Aiden watched her neck, which looked more like a lipstick smear, than what it actually was. He knew how impulsive she could get, especially when she was hurt. And he knew, more than anyone else, that nip on her neck was a product of that impulsiveness.
He dropped his head as the feast started, walking away from the hustle bustle. The crescent prayer, was over, and he walked away from the crowd, noticing Kaitlyn leaving too.
She was very hard to miss, with that glow around her. He watched her leave the grounds her tail down, before he turned the opposite direction. He didn't feel up to the task of eating, so he bolted out of the grounds into the dense forest close to it.
Chris was seated on a little elevated pitch overlooking the festival grounds. He had shifted back, watching the other wolves eat, or mates just cuddling up on each other, sharing body heat. The alpha and gamma were on the far side, clawing at the sand.
He knew what it meant. They were challenging each other to a race. Two things he knew about both of them for sure, was how much they loved being wolves, and how close they were. They we're so close, he felt more like the gamma, the lowest of them.
He knew It didn't have to do with his age, since he had watched their relationship with his father before him, too. It had always been the gamma before the beta for the alpha. And that preference had obviously exceeded generations, since he felt It too.
The alpha had just started to warm up to him, then the whole mate thing with Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn was one beautiful woman, but he never really liked, or felt comfortable around her.
Whenever he saw her, he was reminded of all the things he lacked, All the reasons he was inferior to her. That damned black tint. He hated it.
"Wolf penny for your thoughts?" He knew it was Linda.
He liked her voice, and that was the first thing that had attracted him to her. He turned to her, her sight alone enough to make him smile, his heart beating faster.
He just wished the euphoric feeling she gave him was the same rush of adrenaline he felt when he took the lead of this huge pack.
"Darling.....what are you doing here? Have you had something to eat?" He cupped her face in his hands as she sat down, and she watched him through her lashes.
"I am not hungry. Are you alright?"
He shrugged, feigning ignorance. "Why would I not be?"
She started to talk, but he shushed her.
"Shhh...Darling...I have you. Nothing else matters."
She nodded. "Are you sure?"
He nodded, brought her close and placed a light, feathery kiss on her lips, then placed her head on his chest, patting the length of her hair.
"Of course. When you're with me, nothing else matters." He just wished she believed it, cause he knew he didn't.
The woods, dense and dark, welcomed her. Her soul felt the exact same way, So it didn’t bother her much. She was a wolf, and wolves, were, in fact, creatures of the night.
She wouldn’t be scared of her own element. She found the most solace sitting in front of the little pond.
Her father has been there with her on other occasions, and had told her, apart from his arms, that was her mother's favorite place. It was slowly becoming hers too. She felt calm as she sat there, looking out to the pond.
Her tail sat beside her, curling up. Sometimes, she wished she could be human with her wolf tail. She loved it the most.
A twig cracked and her ears perked up to the sound, her body straightening. She knew how to defend herself of she had to. Her problem was her having to do it. She seemed herself too majestic for street fights.
She saw a shadow pass, and she couldn’t make it out, even though it looked like a normal wolf. Pitch black it camouflaged with the darkness of the forest. She watched as if approached her, slowly, Its eyes down, as If avoiding her.
She did not recognize it, or feel it, so she only sat where she had been, never taking her eyes off it in case it turned out to be a threatening situation.
"Why are you here?"
Her mind read it, and she glanced at him, then lifted her head to the air. She wouldn't make small talk with an omega unless she wanted to.
"Your mind is so clouded I can hardly talk to it."
She presumed It was a male, And she snorted. He walked ahead, dipping his nose into the pond and drinking, making little splashing noises as he did. She started to walk away.
"I like the lipstick smear on you neck, princess. Reminds me of so many things." She froze, her tail hanging down.
She turned to him, her ears perked. "Who are you?"
He shrugged or tried to, since he was a wolf and the most he could do was move his face a bit. But she knew it was intended as a shrug from his tone when he spoke to her again.
"Nothing. I am nothing compared to you." He moved closer to her and sat, even though she remained on all fours. "What is bothering someone like you who has everything?"

She lowered her head. "Everything." She replied and turned away.
"Maybe you shouldn't let everything bother you. I believe you're a bit too pretty to be bothered." She always received compliments.
Some she didn’t even know how on earth someone came up with it. But this simple one made her heart ache, and she swallowed, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Cry if you want to. The night will take it all away, and then by morning..."
She burst into tears before he could even finish, and he came around her, warming her up, letting her know that she wasn’t alone. She cried for a while, and he didn’t utter a word to her, just bundled himself up around her.
When she was done, she looked up to him, her eyes meeting his for the first time since he started talking to her.
"Thank you." This was the second time she was being grateful in a row, but she didn’t think she could help it.
"Anything for you." He said and bounded off, leaving her wondering if it was the same person.