C4 The light in my darkness

Hati

I have never felt more gloomy and ghastly, than in this well-lit ballroom. Even though it was wide enough to fit a thousand people, and at least 4 meters tall, to me at this moment it looked like a shrinking torture device. The moment I entered it, I felt like a target was painted on my face. A hundred or more pairs of eyes stared at me at the same time carrying different types of disgusting desires, hidden behind their smiling masks. They feared me, but not enough to avoid me. The power they wished for blind them, and made them thirst for more. As I stood rooted in place at the far end of the hall many of those hungry, selfish, cunning beasts flocked to me.

The meeting of the Alphas was first established in the 19th century in order to discuss problems in our communities, and the relationships with other races. But after the last big war 24 years ago, there were no big issues to talk about. So this once noble meeting slowly turned into an event where people come to connect in order to raise their influence and climb one over the other.

The repulsive giggles of the females around the made my skin crawl. Their revolting lust-filled eyes made me sick to my stomach. And to make matters worse my Beta was not present at the moment due to a slight incident. There were some rumors that the vampire Emperor was moving among the shadows, mingling with the wolves in search of a treasure. But what could he be looking for after years of being silent? I was deep in thought. So deep in fact that the ladies around me took my silence as approval to come closer.

"Alpha Hati, it has been a year already!" Alexander Van Hith approached me out of nowhere. His voice dragged me from my thoughts. I looked into his sly eyes and nodded my head without a word. I never liked him. He was calculated, and greedy. A man capable of unimaginable wickedness. But he never succeeded in the power struggles of the Altphas as his demise was his overconfidence. It made him sloppy, showing his raw intentions to everyone keen enough to notice.

"You have grown so much over the years. A spitting image of your late father if I may say so." This stupid man continued talking without even noticing my slight frown. "Your father and I fought side by side in the war 24 years ago, he was a great man indeed." I scoffed slightly at his words. Knowing full well that those words were far from the truth. And he still continued on, talking about the war, my father, and himself. Boasting relentlessly as if he was some noble, and proud man of honor. I let him, knowing full well soon he will show me his purpose. And so he did, even sooner than I thought. His true intentions unraveled as plain as day.

"Ohh let me introduce you, this is the apple of my eye, my daughter Natasha. I don't believe you met." He gestured toward a woman in a vibrant pink dress, covered in unnecessary laces and crystals. The moment he said her name as if waiting she approached us. I heard the women in the room mock and mumble at the sight of her walking toward me. She was slim for a werewolf, with short flaxen hair. Her face was triangle shaped, with her forehead hidden behind bangs, under which two big emerald eyes looked at me with anticipation. Her lips were small and thin just like her father's, but even with that she looked like a spitting image of the woman that walked behind her. Her mother I presumed. I looked her straight in the eyes and was reminded of an old and murky forest.

"Hello Alpha it is a pleasure to meet you!" Even her voice was annoying. To my ears, it sounded like the squeaking a kid's toy would make. I didn't like her one bit. This was the woman Jake said was called the prettiest among the young. Who on earth made that bullshit up. My thoughts were again interrupted by Alexander.

"I brought her here tonight in hopes she would find her mate, but it looks like there is almost no one here that can compare to her radiant beauty!" Ahh, so this is where that rumor came from. Slowly this discussion started to annoy me even more, and a slight anger gripped my heart as his desire to push his daughter onto me became even more apparent. "She just turned 18 but is already exceptional! She will make a great Luna one day. Her mother raised her with the help of the finest teachers money can buy. From languages, and history, to all other things a good Luna should know, she mastered them all." He was bragging so much that he didn't notice the mocking gazes of others. I have been in this situation so many times before. Since I turned 18 and inherited my father's position, at every chance they got people tried throwing at me their daughters. And as years passed, and my mate was nowhere to be found, they only became more annoying. At already 26 it was a miracle my mate didn't appear. I even thought that the Moon Goddes was doing it on purpose to torture me even more. The pressure of not having a Luna was slowly increasing, as one needed both pieces of the puzzle in order to make a perfect pack. Cracks were slowly showing and people saw them as a nice opportunity to gain more influence. So they came at me, carrying their dirty desires, hunger for power, and bad ambitions.

"Something is coming" Lyall's voice echoed in my mind. He sounded excited and distressed.

"What is coming?"

"I do not know, but it is soon to come" his voice answered disappearing like it wasn't even there leaving the feeling of anticipation, as the only evidence that I wasn't insane. And I shifted my body back, Ignoring Alexander that was still praising his daughter. My eyes scanned the surroundings, looking for signs of any trouble. And people sensed the change in my stance. They saw me wary and on guard, so they stiffened. Many of them thought that Alexanders' bullshit finally blew my fuse, and they watched waiting. My eyes continued to look around frantically as I became even more on guard unable to find the source of Lyall's distress.

"You know when she was young she..." His words didn't stop. Her heated stares and the sly fake smile never moved away from me. And that pared with my anxiety made me feel rage, disgust, and a surge of adrenalin. My gold eyes slowly started to darken, as my annoyance reached new peaks. The brightly lit room, started to turn dark in front of my eyes, and the murmurs of people became lauder, Natasha's squeaky laugh, Alexanders' annoying words, and the scents of people, alcohol, and food, all drowned my senses. It came to the point where I felt overwhelmed and ready to snap at any moment. I looked at the crowd before me as my face crumpled into a scowl, so lost in the feeling that I couldn't hear anything except the noise in my head.

"Now entering Sergei Ivanovic Beta of the Silver Lake, and Mis Aelia Van Hith!"

All of a sudden all heads turned towards the door at the same time. And as I followed their gazes my eyes landed on the doors of the hall that now looked dim and foggy under my anger-filled vision. They opened in front of my eyes in slow motion, and all of my senses went numb. She was there, and in her white hair, she carried the shine of a thousand stars! It took her only a single step to become the light in my darkness casting an everlasting shadow into my life.