Chasing Luna

Submission

:Kai:

My anxiety skyrocketed the moment Charlie and Jacob entered the Ring. I was unsurprised when the ranking Elder stepped forward and proclaimed in a clear if gravely baritone, the Challenge statement. I didn’t miss the ripple of astonishment through the mass of bodies, or Jacob’s look of pride for his Alpha as the crowd was informed of their relative equality. The majority of wolf packs had familial alphas with good leaders, and only the smallest packs had alphas that fought for their title and it took generations to grow into a large pack. Charlie was the number one exception to every “rule” in werewolf culture. 

A wolf’s place in the pack was determined first by their lineage, if a wolf showed greater strength or weakness than his/her parents they were moved accordingly. The greater a wolf’s strength the more responsibility and leadership roles they took on, and the more respect they garnered. The longer an Alpha’s lineage carried on the bigger the pack would grow. The largest packs had Alpha lineage going back as many as 10 generations, and no pack over 30 wolves had an Alpha lineage less than 3 generations. Charlie’s pack is over 100 strong with the next generations well underway, and he became the Alpha of his pack through Challenge a mere 8 years ago. In addition to that tidbit, no Alpha had ever maintained his rank past the first year without a Mate. 

The crowd took a few moments to settle down completely, but Charlie and Jacob had already begun their fight. Though few in this crowd would understand their staredown as a fight. Charlie’s best weapon was his resolve, in every fight to maintain his Role as Alpha of the Pack that he built, Charlie would start with a staredown. In most of those, his opponent didn’t understand the test and looked away first. But Charlie knew that, instinctually, looking away was a sign of submission, and he used it to his advantage every time. Jacob knew this too, from being a witness at more than one of those contests. He would not back down, even though he didn’t want to fight Charlie, there were too many strangers present to not fight him. 

This was no longer a private meeting with the Elders about contingency plans for Charlie should he never find his mate and produce an heir. No longer was this a small question of Charlie’s strength as Alpha of the single largest Pack this side of the Mississippi. No, this was a special advertised event. A thousand wolves had come to the edge of our territory to witness Charlie prove his strength over one of his most trusted and highest ranking Sentinels. Rumors of Charlie had spread like the plague throughout the country and likely farther over the last few years. How he was the Alpha of the largest Pack in the World. How he was growing quickly by kidnapping members of smaller packs and allowing any rogue or lone wolf to join him. How he would dominate or kill any Alpha he came across and make that Pack his own. How every time he showed up in someone's territory he would run rampant through the unmated females trying to satiate his unending need. How he didn’t want a mate because he didn’t think of females as his equal. 

I knew what the large packs said about us, and so did Charlie. We had never cared much before because our members knew the truth and trusted Charlie with their lives and livelihoods. So the rumors didn’t affect us, until now. Now we were surrounded by strange wolves who knew only the rumors, and if he showed them anything less than Fully Powered Werewolf Strength, they would likely ban together and tear his whole pack apart. If Charlie tried to avoid the fight, and talk out the issues as originally planned, Wolves outside our treaty region and territory would go home and report that Charlie was weak. That he manipulated his way out of a Challenge and should be brought to heel like a pup. They would think him corrupted by the sense of power given an Alpha with a large pack and seek to save us. But instead of approaching with a Treaty, as is Charlie’s way, they would simply attack with the goal of killing Charlie and all his loyal soldiers. I would be hard-pressed to think we would lose such a battle, but it would not come free and Charlie would be furious with himself for allowing that to happen. So here I am, watching him stare Jacob down, knowing that my thoughts are echoed in both of their minds. We all knew there were only two options remaining now, and it would all be down to Charlie’s self-control and Jacob’s presence of mind. 

I watched as Charlie dropped into a stance and started moving, the crowd rustled with anticipation. Even in human form, I could smell its bitter-sweet flavor in the air. I could only hope this was over quickly, any fight lasting more than a few minutes would end in the death of one of my friends.