Chapter 4 - Alpha Hina

Lunaya,

A soft knock on the door quickly drew me from my sleep. I lurched off the bed and took a defensive stance facing the door. Another knock, harder this time, then followed by a voice,

“Are you awake, it’s Maya” she banged on the door again, her knocks getting harder and louder.

“Yes, we’re awake” I answered quickly. I leaned down and shook Alyse to wake her up.

“Breakfast is being served, you must come now” her voice called through the door.

“We won’t be a moment” I called back. I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled my boots on, the heat of the fire had basically dried them out. Alyse sat up next to me and pulled her boots on quickly too. I stood up and grabbed her jacket, holding it out to help her put it on. I then pulled my own jacket on and turned to look at Alyse. She nodded at me and I opened the door. Maya stood by the door with a sour look on her face.

“I better not have missed out on the hash browns” she grumbled looking over us. She stomped off towards the large hut and we followed closely behind.

It was still snowing but the wind had all but gone now. This could be bad, especially if the Alpha deems the weather now calm enough to send us back out in. Thick layers of snow clung to the roof of the large hut and all the huts surrounding it. I took in as much of the little village that I could before we walked through the door. It was quiet outside, no people. They must all be inside out of the snow. Smaller huts, similar to the one Alyse and I are in, are littered around the area. I counted only fourteen, but I can’t see the whole area, so I assume there’s more. The large main hut stood in the middle of everything.

As we entered the building, I was taken aback by the number of women inside. There must have been roughly two hundred, maybe a little less. They were all seated on the long tables eating their food and chatting. All eyes turned to us as they noticed our arrival and an eery quiet consumed the hall. Some looked curious, others just straight up murderous. I reached for Alyse’s hand and pulled her closer to me. We came to a stop at the far back wall of the hut and the women all slowly returned to their plates and conversations.

“Here” Maya snapped, pushing a plate into my stomach. I passed it to Alyse and took the next one she held out. She walked to a long table set up like a buffet. Large bowls and trays lined the table, most of which were almost empty now. I piled some scrambled eggs on my plate and put some on Alyse’s too. I took a strip of ham and a cooked tomato and again gave the same to Alyse. I looked down the end of the table and saw Maya with a hash brown hanging out of her mouth and three more on her plate. I smirked a little, managing to hold in the giggle.

“They’re good, ay?” I asked her, she looked at me and a slight flush covered her cheeks. She swallowed and smiled awkwardly,

“Uh yeh, they’re my favourite” she mumbled before walking away.

I looked out over the hall and eyed a small space at the end of one of the tables. I headed over to it with Alyse behind me. As I went to sit down, a black-haired woman lifted her lip and growled. I paused for a second, gaging her mood. I sniffed at her subtlety, she’s anxious and maybe a little fearful.

“Can we sit here?” I asked softly. She lifted her head slightly and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. She nodded her head and then turned her body away from us. I nodded to Alyse to sit and she did. We enthusiastically ate our food. It’s been so long since we had a meal like this. Our food is usually foraged and cooked over an open fire, if not eaten raw. This is definitely a welcome change.

“Excuse me” a firm and husky voice pulled us from the last of our breakfast. I spun around and looked up at the woman. She had smooth caramel skin with dark eyes and short dark hair. Like the Alpha, she too had a tribal tattoo on her chin. Only this woman was twice the size, huge. For a she-wolf, she is massive.

“Alpha wishes for you to join her” the woman told us, not asking but telling us.

I nodded my head at the woman and quickly turned back to my plate to shove the last few bites into my mouth in one go. Alyse and I both stood up and followed the woman to the other side of the room. The Alpha sat at a table with a group of other strong, warrior looking women. Her eyes flicked to mine as we approached and she nodded her head to the women opposite her, they swiftly stood up and left the table.

“Sit please” she said with a smile and gesturing to the now empty seats. Alyse slid along the bench seat and I followed, pressing my leg up against hers. I gave her thigh a quick squeeze before putting my hands on the table clasped together and focusing my attention on the Alpha.

“So” she spoke turning her eyes from me to Alyse and back to me again.

“How was your first night in the village?” She kept her eyes firmly on mine now.

“It was very comfortable, thank you Alpha” I maintained eye contact with the Alpha as I spoke, as she initiated it, it would be rude to avert my gaze.

