The cold of the winter air blew through the forest, wind blowing snow through the branches of the birch and pine trees. The wind brought the scent of wolves, the scent bringing the herd of elk to alert. The dominant bull raised his head, nostrils flaring from the scent. He let out a great bellow, the other elks raising their heads and looking to their leader. He motioned for them to go in either direction, other bulls fanning out to look for the wolves as the cows stood behind.

A man came out of the forest, tanned skin covered with a pelt over his shoulders, yellow eyes sharp and fierce. "What are you doing on our land, Connor?" He snarled angrily, revealing long canine teeth. "You know we own this land."

The dominant bull elk walked forward until he was in front of the man, looking down at him in derision. He started to change, joints popping and shifting until a tall man stood in his place, brown hair wild. "They are yours no longer, Garu." He smiled smugly. "We own these lands now- your pack is small and you are weak. It is time for the strong to take their rightful place."

The wolf bared his fangs in a low growl of anger. "You won't get away with this, elk."

"We already have. What are you going to do, attack our herd?" Connor laughed in mockery. "You can hardly take down one of our bulls, none the less all of them."

Garu bristled under the mockery, growling again but knew the elk was right. They were strong and fierce predators, but the elk were powerful creatures. Even with all the pack attacking, they would only be able to take down a few of the bulls before being overwhelmed. He would have to find some other way to take his lands back.
He looked at the herd behind the elk, his predator mind assessing all of those among the herd and nearly missed her against the backdrop of snow behind her. A white doe. He squinted his eyes to get a better look, wondering if he was seeing things. No, she was indeed a white doe.

The bull looked to where he was staring, an angry snort coming from him when he saw the wolf had spotted the white doe. He shifted back to an elk quickly, brandishing his antlers at the wolf so that the man had to jump back or risk being impaled on the tines.

The reaction brought a smile to the wolf's face, glancing back over to where the doe was standing with a new idea. "Keep a careful watch over your herd, Connor." Garu said before shifting into his animal form, the silver wolf baring fangs at the elk before running back into the forest, the rustle of paws around him following close behind.

Connor was startled by the noise of others around him, realizing he had been surrounded the entire time without knowing it. He let out an angry snort, raking his antlers against a nearby tree to mark the territory as belonging to the elk. He trotted back over to his herd, letting out the bellow that signaled that this was where they were making camp for the night.

The elk around him shifted to their human forms, brown haired and wrapped in thick skins of pelt against the cold winter air. He shifted as well, walking over to a white haired woman who was talking among the others, chatting idly.
He grabbed her wrist, turning her until she faced him, her red and pink eyes wide with shock. He was always struck by how strange her eyes were- an unnatural beauty that had captured him ever since she had been old enough to be called a woman. "You were supposed to stay out of sight." He said angrily, still holding her wrist.

"What, are you afraid others will see me, oh great leader?" Misa tugged her wrist out of his grip, rubbing the reddened skin from his tight grasp. "What does it matter? All of the herd knows about me."

"It was not the herd I was worried about." Connor glared down at her. "The wolf saw you. He saw you."

"So?" Misa scoffed. "The wolf saw me. As long as the herd is around I won't be taken down by them. I highly doubt they would care about a doe, anyway."

"You are not an ordinary doe, and you know it. You are the white doe. The one the elders spoke about." Connor raised his arms up to the sky in defeat. "Why do I even bother? All you do is argue with me."

"Oh yes, the white doe that foretold to know the future." She sneered. "How special. It's too bad I don't know the future, hmm? I'm just a normal woman, Connor- I'm just white and some strange eyes. There's no special magic about me or anything."

"There is." he insisted. "You just aren't searching hard enough."

Misa rolled her eyes, which only angered Connor further. He grabbed her shoulders, looking down at her with fierce brown eyes. "There is one way to make you listen to me." He said, his voice low and dangerous. "Perhaps I will make you my mate."

Misa stared up at him in shock at the words, her jaw going slack. "You can't do that! I'm albino, I'm not natural, remember? You've reminded me so many times how I normally would have been cast from the herd for my coloring."

