Chapter elven: The Contention.
"Thank you for gathering here." Near says in wolf form says to the wolves that he and Mello called outside.
"We have called you here for a special task." Mello says also in wolf form but is standing while Near is sitting.
The wolves listen intently.
A little later…
The wolves follow their alphas back into the camp and break up into the four groups that they were assigned.
Mello and Near glance around to find their pups.
Near spots them just outside the alpha den. "Pups come here." He says.
The pups confused on what's going on go down to their parents.
"What is it mama?" Andrew speaks.
"It is time for a test." Mello says. "To see if you have learned the true weight of the alpha."
The pups look interested but a little nervous.
"Now listen you will be leading each a different group." Near gestures with his muzzle to the groups of wolves waiting. "You will be sent to different sections of the territory and you will need to hunt as well as patrol. When we assign you to groups you must wait for the signal to begin. You must be back before the sun starts to set at the latest."
"Do you understand?" Mello finishes.
The pups nod.
"Good." Mello smiles. "Now then let's get you into the right groups."
Near and Mello lead the pups over to the first group.
"Ignacia this is your group." Near says. "You will be taking the west side of the territory." He explains.
Ignacia nods and moves closer to the group looking at which wolves of the pack she got in her group.
Near and Mello lead the other three pups to another group.
"Andrew." Mello says this time. "This will be your group. You will be taking the east side of the territory."
Andrew nods and moves closer to the group checking out which wolves he has.
Mello and Near lead the other two pups to the next group.
"Prince." Near says. "This is your group. You will take the north side of the territory."
Prince nods and moves over to his group quickly scanning them.
Mello and Near take Kaba to the last group.
"Kaba this is your group. You will take the west side of the territory." Mello says.
Mello and Near let Kaba take a look at her group as the two alphas move to a spot to face all the groups. They both sit down.
"Ready." Mello begins.
The pups turn to face their parents waiting for the signal to begin.
Mello and Near pause for a moment.
"Go." Near then says.
The groups are off to head out of the packs home.
The two alphas watch as they go.
Once the groups are gone the two wait for a little bit then Mello turns to his mate.
"You ready for this?" He asks.
Near nods. "Let's do this." He says.
The two alphas head out of the camp to secretly watch how the test goes along.
Ignacia is leading her group of wolves towards the border. "We do a patrol first." She commands then when they reach the border she and the group stops. She turns to them. "Look out for any unwelcomed scents. Each half of the group go in opposite directions then stop before crossing into any other groups sections. Come back and report to me." She looks to the wolves in the middle. "Those more in the middle will be with me." She adds. "Now go."
The wolves split up into the three teams as commanded.
Ignacia wishes she had her friends but none of the groups had any wolves in training. "Follow me. We'll check out this area of the border." She says and begins checking the border with the other wolves helping.
Prince on the other hand has decided to hunt first when he smells a herd of deer up ahead. He flicks his tail to silently tell the group to lay low. He then lays low and moves quietly through the trees towards the deer herd. He gestures his head to one side then the other silently telling them to surround the herd.
The group does as instructed.
Prince stays low and moves closer until they are in the bushes by the deer herd who haven't picked up any scents or heard anything. His eyes flicker side to side to see if the group is in position. He can't really see all of them so he figures he must need to go by instinct. He looks back to the deer herd and he shifts his shoulders watching them carefully.
One of the deer raises its head looking around.
He shows his teeth knowing it's now or never. He howls and springs forward.
The deer begin running and the group of the wolves move forward chasing after them.
Suddenly Prince notices one of the male deer's charging at some of the wolves.
"Get that one!" He commands turning to go after the one about to attack along with the other wolves. He picks up the pace moving as fast as he can then he leaps into the air with a feral growl. He manages to clamp down onto the deer's ear.
The deer stops it's almost attack on the wolves and bucks around wildly trying to shake Prince off.
The other wolves begin to attack the deer snapping at it's legs.
Prince is thrown off when the deer's ear rips off then the deer runs off to catch up with the rest of the herd. He skids on the ground practically on his back then he gets up spitting out the ear. He looks to the group. "Is everyone alright?" He asks.
They all nod.
Prince relaxes. "Good. That's what matters." He says. "We'll try hunting again after. For now let's move to patrol the border." He takes the lead towards the border but as he gets closer with his group he begins to pick up an unwelcomed scent.
Andrew and his group patrol the border and he instructs some wolves to strengthen the border scent as they move along. He and his group hasn't found any unwelcome scents yet. He hears a small yelp and stops to look back.
One of the youngest wolves, Shagreen, has tripped over a root. He is a red wolf with honey yellow eyes.
"Are you ok?" Andrew moves over to Shagreen.
"Yeah." Shagreen gets up. "I'm fine."
Andrew gives a small sniff to Shagreen's paw that he tripped with before being satisfied. "Ok. Let's continue then." He turns taking the lead again.
As they reach the middle of the border of their side of the territory they spot a small group of coyotes ahead.
"Unwelcome visitors." Andrew says and picks up the pace with his group heading for the unwelcome visitors. He slows as they get closer. "Hey!"
The coyotes stop and turn to the wolves.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Andrew demands standing in alpha position.
