Into the storm

Alpha

The weeks leading up to the binding ceremony were dragging on for me. Lilly, like almost everyone else was doing summer pack training and getting ready for the ceremony but I wasn't exactly welcome plus I was still undecided on what I wanted to do within the pack. So I was alone most of the time. Alpha Southerland has always insisted that I be involved in all pack activities but the things that pack members say when they think I can't hear them makes my wolf angry. Nothing they say about me really hurts but I'm an alpha by birth so the power and strength I have demands respect from those who are lower rank and weaker then me and that's dangerous cause sometimes I slip up when I'm angry and I'll forget to hold back my alpha power. We can sense each other's power. The higher your power the higher your rank, not all wolfs can hide their power though but alphas by birth can. They call me weak and I want to show them just how strong I am. My wolf demands they show me the respect I deserve.

It's not all bad though. With everyone being so busy no one's really been in the woods so I can run as much as I want. It's been almost 2 weeks since school let out and I have gone running every day. I have even started practicing running and some defense moves with the necklace. I'll shift early in the morning and run through the whole woods. It's like this every summer but with this possibly being my last summer here I have started exploring new areas that I've never seen before and taking some risks I normally wouldn't. I've hunted and chased rabbits and deers with my necklace on and I have had so much fun. But today is the big day. With the ceremony only being a few days away I'll soon have no choice but to go to the pack house for the big dinner the day before we head to the ceremony.

I still have tonight though so I'm heading out to the big lake by the pack house. I want to jump off the cliffs into it. The cliffs are so high above the water that it's certain death for a human but for a wolf it's nothing. