The Fortune Daybreak

“Any luck?” Mason queried, dodging my attack when I tried to give him a swift jab in the face. He locked my fist in his palm, twisting it, forcing me to veer before pushing me as his defense.

Panting, I glowered at him. “Would I be here trying to defeat you if I have?”

I didn't wait for Mason to answer and charged through him, aiming to land on his face and followed by a supposed to be knockdown attack. But as quick as Mason, he predicted my offense and sent me back from my position by kicking my lower back, making me slightly wince in pain. Fortunately, I didn't lose my footing but I did felt the pain gnawing in my back.

My wolf howled inside me all of a sudden, offering her strength for my assistance. If only I hadn't been attempting to defeat Mason without shifting, I would have let my wolf help me earlier.

Defeating Mason is all I have wanted to accomplish since the moment I met him, now that five years had gone by and I still haven't found the White Stag, I just want to prove to him that I can alter my sullied reputation without relying on the purpose of the North’s legend.

“You're agitated,” he said and withdrew from his fighting stance, a gesture that he does whenever he was bored from our fight or to chastise me. “I can feel it.”

Looking away, I clamped my teeth together and planted my hands on my hips. “Who wouldn't be agitated? Five years had gone by since I vowed to get revenge on Aena, and yet I couldn't find the only way to save this reputation of mine. I have already lost my stutter. I got better at fighting by doing secret training every night. Believe it or not, the stags in the woods wouldn't even flinch seeing me roaming there. Why would I even wish to find a thing that doesn't probably exist? Why can't I just do it by myself?”

“It’s because you couldn't,” Mason pointed out, never minding the effect of his words on me. “Sure, you have become better, there was no need to deny that. Your wolf became stronger. You can fight with me without passing out. You got better at handling swords and knives. But not everybody knows that, Aera... especially here in our town. Your father was still doubting your capabilities.”

I rolled my eyes in dismay. “Thank you so much for bringing that up. Last night, I answered him without stuttering in front of the high members of the pack, but it didn't get anything but a cynical squint. Stuttering and not, it's all the same to him as well as those members who think highly of themselves.”

“Believe me when I said that you improved because you did, Aera. A lot, more than I had hoped. And my sister would agree with me if she were here. But then it wasn't enough. It’s never going to be enough, Aera. You need something powerful. Something immense that in just a blink of one's eyes everyone would look at you like you were above them,” Mason continued and walked towards me. “You need that White Stag.”

“Whoever spread that word about White Stag must be really fantastical—Ouch!” I exclaimed when Mason flicked my temple. “What was that for?”

“You’re going to find it, Aera. I know you can. Now, can you stop whining, and let’s just go back to fighting? I want to see you get defeated by me again,” Mason taunted and walked back to his position.

Glaring at such haughty words, I went back to my position and executed my fighting stance. When I heard my wolf howl at me in reminder, I smirked in secret to acquiesce.

Mason motioned me to initiate my attack. With quick steps, I pretended to start my attack by doing a diving punch, my signature attack, so he took a step back to dodge it. And it was only enough for me to have time to shift into my wolf and land on him using my paws. Mason, who thought that I would charge through him with a follow-up punch, couldn't have time to retract and was unable to advance a defense. Amused by my fast shifting, Mason threw his hands in the air. I growled straight through his face, baring my sharp teeth to require the submission of his first defeat.

“Fine, you won. It was indeed a nice combination but you know that it was cheating, right?” Mason reminded me, lifting his brows.

I growl-barked at him before I decided to withdraw my paw. I backed out for a second and tried to bite his face to unnerve him because I knew Mason would be fast enough to draw back, which he did.

He was glaring at me when I completely backed off and shifted back to human. I remained lying on the ground to let my bones fully adjust.

“You know you couldn't do that, right? Not because it was breaking the rules, but because of that...” Mason indicated, reluctant to stare at my naked body. “You tore your women's cotte...”

“That’s why I brought one for that,” I said and rose to my feet without wearing any sign of shame.

I was facing Mason with a blank expression and he just looked at me like he was awfully stunned, a reaction he had never shown me before. And I couldn't distinguish if his reaction was a sign of admiration or disgust, but I did see something dashed in his eyes that was impossible for me to fathom.

