Wait till after winter

Chapter 4

Wait till after Winter 

“Megan…”

“Dad, listen to me first.” Megan quickly interrupted her father. It was either she gets it out or the words she wanted to say stays stuck in her throat forever, never seeing the daylight. 

“I know you are going about offering wolves from other packs, everything we have as dowry. I also know that you are not successful yet. Dad, I want you to stop doing this.” 

Oliver was dazed. How did she know? Who told her? 

But if he took the time to think about it, someone spread the news about her situation. It shouldn't be surprising if that same person was the one who told her, right?

Oliver's eyes twisted with a deep hatred filled with malicious intent. 

“Who told you this?” He groaned. 

Megan shivered at the look in her father's eyes. She decided to leave her father's lap. 

“Dad…i, why are you so angry all of a sudden” she snorted as her eyes became teary all of a sudden. 

“I… I am sorry. I am not angry. Don't cry.” Oliver quickly grabbed his daughter and forced her rising frame back on his thighs. 

Megan hid her face to roll her eyes and relaxed. It always works. As long as she summons the tears, Oliver will always submit to Megan. 

“Tell me who told you, Megan.” Oliver tried to keep his anger out of his voice, but wolves are sensitive creatures, the fact that Megan's wolf couldn't transform properly doesn't mean she was less than any other wolf. She was as sensitive as them, just not as strong. The only difference was in strength. So, how could she not hear the supposed concealed anger in Oliver's voice?

“Dad, it's public knowledge. Everyone knows.” Megan lied, killing all of Oliver's hope. 

If Megan had given him a specific name, he would have tracked that person down and demanded an explanation. But would he go after the whole pack for an explanation? The answer was NO. 

Signing resignedly, Oliver affectionately squeezed Megan's arm.

“Since you know this, then you should also know that almost all the wolf packs from our region know about you. Even if you join any of them, there is no guarantee that you will find a mate in these packs.” Oliver explained in a pained voice. 

Megan nodded as she stood up from her father's legs. Oliver was reluctant to let her go, but she had started pinching him really bad so he released his hold. 

“So, I will go to any of the other regions. Dad, can you tell me about them?” Megan asked expectantly, but when she saw the reluctance in her father's eyes, she knew she was backing the wrong tree. The problem was, this was the only tree she had. 

“You don't want me to go to another region?” She asked in a little voice. The one she uses when she wants to beg her way through a situation. 

“It's not that I don't want you to go to another region, but of the seven regions, four are at war and two are caught in the middle. Our region is the only safe region. It's not safe out there.” Oliver explained. 

In the Eplica continent, the humans have to worry about the vampires who feed on their blood and the wolves who feed on their flesh. For the wolves, human's meat was at the top of their food chain until it was discovered that it could also poison them, making them go berserk. 

A berserk wolf is a wolf that has lost his mind, and the only way to treat the wolf is to put it down. It's a pack's responsibility to put its berserk wolf down and if the wolf somehow escapes, the pack will have to pay for whatever damages other packs around them incur because of their carelessness. Therefore, every pack takes the ban on human flesh seriously. 

Vampires are scared of werewolves and have to be wary of humans. Specifically, the supernatural hunters. These are families who hunt down Vampires, wolves, and anything that doesn't look or feel human enough. 

Vampires are scared of wolves because wolf's blood is poisonous to them. At the same time, wolf's meat helps them cultivate their weak body. Instead of feeding on Human blood, they can feed on animal's blood and use werewolf's cured meat to supplement their diet. But due to the risks involved, vampires naturally leave the werewolves alone. 

As for humans, Vampires are only useful for experimentation. Unless a vampire is very weak, they naturally have nothing to fear from the daily ordinary person. 

The Werewolves have almost nothing to fear because they are territorial animals and live in packs. This made it almost impossible for werewolves to leave their realm. The wolves outside the realm are either packless, berserk who managed to run away before they were taken down or wolves on missions from their realm like traders, scientists, university students and so on. 

They have nothing to fear from the Vampires because all it takes to kill a vampire is to bite it or slash it with a silver weapon already smeared with its owner's blood. A vampire who decides to attack a pack of wolves is only seeking death. 

As for humans, they need Werewolves for experiments too, but it's easy to hide among them. All the wolves have to do is retain their human form. 

Therefore, the greatest threat to the werewolves of Eplica continent are the wolves themselves. They are always fighting for territories… 

Hearing her father's words, Megan dejectedly sat in the chair facing him. She picked up a pen from the pen holder and started rolling it around, playing with it. 

“But I can't continue to stay here, Dad. What should I do?” She pouted without looking at him. “Can I follow you to the human world?” 

Before she even landed, Oliver was already shaking his head in the negative, incurring Megan's upsetting glare. “You know our pack leader will not allow it.” Oliver muttered. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of it. In fact, he had even pleaded with the pack leader, but Lucas already rejected his appeal. 

“Can you give me time to think of something? Before winter ends, I promise I will give you a reply.” Oliver took Megan's small hands in his larger ones and gently rubbed them reassuringly. 

