Disclaimer:Look at the first and second page.
Chapter 16: Back with the Pack and Ari
Ari paced the ground kicking the dirt. He was standing in front of their former castle/fortress that was now in shambles thanks to that idiotic group that thought they could actually stop Railen. They actually might be able too, he thought with surprise. That was something that never occurred to him. What if they lost? He shook his head angrily, trying to clear. No, it was no good thinking of negative thoughts like that. Railen will win. The Pack will have their reward. His tenuous control over them was slipping and a majority already felt he was a bad leader. They thought he was 'crazy and totally loco' as the humans called it. Maybe he was. But it works. Thank goodness he had his support guard, Killer and the others. Killer was his loyal subject and the one Ari trusted the most. He was going to be richly awarded. Then, his thoughts turned to his bastard half-brother Kane.
Kane was a mistake. Relying on him was a mistake from the get-go. He should have been more careful and not sprang the betrayal from the get-go when he had Kane deliver the girl and the Aveiana. Railen had kept them alive hoping to turn them to his side using Susan but Susan refused to join her former friend. He smirked. That's a good one, Susan being friends with Railen. He never expected that. But she was even better at being a play toy. He wished he got to have her longer but it wasn't to be. She was helped to 'escape' by Kane when he was still on their side. But somewhere that Kane had a change of heart. Or had he always planned it, years of resentment against them? Maybe I could have been nicer and not had him chained up…nah, he deserved it, Ari thought. If I didn't, he would have been dead so I actually did him a favor. He was useful to us being the only one actually able to read the human language; the others were totally useless at it. He actually had that diary thing of some inventor. Kane always had been interested in humans, a little too much for comfort. He was always different from the others, no fighting, no playing, nothing. Heck, he never even wanted to have sex until he met Susan in their fake escape thing. He was weird, a freak. He even had a different power for crying out loud! Ari had seen it a couple of times when Kane thought no one was looking. Something to do with electricity or something. Kane rarely used it. Ari didn't understand. Ari would use it if it was his all the time. He was jealous that Kane got something he didn't. He thought 'if only it was mine'. But he never told Kane. Admitting jealousy would be admitting weakness and he had to have no weaknesses. His lips curled back in disgust. He would kill the freak himself when they came back face to face. Kane was nothing. He didn't deserve to live. He was unreliable, untrustworthy, unfaithful to his Pack, a freak, and a hybrid. Hybrids are unnatural. They all deserve to die, Ari thought, still disgusted. Kane was going down; he caused the deaths of 3 Pack members! (By association.)
In the collapse of the castle/fortress, one Pack member had been standing right over a spot where a crevasse opened up; he fell a LONG way down and landed splat. Ari could barely see the sprawled body over the hole and he had to run away to avoid falling in as well. The second died by having a huge piece of the castle wall drop down on his head and he was also flattened. The third fell in the pit of spikes that they on rare occasion dropped prisoners into if they weren't food for the Pack or tortured and killed by the 2 brothers Kaito and Gaito. The third quite unfortunately was nearby and was heaved into it by the bucking ground. He was amazingly and unfortunately still alive after the castle collapsed and the ground stopped shaking. Ari had to kill him himself as the poor Pack member's screams and cries of pain were getting on everybody's frazzled and shocked nerves. He would have been dead before sunset anyway so Ari felt relieved that he got to shut the Pack member up. He would have gone berserk if he had to hear that much longer and no one wanted that as he was extremely ferocious, deadly, and sneaky in the anger rage and bloodlust. He was way more dangerous than in a normal sane mood as he was always on the verge of tipping over into the rage. If anyone disobeyed him, insulted him, was petulant, or whatever, he could go totally berserk and rip the unfortunate person into pieces which is exactly what happened to a couple unfortunate people when he joint-took over the military strategy where they weren't used to a Pokemon being a commander.
