The Alpha and the Oracle (The Belesone Pack #1)

Chapter 3

Katarina stepped into the room and managed a small smile as her grandfather, Elder Constantine rose from his seat in the middle of the table and met her halfway. He kissed her forehead and beamed down at her happily.

"My darling Kate, how are you?" He asked.

"Fine, grandfather. Thank you. It is good to see you." She confessed, letting him hug her tightly. It had been months since she last saw him, when he and the council had arrived to convince the Alpha to intensify his search for a mate. He still didn't have one, so she could only assume that they had taken matters into their own hands.

Her grandfather showed her to a seat, facing the table of the other four Elders and resumed his own seat. "I hear you shy away from the community whenever you have a chance?" Constantine asked the question kindly, with the understanding and love of a grandfather.

Katarina took her seat and sighed. She didn't know how they had found out about that, but it made her uneasy. "It's just...grandfather...I'm..." She stammered nervously, unable to find the right words. "I don't want to shame my pack with my presence."

"And how would you do that, child?"

"Because...grandfather, you know how." Katarina begged him to not make her say it. But there was such a sad, soft look in his eyes that she was forced to speak them anyway, to make him understand. "I'm a freak. I'm slow and stupid and dumb and useless. I can't keep up when we go on a hunt. I can't run or fight like the others. I hate violence. I see things at night when I'm sleeping, like I'm on a hunt, but I know I'm not. And these things I can do...they're unnatural." She began crying silently as she spoke, gazing down at her outstretched hands, that were shaking.

Constantine rose from his seat and moved to stand behind her chair. He held his hands to her sagging shoulders and she crumbled. Her silent tears turned into sobs of shame.

"I'm so unworthy. You can't do this to me. You know what I want." She begged again, clinging to his hand.

Their people were emotionally strong, brave, physically fit for anything. Katarina was basically the opposite of everything they stood for. She was ruled by her emotions and her heart, she disrespected authority naturally. It wasn't intentional because whenever she did it, she clamped a hand over her mouth and began begging for punishment and forgiveness. She was a gentle soul, who shied away from confrontation, who couldn't bear to see people arguing with each other. Her eyes leaked tears like her heart leaked emotion...it oozed out of every pore.

Her grandfather sighed and gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. He returned to his seat.

"I must explain this wish to the Elders, my dear." Constantine spoke like it was already settled, but he kept his eyes on her as she looked at him.

She understood that he was waiting for her permission, so she nodded.

"My brothers, little Katarina has decided that she will never take a mate. She would welcome love and honour for her family, but she fears that by taking a mate she would only bring shame to his." He began, explaining her decision to the other council Elders. "Katarina's plan for herself is simple - she will do her duty to the pack however she can. When she is too old to take a mate or be of service to her people, when the pain of her shame becomes too unbearable, she will take a voluntary exile from her pack." He continued, so they knew the kind of opposition they would receive from her. Not on purpose, but because she thought too much of her pack to let them be tainted by her freakishness.

"But child, you could have a wonderful family. You are so beautiful and smart." Council Elder Donnell smiled at her.

Constantine beamed with pride, but Katarina's sense of utter devastation didn't change.

"Thank you Elder Donnell, but beauty and brains are not gifts that a mate of mine would cherish. Perhaps it would make a union easier, but it would not last forever." She reminded them. "My mind can addle with age and my looks will wither and die. In the end, it is the gifts of our people that are to be praised...and I hold none of them." She explained, formally.

"Katarina, darling...tell me about these things you see that are not real. Your father has always said it was your secret to share. Tell me, child." Constantine asked of her.

Katarina smiled weakly and sighed. "Sometimes when I sleep, I dream of hunting. But the woods are unfamiliar...the scents in the air are strange and alluring. It is not my feet I run with. In the morning, when I wake, my father finds me sleeping as a wolf, beneath my bed." She shrugged at the weak and uninformative explanation she had given. It was more a - sense - that something wasn't normal, than anything being really wrong. "When I am around people of power in the shifter community, I can sense their thoughts. I can willingly delve into their minds or...when they are filled with intense emotions...their thoughts sort of 'leak' out of them without knowledge."

"I see." Constantine considered this for a moment and pondered, glancing at his fellow Elders, who were smiling and nodding at him. "Very well, sweetheart. I'm going to ask you to leave the room. Stay with the Beta and send in the Alpha. We may wish to speak with you afterwards, or have commands for you." He smiled and rose from his seat again.

He watched fondly as she wiped her tears with the sleeve of her jacket and stepped into his open arms to accept a hug from him.

"I will do you proud grandfather. I will not let you or my pack suffer for my failures." She whispered to him before letting go and leaving the room.