn't want to betray her emotions. She watched in silence until she no longer saw their vehicle.

Damien came up to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight, and they just stood there. "It was the one thing I wanted most Damien, to have your pup, and we are given time for it," she whispered.

"I will get to have one more blessing. And I'm okay with that," he replied.