Looking To Belong (A Runt's Story)

Chapter 2

My medium-sized basket was almost full of mushrooms, which wasn't bad for a morning's worth of work. I headed east as I kept my eyes open for more mushrooms. Packs occasionally traded with rogues along the pack borders, and there was a pack just to the east of me.

This pack allowed me to cross their border if I was heading to their market since I was a runt. People rarely considered runts to be dangerous. In some ways, it worked out in my favor. In other ways, runts were considered a burden and nuisance - and that aspect caused me nothing but trouble and grief.

I slowly walked through the marketplace. My heart always worked overtime due to my nerves whenever I had to enter a pack's territory. As a rogue, I had no protection from the guards or fighters if someone decided to attack me. The pack members mostly ignored me, as if I were a clump of dirt.

I had lived near this pack's border for several years now, so I wasn't exactly a novelty. This Alpha allowed me to come to the market whenever I chose in exchange for the promise that I would not cause any trouble and that I would give a howl if I thought I saw something dangerous heading towards their borders.

I walked towards one elderly lady. She looked up and smiled as she saw me. She greeted me, "Ah, Jade. Nice to see you this lovely morning. The western border is quiet, I hope?"

I smiled at the kind, elderly lady and replied softly, "Good morning, Mrs. Elderan. It is good to see you looking so well. Things have been pretty quiet, although I have seen a black bear on and off throughout the week." I kept my voice quiet and soft. It made me look somewhat meek, but it did seem to keep most people from trying to use my words to pick a fight with me.

This lady had always traded fairly with me. She replied, "I will just let the others know to keep an eye on the younger children, just in case that bear decides to wander in this direction. What do you have for me today?"

I opened up the lid on the basket and came forward where she could see it more easily. She inspected the contents as she responded, "Will the usual trade work?"

I nodded and she turned around to bag several loaves of bread. It was dense and grainy, the kind that filled you up fast and kept you full for a long time. She didn't question if the mushrooms were edible. At this point, they rarely bothered to check if anything I brought in was edible.

In the beginning, they had inspected everything when I first started trading, but after a year with every scrutinized object turning out to be edible, they had ceased their endless checks. At the age of 21, I had spent almost half of my life as a rogue and had been taught by quite a few rogues that I had met over the years. I knew almost every edible thing in the forest.

We talked for a bit before someone else approached her booth. I bid her farewell and turned to head back to no man's land. I kept an eye on the others as I slowly walked through the busy market. I walked slowly to avoid drawing attention to myself.

There were two people sitting on a bench kissing. I was not surprised to see that they had turned out to be mates since I had been sure of it even before the girl had turned eighteen last week. They just had that look about them and had somewhat gravitated towards one another even before they were old enough for their mate bond to appear.

I glanced around, but didn't see either the Beta or Alpha. The two men were probably out meeting other Alphas and working out trades while dealing with the endless world of politics. I could see their mates helping out with the market, although I had expected to see them here. The Beta and Alpha usually dealt with policy and relationships with other packs while their mates, the Luna and Beta female, usually concentrated on smaller details and events within the pack.