Spirit Wolves: The Lost Alpha & Beta

3. Being Different

**Nate**

    My whole life, I felt like I didn’t belong in the pack and that I was missing something.  When we were kids, all of the other cubs thought that both Luca and I were strange and caught us many times having secret conversations in our heads.  We didn’t know why we could do it, only that we were different.  The other thing that set us apart was that we were the future Alpha and Beta of the pack, yet I always felt like I was only half as strong as I should be.  Being the future Beta, when I became a teen, it should have been easy to beat my fellow pack members in pretty much everything, but I had to give it everything I had just in order to come out on top (behind Luca of course).  If he struggled at all, he never showed it, but me on the other hand, they knew and I was convinced that once we took over, I would be challenged instantly because they didn’t think I was strong enough to be their Beta.   

I not only felt Luca was my best friend, but I always saw him more as a brother.  From as early as I could remember we were inseparable.  Together every single moment we were allowed to be.  It was almost like we were drawn together, stronger together but yet I knew there was something different about us.  Some of the elders treated us like the “black sheep” and we could never figure out why.  They would always turn up their noses, tell us we smelt different then the rest, that we didn’t belong or just make us do all of the horrible tasks and chores while the rest got extra lessons.  We decided at a young age that we would not allow them to bring us down, no matter how hard they tried to pound it into us.  That only made us work longer and harder, striving to be the best.

I felt it when Luca snapped his bond with the pack and I knew instantly that whatever happened next I would be right beside him.  The strange part was when it happened, everyone around felt pain, but I felt relief as our personal bond only felt stronger.  No one had to tell me twice because there was no question about it.  Where he went, I would be right by his side.  I don’t know how to explain it, only that I felt it, like something pushing me to stay right by his side.  On the long drive, it felt like someone or something was trying to pull me back and the farther we drove, the stronger it got.  It was almost like a pulling sensation that made it hard to even breathe and felt like my chest was going to explode to the point where I was sick to my stomach and felt like I was literally dying inside until we finally crossed that boundary line.   

I could tell that it was affecting Luca as well but he was still able to function, while I was not.  I was helpless in the passenger seat of the Jeep and it was up to him if we were able to do it or not.  It was the worst feeling that I had ever experienced in my life and not one that I would want to feel again but as soon as the Jeep crossed the line, everything changed.  I felt like I was on top of the world, stronger than I have ever been before.  Filled with surging power like it was pulsing through me, begging to be released.  It was as though for the first time in my life, I was awake, something had been dampening me in some way all of these years and I felt….FREE!

Now, sitting in the passenger seat while Luca was basically jumping around outside like a little kid hopped up on candy, I decided to get out and stretch my legs for a few minutes.

“I don’t think we should linger here for too long and we are losing light.”  I paused to smell something in the air.  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, sending chills down my spine.  I shook it out before I continued “Do you smell that?  I think we should keep on moving, something still is not right...I feel fine now, I can drive.”

Luca sniffed the sir also and quickly agreed with me.  We switched places in the Jeep and I quickly pulled back onto the road.  Now up to highway speed, I was able to relax a little more as the scent was getting further away.  “Whatever that was, it was heading in our direction and was moving fast.  I know we will have to stop at some point, but I feel like we need to keep moving.”  I suggested.

“I like that idea”  Luca replied before grabbing a map out of the bag from the last gas station and opening it up to study it.  “How much gas do we have?” he questioned

I didn’t need to look at the gas gauge because we had only filled up 2 hours ago, but I did anyway and answered “Just over half a tank.  We will probably need to stop again in a couple of hours. Maybe we should stop on the outskirts of a medium to larger sized town?  Park and rest for a few hours at least”

    I continued to drive along the highway but we had entered some form of rugged land while Luca looked at the map.  The road became curvy and winding in between ravines and hills.  I imagine this would have been a beautiful drive in the daylight, but with night now upon us there was no way I wanted to stop because it was most likely another pack’s territory.  The last thing we needed right now, was to have an altercation with other wolves.  I had no double that we could handle our own, especially since I now had all this new strength, but we did not need the hassle.

    “It looks like there is a split in the road about 90 miles and there is a fair sized town just after that on the right.  We should be able to find a place to park and rest for a few hours.”  He commented before putting the map away and grabbing more snacks.  Since we had not eaten dinner, we were both pretty hungry.  With all of the adrenaline running through us, I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was until I devoured 2 bags of beef jerky, 4 cold hot dogs that we had forgotten about and 2 bottles of water.  Luca was just about the same.  We didn’t speak much as we were both focused on the road, our surroundings and eating.

    We eventually came up to the split in the road reminding me of a “Y” and I followed the right side, leading into town.  We could tell that it was indeed a fair size because we had seen the glow over top of it from the street lights.  By far, it was the biggest town that we had ever seen.  I slowed down as we began to enter town and passed a sign that said ‘Welcome to Timmins.  Population 40, 000’ and I couldn’t help but point at it with my mouth wide open.  Being so secluded from the world, we definitely were not used to being around so many people.  Our pack only had about 50 people and the closest town was only a few hundred!

    I looked down at the gas gauge again before pulling into the nearest station to fill up.  Luca jumped out and started looking around before heading into the store while I filled up the Jeep.  After it was full, I joined him inside where I found him talking to the poor sucker that worked the night shift.

“...well, we are just passing through on our way down south.  Do you know of anywhere that is open to get some food?”  He asked.

The attendant pointed us in the direction of a couple of fast food places that had a drive through still open at this time of night and we thanked him as our stomachs growled loudly.  It wasn’t long before we were mowing down on a bunch of the cheapest burgers this one place had on the menu.  I think they were only two dollars each, and when we ordered 20, the lady laughed at us through the speaker before she realized that we were serious.  We moved up to the window to pay but had to wait a while for our food.  Now with the delicious smelling burgers, I pulled the jeep around back and parked.  I think we devoured the burgers in under 5 minutes because we were famished but now, Luca suggested we just stay here and get some shut eye.

We pulled the sleeping bags up front with us, and wrapped ourselves up before passing out cold from emotional and mental exhaustion.