“I am not,” I muttered.
My father spoke up. “You know, Raja, there is one way your mother and I would feel comfortable with you leaving the village.”
My heart leapt into my throat. I sat up quickly. “What!?”
My mother nodded and said, “Yes, that’s right. We always believed that if you had a strong alpha to protect you, you could go wherever you’d like.”
I could not believe what I was hearing. “What?”
“We know there aren’t any alphas in our own clan, but certainly another clan in the rainforest must have alphas seeking an omega mate,” she continued.
My enthusiasm drained instantly. I sat back on the straw mat, limp and disappointed. “You want me to get a mate.”
“Yes, but only a powerful alpha,” my mother clarified. “One who will protect you, darling.”
“You don’t think I can protect myself?” I muttered irritably.
My mother frowned, instantly cross. “Well, you made it quite clear tonight that youcan’ttake care of yourself.”
I cringed, my cheeks burning hot with shame. The worst part was I couldn’t even deny that. I’d put myself, my family, and my clan in danger by disobeying the rules put upon me. I had no right to talk back right now.
“But we don’t want you to just go pick the first alpha you find,” she continued. “Find a nice alpha, spend some time with him, figure out if you want to spend your life with him… And then when you finally find the right person, you can get married.”
“Married?” I echoed.This conversation was only getting worse. Not only did I have to find an alpha, I had to marry him too? No thanks.
“Yes.” My mother grasped my hands. “Then when you’re married, you can go wherever you like. You’ll have a life and family of your own, and we won’t be afraid to let you leave the clan.”
Hearing the optimism in her voice, I sighed. They weren’t joking. This was really the life they had planned out for me, and I didn’t have any say in it.
“Go, now,” the chief said. “We will not punish you any longer. You know what you must do now, yes?”
“Yes,” I said, getting to my feet. As relieved as I was that this conversation was over, it also opened up a brand new source of anxiety and stress. “I’m sorry again for what happened tonight.”
They both nodded at me.
“Goodnight, Raja,” my mother said.
“Goodnight, mom.”
I left the old wooden hut, closing the door behind me. To my surprise, my cousin Koto was waiting for me outside. He leaned against the tree with his arms crossed.
“Great, are you here to yell at me, too?” I asked.
“Well, Iwasgoing to,” he muttered, “but I heard what auntie said to you.”
“You were eavesdropping?”
Koto smirked and raised a brow. “It must run in the family.”
“Can’t argue with that,” I mumbled.
We sat down on the wooden platform, our legs dangling over the edge. We watched the lights in the village below, flickering off for the night as people went to bed. Although the human government didn’t purposely extend the grid for shifter communities, we lived close enough to human settlements that we could use their power. I knew of some shifter clans who still used oil lamps and candles, so we considered ourselves lucky. I supposed there were good and bad things about living close to humans.
“What do you think about it?” Koto asked after a moment.
“About what? The marriage thing?”
Koto nodded.
