Her Feral Bonds

EMBER

The day my awakening ( a day in a werewolves life when they go to a temple to sense their mate) arrives which is indicated by a symbol appearing on your wrist, I run out of the bathroom screaming for my father.

It’s a scream of joy, loud,ecstatic, and full of dreams and hope.

Because for a female wolf, today is the day my wolf will reveal herself to the world and I might even see who my mates are.

Theodore,sweet father of mine whoops and opens his arms where he sits in his favourite armchair.

I’m Twenty,I still throw myself into his arms, crying and laughing and babbling about my powers, my mate and my wolf to come.

“A powerful beast lurks under your skin, Ember.” he whispers, touching my hair affectionately.

“Tonight, we will all be proud to see which powerful wolf form your wolf takes.”

When the sun goes down and the sky is a deep orange, My father is waiting for me, proud and strong, like he always is:

the King Consort of the Noctelle wolves in a designer suit and shoes that are always shiny.

And my mother stands beside him, Queen and Luna of Noctelle wolves.

He reaches down and kisses me on both cheeks, his dark eyes glowing with love and I’ve never felt so cherished in my life.

“No matter what you are, you're always loved”

The dull ache in my lower stomach grows into a roaring fire that explodes outwards with terrible, ancient force.

When my body changes, when my clothes rip and falls on the grass around me in tatters, and I’ve taken on a new body.

The world looks different, but not in the way I expected.

Not in the way I was told a Noctelle wolf could see and sense the colors of the world.

I hear the gasps and whispers of the servants around about, how I turned into a pristine white wolf instead of black like my family.

My bones snap and my skin burns like acid and I change again.

By the time I shift back into my human body, the sharp pains in my bones and an awful, cold shock make tears spill down my face.

My Mother is already storming back into our mansion, tendrils of her dark power and coiling around her,not bothering to control her fury.

Alone and naked, I bolt back inside.

“Ember.” I hear my name being called out by dad as he catches up to me.

he covers me in a dressing gown, but his head is bowed and

he will not meet my eye.

Alone, I go to my bathroom, where I look at myself in the mirror, turning my face so I can see my neck,where my new mating mark shines with the light intensity of the full moon.

A crescent moon with three fangs on the side.

The sacred connection between me and my mate by destiny.

The sun never really rises again for me.

The next day, I wake up with swollen eyes and look at the simple black dress and ballet flats that has been laid out for me.

“This is my funeral dress,”

I whisper in a voice that does not sound like me at all.

When I look at my father in question, he still won’t meet my eye.

The backs of my own eyes burn again, and silently, I put on my clothes of mourning.

I meet my mother in our circular driveway and am surprised to find that she and our driver are already in our black SUV.

I guess that's how low I’ve fallen.

For the first time in my life, I open my own door and slide onto the cold black leather seat.

As we pull out, a movement at the side of my eye makes me turn.

All ten of our house staff, including my father,are standing at the windows of the second floor, staring down at me with grave and sad faces.

Dad raises his hand to the glass, his face lined with worry.

“Mother?”

I ask softly, though my heart is racing with fear.

The returning cold silence makes all the hairs on my body rise.

I know this feeling.

I know that the wolves of his court my mother isn’t happy with sometimes don’t return home to their families.

I begin to tremble.

According to the most ancient laws of our kind, on the day you become Eighteen your parents take you to see the priestess.

It’s supposed to be a day of celebration, a day of revelation, and there was going to be a grand party in my honour.

My father and I had been planning and looking forward to it for months.

When we arrive at the temple,my mother opens her door and walks out, her black gown flowing on a sharp wind.

I rush to follow before the voice of our driver stops me.

“Miss Ember?”

His voice is barely a whisper as I turn to look at him.

He touches his left breast pocket of his suit and says quietly,

“Good luck, may the Goddess Selene watch your steps.”

It’s not his words that chill me to the bone, but the fear in his eyes.

Fear for me.

I press my lips together before saying,

“Thank you, Mr East.”

When I enter the warm interior of the Temple, my mother does not look at me.

She doesn’t speak to me directly, and I’m presented to the priestess alone.

A ghost of a child as from this moment, as invincible as water.