Gods and Alphas

When you have lived for over twenty-five thousand years, you know well the cost of boredom. Time does not exist in the same concept. To be this old, there is no language in the current spectrum that can help anyone understand what the passing of time is similar to. There was a time where nothing existed. We Gods, watched the creation of the planet. For almost a million years my family watched the grass grow.     My father Od was one of the first Gods to experiment with creating life. He created Giants. The creation of the giants themselves went on for about 1000 years. My family observed the Giants go on mating, creating and living life. After about ten thousand years of the existence of the Giants, my uncle Iz created Dwarves. Iz wanted almost the complete opposite of what my father started, hoping for different results. Iz created Dwarves. Oh-Boy did the Dwarves have questions!     Other Gods noticed the entertainment of creating life and watching them go about their lives. Animals, Germs and Bacteria were created. Animals were created to be our eyes and ears. We could see and hear through only their eyes and ears.     My mother Aye, after observing for a few million years, plotting, sourcing and brainstorming, created the Fey. My mother constructed the idea of magic. My mothers first attempt at this, Aye, created the beings to be able to tap into a wellspring of magic created by lineage. This created a bit of controversy. Only the oldest were the most powerful and there happened to be no balance, the oldest Fey still living to be about 630 years of age. They were too powerful. Aye, went back to the drawing board to create a balance to them. Watching them became boring after a few thousand years.       My twin brother Oz, was a prankster. He would bore easier than the rest of us. After watching trial and error, Oz created two species.   The Humans first. Oz created the humans as a joke. Which only became apparent when I would hear them constantly search for the answers to life. There is no answer to life, just a bad punchline. Oz, then created the balance to his idea. Oz created Vampires, when he realized the life span he gave the humans was pitiful in comparison to the other species. One lesson we were always taught was, everything needs a balance. With a long life vampires were a slave to their addictions, all of them.         It was not until I was near the age of eighteen-thousand that I understood the phase my brother hit at sixteen thousand, the gods that came before me went through. I, to be fully honest, believed that it was silly to create beings for our entertainment. I grew up observing the collection of species grow into their feelings, act on their feelings. I watched civilizations rise and fall. Each civilization claiming to be the torch that brings peace to the world. Every sect, believing that they could achieve peace. The idea of peace is something I never understood. I had yet to witness a faction achieve true peace. For when one revolution would occur, it ended in war, oppressions, violence and chaos. That in itself was the balance. There could be no peace without violence. It would make me cringe every time. I would hold out hope that "this time would be different". Maybe it was not the purpose of entertainment that every god created a being. In most cases another life form would be created as an offset to another. Gods would stand by their creations, but would never interfere to win, that was cheating.     After fiddling around with the idea of creating my own, I took notes, measurements and inventory on how other species fared.   One observation period, I found myself attracted to animals. One animal in particular, the wolf. No one told the wolves to create a pack structure, they figured it out on their own. Of all the beings on this little planet, I would sneak down to see them. I would watch them for decades. The wolf was the most family oriented. The pack that I watched had an Alpha named Om. I learned a lot about them through him. They seemed to "get it right". The animals were not created with a voice. One day, I appeared to Om. I introduced myself.     I asked Om, "What is the one thing you desire most?"   Om replied to me, "To be able to protect my pack, to be able to speak for them. "     "Om, what if I were to give you abilities of another species? Which one would it be? Which abilities would you like to keep? Which abilities from that species would you want?"     "That is easy, my Goddess! Humans. We have been around for quite some time. We would not desire to live as long as the vampires, Giants or the Fey." I pondered for a while before speaking again, "I know all too well the boredom of a long life, I would not wish that upon anything." Om seemed to be communicating with his pack, for he was speaking for them. "We do not desire to give ourselves fully to being human. We rather enjoy the dirt under our paws, the speed whistling in our ears and the freedoms of wind dancing under the moon. We are not too high on the totem poll to be drawing attention to ourselves. I need to be able to protect my family." I thanked Om for his candor.     I sat with Om's words for sometime, before returning to him with an offer.     "Om, I offer you and yours, the ability to shapeshift into wolves at your discretion, I will link that ability to the moon. I offer additional strength abilities while in human form to be able to protect yourselves. You can keep your sense of smell as a warning system. I cannot guarantee the life-span that is an unknown variable. You will be human in every other way. I charge you to keep to your true self as much as possible. There are many unknowns when creating a species. I believe that adaptation is a better way to go."     Om left my audience to speak with his pack, when he returned he appeared to be a bit somber. " Alahmay, My Goddess. Not all of us have agreed to take on this adventure. Half of the pack only desires to remain as is. The other half want this more than anything I know."     