Chapter 3: Fallen (written from October 9th to October 10th, 2021)

An owl? Winston had heard his father suggest outlandish theories, but the idea that their rival would employ an owl stood out among the rest. Owls were everywhere in Canada except, notably, in the Valley. No wolf in the West was known to have ever seen owls, but rumor had it that a parliament existed somewhere in the Western Mountains.

"You think Father would go to the mountains to speak with the owls, speak with them about this possible collusion?"

The grey wolf, Randall, chuckled a bit.

"I would not think too much of it, Winston. Every moon cycle or so your dad will indulge in another one of his bizarre conjectures. He may cause a big fuss, but ultimately, he won't act rashly—at least these days he won't. He was far worse before your mother's passing. He once pushed the idea, peculiarly enough, that the Easterns were colluding with the bear kingdoms in Banff! Banff of all places!"

"What is Banff?"

"You'll learn about it in Alpha School. There are four national parks in our region: Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay. We live in Jasper, the largest of the four, and to the southeast is Banff. It is said that the great ancestor of most wolves of the Valley came from Banff. There is constant strife down there, but the bear kingdoms have a strict policy of staying out of our affairs."

"There is so much to learn," Winston replied dismally. "I bet being an Alpha Sigma brings you so much more insight, much more than my father."

"I'll give you that. I'll give you that," Randall almost whispered. Winston tilted his head. He always found it interesting that his personal trainer did not enjoy being complimented. In fact, he was, by far, the most humble Alpha he knew. He thought about how practical Randall could be.

"Maybe when I become pack leader I'll voluntarily relinquish my power and give it to you."

Randall was speechless. Here he was with the son of a reigning pack leader who suggested passing on his inheritance to a wolf that was not of the royal family. What would his Omega parents think of that? For once, someone else's humility surpassed his own. But as tempting as it was to promote the pup's proposal, alas, he knew it was not right.

"Well, if only that was possible, lad."

"What do you mean?"

"A pack leader giving up his blood right to rule is—how should I put it?—unprecedented. I think by law, your blood is to serve the citizens of the Western Pack. The Constitutional Committee would have to weigh in on such a choice."

"What's the Constitutional Committee?" Winston asked.

"Goodness, does your dad teach you anything about our laws?"

"He hardly speaks to me... and when he does, it's all about posture and knowing what to do with those under your command."

Randall answered after shaking his head with a sigh.

"There are a lot more to things than appearance. You know that, right?" The pup nodded. "Tony, your Eastern counterpart... His grandfather, Isaac, who was the pack leader of the East and the West, created something called the United Regions Act. Without getting into some of the more complicated aspects of the law, it created a governing body called the Constitutional Committee. They are a highly intelligent, noble group of Alphas who have their own small community outside the jurisdiction of any pack or pack leader. Their power, their committee, actually transcends all pack leaders of the Valley, but their main purpose is to maintain legal consistency, that one wolf doesn't become too powerful. They have some legislative powers, but they operate more like a court than a congress. They would review your decision should you relinquish any of your power and decide the legality of it. It's my opinion that your proposal would likely fail since the C.C. is not one to entertain the unprecedented, but even if your idea didn't fail, society would cast its judgment on me, enough that it would make effective rule near impossible. You have to understand, Winston, that part of your authority to rule comes from the faith of your citizens. That's why your dad is so effective. Regardless of his rhetoric, our Alphas trust him. I am not like the Sigma, Peter of the Eastern Pack, who had a talent of persuasion. I cannot accept pack leader. This world isn't ready for such diversity."

"I see," Winston replied. The pup looked down at his forepaws. They were a considerably darker grey than Randall's. "But I will try to change that. Maybe... Maybe I'll marry an Omega! That should move things along." Randall gave a hearty chuckle.

"We'll see, lad. We'll see. Be aware that you haven't gone to Alpha School yet. Society has a way of straightening the deviants. See, in the small community of Sigmas, we pass down history that concerns us and it has been known that pack leaders of long ago, even the most radical ones, who have proposed a fairer system never keep these ambitious ideas for long. A leader's taste for power is one of the factors of society that make it so stubborn. The leaders of the past were never bold enough. Why would you?"

"I promise. I will do something," said Winston. "I trust you as I should for any other Alpha. Having Omega parents doesn't make you any less of a wolf." Randall sighed and gave a half-smile.

He wished he could believe in Winston. He could not, for he was sure Alpha School would change him, transform him into a more typical Alpha, one that would bully him mercilessly if his true parentage was known, one that would judge and ostracize the Omegas harshly. The kind and thoughtful pup Randall knew would not last. They all start out hopeful and ambitious before succumbing to prejudice. He appreciated the pup's kindness though. It was better than nothing, better than Winston being a facsimile of Ross.

Later...

As the hours passed, the two wolves parted. They had been together all day. Randall withdrew to his den on the other side of the territory while Winston continued to explore the mountain that the majority of the Western population resided on. It was known as Mt. Victory, named after the bloodiest battle of the War of the Divide when the Westerns crushed the only Eastern offensive. Near the summit was the Western royal den, which sported a very large douglas fir on top. There was a part of the mountain, left of the royal den, that Winston had not explored. The slopes were steeper and long fissures scarred the skinny paths on the cliffs as if they couldn't be more hazardous. It was a part of the mountain most Alphas avoided, but Winston wanted to see it at least once.

