Chapter Seven

The morning sun shinned brightly into my room, the cream sheer curtains doing very little to block it from shining into my eyes and waking me up. I pulled my blanket higher over my shoulders and tossed my body to turn away from the assault. I snuggled deeper into my mattress and with a smile, almost drifted off to sleep. Until loud banging sounded right outside of my bedroom window, my eyes flew open as I tossed my blanket back and climbed out of bed. I walked over to the window and peaked outside as I tried to find out who was making the noise, and where it was coming from.

It didn't take long, my eyes instantly found him. Onyx was standing at the border of my so called territory, with three other men standing around him. He stood there with his shirt off, as did the other men, but I never took my eyes off of him. His tanned skin glistened with sweat, I should be repulsed by that, but at the moment I wasn't. His hair was messy, like he's been running his hands through it all morning.

I looked away from him for a moment to see what they were up too and found a large hole dug out of the ground. Four shovels were laying on the ground behind the four men, and Onyx was inside it with a mallet and a large piece of wood beating it into the ground. The hole wasn't very deep, but my curiosity peaked as I thought about what they could be making. I watched as his muscles flexed with every swing, and tense with every contact of the mallet and wood. The concentration on his face and his shallow breathing was doing something to me that I wasn't familiar with, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. Suddenly an image of him, out of breath, covered in sweat, as he laid on top of me in my bed came to mind. I bite my lip at the thought, but quickly pushed it away and forced myself to walk away from the window.

I was promised to someone else, I wasn't allowed to have dirty thoughts about another man. Especially if that man was only meant to protect me until my mate was allowed too. I took a deep breath as I sat down at my vanity and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed and my hair very messy from when I was asleep. I took my time taking my hair down from the bun I had it up in, parts of my hair was still damp from my shower last night, so today I planned on keeping my hair down. I brushed through my dark strands of hair until every knot was brushed out and then walked to my closet.

Today I decided to dress a little casual, and pulled out a sleeveless, white, boho lace trim dress where the straps cross at the back. I decided to go with sandals today to give my feet a break from heels. When I was dressed I opened my door to find two guards standing on either side of my door. They bowed their head with zero emotion on their face, and walked me to the dining room where a breakfast spread covered the table. My brothers were already getting up from their places, with evidence that they had just finished eating. My father was sitting at the head of the table and my mother next to him on the side, I sat down as he flipped his newspaper around to continue reading the passage.

"Good Morning," I said cheerfully as I placed a napkin over my lap. I picked up my fork and knife and began placing food on my plate, I went with the usual egg whites with spinach, half a bagel, and two pieces of bacon with a tall glass of orange juice. My mother smiled at me as she looked at my plate, happy that I've learned from all of her lessons. 'We can't have you pudgy, what would your mate think?' She would say when I was young.

I smiled back as I cut into my eggs and took a small bite, I didn't mind the flavor or the healthy aspect, but sometimes I wish I could just eat what I wanted. After clearing my plate with only my bagel left, I took my second knife and cut into the small block of cream cheese, only a little slice because of how "fattening" it was. I spread it onto the cut side of my bagel and glanced up at my parents who haven't said a word since I walked in.

My father was still reading the paper, but my mother was looking down at her plate and slowly eating. She was never quiet, but I couldn't outright ask her what was wrong. Those conversations were meant to be asked in private. Movement outside of the window to my left caught my attention, and when I looked it was men gathering and lifting multiple pieces of wood at once from the back of a truck.

"What are they doing?" I asked, I could see my father looking out the window before replying.

"They're building something for me," he replied as he looked back down at the paper.

"Building what?"

"An altar. There are certain religious practices your mates pack participates in and I want you to be ready for them."

"What kind of religious practices?" I asked as I placed my knife down.

"Nothing too bad, but it's important you know what to do when your mate asks you to participate in them. Wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself and this entire pack, you're meant to be the symbol of purity after all. Can't have you leaving here with no idea how to preform the basics."

"Oh, well I know how to pray to the Goddess."

"Not prayers, Ana," my mother quickly added with a hushed tone.

"No, it's more than prayers, it's rituals, rites and other things."

"Other things?" I asked not fully understanding.

"Heavens sake," my mother gasped out, "your mate wants the entire pack to watch as he- he-"

"You are to participate in one of the oldest rituals of our kind, I'll explain more later but not at the table."

I didn't need an explanation, I knew well what my new mate wanted me to do with him in front of the pack. I was taught the old ways by my history professor, but learning about it, and living it are two very different things and I don't think I can.

"I don't want the first time I lay with a man, to be in front of thousands of wolves," I said as I looked down at my hands in my lap.

"That's not your decision," my father simply said without looking up at me. Tears stung my eyes as I sat there, I looked back out the window and my eyes immediately found a golden pair. Onyx was carrying a large pile of wood on his shoulder and another smaller bundle in his right arm. His look was just a glance, but when he saw me looking at him he stopped and smiled at me. His expression soured when a tear fell down my cheek, I quickly looked away and wiped the tear from my face.

"May I be excused?"

"You may."