Fresh Blood (Book 1)

11. Dominance

The walk back to the house was louder than Olivia had expected. Her mother had stepped far out in front of everyone. She could tell that she was still seething about not getting to finish the fight. Kaleb and Michael both told her that she had proven she was more dominant than Letha. All that earned them was a glare and complete silence from her. Dean strode happily next to Olivia. His massive fur covered shoulders hit right about her rib cage. She was almost certain that small children could ride him like a Shetland pony. He bumped into her every now and then, almost to remind her that he was there.

Olivia chuckled as Michael stepped in line with her mother and said something to her. She looked over at him, without breaking stride, and he fell back by Kaleb, who was nearly ten yards behind Virginia. The rest of the wolves played around, shoving and punching each other. Olivia noted how much they, especially the newer wolves, looked like pups in documentaries she’d seen on wolves in the wild. They played, but it was all in an effort to learn to fight and defend themselves. One of them was shoved forwards into Olivia. She stumbled and caught her foot on a raised root. She managed to, not so gracefully, face plant herself into the dirt.

“Whoa! Sorry!” the man said as he went to pull her up. Dean jumped in front of her protectively and snarled. Olivia lifted herself up onto her knees and whacked Dean on the side. He stood, hackles raised and teeth bared at the other wolf. Kaleb, Michael, and Virginia had all stopped and turned to see.

“I said I was sorry,” the man hissed at Dean. There was a threat of violence there. Dean’s chest rumbled with a low growl. Olivia watched the man’s eyes lighten and his face became slightly elongated.

“Do something about it then,” he growled at Dean. Dean lowered himself into an offensive position.

“We do not fight for dominance in different forms in this pack!” Virginia’s voice was clear over the low hum of growls.

"One of you needs to shift,” Kaleb said looking between the two of them.

“I’ll shift, he’s going to need all his strength,” the man said before he shrunk back into the woods.

“Feel free to leave if you would like,” Kaleb said to the rest of the pack. No one moved. Olivia’s stomach flipped, she didn’t want to watch this. But she couldn’t leave Dean that would look weak. She didn’t need to be looked at as weak before she even turns. Dean sat down next to her on the ground. She could feel his muscles quivering.

“What’s it like to have adrenaline while you’re in wolf form?” Olivia asked.

“It’s kind of the same as when you get it as a human,” Michael answered her, “The only difference is that it’s harder to come down from it when you’re in wolf form. You generally only get rushes of adrenaline when your body needs it. For a fight, or to run to save your ass.” Olivia nodded to herself. She watched as everyone began to settle, some climbed up trees to low hanging branches. Kaleb settled near to her and Dean. She noticed that he never really seemed relaxed, there was always tension in his shoulders and arms. He was always ready for something. She wondered if he ever relaxed. Michael lounged near to Kaleb, but away from Dean. Everyone seemed mostly relaxed, except for her mother. She crouched on the balls of her feet, one hand planted on the earth for what Olivia assumed was stability. Her other hand rested on one of her thighs. Her eyes were stark white as she watched someone across the large open space the pack had created in the middle of themselves. She followed her mother’s gaze to Letha. She was leaning against the trunk of a tree. Her face had begun to swell, the wounds seemed to be healing very slowly, Olivia wondered why. A few other female wolves surrounded her, they appeared to be coddling her. But Olivia assumed they were acting as protection for her. After all, her mother did look like a predator that spotted a weak and injured animal in a herd.