Dog Season (Discontinued)

Part I: Chapter Eight

     The angry crack of Forest's neck returned when he gaped upon his Alpha. Charity followed his gaze and there on the tall rock stood a small, stocky, Golden Retriever.
That's the Alpha? Charity thought pathetically and glanced towards the beautiful, long-furred, Irish Setter that stood by his side. Compared to her mate, the Beta's flanks were very round.
She must be pregnant... Charity guessed. These are pathetic leaders. Why didn't Forest fight that Golden? He could've easily won!
      "Why not, Alpha?" The German Shepherd growled.
      The Leader lifted his chin and puffed out his chest. "There are plenty of dogs already and there would be too many mouths to feed. Especially with ones on the way."
     "Just by adding two dogs?" Forest grumbled.
     "Yes." The plump Irish Setter stepped forward, supporting her mate. "Forest, Alpha has spoken. These dogs that Cori brought must go." Charity thought she could sense weird energy surging between the Beta and Forest but she shook it off. The whole pack began to surround the Rock, and whispered to each other.
     "Just hold on." Charity barked and padded towards the Golden Alpha. "Let's make a deal."
     "I'm not making any deals with an outsider!" The Golden snarled.
     Charity ignored his growl. "We will fight. If I win, I become Alpha and I will choose my Beta. If you win, Kimora and I will both leave and will never return."
     "Charity, no. Don't do this." Forest whimpered.
     The Silken Windhound ignored her mate's plea and waited for the Alpha to respond.
     The Golden and Setter turned their backs towards the dogs, discussing the challenge. Then they faced their pack.
     "Very well. We accept." The Alpha said silkily and began to trot down his perch with his Beta close. Dogs parted and let the leaders pass, then made a circle around Charity, the Alpha and the Beta.
     The Sighthound began to step forward, when something caught the feathers on her tail.
     She turned to see Forest. "Please, don't do this."
     "He's a tiny Golden Retriever, I think I'll be fine." Charity whipped her tail in her mate's face and jogged to the middle of the circle. The Leader stepped forward and glared at his opponent, trying to appear intimidating. Charity stared down at him, and rolled her eyes.
Pathetic. This'll be quick.
     The red Beta padded forward between them. "Let this be a clean, fair fight. No cheap shots." Then the Setter turned and joined the dog-circle. "Get ready......fight!"
     The Golden Retriever hopped backwards and snarled at Charity. She returned a savage growl and the opponents began to circle each other.
     Charity lunged at the Leader and he fell with a thump. She clamped her jaws around his thick, neck skin, trying to avoid his throat.
     Unpredictably, the Retriever shoved her off with a mighty push of his paws. Charity tumbled and almost fell onto the dogs that crowded around them. She climbed to her paws and a golden paw smacked her in the eyes. The Windhound yelped and fell on her back with a thump and eyes tightly shut.
He went for my eyes! He's knows I'm nothing without my eyes!
     "Give up, weakling?" A low voice laughed.
Charity rose to her paws again with her eyes still shut. "No." She sensed the Golden stalking towards her back. The sighthound tensed and sprung onto her opponent; her eyes remained closed.
She could feel the Retriever pound into the dirt, clearly taken by surprise. The Windhound rolled the dog onto his back and snapped a mouthful of loose skin.
The Alpha yelped and struggled under her grasp, trying to escape. The warm, liquidity feeling of blood flowed into her mouth, and Charity's jaws dug deeper like a steel trap. She opened her eyes to see a bloody mess before her. She parted her jaws and the Golden flopped onto the ground, gasping for air.
The Irish Setter padded up with her fluffy, red tail between her legs and her eyes wide. She lowered her head towards her Alpha and whispered, "Do you yield?"
The Retriever glared towards Charity, then returned his gaze towards his Beta. He nodded weakly, then flopped his bloody head onto the ground.
"We have your new Alpha." The Setter announced quietly. All the dogs lowered their heads in submission.
The sound of two cheers echoed through the forest, Charity glanced towards the cheers to see Kimora and Cori yowling with delight. She flattened her ears against her head in embarrassment, but accepted her praise.
Charity began to trot over towards her only fans, when the Setter's voice stopped her. "Just a minute...aren't you going to choose your Beta?"
"Oh, right." She hurried over towards the former Beta and sat next to her.
"You can be heard better when you stand up there." The Setter nodded towards the tall rock.
"Okay." Charity hopped onto the rock and faced her new pack. "Uh...hi everyone. I hope you're not afraid of me after what you just witnessed. I'm not like that...only when dogs get on my nerves." Some of the dogs loosened their tense bodies and raised their head to listen. "I promise to be a better Alpha than he ever was." She gestured towards the Golden who limped to a cave where strong smells flowed in the air with his former Beta beside him.
A huge-yet elegant, fawn colored Mastiff mix padded toward the rock and gazed upon her new Alpha with adoring brown eyes. "I know you will. He was the worst Leader. He's a coward."
Charity tilted her head with confusion. "Then why didn't anyone step up to be Alpha?"
"'Cause all of us are afraid of leadership. None of us know how to run a pack. Then he showed up and took over." The young Mastiff mix uncurled her fawn-colored tail.
"Not even Forest?" Charity rose her brow and glanced at her mate who lowered his tan head and didn't make eye contact.
Why? We always talked about leading a pack together...
Charity shook her brown and white pelt, not wanting to think about her mate being a coward. She stared down at the fawn colored, brown masked dog in front of her. "What's your name?"
The young dog's tail curled and began to wag slowly. "Suzie."
"What's your rank?"
"I'm the lowest ranking hunter."
"Well, not anymore. You'll be the Lead Hunter."
The massif female's brown eyes brightened and her tail wagged until it was a blur. "This is so exciting! Thank you, Alpha. But I'm sure we're all wondering...who will be Beta?"
"Right." Charity searched through the crowd of dogs looking for Forest, but there was no trace of his tan and black pelt or black erect ears. Her eyes laid on Cori, who looked up at her with friendly eyes.
His face made Charity smile, then she glanced at her sister who was next to him.
Kimora's eyes quickly bulged and she shook her from side to side.
She doesn't want to be Beta? Oh well.
Charity cleared her throat and inhaled a breath through her nostrils. "Okay. The Beta of my pack will be...Cori."