I reach out to pet Om's head and look into his eyes. I knew he would not make a choice that would conflict the pack. For this I admired him. "Om, this does not have to be a package deal. I believe every wolf has the ability to make their own choice. If there is a desire for some to take on this journey, I will make it so. "     Om raised his head into the air, snout high to the moon. He let out a long heart shattering howl. Of the thirty some wolves that were standing there, twelve joined him in the howl, while the others bowed their heads. Those that howled walked toward me.   "How do we do this Goddess?" I put a container of mixed water and a few drops of my blood onto the ground and motioned for them to drink.  "Only do this, if it is your desire! I am not sure how this will turn out. I will drink with you, I would never ask you what I will not do myself."       I got on my hands and knees and drank. Om followed in turn behind me, with each of the twelve pack members following. The remaining pack stood guard to watch. After what seemed like a long time, I felt it crawling under my skin. I took a deep breath and nodded to Om. Chills of cold ran up my  spine, goosebumps covered my entire body.  Then, a furnace lit in my stomach, the heat grew I could feel it spill out and fill my veins. I traced its speed and it stopped in my eyes.  I could see everything so clearly, colors more vivid than I could see them before. I ran hot with fever but it was no longer uncomfortable. Om seemed to be going through something similar by watching his reaction.    Everything seemed to be going as planned. as much as one could plan. until the moment my bones begin to crack, the sounds echoing through my body the pain slamming me into the ground. I tried to hold on to the ground beneath me hoping for some type of relief. every muscle in my body slipped, shifted and maneuvered, my spine twisted and contorted. I even felt my face break. My skin felt as if it were burning off my bones. My skin slathered off of my being laying in a pile underneath where I struggled to stand.  All I could do was howl. One by one every wolf that drank from the bowl, reflected the agony of our choices.The perpetuity of the time frame and which we all transformed was unfathomable.    Then and only then was there complete and utter silence. as I stood before Om, and his pack I looked up at them standing on all fours, thick with fur black as the sky itself. Om, And his pack stood before me as humans.    For decades I worked with Om and his pack. We were joined in the numbers. Learning how to live as wolves or learning to live as humans, we intended to make the transition as effortless as possible. At the age of 123 Om, left the world of the living. He had sired over thirty-three offspring. The pack split at Om’s departure. Each one taking with them the lessons of being an Alpha werewolf. This is the time I had decided my time with them had come to an end.    The transitions had the kinks worked out of them. Nobility, humility, honor and sacrifice, lessons all instilled in each new pack member. Each moving through the world to create their own pack. There was structure, there was honor. There would be no war, that was not who we are.    Upon my return to the Heavens, only a short stint in time had passed. No one even seemed to have known that I had taken leave. This is where I sat and watched my creations, my blood, my family, my tribe, my pack.      Eventually, the world became smaller, our species populated, more space became occupied. The species began to become neighbors. With watchful eyes, we witnessed them discover each other. Each species had their own tribes at this point. Several centuries pass, each as disconnected as the next from their roots. Some discoveries were peaceful, some not so peaceful. Dwarves and Giants became reclusive after sometime, to the point of extinction.    Humans, vampires, Fey and Werewolves populated the earth. The Fey were snobby highborns who felt that their bloodlines made them above every other creature in this world. They took to the woods and created an invisible realm for themselves.  Vampires left the humans to populate the world as they lay waiting in the shadows.  The more the population of humans grew, the more they incroched on the territory of the other species. Eventually the humans built civilization with modernization. Small villages turned into towns and cities. Dirt roads became gravel roads, which became cobblestone, cobble stone became asphalt. Horses became vehicles. The world grew up before our very eyes.    With this we had watched as each faction claimed to only desire peace. Each holding their own ideas of what peace looked like. One’s peace was not the same as the other, often creating oppression by calling it something else. Territories became larger to accommodate the larger populations. Lines were fuzzy, territory infringement occurred, battles were fought over claiming someone else's home. Even the packs began to kill each other over numbers, territories and quality of life. Leaving behind the core ideology that they were ingrained with. Leaving packs shattered and at a loss for numbers. They turned on each other. That is not who we are.    The packs had always left me offerings as a thank you for their way of life. Even when they lost the values instilled in them. Each wolf saw me differently, I meant something unique to each. I was honored to be honored. I did not want to be held as the torch for their claims for war on each other. Each pack offering me a sacrifice to ensure their war, battle, strife or chaos with another pack would go in their favor. I made them with my blood. My blood asking me to give them favor over-taking my blood. How did this make sense to them? That is not who we are!    There had not been anything I could do. Many of the triumphant packs staking claim that I was the one to give them aid in their victory. The battle-worn packs are losing faith in me, because they did not win. This did not make sense to me. That is not who we are!   