Chapter 12: New Excitement (written from April 5th to April 9th, 2020)

The first day of spring was supposed to be the day when a new pack leader began his reign, but yesterday, that did not happen, and the wolves of the Western Pack were beginning to panic. The heir to the pack's leadership had vanished. According to Kate, he was dead. The male royal bloodline had abruptly ended. Females were not allowed to be the pack leader, but Kate felt empowered. The death of Rocky convinced her that she needed to take control. It wasn't a matter of intelligent strategy. It was a gut feeling. It just seemed like the most natural thing to do. Who else could possibly take the role? She was the daughter of the renowned wolf, Winston. Citizens knew she was capable. But it would be an uphill battle as even other female Alphas would be against her.

While most of society was gender-neutral, since the dawn of wolfkind, males have dominated the highest form of power in a pack. The pack leader position was an indefinite role. A wolf would stay as a pack leader until an Alpha son or grandson succeeded him. No one knew what would happen if there was no heir. It was up in the air. Perhaps a new bloodline would need to be established, or the role of pack leader would cease to exist. No one knew. Regardless, Kate wanted to quickly fill the role and claim legitimacy.

She gathered most wolves of the Western Pack to a place known as the Ceremonial Valley where big announcements and weddings were held. Kate had married Garth there. She remembered being so much in love back then. She hated Garth. Humphrey was everything. But nowadays, the fire was dim. Ever since Rocky and Jenny left, she was more estranged from Humphrey than ever. Perhaps it was marriage fatigue. Perhaps it was something else...

"Attention! Attention, wolves!" Kate yelled, trying to speak over the rowdy crowd.

"What's going on?" said one wolf.

"Where's Rocky?" said another.

"Attention!" said Kate. "I have terrible news... my son, Rocky, is dead..." Everybody except Humphrey gasped. Jenny couldn't believe it. She wondered how Kate knew that. How could her brother be dead? Only an hour earlier, Jenny was consoling Dani when she found her parents were dead. Now she needed Dani to console her, but Dani had disappeared. Jenny fell to the ground and hyperventilated. She remembered what she told Dani. Those who leave the Valley don't return...

"The heir is dead! The heir is dead! Who's going to lead us?!" somebody screamed.

"Long live the heir!" somebody chanted.

"Quiet, wolves!" said Hutch. He stood a few feet away from Kate. Douglas was between them.

"As a mother," Kate continued, "this hurts me dearly... but I know the Westerns are looking for somebody to lead them! Which is why I've gathered you all here today to announce that I will become pack leader!"

Suddenly, half the crowd began booing. All of the booing wolves were Alphas, equally male and female. Everyone else was stunned, including Hutch.

"Kate? Are you serious?"

"Are you questioning your loyalty, Alpha?" Kate replied without turning her head to face him.

"Umm... no, ma'am." Hutch then bowed his head. "You're the daughter of Winston. If there is no heir, I'll follow you wherever you go. This is just... so unprecedented..."

"These are weird times. I know."

Humphrey then came up to her.

"Kate? What are you doing?!"

"Don't try to stop me, honey."

"I mean... I won't. I just hope you know what you're doing. Nobody's going to like this."

"They'll learn." Meanwhile, the boos continued to get louder. "You there." Kate pointed to a single wolf in the crowd who wasn't booing. It was a black she-wolf. She walked up to her. "You're Jasmine, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!" she answered excitedly.

"You're hereby promoted to Prime Omega."

"Cool! Um, what's that?"

"It means you're the leader of all of the Omegas," said Humphrey. "Don't get your hopes up though. It just means you get to attend Alpha meetings."

"Oh... Cool!"

"Jasmine," said Kate. "I want you to go to any wolves who are in their dens right now and let them know that I'm taking over. I figure if I send an Omega, a friendly face, they may be more relaxed to hear the news. Also... let the pack leaders of the East, North, and South know too. I want everyone to know that I'm here and that I'm not some pushover. And make it snappy."

"Okay!" Jasmine ran out of sight.

"What would you like me to do, ma'am?" Douglas asked politely. Kate walked up to him and whispered in his ear.

"Do you know the mountain that's covered in dens?"

