My Unwanted Monster

"Hannah. Hannah Jacobs. Hannah Grace Jacobs! Focus!" yelled my brother, Zachariah. He threw a punch, which hit me in the jaw because I was not focusing. Ouch! That's going to leave a bruise, but it knocked me out of my daze. I dodged his following three punches to the face, one to the gut, and two kicks to the head. I countered with three missed punches to the gut, played it dirty with a fake knee to the groin, and while he was reaching to cover his area, I punched him hard in the nose. This sent him dropping to the ground. I then jumped on him and pinned him to the ground. I, of course, was cheering in my head but got up, shook off the dust, and did a huge victory dance. A dance, with my dance moves, that would scare a small nation and force them to look away in horror.

After that fiasco, I headed into the kitchen where my father was talking on the phone. When I walked in, his voice dropped, and he hung up his phone and faced me quickly. He looked me up and down with serious eyes and motioned for me to sit down, which of course made me think I was in trouble.

"Hannah, the alpha of the strongest pack, or as you know them the fierce darkness pack, has given his orders. Twenty children of mating age from each pack are to attend a mating ball," my father said in a voice normally associated with business.

"So, the prince wants a mate… how cute! And he can not find it on his own, so instead of being a man, he has to waste our time," my ranting is cut off by my father.

"HANNAH GRACE! We will not have that talk of the prince in this house. Your black ring around your white wolf's neck is enough to assume you are a possible mate, meaning you were the first name of one of our twenty being sent," my father said fiercely, yet proudly.

"Hmph, how stupid can you all be? I hate the man; after what he has done to defenseless wolves, you should too. I can not be his mate, I don't love him," I said with venom laced in my voice.

"Hannah, you will go if the alpha has to force you. If I have to force you, I will. Don't make me use my beta rank over you. If you are not mated to Luka, the alpha of the Fierce Darkness pack, then most likely you will be mated to another alpha in attendance," my father said loudly, cruelly, and with a tone of disappointment.

I looked at his dark brown eyes and silently bashed him in my mind thinking things along the lines of 'who does he think he is' and 'he's not the boss of me'. I sighed in frustration, pushed myself up, and stomped out of our large kitchen. I stomped out of the kitchen –all the up the stairs and into my room– and slammed my door. I almost cried out in frustration, but I thought better of it. I looked at the clock and it's already 10:30. I need to go to bed, for I have to patrol the border at 4:30. I put on my pajamas and went through my nightly routine. After I braided my dirty-blonde hair and put on an oversized tee-shirt, I laid on my twin sized bed. The rough sheets never failed to comfort me, for their texture distracted me. Once my face hit my pillow, I was out.

That night I had a vivid dream about two small pups. One pup held themselves with honor, and the other had a mix of some other creature swirling into her thick lilac scent. I did not recognize the other wolf, though I, due to the pup's color, knew the first one was me. We splashed in a powerful rushing creek on the edge of the Arctic Eclipse pack. The loose gravel around the creek caused the pups to play haphazardly and in a clumsy manner. The wolves ran and wrestled in their wolf form, never missing a chance to horse play. Our wolves played until my father's wolf form jumped in front of me, baring his teeth and releasing a low, threatening growl directed at the young wolf. The smaller white wolf bared her teeth, but backed away frightened at the much larger wolf. Suddenly the dream shifted. The two pups transformed into my human form and into someone I did not know. We were at the mating ceremony, with two large manly shadows looming over us menacingly. The girl's face and my own were contorted with fear. For a split moment, her eyes looked broken, shattered hopelessly beyond repair, but her eyes morphed into those that held an irrefutable confidence and strength like mine. However, right as we appear strengthened we start to burn, and one of the male shadows holds the lighter fluid and the other the match.

With that, the dream ends, and I am being shaken awake by my brother. "Hannah Banana, wake up you were screaming. What's wrong?" My brother coos while furiously shaking me.

When I gain my bearings, I notice my red sheets are soaked in my sweat. I see my brother's green cat eyes staring back into my grey ones. He looks worried, so I decide to tell him about the day's events and about my dream. "You need to sit down for this, and you have to promise you will not get mad," I stated in dead seriousness.

He looked at me concerned, then sat down and said "I promise, now tell me." He made a hand signal telling me to continue. He pulled at the collar of his blue shirt, a key sign he was nervous.

I started by telling him about how the prince is calling twenty she-wolves from each pack, forcing them to attend the mating ceremony. I told him about how I was predicted to be Luka's mate. I told him that if I was not mated to Luka, then I would most likely be mated to another alpha due to my strength and rare fur color.

Before I could tell him about my dream, his veins were popping out from his neck, and he stood up. His eyes narrowed, and he bit his lip. "We all know the alpha of the Fierce Darkness pack is cruel and abusive. He massacred so many defenseless pups and she-wolves. He's a monster and to believe dad is ok with this. I hate him and his morals. I will not let this happen. In my opinion, he's a horrible person, undeserving of his position," he said, raising his voice and ranting angrily, but I interrupted him.

