Red Moon

4 : you are weak

Harry remained silent, completely shocked by the announcement Wayne had just made.

How could this be?

He was the descendant of a long line of Alphas. And yet, he couldn't deny it. His wolf was submitting to and recognizing the authority of the Mad One.

"Out," Alpha Black merely articulated with a deep sigh. He got up from his chair and walked out unceremoniously, keeping his hands in his pants pockets.

Harry and Wayne stood up and followed him.

"Go to the back. You know where to go, Alpha Black. No trouble at the front of the Crossroad Café," Old Al announced calmly. The Wind Tribe leader had not moved and continued to smoke quietly as he leaned back in his chair.

Black merely nodded, then moved with a firm foot toward the backyard of the Café.

The other two Alphas followed him but kept a distance of five meters behind him.

Wayne put a brotherly hand on Harry's shoulder, then laughed softly.

"Did you have time to get Alpha training?" he asked the redhead calmly.

"Of course I have. The Red Moon trains its members early, so everyone is ready for an attack," Harry answered immediately. He was grateful that Wayne was making conversation with him. But he couldn't shake his nervousness since the Mad One arrived.

Wayne gave an admiring whistle before shaking his head.

"I'm not talking about your average training. I'm talking about your actual combat training as an Alpha."

Harry clenched his jaws and fists. Then, after a few seconds, he sighed with frustration and sadness.

"My father had started before..."

"For how long?" interrupted Wayne at once.

Harry looked up at the sky, trying to estimate how long he had been with his father in training.

"Maybe two or three months."

Wayne stopped walking, unintentionally pulling Harry back.

"What? Not more?" he asked, almost shouting. The frankly audible panic in his voice.

Harry withdrew the hand Wayne had kept on his shoulder. Then he started walking again without a glance for the Serene Moon Alpha.

"Here," Black grumbled as they came to a large, dusty field surrounded by trees. Usually, this field served as a gathering place where the children of the Wind Tribe liked to go and fly their kites.

Black jerked his head toward the center to command Harry to stand there.

Wayne plucked a tall grass and stuck it between his teeth. He ran a hand through his beard, unsure whether or not he should warn the Mad One of Harry's level. Then he sat down on the ground, his forearms thrown back for balance.

Black crossed his arms over his chest and looked Harry up and down with contempt.

"You are weak," he remarked aloud.

Harry flinched slightly before mimicking the Mad One's stance. However, he puffed his chest out, lifted his chin, and looked back at Alpha Black.

"I am strong enough to be the Alpha of the Moon..."

"You are weak," Black repeated curtly. Then he began to circle the young man, looking at him with contempt. "Weak... Yes. Pretentious... No. You have the same sense of duty as your ancestors. But, you don't have their strength. Why?" he asked reproachfully.

Harry's cheeks suddenly turned red.

"My father didn't have time to train me," he admitted almost half-heartedly.

Black moved toward him, close enough to be within inches of him. He had to look down at the young Alpha, though.

"And you call yourself an Alpha?"

"I am the Alpha of the Red Moon," Harry declared firmly.

"You're untrained, and you dare to call yourself that?" cut in Black immediately.

"It's my right," Harry replied, lowering his eyes. He was ashamed that he couldn't stand the intensity of the Mad One's green gaze.

"You dare to carry the weight of your pack members' lives when you can't even bear to look me in the eye?" Black asked cynically.

Harry dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands before jerking his head in the affirmative to the Mad One's question.

"So, you're a moron, Harry of the Red Moon pack," Black growled through his teeth. Then he slowly uncrossed his arms and took three steps back. "Show me your wolf, Harry."

A nervous spasm made the corners of Harry's mouth twitch. The Mad One had purposely not used his title to address him. Did he want to see his wolf? So be it. Black would understand why no one was more qualified to be the head of the Red Moon than he was.

"Let's show them, Till," he said to his wolf.

Harry almost tore off his clothes in a rage, then turned with a mournful sound of bones breaking and reforming.

A howl ripped through the night as a reddish-brown wolf appeared before the other two Alphas. There was nothing wrong with the wolf and the young man, whose bodies were perfectly prepared for battle, and the volume of their muscle mass did not deceive anyone. The young Alpha of the Red Moon stood perfectly straight on his four legs and kept his nose high.