“Excellent, I’m glad to hear that”.

An awkward silence filled the gap between us. I could smell the anxiety from Alyse and I could hear her heartbeat, thumping hard in her chest. The Alpha held her gaze on me, boring into my face. She was testing me, testing my strength and resolve. Although she is indeed powerful, I can feel that much from her, in my thirty-eight years of this life, I have faced others far fiercer than she.

“Well” she finally broke the silence,

“I would like for you to ease some of my curiosity” her facial expression softened slightly, though her eyes continued their assault on mine.

“I can only try, Alpha” I responded.

“Firstly, my name is Hina and you may call me Hina”

“As you wish, Hina”

“So tell me, Moon Light was eradicated, what? Twenty years ago?”

“Seventeen” I corrected her,

“Seventeen, sorry. So where have you been all this time?”

I paused for a moment before answering her question. The inner workings of my mind battling with the decision of how much to tell her and how much to withhold. I still don’t know just how trustworthy she is.

“After Alyse nursed me back to health, she joined in my search for any survivors from my pack” I finally answered,

“And? How many did you find?” she responded without missing a beat.

I averted my eyes and lowered my head, the all too familiar feeling of guilt once again waved over me. I had punished myself for years that followed after the attack, though being the sole survivor was a punishment in its own. The Alpha sensed my sadness and blew out a slow breath before she spoke again.

“There were no others” she said stating the obvious. I nodded my head and wiped the tear that had escaped my eye.

“I’m very sorry for your loss” she said softly. I eyed her face and her expression was soft and earnest, she was sincere in her sentiment. It made me feel a little more comfortable.

“Thank you” I half smiled. She eyed me intently for a while, quickly flicking her eyes to Alyse before resting them again on me. A moment of silence sat between us before she spoke again.

“Is this your first Mate?” Hina asked Alyse with a nod of her head in my direction. One of her dreadlocks fell forward and hung by her cheek.

“She is. I had a boyfriend in high school, but once I had changed, I didn’t see him again” Alyse answered. Hina watched her with interest but remained silent.

“I have never felt connection with another person the way I do with Nae. She is everything to me” Alyse continued once she realised that Hina wanted more.

“And you, Lunaya, is Alyse your first Mate?” Hina asked turning her gaze once again to me. I swallowed hard and answered her question,

“Ah, no she isn’t. I was married to a strong fighter from my pack, you know, before. He was my first Mate and the only other one I’ve had” pain radiated through my chest as I spoke about my former love. Micha, my husband. His beautiful black hair and golden-brown eyes, the way his smile reached all the way to his eyes when he laughed. The memory of him was torture to my forever broken heart.

“He was killed in the attack” Alyse interjected, gently placing her hand on my lower back.

“I’m very sorry, I can see this still causes you pain” Hina said softly.

“It’s okay, he died protecting his family and I will always love him for it” I said proudly. I was proud, I still am. Micha was strong and brave and he always gave his all to his family and his pack, right up until his last moments.

“Thank you both for sharing that with me. I still wonder though, why you didn’t join a new pack, you have surely come across a few in seventeen years” Hina asked raising her eyebrow.

“We did try, with a couple of different packs. It just never felt right, we never found the right place to call home” I answered.

“But you have come here. You think that this could be the right place for you?”

“I had hoped so, yes”

“And if I decide you cannot stay, or if you choose to leave, what will you do then?”

“We haven’t thought that far ahead. We both had hoped that this will be our last stop”

“I see”.

Hina raked her eyes over both of us as we sat silently. She was deep in thought, I assume about what to do with us now. At least she was talking to us and trying to understand our story and our reasoning. We have been turned away from other packs without a single word from the Alpha, so this is a good sign.

“We have a very vigorous initiation process” she finally said,

“If you wish to stay, you will both have to go through the trials. If you fail, you leave”.

I looked at Alyse and a small glint of hope was in her eye, she wanted this, to stay. I do to. This is basically our last chance. I turned back to the Alpha and nodded my head.

“We understand” I said firmly.

“Well okay then. However, before we move onto that” Hina smirked slightly, flicking her eyes between us.

“Lunaya, Alyse, how did you come to find Luna Eclipse?”