Rachel was seething. Everyone could feel it. A tidal wave of guilt was going through the collective pack-mind. The whole pack of eight were gathered in front of a pacing, snarling Rachel. Everyone made sure to be extremely quiet. No one wanted to anger her further.
Their eyes were all trained to the ground, ears lay flat and tails were either wagging unsurely or tucked behind their legs. This was a collective sign of submission forced on by Rachel's anger. It was leaving chemicals in the air around them, pheromones. Strong ones, at that. Her scent alone had the power to this to them. To anyone, probably.
She was the pack-alpha, and didn't need pheromones to make the pack bend to her will. It seemed almost like it was out of her control. It almost funny, how even the rebellious beta Paul was trembling every time Rachel let out a huff or a growl.
It was never like this before. Rachel was a good alpha to their pack. She really was. The whole pack agreed to that. She could be strict and she demanded to be respected, but she wasn't cruel. Everything she did, was for the pack's benefit. She never abused the power of her alpha-voice. The voice that forced any pack-member to obey.
Her emotions had the power to affect the whole pack. If she had strong feelings about something, everyone would know and vice versa. However, she knew this well, and therefore always kept her emotions in check. With this power she knew when a member was hurting. When that happened, she could be surprisingly soothing and gentle.
It was her that got them all through the hard winters, when pray was hard to find. Always with a clear mind. Only when it was absolutely needed, did she scold or even punish. Her ever collected mind kept the pack whole and sane. Right now, she was not calm and collected.
All because of one wolf. They hadn't been able to catch her this time either. Cosima let out a little whine when Rachel growled for the millionth time. It infuriated Rachel, the way that wolf was able to run across their territory undetected. It wasn't the pack's fault either, that wolf was just too damn good at running and staying undetected. It was weird. No one understood why that wolf did it. Why she would risk it.
Most wolves who lived nearby had heard of this pack, and knew exactly where the border went. Many have tried to challenge their pack and god forbid, their pack-alpha. All who tried, failed. All except this mysterious wolf.
The uneasiness that the whole pack felt, lasted for days. Rachel was considerably calmer now, a few days later. However, she was still restless. That, in turn, made the whole pack restless. All she could think about was how it would be to catch that wolf and bring her to her knees. To bite her neck and feel the power she could have over her. She had never wanted to assert dominance over someone this much before, even if she was a born as a natural dominant. There was something special about this wolf, even if Rachel didn't know what it was.
"Hey Cosima, your shift is over now". Felix came to take her shift, which was good because it looked like she needed some rest. "Thanks Fee, theres nothing to report this far. No sign of her yet". Cosima gave Felix an encouraging smile. "The night is still young" sighed Felix who was not looking forward to being stuck on border patrol for 4 hours. "We have to do this. You know how anxious Rachel is about catching this wolf" Cosima pointed out. "Yeah, I just hope we actually catch her this time". Cosima just nodded at that, they were all tired of constantly having to patrol the border, keeping a lookout in case the wolf showed up.
And she did eventually.
