Chapter 35: Finally Settling (written on November 23, 2015)
Moons later...
"Rocky! Come here this instant!" Humphrey called, trying to end the tension. The grey pup trotted over to his guardian. He tucked his tail underneath his back legs at the sight of Kate laying beside him. Neither of them looked happy to see him. Rocky looked down at the ground at the last second; he did not want to look at them.
"Yes, Dad?"
"Why are you messing with your sister?"
After giving a confused face, he replied.
"I was just teaching Jenny how to be a real Alpha." He sat down. His body language told Kate that he thought he was helping.
"A real Alpha?" said Humphrey. He turned his head towards his mate who sighed and shook her head. Rocky knew what that meant. And with that he grew a strong guilt of which he did not understand the cause of. Just something in his mind knew it wasn't right.
"By destroying your sister's 'flower den'?" The sharpness of Kate's words made the pup react quickly to save face.
"Alphas don't need flower dens!" He stomped his little paw on the dirt ground for emphasis. "Jenny must learn. It's just as you say Mom: life is full of lessons. Obviously, we are too old to be making small dens out of sand and dead leaves for our enjoyment. As for Jenny, I was merely giving the punishment for you." When he finished, he was panting. Rocky did not say many sentences at once on his own very often. Clearly, the pup felt misunderstood, but even Humphrey could make out this predicament. For that, he relied on Kate, the Alpha to clear things up.
"Come with me, boy." She got up from the ground beside their den and walked over to a spot out of Humphrey's earshot as he dealt with Jenny. Rocky, of coarse followed, splashing in the water as a small wave hit him from the big lake. They sat in the sand. The dusk hanged over in the distance, shining the water yellow.
Without looking into Kate's eyes, the pup felt the need to resist.
"I do not see the reason why I need to be here. I'm almost ready to go to Alpha school." Disappointed, she briefly slapped his cheek with her right front paw. Her heart almost sank. It felt like hurting an innocent stranger. Rocky didn't resemble her at all. She wished he had at least have some of Humphrey's qualities; perhaps he would be more manageable, but none persisted. He began to cry as did Kate.
"Look at me, now. What do you see?" She had her paw pointed at her face. Her hard breathing eventually caught the pup's attention enough for him to look up at her. He was deeply surprised at what he saw. He had never seen it before, and this why Kate showed it: to give him the reality.
"Tears?" he answered, unsure of what to say, especially under the wrath of the Alpha looking down on him with fierce eyes drenching in an unforgettable liquid.
"Weakness." She nodded to reassure him, then wiped the tears away with her front paws. That's when the pup started to notice for the first time that even she was had trouble looking him in the eyes. "Weakness, it is. All wolves have weakness, even you, but when it comes to creativity, it is not weakness. Do not confuse play and creativity with as a fault or a state of lacking strength. Do you understand?" The pup stared at the sand on the ground as if he was in a condition of deep thought.
"What does it mean to be an Alpha then?" he asked quietly, slightly turning his to the right. The sun's reflection off the lake was starting to blind him.
"An Alpha.. is one who accepts this and performs his duty. An Alpha can cry. An Alpha can hurt. An Alpha can dream. We all make mistakes. Some of which, we cannot take back." Rocky turned away from Kate and towards Jenny directly behind him twenty yards away on the beach.
"And I do the punishment around here, understand?"
"Yes, ma'am." Kate watch as the grey pup turned around and gathered plant debris from the surrounding area and take them to his sister. Humphrey was sitting next her, trying to cheer her up by rebuilding her "flower den" for her.
"I'm sorry, Jenny," Rocky apologized, dumping the plant debris in front of her. She smiled as did Kate in the background walking to them. And together, all four of them rebuild the sandy structure as a family, one that all started with a single desire...
The End