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~Faye 

The note glistens in my fingertips, the paper decorated with swirling cursive text.

Darling daughter,

I’m positive the Goddess would like to hear you sing today. 

~Mother

Singing to the Moon Goddess is something I have done ever since I was a young child. As ruler of our land, the Goddess makes full decisions on our futures, and to help her make positive ones for my Pack, I sing to her. She feeds off the harmonies, the melody.

It’s not something I enjoy, though. Singing to a pillar on my knees for an hour can get tiresome after awhile. 

I let the paper fall from my hand and flutter back onto the surface of my desk. This happens most mornings, but clearly today she wanted to stress it today. This must be some kind of way to be forgiven for what I did last night. Sneaking out, in her opinion, is not living up to my duties as an Alpha. She’s right, but in my defense, that’s the only time I really get alone.

The moment I leave my bedroom, two of my favourite female Guards begin to follow me. They are my favourite because they know when I need space, even when I don’t say anything. 

I just hope this Huntsman, Cal, is like that.

The building where I typically sing was made years ago for my great, great grandmother, when she was an Alpha. Hearing my mother sings always makes me feel uncomfortable when I do so. Her voice is toe curling beautiful, and I doubt I even come close to her talent. 

Brushing through the sheer curtain the keeps the inside of the small building hidden from the outside, I leave the Guards at the door. They aren’t allowed in here when I sing.

The room is beautiful, really. It’s dressed in colours of purple and gold, the drapes across the windows glinting with the morning sun streaming through. The tapestries and art on the wall has been explained to me before, and as per tradition, I acknowledge each piece before I kneel on the flat mat mother once told me was weaved out of real gold thread. 

Maybe that’s why it’s so uncomfortable. 

The pillar in front of me is sculpted from pure marble. There’s nothing there to see, but apparently it poses as a direct portal to where the Moon Goddess is. As much as I believe in her, I’m not exactly sure if I’m facing the right direction. 

Three candle are placed on the ground in front of me, a small box of matches beside it. I strike one, lighting the scented candles so they glow brilliantly. 

Then I begin to sing. 

The scented smoke comes from candles that have been engineered in the Wisdom Pack to assist my voice. Everytime I sing to the Goddess, I must make sure I’m at my best, giving her the positivity she needs to continue on, giving her blessings to my Pack. It’s a beautiful thing, for the first ten minutes. 

I don’t really get that far. The feeling of eyes on my back is so heavy my shoulders almost slump from the weight of it. 

My singing ceases, as I turn around. I would expect my mother on a normal day. 

Not today.

A man stands against the doorframe, the curtain behind him. He isn’t familiar in the slightest; people in this Pack don’t look like him. All I ever seen on a normal day basis is white hair to a dark grey. This mans hair is an oak wood colour, all messy across his forehead as if it’s been tousled by the wind. 

His most striking features are his eyes, considering how used to the light coloured eyes of my Pack. They are the softest brown, so mellow compared to the rest of him. He’s tall, his body broad. Clearly he’s seen more violence in his life then I ever will. 

I’m swiftly on my feet, my dress twisting with my legs. “You shouldn’t be watching me sing.”

“I’m not watching you sing, I’m listening,” he replies, raising a dark eyebrow at me. I find myself scowling in response. Who does this man think he is?”

“And who are you?” I question. 

He shrugs, stepping further in the room. At this point, he’s ignoring me, gazing around the room, taking in all the colourful artwork, before it lands on the golden map, candles and the pillar. He doesn’t look confused, only slightly amused by it all. 

I sigh, “at least can you leave. This is a ritual that is not meant to be interrupted.”

“You're singing to the Goddess, how fascinating,” he continues. I watch him carefully, making sure he wasn't going to make any suspicious moves or blow out my candles. “How long do you, as the Alpha, have to-”

“Who are you?” I snap, cutting him off.

“I work here.”

I'm not fully familiar with everyone who works in my residence, however, I, sure I would remember his face if he did. I would never admit that to him, so I continue to question him, not allowing myself to dwell too much on it. 

“As?”

“I'm merely a simple servant here to walk you back to your room,” he tells me. Noticing my raised brow, he continues. “As per your mother's commands, of course.”

I frown. “She wants me to stop my singing now?”

I don't mention to him the note. I try not to give everyone an idea of how much of a pushover she can be. The idea of her pulling me away from this isn't something I should let affect me so much, so I keep it masked. It is clearly an important matter. 

I straighten my skirts. “Fine. Can I have your name?”

He doesn't look like a simple Guard here, with the missing dress code. He’s wearing fighting leathers that show off his bronzed arms, that half my Guards wouldn't spot, considering how indoors this place is. Winter is commonplace here, being atop a mountain.

“I'm simply a lowly servant to you, Alpha Faye,” he says airily. “You would forget it in moments, I'm sure.”

That's not true, but I wouldn't admit that to him. “You're not the Huntsman my mother has hired to follow me around, are you?” 

“The one she is taking you to meet right now? Hardly,” he comments, and my eyes widen. So that's the matter that has my mother has found important enough to drag me from my daily ritual. After last night, this especially a surprise. 

I follow the stranger from the room, after I blow my candles out. Once he is out the room, I close the curtain behind me. He shouldn't have seen that. 

“You don't seem so happy about this?” He notices, as we begin to walk side by side toward my room. I'm not used to that. Usually they trail behind, not wanting to generate any kind of conversation with me. 

I'm not sure how I feel about that. 

“I don't need one. I'm the Alpha, I can look after myself,” I mutter, as we make it back inside the main building. “I'm sick of people babying me at all time.” 

“I understand, but the Silents are a real problem here. They are highly, trained, dangerous, and none of them have remorse. They sign up to horrible missions to kill, the be killed, all in the order of Alpha Kael. All of them are cowards, who would rather have their throats slit than talk about a single fact of their origin,” He tells me sternly. 

I've never heard someone describe them like that. I've been told to forget they exist, and let my Guards deal with it. 

“That's why I sing,” I tell him softly. “To keep myself and my Pack safe.”

He doesn't say anything for a moment. 

We keep walking. I hate the fact that my room is situated so far away from where I sing, since I go there almost everyday, in a ritual dress that has me sweating in a few steps. 

“So, Alpha, explain an average day in your life,” the man asks, changing the conversation to something of a lighter note. 

I think about that for a moment. “I have breakfast, then I sing. A Guard typically accompanies me for a walk around the gardens. Then its lunch, study and business. Sometimes on the weekends I'll visit the villages within my Pack.”

“Sounds utterly uniform,” he comments. 

I couldn't agree more. 

“I think that,’ I lie. 

“Sometimes life is better being free,” he says and I cast my gaze up to him. 

At this point, we have made it to the edge of my quarters. I'm more focused on the man in front of me. All I want to do study him, find out who he is, and his job here entails. Instead he bows graciously, and backs up a few steps. 

“I shall see you later, Alpha,” he says, before he turns and walks away.