CHAPTER 10-Home, Neighbors, & Recruits

For a few days, Don led his group around the nearby areas. They found a few decent living spaces, but all were too small and overly-exposed to the outside world. His followers began growing weary with hopelessness, but Don reminded them to take heart.

"Keep moving," he told them. "Don't give up."

Finally, they found their way to a thick forest.

"What are we looking for, Don?" Chris asked.

"A place that can be our home," said Don, "and isn't too visible from the outside so no one harmful can enter."

"Why?"

"Because this group is getting too big to continue traveling all the time," Don said. "We'll find a place for our base and be able to send out smaller groups when needed. Let us keep moving."

Dwain suddenly spoke up.

"Don! There's a rock over there. Maybe we could see if we could find a valley in the middle of it or something."

"Very well. Let's investigate."

They walked over to the giant rock.

"Very nice," said Don.

"Don! I found an opening!" Tyler said.

They all investigated.

"Wait here," said Don, and he walked inside.

It was the entrance to a cave, a hidden cave. No one would be able to find the place if they weren't a few feet away from the only opening that Tyler found. He emerged in a large cavern inside, with a few cracks near the ceiling to let in sunlight. Don walked through the other parts of the cave and found many dens inside. Don smiled. This was it. He returned outside.

"Come inside," he said.

They all followed him in and noticed the space they had.

"I've given this place a good look," said Don. "I think we've found our home here. There are many tunnels that lead to smaller caves. There should be enough room for all of us to have a place to stay, but I don't think we'll have enough room for everyone to have their own private den, so we'll share."

"Will you get your own den?" Tyler asked him. "I think you should."

Don replied, "It depends, Tyler. It depends on how things work out. If I need to share my space, I will."

Everyone nodded.

"Well then," said Don. "This is it. Welcome home, you guys."

"This is awesome!" Tyler said. "We're an official group, now!"

"Yeah," Chris agreed. "We're the Peacemakers!"

Don smiled. "Indeed."

After a few days, Don had separated his followers, the Peacemakers, into groups each with a leader. Chris and Dwain were placed on Don's own group to provide some of his own Peacemakers a chance to observe his tactics. He knew that one day he would need a successor, but he didn't know which one yet.

Don told his squad leaders to investigate the immediate areas around the cave to investigate their surroundings. Don walked toward a nearby park. He entered and, as usual, was immediately spotted and taken to the leader.

Meanwhile, Anthony, who assigned as a squad leader, was looking through the surrounding forest. He found a small stream and a few fields for caribou, but hardly anything else. He went back to the cave, and was about to go in, but saw a trail leading away from it. He was about to go down it, but a voice came from behind.

"Anthony!"

"Oh!" Anthony panicked. "Sorry, Don."

"Be careful," Don warned. "You don't know who's down there."

"Yeah, okay," said Anthony.

"However, I do think you've discovered something. Let me alert the others of where we're going, and we'll go."

"K," said Anthony.

Don went inside and briefly told the others that he and Anthony would be back soon, and that they should pass the information along to the other leaders as they returned.

As Anthony and Don walked down the trail, they noticed it was growing darker.

"Why is it so dark?" Anthony asked.

"This area is dark," said Don.

"By the way, where did you go?"

"Me?" said Don. "I discovered a park known as Jasper Park. I met with the leader Winston and told him what we know. He's actually not as bad as most leaders, but still, he is somewhat uptight about alphas and omegas being mates. I warned him that something bad will eventually happen if he doesn't reconsider."

"You told him that?"

"I hinted it," said Don. "I did it in a way so that he'll consider it in further detail."

"And he listened?"

"He did," said Don. "A great listener. I just hope he takes my advice into account. Ah, a fork."

They reached a split in the path.

"This way looks better," said Anthony, pointing to the right, where it was a bit lighter.

"Indeed," said Don. "Let's go this way, then."

They walked forward until they discovered another pack. Everyone seemed down for some reason. Don approached the leader, who was giving orders.

"Who are you?" he asked them sadly.

"My name is Don, and this is Anthony. We're Peacemakers. We travel to keep the peace."

"O-kay," said the leader.

"Might I ask what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"I only want to help," said Don. "Honestly."

"Please, sir," said Anthony. "You can trust him."

The leader hesitated, and then sighed.

"Okay. I'm sad because my daughter and her mate were killed. It was about a month ago, but we're all still feeling the pain from it."

"Killed?" Don asked.

"That's terrible!" said Anthony.

"By who?" Don asked.

"A deranged and aggressive wolf," said the leader. "He was in love with my daughter, but she wasn't in love with him. So, he raped her and killed both her and her new mate."

"What was his name?" Don asked.

"Robert."

"Robert," said Don. "What rank?"

"Alpha."

"Where is he now?"

"We banished him," said the leader. "I wanted to kill him, but he's too big. He's nearby, though. I think he may want revenge on us one day."

"Why's that?"

"He's frightened away every single one of my wolves who's been down to that area. If only I could've killed him."

"That's not right," said Don. "You mustn't hate. I know what he did was wrong, but it's better what you did. Give him time to think about he's done."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but I don't know if he'll be doing that."

"You'd be surprised," said Don. "What does he do now?"

"Rape and murder," said the leader. "He murders everyone who comes near, and rapes every girl."

"Sounds vicious," said Don. "Where can I find him?"

"Oh, I don't think that's a good idea," the leader warned.

"Trust me," said Don. "I know what I'm getting myself into. But first, I want to talk about you."

