FORBIDDEN

The Pack House was full tonight with wolves from all twelve packs attending the annual three week conference. The packs traveled from all over to Brightwood pack territory who are the hosts this year. Last year it was the Wildstone pack, the year before, Thunderheart.

I sat with my brother and his intended, Zoya. Its no secret to anyone in the room that they belong together.

I swallowed nervously, hating having to attend when I wanted to be home. I was a non-shifter and being in a crowd full of shifters made me uncomfortable. But I was also the daughter of Alphas which meant I had to attend no matter what.

I flipped my long blond hair over my shoulders, eyes darting for the one person who makes my annual visit miserable. I don't see him yet thank the Ancient Alpha. Hunter of the Thornwood Pack is an asshole. He's also the Thornwood Pack Alpha's son and therefore lords it over everyone else.

We young wolves always sat together after the first greetings and it's a sure bet he'll be slinging some new insults at me about my inability to shift, the moment I sat down. I stick close to Zack, trailing after him toward the set aside seats. The children of Alphas were lined up in the first row, while Betas sat behind us and so on until the last row where the Omegas sit.

Pack leaders from each pack sat on the dais behind the Chief Elder Wolf, William Thornwood, Hunter's Grandfather, who always began the meeting with a reading of the Code of the Pack. I found this part to be extremely boring and had to work hard to show interest and respect toward him.

Hunter still hadn't made an appearance and I scolded myself silently for even taking the time to look for him. What should it matter if he showed up or not? I'm already on edge, waiting for him to saunter by me with a wisecrack under his breath. He never failed to say something rude to me. My brothers have never said anything in my defense.

Fighting was against the rules during the annual meeting. Peace was expected here, all differences set aside for the next three weeks. If the packs couldn't maintain a civil unity for a mere three weeks, they had no business being part of the Wolf Nation. We were determined to show humans that we were better than them.

My brother Zack was too busy mooning over his mate, Zoya to notice anyone else. Pretty. Intelligent. Thoughtful. She would be a perfect mate for him but they hadn't made an official announcement yet. Despite my non-shifter status, my wolf senses are heightened and I can smell the mating scent on the two of them. Maybe they'll announce their new status at the meeting.

The scent inflamed my own desire to mate yet I knew it was impossible. I was gay for one thing. A non-shifter for another. Being a non-shifter meant my choice of mates were slim thanks to the Code of the Pack. Non-existent because of my sexual orientation. Either way, I'm doomed to either become a Doula or scrub and clean for the Elders for the rest of my life.

I'm hoping to be a full fledged Doula. I would rather assist others in the birthing process than clean for wrinkled old Elders. I managed to push the goal along these lines by convincing Mom to let me work with Zoya's, mother, Penelope, who was our pack's Doula. Mom was reluctant at first, but she finally agreed. For three months, I've been working with Penelope and I love it. There's no greater joy in welcoming new pups into the pack.

I spotted Penelope sitting behind the dais and waved at her. She cheerfully returned the greeting then mimed pointing at Zoya and Zack and I nodded. "I know," I mouthed.

I touched my heart and Penelope confirmed that Zack and Zoya have indeed mated and will be saying something about it. I nudged Zack and grinned at him and Zoya. "Congrats, you two," I said.

"Don't you dare say anything," Zoya said with a grin. She's not really pissed that I figured it out.

"Who, me? I wouldn't spoil your fun."

"Thanks Camryn," Zack said. "We wanted it to be a surprise."

"Do Mom and Dad know? Of course they do, what am I saying? They know everything."

"They think we've been premature about it but hell, who can resist when the mating desire strikes?"

"Right on brother," I teased. I understood better than he might have thought I did. The dreams were the first sign of mating desire and boy, mine was full of a beautiful girl my age. She had curly black hair, brown skin and gorgeous brown eyes. The dreams all centered at a waterfall where we met up and mated. I always woke up with my heart aching and my loins burning.

According to the Code of the Pack, same sex matings were forbidden. No exceptions. Doesn't matter that my parents were Alphas of the Crescent Moon Pack. The Council of Elder Wolves was very clear on the subject. Same sex matings were an abomination. An affront to the Ancient Alpha who created us. To defy the Ancient Alpha is to risk curses and calamity upon all wolf packs.

Our own Elder was adamant during the monthly meetings on this subject. To reveal one's sexual orientation was to invite swift punishment. Either banishment or death. There's no in between. So I kept the fact that I'm gay a secret. A secret that weighed so heavily on me at times.

