Children of Night and Snow

1. Once Upon A Time

I can't remember the first time I heard the story of our brave ancestor Alexander, who rebelled against the Ice Kingdom and took a handful of his loyal friends into the Summerlands, where he established the Moonvalley Clan on the shore of a beautiful lake. It was the oldest tale, the first story we were told as children. Alexander was the hero, the savior. He dared to cross the Frozen Wastes and bring our ancestors into the peaceful World on the other side. Away from the eternal winter and endless life in fear of conflict. He was the reason his bloodline were the heirs to the alpha position in our clan. Nobody had the right to challenge that title. Doing so was considered treason and punishments were hard. Death or exile. This meant there was only one rebellion attempt over the centuries our Clan existed. It ended as quickly as it began, in the death of the rebel.

Yet rebellion is all I can think of as I'm sitting here, on the shore of the lake alone as I watch Colin and that bitch Lilian surrounded by our friends. They are the golden couple. The future alpha and luna of the Moonvalley. Colin is the heir, Alexander's descendant, adored by everyone despite being an arrogant prick. And Lilian? She likes to put on her shy and innocent facade, but really she is just a thief and a fake. And I hate her, because she stole what was meant to be mine.

There were times when Colin would only have eyes for me. I mean, yes he had a bit of trouble staying faithful and we were both busy with our school work, but people knew we were endgame, so I wasn't that troubled. We were perfect for each other. Everyone expected us to be mates when we came of age. I spent many afternoons with my mom learning how to be the best possible luna. I devoted everything to being the person Colin wanted me to be and did he have a lot of requests. I quit swimming classes and signed up for cooking instead when he suggested I'm lacking in that area. I changed my wardrobe to dress appropriately and set an example for the rest of the girls. I became class president and took on as many leadership duties as I could.

But none of it was enough. Because when we did come off age, the mate bond was nowhere to be felt. At first I wasn't so worried. We were both stressed and frustrated. It was probably just going to snap in place a bit later. All the signs were there after all. Everyone said so. So I bit my tongue and I waited. But Colin paid attention to me less and less. It was frustrating. Especially when he began publicly showing up with his flings. It was like he wanted to upset me on purpose. So I tried to return the favor and I kissed Rick. I made sure our public make out session was the talk of the school. But my plan backfired. If Colin cared, he did his best to not show that my little adventure with his best friend affected him.

The rest of the school however proceeded to slutshame me. My reputation was gone. All it took was one kiss. And not long after Colin walked into school hand in hand with Lilian. Plain, boring, nobody Lilian. And that very day his father proudly announced that his son found his mate during the town assembly. That day my world came crashing down. And what did I do to ease my heartbreak? I went and slept with Shane, Colin's other best friend. The very Shane who next day sent my nudes to every guy in school, leaving me nowhere to hide.

"Earth to Noyla!" Olivia, my best friend, shook me a bit too violently as she disturbed my thoughts. She frowned in concern when I turned to her, handing me a can of Coke.

"Girl you gotta let it go," Sheyla said as she opened her own can and took a sip, "if you keep giving Lilian murderous looks, people may get some bad ideas about your intentions," she added with a sigh.

"I don't think me looking in her direction is any worse than the three times I made her cry during lunch breaks this week." I shrugged, earning a chuckle from Olivia.

"She is such a pushover. No matter how much they all pretend not to see it, she is weak," Olivia said, leaning back on her elbows, looking up to the sky instead of watching the scene unfolding in front of us. With everything that went down this past year, Olivia and Sheyla were my rocks in the sea full of tears. They were there to comfort me as I cried myself to sleep. They took me out of town for dinner and a drink after what Shane did, knowing I couldn't face anyone in the community. They went with me for a run when I shifted in my grief and disappeared in the woods for days. They kept me sane. But despite all that, despite my absolute trust in them, I couldn't bring myself to tell them about my rebellion thoughts.

"She isn't fit to lead the clan," I replied. "I would rip her to shreds in a fight. Anyone here would," I added bitterly as the thought of challenging kept occupying my mind. Nobody dared to challenge the first couple. Not even the future first couple for that matter. It would be treason to do so. Sheyla snorted next to me, bringing my attention back to the group in front of us once again. The guys were all in the water calling for Lilian to join them. But she just stood there, shaking her head as she tested the water and deemed it too cold for her liking. The lake wasn't exactly good for swimming. Despite the permanently warm climate, the water in there was near freezing all year long. Something about underground currents. But we grew up here, we were used to it. Lilian wasn't. Her family moved in about two years ago from some village on the southern shores. And she never got used to our waters compared to the warm ocean down south. Just another reminder that she didn't deserve what she had. She was an outsider.

"This is pathetic," I said, loud enough for her to hear as I got up and walked past her into the lake, lightly shoving her aside. It was enough to send her falling down on her ass, straight into the freezing water with a high pitched yelp.

"Noyla, what the heck?!" Rick snapped at me, bringing Colin's attention to us, making him go help his lousy mate.

"Don't touch her!" Colin hissed into my face and everyone went quiet, focusing solely on us. I stood there, angry tears in my eyes as I was refusing to bow down to him, but in the end I had no choice but to submit. He was the future alpha after all.

"Good. Now remember your place, Noyla," he smirked victoriously before he turned around towards Lilian, his face suddenly full of concern I've never seen him show to me. People still lingered around, whispering as they watched me stand there in defeat, mocking me. I hated them. I hated all of them.

"Come Noyla, let's go," Olivia whispered to my ear as she led me away from the crowd back into my family cabin. And as the doors closed behind us, I broke down. I screamed and cried asking Gods why they did this to me, when I did everything right, when I deserved so much better.

Silence was my only answer.

...

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