Chapter 7 - Werewolves

There was no better feeling than freedom, as she galloped with Jax, even though she had a vampire, over her head, leaping from tree to tree. As she had feared, he had spent the brief moment when they were talking insulting her, or at least trying, nothing very serious, but her inner wolf did not like it very much, she knew that if the offenses climbed, she might not be able to control the wolf but she also didn't feel comfortable with Edwin, to give him the volume she carried with her, wrapped in a leather and velvet bag, trying as much as possible to keep it away from her skin.

The night gave way to the day and although Alexa did not want to give the weak part to Edwin, Jax was beginning to show signs of fatigue and would be reckless to continue pulling him, so she stopped the horse and waited for Edwin to realize that she needed to stop, a thing he made, just a few trees ahead, going back over the land he had a smug smile on his face when he said, "So, Queen, are you tired already?"

Alexa rolled her eyes, keeping control of the wolf, it was beginning to irritate even her human side, "no, but my horse will not last much longer! It did a quick jogging week, just to get to the meeting point on time and this pace is not helping it!" She began, "besides, I do not know about you, but I'm hungry and cold and I need to rest!" She confessed.

It was Edwin's turn to roll his eyes, "have you always been spoiled? Or did it just happen, after becoming an orphan?" Edwin barely regretted his words and Alexa's look of veiled fury only confirmed the mistake that he had made.

"For your safety, I think it best, never, but never again, to attack me with the death of my parents!" She muttered with a growl in her throat and turned her back to him.

She moved away from Edwin, to calm the wolf, and to cool her head, she took advantage of it to gather some sticks, to make a small fire to cook the dried meat she had in her saddlebags. When she returned, she found Edwin working on Jax. He had taken the saddle off and was wiping its hair, "what are you doing?" Alexa inquired with a tone of suspicion in her voice.

"Looks like I'm cleaning your horse's hair since you were not careful enough to do that!" He sarcastically responded without however intending to be accusatory.

"I was going to do it!" Alexa replied making the pile of wood and lighting the fire.

As soon as Alexa was already in the mood, she went to the saddlebags that were leaning against a tree, near the horse, she took the dried meat off and looked at Edwin, who was concentrating on cleaning the horse's hair, "do you want it too?"

Edwin looked at her, his black eyes had turned to brown, with which she had known him, "what?"

"Meat!" She replied, showing what she had taken from the bag.

"Yes maybe!" He agreed with a shrug.

Alexa put the meat on a spit over the fire and sat down, controlling the fire. A little past it, Edwin also sat down in front of her and when the meat was ready, she divided for the two, the silence seemed to have weight and tension that crushed the two and it was Edwin who finally broke it.

"So, what's it like growing up in Zulcan?" She looked at him, one eyebrow arched, as if wary of his intentions, "what, I'm tired of the silence, and since you're here, we'd better talk!"

After a contemplative silence, from someone searching for memories to tell, Alexa finally started talking about her childhood, "I think growing up in Zulcan has been like growing anywhere else! I remember playing in the street with the other kids and my mother always with a smile! These are my oldest memories and also the happiest and most carefree!" She said with a sad smile, "from the moment that wolf woke up ... Well ... let's just say it was not that normal, at least in comparison to what I saw and see of normal children in the village. Duties and responsibility always marked my life, after the wolf had woken up there was very little time to play or to smile..".

"How... how do you say the wolf woke up?"Edwin asked genuinely curious, for the first time since the journey had begun.

"I was five years old, the first time I turned!" Alexa explained with a sigh, "from there I was banned from playing with human children, and even if I was allowed to do it, I don't think they wanted to play with me. Two men from my father's pack..." Alexa stopped abruptly as if the memory caused her immense pain, but Edwin had been curious, more to what she didn't say than to what she was sharing.

"This is normal?" He asked, trying not only to get to know her better, but also because he knew little of the werewolf traditions, and he was curious to know where or what they were.

"No, it's not normal!" Alexa shook her head. "Generally, a natural wolf only undergoes its first transformation at the age of fifteen, the earliest memory had been at twelve, when they can control their emotions a little better ... A five-year-old child does not realize if what is doing is right or wrong, just like she can't control anger or frustration!" Half words were all Alexa could say, it was hard for her to admit that she was a murderer, that her wolf was too fond of blood and had tasted it still young.

"What happened?" Edwin insisted, feeling the discomfort of the woman in front of him, the sadness, and the heavy countenance. "Wasn't it a sign that the magic was strong in you? Wasn't it something to be proud of?"

Those words caused an immense horror in Alexa and this was visible in the way she snaped her head at Edwin and the expression on her face, "for some people, yes!" Her tone was filled with revulsion. "It was a motive for celebration, but not for everyone, especially not for me! But I don't want to talk about it anymore! I can tell you that at the age of six years old things began to improve, at least a little, when the pack joined me when we started to run free, in the form of a wolf, to train together, whatever it was, we did together!"

"Do you mean that those wolves in the room have been with you since the age of six?"

"Yes, they are, most are my age, except Andrew and Elia who are five and four years older, and Truman who is a year younger than me!" Alexa commented, glad to be able to share a topic other than her first transformation.

"And if what has been told us is true, your mate is going to be one of those elements, right?"

"Not probably! Or rather certainly not, I couldn't see any of them that way, they are like brothers to me!" Alexa sighed before continuing, "the Pack is composed of twelve individuals, this is the limit set by the treaty. Five are chosen before the Natural Alpha parent dies since it is up to him to transform the five individuals, the other six are chosen after the heir reaches the age of majority or when the king dies. The Royal Consort must be in one of the elements of the Pack, and since the first choice is made at an early age is often developed a feeling of brotherhood, hence there are more hypotheses of the Consort to be in the second Tournament and also because in the second Tournament there is no limit of the age difference of five years, as there are in the first, anyone is free to participate, old and new!"

"Wait, Tournament, did you say?" Edwin inquired, realizing the next instant that Alexa had said more than she intended when she closed her lips on a thin line.

"Changing the subject, it's your turn, what was it like growing up in Elatre?" Alexa asked, hoping it would be enough so he would not have to answer Edwin's question.

He nodded, but something in his eyes, or the way he nodded, told him that he would return that subject.