Chapter 2: Young Troubles
Hey guys, hope you have decided to keep up with the sequel. Anyway I'm not going to say too much so hope you enjoy reading.
It wasn't often that a wolf was allowed free time in 'The Phoenix'. Most of a wolf's day was devoted to either attending classes, patrolling the territory, or hunting, so when you were granted free time, it was best to use it wisely. And what better way to spend free time than by goofing off with your friends, at least that was Draco's view. He figured nothing could have been more relaxing than running around with your closest friends and having fun.
Then again he felt the most relaxed when he was near his friends. He could really cut loose around them and just be a simple little fun loving pup, and not the hard core disciplined wolf that he thought his father wanted. He had plenty of friends around the pack, mainly because everyone wanted to be friends with the pack leaders son, but only a few were really close to him. The closest of which, was a small grey wolf named Ralph.
Ralph was the son of one of his fathers closest friends, and Draco's godfather, Terry. He was about Draco's size with maybe an inch difference between the two, and their athletic skills were at essentially the same level. Which made them perfect friends because they knew each others limits. They were friends at first sight, or at least from what sight they could remember.
Then there was Braden. He was taller than the other two, with tan fur and golden eyes. They considered him the 'muscles' of the group. Even though he was hardly a year old they had seen him lift tree branches twice his size with ease, and were very envious of his strength. But there would be no lifting for him today, just relaxation.
But the most favorite of his friends was Avelina. What made her his favorite, was the fact that he was infatuated with her. She wasn't like the other girls in the pack, she was, different. She wasn't afraid to get dirty, she like to roll around in the mud and explore. To her, being a little pampered powder puff that sat around all day was boring, she like to get out and be active. But Draco was scared to death to tell her how he felt. He was afraid that she might not like hanging out with him anymore, so he kept to himself.
It was only mid-morning, but the sun was already blazing down heating the land. So the group decided to go swimming so they could keep cool. It was a quiet spot where they chose to rest at, but once Braden started doing high jumps into the pond, the silence was quickly disrupted. The group couldn't help but laugh as his splashes launched water high into the air and came crashing back down. It seemed like the perfect day to them, so once they were all out of the water, the laid down onto the bank to dry off. As they sat there, they were struck up in conversation and just rambled for hours.
"So what are you going to do on your birthday Draco," asked Ralph curiously.
"Well, my dad said that he was going to take me on a walk and he was gonna tell me a secret," Draco replied.
"What kind of secret," asked Avelina. Draco shrugged and shook his head.
"I don't know, but it must be important, he made me promise not to tell anyone, not even my brothers or sisters,"
"But you're going to tell your best friends right," joked Braden.
"I'm not sure, I promised my dad," Draco said shrugging.
"Ah come on, it's not like he will find out," Ralph replied.
"I don't know about that, he has ways of finding out," Draco replied nervously. Just then the group fell silent when they heard someone calling out.
"Avelina come home sweetie," called Avelina's mother. Avelina groaned and stood up slowly.
"Sorry guys I've got to get home," she said as she walked away. They waved her off and remained by the pond in silence for almost a minute before Ralph spoke.
"Dude, we both know you like her," he said. Draco blushed instantly and tried to hide his face.
"What are you talking about, I do not like her," Draco said defensively. Both Ralph and Braden laughed.
"Don't like her? Dude every time your near her you stare at her almost constantly," Ralph pointed out. Draco's eyes widened, he had no idea that they had noticed him staring at her. It was true, he didn't want to take his eyes off of her, but he tried not to seem too obvious about it.
"Fine, I do kinda liker her," Draco admitted. Ralph and Braden both smiled at him.
"Nothing to be ashamed of Draco, everybody falls in love eventually," Ralph commented as he stood up and stretched. Braden and Draco did the same and they decided that they had been near the pond long enough, so it was time for a change of scenery. They walked off into the woods side by side, just laughing and talking. But they were unaware that their pack was about to receive a few visitors.
Back at Midnight's den he sat beside his beautiful mate Lilly nuzzling her softly and making her smile. All of their pups were out and they had the den all to themselves, which was relieving when raising a family of six. As they sat there they heard footsteps near the entrance of the den and to their surprise a few old friends stepped inside. Both of their faces lit up instantly as their closest friends stepped inside.
"Alcanus, Tasha, Ricoh, Kate, and Humphrey, do my eyes deceive me or are my friends back together in one place," Midnight laughed as he approached the group. The seven wolves all smiled brightly and made their way back into the den. It had been the first time in almost a year since they had seen each other.
"So what brings you all down here," Midnight asked happily.
"Well, we knew that it is almost your one year anniversary so we couldn't help but come pay you a visit," replied Kate.
"Well what a wonderful gift I get to see all of my friends again," Midnight said with a wide smile.
"So how are my nephews and nieces," asked Ricoh.
"They're doing great, in fact they were recently sent to the omega classes, which should be letting out pretty soon," Lilly replied.
"So how are things back west," asked Midnight curiously.
"Couldn't be better," replied Kate.
"Uncle Ricoh, uncle Alcanus, aunt Tasha" screamed the five happy children of Midnight as they rushed in and started nuzzling their uncles and aunt who fell to the ground in laughter.
"It's so good to see you," they all laughed and then looked around confused.
"Where's Draco," asked Ricoh. Midnight looked around and realized Draco had yet to show up.
"Hang on I'll call for him," he said stepping to the edge of the den.
"Draco come home you have some visitors," he called out. His message echoed through the valley until it found the ears of its target. Draco's ears shot up when he heard his father and he turned to his friends.