Ari walked to his mate Maxine who had also been among the survivors. Ari, and everyone else, was glad she survived as Ari would have been unbearable if she had died. He would have gone berserk and quite likely ripped a few Pack members into pieces. He may not have been the most strongest of them but he was the most ferocious, deadly, and intelligent. He was the best at fighting. They all feared facing him as he was undefeated and everyone who tried ended up dead. Ari himself was rarely ever injured and if he was, it was rarely anything major. Only once did some Pack member land a devastating blow to him and they had been almost as good as Ari at fighting. Ari had gone totally berserk and abandoned strategy and ripped the poor Pack member apart and did things to him that even made Pack members shudder in terror. Ari, to everyone's disappointment, had survived that wounding and became the resolute and overall leader of the Pack as no one dared challenge him after watching that.
Maxine was glad to see Ari. Ironically enough, she was nearly as crazy and unpredictable as Ari. They fit well together. Maxine rarely ever fought but when she did, she kicked butt. She was Ari's favorite female and made her his #1 mate and wife. He did multiples like other Pack males but she was his overall favorite and preference. She was pregnant and was soon going to have a baby. Ari was pleased although somewhat wary as he knew males were not to be trusted. He was hoping the baby was female as he preferred females anyway. A male might decide to go against him, exactly what he was doing to Jeb his father. Jeb was the official leader of the Pack but everyone including Jeb knew it was his son Ari who was the real leader. Ari fought off all the challengers and dissenters. Jeb was so proud, he couldn't see that his son was slowly planning ways to overthrow him and become the real official leader in addition to being the unofficial one.
"Maxine! You survived! I am so glad!" Ari wailed in joy as he hugged Maxine in joy. It was a cute moment although no one dared to say anything as Ari might decide to kill those people who did. Maxine hugged him back.
"Oh, Ari, just barely but I got a little help from Master Dark, Master Gaito, and Master Kaito." Ari looked in surprise at the three as did everyone else for that matter. Everyone was surprised they actually helped Maxine as most hated the Pack but dealt with them as it was necessary. They most certainly wouldn't have helped the Pack if it could be avoided. Especially since everyone knew of Ari's anti-hybrid bias and these were all hybrids. Ari's mouth dropped and in went a fly until he spat it out in disgust and that ended the whole staring in surprise.
"You actually saved her?" his voice squeaked in surprise instead of the usual low growling sound. He almost sounded human for a second. They nodded and Ari ran up and did the most surprising thing anyone had ever seen which made one wonder if it was the end of the world. He actually hugged them. Yes, that's right, hugged them. All 3 of them. They were just as surprised as everyone else and they were quite uncomfortable with Ari doing bone-crushing hugs to them. They had expected Ari to really have crushed their bones but he was careful that he didn't. Ari looked like he was…crying? That was unexpected.
"Thank you. I have no idea how to ever repay you 3. If you ever need anything, just call." He backed away and went back to Maxine and hugged her again and it looked like love. Then Ari went back to his usual self and he grinned with lust-filled eyes at Maxine.
"Let's go somewhere….a little more private," he winked and they headed off to the camps in the far distance.
The other Pack members were amazed and a little angry with Ari. Ari was letting his emotions rule instead of his mind, another sign of an unworthy leader to them. His passions guided everyone's diction and acts and they didn't like to deal with his unpredictable tendencies where he could go happy and satisfied to angry and berserk. Killer was especially mad. He showed weakness! You never show weakness! But then, his lips curled back in an excited grin. Ari might think he was safe but he truly wasn't. Maybe he could kill Maxine himself! That would arouse Ari's anger and prove to the Pack how despicable he was! Ari trusted Killer too much. There was a reason his name was Killer. It was only a matter of time until the grand swoop. Soon, very, very, soon….
His other guard had similar thoughts like Killer's. There were a couple who didn't agree but they kept their mouths shut so they wouldn't be killed by the others. Ari was strangely trusting of them for someone as paranoid and crazy as he was so that was a big surprise. They were his elite, his favorites. He had no reason to fear them so he didn't. They hid their resentment and hatred of him well and pretended to be loyal and Ari believed them. It was an absolute miracle.