“It’s just like that. Just like Florence and I, when we were still naive, we used to blame the heavens, complaining about why we weren’t given a normal family. Florence’s father was an alcoholic, her mother was addicted to drugs. Her childhood was spent enduring beatings and taking care of her parents. She was poor and suffered, yet she still loved me. She stood up for me against the thugs who insulted me, shared the little blueberry jam with me, and split a piece of bread to share with me. You see, both she and I have come a long way. We no longer complain about the heavens not giving us a better life because we can change it ourselves.”
She squeezed Patrick’s hand gently. “You are not like us, Patrick. You have more than what we have, but you also endure more. I won’t ask you to cast aside your morals and responsibilities; that wouldn’t be fair. But you can consider what you have, grasp what you can, and not confine yourself to a cage.”
Patrick looked at her, his eyes shimmering. “Can I do that?”
“Let’s start with having a good meal.” She pointed at the sandwich. “I didn’t tell you, but May had the chef make this according to your taste. They all worry about you, May and March.”
She spoke softly, “You don’t have to be someone. Just be yourself, Patrick.”
Patrick looked at the food in his hand, silent. Finally, he made an effort and finished the sandwich. It seemed like his aversion to food wouldn’t be cured in a short time, but this time, it didn’t make him as uncomfortable as before. He swallowed easily, and his stomach didn’t protest.
For so many years, it was the first time he felt that eating wasn’t so agonizing. He was surprised. “I actually finished it all.”
Emma marveled, “Truly befitting an alpha’s constitution. You can survive so healthily even when you haven’t been eating properly.”
Patrick heard the teasing in her voice but didn’t mind. “I have doctors from the pack come regularly to check on my health. If my health indicators are off, they’ll give me a drip to supplement some nutrients and provide me with nutritional supplements.”
Emma said earnestly, “But no supplement is as important as maintaining a healthy mindset. You need to change how you see yourself. You have your own wolf. You can be a wolf king, and you will find your destined partner. It hasn’t appeared yet because you’re only twenty.”
“Do you think I can find my destined partner?” Patrick asked earnestly; this was crucial to him. His wolf was currently in a semi-missing state, unknown to anyone, and he didn’t know how to find his destined partner.
“Of course. When she appears, maybe she can awaken your wolf? Wolves are constantly changing. Perhaps it has disappeared, or maybe it’s just sleeping. Wolves are like the second spirit of humans; you don’t need to worry too much.”
“I don’t know,” Patrick said blankly, looking into the distance. “After my wolf stopped responding, I have no idea what to do. I pretend that everything is normal, but deep down, I know it’s not. It has been unstable since it appeared, and I don’t know how to hold on to it.”
“I don’t have a wolf anymore. Only I know this.”
Emma looked at his blank expression and some thoughts emerged in her mind. Patrick never let anyone near his room. There was only one fixed attendant around him, but that person wasn’t his beta. He was aloof, yet in corners where no one could see, he easily revealed a frustrated expression. Since she arrived, she had been puzzled as to why Patrick, as an alpha, never held any ceremonies, apart from when he came of age, and even then, it was a perfunctory affair.
It turned out that his wolf had never appeared in its entirety. An alpha without a wolf could easily fall into danger. No wonder he didn’t let anyone near and cut off all contact with people he knew, keeping only one person to take care of him.
Emma patted Patrick’s back. “Do you want to hear my thoughts?” Without waiting for Patrick’s response, she continued,
“Since my birth, I have disliked the werewolf society. I find it very backward. Its system, its way of life, the remnants it has left behind, don’t seem like models that an advanced society would adopt. Although a minority can elect their leaders, they still call these people alphas. But most of the time, alpha isn’t just a position; it’s a symbol of lineage.”
Since a long time ago, werewolves have used lineage to determine their hierarchy. The finest lineage gets the maximum resources, wealth, food, and the right to choose a mate. That way, theiroffspring would also have perfect lineage because those deemed less worthy have already been screened out. Then, from among these outstanding descendants, they pick the best to inherit their meticulously chosen perfect bloodline.
But why is it always “he”?
Because werewolf society is deeply rooted in male dominance.
Ordinary wolf packs do not have male dominance; both males and females have equal rights, with slightly higher status for females when it comes to expecting offspring. But werewolves are the mischievous work of the gods, evolving part of the wolf pack to have similar physical features to humans, making it easier for them to conceal themselves and hunt. But it also made them arrogant and overbearing.
So, they no longer followed the old rules of the wolf pack, instead creating a new system. They combined the paternal and monarchial systems of human society, roughly dividing werewolves into several categories. Wolves suitable for combat are Gammas, those with strong physical qualities and developed minds are Betas, weak and feeble wolves are Omegas, and the final group has only one Alpha, equivalent to the king in human society. The Alpha’s partner is called Luna, the queen of the pack.
There is almost no history in werewolf society where a female alpha has succeeded. Men arrogantly believe that women are never as good as men, whether in hunting or managing the pack. Their only role is to bear strong and excellent offspring, tidy up the household when men are absent, and attend to the trivial matters that men don’t want to deal with. Then, they are to provide a warm embrace when the men need it.
It’s as if even as Lunas, people cannot clearly see their role. They have to shoulder all responsibilities, both the historical duty as a daughter and the social duty of reproduction, yet in the end, only men receive praise.
Emma detested these long-standing and accepted social customs.
Her mother had a wolf before Nelson. Her mother could have achieved a lot. If those old fogeys of the Blue Halo Pack were willing to give her a chance, instead of wondering who she would mate with and whether that mate also had a wolf, she wouldn’t have lost her own wolf or wasted her life.
And now, these ancient and decadent systems were continuing to erode the next generation.
She loathed such systems.