"Sorry guys I have to go," he apologized. They nodded and waved him off as he ran back to his den.
As he walked inside he saw his uncles, his aunt and two of his parents' friends Kate and Humphrey sitting around with his siblings, and his cousins. They all smiled at him and he reluctantly smiled back and walked inside.
"How's my nephew doing," asked Ricoh nuzzling him. Draco smiled at his favorite uncle and nuzzled him back.
"I'm great uncle Ricoh," he replied with a smile.
"Excellent," Ricoh replied. Draco had favored Ricoh over Alcanus only because he though Ricoh was more relatable. He was also pretty fond of Humphrey because he knew what it was like to be left behind when it came to strength.
"Kids why don't you go show your cousins around while we catch up," suggested Midnight.
"Sure thing dad," Cale replied. Each of Draco's siblings left the den with one or two of their cousins, eight in all. But Draco only wanted to talk with one of them. It was Felix, one of Kate and Humphrey's sons. His fur was the same color as Kate's, almost a golden tan, and his eyes were bright blue. The two were close friends, but hardly saw each other.
Draco took Felix around the territory showing him all of his favorite places to sit around and relax. They even bumped into Braden and Ralph along the way and Draco introduced them to Felix. They instantly became friends and the four walked around mostly asking Felix questions. Turns out Felix was a lot like Draco, in more ways than he had previously thought.
It was fun to hang out with his cousin and friends. He was surprised at how quickly they had grown to like each other, it was as if they had known each other for years. But something was wrong, he could feel in in the back of his mind. It was like something was about to happen, but he wasn't sure what it was. It was really bothering him, because all day nothing had happened, but now it felt like a storm was approaching. Little did he know it wasn't just a storm, but a hurricane on the horizon. That's when they heard the scream.
It was a scream of shock, pain, and terror. The four looked around nervously and weren't sure what to do. Then out of instinct Draco darted off in the direction of the scream, with his friends reluctantly close behind him. The voice pitch of the scream made it seem like he knew who it was, but he didn't want to think of that. As he pushed his way through to a small clearing next to a den there stood a shadowy black wolf four times his size.
He had no facial expression, only two deep purple soulless eyes that were glaring down at him. He was terrified at first, but when he saw Avelina huddled in the mouth of the den behind her parents who were equally terrified, he felt a sudden surge of courage. Something made him jump in front of them and start growling at the attacker. His muscles tensed up and he could feel his strength growing.
"Pick on someone your own size," he barked. He wasn't sure but he could have sworn he saw a flame try to dart up from the ground below him. The figures eyes were fixated on him, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. Then it lunged at him.
"Draco look out," his friends screamed. Draco closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.
"NO," screamed Midnight as he jumped into the pouncing wolf, locking his jaws onto its throat. Draco opened his eyes to see Midnight, completely on fire with the shadow in his jaws. His eyes grew wide and he started to fear for his father.
"Die already," Midnight grunted and slashed the shadow into pieces. It squealed loudly and then faded away leaving only the flaming Midnight standing.
"Are you all alright," he asked the terrified wolves as the covering flames dissipated. Avelina's parents both nodded but Draco was frozen in place. He wasn't sure what to think, was his dad just now on fire?
"Dad, you were-"
"On fire, I know," Midnight interrupted
"Everyone get back to your dens, it's not safe right now," Midnight ordered. They all nodded and ran home as fast as they could. Draco and Felix were under Midnight's protection the whole time, all of them were silent. Draco and Felix were in disbelief, they had just seen a flaming wolf, who was still walking.
"Draco, what were you thinking," Midnight demanded.
"I-I don't know dad, something just came into me, it was all I could think to do," Draco replied in a hurt voice.
"What was that thing," asked Felix.
"That was a shadow stalker, not a good sign," Midnight explained as they walked into the den. All of Draco's relatives were packed inside and huddled around in fear.
"What was it Midnight," asked Ricoh immediately.
"Shadow stalker," he replied grimly. Ricoh's eyes widened and he started to shake nervously.
"How did it get out of-" Ricoh started but Midnight interrupted him.
"Shh, not here, we must step outside to talk," Midnight rushed and motioned to the edge of the den. Ricoh nodded and walked to the edge of the den. Midnight made sure Draco and Felix were ok before joining his brother to talk. Draco couldn't say a word, he was to dumbfounded to. He had just seen his dad in flames and watched him bring down the scariest wolf he had ever seen. Meanwhile at the edge of the den Midnight and Ricoh were talking at a million miles an hour.
"How did it get out of the underworld," Ricoh asked.
"How should I know I'm not in charge of keeping things under control down there Jexa is," Midnight argued back.
"Well then ask him what happened," Ricoh replied looking around nervously.
"Jexa you better have a good explanation as to why I just had to kill a fucking shadow stalker up here," Midnight thought.
"Midnight thank god you're there, one of the shadow stalkers got out somehow, I'm glad you killed him, don't worry I have Justin and Sira down here and were looking into it," the voice replied into Midnight's head.
"Let me know the second you find something out," Midnight demanded.
"Well what is it," Ricoh asked impatiently.
"They don't know, he said only one got out but he can't find out how, he has Justin and Sira looking into it," Midnight replied shakily. Ricoh sighed and walked back into the den with Midnight close behind.
"What's going on dad," asked Cale nervously.
"Listen up kids, we all have some explaining to do," Midnight said.
Hey guys I hope you liked this chapter. I think this is the longest chapter I've written in both stories so let me know if you like the longer chapters. Chapter 3 coming soon. Please Review. Until then pd007 out.