Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
I could smell the trails of different animals as we ran, but the trails were almost overpowered by the scent of excitement coming from all of the others. We were excited to be here right now, together and having fun. I don’t know what it was, but our group almost always had fun when we were together. Talia was right to choose guys to go with me. Especially CJ. He was one of the major goofballs among us and made all the situations funny. I loved him and the others so much. They were my family, my pack, and my best friends. I wouldn’t trade this group of guys for anything in the world.
Before I knew it, it was time for us to start hunting. There was a massive herd of moose that cut across our path. I remember learning in school that at one point in time, their numbers were really low in Colorado, but not anymore. There are thousands of them statewide, and others in the states around us as well. The benefit of that was that these moose were fair game for us. We were allowed to hunt them with no worries.
I felt the excitement course through me and allowed the others to start their hunt first. If I was acting as the Alpha here, then I should see to it that my pack had their fill first. Wasn’t that what it meant to be in charge? Taking care of others. I knew that there were Alphas out there that were selfish and wanted to focus on being the first in everything. However, my dad had taught me to put my family and my people first. And that was what I was doing here and now. I was putting them before me. I was showing them the respect that they deserved. I was being the proper Alpha, just like I intended to do in the future.
****
Reagan
****
Moments after the others started their attack, watching CJ and Elias take down moose that were next to each other, I heard something crashing toward us. Something large.
There was a bear. I could smell it. It was the same kind that I had hunted before. He must have been following the herd, and now he was going crazy with the scent of the blood in the air. I didn’t think that we had much to worry about. He wouldn’t be a match for any of us.
At least, that was what I thought at first. However, that was when Rowan, who was arguably the smallest of our group, had gotten momentarily distracted. The next thing that I knew, as I watched the scene unfolding before me, Rowan’s left leg fell into a hole that was hidden by the underbrush. It wasn’t a trap that was pre-set or anything, just a case of bad luck. Still, I heard him yelp, and so did the others. They froze for a second as they looked at Rowan, the bear completely forgotten by them all.
I watched on in momentary horror as Rowan yowled in pain. I knew that he would heal soon, but it was still hard to watch, and the sound of his leg snapping like that, it was enough to make me cringe.
“Rowan?” I said in what passed for words in wolf form. Just as the word was past my lips, the bear crashed through the trees and towered over Rowan.
There was a moment of fear from the others. They probably would have acted soon enough, but they weren’t as quick on the uptake as I was. I was already leaping into motion and lunging toward the beast. I needed to meet his attack midair, or Rowan’s injury would be a little worse than it had already been.
…..
I felt power, conviction, and strength coursing through me as I flew through the air. I propelled myself toward the bear, determined to protect my friend, and that was probably what caused the change that happened next. All I knew was that I hadn’t planned on this happening.
One second, I was jumping at the bear, and the next I was standing on two legs and holding the thing off while roaring into its face. I felt bigger and stronger, easily overpowering the monstrous bear. And the next thing that I knew, I felt my claw sinking deeply into the bear’s neck and shoulders. His roaring cut off almost instantly as the blood poured from the wound.
Dead, the bear dropped to the forest floor. And that was when I turned, still on two legs, to face the others. The looks on their faces was what told me that something had happened. They didn’t even have to say a word. I looked down at my hand, because they were hands now, not paws. Well, sort of. They were hand shaped paws I guess, but there were fingers for sure.
I was a Lycan. Just like my dad, I was standing there in the true werewolf form that was so rare and almost unheard of for our people. At least it was now. In the past, somewhere in the ancient histories of our people, there had been a lot of Lycans. Now, I was only the second one that I knew of.
“Wow.” That was all that I could say as I looked at the lethal claws tipping my fingers. “This is fucking cool.”
“Reagan?” Elias was looking at me with awe in his eyes. “Y..y..y..you’re a Lycan.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” I laughed and it was a deep rumbling sound. “I thought that my dad was the only one, but I guess I inherited it.”