"Um, is that what you guys call Mt. Victory?"

"Yes. Near the summit is my father's den, the pack leader's den. Meet me there. We'll talk about inducting you into the pack."

"Okay... Thank you."

The crowd became even louder. It was beginning to look dangerous.

"Fuck Kate!" someone yelled. "We want a real leader! We want Winston!"

"Hutch, make sure there's no trouble here," Kate ordered. Hutch nodded.

"What do you want me to do, honey?" asked Humphrey. "Want me to check the borders again?"

"Oh, umm... uhh... It's... it's fine, Humphrey. Take the day off."

"What? You're having Douglas do something, and he's disabled!" Humphrey then came closer. He tried to kiss Kate, but she backed away. "Kate... if you're gonna give me the day off, can I at least have some fun with my mate?" Kate was disgusted.

"Humphrey... We just lost our son... What makes you think I would be in the mood to do any of that?" Humphrey frowned and looked at the ground in disappointment before walking away with his tail lower than ever. Kate sighed and returned to the crowd to answer their questions. "Yes, yes, one at a time! One at a time!"

Later...

Douglas waited inside the empty pack leader's den for two hours before Kate arrived. Kate couldn't help but feel happy to see him again. She knew everyone in the Western Pack, and Douglas was a totally fresh face.

"You like? This is where I'll be staying from now on."

"It's the biggest den I've ever seen," he replied. "Even King's wasn't this big nor this nice."

"You knew King?" Kate sat down in front of him.

"I only met him once... as a pup. My parents were both a part of his close, loyal group called the Inner Circle. Each member of this group was bound to make a biannual report of the amount of Omegas we've killed. On one of those visits to King's den, I was brought along."

"That's... that's horrible," said Kate. "What made you decide that you needed to get out of there?"

"It wasn't my decision. My parents, in fact, are traitors. They told me about life outside the King Pack, and they developed a plan to set me free; however, it involved putting themselves into sexual slavery. I tried talking them out of that course, but they wanted me to live a life free of death. Every Rogue is trained to be the ultimate wolf-killing creature. My parents didn't want me to be like all of the other Rogues who could care less about making others suffer."

"Did you have to have this biannual minimum of Omega kills?"

"Briefly yes... and... I killed a trio of them where they stood..." Douglas closed his eyes as tears shed. Kate propped him up before he could collapse.

"They made you do it, didn't they?"

"My parents tried their best to keep me from having to kill anyone... but they could only do so much for so long. Luckily... those first three Omega kills have been my last, but it still hurts to remember their screams. They called me a monster... Maybe they're right."

"No, you're no monster, Douglas. You've shown yourself to be completely stable. You're avenging their deaths by talking to me. We wolves of the Valley know almost nothing of the politics of the King Pack. This stuff about the Inner Circle and the Omega kills is new to me, and it would be new to anyone. Your information is incredibly invaluable. Perhaps we may utilize it to defeat the Rogues once and for all. Please... Your entry into the Western Pack would be a blessing, and I'm sure it's what your parents would want."

"The Rogues... They'll come for me..."

"We'll protect you... I'll personally protect you."

"I don't know what to say," said Douglas, attempting to smile. "I can't exactly express my thanks in words." That was when something powerful came over Kate.

"Nor can I..." To Douglas's complete shock, she came closer and did the inexcusable. Kate's eyes were closed while Douglas was too surprised to stop her. It lasted twenty seconds before they separated. For the first time in many moons, she felt excitement. But it came at a cost.

She turned away from Douglas and shivered with fear. "Shit! What have I done...?"

"I... I... I should go," said the former Rogue.

"Wait!" said Kate. Douglas was halfway outside. "I'm sorry!" He looked at the ground, breathing heavily.

"It's fine, ma'am..."

"This never happened... Okay?" Without a response, he wiped her saliva off of his lips. He then slowly left her sight after taking one last frightened look at the she-wolf who affectionately kissed him without warning.

Kate's mind raced. In one quick move, she broke one of her most important principles. Even if she hated Humphrey, she would never be unfaithful. But she was for twenty seconds. More than enough time to trigger Humphrey if he knew...

