Present Day

The sun broke over the mountains, its warm rays washing over the forest at the mountain's base. There was a slight chill in the air as the forest made its transition from winter to spring. The crispness caused Roxanne to stir, then wake up. She looked around the cave, only to find it empty. She got to her feet and searched around for a thicker hide, then threw it on when she found one.

After she was warmer, Roxanne stood just outside the cave entrance. Through the fog, she saw two silhouettes approaching her. The first shadow came into view. It was a stag, with the strong scent of fear seeping throughout its body. Chasing it was Lea, who was running lazily on all fours. Her claws were long and tore chunks of dirt out of the earth, while her fangs were bare and ready to dig into the stag's hot flesh.

The gleam in Lea's eyes made Roxanne's stomach turn. It was a predatory gaze, one of bloodlust and sadistic joy. It was the look of an animal. A look Roxanne felt she'd never fully adjust to seeing. And as if the look that shined in Lea's eyes weren't sickening enough, Roxanne watched as Lea executed her hunt with expertise and efficiency.

Lea slung the large herbivore over her shoulders, then lifted it. Without much of a struggle, she carried the stag over to Roxanne. Her breathing was even as she placed the stag at Roxanne's feet.

"Start up a fire," Lea ordered then crouched down to the buck, and began skinning it.

"Where's Grandad?" Roxanne asked curiously as she started gathering twigs.

"Went to get some water. I told him there was no point though, I mean, you can smell how juicy this thing is," Lea said, taking a sharp inhale as she tore a leg from the rest of the body.

"I never found them to be that juicy," Roxanne commented nonchalantly, taking the leg from Lea.

"Probably because you're a little bitch who cooks the damn thing," she hissed, slicing through the torso and digging until she pulled out the ribs. "I don't think you'll ever be a real feral."

Roxanne frowned at her sister's harsh words, but knew that it was probably the truth. Even after all the time she had spent in the woods, she still wasn't as intune with her instincts as she had expected. Lea would constantly remind her of her weaknesses and even as Lea was inhaling the meat from the ribs, she looked at Roxanne in a silent form of judgement as she roasted the leg in the fire.

"Smells like the hunt went very well," the girls grandfather stated as he walked over to them. He handed each girl a pile of wet moss, before sitting down beside Lea on the log. He ripped off another leg from the stag and began eating it. "Mm… Good work, Lea."

The younger feral nodded at her grandfather's praise, but didn't say much else. She was too busy sucking the meat from the bones, then throwing them into a pile. It was a silent meal, with each of them sorting through their own bone stack. The silence was only interrupted by Roxanne, who seemed very keen on getting an answer to something. "Granddad, can you tell us about Nana Lois?"

Lea became stiff at her sister's request. Since the day Roxanne had come to join them in the woods, it had been a silent agreement never to speak about their human family, or humans at all. Her icy gaze shifted to their grandfather, whose face softened the moment he heard his wife's name.

"Your grandmother…" he whispered, as if the mere thought of her brought him back to a different time. "She was an extraordinary woman. The love of my life. My mate."

"Mate? What does that mean?" Lea inquired, becoming intrigued by the change in demeanor of her grandfather.

"Like, soulmate?" Roxanne asked in an excited manner, she always was a sucker for love stories.

"Hm… I don't think I'll be able to explain it in a manner that you girls will understand it, but I suppose I could try," he said, rubbing the scruff on his chin. "Mates are incredibly rare, yet significant for ferals. They are someone you share an unbreakable bond with. You feel whether they are in danger or not, even when you aren't around them."

"How do you know someone is your mate?" Roxanne asked.

"Their scent," he answered. "The first time you smell your mate it is… overwhelming. You feel an instant comfort in them. We're drawn to them. Drawn to protect them. To be near them. To claim them."

"Claim?" Lea arched a brow with a dirty look on her face.

"Uh… Yes, Lea… Claim," he said uncomfortably.

"Lea, hush!" Roxanne scolded before looking back to their grandfather. "Tell us about you and her!"

A sharp growl left Lea, and her lip curled. Was she just told to be quiet by someone lesser than her?! Seemed like it. It wasn't exactly something she liked either. She wanted to rip Roxanne's tongue out for doing it. She restrained herself though, curious to hear more about this concept of mates.

"Lois was a couple years older than you, Lea, she was about 25 years old when I first crossed paths with her. Beautiful woman. Absolutely stunning. She didn't even notice me at first," he laughed. "But I noticed her. She was impossible to ignore. Her scent was intoxicating, but I was able to see her by her hair. It was auburn, like yours Roxanne, but nowhere near as vivid. It was short, and curly."

"It took a week before we ran into each other again. We began talking, and that's when I got to look at her. I mean, really look at her," he said. "She had dark blue eyes, with freckles on the bridge of her nose. A smile that could outshine the sun, but that's also when I noticed the unfortunate truth. Your grandmother wasn't a mutant. She was human: fragile and aging by the minute."

"You're telling me that your mate was a human?! The very fucking thing you kept us from all these years?!" Lea growled, her voice dripping with anger and disgust.

"We do not get to choose who our mate is, Lea," he said tiredly. "And as I said before, mates are extremely rare. The chances of you finding yours would be like winning the lottery five times in a row."

"Even so, if mates are meant to complete the one another, why would you be given a human partner?" she asked.

"I don't know. There are some things we still don't know about ferals and the whole mate thing," he explained.

"Well, I'm not going to have a damn weakling as a mate, and you should feel disgusted in having a human as yours," she growled.

"That human is your grandmother, whether you like it or not! And I shouldn't have to remind you that if it wasn't for her, you wouldn't be around right now!" he spat, the instinct to defend his late mate rising.

"And I'm supposed to be thankful for my existence?!" she spat.

"Yes!" he barked. "I am tired of your crap, young lady! You do not have the right to speak to me in such a way, nor should you be so disrespectful of the dead! You're an arrogant brat who needs to remember to respect her elders!"

Roxanne, who was watching the exchange, was trembling in fear. She didn't dare say a word because she knew better. This was an argument of alphas. An argument to see which of the two ferals would lead the pride. And just as Roxanne predicted, Lea rose her hand and slapped their grandfather across the face. His face now had three long gashes covering it, though they were quickly healing.

"You do not ever give me orders, Steven. You're getting older and weaker each day, and I think it is high time you learned that your days of being alpha of this family are over!" Lea snarled. "Get out of my territory, or I'll drag you out."

Steven looked stunned. He hadn't been thinking, therefore, he did not expect his granddaughter to lash out in such a way. And he couldn't refuse her order either. While he was also an alpha, Lea was a class above him, and was far more capable of forcing her influence to make insubordinates of her pride obey her command.

Lea growled at Steven in a deadly way when she smelled his hesitation. He couldn't help but follow her order. He took a shaky step, unconscious that he was obeying her without meaning to. Lea and Roxanne watched as their grandfather walked further and further away from the clearing, until he was no longer in sight.

"Tomorrow you learn to hunt," Lea said to Roxanne before turning and disappearing into the cave.

Fact for the Chapter: Lea's grandfather, Steven Flanagan, has been alive for over 400 years, but appears to be in his mid 50s. In his youth, he looked a great deal like Lea's father, Sean Flanagan.