I could not give my favors to one pack over another. Horrible deeds completed in my name! Pups left without parents, packs left without Alphas. Werewolves were under attack, by the vampires, when not under attack by each other. Man would hunt them for sport. They needed to ban together, not apart. They needed their numbers. I was not to interfere. I stopped taking their offerings. I stopped listening to their wants, wishes, desires and prayers. I could not be a catalyst for a name used to wage war with one another. That was not who we are.    I took counsel with my mother. Fey seemed to have done something right, although she stopped paying attention to them, since they claimed to be self- sufficient. They had everything they could ever need, conjured by a few words or motions, protected from anything outside of their perception. My mother encouraged me to show patience. That in time the packs would resolve or dissolve. That was not who we are. We do not dissolve.   I took counsel with my father. He held the utmost respect for my work. After his own trial and errors he could understand why I wanted my wolves to succeed. “You are the mother goddess of the wolves. You gave them life. Similar to having children of your own, you do not want them to fight with one another.” In his words I felt resolved, in why I found myself pacing the clouds in worry. Just like my brother and I, we did not always get along.    That is when the idea dawned on me. Not only had there been times where my twin brother and I did not get along, More times than not, we conspired against others, together as a team. I sought counsel from Oz, the prankster.    I spoke to Oz, with my woes. He did not seem to have his creatures attacking each other. The vampires were more solitary creatures. I reiterated my concerns and the inability to be able to interfere from the heavens because Gods and Goddesses cannot interfere.    “ So what is to stop you from helping them, Al?” Oz, as serious as he could be, knew my answer. I repeated our one rule. “Gods and Goddesses cannot interfere.” I thought it was silly that he wanted me to repeat the rule. “What is stopping you? What consequence is there for breaking the rules? Once they are created and set on their way, what is to stop you from getting involved in the wars of Earth?” I pondered for quite some time. I was either going to risk everything or nothing. The thought alone of risking the wolves was enough for me to be reluctant. I was going to lose them if I did not do something.    We as Gods and Goddess did not have consequences. There had technically not been a reason we could not. There were no dire consequences that kept us from doing just that. The only variable I had to contend with was Fate. The web of Fate, the Wyrd. There was no telling what could happen, because it had not happened before now. Just like in the time of creating the werewolves, we just had to see what happened.  I had to do something because what the wolves were doing, was not who we are.  I watched over them while I thought to myself.  They were slowly no longer praying to me. They were losing faith in a Goddess, a mother who did not seem to hear them or aid them when they were hurting. That is not who I am.    I went back to my brother. I told him my plan. I am going to go live among them. I am going to lead them back, I will help them understand their roots.  I was not sure how that was going to happen. I was unsure If I was even able to return. I knew my intent. I would not sit idly by while they tear themselves apart. It had been such a long time for the wolves, that I am sure they would not recognize me, they would not know who I am and the part I had to play in who they are. I knew I would directly, if not indirectly cause alarm within the heavens with the other Gods. I needed to make sure I was covered down below or here above the Earth.  If anyone was going to watch out for me, it was going to be him.    I closed my eyes and I made my intent known. I will join them. I will lead them, I will help them become better, wiser and rejoin them as one whole.      I open my eyes. I am in a place unfamiliar to me. I know I am in the deep woods. I smell the moss on the trees, I smell the soil under my bare feet, I hear the leaves dance in the wind. I feel the crisp of the air. The air has a crisp to it. The night is dark and the moon lights the ground in patches. I see their eyes on me from their positions under the brush. I hear the snarling and clamping of their jaws as their teeth snap together. They are unmistakingly warning me that I am not where I am supposed to be. The warning of being unfamiliar with me, I do not move. I stand completely still. They have me surrounded, their flank closing in on me. I feel my heart attempting to climb out of my chest. I feel the sweat dripping from my hairline. There is no confusion on what is going on, just the confusion of how I got here.    The largest of the wolves walked within snacking distance of me. He sniffs at me. I begin to shake. These wolves do not seem friendly. He lifts his head. He is tall enough to meet me on eye level at my five foot seven height. He stares into me. No one and nothing moves or makes a sound  while he examines me. In a very human-like voice inside of my head, I hear him tell the other wolves that I do not smell human. I tilt my head as I hear this. Wolves do not talk. He notices that I reacted to his mind link to the other wolves. He then tells the others “Stand-by, this one is a little off.”  I looked him over to again make sure his lips were not moving. In my own mind “Oh my gods! It's a talking wolf!” This took him by surprise, he stumbled backwards as he seemed to have read my mind. “Who are you? Why are you here?” he asked me in my mind, inching closer to my face. The only thing I could think instinctively was “Those are both very good questions. I do not know.”