Page 33 of Own To Obsess

“Did you make the choice to bite him of your own free will,” another Alpha, possibly Panos, asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?” the same alpha asked, almost incredulously. “Could you not see that he is flawed?”

Shaya made a face. “In what way?”

The Alphas stared at her as though she had said something incredible and then glanced at each other slowly.

“Have you not noticed the color that afflicts his hair and skin?” the Alpha Gergo said slowly, as if she had suddenly turned incapable of understanding her own language.

She stared at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about. “I haven't seen any affliction on him.”

“You have not noticed that he is light in hair and in skin?”

Shaya stared between them. “Yes… So?”

“He is unnaturally light.”

There was a silence while Shaya tried to battle through their strange statements to understand their meaning. But she couldn’t. “He is no lighter than many of the people in the Western Lands.”

“That is their problem,” muttered one of Alphas.

“In our Land it is a serious flaw,” Sethol pointed out. “It means he is not capable in many areas expected of tribe leaders and is prone to death.”

“That is not quite true,” the high chief interjected. “Please do not give her false information.”

“It is not false, my chief,” the Alpha said, clearly trying to be respectful. “No one of such light skin and hair has been able to survive in our lands for any period of time. They simply do not have the strength.”

“Kardos has survived his whole life here,” the high chief said stiffly. “Therefore what you are saying is false.”

“He is at risk of death with every blizzard that plagues us,” the Alpha said, somewhat darkly. He looked at Shaya. “Are you saying that you did not see this weakness in him? Did no one tell you of this when you were learning about our culture?”

Shaya gaped at them shocked, suddenly noticing that they themselves were all dark-haired and with a similar skin tone as the chief. “Are you saying that because he is lighter than you he is less likely to survive in this land?” All of the Alphas before her nodded, although the high chief was still.

“How can that be?” she said bewildered. “There are many people of different shades and colors all over the Lands, and they survive all weathers. How could anyone be seen as weak because of this?”

“This isn’t something we are making up,” insisted one of the other Alphas, Rhaad. “This is something that has been proven over time. Anyone born with yellow hair does not survive.”

“And for one of them to hope to be high chief or to have secured an Omega, and such a beautiful one…” Another Alpha said, shaking his head, disgust on his face. “It is a mockery to our culture.”

Shaya was unable to find the words to respond. She had never heard of anyone in any Land being seen as weak because of their hair color. It was outright ridiculous. She glanced at the high chief, who looked back at her with a firm gaze. He didn't seem to be implying that they were making this up, and yet he didn’t agree with them either. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“I’ll ask again, how could you not see that he is flawed?” Gergo said.

Raw anger embraced Shaya, and she took a sharp breath in to calm herself before she said something rash or burst into tears from frustration. “Never before have I heard anything so stupid,” she said, clearly and slowly. The Alphas jerked back a little, as though she had burned them. “He is not flawed,” she continued. “He is the most perfect man that I have seen. He has shown himself to be completely capable, whether it be on his ship, working with your strange rocks, inspiring hope in his tribe... I never once thought that he was weak or flawed.”

“You haven't seen the rest of the Alphas of the Southern Lands.”

“I don't need to see them,” she said sharply. “I've already made my choice. And it is him.”

The Alphas faces soured as though she had said something completely distasteful. The high chief cleared his throat, preparing to speak when the door burst open. Kardos strode through, his face contorted in anger as he took in the scene before him, but he did not stop until he reached Shaya. Lowering behind her, he scooped her up and settled her down on his lap, winding his arms around her until she was completely cocooned by him.

And suddenly, she felt secure, relaxed. Turning, she pressed her face into his thick arm and breathed in the scent that calmed her.

“Glad you could join us, Kardos,” one of the Alphas said sarcastically. “I thought you would struggle to get here from the training island or that it would be difficult to get word to you.”

“My tribe can always get word to me,” Kardos said, the vibration of his words in his chest rumbling against Shaya's back.

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