Epilogue 10
Epilogue 10
18 years later
Sol
I had just started School. It was manageable after the first week. I had always been studious. Not to mention, I knew how to manage a schedule. I worked hard and learned a lot. I had not made any friends yet, but School had just started. I was hoping going away to college would let me start fresh. I always felt so isolated in my pack. There were all these expectations put on me, and I felt like I was an island alone.
I was closest to my cousin Quinten, who was a year younger. My parents wanted me to choose who would be my beta before I left. I knew they would want to send whoever I picked to attend college with me, so I chose not to pick one. I wanted the freedom to find out who I was outside of Shadow Pack.
But, if I had to pick someone I trusted to be my beta, it would be my cousin Quinten. He always trained with me when I asked. When my parents asked me to go hang out with kids my age, I hung out with him. It was easier to hang out with family. They had to love me. It was their obligation to be there for me. So, I never felt like my cousins expected me to be something other than myself. Quienten was just the closest to my age, which is why I preferred his company.
My uncle Quill and his mate had so many kids, and Quinten was awesome. He had what I didn't he could communicate with others. Everyone liked him, and he was easygoing. Honestly, we had talked a lot since I got here. He would give me advice about how to be more involved. I didn't feel comfortable doing what he suggested, but this was the time to get out there. No one here knew who I was or what I was.
I had told Quienten before I left that I would be choosing him as my beta when I got back from School. But I disclosed he was not to tell anyone, and I wanted to be the one to announce it when I was home at the end of the year for summer. I knew that would mean next year he would be here with me. But for this year, I would be alone. He was very excited to have that position. I knew it would not make him cocky he was too down to earth to lord his place in the pack to anyone.
I needed someone like him in the future. The way people flocked to him made him a good choice. Not only that, but he was intelligent and personable. I knew my mother suspected he would be my choice, and no doubt, when I left last week, she started to teach him about the position. I knew my father's beta, Mark, would have liked either his daughter or his son to be my beta, but we were not close. I got the feeling they resented me for some reason.
Then there was my mother's friend Kimmy. Her oldest was close in age to me, and he was also an alpha by blood. My dad said he would be a good choice. Both of us were strong. Kimi and Charlie's kids had been my only completion growing up. But my mother was a superior teacher, and I always bested them. I sometimes worried their oldest son would come for the role of alpha. He was well-liked by the pack.
But I would never let that happen. My parents had sacrificed so much for me to have the alpha position, and I would do everything in my power to keep it. That is why I came here: to work on my people skills, and what better place to do that than with complete strangers who knew nothing about me? I went to the library for some much-needed reading for one of my classes.
I had not picked a degree. I knew eventually I would have to declare a major, but the first two years of college were prerequisites anyway, so I was in no rush. I wanted a degree that would help me in some way to run the pack. My mother had been reading up on majors, trying to help me pick one.
Anthropology sounded interesting. Then there was business, which would help me run the financial side of the pack. I was thinking of history, but all I would learn in college was human history, not ours. I loved reading about the past. It was the best way to predict the things that would happen in the future.
I sat there thinking maybe people thought I was a freak with a facial tattoo. It was not a common thing, even with my species. But having my mother's tattoo on my forehead meant a lot to me. I thought about trying to cover it up while I was among humans, but I could not bear to do it. The tattoo was a special part of me, and I was so honored to have it for the whole world to see.
So, I never tried to hide it. I sat there reading one of my books when a few people approached me. "Are these seats taken?" "No, they are free." I tried to seem happy and polite. I wanted to make friends, and this was the first time besides my roommate that anyone had talked to me. The group that sat down it was two girls and a guy. I took a breath and then introduced myself. "I am Sol, by the way."
"I am May, and that is Gram, and then this is Macy." I gave them a smile. Then asked. "So, is this your first year, too?" "Yeah, we are all freshmen." "Nice." I smiled awkwardly. Goddess, why was this so hard. "So I have to ask." May said, "I have never seen that kind of facial tattoo. Does it mean anything special?" I had expected for someone to ask. I was told not to lie growing up, but I knew it would be necessary amongst humans in some cases. I kept it as close to the truth as possible. "I am from an indigenous family, and it is something that we do there."
Not a total lie. My mother grew up in an indigenous community, which was their tradition. It was the easiest way to explain to them. "That is cool." The group pulled out their books, and we all went to work. We had been sitting there for an hour when the guy looked at me. "We were all going to go out to this bar tonight. You should come." I smiled at him. He had short blond hair and blue eyes. It was such a contrast to my tan skin and black long hair. I looked like my mother, minus the scars that littered her body.
"Thanks, I would like that." May and Macy told me they lived in my dorms. I told them my dorm number, and they said they would be there around 8:30 so we could go out. Macy smiled and said. "I am guessing you are underaged, too, like us." I nodded, knowing they were referring to the legal drinking age. "This place is great. They don't ID you." I didn't really care. I had been drinking since I was 16. The pack never cared about stuff like that. For Goddess's sake, most of the pack smoked weed or sheesh. My mom preferred, sheesh. Apparently, when the North joined our pack, they began cultivating it. I personally liked it.
So I had no problem with drinking, and I knew no one in my family would care if I partook in that kind of thing. I was just excited that some people were asking me to do something. I had done it;,, these would be my first friends. Well, besides the few I had back home. We all finished reading and went our separate ways. I was excited for the first time since I arrived there.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