“If I were you I wouldn't do that in front of other men, especially those who had located and marked their fated mate,” he advised, so I turned his back on him to get my spare dress inside my hand-woven self-made rattan bag. “It’s too exposed and...”

“And what?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder as I put on my undergarments.

“Tempting,” Mason bit off and then swallowed hard, causing his Adam's apple to bob. “Most men could commit a sin because of that body.”

I scoffed, shaking my head. “You really need to go to the wolfsayer and read your fated mate.”

I put on my comfortable dress and reached for my back to reach for the tie to be able to close it. Mason must have noticed me struggling so he pushed my hand and pulled the strings himself to close my white and dark green cotte.

Mason pulled the string so tightly, I yowed in pain before he tied it.

“I already did that, I went to the wolfsayer this morning,” Mason answered in a flat tone. “She said she couldn't read what pack I was fated with.”

I turned to him with a creased forehead. “The wolfsayer must not be trying hard then. It was impossible not to read yours.”

“Maybe it’s not too impossible because she tried reading me thrice,” he pressed with a weary smile. “She got the same answer, none. And it's not just me but Mia as well.”

“The wolfsayer could be mistaken in all of her tries. Everyone has a fated mate, Mason. Like Aena with that Alpha from the Ignis Pack. Me to that... to that arrogant wolf shifter from the Triton's,” I said bitterly, unable to contain the urge to roll my eyes when I remembered Alexei’s smug.

“You mean the Alpha... Alexei Volkov was the next in line Alpha of the Triton's pack five years ago, Aera, he must have already succeeded his father and is currently ruling their pack now,” Mason said, purposely teasing me since he knew how much the topic vexed me.

“Alpha or not, I don't care. I don't wish to talk about him. He’s making my head boil,” I ground out with fitted teeth and then put on my boots. “Because of him, I couldn't find my second chance mate. He rejected me that day and didn't even wait for me to accept his rejection. What a jerk!”

“Maybe because he has a plan on claiming you back?” Mason jested, mischievousness playing along in his voice.

I just gave him a blank response in return, causing his smirk to fade.

“Or he was very disappointed seeing you as his fated mate because you looked so frail and inadequate. It was such an eyesore for him, that's why after the rejection he walked away immediately and never looked back,” Mason carried on and smirked. “That’s what you wanted to hear, right? Instead of the first one.”

I glowered at Mason and grunted in outrage. If he wasn't a close friend of mine, I had already struck him the moment he opened that subject. Because of that insensitive quip, I remember Alexei again, the person I have been trying to get off my mind but then failing every mating period. Not only did he make my life more miserable than it already was, but he also made me suffer in frustration whenever I'm in heat.

“That was not funny at all, Mason. You know how much I hate that guy!” I barked and gave him a sharp glare. “I was going to rest at home after the training but now you just urge me to look for the white stag tonight, damn.”

“Well, I guess, taunting remarks is your motivation now. Good luck then,” Mason said, and then turned his back on me.

With boiling nerves and a wry smile, I just watched Mason depart. I went in the opposite direction when he was gone from my sight and returned to looking for the White Stag.

Ever since I vowed to take revenge on the people who tormented me, sleeping in the woods where stags are has become my daily basis. But with those years of looking for a white stag, I had never seen one. It wasn't easy. There were times that I questioned my determination, my forthcoming future for its absence, and I feared most of the time that I may not have located one.

I sighed and pushed the young stag's head that came to me just to stare at my face. “Don’t you fear that I might bite your neck and I would feed you for my wolf's dinner tonight, huh?”

I tried to sound intimidating but the stag only looked me straight in the eye before it continued to stare some more and then eventually left.

Slumping on the trunk, I decided to rest when the stags come and go before my eyes, as if I wasn't a human that doesn't need to be feared.

While waiting for a miracle, I decided to sleep with my unsheathed hunting knife placed above my stomach in case of an emergency. And it seemed like the night passed by so quickly and I woke up at the crack of the day with a shining White Stag standing in front of me, taking my breath away.