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Alina opened her eyes She realized she was on the bed in the ser in the busy streets of theafter a future she could never have She sat up and stretched her tired liht sleep

"I thought you ht sleep the day away," her mother’s voice came from the kitchen

Alina walked into the sh that would beco froh and callused, still looked young and beautiful but obviously the hands were of one orked the land Alina looked down at her own hands and realized that, though they were still soft, they were showing the beginning signs of the effects of hard labor, even on a olf

"What is going through that busy head of yours?" her mother asked

Alina lowered her hands and slipped theht swiping a bite of pie before dinner

"Father said the new Alpha is visiting the villages," she answered nonchalantly Her mother knew her better than that, not to mention had seen Alina’s reaction to the few tied much since the last time you saw him"

"That is what your mate said," Alina’s eyes sparkled with humor "He seems to think that there is a possibility that Vasile could be h you are still young for the ns to appear, your sixteenth birthday is not too far off, so it is not an ins would begin to appear"

"I am more likely to be the mate of that old mare in the field than the mate of a royal, let alone the Alpha of our pack And for the signs to appear even before I am sixteen seems quite doubtful" Alina stepped up to the front door It was open, as usual during the summer months Her mother loved the fresh air and the sounds of nature Alina knew it called to her wolf, just as it did her own

"It is not like you to be so unsure of yourself, of your worth, Alina," Georgeta’s voice chided her softly "Vasile would be a blessed wolf if he were to have the honor of you being his true hed

"Maybe" She felt her mother’s arm come around her shoulders and pull her close, the fa her "Or maybe I am just the sht"

Alina laughed "And humble too"

Weeks passed as Alina went about her usual routine She laid out each evening in her field staring at the sky, drea for the irew more and more anxious of the Alpha’s arrival Some nervous part of her did not want hiether But then another part of her, namely her wolf, waited with baited breath for hiht that maybe he had not shown up thus far because he had found his true es This had put her wolf in a rage that ended with her phasing, running, and hunting until the possessive jealousy had finally cooled When Alina returned to her hus her wolf had for Vasile, a man whom she had never even spoken with Could it mean that he was indeed her mate, or did she just have an unhealthy fascination hat she could not have? Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do but wait

A thought hit her suddenly just as she decided to let the worry go "What if I really aht "What then?" The Great Luna’s words replayed in her mind "Be ready, child, the one I have for you cooodness For without you, his darkness will rule and he will destroy the Canis lupis race"

Alina sat up abruptlyHer heart threatened to beat out of her chest as moisture collected on her neck and in the pale; he lost his brother and now his parents She knew that the led with the darkness that their beast brought with theht How much darkness would the deaths of three fa soul with no one to help him bear it? And an even better question, ’Was she ready to be a mate to one such as that?’

Romanian Proverb4

Nu vrea sã audã

There are none so deaf as those that will not hear

"Your hospitality is greatly appreciated, Louis" Vasile thanked the fa his visit to their village He stepped out into the cool evening air and stretched His third, Ion, and fourth, Nicu, aiting for hie He had decided to travel at night for a couple of days so that they could hunt The only down side to this decision was that they sometimes had to ask for clothes in the coiving their Alpha clothes, but it was irritating to him to be an imposition on his people

"That ell," Ion said just as Vasile reached thee ," Vasile agreed "I aes," he confessed "I a our lands, even when my father was still alive I did not know that the outer parts of the pack were suffering so I guess that was one way in whichto show in his inability to care for his pack and to protect thee of his nose as the realization of just how e his father had done to their pack becae, Nicu, send one of the young males back to the castle Have him tell Alin to send out financial aid, food, clothes, and anything else to the last four villages we visited We will probably have to do the sae we are about to see" Nicu nodded and Vasile could see the relief in the wolf’s eyes He was a dominant as well and it was natural for him to want to protect those in his pack

They had been traveling around their territory forfor several days in each village they caht His pack had needed reassurance that they were still intact and that there wouldn’t be anarchy or a hundred challenges a for the Alpha position