Odin's Prize

The Exchange

Distorted silence

The moment the words left Odin's mouth to hit my father full-fledged in the gut. It looked as if words, mere words have much more of profound effect on my father than any physical challenge could muster.

"Charlie, go to your room." It's spoken with a clarity of calmness while my dad, takes a few steps off the porch towards Odin.

Odin squares himself up, shoulders back, head held high, neither taking a forward step or backward step, holding his ground, planted solidly as if rooted to his spot.

Mom, coming out on the back porch, looking at the illusion of my father's patience. Odin gives her the faintest bow of his head before his eyes settle keenly on my father, he holds all the attention.

"Charlie, where have you been?"

"She was lost on her territory. I brought her back to your home." Mom's eyes regarding me with a sense of her failure, which makes my shoulders hunch forward while a quick side eye Odin's way has him not paying attention to my silent snarl. All his focus is watching my father's advancing form.

"You are not raising a capable wolf; she's missing the basic survival skills of her nature. You are doing her more harm than good. Charlie is not a pup anymore, stop treating her like one. She's a capable female who hasn't been pushed, she want's for nothing, and that's going to be her greatest downfall. She is being raised without expectations. By now it should be expected that she should at least be able to find her way back home from anywhere on your territory. That should be the very basic of expectation." Those words halt my dad's momentum forward.

"It was dark; I got turned around." Saying it trying to justify my failure. No one even gives me a glance because my words right now hold no value to their ears.

"My sister can get home from any part of our territory, and she's always in darkness." Odin's words slap the excuse I just threw up right down to shatter on the ground.

"When I bring her back to my pack-" Odin takes an inhaled breath as if he's suddenly in pain, "Charlie will have to walk the line of retribution, there is no helping her. She has to face them all Finian. My father, making the Moon's Promise to all the males from my pack who's mates have lost their virtue to you. She has to face the wall before she can even enter our own home." The last words exhaled out hard in such bitter contempt towards my father.

For my father's part he no longer approaches Odin. Instead, he holds his place solidly still.

"If your father or any of those males have such a problem with me, they need to come to me directly. Let them come; I welcome their challenge."

"They won't Finian; they would rather take it out on your daughter where it will hurt you more."

"Then they are cowards." Words are aggressively rumbling out of my father's chest.

"They are not cowards it's in their right, you have taken something away they love, it's in their right to take something away you love. It has much more meaning to do it that way." Odin's foot almost lifts off the ground to start taking his step forward, but he halts himself.

Dad's guilty eyes looking at me.

"Charlie might never go to your pack, Odin. She has multiple paths she can walk towards." It's a very simplistic sound Odin makes within himself to percuss out causing the night to stop it's voice for just a moment until the growl dies down and the night resumes its speech.

"I am her path, Finian." True grit of words sounding out, it's absolute without any doubts of his conviction.

"I'm not going with you, Odin. I told you this, I'm staying with my family, in my home. I'm not leaving them. I won't do it. I'm sorry, Odin. I can't leave them, not even for you." My parent's flanking left and right of me.