She-Alpha

Chapter eight

I was trying to smile as casually as I can while staring at Chelsea. Her art work has always been adored by my father; the reason he employed her at the very start was because of how pretty she could draw my mother. He would have her draw Isla multiple times a month in the earlier years of their relationship.

People always talked about how beauty can never be fully translated into paper. Chelsea had a way of proving those statements false.

One of the conditions of family paintings like this is to show our werewolf-like features. Human and wolf.

I was sitting down on a chair that was tilted slightly as my mother stands behind me, placing a hand on the chair elegantly. Ivor wasn't far away. Chelsea said painting Ivor and I would be the easiest part. She would claim to be able to paint an entire portrait of me by only looking at Ivor. The opposite was also true.

My mother was standing next to Ivor from one side while my father stood on the other side. Another condition of our family painting: the Alpha in the middle. We'd always have trouble trying to position Dad in the middle of our portraits as he would have to stand next to mom while also having his pups stand in front of him. My dad just turned out to always be in the upper corner of the painting. It didn't matter where he would stand; his eyes told it all.

I had to steal a last glance at our family portrait earlier before it would be taken down forever, only left in storage after today. The times when Ivor and I stood next to each other as equals, our eyes holding the same amount of hope, competitiveness and anticipation. Anticipation for who the future leader would be. Anticipation for who would occupy the centre of our family portraits next.

Today there is only one thing in my eyes. Acceptance. I've accepted my defeat, and have accepted the fact that I may not be in the centre, but my eyes will shine brighter than Ivor's. Why? Because while Ivor was standing with pride, gloating over me, I was giving hope, shooting it at Chelsea like my life depended on it. I may not be Alpha, but that doesn't mean I wasn't a better leader than Ivor. I may have lost the competition, but it was never a fair test. I was disadvantaged and looked down upon only because of my gender.

I was clearly the better option. And I will make everyone who lays eyes on this portrait know that they've made a mistake. If not by my position in the centre, then with my eyes, my aura. Iverene and I were both one, and so we will both be painted down. My eyes are not just green. They are also yellow.