Annalise

Forgotten Manners (Editing)

Voices compelled me to open my eyes. At first, I thought it was a dream, but the words grew clearer, and I realized they'd woken me. It was instinctual. When you hear voices in your house you don't recognize, you're up.

I adjusted my eyes and listened for any signs of danger, there wasn't any. Just my mother speaking to someone about something unimportant. A neighbor, I thought. It was something she always did. Especially, when it came to me.

I stretched and rolled back into my ball, hoping to relax back into my pillow, but the voices were too loud to allow it. There was no going back. The sun was too bright and they wouldn't shut up. Why didn't you close the door? I cursed myself.

The conversation continued, and I strained my ears to hear the details. I was being nosey, but they'd woken me and piqued my interest, even if out of annoyance.

"Yes... we are expecting her to shift."

An unfamiliar voice interrupted My mother. They were talking about me. Again. People seemed more concerned about my turning than I was, and she often held short conversations about the topic. Chatting with the neighbors about the ceremony, gossiping like teenagers, wanting to know if I'd make it, or if they believed their kids would shift. It had become a yearly thing for the bored women of the pack, and you could swear that they were placing bets.

If I was to change, then my mother would be one out of a small group, with multiple shifter offspring. It was hard conceiving amongst our people, and even harder to produce shifters, instead of dormant(s) and the yearly change was a hot topic. She would only entertain them with short answers, honestly unsure herself, but today seemed different. She seemed different.

I listened harder, straining what little ability I had as the unfamiliar voice spoke again. "Then we should get it out of the way."

I rolled out of bed. The male speaker had a tone to his voice that cut even though I wasn't in the room to feel it.

"I understand Eric, but she's not ready, and we assumed it would be after-" My mother was attempting to hold her ground but her hushed whispers were no match for his demand.

"Helena." A honeyed voice floated through the air as an equally feminine woman spoke. "Gabriel has been ill. Eric will ascend and we think it's best to put this behind us, before the ceremony. You understand?"

"Yes, but-" 

"It's a good pairing. Daniel thought so himself."

They were talking about my father and my annoyance turned into anger as I realized my mother was being disregarded and disrespected in our home. "Yes, he did," She strained to say the words, almost inaudibly to my juvenile ears that I had to stick my head out of my bedroom door to hear. "I will tell her soon."

"Mr. Gadreal, my father was loyal to Alpha house, as am I, but Anna does not know this side of our world yet. We thought we would have more time." My brother was speaking for my mother now. This was serious. It only occurred when there were high-ranking male wolves around that still lived in the stone ages of man over woman. I hated the higher ranking ones, and I thought that that part of our lives was in the past. Faded with the memory of my father.

I thought about stepping into the room but decided against it when I noticed the voice of our Pack Master. I recalled his tone immediately, and though it had been years since I'd heard it, I could never forget it. It was thickly, and wearying. "We will set the date soon, Helena. It would be best if she was ready before then." His final words came out with a tinge of regret and seriousness. "... It's what Daniel wanted, a place for you and the kids."

That was it. My curiosity got the best of me. I eased out of my room and waited in the doorway. I wondered why the pack Master was sitting in our house of all places, and who was this entitled Eric, and why was I the subject of this conversation?