Chapter 4: The First Event (written on January 15th, 2022)

September 22nd, 2012

Today was the first day of autumn. The first event of the Great Wolf Games was going to begin soon. All of the teams had assembled on the official game field, a large clearing with very little grass. There were plenty of spectators as well, wolves from across the United Regions.

The Western team gathered far from the other teams. Coach Humphrey had been waiting for the golf birds to give their report of the situation.

"We have been eyeing the competition," said Paddy after alighting. "Northern team is the one to beat."

"But get this," said Marcel. "The referees are also from the North."

"Seriously?!" said Humphrey.

"They're geese... And you can't trust geese," said the duck, implying that Marcel was one of the few trustworthy geese. They only had a few days of training, and their main opponent had control over the refs. The Northerners were famous for their athletic superiority. It would not be surprising if the Northern wolves influence their refs in order to uphold their reputation. The odds were definitely not in the Westerns' favor.

"Well, we will watch them," said Marcel.

"By the way, run Claudette last today. Trust me," said Paddy.

"Yeah?" Coach Humphrey was not going to question their judgment.

"We've got your furry back," Marcel assured.

"Okay! Formation!" A booming yell from the other side of the field rippled the air. It was the Northern team's coach, a muscular brown male wolf with white paws and a white chest and underbelly. Humphrey had never seen such a defined Alpha, a wolf who was not a pack chieftain that somehow commanded so much authority with his voice. The Northern team then followed their coach as he passed by the Westerns. Their coach looked at Humphrey and gave a smirk. It seemed he wanted to show the Omega what the Northerners could do. He stopped them when they were right in front of the Westerns and gave an order. "Okay! Rumble the legs!" His pups jogged in place. It was perfect synchronization. No single step stood out. They were practically clones. "Now, back rolls!" All five rolled to the left, made a single jump, rolled to the right, and made another jump. The back rolls were also perfectly synchronized.

"What is that?" Humphrey asked Marcel.

"It's called, uhh... umm... a warm-up?"

"And who is the angry-looking wolf?"

"Leg rumble! Leg rumble!" the angry-looking wolf ordered. "Now, leaps!"

"Oh, that would be a sports parent," answered Paddy.

"Oh... great," said Humphrey. The Omega had a special aversion to arrogant Alphas. He turned to his Western team. "Okay, team. You heard him."

"Heard... who?" said Agnes.

"Their coach said, 'leg rumble.'"

"Dad, you're our coach," his daughter reminded.

"Oh, yeah... right. Heh, heh." He deepened his voice. "Okay! Rumble the legs!" His team awkwardly stepped in place. "Come on! come on!"

"Like this?" said Agnes. The porcupine made quick haphazard steps.

"Ehh... Something like that."

"Okay! Roll-overs!" yelled the Northern coach. Humphrey decided to copy him.

"Okay! Roll-overs! Come on!" The pups and the cub rolled over successfully, but Agnes's spines got stuck in the ground. Humphrey shook his head in disappointment. That was when the Northern coach came to him. He was twice as bulky as the Omega. Humphrey tried not to be intimidated.

"Hey, Coach! Nars here!"

"Hi there. Coach Humphrey," he replied with his deepened voice. "Put her there." He extended his right forepaw. Nars returned the gesture with a hard slap to Humphrey's wrist. It made an audible crack noise.

"Hm, you hear somethin'?" asked Nars.

"No!" Humphrey mumbled, trying to contain his agony.

"Well, great day for a game. My Alpha team is raring to go." The Northern Alpha looked dismissively at Agnes, who was still upside down. Humphrey promptly nudged her back up.

"Yeah! Mine too."

"Yeah, I just love competition. I mean, I live for it."

"Clearly," Humphrey replied flatly.

"Yes. I had a dream about this day. It was so clear... Running! Sliding! The thrill of victory! You know..." Nars's eyes closed, and it seemed his mind was elsewhere. The Westerns exchanged glances. "Father! I tried to win it for you... I really tried... I did! I did..." He broke into tears.