“Okay Dad.” Mean muttered loud enough for him to hear.

Ryan lives at the outskirts of Blue-Mist's territory. He was living alone in a house built around a natural cave just at the entrance of the woods surrounding the pack territory. 

This particular cave has existed for a long time. It is so old that the only thing the pack members know about it is that it belongs to the Sunbeam family. The pack had just woken up one summer morning and found out that a young, handsome wolf called Ryan, who was a nephew of one of the Sunbeam's elders, had moved in and made himself at home. It was later they got to know that Ryan left his pack because his mate rejected him and went for his brother. 

Because Ryan was a reclusive person, he hardly had visitors but since he was now with Megan, they have chosen a discreet part of the woods as their meeting place and Ryan has even figured out a path for Megan to take when going there because nobody must know that they were seeing each other. For whatever reason best known to the elders, they have warned their kids to warn their grandkids to stay away from Ryan. Megan's father was no exception…

After Megan claimed her books and left her father's study, she made her way to their hideout; a place where there is a cluster of bamboo. 

On her way there, she tried to convince herself that she did the right thing by lying that everyone in the pack knew that the other wolf packs were also rejecting her. In fact, until her father brought it up, Megan never suspected that it was supposed to be a secret. It was her grandfather who had called her aside and told her to reject whatever mate her father may find for her. Her grandfather said that with the kind of dowry the wolves her father spoke to were demanding, their Williams family would go bankrupt right after her marriage. This was one of the reasons it was easy for her to decide to leave the pack when she turns 21 come spring. 

After seeing her father's anger, she promptly decided to lie so as to avoid a fight between her father and her grandfather. It wouldn't be the first time they would fight because of her, but since she was leaving, it was better she leave in the time of peace.  

Before going to see her father, Megan already knew that he would not let her leave. She hoped that he would select a pack outside their region for her and from there, she and Ryan would find their way to the human realm, where they planned to start all over again. She had discussed at length with Ryan, and they have agreed that it was better not to tell anyone about their decision to be together. This decision was for two reasons. The first reason was because Megan's father was already actively looking for another mate for her among the other packs in their region. Megan knew that she wasn't the only one suffering from her 'wolflessness' and mate's rejection. Sometimes she wonders if her father was suffering more than her. 

When Oliver promised to find Megan a new mate, he had said he wouldn't let her go through each day and, possibly, her whole life, seeing her real mate living a good life and growing a family with another woman. 

Another reason why she agreed so readily to follow Ryan was that at school a few days ago, Elvira had hinted that as long as Megan appeared before her, she would continue to humiliate her. Megan fears that when Jake becomes the pack's Alpha in the future, Oliver would not be able to protect her again. It was better that she leave to avoid Elvira's wrath and save her father the headache.  

Lastly, Megan knew her father would never bless her union with Robin. So, it was better to run away. That was the only way she could give herself a chance and safe her father from all the trouble. 

It wasn't an easy decision but Megan had made it. Now that her father was asking her to give him until the end of Winter, she felt a little confused and curious. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't come up with a guess at what he would do about her situation come Spring. 

When Megan got to the bamboo groove, Ryan was already waiting. Just like Megan, he was hopeful, but not too hopeful. When he saw Megan approaching him with dragging feet, he suspected that her mission had failed. He wordlessly opened his arms and let her lean into them. She rested her head on his chest and just listened to his heart beat. In silence, the two lovers stood in the middle of the groove, listening to each other's heartbeat. After some time, Ryan lifted Megan's chin and made her look him in the eye. “He said no?”

“Hmm.” She nodded. 

“It doesn't matter. We should still leave. That is the only way we can be together, Megan.” Ryan gently reminded her. 

“I know.” Megan said with a remorseful voice. “Can…can we wait until spring? He said he will think of a solution by then…” she pleaded with her eyes. 

“What kind of solution?” Ryan asked curiously.

“I don't know either. But I want to wait and see. Can we?” Megan asked. 

“Uhm!” Ryan heaved. His eyes grew thoughtful as he gazed into the distance. “Is that what you want?” He asked Megan who never took her eyes off him. 

“Honestly, I don't know. If it's possible, I want to leave right now, but that would be treason. Being labeled a traitor would give my family a bad reputation. I would rather not do that to my Dad.” Megan sniffed. Tears started streaming down her face while she was talking. 

Ryan gently used his big fingers to wipe the tears off. He then bent his head and kissed her, instantly bringing her silent sob to an end as his scent enveloped her senses. 

The kiss was slow, gentle and arousing. Before long, Megan couldn't breathe again. She gently withdrew her mouth and laid her head on his chest. 

Having almost lost himself just now and not knowing how long he could hold on before claiming his mate, Ryan wrapped his hands around Megan and held her tightly to his chest. 

“We will wait and see. Whatever you want, Megan. You call the shots here.” He whispered into her ears before blowing hot air into it. 

Megan shivered as her body tried to merge into his.