Meanwhile...

In Shadow Forest, Shadow came back to Sasha who was busy filling in the area where he fell and broke his paw. Sasha noticed him pushing a flat stone toward her.

"I have more than enough dirt to fill this in," Sasha assured.

"It's not for that," Shadow replied. He pushed it until it was adjacent to his butchering stone. Sasha figured it out quickly. It was another butchering stone!

"You want me to stay all of a sudden?"

"Just until my paw heals. As much as I hate you, I need you."

"Nooo, there's more to it than that. Why give me my own stone? Why not just wait 'til your paw heals without me getting food for ya'? You're a fat wolf; you can last!"

"Did you just call me fat?!"

"There's nothing wrong with fat." Shadow then turned away from her. "Wait a second. You like me, don't you?" He responded with a deep sigh and shook his head. "Oh, my gosh! How cute! Ha, ha!"

"Shut up!" he barked.

"Ha, ha! You know, I always had a feeling you did from the beginning."

"I said SHUT UP! I don't like... UGHHH!"

"Geez, calm down, Shadow. Why are you gettin' so worked up? I don't mind! It's cute!"

"Stop saying 'cute!'"

"What? It's adorable! When was the last time you were in love?" Shadow made more groans before sitting down.

"Never," he answered. "But I don't trust anyone anymore..."

"Well... let me just say this... If I'm a threat, it's only to your current normality. Here, stay in my den for tonight."

"Why?"

"So you can get used to my scent... and..." She leaned in and purposefully stroked his sheath with her arm against his chest and her paw on his groin. A wave of feelings flew through him that he never experienced. It was all so new. Shadow was too curious to ignore her now. He felt embarrassed to moan loud enough for her to hear.

"Ooo... Sasha... Wha... what are you doing...? Please... Ooo..." Shadow fell to his back as the she-wolf continued to stroke slowly and rhythmically. Sasha came closer and whispered in his ear. At this point, all pain in his broken paw vanished.

"You want me, don't you?"

"I... Ooo... I don't know..." Sasha lifted her paw from his groin, allowing him to think clearer. She looked directly into his blue eyes with a worried look on her face. She wanted him to at least have a clear mind.

"I won't force anything."

"What did you do to me?" he questioned, but Sasha had returned to her den. He lifted his head and looked down at his genitalia that was engorged. In the corner of his eye, Sasha was sitting near the entrance of her den. Although she was blushing uncontrollably, she appeared at ease, waiting for Shadow to make his next move. "Good heavens, should I take the bait, Father?" he said to himself.

"Don't waste your life in fear," his adoptive father had said to him years ago. "A wolf's life lasts as long as the shape of a cloud. Watching your back is always good, but don't be afraid to surrender to the current. Sometimes you may know what you want, sometimes you don't..."

"What have I got to lose?" said Shadow.

Love. Sex. Dating. Creating a family. None of it was on Sasha's mind when she arrived at Shadow Forest or "Shadow's Forest" as she liked to call it. She just wanted to escape her parents who fought all of the time. She wanted time to herself, away from family, but now that it seemed that this Shadow fellow had a crush on her, she realized that she also wanted to have fun. They were alone in the forest. They had nothing but themselves. They didn't have to be mates to fool around nor anything on the boyfriend/girlfriend level. They could do whatever they wanted. And Sasha wanted Shadow to see that too, but he was very insecure about any friendship. She knew that by playing into his biological urges, he would at least realize that this particular relationship wasn't going to harm him. She would make sure he would feel as safe as possible while being himself. She was curious to know what he was really like under all of the scars. Wolves of a long history fascinated her. For a wolf not too old, he was very wise—just not in terms of managing his own insecurities... But the she-wolf was eager to help him out with that.

All he needed was to let go. Ironically, for a courageous, formidable wolf, it was fear holding him back. It wouldn't take long, Sasha believed, for her to lower his defenses. The fact that Shadow's paw was broken meant that he was going to need her. And that meant they were going to spend large amounts of time with each other. For the first time in many moons, she felt excitement. And for the first time in many years, whether or not he wanted to admit it, Shadow felt excitement.