It was when he traversed these unseen areas that a strange voice came from seemingly nowhere.

"Help..." It was a faint feminine voice that had a strange accent, not at all wolfish. Winston looked in all directions, including behind him. No critter was in sight.

"Hello?"

There was no reply. Winston proceeded to jump over one of the major fissures.

"Help..." The voice came back. Winston then looked down the fissure he had just overcome. He couldn't believe his eyes. At the very bottom was a clump of brown and white feathers. It was a small bird stuck in the deep crevice! And not just any bird—it was an owl! That's what he believed it to be based on what he was told, of course. Interestingly, the rumored descriptions seemed to understate reality. The eyes were not just yellow. The irises seemed to glow with the giant pupils like two solar eclipses. There was a disk-like face, and the distribution of feather colors was not purely random. The arrangement of brown made it seem like a wolf had claw-marked the owl's breast. It was a creepy-looking bird!

"Father was right!" he whispered. "We have an intruder!"

"Please, help! I'm so sorry!" The owl was sobbing. To Winston, she sounded young, similar to a one-month-old pup, but he was not sure what that really meant since each distinct animal experienced unique forms of aging. Who knew the lifespan of an owl? "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm a failure! I flew too early!" she continued. Even if the owl was an agent, he couldn't just let the owl die. He had to help.

"Calm down. I'll help you."

"You will?"

"Yes, I will," he assured. "Now just stay still. Let me see what I can do."

"I can't exactly move anyhow," the bird remarked. Her feathers piled on top of her. Her right wing was stuck behind her while the left one she could freely move. The owl was horizontally wedged between two rock faces and was roughly twenty feet down. The crack extended to the cliff. A foot away from the owl's head was open space. Winston looked down the cliff to see a way to reach the bottom of the fissure's opening. To their luck, there was a platform, but there was no easy way to get to it. After taking a deep breath, the pup positioned himself on the edge of the cliff. He chose a part of the cliff that was less steep and quickly slid to the platform. There was a nice thud as his butt hit the ledge.

"Ow..."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He walked a few feet to the opening of the fissure. The owl was right there. The crack he faced formed a huge letter V.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Sanja."

"Nice to meet you, Sanja."

"Nice to meet you too, wolf."

"I wonder how I'm gonna get you out."

"Here." The owl extended one of her legs until it was over her disk face.

"I'm gonna have to use my jaws. This may hurt."

"Oh, dear..."

The fissure at the bottom was only wide enough for the pup's head. He couldn't fit his shoulders, which meant he had to stretch his neck and grab the owl's foot with his teeth. Winston tasted the owl's talons and prepared himself for one strong pull.

"Ready?" The owl then wiped her tears away with her good wing.

"Ready," she replied.

In no time, she was out. She tumbled near the fringe of the ledge. Winston bit her tail feathers and pulled her back towards him. Loose feathers swirled around the vicinity. As she began to stand up on two legs, he could finally get a good look at her. Rightside up, her creepy look seemed to wane. She was actually much prettier than most birds who had eyes like polished stones and more basic color designs. But it would take some time to get used to the disk face. A ring of black feather enclosed the disk. It was a jarring structure. The owl as a whole was a third of the pup's height. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She hopped up and down before hugging the pup's forelegs with her small wings.

"You're very welcome. How long were you there?"

"Three nights."

"Oh, my! You said you flew too early?"

"Yes! Yes!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry... Yes, I took off from the nest too early!"

"What does that mean? You're a bird, aren't you?"

"Yes, but I'm merely an owlet, not ready to fly. My flight feathers haven't fully developed or 'fledged' as we call it. It's the biggest rule of any young owl! Never fly before one is fully-fledged! And I broke it! I broke the rule! That's how I ended up in that crevice. It's very windy in the mountains. A strong current whisked me into the sky, and I couldn't control where I was going! I passed out from nausea and woke up with a ragged sliver of light above me."

"Wait... You can't fly?"

"No! Apparently not yet." A realization suddenly hit Winston.

"So you're not a spy! An owl who's a spy should be able to fly."

"A spy? What's that?"

"Never mind. It's something concerning my father."

"Oh..."

"Are you able to get home?"

"I don't where home is exactly... I live in a grove of pines high in the mountains, but if I understand correctly, there are mountains enclosing this entire valley. Which mountain has the grove is anyone's guess. I haven't flown out to see where everything is like my parents have." Winston was stupefied. What was he going to do with an innocent little flightless owlet? Surely, in order to protect Sanja, he would have to hide her. He knew his father's circle of Alphas was hunting for owls. But where would he hide her? He knew harboring this creature carried great risk. What would the pack leader think if he found out he had an owl? He was already keeping the secret of Randall being a Sigma. But this owl had to be fed and sheltered, and once taken care of, he would have to get rid of the owl smell somehow. His father's nose was superb. In the span of a minute, these stresses clobbered him, one strike after another. And how was he going to explain what was going on to Sanja? She seemed so young and vulnerable. Even though it was her fault that she ended up in this situation, it still wasn't fair. "May I ask you what your name is?" Her question seemingly revived him.

"Yes, my name is Winston," he managed to say, disguising the tremors.