Wayne gave an admiring whistle as he saw the already impressive size of the youngster. But he didn't make another move. He could hear his own wolf grumbling about not being able to go out and play with the cub. That would have to wait until later since the Mad One was evaluating his new pack leader for the Red Moon.

Once again, Black sighed deeply at the animal form of such a young Alpha.

"You are weak," he repeated again.

The wolf's red ears lowered in defeat before small grunts of protest rose.

Black raised an eyebrow at them.

"The wolf is more talkative than the human, I see."

As if to back up the Mad One's words, the red wolf began to make small leaps from right to left as he continued to growl to show his displeasure.

_ Why are we the only ones being transformed, Harry?" complained Till.

"I have no idea," the young man replied at once.

They didn't have time to continue their exchange when they both cried out in pain. They hadn't had time to see the Mad One running toward them, nor had they been aware of the danger. It took the powerful impact of Alpha Black's fist against their ribs for them to realize what they were in for.

Till rolled to the side and hit the trunk of a tree. The impact was so brutal that the wolf's body shattered two more trees in the process. He immediately sat up, shaking his head to regain his composure, when he felt a hand on the back of his neck.

A small bark of surprise left his mouth as he felt himself lifted into the air and launched again toward the center of the field.

"Gee, I never thought I'd see a wolf fly in my life," commented Old Al, handing Wayne a beer.

"I didn't either. Thanks for that, Old Al," Wayne replied, patting the dusty ground beside him.

Alo gave him an amused look, then sat on the ground while he lit another cigarette.

"Don't mess it up too bad," he shouted at Black.

Wayne gave the Wind Tribe leader a surprised look before taking a fresh sip of beer.

"Because he listens to you when you make that kind of request?"

"Never. And certainly not outside of the Crossroad Café," Old Al replied, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "But at least you can't say I wouldn't have tried."

Till tried to get up, but his body was already sore. He knew his back leg had been dislocated on impact. He flinched when he heard Black's footsteps approaching him before landing under his nose.

"You are weak," the Mad One repeated almost regretfully.

The young wolf raised his muzzle towards him and snarled. However, he stopped as soon as Black crouched before him to look him in the face.

"You can't even get up after two hits while I'm still in human form, Harry."

The young wolf tried to stand up again, but he groaned as his hind leg snapped back into place.

Black sighed again.

"You are incapable of protecting anyone, and you are not worthy of the title of Alpha." Then he stood up and turned his back on the wolf to leave. "I could walk into your pack right now and murder them all out," Black grumbled before being punched in the face.

A loud c***k echoed through the space.

Old Al and Alpha Wayne held their breath in surprise.

Harry, who had regained his human form, cried out in pain as he held the wrist of the hand that had been used to punch the Mad One in the face.

Black hadn't moved under the impact, and it was as if the punch had been like a gentle breeze on his skin. Finally, he slowly turned his head to the side to look at Harry again.

The young Red Moon Alpha began to scream.

"I'm weak! I know! I'm a moron! I know! But you don't touch my pack members! You'll have to kill me first," Harry yelled, his voice mingling with his wolf's from the force of emotion.

Black and Harry stood still for a few seconds as the sound of a clap was heard from the side.

"I'll take care of training him, Alpha Black. He's got the basics down, but I think I can still teach him a thing or two," Wayne said, raising his beer to them.

Black didn't take his eyes off Harry for a moment. And this time, the young Alpha held his gaze.

"A year," Black grumbled.

"I didn't hear anything," Wayne shouted from across the field as Old Al's muffled laughter rose in the night.

Black let out another sigh and spoke louder this time.

"You'll train him for a year. Then I'll judge whether or not he stays on as head of the Red Moon."

"Alright! There, I heard it!" shouted Wayne.

"I'm the Alpha of the Red Moon. Do you expect the leader of the farmers to drag me along? Me?" cut in Harry.

"I heard that too, Alpha Harry!" shouted Wayne again, quite amused this time.

"No offense, Alpha Wayne," Harry shouted back at the Serene Moon Alpha but didn't take his eyes off the Mad One.

Black raised an eyebrow at him, then turned on his heels.

"We'll talk about this again in a year. And, Harry?"

"Yes, Alpha Black?"

"The farmer strikes a lot harder than you do."