The leader was surprised at the sudden turn of the tide.

"Me? What about me?"

"I want to talk about your life," said Don. "Have you considered letting go?"

"Of what?" the leader asked. "What do I let go of?"

"Your past."

"Are you saying that I should just forget about my daughter?" the leader asked, offended.

"Not at all!" said Don. "Simply, you need to realize that there's nothing more you can do. Realize that, and devote your life and time to helping others and preventing this from happening in the future. Do it for me, or at least for yourself and your deceased child."

The leader thought about it.

"You know? I guess you're right. I do need to do so."

Don smiled. "Good to hear."

"I'll tell my wolves. Yeah…thanks for stopping by."

"My pleasure," said Don. "Just one more question."

"What?"

"Where, exactly, is Robert now?"

"Did you come here on the main path?"

"Yes."

"You know that fork?"

"Yes."

"Take the other path, and that's where his den is. Be careful around him; he's very dangerous."

"I won't let that stop me," said Don, "but thank you for the warning, and good luck with your pack."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks, Don."

Two Months Later…

Don wanted to prepare himself for his encounter with Robert. He'd need time. He stood in front of the cave one evening, and Chris walked up to him from inside.

"Don?"

"Yes?"

"How are we doing?"

"Pardon?"

"I mean, how are we doing?"

"Fine," said Don. "Soon, we'll begin moving our groups out to tackle these packs nearby. Soon afterward, we'll begin branching out."

"How many wolves are we trying to reach?" Chris asked.

Don looked at him. "The whole world."

"Can we do that?"

"Ourselves? No," said Don. "What we can do is spread it. If we can get at least a handful of wolves who let go located in every region of the world, we'll be golden."

"Not everyone will let go, though," said Chris.

"True, but we'll do what we can," said Don.

"Yeah, I hope so," said Chris. "Do you think you can get some of these tough wolves to let go?"

"We can hope," said Don, "but we can never assume."

"What about Robert?"

"Hard to say," said Don. "He's not exactly like you were in those bushes, is he?"
Chris laughed. "No, I guess not. Still, it'd be nice if we could get an alpha with us."

"Yes," Don agreed. "I know."

Movement caught his eye. He saw it several hundred feet away. A wolf, omega, seemed to be rolling down a hill.

"Chris," said Don sharply. "Go get Dwain and some of the others. Now."

Chris called in. They emerged quickly.

"What is it?"

"Follow me. Quickly!"

They all ran over and found the small wolf lying on the ground, starving to death and seriously lacking energy. Don put his paw on the wolf's heart and felt a beat.

"Still alive," he said. "Chris, go get some leaves!"

"Okay, Don!" Chris ran off.

"What's wrong with him?" Dwain asked.

"Looks like he's about to starve."

Chris returned. "Here, Don. Is he okay?"

"Thank you, Chris. He will be, if we move now."

Dwain hoisted the wolf onto his back and they took him to the cave, placing him in an empty den. Chelsea made sure he was being fed.

"Who is he, Don?" Dwain asked in the main cavern.

"No idea," said Don. "He looks like he's had a rough past, though. I saw a long scar on his left arm. Good thing we found him when we did."

"Yeah," Dwain agreed. "I hope he'll be okay. Are you gonna talk to him?"

"Yes," said Don.

Dwain nodded. "Cool."

Dwain walked away. Don waited a few moments before walking to where the young wolf was. Chelsea walked by him.

"How is he?"

"Fine," said Chelsea. "I think he's waking up."

"Good."

Don walked into the den to see the wolf looking around curiously.

"Good afternoon," said Don.

The wolf looked over, still confused.

"It's good to see you're okay," said Don. "You almost died of hunger out there."

The wolf was still confused.

"Where am I?" he asked. "And who are you?"

"My name is Don, and you're in the Peacemaker cave."

"Peacemaker?"

"Yes, Peacemaker," said Don. "We are a group of omegas who travel around wherever we can and find packs. We enter in our groups and speak to the wolves there in an attempt to help them let go."

"Let go of what?"

"Let go of their own self-seeking desires all the time," Don explained. "Where are you from?"

"Somewhere in Montana. I left two months ago."

"Why?"

He hesitated, his face in pain.

"My girlfriend, Suzie. She…raped me."

Don nodded. "I'm sorry about that. Why didn't you tell your parents?"

"They died in a caribou accident."

Don sighed. "You've had a rough life, then…haven't you?"

The wolf nodded.

"Wasn't there someone to take care of you? A pack leader?" Don asked.

A pause. Then the wolf said something quietly that sounded like, "There was Roger."

Suddenly, the poor wolf looked close to breaking down. His face was suddenly full of guilt.

"Are you alright?" Don asked.

"No. Everyone hates me," the wolf said, tears coming from his face. "I have no parents, my girlfriend tried to make me her sex servant, and I completely ignored Roger's warnings when he really was trying to help me."

"I don't hate you," said Don, placing a paw on his shoulder, "and neither do any of the Peacemakers. We want help you."

"Even after all I did?"

"Even after all you did. I hate having to see a life die. If you're willing to accept it, I'm offering you a place with us."

The wolf nodded. "Thank you."

Don chuckled. "Not a problem."

The wolf smiled. "So, what does this mean?"

"You're one of us, now," said Don. "You let go."

"Of my self-seeking pleasure or whatever?"

"Mmm-hmm," said Don. "What is your name, young sir?"

The wolf laughed. "Reagan."