Chapter 9: Alpha Rising

My eyes peeked open into a light shaded darkness. Climbing from the spot where I had laid, I stretched out my cramped muscles and gave a big yawn. I shook the dirt from my fur and began walking slowly back to my village. I wondered if anyone noticed I was gone at all; I assumed they had not, since I usually take off to do random things without telling anyone for a day or two at a time. Then I remembered the girl I had saved and had left at the river. I went the few feet back to the river to see if any trace of her was left. The space around the river was empty and the girl's scent was faint. How long had I slept for her to recover so quickly, I wondered?

Shaking my head I decided to forget about my act of heroism. Turning around once more, I headed back to the north towards my own village. I had to inform everyone about the humans. That they were tearing Telaerion apart tree by tree.

What if that girl had been Aliana? I do not know what I would have done to those humans, nor anyone who did that to Aliana. All I knew was that it would most definitely hit a fuse in my inner being, creating an explosion of furious anger. Then I began to get angry with myself. Why is Aliana so important to me? I have only met her once and she is from the castle, so why would it matter if it was her or the other girl.

As I strolled into my village, the sky was getting darker; another day gone. I have been gone for a total of almost three days now and yet no one rushed to me, wondering where I was, or worrying about me.

I suddenly saw my uncle catch my eye and slowly stalked toward me. He raised his eyebrow and looked at my muzzle then my empty paws. I sighed, turned back around into the forest to go hunting. I was one of the best hunters in the pack, that is the only thing my uncle worried about; never coming back empty paws, because one of his greatest fears was not having enough food to feed everyone. I was never worried though, I wanted to give the other hunters credit also. I have just become so in depth in my senses that I focus on everything that happens, even outside my own clan. Then I remembered the reason I was gone, the most important thing that needs to be shared. I turned around once more and raced after my uncle. I poked my head into his den and grunted. He looked at me for a while, but then decided to get up and paced outside. I then walked into the middle of our tiny village and howled to call everyone together. As wolves poked their heads out of their dens, others stopped what they were doing and stared at me as I shifted forms to relay the seriousness of it by choosing my human form to speak, "My dear wolves, we are in major danger. I want to warn you all, of the coming humans to the West. Trees are being torn out of the ground, animals are being slaughtered, remains burned, and humans invading more and more of Telaerion each day. I'm not the Alpha and I'm not one to be making decisions, but something needs to be done before they become even more of a threat to us."

Heads turned towards the faraway den, where the Alpha wolf had once lived. He did not have any kin to be the next Alpha wolf and no mate to take his place. No one has picked an Alpha since; no one knew how. Our last Alpha wolf died too young, from a rare disease, and the reason he chose not to breed his bloodline any longer. I stood in the middle of the village where all the Alphas once stood to speak, and I spoke to the faces around me now. "I saw smoke rising above the trees a few days ago, so I left and followed the smoke. A day later, I arrived to destruction, humans. I saved a woman from the castle that had been captured." At my statement of me saving the castle woman, I heard a few gasps and saw eyes widen; some tilted their head in curiosity, like my aunt. "I saved her because the humans are their enemies also. We need to either invade or start building up better defenses. We need to frighten these humans away from us." My uncle nodded with a proud look in his eyes. Then my aunt nodded, her eyes shining with hopefulness. "We must rise. We might be rogues, but we are a clan, and we are a family. We must protect each other." At that, others began nodding and showing agreement.

One of the females shifted, "But we don't have an Alpha wolf to lead us." She stated the obvious dilemma. I was too young to be Alpha...everyone knew that. An Alpha wolf had to be at least twenty-five. I looked at my uncle, then back at the clan. I silently questioned them by raising an eyebrow. My aunt then nudged my uncle forward towards the middle where I stood. As he reached the middle, he sat on the ground puffing his chest out and stared back at the clan with his chin held high and noble. The clan began to bow in respect as my uncle looked up to the sky and began to howl, I followed and then the clan joined in. We were like a symphony of howling, the dark sky as our audience.