Oh my goddess, it feels so good to get out and stretch my paws. If I didn't know any better, I would think it'd been months since the last time I was allowed to run as Solis.

Eesh, saying her name is weird now. What if her name is only Solis because the Sun Goddess believes that I'm her most powerful creation? And if I am, then why did she want to create me? Not only her, but why would the Moon Goddess want me to come to fruition? I thought that would be a threat to her power? Unless there's something that she can't fix. Then having someone as powerful as her sister would solve her problems. She'd just send them all to me and, because I owe myself being created to her, I'll have to help.

Ugh. All of this is too much. Now I'm not only worrying about my brother and pack, but also, why on earth I exist, what I was created for.

The only conversation that I've ever had with the Sun Goddess, she told me I was her greatest creation. I don't want to believe Lily, but the more I think about it, the more I believe it.

What if I am her image? What could they have planned for my life? Why create The Tigress now, are things about to get bad?

Things have already gotten bad. An entire pack being cursed, that is bad, and not just bad, but a first. There could be many more terrible things to come, and I've only just scratched the surface. If so, then why put all of it on one person? Why not give the Senate this gift, or so it's called. They've obviously got more practice, more experience. Me, I'm barely an adult, just coming into my own.

I'm not sure I want to be her greatest creation.

Sophie! Don't disappear on me like that. Connor comes running up beside me and I look to him. I don't want you to be alone. We don't know what, or who, could be out here. He sniffs the air for the millionth time, checking for anyone.

There's no one for miles. We're perfectly safe. I just needed to run. To think. I plop down on the ground, laying my head between my paws. It's all getting to be too much for me to wrap my head around. I want to help the pack, but there's something, some instinct, telling me that some time soon, bad things will happen. Terrible things that I can't control. It scares me, and yet I also have this instinct telling me to protect people. That I'm the one thing that can keep them safe. There's never only one way to do anything. Connor lies down beside me and I look to him. I'm not their only chance. I can't be. I can't handle that responsibility.

You're right, and that's why you can protect them. He presses his nose against my cheek. You know that no one can do anything alone. That's why you have me, Lily, Trish, Hunter, and even Desmond. We are all here to help you. You're never alone Soph.

I groan and roll over onto my back. My paws stretch upwards, then relax above my chest and stomach. The stars are so pretty, and I just want to look at them for the rest of my life. No responsibility, just me, Connor, and the stars.

Connor does as I did, staring up at the stars. We probably look like an odd pair, even to the human eye. Two huge animals, one a white tiger, and the other, a massive pitch black wolf. Both too big to be normal animals, and both very different from other animals.

It's nearly sun rise by the time we get to our clothes, and as we walk back inside, I notice a few people walking around. Connor and I lay down on our bed, exhausted from not sleeping at all last night. In our pajamas already, we both climb in bed to catch some shut eye.

I welcome sleep as Connor holds me against his chest. When I open my eyes again, hours have passed and it looks to be almost noon. What woke me up was a faint knocking. I almost forgot about it, but then it comes again.

I carefully pry myself out of Connor's arms and tiptoe to the door, so as not to wake him. When I open it, I step out into the hall, motioning for the small woman on the other side to stay quiet. Once the door is shut, I look to her, eyebrow raised.

"Sorry to disturb you, Alpha Desperte, but my master has asked me to come notify you of the Senate galla. It is a huge party, thrown once a year to celebrate the creation of the Senate itself." She hands me a thick, textured piece of paper. "He says that he would be honored if you and your friends joined in on the activities."

I take it from her, glancing down at it. "Who is your master?" I ask, not liking the word.

"Master Philip, Alpha Desperte." She says proudly. Well at least she enjoys being his servant.

"Alright. I'll let everyone know, although, we didn't pack for a ball."

She nods, smiling. "Master Philip said that you may borrow dresses from his collection. I know of several that will look lovely on you and your friends."

The door opens beside me and Connor emerges, in all his shirtless glory. "Babe, what are you doing out here?" He gingerly takes my hand, pulling me into his side. "Who's this?"

I show him the invitation. "She's one of Philip's employees. She came to tell me about a galla." Connor nods, looking at it. "What's your name? I feel weird referring to you through Philip."

"Sorry, that's my fault. Bad manners." She curtsies, then lifts her head. "My name is Elaine."

I nod at her and she stands back up. "Elaine has offered to show the girls and I some dresses."

He nods, looking to Elaine. "Thank you. We'll discuss this further in our room."

She nods. "Very well. If you need me, I'm just a ring away." With that said, she walks away.

