The Rise of the Alpha

05

~six years later~

(Third Person POV)

All by its lonesome on a mellow, summer night, a hooded figure slowly trekked its way through the dense forest which bordered a number of smaller packs, searching high and low for a bribable rogue or two who looked like they could use, at the very least, a decent meal. It took many long, seemingly-hopeless nights for the figure's attempts to pay off, but they finally did with the discovery of a particular outcast who, due to his blatant hunger, was all too eager to hear the proposition.

Soon thereafter, a coalition of sorts was born. Though at a snail's pace and with heaps of mutual trust, the shrouded being and that rogue met up in secrecy to plot and plan, and eventually, the rogue recruited a couple of more to get on board. Unfortunately for a hefty portion of the peaceful people living in the serenity of Nerovia, time was simply something that the wrong kind of people had entirely too much of on their hands...

*****

(Leila's POV, two years later, early May)

Whether it flies by or drags on, time has a way of changing things. For starters, several of my friends have gotten their wolves, and I'm not too far behind them since I'm almost old enough to get mine! Now, on to the not-so-exciting part – the rumors. See, my pack has always been in some form of communication with our neighboring ones, and a couple of years back, they had begun to notice a turtle-slow increase in the presence of rogues in what all of us have now formally dubbed the Badlands, the vast acreage of forest stretching for countless miles beyond our borders. Rumor had it that a handful of them had banded together under the direction of some mysterious being and gone on a terror spree in far-away packs, leaving them without their higher ranks and to eventually either fall apart altogether or be overtaken…but since we didn't know how much merit those rumors held, we weren't certain how much of it, if any at all, was a fallacy. The common ground on which the lot of us stood, though, was how peculiar we'd found the rumors to be, for rogues were thought to be solitary beings for the longest time. Rumor or otherwise, we stayed prepared to defend ourselves should trouble ever decide to rear its ugly head. In addition, there's been rumors of a slow but gradual decrease in the presence of actual forest wildlife around. We didn't know what was up with that considering it was something we hadn't witnessed, but we opted to take extra caution regardless.

Aside from the happenings beyond our border, this month will mark a ginormous milestone for me – my eighteenth birthday! As any werewolf knows of werewolf-kind, your eighteenth birthday means you'll finally be able to shift. I'd heard my wolf, Chloe, in my head for the first time a few months back, but she sounded incredibly faint and felt quite distant. Still, I wanted to try to communicate with her, and although she seldom ever replied, I talked her ears off daily. Mom and Dad eventually caught me 'talking to myself' and damn-near cried tears of joy over it, much to my teenage self's annoyance. Despite their pleading to be with me at all costs for my first shift, however, 'no' was my straightforward answer every time they'd make mention of it. That first shift was something that I wanted to experience alone and away from the oftentimes-suffocating presence of them, and as the future alpha of my pack, my word was bound to trump their wishes eventually. Better start trying to cut the cord now versus later, right?

*****

Finally...at long, long last...the date of May 13th has rolled around! The whole pack will be celebrating from sunrise onward, much like I'm told they did the night that my parents left for the hospital to welcome me into the world. Merriment will abound and be thick in the air, for the good people of River Falls are over the moon about their future alpha's first shift!

*****

The day has been absolutely everything I pictured it would be! My mother kicked things off with a pack-wide breakfast f.ollowed by a long, tiring-ass slideshow – yes, an actual slideshow filled with pictures of me from birth until literally the previous week. She also choked out a mushy-ass speech about what a spectacular daughter she and my dad had, of course, and the both of them shed an excessive amount of happy tears. The trip down Memory Lane eventually ended...but not near soon enough, I swear!

After breakfast, I decided to take it easy in my room for a while and try to communicate more with my wolf. So far, she's still just a faint murmur in my mind; my parents have been repeatedly promising me that once I shift, she and I will be able to communicate effortlessly, though, so I just have to be patient. I'm totally looking forward to meeting my wolf, and she feels the same way about me...or so I'm hoping.

Guests came and went over the course of the day, and verbal curiosity over what my wolf looked like arose with each passing hour; admittedly, I quite enjoyed being the focal point of peoples' conversations perhaps a smidgen too much! Once night fell, I packed a bag full of all kinds of things to keep me occupied for a few hours' stay down at the river in wait for the moment the clock would strike 11:49, then I headed out for the peace and quiet that I was after. My parents still wanted to accompany me, but since their wishes and mine were totally opposite one another, I ventured on my own to the river without so much as even a 'see you in a few' to them.

Set up and comfy beneath the natural canopy that a humongous weeping willow generously provides, I read one of my favorite books while taking drags every now and then from the rolled-up herb I'd brought with me. Truthfully, my parents didn't approve of the green stuff, but oh well! It's my life to live, not theirs! They didn't exactly approve when they saw me locking lips with and squeezing the a.ss of their Gamma's son, either, but who's really keeping track here?

With the time approaching midnight, several chapters read, and half of my herb turned to ashes, I opted to place my book aside for a while in favor of resting my sleepy eyes. This shift will happen when it happens, I thought, fiddling with the necklace that Cyrus had given me long ago; I'd worn it on the daily ever since I'd turned eleven and decided that donning a little jewelry wasn't so bad after all.

On that note, I closed my eyes and practically became part of the mossy ground on which I was lying, drifting off rather quickly and unexpectedly into a light, tranquil slumber. While I slept, I dreamed of the future and what it might have in store for me, only my parents were nowhere to be seen in it, and I didn't understand why that was. Deep down, it troubled me; even in sleep, I clearly remember feeling that way. Suffocating or not, those two people were such a vital part of me and undoubtedly have made me who I am!

Time stretched for I don't know how long while I snoozed, then some unexplainable thing jolted me out of my sleep, kind of like the hand of Moon Goddess reaching down and giving me a gentle tap on my shoulder. Half panicked, I scanned my surroundings with urgency, determined to ensure myself that I had remained unbothered while I was sleeping.

It's almost time, chimed the voice in my mind. You ready to meet me?

I mean, duh! I f.ired back in jest, pairing it with a cheeky smile that very much reiterated my sentiments.

She didn't reply to that, so on that note, I grabbed my book and picked up where I'd left off a while ago, reading away until an utterly foreign sensation began to take me over beginning at the tips of my toes. Teetering between worried and confused, I placed my novel aside and focused in on my surroundings...and then, a most-unwelcome searing pain barreled into me like a ton of solid bricks. Is it finally time? Am I finally about to meet the other half of myself?