“Yeah, I guess you did.” He laughed in response.
“I..I think that I need to head back for now. We have food in the cabin, right?” I looked at them. “We can hunt tomorrow. I think that I need time to process this. And I don’t want to be out here like this if the humans show up.”
“Yeah, let’s head back.” CJ nodded. “Still, this is awesome.” He was grinning broadly as he looked at me.
“Yeah, it really is.” I laughed deeply again.
We headed back toward the cabin after that. I think that we all needed to calm down after what had just happened. Rowan’s leg healed with no problem when he shifted, so that was all well and good. And none of us were upset about what had happened or anything, we just needed time to process it. We ended up making a bunch of frozen pizzas, one of the main things that they had stocked the cabin with, playing video games, and just hanging out all night.
I know that it doesn’t sound all that exciting, but it was still a really great night. I think that we all needed it. A lot of us hadn’t just hung out and just relaxed in a long time. With the stuff that was going on right now, and the murders before this, things had been really hard for us all since university started. This night that Talia had set up for me was more therapeutic than I ever thought that it was going to be. I had to remember to thank her for it later.
The next day, we decided to go for a hike in the woods, in our human forms. I didn’t want to risk shifting just yet, and the others agreed with me. I needed to talk to my parents about it later when I got home. For the time being though, we were just having fun in the mountains. We even decided that we were going to be typical stupid boys and jump into the river. Yes, it was winter. Yes, it was cold. No, we didn’t care. I mean, we’re wolves, we don’t feel the temperature the way that the humans did, so we were allowed to do things that were stupid like that. At least from time to time.
After the long weekend away at the cabin, we decided to head home around noon on Sunday. It was time to get out of here, and then time for me to tell my parents about my becoming a Lycan. I had a feeling that my dad was going to be really happy to hear about that. At least, I hoped that he would. In my mind, it was something that was really, really major.
When I got home, I decided to seek out my dad first. I didn’t know if he would be with my mom or not, but I wanted to find him. He wasn’t in the tower though, and he wasn’t in his office. Apparently, he had taken a cue from us and decided to go for a run in the woods. By the time that I started to search for him in the mountains behind the castle, he was already heading home.
I saw him running toward me in his wolf form as I entered the cover of the trees. I called out to him and waved him toward me. I saw the recognition in his eyes when he saw me, then he ran on all fours toward me. In his wolf form, he was about five and half feet tall, and his head was massive. He was one of the largest of our people, and that was to be expected as well. He was our king, and my dad. I always saw him as bigger, stronger, and capable of anything. I didn’t know if that was ever going to change.
“Hey son, what is wrong?” Dad, the protector that he was, immediately thought that he needed to fix something.
“Nothing is wrong. Not really.” I grinned at him happily. “I just found something out the other day that really surprised me.” I tried not to grin like an idiot as I told him what was going on.
“What is it?” He asked me, his eyes narrowing and his wolfish head turning to the side in curiosity.
“Well, Friday night, when we were at the cabin hunting. I was watching over the others as they all started to catch their prey first. I was being like an Alpha to them, letting them flourish first, like you taught me. Well, Rowan stepped in a hidden hole and broke his leg.”
“Is he OK?” Dad asked with concern in his wolf voice, knowing full well that he would be. We’re wolves, we all heal quickly.
“Yeah. A shift was all that he needed. I did make sure that the bone was reset first, and that was a little painful for him, but he is alright now. He said he would have Uncle Griffin look at it today as well, just to be safe.”
“That is good. But what was it that surprised you? I am assuming that it wasn’t the fact that Rowan broke his leg.”
“No, that wasn’t it.” I laughed and smiled. I was feeling giddy and that just made me want to laugh even more. “Right when Rowan fell into the hole and screamed out, a monster of a bear came crashing into our area of the forest. He smelled the blood from the animals we were hunting and wanted some. And well, he was looming over Rowan.”