The Elder of our pack was also adamant on the correlation between being a non-shifter and being gay. As if somehow one affected the other. I would like to tell him just how wrong he is. I've known I was gay long before I found out I couldn't shift. He'd just say my choice to be gay led to my inability to shift. He would tell me I'm being punished for making the choice to love girls. As if I had any say over that either. I was born gay and I was born a non-shifter, deal with it.

My parents haven't given up on getting me to shift however. They've taken me to the best Healers in the Wolf Nation to no avail. The last appointment was a bust. After extensive testing, Dr. Irina of the Wildwood pack told my parents that the gene for shifting simply isn't there in my DNA. She also said it was quite normal. Some wolves simply can't shift.

Mom remained quite skeptical while Dad resigned himself to having a non-shifting daughter. I already disappointed them why add to it by telling them I'm gay? No. I'll keep that secret for as long as I live with my pack.

The familiar chime on the wooden pan flute brought the room to a standstill. Silence reigned while the echo of hundreds of voices continued to ring in my ears.

"Greetings," the Chief Elder of the Council said. "On this most magical of nights, the month of double full moons, we celebrate the unity of our Wolf Nation."

Polite applause accompanies the Chief's opening remarks. "It is tonight, we also celebrate the reading of the Code of the Pack," he continues once the applause dies down. "Scroll please," he said to his acolyte.

The scroll is unrolled with reverence and respect by old trembling hands who had lived long enough to see the birth of the Wolf Nation. The Chief read through the Code slowly, pausing for effect in places that he felt needed to make the strongest point. He especially focused on unity among the packs, mating rituals and rite of succession.

The last puzzled me. I couldn't think of anyone being promoted during this meeting and yet he placed great emphasis on it. Suddenly, it occurred to me that Tristan, my oldest brother, was also among the missing in the crowd.

"Dad isn't thinking of retiring is he?" I whispered to Zack.

"Not that I know of. It's just a formal announcement. Tristan will be Alpha Elect after this."

"For how long?"

"Three years."

I whistled low. "Long time."

"The succession isn't to be taken lightly," Zack said.

"Better him than me."

"Shh!" Zoya hissed. "The Chief is speaking."

Oops. I did it again. I always managed to speak out of turn during these ridiculously long meetings. I noticed Mom and Dad standing on the dais with Tristan. My oldest brother is already mated but hasn't yet taken the oath of succession. Next to him is Hunter Thornwood. He'll be participating in the succession as well.

The Chief went through the ritual of succession for the better part of an hour. I tried not to yawn, keeping my jaws clenched the entire time. My gaze wandered when Dylan's turn came. Who wanted to watch that ass act all superior over his new status as Alpha elect? I didn't.

I perused the audience without turning my head. So many people were in attendance yet I didn't know more than half of them. Most of them avoided eye contact as the more stricter Packs firmly believed in banishment of non-shifters. Lucky for me that Mom and Dad had been more lenient on the matter by allowing me to live at home long after it was discovered I couldn't shift.

Not that they made my life easy by any means. They were tougher on me, openly criticizing my behavior. They never hid their disappointment in me as if it were somehow my fault I couldn't shift.

Mom especially, never let me forget what a privilege it was for me to be able to continue living with them. Any money I make goes to her as she has informed me in no uncertain terms that I was to earn my keep from now on. As long as I had a choice in the type of job I wanted, I didn't care. Well, there were only two choices but two was better than none at all.

My eyes landed on a beautiful girl that I don't recall seeing at the meeting before. She had tanned skin, hazel eyes and had tight curly brown hair. Her eyes were a little slanted too giving her an exotic appearance. Once our eyes made contact, it was all over. I felt something I'd never felt before.

A rush of adrenaline and hormones flooded my body. My heart and my loins ached for her. My fingers tingled and the skin above my left breast burned. I was met with the taste of unquenchable desire. I longed to get out of my seat and run to her, the yearning so strong, I hooked my feet around the chair legs to prevent me from making a fool of myself. It happened in the matter of seconds.

Reluctantly, I slid my gaze back on the dais where it should have been, hoping I hadn't been too obvious. Kind of hard to hide the mating desire from other wolves. They all scent it. Sure enough, Zack flashed me a teasing grin. I hoped he thought I was taken with a guy and not a girl.

The meeting ended with the same song we sang every year and then we broke up into smaller groups. I glanced in the direction of where the girl had been sitting and my heart sank. She was gone.