"Eh, there is one for the birds," said Marcel.

"Father, I mean... she's a girl, I know! But... IT WAS THE BEST THAT I COULD DO!" he sobbed. He then woke from his trance and reopened his eyes. "Wha—?" The two birds, the Western team, and their coach were all gone. They had left him.

Later. . .

"Okay! Teams, get ready!" yelled the lead ref. The Northern geese had black paint over their beak and neck feathers to distinguish them from other birds. The first event was a relay race, specifically one where each team lined up in a row, and a single member of each team was supposed to run a circuit before tapping the next member in their line. Whichever team got their last member to complete the course won. The first round of players included Brent.

"What are you looking at?" Agnes said rhetorically. A Northerner had been staring at her.

Once the field became quiet, the lead ref gave the honk that kicked off the event. The first round of players took off.

"A bear is keeping pace with the Alphas?" said Nars. He stood beside Humphrey. Indeed, Brent was not left in the dust. He ran in the back, but he was not far behind. There was a boulder in the field that served as the marker for a hairpin turn. Brent used it to launch himself, but it was not enough to get ahead of the pups.

"You wolves ready for this?" Agnes teased. "Hm? Hm? You ready for the needles? Hm? Hm?" Brent tapped her, and she sprinted forward. The porcupine easily made up ground until it was essentially a four-way tie.

"Way to go, Agnes! Watch your speed!" Humphrey warned. Suddenly, players tripped over each other, and a cloud of dirt concealed them. It was a nail-biting moment. To everyone's surprise, Agnes was the first to jump out of the cloud. The Westerns now had a huge lead to work with. The porcupine soon tapped Stinky's paw. In the third leg, the three other teams caught up significantly, but Stinky maintained the lead.

"Show 'em what you got!" He then tapped his younger brother. Not long into the fourth leg, Magril took the lead for the Northerners. Runt shook his head in frustration but did not slow down. By the time he came back to the teams, a Southerner and an Eastern had passed him. Panting furiously, he tapped Claudette who was on the same leg as Fleet.

"It's all yours!" said Runt. His sister had her work cut out for her.

"No one is faster than my son," Nars remarked. Humphrey rolled his eyes.

Claudette managed to get ahead of the Southerner and the Eastern, but Fleet had a significant lead. However, it was subject to change as the tricky hairpin turn was coming. Fleet attempted to smoothly make the tight turn, but he ended up sliding like all of the players earlier in the race. "COME ON, FLEET!" his coach shouted.

"Do the spin-out, Claudette!" yelled Humphrey. Nars's ears perked at the mention of that famous maneuver.

"What? The spin-out?!"

Claudette leaped. After she touched the ground again, she leaned her body and stamped one of her forepaws. This movement allowed her to make a controlled slide that actually helped her turn around efficiently and with ease. Claudette ran towards the end of the circuit where a ref was perched to determine the winner. Fleet had fallen to his stomach. There was no way he could pass the tan pup. Claudette passed the start/finish line and won the race for the Westerns. The ref honked. Humphrey, the rest of the Western team, and the spectators all cheered. Nars was speechless, his jaw on the ground. A cold reality was beginning to settle in him as his son looked back with a worried face. He turned to Coach Humphrey.

"The spin-out move. I... I haven't seen that since... my Games."

"She learned it from her mom!" Humphrey replied.

"Kate?"

"Yeah. You know her?"

"I lost to Kate when I was a junior... Where is she?"

"She's on a hunting trip."

"Hunting trip?" Nars then chuckled. "Oh, so she wears the Alpha in the family, huh?"

"Yeah... I married up," Humphrey said proudly.

"Well, Kate... was a legend." He turned to the Western team. "I don't see another legend here." He smirked before walking away. Humphrey dismissed him and embraced his players.

"Hey, good job, team!"