Page 7 of Chasing Aledwen

; “Most paranormal communities have a Council. This is the shifter one.”

“And they rule all the shifters?”

“Not really. Most of them, yes, but you tend to find that the various prides and packs sometimes have their own rules.”

“Like the wolves that live with the fae?” she asked, thinking of the pack that’d lived with her people since childhood. As far as she knew, there were similar packs with the other fae, though rumour had it that the autumn wolves were out hunting their missing princess..

“A little. The lions seem to be the same, their prides have sub-rules, as do the dragon flocks.”

“Dragons have flocks?” She cocked her head to the side, considering the information. She’d never considered what a group of dragons were called. In fact, she’d thought they were mostly solitary creatures.

“Some do. Others are much more...grumpy around other dragons. There’s actually one of the lone ones on the Shifter Council. He hates just about anyone and everyone though, so maybe stay away from him if you can.” He laughed as he finished speaking.

“I hate to point this out, but I’ve no idea how to tell if someone’s a dragon.” Or any other kind of shifter for that matter. But she wasn’t going to admit that yet.

“If he’s glaring at me, it’s likely to be Drayce. We’re...uh, from rival flocks, even if he chose to leave his.”

“That makes it sound very Romeo and Juliet.”

“It is a little. You’d have thought it’d die off after a couple of centuries, but no such luck.”

Centuries? Just how old was he? Was it creepy for her to be out with a much older man? Or was it okay because he was a dragon? She had no idea how any of this worked.

“Don’t look at me that way. I’m not that old.” He smiled reassuringly at her.

“How old?” The question came out like a whisper, and she dreaded his answer a little bit. Though him being older probably wasn’t a big deal. Most paranormals were long lived, herself included, so it shouldn’t be looked down on or anything.

“I’m thirty-three,” he replied, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “But really, does it matter once you reach eighteen?”

“Not really, no,” she replied, impressed that his thoughts echoed her own. They were right though. Paranormals aged a lot slower, and lived a lot longer, than humans did. So an age gap like theirs meant next to nothing. “I don’t actually think about age much. Other than that this is the year I start doing the Birth.”

“I’ve heard of that, it’s a big ceremony, right?” It was his turn to look particularly curious. Aledwen liked that. It put them more on a level playing field in her mind.

“Yes. It’s the transition of control between the Winter Court and us. I’m not sure how much it actually makes a difference. I think it’s just the magic that needs guiding, but I don’t know for definite.”

“Why has no one ever told you?” he asked, before glancing out of the window, possibly to check where they were.

“I’m in the dark about a lot of things.”

The car shuddered and she gripped onto the handle next to her seat, hoping nothing was going to go wrong with it. Drey chuckled again, and she threw him a glare. He shouldn’t laugh at her. It wasn’t her fault she knew nothing about the human world.

“There’s no need to worry, Dwen. It’s supposed to do that.”

“And how am I supposed to know that?” she flung back at him. “I’ve never been here before, I’ve no idea how anything works.”

She could have almost sworn that a tingle of magic passed over her skin as the anger rose. But she was probably imagining it. She couldn’t do magic, and she’d been angry enough times before to know that wasn’t what brought it on.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t...”

“Yes, well.”

The vehicle rolled to a stop, and without waiting for him, she flung open the door and got out of the it. Glad to have her feet back on solid ground. And glad she’d kept on her flat shoes. They were covered by her dress anyway, so she didn’t need to worry about how they looked.

She glanced around, and a smile crept over her face. She could already tell how different this was to any of the parties back home. There was laughter about, and shouting. As well as a lot of different colours. And not one sight of a ball pink dress. Or a corset for that matter.

The women’s dresses were sleek and elegant, fitting to their bodies closely and looking both comfortable and beautiful. Unlike the one she’d been wearing just hours ago.