"You promised not to get angry. I don't like him either, and I'm the one being possibly mated to this monster," I spat annoyed that he's going on and on about his opinion and his hate instead of him thinking that I might have to spend the rest of my life living with him, that I am the one in danger.

"I'm sorry, please go on," he said apologetically.

I told him about my dream in detail, but before he could comment, I looked at the clock and realized I was running late for patrol. "Shot, I've got to run," I gasped as I threw on my jeans, boots, and sweatshirt. I left my hair in it's messy braids and ran out without saying a word to my father.

Once I was at my post, I met up with my friend, Kamrin. Kamrin was the alpha's son, though he acted nothing like his father. He was a kind man, who could sympathize with those he ruled over. On our run of the border, he informed me his cousin was one of the twenty to be chosen to go. His cousin was a beautiful girl, but she was bossy and a tad prissy. I felt sorry for her mate, she is quite annoying, high maintenance, and rude.

"Kamrin, I was the first one on that list. I'm said to be a possible mate to the monster alpha," I said quietly. His somewhat happy expression completely dropped, his brown eyes looked down at the ground, and his tall, confident frame slouched downward as he hugged me.

"Hannah, I am so sorry. Just know, I will always protect you," he whispered into my ear gently. Time in the forest seemed to pause as I tried to cling onto his words: that I had an ally. The tall trees looked as if they stopped swaying in the rough winds as he said I was not alone.

"How can you protect me from the monster under all of our beds?" I said sadly. Many in the pack called him that because it always seemed that he lurked closely, waiting for a pack to mess up, and once they did, he would destroy them.

"I'll be going with you and the twenty tomorrow, since I am to be in attendance at the ceremony. My father has told me to claim a mate at the ceremony, so I will become alpha. If he claims you, I'll challenge him to a fight for you, then I can reject you as my mate, and you will be free to choose later when you're ready," he announced in a determined manner. I naively believed him.

"Wait," I screamed! "We're leaving tomorrow? No one ever told me. I just turned seventeen! I'm going to be the youngest there… I can't mate yet; I refuse to. I can not mate at this age yet," I stated, flustered.

"Hannah, I'll always help you. You're my best friend. I think our shift is over now. We probably should go and pack," he suggested as he started to walk toward the pack house, with a weak wave of his hand over his shoulder. He left me alone to my thoughts, on the border, next to the very river from my dream. On the other side of the river, I could see aged, dried blood on the scorched earth. I knew this was the scene of pillaging, killing, and then burning of a rogue home. As that scene hit me, I knew that I needed to start walking back to the pack house. On my way home, I began to think I might not be able to handle the events about to happen.

When I arrived home, the alpha and my father were at the door waiting for someone, most likely me. My father motioned for me to come closer, so I did. When I got closer, I bowed my head and said "Alpha, how are you?" I said this to show his higher position and his dominant leader role. I had rehearsed this greeting since my childhood.

"Hannah, I could be better. My beta, your father, has informed me you put up quite a show when he told you that you are one of the selected. I am here to make sure you go and that you know how big of a deal this is," he said in a tired and annoyed voice.

"Yes, Alpha, I did. With all due respect, I refuse to go. That man is a monster, and I am only seventeen. I am not ready for a mate, let alone someone I will never love," I said with as much respect as possible. Angering an alpha was not something I wanted to do today nor ever. Their short temper was unrivaled, as was their strength they mercilessly used on those who opposed them.

"Hannah, you may not be chosen by Luka, but I will be honest. If you are not chosen by him, you will be chosen by my son. Though you may be short, you are one of the strongest she-wolves in this country. You will go, and you will most definitely be mated. If you do not, you have two options. One is to be put in prison until you're submissive enough to be mated, by my son of course, or you can have yourself… and brother gain rogue status," he growled aggressively.

When he brought my brother up, I became furious. I looked at my father, who was now sweating profusely. Obviously, he was not aware that the alpha would bring my brother into this. I am expendable. My brother, my father's only heir for the beta position, is not. "I'll choose option one. You can do what you want to me, but you will not bring my brother into this," I announced with determination. I would rather go to prison than meet Luka. The alphas expression went dark. He approached me.

"Hannah, you have just involved your brother," he said as he motioned to the door. There holding my cuffed brother is Kamrin and a delta. I look at Karmin pleadingly, but he just looks away. My heart drops. "Hannah, you will go to the ceremony or your brother will be put in Valley Bay," said the alpha. Valley Bay is where the trespassing rouges go and are tortured by the guards until they provide information or until the guards get bored. It never ends well. Normally it ends with the rogue's death. I looked down, for it was at that moment I knew I was beaten.