Outcast

Chapter 1

After hours of mother poking, plucking and prodding me, according to her I was ready. I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom and examined her work. My light mousey brown hair, which was always up in a messy bun, now flowed down my back in loose curls. My make up was pretty natural looking, she explained that all the ladies tonight had to radiate innocence. She had shaped my eyebrows a little and gave my cheeks a healthy glow with some bronzer. She added a little bit of goldy brown eyeshadow to my eyelids, it made my eye look really pretty. She knew how self-conscious I was about my eyes, I had one amber eye and one pale blue. She added a pink tinted lip gloss on the lips just to enhance them a little. I was wearing a long pale silver dress, which symbolized my rank as Gamma female. It was tight at my bust and then flowed down to my feet. the sleeves were long and flared. I had never worn an outfit quite like it. As I had now turned 17 I was now eligible to attend these kinds of ceremonies. I understood the significance of the evening but I didn't feel the need to get all excited and hyped up, like all the other girls in the pack. Those who had been coming from other packs seemed even more so. I guess as I had grown up around Aaron I didn't really see him as anything other than himself, to me he was just Aaron. He was just a boy a few years younger than my brother, who just happened to be the next Alpha of our pack, that's no big deal, is it? The more I looked at my reflection the more nervous I became. Finn was right after tonight everything would be different. For starters, after tonight this would be Finn's house, which hopefully he would bring his mate to soon. Unfortunately, he had yet to meet his mate but I secretly hoped that she might be here tonight. After all, there were hundreds of girls here for the ceremony. Normally if a male hadn't found his mate by the time he was 20 he would travel the packs for a year until he found her. Finn however, was asked to stay behind and wait for Aaron's Alpha ceremony. That is why he is always flirty with human girls, nothing ever serious, he was just lonely. My mother and father knew that he snuck off most nights to a human bar on the other side of town. they frowned upon it but they knew why, my mother just fear that one day he knock up one of these 'human pets' as she liked called them. I knew he was careful, I knew he wouldn't risk that. I knew all he really wanted was to find his other half. He had waited too long to become the pack Gamma and it was really starting to take it's toll on him, I think mostly he didn't like the idea of taking orders from someone four years younger than him.

"Are you ready?" I heard my brother ask me from the doorway.

I turned to face and gave him a small smile. He looked handsome in his silver robe. His brown hair looked a little messy, probably from him running his hands through it over and over again. His dark blue eyes sparkled as he looked back at me. My brother was my protector, he was my best friend.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied as I stepped forward and took his hand.

No matter what happened tonight I knew I would always be safe with him.

As Finn and I stepped out of our house, we were met with a wave of people all heading to the pack house. There were young ladies in various coloured gowns similar to my own. The Omega females wore charcoal grey, the Delta females dusky pink, the Betas wore a pale gold and the Alphas lilac. Similarly, the males wore robes to match their ranks. The Omegas in black, the Deltas in red, the Betas in gold and Alphas in purple. It truly was a sight to see. Sensing and anxiousness, Finn gave my hand a squeeze before leading me, with the crowd, towards the pack. As we got closer the mansion I could see the warm glow of candlelight. I had overheard other females from the pack talking about previous ceremonies but I still wasn't completely sure what to expect. Some had described it as a breathtaking experience, that they would never forget. They raved about the rush of the chase and how they felt alive. I was scared and excited for it, to finally feel like a real part of the pack. Before now I was not really invited to many to too pack events., must underage females weren't. I was invited to more than most as I was the daughter of the pack, but that was generally only when we had official visitors. Otherwise, I was left behind. Of course, I spent time with other pack members my age during training and school but I was quite happy to chill by myself or explore the pack grounds. I loved feeling at one with nature, my inner wolf, Rionach, seemed to like it too. I was beginning to feel my wolf more strongly the last few months, I wouldn't shift unto my wolf until I was mated. The males could shift as soon as they turned 5.