The True Alpha: Bad Blood //jjk

08: Shifts

Minki was carrying some tree logs in his back, dragging his feet as he followed the rest of the men. They were all in line, each bringing what was necessary to rebuild the destroyed cabin. For the past few days, the pack up north had been saving and rebuilding everything that they could in their pack.

They had been unprepared, misplaced and misdirected. The pack had been left without protection, literally offering a free entry to all those who wished to come and ruin them. Everyone seemed to be displeased with the Alpha's choice to mobilize their whole strength into fighting off one single wolf. Which, ultimately, led to their pack's wreckage by the unexpected attack. Every member of the pack was talking about the Alpha's decision, the way their cabins had been demolished, the way they all had been humiliated but the main topic was the black wolf they had seen. There was contradicting opinions amongst the people in the pack. Some found it ridiculous, the Alpha's decision to send all his men to fight him off. Some, those who had seen with their own eyes the wolf, all were perplexed, bewildered with his existence. They whispered to one another, mumbled hesitantly his name. All these stories and descriptions of the black wolf spread like wildfire. It was a mixture of admiration and fear that swirled in the air and penetrated itself into every conversation, every cabin, every wolf.

Something even more extraordinary was happening... a sort of uprising. Wolves gathered in the woods, in isolated places or in their own cabins. They discussed their Alpha's reaction to the black wolf, claiming that him and the wolf knew one another. That the black wolf terrified him and, for that reason, he had sent the whole pack to hunt him down. So, surely, the black wolf would be back again, to finish his job. It wasn't just an uprising that was brewing, it was a revolt. A part of the pack, covered in fear, dreading the day the black wolf would return; was planning on leaving. Another, amazed at the wolf, seduced by his power; muttered between hushed breaths that they wished to join him. The few that wanted to stay in the pack, remained in that place with a bitter taste in their tongues. A poisoning guilt and revolt towards their Alpha's choices. As Minki and Lucca set down their last tree logs of the day, that same conversation contaminated the environment once more.

"I saw him with my own eyes Arran" An older boy screamed at his friend; his eyes wide open as he pointed to himself. "He was huge, bigger than any wolf that ever existed. He ran so fast and skilfully in between the different attacks. Jumped, dodged, counterattacked... he was impossible to catch. The floor trembled when his feet hit the ground, even the breeze was too afraid to fleet through the air...."

"The wolf you're describing cannot possibly exist, surely, sleep clouded your eyes"

The friend replied, chuckling at what he believed to be a fairy tale. He trailed slowly and calmly in front of Minki who observed and listened to the conversation attentively.

"You didn't saw him Arran!" Euan's feet took off into a quick jog to catch up with Arran, who still smiled amusedly at his friend's statement. "If you had seen h-"

"I did" He replied, stealing a glance at Euan standing next to him. There was a calm and sure aura around him, shocking the friend. If he had seen the wolf, how come he didn't tremble and cower to his image? "He was merely a man when I saw him. A regular man, not a god like you describe him to be"

Arran scoffed, breaking into a fit of soft laughs as he thought, once more, about the description of that Alpha that jumped from one mouth to another, knocked on everyone's door, triggered irrational fantasies. Euan chuckled and placed his hands behind his head. His whole demeanour had changed upon hearing Arran's words. Now, a confident aura had grown around him. As if he had become surer of his description and of the image he had of the wolf. Arran scrunched his eyebrows in confusion and stopped, making the group stop as well.