A Fate Foretold (formerly: A World Gone Mad)

A Fate Foretold 13

          Christian, after his initial courageous stance, continued to stand his ground, and spent more time with Ally, including two set nights each week. Kate’s first irate reaction subsided somewhat, although she continued to act passive aggressively towards Ally.

           Twice a week, Christian felt that he could be himself, without having to act as the future alpha. Ally didn’t care what he said, if he had made a bad decision or a good one that day, or if he wanted to talk or just to have silent company. Ally welcomed the routine chance to spend time with someone who enjoyed her company. They chatted easily and laughed well into the night, and even then slept better than they did on any other nights.

            Ally sat in the living room, reading. Suddenly a thud sounded on the other side of the book in front of her nose, which she warily lowered. The first sight she caught was Zazzie’s pink hair, followed by the rest of the diminutive girl, and the cloth bag full of soda bottles and a bag of sweets, which accounted for the thud.

            “Hello,” Ally said tentatively.

            Zazzie launched into a monologue without any prelude. “I’m a strange mixture of outgoing and asocial. The people around here piss me off. But ironically you can’t get any space up here in the middle of nowhere. So I try to avoid people as a rule. Mia’s a first class bitch, but I have to admit she’s good at what she does. Avery and Elsa are carved from the same cloth, except they’re not as competent. I find Clarice’s mothering suffocating, which I yearn to do to her on an almost daily basis. The rest of the boys view this assignment as a boy’s club that a couple of women were charitably invited along to, to do the women’s work. That leaves you. I don’t know what your deal is, but I like you. So come on. Let’s hang out.”

            “My room?” Ally suggested, with a grateful smile on her face.

            “God, no,” Zazzie shuddered. “I can only see that room as the room my future alpha has sex in. I am absolutely not going in there. I have a television in my room and about a hundred odd movies to choose from.”

            Ally smiled amusedly at the girl. Her directness was refreshing after weeks of passive aggressive hostility from Kate and general evasion from almost everyone else. “Lead the way.”

            The two girls settled onto Zazzie’s bed in a room that was oddly bereft of personality, considering its occupant. Pouring out the soda, Zazzie produced a bottle of vodka, a small amount of which she added to the soda. “Here’s to getting away from people,” she toasted.

            Ally merely chuckled. After five months in this hinterland, she deserved a drink.

            Zazzie chose a movie and put it on, while Ally ripped open the bag of sweets. “Yum, gummy worms dipped in vodka, my specialty,” she joked as she did precisely that.

            “Ooh, I want to try!” Zazzie urged, as she flopped back down on the bed.

            After half an hour of joking around, drinking, and eating vodka-flavored gummy worms, the two girls had already become much better friends.

            “Kate’s acting like a bitch to you,” Zazzie commented, with her eyes glued to the screen.

            “That’s her prerogative,” Ally shrugged, reaching for another sweet.

            “Not really,” Zazzie said, eyes never wavering. “A nat amatra is an important position, she’s supposed to respect you.”

            “Nat amatras are a stupid idea. Of course it’s going to create enmity in a pack. What mate, true or not, would be alright with living with their husband’s mistress? It has no basis in either wolf or human psychology.”

            “So why did you agree to be one?” Zazzie asked, her gaze finally shifting to Ally.

            “It’s not so bad, relatively speaking.” Her vague answer discouraged any follow up questions, even from the plainspoken pink-haired pixie-like girl.

            “Nancy told me that you’re the perfect nat amatra. She should know. I think she was born before the last nat amatra was appointed.”

            “It’s easy to follow rules. A nat amatra has no decisions to make.”

            They sat in silence watching the rest of the movie, slowly depleting the bag of sweets. It was only when the next movie started that Zazzie broke the silence again.

            “Have you noticed Tim hanging around Sara quite a bit?”

            Ally grinned. “I think he likes her.”

            “Well, obviously,” Zazzie scoffed.

            “Think he’ll make a move soon?”

            “He should before the next full moon. It would be strange to shift and find out someone is or is not your true mate while you’re still deciding whether or not to get together with them.”

            “You don’t think it’s best to know that going in?”

            Zazzie shrugged. “It will change things, sure, but people shouldn't let the true mate thing stop them for being together with people they like. How many relationships actually work out? And who knows how long you might wait before you find your true mate?”

            “If ever,” Ally agreed. It wasn’t a comment based on her situation as a nat amatra. Really, the odds of finding one’s true mate were slim at best. It was not guaranteed over anyone’s lifetime, which is why alphas had begun marrying for power; there was no point in waiting around for someone who may never show up only to pass up on key political opportunities. Most werewolves nowadays fell in love and married without ever meeting their true mates. However, the ideal remained in the back of their minds. Ally was simply more pragmatic than most. She knew the likelihood of ever meeting her true mate was practically non-existent, rendered even more moot by the inevitable impediments of her situation in life, nat amatra aside.            

            Between Christian and Zazzie, Ally got through the winter in good spirits. Christian and Kate, as the future alpha pair, left to spend Christmas down south in California with the main contingent of the Sullivan pack. The others stayed behind in Alaska, to their pleasure or displeasure. Without Kate there, the others acted much more cordial towards Ally, even the women. After all, they reasoned, it wasn’t necessarily Ally’s fault for being a nat amatra, and the girl’s wit and talent for playing and singing were a great help at breaking the monotony of the dark and dreary Alaskan winter. 

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So, it's shorter than usual, but the next will follow soon.

My little rant: what do the most despicable people in the world all have in common? They've all agreed to be on reality tv shows. People annoy me. (That came out a bit in Zazzie :P)

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