Cognitive Dissonance

Chapter 3-Capture The Flag

It was finally Saturday, and for the first time, I wished it was Monday. But unfortunately, I had to train the younger wolves as part of my punishment.

While I generally liked kids, they never seemed to share the sentiment and tended to think I was intimidating. The worst part was that Jack was going to accompany me also.

It was 'a good way for the next generation to get to know their future Alpha and beta' as the Alpha had put it when giving me the punishment. I groaned when I reached the forest clearing where the 12-14-year-old's were with Jack.

About 16 kids gathered around Jack, hanging on to every word he was saying. I didn't want to spend my Saturday morning with Jack and his fan club. But, unfortunately, I don't have a choice. So I reluctantly walked up to the group. Jack nodded at me in greeting with a straight face.

That was the one thing weird about Jack. I had never seen him smile, and Jack didn't say much. I honestly didn't know what Jack had done to gain so much respect when he barely said anything. It was probably the perks of being the next Alpha.

"Okay, guys, today we will play my spin on capture the flag. I am going to split you into two teams, red and blue. Each team will get a flag, and the game's goal is to get the other team's flag while simultaneously protecting your flag.

Whichever team grabs the opposing team's flag first wins. Bryce will join me as an umpire for the game, and if anyone plays dirty, they will be disqualified. Does everyone understand the rules?" Jack asked.

The kids nodded their heads, and Jack then divided them into teams and gave them the flags. "Ready set, go!" Jack shouted, and the kids ran into the forest with their respective groups.

I looked at Jack, confused. "So do we wait until the game is finished? No offense, but this seems like a waste of time."

Jack just shook his head and gestured for me to follow him. Jack stopped right in front of a large tree at the very edge of the forest. He started poking the trunk in different places, appearing to be searching for something.

"Uhh, what are you doing?" I inquired. Jack just ignored me and continued prodding at the tree. Then, a second later, a piece of bark from the tree flapped open, and inside was an electric panel.

Jack typed in some random string of letters, and to my astonishment, the front of the trunk slid underground, and a wooden staircase going underground was revealed. "Follow me," Jack ordered before descending.

I followed behind him, and once I was inside, the tree closed, locking Jack and me inside. Thankfully there were lights along the pathway lighting the way.
"Are you going to murder me?" I joked hesitantly. "I feel like you are leading me to some kind of dungeon to kill me."

As expected, Jack didn't say anything in response. When the stairs ended, we were in a giant room. There were tons of footage on large tv screens showing different angles of the pack grounds.

There were two long desks in the middle of the room to seat five people, each with giant computers. The whole room looked like a mission control center from a space movie.

"What is this place?" I asked in awe.

"It's an old security room that is now only used during times of war. I want to use the cameras throughout the forest to assess the kids' leadership and teamwork abilities kind of like Mystery Dinners. My dad wants us to write down potential good job fits for each wolf and their strengths and weaknesses." Jack clarified.

"For all of them!?" I exclaimed. "But..there are like 30 of them!"

"There are only 16. And I mostly just need you to take notes on who says what and each group's strategies and thought processes. I didn't assign group leaders, so we want to see who will end up filling that positioning if anyone within the group." Jack explained.