Today was the day I had dreaded since it was announced two weeks ago by the alpha of the land, Alpha Jameson Kingsley. The ruler of our island, and the most feared.
I had heard rumors that his son and only heir had come back from the mainland after going for training since we were in middle school. He was two classes above me, and I can't say I knew the guy. So, I didn't understand the excitement.
I had seen him once or twice from afar, even though I am sure I couldn't even point him out of the crowd now after so many years. I guess wolves were just excited to have a new alpha, which for me is another thing I didn't care about. You could say I didn't care about much, which would be true since I didn't, but I had my reasons.
Having a new alpha didn't affect me very much, since I wasn't on top of the food chain nor at the bottom, which included Omega's. I was what you could call a nobody, the unseen of the pack.
The Omega's liked to bitch about being at the bottom of the food chain, and how they were treated as below average but they were full of bullshit. At least they were seen, and given jobs worthy of working. They worked at the pack house close to the higher ups or at the daycare, orphanage . That's where they could do actual change to the future, heck most men were either teachers or lawyers.
Us, on the other hand, the ones in the middle of all this, were absolutely nothing. We got jobs people didn't want. We were not submissive enough to work in the pack house, or not strong enough to become warriors and not respected enough to be anything useful in this community other than giving us minimal jobs that didn't make any difference.
Such as barristers, supervisors and Security guards of those useless shops in the pack. The pack had warriors already, and being a security guard didn't matter, and you can say anything you want about werewolves, but the one thing that you can never call us is being thieves. We work hard for things we wanted, and took pride in paying for them.
Supporting the pack.
Ugh, I am rumbling again, which just proves how nervous I am about today. I know I shouldn't be, since I know I wouldn't have been chosen in the first place. There were about fifty she wolves in this pack below the age of twenty, and over eighteen. How do I know this? I had counted. I hacked into the school account and counted all the girls in the senior grade and those I suspect are actually intact and, assuming my calculations are correct, then there were only fifty she wolves.
Thirty of them were higher-ups, and likely to be chosen, the Omega's, and then us, the unseen, as I liked to call us. The odds of being chosen were zero to none. I was not the prettiest nor the strongest. I had no leadership skills and, most importantly, I didn't want to be a Luna.
Yes, I hated being seen almost as much as being an unseen, but I despised being the Centre of attention even more. Sorry, I am rumbling yet again.
Today, the Seer of the pack was going to choose five girls that were going to stay in the guest house behind the pack house for seven days. All the girls needed to be virgins, and as I was told, then the mating season would begin.
"Are you ready? It's almost time and I don't want you to be at the back. The Seer needs to see you, to choose you." My mother, who was very excited about all of this, shouted from the stairs. I could hear her steps rushing to my room.
We were allowed one escort for the choosing, and I had chosen my elder sister, but my mother blatantly refused, and volunteered to be my escort since she had been to the choosing decades ago. Of course, she hadn't been chosen, and my grandmother before hadn't been chosen, but my mother, for some reason, thinks this year is going to be different.
"Do I have to go?" I whined, looking at myself in the mirror for the hundredth time.
"Alpha Jameson, said all the virgins of this pack over the age of eighteen, and un.." my mother tried to recite what he said but I already knew. I was there after all, and I was the one embarrassed when she clapped and screamed more than all the mothers there.
Everyone knew my sister was over the age of twenty and I was the only daughter fitting the description. She might as well have screamed my name loudly telling the whole pack, I was a virgin.
"What if I was not a virgin?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. I had thought that would have scared her or at least doubted me for a second, but she just gave me a huge smile, and went to fix the dress she picked for me, and I am sure she spent the money she didn't have just to show off.
"I would have known. I can smell your innocence." She smiled, brushing my long raven hair.
This time I was the one who was surprised about this notion. I didn't know you could smell someone's innocence and why didn't anyone tell me this? My calculations would have been correct if I had known. Not only that, but I feel like that is an invasion of privacy.
"Mama, stop scaring her. That didn't work on me, and it will certainly not work on Eva either." My sister said as she entered my room holding a small white box.
"Just because you are a whore, and lost your virginity while you were at school, that doesn't mean you have to corrupt your sister the same way." My mother scolded, and my sister just rolled her eyes.
My mother had a dirty mouth, and my sister and I were used to it, and people who didn't know better felt offended, especially when she called my sister names. I had been called a few myself but we both knew she didn't mean anything malicious by it.
"You, sending her to be ravished by Aiden is going to corrupt her for both of us" she rolled her eyes again. They were talking about me like I was not even there, something I had also learned to live with, and would never interfere.
"Being chosen is a great honor, and losing your virginity in the hands of the alpha, is an even greater honor in this pack. It is going to raise our family status, and it is going to make sure that our little Evelina is going to be mated and chosen as a wife to the higher ups." She claimed excitedly while my sister rolled her beautiful blue eyes again.
She had the same eyes as my late father, and I had my mother's emerald green. Every time I see that glint when she rolls her eyes, it reminds me of my father. It just gives me a warm feeling I didn't even know that I craved. It feels like he is always with us.
"It's all about status with you, isn't it? You just want to be invited to Luna's club house." My sister snickered but my mother ignored her. She was telling the truth after all.
"Put the necklace on her, and stop judging me. This is also going to be good for you too. You're twenty one and not mated yet. When I was your age, I was already pregnant with you", My mother told her. She also ignored her and opened the small box revealing the most beautiful gold necklace I have ever seen. It had a small green emerald pendant that matched my eyes.
Even though the emerald was very small, it seemed expensive and I was afraid we couldn't afford it. My mother was going all out for this, and she was not even sure if I was going to be chosen, which I was a hundred percent sure I wouldn't be. I felt guilty for accepting such a gift when I knew the truth.
"I can't" I slightly pushed the box away with tears in my eyes.
"You can, and you will" my sister deadpanned, already taking it out of the box.
"Amy, you don't understand, this is just too much". I tried to make them understand but she just pushed my hair back and clipped the thing on my neck, letting it hang beautifully on my bare neck, the pendant disappearing into my cleavage.
"Perfect!" She smiled, spinning me around like a doll, showing me off to my excited mother.
"Just like me, twenty years back." She complimented herself, making all of us laugh. It was just like my mother. She didn't fail to remind us of her youthful days.
"I am ready, let's go!" I finally said before more things were added to my body. I may not be chosen today, but I was happy to see my family happy and excited after so many months of sorrow.
I may hate the choosing but, at least it gave my mother something to look forward to, and put a lovely smile on her face. For that, I will be eternally grateful for this stupid ancient tradition.