Connor leads me back into the bedroom, tossing the invitation onto a small table. "We aren't going."

"I would love to agree with you, but it's the perfect opportunity to get more people to listen. I feel like I need to communicate more with them, maybe I can convince some of them that helping is the right choice. Anything is better than nothing, and right now, I'm pretty sure we're working with nothing." Connor takes a breath to say something, but then lets out a sigh.

He walks towards the bed and stands in front of me. "It's not that I don't want this to succeed, but I feel like this just isn't our thing. We don't do large parties and gatherings."

I nod. "We dont, but maybe we should. It benefits us to attend. It also gives everyone else a chance to relax, and have fun. We shouldn't pass it up just because we normally don't do these kinds of things." He kneels down in front of me, his head being level with mine.

"Alright. We'll go. I trust you to make the right decisions." He kisses my forehead and I smile.

"Thank you." I sigh, standing up. "We should probably start getting ready. That invitation says that it's tomorrow."

Connor groans. "Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?"

I shrug, picking it up. "I guess that is the exact day the Senate was created. What a coincidence, right"

"Sure. Coincidence." He scoffs and goes to the closet.

"What?" I follow after him and he glances back at me.

"It's probably just Philip trying to get to you." He growls quietly, looking at shirts.

"Philip?" I watch him closely. "Connor, what does Philip have to do with any of this?"

"Of course you wouldn't notice." Again he growls, angrily digging through his clothes. "You wouldn't notice if a guy knelt down and proposed to you."

I glare at him and place my fists on my hips. "What the hell Connor?"

Connor spins on his heel, fuming. "He likes you Sophie! I can tell by the way he looks at you, and how he smiles whenever you're around. You're just too blind to see it."

"Um, excuse me?" I stomp up to him and grab his collar. "Maybe I don't notice because I dont care. Maybe I don't care, because I already have a mate that I love and care about, or are you too blind to see that?" I yell at him and his angry face fades. "Yeah. Thought so." I let him go and walk back into the room. I gather up some of my things and open up the door.

"Where are you going?" I turn to look at Connor who is standing in the closet doorway.

"Away from you." It hurt me to say it, but with everything going on, I didn't need a jealous mate to be added onto it. He should know that I'd never leave him. He shouldn't even need to get jealous.

I hear him whimper as I shut the door. If he had done that before I had shut the door, I would've run back to him and kissed him and told him that I love him, but he didn't. He didn't believe that I'd walk out until I did.

I walk up to Lily's door and knock on it.

"One minute!" She yells from the other side. A second later, the door opens. "Sophie! Where's Connor?" She looks around, expecting to see him.

I suck a breath in through my nose. "I left him to think about things. Also, I came to show you this." I hold out the card and she takes it, gesturing for me to come in.

Desmond isn't inside, so I sit on the bed. "A party?" Lily smiles at me. "Are we going?"

I nod my head. "Yup. Philip invited us to come and enjoy ourselves, plus, it will give me a chance to meet and talk to everyone. Maybe I'll gain some support tonight."

Lily squeals and grabs my hand before dragging me to Trish's room. From there, she rings the bell in Trish's room. I told her to, I mean, what else could I ring to get Elaine's attention?

Thankfully, I was right. Not even a minute later, there's a soft knock on the door, the smiling Elaine standing just on the other side. "Have you decided to join us tomorrow night, Alpha Desperte?"

I nod to her while standing. "Yes, and my two friends and I need to borrow a few dresses. You said that Philip has some?"

Elaine nods happily. "Of course, just follow me."

"Why does Philip have dresses? He isn't going to wear them." Lily says as we walk along.

"Lily." I try to shush her, but Elaine's laugh stops me.

"No, she's right. To most it would seem quite odd, but Master Philip designs them. He may be a political high roller, but he enjoys his simple hobbies. Designing clothes being one of those hobbies, he has a few dresses here that I'm sure will fit the three of you." Elaine walks slightly ahead of us. There's no telling where we're going, but at this point, I don't see any problem with that. She stops short of a more modest set of wooden doors. They open without a noise and lights flick on. Inside is a room full of dresses. I still hate dresses, but a little less than I used to. They're still highly impractical if caught in a fight. "Go ahead, look around."

Lily rushes ahead, burying herself in the materials. Trish begins to walk around, grazing her hands against almost every dress. I, on the other hand, stare unsure at it all. Might as well start somewhere.

A/N

What are your thoughts on this book so far? Comment, vote, message me and tell me what you like/don't like. Hearing from you guys makes me motivated to write.

I hope you all have had a fantastic day, fare the well,

Renegade Druid