Breathe, everything will be okay -
I am so tired of hearing those words, having to pause and accept everything because of the balance. The balance of family, love, loyalty, and peace. When you live in a clan of multiple families, and you are one of the Alpha's eldest daughters. Your job is to smile and help, walk around the lands, and make sure everybody sees you. You are their strength; if they see even a glimpse of panic, they panic. It is exhausting.
Everybody else can have real lives, explore outside of their homes and their lands. Instead, we are treated like... I do not know, something fragile. Not like we are the home of mystical beings that the moon blessed us with. Yet, the eldest son gets taught how to run the lands, our lands, how to control an empire, how to be an Alpha. War Rooms, battle training, adventure. The world is open for him. Any son born after is taught almost the same, but not quite; every clan is different. They are taught the histories of the clans, sit in on meetings, and help patrol the lands. That way, when the clans come together for their events, they know and can answer other Alphas' questions in hopes of moving to another clan and continuing the peace.
The daughters, ugh, we are taught household things. To be a mother, to be a healer, a teacher, and to be a wife. We learn basic survival skills, basic defenses, and attacks… but there is something inside me screaming for more. I could feel it underneath my skin, almost like another heartbeat.