---Collin's POV---
Gasps rang through the air as several people at once realized what Alex just did. Even the members of his pride looked at him with disbelief, especially an older male that seemed to be his father.
The angry leopard kicked up dust and grass as he used his claws to push himself off the ground, letting out a snarl as he lunged through the air and straight towards Christina’s throat.
She surprised everyone by waiting till the last second before she let herself fall back, instantly rolling back on her feet to keep an eye on a ticked off Alex. My own eyes were drawn to Christina, observing her form and emotions closely before I dropped my arms, stunned.
You see, you couldn’t teach werecats to fight properly. Don’t get me wrong, every cat out there could fight but very few could fight properly, meaning that they knew how to exploit an enemy’s weakness, how and where to strike. It took sense for strategy, quick thinking and an eye for detail.
Christina showed that she had all of that in abundance. The way her eyes flashed over Alex’ body, lingering on several places, showed me that she knew exactly what she was doing while Alex on the other hand was lashing out wildly, blinded by his anger.
He probably didn’t even realize that he had breached the most important law of our race. At the sound of approaching feet, I looked away from the scene and took a moment to look around.
It seemed that word has spread and almost everyone was dropping whatever they were doing to come and look at what would be a fight everyone would remember. Not because of Alex going rogue, but because of Christina’s markings, which were clearly visible.
The crescent moons on the back of her hands and below her right ear where shining in a silver light. Lines flowed from one mark to the other, flowing elegantly up her arms to hide beneath her clothes, reappearing on the back of her legs before they curled around the crescent moon.
Christina’s eyes were now purely jade as she crouched down, slowly shifting on the spot until an Amur leopard sat in the middle of the field, crouched down, ears flattened and pupils enlarged. A low, warning rumble escaped her mouth as her tail flicked harshly from side to side, indicating that she was annoyed.
“Please be careful Christy.” I whispered to myself, smiling softly as she flickered the ear that was pointed to me, as if to say she understood me. She wasn’t a part of a pride, and neither was I so we couldn’t contact each other mentally. Or maybe she could with her set of talents, but she still needed to come into full power.
The two felines were close to facing off; Alex was slowly circling around Christina like a shark, trying to find an opening while Christina held a close eye on him, baring her fangs and hissing sharply.
When Alex lunged forwards, Christina skidded to the side before she pounded her paw against the side of his head. The sound was muffled because of the fur on either’s body but judging from the way Alex shook his head, there must have been some force behind that swipe.
Blood welted out of the three claw-swipes on his jaw before he hissed venomously, his eyes glinting with a crazy light before he lunged again, ducking when she clawed at him again but was stopped when she smacked his head in quick succession, holding one paw up with the claws extended, hissing angrily.
“She isn’t fighting…she’s trying to stop him from attacking her.” I murmured in shock, watching her as dad struggled to choke out a “Why?”. Ethan stepped up beside me before looking back where the guards were disposing of the bodies of the rogues.
“Because she doesn’t want to kill him.” He stated, sounding so sure of himself. I glanced at him sideways before snapping my head back when the crowd let out a sound of horror. Christina licked her nose, growling angrily as blood slowly seeped out of rip in her ear.
The blood on her fur made my own boil, hearing Liam pace and snarl in my head, knowing that we shouldn’t intervene while we desperately wanted to. I was going to but a low yowl stopped me as she darted across the field, lunging straight for Alex as he had tried to exploit her moment of confusion by lunging for her throat, again.
“It’s over.” Dimitri said with a strong, calm voice as we watched how she first bit his paw when he took a swipe at her, breaking the bones with a simple gesture of her head before she dropped his paw and aimed for his own throat.
Dad nodded and slowly walked forwards, the crowd slowly disappearing until only Christina’s former pride stood there, watching with horror as she throttled Alex to death.
When his body slumped down, Dad just reached the pride and Christina, who was flicking her tail slowly while she stooped down and shockingly, placed Alex’s head down with respect in her movements. She really was too gentle and kind for the world when it showed her the opposite.
The father didn’t take his eyes of his deceased son for one second, his expression stoic and carved out in his face while Christina walked towards us, emotions swirling in her eyes before she hid them fairly well.