The coyotes look at each other then begin to laugh.
Andrew growls. "You're on our territory. If you agree to leave peacefully and not cross our boarders without talking to us first then we will peacefully escort you out."
The coyotes laugh harder then the biggest moves closer to Andrew.
"Oh yeah? And what is a little runt like you gonna do? Send your mutts on us?" The biggest then laughs again.
"They are not mutts. They are brave and loyal pack warriors." Andrew corrects the coyote. "Now I will ask again. Leave our territory peacefully."
The biggest chuckles. "Ha! I don't think so." He gives a 'ha. You lose.' Look to Andrew.
"I warned you." Andrew bares his teeth. He flicks his tail letting the group know to attack. "Get them out of our territory." He then joins in his groups charge. He leaps at the biggest to begin the fight with him.
The biggest rears back and moves to snap at Andrew who is about to clash with him.
Kaba and her group split up checking the entire border at once.
There are no reports yet of anything to be alert about.
Kaba raises her head from her section of the border she is checking. She is internally shaking like a leaf at this huge test.
"Are you ok?" Allen asks looking up since he is one of the closest to Kaba.
Kaba turns to him quickly regaining her composure. "Yes." She says doing her best to be strong. "I have a great group to back me up on this." She adds meant to be to herself.
Allen smiles. "You are a good wolf Kaba but you need to decide if this is truly right for you." He says.
Kaba blinks then glances away unsure. "It's in my blood to be alpha." She says. "I must do my best."
Allen looks beyond the border. "Your bloodline cannot truly identify who you are." He says.
Kaba looks back to him.
His eyes flicker to her. "Don't narrow your choices down to what bloodline you come from. It will help you find true happiness and belonging."
Kaba glances to beyond the border for a moment then looks back to Allen. "You are a wise wolf." She says.
Allen smiles at this. "I am wise only in what I know best." He says. "It is the same with you and every other creature on this Earth." He says.
Before Kaba can respond the other wolves come back to report.
All reporting no signs of anything to be alert about.
Kaba nods. "Good." She says. "We can probably begin hunting." She turns and begins to lead the way.
Just as the border disappears from sight Kaba suddenly stops.
The group stops as well and turn to her wondering what's going on.
"Kaba?" Allen turns to her.
She doesn't respond as her eyes become unfocused.
Another one of the wolves move closer about to put a paw on her shoulder but Allen moves swiftly and gently head butts the wolf. "No. Don't bug her. I believe she is talking to the wolves in the stars."
The wolf nods and backs off.
The group patiently wait for Kaba to come back.
Kaba gasps after a few moments. "Oh no!" Her head whips to the side.
"What's wrong?" Allen asks.
Prince flicks his tail to let the others know to stop here. "Other wolves are approaching. Prepare to fight if needed." He commands. He then turns to face the oncoming group.
The oncoming group comes out into view and it's the wolves that kidnapped him and Kaba.
"What are you doing here?" Prince demands.
Midnight and her mate smirk.
Andrew slams his front paws onto the top of coyote's muzzle then uses the coyotes muzzle to jump onto the coyote's back digging his teeth into the coyotes shoulder.
The coyote snarls and thrashes trying to get Andrew off of him but Andrew strongly holds on with a growl.
Another wolf, Brody, joins in on the fight with Andrew against the one coyote while the rest are taking care of the other coyotes. He is a strawberry blonde wolf with sea-blue eyes. He is pretty young in his time of being out of the wolf in training part of his life. He grabs a hold of one of the coyotes back legs as the coyote continues to struggle.
"But how?" The coyote gasps in pain as he can't shake the two off. "You're a mutt and a runt." He tries to kick Brody's face with his other back leg while trying to shake off Andrew.
Andrew lets go then Brody follows.
The coyote spins to face them with a growl.
"You're wrong." Andrew says standing tall. "We are strong. We are members of the Pack of the Cross!" He then leaps again at the coyote this time snapping down onto the coyotes side of the neck.
The coyote howls in pain even more so as Brody chomps down onto his back.
The fight continues then…
Andrew and his group chase off the coyotes as they showed those coyotes that they are much stronger than the coyotes thought.
Ignacia and her group are about to leave the border to go out hunting when they suddenly hear the cries of battle coming from the direction Prince took his group to.
"Do we go to help?" One of the wolves ask.
Ignacia has a flashback on Michel's death. She feels guilty and fearful about going into battle again. She then shakes her head to try to clear her head. She then raises her head. "Test or not. They are our pack mates." She looks back to the group she was given for the test. "We move to help!" She then takes the lead heading off to go help.
Meanwhile….
Mello and Near are walking as they are going to be checking on another group when suddenly Echo comes running out of the bushes in the direction from the camp, in wolf form and a small bag attached to herself.
She skids to a stop slightly panting as Mello and Near turn to her.
"Echo?" Mello knows something's up just by how Echo was hurrying somewhere. "What's wrong?"
AN:
Update yay!
So sorry it's been awhile since I last updated but I was working on the Halloween specials that are up of course.
Anyways hope you enjoyed.
Reviews bring sunny weather and flamers are used to make cookies!
Mello.