The Last Pack

17. BE THE BETA

As Fidella had promised, each cell she entered she was met by a stranger, and by the time she left in the morning she had extended her new family. In the weeks that followed she had met Rufus, who was also from the Rhine Lands and a tracker. Andre, who was a hunter from Gaul; Sven, who was from Gaul and was a warrior in his old pack. She also met many of the wolves who had been born into slavery, but bought from other houses. They all agreed that this was the worst house they had ever been enslaved to. Each night she would include the pack into her mind link and share stories of the Goddess or the trails of the first Alpha and Luna. In turn, each member of the pack would tell her about their lives, and what they had endured and how they felt and who they’d loved and lost. As she had predicted, the men’s relationship with their wolves became stronger as her tales became a map of their own identity beyond that of a gladiator or slave. The pack’s members asked for multiple renditions of their favourite stories, the most popular being the celebration of the Moon ceremony. This was an evening when the packs would eat, dance, shift and hunt beneath the full Moon to thank the Goddess for their wolves. There were plans to start their own ritual as soon as they were free.

Every evening Conri waited for Fidella by the bathing pool, and their bond was becoming stronger. Sometime Einar was so insistent on completing the bond that Conri had to block him out. Conri had no idea what Einar was talking about. He loved Fidella and for him the bond was complete. If she chose to only give him kisses for the rest of their life and nothing more, he would still consider himself blessed by the Moon Goddess. Fidella would tell Conri all she had learnt about their pack members and what they had suffered before coming here. He made sure he spoke to them all when training and addressed their concerns and worries. He sat at different tables each night, and genuinely took an interest in his pack members' ideas and stories. Conri had given Fidella the wooden house the day after he had made it. He was a little shy that she would see all the flaws in his carpentry skills, but she had been overwhelmed by the meaning behind it. It became a symbol of her hope and joint plans for their shared future and she hid it in her room to protect it, sleeping with it clasped in her hand each night.

There was one difficulty in their plans, and that was the wolves who worked in the kitchen. Their position in the house was a little different from that of the gladiators and pleasure slaves. They were given better food and clothes. They worked hard and longer hours, but were rarely punished. The matriarch’s influence was verging on the oppressive, she demanded excellence and, because of her influence, it was difficult to decide who could be trusted. The two girls who had made Fidella carry the pot upstairs had soon become friendly with Fidella and Iselda, laughing at their stories and sometimes sharing the fruit with them as they were chopping it. They were very endearing, but the risk of telling them the plan was too great. Iselda and Fidella decided that the best way to gain the trust of house slaves was to help them out as much as they could, and tell them the plans at the last possible minute, hoping that staying up later to help prepare breakfast would persuade them to trust their Luna when the time came.

One particular evening, Fidella had been sent to Jerrick’s cell and he asked for a new story he had never heard before. Racking her brains, she finally decided on the tale of the first Beta and, like all the nights before, she expanded her mind-link to the entire pack.

“Although the Moon Goddess had solved the Alpha’s loneliness and provided a protector for the Luna, she was still concerned about the burden she put on her three-ranked pack members. The workload of the Alpha was unmanageable with the amount of trouble the humans were constantly in. Additionally, the Gammas followed the orders of the Alpha, but his bond was to his Luna and there was no brother figure for the Alpha to rely on. She decided to create the Beta Wolf. He would be slightly less powerful than the Alpha, but stronger than the Gamma, and would help to protect the pack. He would be a diplomat among the packs, and an expert in the werewolf laws and traditions. More importantly, was that the Alpha could choose who he wanted to be his Beta and when the Wolf accepted his position he would have enhanced skills and speed, and the Alpha would have a brother,” Fidella finished her story.

“Who is our Beta then?” Jerrick wondered.

“We don’t have one yet, as our Alpha hasn’t made a choice, and the ritual hasn’t taken place,” Fidella replied.

Next morning, Conri took his porridge and sat facing Ewan, who subtly nodded his head in respect.

“So what did you think of Fidella’s story last night? Conri enquired.

“It’s not one of my favourites, I prefer the one about the mate bond,” Ewan smiled, pleased with his own ability to avoid the question.

“I want you to be my Beta,” Conri replied, cutting through the verbal sparring with his directness.

“I was hoping you would ask me, I’d be honoured,” Ewan answered seriously.

“Before anything, we need to be at an understanding about one thing. Fidella said that Beta always protects the Alpha above anything. In our pack, the Luna always comes first. Without her, there is no Alpha anyway. Do you agree?” Conri insisted upon an answer.

“I swear to protect the Luna above all else,” Ewan vowed.

Following the instructions from Fidella, Conri used his claw to cut his palm and did the same to Ewan, dripping a small amount of blood into a cup. Both wolves took a small sip from the cup and Ewan felt a strength flow through him, while Conri felt the bond of a brother.

Since Conri, Ewan and Titan had put their plan in place, all the gladiators had built muscle, increased their stamina and become dangerously fast. Unfortunately, they had no idea how to move as one, like a pack.

“Do you know how to train them to work together, like a pack Ewan?” Conri asked his Beta.

“I do,” was the simple, almost cocky response.

“I want you and Titan to teach us how to move and fight like a pack. If the Heatons ask anything, tell them staged battles are becoming more popular in the arenas and you want us to look prepared and professional,” Instructed Conri. Ewan nodded in agreement.

Starting from that morning, Ewan invented a gruelling and rigorous training plan. Most of the instructions were delivered via mind link to disguise the true intentions of the wolves. The guards were unaware that every gladiator woke up three hours earlier than they needed to, so that they could work on their stamina. They would run in their cells each morning, ignoring the cramp in their legs and the air that seemed to burn their throats when they breathed it in. The Heatons were thrilled with the results as their commodities became more aesthetically impressive. Fortunately, the Heatons favoured Ewan, who they still believed was a human, and gave him more privileges and trust, to the point that he was given a key to all the quarters and no longer had to abide by the curfews. As far as Conri Ewan and Titan were concerned, everything was falling into place.