The next afternoon, Ella was squealing in delight showing everybody her shiny engagement ring. By everybody I mean Ergil, Leandre, Phaenna and me. They were my friends, some of my werewolf ones. Leandre was the oldest with his eighteen years old, then me, Phaenna and her soon 17^th birthday, Ella and Ergil were only fifteen.       

So, as I was saying, Ella was literally glowing “I can’t believe that he bought me a ring so pretty,” she said expanding her arm and admiring her ringed finger. “Now, I just have to wait until my birthday and we will be married” She sighs dreamily.

The others were keeping up with the conversation but I got distracted in my thoughts. There were rules in our world, the werewolves’ “unspoken rules” like my dads would say.

 You could get engaged from fifteen and mate at sixteen at the soonest. Which means obviously no sexual intercourses until then or whenever you mate. What a joke.

If you didn’t mate at 16 you were expected to be mate before 18 or 19 at the latest, then you would be expected to bring pups to our pack and quite quickly.

“Why are you so quiet?” Ella asks me putting me out of my thoughts.

“I don’t understand how you can be happy with that,” I say truthfully narrowing my eyes at her ring. I really feel like they bought a 15-year-old girl with an expensive jewel. Plus, It mustn’t even be her ‘boyfriend’ who bought the ring but his parents considering he also is 15.

“My ring?” she asks innocently, taking her right hand in her left one

“You know, with being forced to be with someone, you couldn’t even choose him”

“I could!” She responds defensively

“Yeah right out of a dozen of them your parents and the pack choose”

“You are just jealous!”

“Jealous of what? To be married, pregnant and condemned to sleep with one person at the small age of 16? Or maybe jealous that the said person is a stranger? Oh no, excuse me you’ve spoken like twice”  I mock

“It’s not like that! You choose someone and they choose you, you get to know one another, grew affection, mate, and fall in love then have pups!”

“All that in a short span of a year? How great!” I clap my hands sarcastically

“The mating bond is strong enough after growing affection! Then you will be happy and meet your responsibilities as a pack member!”

“It’s what everybody wants you to think! They are pressuring you without you even realising it!” I was hearing things like that every day, it was tiring, and upsetting, like you are an omega you need to mate with a higher rank to get strong pups, you are an alpha or any high rank you need to find someone to bear your offsprings, ideally, some good family child who has been raised to be submissive, not open their mouth and be, how do they phrase that again? Ah right, “respectful” towards them.

She was gonna talk back when I cut her “Look, I am sorry, you are happy it’s great, if it’s really what you desire I am happy for you”. I took my bag off the floor “I gotta go, my dads must not really appreciate my unnotified absence”. I wave to them goodbye before going. Ella looks obviously disappointed and angry. I was saddened that I was the reason she wasn’t all excited anymore, but I couldn’t help myself.