A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Thirty-Six Alpha Tytus smiled between Alexander and I, clearly eager for whatever was about to ensue. In response, I couldn‘t help but squirm a little under his gaze.

Naturally, my father had to leave me to sit by Tytus given his rank. I watched him go and tried to not outwardly express just how nervous I was about him leaving me. But he needed to show that he was unbiased in this decision, and I needed to show that I didn’t require my father to fight my battles for me.

“Okay, Aria,” Tytus started. “Why don‘t you begin by telling us why you’re here today?”

It was clear by those selected to attend that they all knew already what I was about to say, and yet he wanted to hear it from me anyway. Once again, I found myself having to tread carefully, stuck in the game I knew Tytus was laying out for me. I knew he wanted me to become Luna but I didn’t know yet what he thought of my desire to be Beta. Would it be enough for him to feel I was contained and not a threat? Or did he see through my plan to make myself immune, trapping his son should he ever cross me? “Alpha, I’m here today to appeal a process that has for too long been an outdated tradition of our kind,” I spoke out confidently. I knew if he sensed any weakness in me that it would be game over. “I am here today to request you hear out my petition to succeed my father in his role as Beta when the time comes.”

There was a small murmur amongst the Elders but it wasn’t their whispers that worried me; it was the feeling of a cold stare on me, something I was too familiar with. I spared a glance to the Alpha’s right for only a moment and caught Aleric’s eye. As I‘d thought, he wasn‘t happy with my announcement and was staring daggers at me.

My natural instinct was to shy away and submit to his icy gaze, but I held my own, only breaking eye contact to return my attention to the Alpha.

“Mmm… definitely an intriguing prospect coming from you, young Aria,” he mused. “And Alexander? What say you about all of this?” 

“My son is the most qualified person in this pack to succeed my older brother upon his retirement,” my Uncle William replied. 

“I believe I was asking Alexander, not you, William.” 

Tytus stared down sharply at my uncle enough to make him bow his head apologetically. The awkward silence that fell was only broken moments later by Alexander clearing his throat, clearly nervous over how badly this had already started.

“Alpha, it would be my greatest honour to support our pack by becoming Beta one day. I am at the service of you, Aleric and our fellow pack members.” Tytus inhaled deeply in thought having listened to the replies on both sides. His eyes then turned back to me.

reclining into his chair. “The last time we spoke you mentioned having no desire

that matter. What has finally changed your mind?”

after a pause in thought. “He has

last month had proven to me that I was capable o f changing who I was if I worked hard enough. That there was no reason to let others choose m y fate for me; not even a Goddess. “I am the only direct descendant of the house of Chrysalis,” I continued. “As you know, we have been the only family for hundreds of generations now to produce Betas time and time again. Our family’s wits and strength have guaranteed our position, never failing in any challenge issued for our rank. It is our family‘s right to hand over

there should be no issue if my son takes over. We are your family too,

son is not the direct descendant of this house,” I reminded him.

pack against larger male wolves. By extension, my

patted his son on the back who looked embarrassed that his father was still speaking

he was doing as my blood began to boil. His arrogance and blatant disrespect for me was evident. Without even knowing what I was capable of, he had already written me off for the sake of his own greed. He most likely only wanted his son

towards him, a fire now burning within me, and spoke of the one thing I knew he would not be able to refute. It was something I had never wanted to use, something I had refused to invoke before now, but I knew that it was my best hope. When it came to breaking old habits of stubborn fools, sometimes you needed to take extreme

still several feet away. His face was no longer laughing. “I am not some silly girl with hopeless ambitions as you may think,” I snapped. “I am Ariadne the Saintess, the marked.

paled considerably as he stared at me, unable to make even a

at his pathetic appearance. “I didn‘t realise our deity’s decrees would be met with such exclusive prerequisites these days. Since when have we held more faith in outdated procedures over the word of

disagree with me. At the end of the day, she gave me the power to choose my own destiny, and this is what I had decided to do with it. I knew too well how she wouldn’t interfere with the choices her children made, having lived through that abandoned hell myself. Finally, I was able to exploit that system for myself. 1 “Aria,” Tytus said with a tone of warning. “You’ve made your point.” I peeled my eyes off William’s pitiful face only to turn back to the Alpha. “So, it would seem we have an interesting predicament here,”

some trust in her capability to handle the job. So, tell us, what is your personal experience with Aria that would persuade us to put our faith in her?” My father turned toward me as he spoke. “Her ability is commendable in almost all aspects, Alpha,” he started. “She has already proven to me in a short amount of time that, not only does she hold an acute mind for all traits a leader should possess, but her talent in fighting has already far surpassed any expectations I could have possibly had

minute she is i n a real battle, possibly even with a ranked male warrior?” my Uncle William chimed in, finally having found

in check at his younger brother’s tasteless remark, choosing to only narrow his eyes

as physically strong as your male fighters, sure,” he replied, “but I think you‘ll find that they will be lucky to just land a hit on her. Her agility and speed are like no other warrior I’ve ever seen. With continued training, I believe she may even become one of the best fighters in our pack.” “It’s great to hear she takes after her old man,” Tytus said kindly. “...But before we get to making a decision on this, let’s not forget to address

this room.”