"I can do whatever I want." Connor made a sickly smile. "I am the head bull. No one will question me if I take you as my mate." He looked her over, as if looking over a particularly delicious meal. "Perhaps it would be a good idea. You are beautiful, despite your odd coloring."

Misa let out a sound of disgust before pushing him away from her. "I won't be your mate. You can't force me into it."

"Can't I?" Connor tugged her back against him. "I think perhaps I will. You need a man to show you your place, and who better to do that than the head of the herd? You are the most fiery of the females, and I like that."

Misa struggled against him, finally escaping his grip as he let her go, stumbling backwards before falling down in the snow. He laughed at her clumsiness and walked away to do his duties, leaving Misa on the ground.

Misa stared after him, looking around at the other in the herd around her, but they only watched with mild interest at what had just happened. Everyone in the herd would know of his claim by the end of the night. She was to be his mate. Bile rose in her throat at the idea, not able to even stand the thought of that wretched man touching her again. He was arrogant and cruel, leading the herd through harsh weather and terrain even when it meant a few would be left behind to die. He said it was to keep the herd strong, but she had found it interesting that the ones who got left behind were always the ones who spoke out against him in the past.

She lifted herself out of the snow, her animal hide dress covered in it so that she patted it off. A woman came up to her, telling her that Connor had directed Misa into the bridal tent for the night. They would be mated tomorrow.

Misa let out a small sound of shock, her eyes wide. Tomorrow?! He had decided to take over her life so quickly? She had no choice but to follow the woman, feeling as if she was walking more toward her death than the joy that she had seen the other women experience in mating. There would be no joy in this for her... she would hate every minute of her life.

The women changed her into the silken gown that was used for mating rituals, the wispy cloth clinging to her curves. She looked down at herself and admitted she did look good in the outfit... but it was a branding. She waited until the other women had left the tent before sitting on the snowy ground beneath her, shivering in the cold. This dress was normally worn during the spring when mating took place. The cold didn't suit the thin cloth, nearly sheer in some places so that she flushed with embarrassment, leaning down to cover herself as best she could.

She looked around the newly set up tent, not surprised to see that it didn't even have any furnishings yet. It probably wouldn't, unless Connor directed the others to put them in there. The bridal tent was meant for women to be alone before their mating day, to meditate and cleanse themselves for the occasion when they were bound to a male. She had no intention of being bound to Connor. How was she going to get out of this? To leave the bridal tent was to deny the mating- and denying the mating to Connor would likely get her exiled from the herd. It would mean certain death... but it was winter, and Misa was white. Perhaps until she found another herd, she would be able to survive among the cold snows. She blended so well...

She looked at the loose flap at the bottom of the tent, the cloth not secured properly in the rush to erect it. This was her only chance... it was either escape, or be mated to Connor for life.

She looked around, her ears listening intently for anyone coming near the tent before she lifted the flap, leaning down to look outside. As usual, the mating tent was on the outer skirts of the herd as everyone else set up their own tent to sleep for the night. There was no one between her and the forest beyond. She skittered under the tent cloth, pushing herself out as the cold snow pushed against her back through the thin cloth of the dress. She shivered violently from the touch, but she would be fine once she was able to shift to her elk form. She made a run for the forest, hearing shouts of alarm behind her when she was spotted.

She wasn't able to shift while running, so she hoped her legs would carry her into the forest quickly, a white streak among the brown trees around her. She heard movement to her right and left, and closed her eyes, hoping they hadn't already caught up to her. She risked a glance at what seemed to be so close to her, running alongside her. She gasped at the sight of a black wolf, his orange-yellow eyes looking over to her with interest before leaping over a fallen log.

Misa had to make the same leap, but her speed made her unable to keep her footing as sure in her human form. She stumbled forward, hitting someone before falling forward onto the snow on top of them. She gasped and looked up to see a man with tanned skin and silver hair looking down at her with an amused grin.

"Well that was easier than I thought it would be." Garu chuckled.