“Christina....” One of the males whispered, holding his mate closer in his arms under the approach of the bloodied cat. He seemed a bit sad when he looked at his brother but he looked more surprised when Christina didn’t shift. Instead, she walked to just at his feet and looked up.
The woman staggered back in shock when Christina reared up on her hind legs, placing her paws on the male’s shoulders before she grasped his throat between her powerful jaws. “Luke!” the woman cried out in shock, growing silent as nothing happened.
Christina was holding his throat, the most vulnerable place between her jaws, yes. But she did it like a mother would when she held a kitten between her teeth; gently and withholding the sharpness and blunt force of her fangs and jaws.
I watched in pride as she lowered herself before kneeling like the customs demanded. Luke staggered slightly at the rush of power going through him before he managed to regain his balance.
He was now the Chieftain of his pride.
---Christina’s POV---
I felt joy spark up in me as I stood back up, shifting in the process until I stood smiling in front of Luke, who was smiling back whilst shaking his head.
“You. Are. Amazing.” He stated slowly before he walked towards me and hugged me to his chest, quickly letting go when I stiffened from the sudden touch. I relaxed though, since I knew that Luke would never harm me.
“What was that? I didn’t hear you?” I smirked teasingly, earning a few smiles from the pride though several others were hesitant or even outright glaring at me before they turned to their king.
“She just murdered one of us and now she’s allowed to walk around?” One of Alex’s friends demanded before his demanding posture changed into a submissive one as Richard snarled venomously, “She killed a rogue! You might not have noticed but he attacked her without cause and not to win but to kill her.”
He turned his attention to the rest of the pride, eyes flashing back and forth before they flashed towards me. Luke stepped forwards and sighed deeply, glancing back at his father before saying, “I’d like to report a crime sir.”
Richard swayed his hand through the air, cutting him off as he said, “Don’t even mention it, the fact that your father and brother have managed to hide this abuse for so long or the fact that no-one of the pride alerted any outsiders of this…”
He snarled, eyes flashing golden as he started pacing while my eyes fell back on my former pride. They were all huddled together, afraid, watching Richard closely. Their king stopped in his pacing when I opened my own mouth.
“Alex has commanded that nothing should go out the pride. Whatever happened in the pride, stayed there as well. Come to think of it, he might have been a rogue far longer than when he attacked me.” I stated, frowning slightly as the thought popped up.
“You’re right…he broke the law on the Nomads as well; he never let them trespass on our pride lands but chased them off…” Eva murmured softly and I told the same to the king, who snarled lowly in his throat at this new bit of information.
“I see… I’m going to make some new rules, starting with that every pride will be checked regularly by a Royal or representative. This kind of actions should be prevented and I won’t tolerate any pride to harm another member of their kin under my rule!” he fumed, pacing from side to side before he calmed down slightly.
His eyes slipped from Luke’s pride towards me, eying me curiously before I followed his gaze and looked down, only now noticing the silver markings on my body. Collin stalked closer, gently reaching for my hands to look at the markings there before he dropped them and walked around me.
“Can you remove your sweater Christina? I have a thought of what you are but I need to know just how far your mark reaches first.” I nodded and simply shrugged out of the hoodie, hearing gasps and shocked exclamations from the people around us.
I looked around and saw them all looking at my body, some looking from one scar to the other while others were focused on something else on my back. Looking over my shoulder, I couldn’t exactly see what the fuss was about, only a silver-ish light glistening on my skin.
Richard stepped closer, observing the markings just like his son while he waved someone over, who was busy scribbling something down before he placed a scanning device on the palm of his hand and walked around me.
“Sir…” he started in a shaky voice while the werecats on the edge of my vision were pushing and shoving each other to get a look for themselves. The man didn’t finish what he wanted to say but simply gave the device to the King, who looked at it and nodded.
“Just as I thought…”
Feeling slightly annoyed, I shuffled my weight on my feet before stating, “Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Collin appeared from behind me and smiled in shock and awe, shaking his head slightly.
“Christina, you’re not only a rare breed of werecat, you’re also a very special person. That marking on your skin covers your whole body; do you know how rare that is? It means that you and your cat are one of the most powerful in our realm. And one of the most desired ones as well.”
