Twins of Shadow and Fang

Rose Pov

Heart pounding, I stood in the starry clearing. The pack circled me, their darkly shining eyes I had never felt this alone.

"Rose," Alpha Magnus's loud voice sliced over the evening. "Step forward."

I inhaled shakily and turned to find the circle's center. My eyes looked for my partner, Kyle. He wouldn't gaze at me when I saw him.

"You know why you're here," Magnus said. I nodded, attempting to keep a calm voice. I do."

"Tell everyone why. I turned to study the faces I had known all my life. my friends and family. Now they all fixed me as though I were a stranger.

"I refused to hunt humans," I responded, speaking more forcefully than I felt. "I wouldn't kill anyone."

Whispers started to fill the surrounding space. I picked up terms like "weak" and "traitor" being used. Magnus silently held up a hand. "For generations our ways have kept us strong. Our right, our legacy is the hunt.

"But we need not kill anymore," I said. "We are able to live differently right now. Master." "You dare question our ways?" Magnus snarled.

I kept my ground. Someone has to do. It is not right. "Not right?" cried out a voice. "We are what we are!" I gave my head a shake. "We represent more than just that. We are free to choose to be better." At last Kyle moved forward, hope sprang in my chest. Certainly, he would back me up. He replied quietly, reaching for my hand, "Rose."

His touch set off memories of all our stolen moments. Midnight rushes across the woodland, passionate kisses under starry heavens, murmured vows of eternity.

"Kyle," I muttered back. " please."

His gaze softened for a minute. I thought back to the day we met and how he made me chuckle during a packed pack meeting. It was fun. I considered leisurely afternoons beside the river, wrapped in his arms, organizing our future together.

But Kyle's face grew tough then. He turned to Magnus after dropping my hand. Alpha comes first in the pack. Usually." My heart fell apart. "Kyle, no," I said in a gasp. You cannot mean that.

He would not look at me. " apologies, Rose. But this is really who we are." Tears pierced my eyes. "Thus that's it. All we exchanged, all our preparations they mean nothing?"

Kyle's jaw tightened. "The pack is all that exists. You are aware of that. huh, "I thought I meant everything to you." A flutter of agony passed across his cheeks, but he straightened himself. "You made your choice." Magnus cleared his throat. "The pack has decided, Rose. You're no longer one of us." The words strike me like a gut reversal punch. "You're sending me out? Just like that?"

"You have left us without option," Magnus said. "Your ideology expose us all to danger." I turned frantically about. "Does anyone else find this to be unacceptable?"