Alpha Grey stood quietly gazing out of the window. The frost on the glass slowly receded making their presence seem like an illusion.
He watched as Ember headed towards the stadium, her thin figure trudging on the snow.
Just then he heard the door creak open followed by sounds of nails clicking against the wooden floor, approaching him.
Soon a fair pair of arms circled his shoulder from behind and hugged him. He saw strands of silver hair in his side vision before a delicate head leaned over his shoulder and nuzzled his neck.
"You are worried" Tara's voice softly stated.
Alpha Grey's eyes softened. "I am"
He turned towards her and she reciprocated with a kiss.
"She's a strong girl, she will be fine"
Alpha Grey chuckled, "Of course, she's your daughter after all"
"I just, I want to protect her but I wish she could be happy. It would be disastrous if she found her mate after bonding with Andrew."
"She will not budge from her decision Grey. Besides, her mate will be an outsider. We cannot take the chance. She cannot leave the pack."
Tara looked worriedly at her mate. Alpha Grey sighed, he reached out and held her fair hand.
"Come on" Tara got off the desk and pulled Alpha Grey towards the bedroom attached to the study.
........
Ember blew out her breath, watching the condensed air as it dissolved before her eyes.
Andrew stood next to her watching the frozen river from the bridge.
"So my mother wanted you to decide on a ring for the engagement."
Ember gave a wry smile, "Andrew you know well enough that I hate to wear rings, besides that custom is only required for humans. We shifters are married once we completely bond."
"You just have to wear it for the ceremony. You can just remove it afterwards. Please Ember can you do it for me? I want my mother to be happy. It's a once in a lifetime occasion after all." Andrew's eyes looked sincere but Ember was not happy.
She knew this won't play out well. But she would not make any concession.
If she gave way from the start, then she will have to pay the price at the end.
"No Andrew, I do not like it. I prefer bonding traditionally. I do not need rings or anything like a leash for me."
Andrew sighed. "I knew you wouldn't give in." He gave out a resigned chuckle.
"You've been this way since we were young, I love that about you."
The cold breeze tickled the skin. Ember listened to Andrew quietly, watching a fish swimming underneath the frozen layer of the river.
"Hey"
"Hmm?" Andrew was surprised by Ember suddenly breaking the silence.
"Do you want to become my mate?" Ember looked into his eyes. She saw a glimmer of emotion pass through his eyes and that made her confirm her guess.
"Of course" Andrew smiled as if nothing's amiss.
...
When Elliot and Emmanuel returned to the pack in the pickup truck after collecting the supplies needed, they saw Ember in the training field teaching some pups to fight.
Her three little tails happily joined her but their other two sisters were nowhere to be seen as usual.
After helping unload the groceries, the two brothers walked out only to see Leah and Linda with two other girls, flirting with boys in front of the house next door.
"The contrast" Elliot raised his eyebrow, while Emmanuel shook his head looking at the two brunettes.
"I wonder who they take after", Elliot mumbled as he followed Emmanuel back home.
They passed by Andrew on their way and ignored him as usual.
"I do not like him" Emmanuel grunted.
"I don't like him either." Elliot turned his head and looked at Andrew's receding back. When he turned to the front, his expression was grim.
Elliot once smelled a scent on Andrew, it was faint but distinct, which added to his previous dislike of the wolf turning to hate.
It was the scent of a foreign female.
Elliot was planning on sabotaging the marking ceremony in case Ember doesn't cancel it beforehand. He cannot talk her out of it, for he knew her stubbornness very well.
So he will finish it in a way nobody expects it.
As soon as the two reached their room, Elliot soon forgot about it and excitedly plugged in the TV.
....
By the time the kids got tired, the sun was already setting. The feast that noon was enjoyed by the pack but Ember still had to oversee everything.
As she was returning home, she felt the cold at the back of her neck.
Ember touched the water drop and felt the coldness emanating from it. She looked down and as expected her shoes had a layer of frost on them and it was growing.
Ember let out a curse before hurrying to the shed behind her house. The wooden shed was small with few dusty boxes arranged haphazardly. She hurriedly moved a box and opened the small hidden door to the basement before hurrying in and shutting the door behind her.
Ember did not bother to turn on the lights, she had excellent vision and also she'd only end up bursting the bulb.
The basement was originally used for cold storage but Alpha Grey had it cleared out for Ember.
There was no furniture inside since she'll only end up breaking them.
She had a hard time controlling her powers from a young age. And when the water droplet especially goes berserk, she'd come and shut herself in so she would not cause a blizzard outside.
Her powers were a secret even to the pack members. Only she and her parents were aware. And this power only appears once in a few centuries.
The last blessed appeared six hundred years ago. And the blessed with the power of water only appeared in the Winters family. To protect the bloodline from spreading out and to make it easier to protect themselves, the ancestors hid the secret and hid the entire pack from the world.
This was the reason why her pack is closed off from the outside.
Ember always felt responsible for it. That's why she could work tirelessly for the wolves here. That's why Ember knows she's not a good person.
She is someone selfish, that's why... even though she knew Andrew probably met his mate, she would do anything to tie him to the pack.
Ember huddled in a corner inside the steel room. The frost that only covered her shoes now started spreading out over the walls quickly freezing the entire room.