Echoes of an Alpha

Three: Mirror

Inessa stared at the four walls in her wooden cabin. There were several cabins in the East clan's village, though none were as empty as the one she was in. There was a bowl on a table near the wall. It was filled with fruits and vegetables, but Inessa didn't take any. It had been two days since her re-capture, and she still had not met the alpha. And with two, sometimes three wolf guards outside her door, there was no way she had the chance to escape or even see anyone else in the village. Truth was, she did not want to either.

"I'm leaving." She said it quietly to herself for the hundredth time. "No matter what, I will find a way out of here." She had already checked the table for screws or any other pointed objects. There were none. It doesn't matter. Even if I escape, they will find me again.

Then there was the marriage part. Inessa had no remembrance of the day she was born, but based off of what a hunter told her, she would be about eighteen now. Eighteen, without a single tie to anyone. No friends. And because of this clan, no family.

Twelve years ago, they killed her mother. It was something she would never forgive. And now that she had seen the Arm in action, she was sure it was them.

Someone knocked on the door. Inessa jumped. "Who-come in." Not like I have a choice.

Instead of a wolf or a guard, it a woman in her twenties. The woman was white with long, chocolate-brown hair that streamed to her waist. She wore an earthy-green tunic that touched her knees and dark pants underneath. "I came to get you ready." She stepped toward Inessa.

"Wait, who are you?" Inessa took note of the large, leather bag at the woman's side.

The woman closed the door behind them and set the bag on the table. "Usually I give my name to a rouge, or anyone outside the tribe, but seeing that you'll be staying..." she paused, pulling out a white, tunic-like dress from the bag and holding it up next to Inessa. "I am Sian, daughter of Dhruv of the Red Conclave." She held out the dress to Inessa. "You will be wearing this to your engagement feast tonight."

"My what?"

"You heard correctly. Assure yourself that this is the most information you'll get from anyone at this point."

Inessa frowned. "I'm not going anywhere."

Sian raised her eyebrows. "Need I remind you of the choice you made?"

"You mean the one I didn't make?"

Sian ignored her. "Let me make myself clear. The East clan does not trust you. My father is one of the Red Conclave. He would never have sent me to do such lowly work for you unless he was having trouble finding someone to do it. So you're lucky anyone's coming to explain anything to you."

Inessa had it. "Why? What right do they have to feel angry at someone they've stolen everything away from? The way I see it, you are the ones who have no right to expect anything from me."

"Oh really? What about the fact that the Arm saved you from being murdered by assassins from the North?"

"What do you mean?"

"The day you were returned, three members of the Arm fought off four assassins. It was clear they were after one thing: you."

"I thought they were trackers. And you must be wrong. There were three wolves after us, not four." Then, she remembered the wolf that attacked her and Kusal on the way back. "Wait, no, there were four. And I don't understand." She grasped her hair. "I smelled three. There was no way one more could have gotten past my senses."

Sian tilted her head. "So it is true. The Northerners did steal the garbo roots."

"What does that have to do with what I said?"

Sian shook her head. "None of your business. Put this on." It was a thin rope necklace with a blue stone. The stone was multi-faceted, making parts in the middle darker than the sides, similar to a lake. "Apparently blue is the alpha's favorite color."

It's mine too. Inessa was not going to say it, though. I need to find a way out of this. Fortunately, this is only an engagement. I can think of a way to escape before anything real takes place. Inessa slipped into the dress, which came just below her knees. The loose sleeves fell at her elbows. "Won't I get cold in this?"

Sian clasped bracelets matching the necklace onto Inessa's wrist. "No. The feast will be around a bonfire. A large one at that."

"Who is attending this feast?"

"The Red Conclave, the Arm, elders of the village, and a few chosen villagers. And to answer what I'm sure is really on your mind, yes, the alpha will be there too."

Great. Inessa felt her stomach quaking. Forget about enjoying dinner. "Is there anything else I am expected to do?"

"Talking to others wouldn't be a poor idea. Though they may not return the favor."

"That's fine. I don't know anyone."

Sian had Inessa sit down. "You look like you haven't slept. Time to change that." She withdrew a few containers from her bag. "This is face paint, or what the West clan calls makeup. Don't ruin it because we don't have any more. At least, not until the West clan gets some from the human towns and joins us for the yearly trade." She covered the dark circles under Inessa's eyes, painted her lips red, and put a dark blue line along each of her cheekbones. She stood up and handed Inessa a mirror.

Inessa held the mirror with an outstretched arm. Her lips were like Holi berries, bright with the promise of poison. The blue lines under her eyes made the gold flecks in her irises stand out. She touched her cheek, just to make sure it really was her face in the mirror, before setting the mirror face down. What is this witchcraft? She never knew that the sight of herself could make her feel different, like she could become someone else if she wanted to. Never.

"Oh, and among those injured from saving you was my brother." Sian looked at her expectedly. After getting no response, she grunted with disgust and began re-packing the makeup into her bag.

Inessa set the mirror down. "Pardon me for not knowing anyone," she couldn't help but let the sarcasm slip through, "but I've been stuck in this shack for two days. You're the first human face I've seen since."

"This shack, as you call it, used to be a room for the human-shifted younglings. It was built to stand through the harshest blizzard and to keep its warmth through the longest winters."

"Oh." Inessa didn't expect that. I thought they'd lock me up in any room, maybe some makeshift shelter for Omegas. Not something as carefully constructed as this. "Well, just to reaffirm, then, I don't know anyone else in this clan."

Sian put her hand on her hip. "He is my younger brother by two years. His name is Kusal, leader of the Arm."