I blinked before cocking my head, hearing Eva purr in my head as she filled me with her own curiosity and satisfaction of being recognized while at the same time wanting to know exactly what we are.
“Christina,” The king started, which made me spin on the spot to look at him. “You’re what we call a ‘Descendant of Fate’. Basically, your bloodline comes directly to one of the mythological Fates , who write our destiny and decide over our lives. You can sense critical changes in someone’s Fate right now but when you’re fully immersed with your powers, you’ll be able to detect every plot that Fate has set out for each of us.
You and you alone can change the course of destiny on your whim. It makes you a powerful ally for your friends…but also a well-feared enemy for everyone against you.” He finished, leaving me shocked to the core.
Both he and Collin guided me back towards Richards’s house, where they proceeded to inform me of what they knew of the Descendants of Fate. According to history, only a few werecats had been blessed and cursed with these markings. Several of them called it a blessing, since they were in control of their own life and could help their prides to prosper and grow.
Others called it a curse, simply because every pride out there would love to have a Descendant of Fate to protect them. The werecats that had been Descendants had all lived in a pride for several years before there had been fights in between prides or even kingdoms until they had decided to which pride they would protect.
“But…I’m a Nomad…I don’t belong to any pride out there.” I remarked after a long silence to allow me to fully understand my destiny. Richard sighed and nodded his head, leaning back in his seat before he gained a pensive expression.
“That’s part of why I’m deeply concerned for you Christina. I’d advice you to hide your markings for any outsider for as long as you can; every pride out there will try to convince you to join them, be it willingly or by force.”
I frowned, looking at the firewood being consumed by flames while I took a deep breath. The spices of flesh roasting outside prickled my nostrils but I ignored it and sighed for myself.
“So basically, I’ll be hunted for the rest of my life until I decide on a pride to live with.” I stated, throwing my arms in the air in frustration before I pushed myself out of my seat and started pacing in front of the fireplace.
Collin stood up and grasped my wrist in a gentle but firm hold. “It isn’t as bad as you believe Christy. You can live your live as free as you want, you just have to be cautious about who you’ll inform about your markings. Nobody can force you to show them so you’ll be safe.”
I relaxed and nodded, sighing in relief before turning back towards the King. “So what now? I mean most of the people here have seen my markings…What stops them from blabbing the truth out to any outsider?” Richard smiled at that and leaned forwards in his seat, rubbing his hands together.
“They’ve seen your markings, yes, but they don’t know what you are, only that you’re very powerful. And believe me Christina, only a select few would be dumb enough to anger a potentially lethal opponent by spreading rumors about them. No-one here in their right mind would say anything about who you are.”
Nodding slowly, I sat back down in a seat before yawning slightly. Richard smiled at that and stood up with a polite smile on his face. “You’re free to stay for the rest of the Proving or set out; its all up to you. Just know that you’ll always be welcome in our Pride.”
I smiled and nodded before shaking his hand again before Collin followed me outside. I breathed the fresh evening air in and closed my eyes, enjoying the nippy air for a moment before opening them again. Collin was looking at me with a curious expression, a mixture of happiness and sadness.
“I’m happy to know that you’re free of that pride, especially Alex but I’m sad as well. You’ll be going out there to live a life on your own but we won’t be able to se each other unless we’ll bump into one another.”
Understanding flooded me and I grew sad as well; Collin had been a great mentor and an even better friend. I’ve made several new friends but I wouldn’t be able to see them since I would be traveling the world.
Joking slightly, I playfully punched his shoulder. “Hey, chin up. I’ll simply track you down once in a while. You won’t get rid of me that easily.” He snorted before chuckling slightly, though it still sounded rather sad as he gazed out to the horizon.
“Take care of yourself Christina. I don’t have to warn you about trusting people because of your past but please be careful out there.” He turned towards me, his eyes intense and deep as they stared at me.
Nodding seriously, I stepped forwards and surprised both of us by hugging him. The hug was short though but I relished in Collin’s warmth and his special scent, memorizing it to heart before I stepped back.
“I’m leaving in the morning.” I stated, gaining a nod and a soft squeeze before he let go of me. I would wait so I could say goodbye to my friends and then I would start my life as a Nomad.