Talons

Chapter: The View

Rhea's POV

I’m in my third week of goddess studies, and I’m mentally drained by the absolute nonsense I’m being taught. I have learned nothing about my urges or sexuality, but I have learned that male wolves have been sexist and petty since the beginning of our species' existence.

The guide that was sent to our pack by the council is a nice woman, who seems well educated, but I'm left questioning her qualifications as an instructor based on some of the things she believes.

I flip to the assigned page in the book we were all given, and I begin to read yet another absurd rejection story. This one is the worst by far and that’s saying a lot considering that almost all the others involved men who couldn't take that their fated mate had been with someone before them. Whatever doubts I had regarding my view of the bond are long gone by now.

"Miss Talons, do you want to add your thoughts?" The guide asks, and I shake my head. "Come on. It's been weeks and you haven't given us anything. I'm sure your classmates are feeling as though you are receiving special treatment." That was good, she just used guilt and resentment against me and if I continue to refuse the other teens in class will think I'm a jerk.

"I think it's terrifying." That is my honest opinion. 

The piece we just read is about two hostile packs that have fated children. Neither of them wants to be with one another, but they hold onto their bond to use it against each other in battle. 

At the end of it all, the man ends up killing himself after the she-wolf he had been consistently sleeping with to torture and weaken his fated mate kills her. The woman had already been severely injured by her mate, so she could not fight back.

Apparently, the male had fallen in love with how strong his mate was when she fought him, and he decided to mark her during their battle. His mistress was so distraught that she ran a knife through the woman's heart when the man had briefly left her side in search of something to cover her nakedness.

"Terrifying is a good word to describe it. The bond should have been respected." That's not what I meant, but if the guide wants to go there with it, I will let her. Unfortunately, she pulls me back into the conversation. "Can you tell us what terrified you most?"

"I would rather not," I say, folding my shoulders in and trying to appear submissive, but the guide isn't taking my visual cues. She isn’t dominant, so right now I just appear shy to her.

"Please Miss Talons, you are my oldest student so far, and I want to know what someone in your age group thinks." I believe the woman, and because she asked for academic purposes, I oblige.

"It terrifies me that the male killed himself over a female he did not know or want. He left his pack and family behind for someone he didn't even care about." Everyone stares at me, and the guide tries to force her perspective onto me.

"He made a mistake by not respecting the bond." I shake my head.

"He originally made the right choice for his pack and the bond cursed him." I hear a few gasps and I start to wonder if I have gone too far, but the guide doesn't look angry with what I’ve said.

"Miss Talons, how exactly do you feel about mates?" For academic purposes, I get straight to the point. Maybe then the council will approach goddess studies more practically in the future.

"To be honest, I don't trust in the mate bond. I have seen opposites work, but only because they were forced."

"Forced?" I nod. That is how I see the mate bond after all.

"Rejections exist my dear, no one is forced to do anything."

"Okay," I say, giving up because I don't want to argue, but another student raises her hand and asks me a question. I did not expect that.

"Why don't you trust in the bond? Our alpha and beta are both fated and they are happy."

"Yes, they are happy, but there are other fated couples in this pack who are miserable even if they don't say anything."

"Then how do you know they are miserable?" Asks a male in the class, and I admit to myself that I don't really have an answer. There is just something dead in their eyes, and I guess I can pick up on it.

"Would you like to be fated to me?" I ask, and the boy flinches away in disgust despite being several feet away. "I rest my case."

"That isn't fair, no one wants to be mated to you." Everyone laughs and those words should have hurt me, but Colton has desensitized me toward them.

"Exactly, and because I out rank all of you in this room you cannot reject me without the council and ‘just cause.’" I see the males tense as they realize I have a point. "I know the bond is real, I just don't think it's always right."

The guide tries to reel in our conversation, but she has lost control of the class and is forced to listen to us go back and forth until the class is split with the majority against a fated mate. The hopefuls are mostly female, and I know they are holding onto the idea of a mate that will love and cherish them, so I point them to one of the chapters I read ahead of the class.

Kuda, one of the first recognized high alphas, had a literal harem. He had structured his pack in a way that males were not permitted within the inner walls, and the women who lived within it walked around completely nude.

The man was vile, and often slept with the women whenever he wanted and usually within view of the other inhabitants. When he got tired of, or no longer found a woman attractive, he would toss her out of the inner walls.

If an unlucky woman did not meet her mate after her nineteenth birthday, she was sent to live with the alpha, and under his pack's laws, all unfated females had to be bedded with him first.

It came to pass that the man finally met his mate, but she was unattractive to him, so he mated her with another woman lying above her. The humiliation of having her mate use her in that manner sent the woman mad and it’s the reason the high council was created.

Some of the girls who read the story looked sick when they finished reading, and I do not blame them. It was a disgusting story, and while I'm not sure how it relates to goddess studies, I know it helped to solidify my opinion.

"Miss Talons, you are taking that story out of context and you’re on the edge of blasphemy."

"I did not say the bond is not real. I just believe that we do not know enough about it. In the human world, people with autism-" I never get to finish my statement because the guide finally loses her patience with me.

"How dare you compare the gifts of Our Luna to a human ailment?" I'm shocked by the woman's outburst, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Guides are usually devout, and they spread the gospel of the goddess in hopes of becoming an oracle. "You will leave this class and you will not return." I stand and gather my things. I have never been kicked out of a class and I don't like it. "And those of you who agree with her line of thinking can join her," the guide adds. 

Not wanting to go straight back to the cabin, where I know I will be questioned, I head to the orchards where I have been testing my fertilizer. I don't know how, but Raven can smell the minuscule changes in mineral composition, and her nose sensitivity has helped me to come up with a test that farmers can use to have their fertilizer custom tailored to their farm.

So far, it's working on a small scale, and because I'm using all organic material, I'm not worried about storage issues or chemical reactions further down the line. My focus is guaranteeing the quality of the compost, which is not an exact science, but I'm trying to make it one.

"Why aren't you in class?" My father asks and I jump. 

Not having a sense of smell has really hurt my chances of survival on my own, especially in areas where it's easy to move around without making much noise.

I consider lying to my father, but he will likely find out the truth, so I tell him my side of the story before he hears it from someone else.

"Your mother is going to kill you," he says. "You better go see if your grandparents are willing to protect you, because I'm not going up against my mate when it comes to the goddess." I'm not an i***t, and I heard the way my father said 'my mate' as if to remind me that I am belittling his relationship with my mother, but I don't get to ask him about his feelings.

I can hear my mother muttering to herself in Spanish, and I know she is looking for me. I haven't been using the blocker, because I don't want to waste my store, but now I regret it.

"Rhea Talons, you have thirty seconds to appear before me before I appear before you." I make myself visible and answer with a very docile 'yes mommy.' 

My mother goes on a rant that is spoken so quickly that I can't make out if she is speaking Spanish, English, or both. Her pitch rises at the end of each sentence making me flinch.

I'm given a moment of silence before I notice the chancleta (sandal) in her hand. Sylvia pushes forward and we brace for impact.