The Crow and The Wolf

Chapter 17

17

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The Shunning.

We all encounter some rejection at some point in our lives. when life just happens to tug a thread or two and you wind up at the bottom. Your knees scrape against the surface, and tears fill a dry river that somehow satisfies someone out there. We all end up at the bottom, and it's part of nature. It teaches one to be resilient, teaches one growth, and makes one understand, sometimes even opening up our eyes.

The Cruelpelt Claws were a unique pack in most cases because they truly believed in the moon, the goddess. They believed in her so much that they were still in the dark ages, where everything written at the very beginning would still be used in the pack.

And one of their sacred laws was never to break the bond, in any way, or have any relationship other than with your mate. And if one broke that law, they would be subject to a punishment fit for one who tarnished the moon's blessing.

And somehow Valeria had done just that.

Without a male, a mate of her own, to step forward and claim her, there was no reason for her to get pregnant, and it didn't help her case that she didn't even remember how she came to be pregnant in the first place.

Valeria had, in the eyes of the pack, committed a crime that has never been documented in the pack's history books. She has no recollection of or knowledge of a crime that causes dishonour to her family.

As Luc drove her back to the house, she considered what her mother would think of her. Her daughter is pregnant, but by whom? No one knows.

The house was empty on her entry and cold as she felt it echo her footsteps; a clearing of the throat caught her attention, and she turned to see Luc standing in the doorway.

"I-I have to go," he looked at her before turning but paused. "Valeria..." he sighed before clutching his car keys in his hand and nodding as he walked down the stairs.

She closes the door behind him, not locking it, knowing someone would be sent to collect her.

She climbed the stairs and dove into her bed, curling in the sheets; she could smell the faint scent of her mother in them, and she all but clutched them closer to her chest. She let the tears fall. She had never wanted her mother so badly in her life.

She didn't care what her mother would think about all of this; she never cared about what anyone thought about any of this; she just wanted her mother and she wanted her father.

"Daddy!" she cried into her sheets as she felt her heart clench with pain, knowing what was to transpire, and all she wanted to do was scream at the top of her lungs.

Nobody was permitted to visit her or see her before the shun; she was to remain alone, allowing the silence to echo her sins; she despised it.

She hated how Nicco didn't even visit her when she was unconscious in the clinic. She hated how, when she woke up, she saw Luc but not him. She remembered asking where he was; Luc had all but looked at her and said, "With his mate making up for lost time."

She didn't know if she should be happy for him or feel some sort of abandonment.

Huddled in her blankets, she watches as the sun sets and the moon takes its due place among the stars. She smells the male before he enters her house without so much as a knock; her wolf growls within her; and it is still her home.

The male's footsteps echo through the house, and she hides beneath the blankets as they would protect her from the monster lurking a few metres behind her bedroom doors. She hears the sound of a chain shaking, and she looks down at her wrist, where the bracelet Nicco had given her rests. She stares at the small black crow that somehow mocks her, and her eyes fill with tears as her mind drifts to the distant memory.

"Crow, honey, come here," she giggled as her father clutched her close to his chest. "Daddy, why do you call me a crow?" she questioned.

"Well," the male starts looking for the right words, "that's because a crow is my favourite animal and it always helps me, so I cherish it."

"How does it help?" the little girl asks while playing with the giant male's fingers compared to her own little fingers.

"Like the autumn before winter, little one," he kisses her forehead, "it warns me of the darkness; it's my light in a way, and so you're my light, my little crow," he says.

A loud knock brings her forth from her mind, and she wipes away the dampness on her skin. She crawls out of the blankets, and her cold feet meet the floor as she walks to the door. She breathes in one more time before opening the door.

The male looked down at her with a scowl, and he all but growled at her, saying, "It's time."

She gave him a nod before walking out and into the open air. The wind thrashes against her body, and she holds her arms to her chest as they walk to the centre of the pack. She kept her head down, ignoring the taunts and scraps of food that were thrown at her. She wasn't allowed to fight back or hide away, as she didn't shy away when she was committing the crime.

The crowd created an opening as she was led to the center; the flames standing behind the crowd created shadows on the ground she walked on, and she could see their faces and their judgement of her. There in the centre was a small pavilion where the Alpha would make speeches when he called pack meetings, but today there was a wooden pole in the middle of it with the council surrounding it, which was made up of the elders and the heads.

"We've gathered here tonight because a member of this pack has broken one of our sacred laws by rejecting the moon's blessing," said Elder George when she reached the podium and was forced to kneel in front of everyone.

"Does the accused dispute these allegations?"

She remained silent, unsure of how to respond.

How does she explain what she is unable to recall? How was she to explain the fact that she has a mate but doesn't know who he is? How does she explain that she isn't even sure she has one? Where does she begin?

She's pushed to the ground and grunts, "No, sir."

"Then the council sentences the guilty to the pillar for fifty lashes," he continues, "and if the moon forgives your transgression, you live; if you die, Goddess bless your wolf."

She yelps as her coat and blouse are ripped from her body and the wind pushes into her bareback, causing her to tremble and clamp her teeth to fight against the cold. As Elder Marcus approached her, she wrapped her arms around herself, protecting herself from their gaze while also looking for a means to warm herself up.

"Child," he called, placing his hand on her shoulder, "give us the male's name so that the punishment can be fairly distributed."

She searched her brain for answers. She asked her wolf for anything, but sighed, knowing perfectly well there was no answer. "I don't know."

He looked her in the eyes before sighing and taking his hand away from her.

"May the moon bless your wolf."

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