But today I was feeling particularly defiant. Instead of wallowing in my misery, I shifted and ran hot on their trail. I leapt up the thick tree trunk, digging my claws into the vines, and hauled myself up to the wooden platform nestled among the trees. I shook out my pelt before shifting back and joining the others. They all noticed me, but nobody commented on my presence.
Koto knocked on the door three times.
My father emerged. In his age, his black hair turned a majestic silver, contrasting sharply against his brown skin.
Koto kneeled, took the elder’s hand and kissed the back of it. A sign of respect. After the chief grunted warmly in acknowledgment, Koto stood back up.
“Chief, respectfully, I would like to ask to arrange a hunt with Zumi and Bodi,” he said.
It didn’t phase me that he talked about me like I wasn’t even here. I was used to that at this point, but it was still annoying.
Koto continued. “I saw a giant boar in the rainforest earlier. It would feed us for weeks.”
The chief hummed. “Not Skrofa clan, I hope.”
“No, I’m sure it wasn’t.”
“Hm. Will the three of you be enough?”
As he spoke, his eyes drifted over to me. For one stupid second, I felt a flash of excitement, like he was finally going to let me come along. But when Koto spoke, the chief stopped looking at me and I became invisible again. I crossed my arms and leaned against the rough wood wall. I might as well have been an insect on the wall.
“Yes. We are the strongest hunters in the clan. We can have the boar killed and returned to the village by tonight,” Koto said.
“Very well,” the elder said. “You may go.”
The defiance and irritation of being ignored bubbled up inside me until I spoke out. “What about me?”
Zumi’s jaw dropped. The other two stared at me.
My father, of course, had the same calm and stoic expression he always did. “What about you, Raja?”
“CanIgo on the hunt?” I asked.
Koto’s eyes bulged out of his head, as if he couldn’t believe the incredibly stupid thing I’d just said. I wanted to slap the expression off his face.
“Raja, you know you cannot leave the village,” the chief said gravely. “It’s just not safe.”
I gestured to Koto. “Why is it safe for him, but not for me? Just because of my coat color?”
“That is part of the reason, yes. Everyone knows how much rarer a black leopard is. God forbid, if there were any poachers in the area,youwould be the prize they are after.”
I curled my lip. “That’s not fair! Why do I have to assume there’s always poachers out there when the others don’t?”
The elder didn’t budge. “Life is not fair, Raja. And that is not the only reason.”
Anger stewed in my belly. I narrowed my eyes. “Because I’m an omega, right?”
“You are the only one in the entire village. Combined with your rare coat color, you are a walking target.”
“But humans don’t know I’m an omega,” I protested. “Only other shifters would know that.”
“And thereareothers like us in the rainforest,” he said sternly. “Despite our truce pacts, you cannot assume there are not bad people out there. If they are lacking omegas, they will not hesitate to grab you. I am not losing my son to poachersorother shifters. That is final.”
That was it. Just like that, I got completely shut down again. My thoughts and feelings didn’t matter - the only thing he wanted was for me to stay home like a good little boy and do everything my parents told me. I wasn’t a person - I was a fancy decorative piece on display in a cabinet, tucked away behind glass so no harm could ever come to me.
And I was tired of it.
“Fine,” I muttered.
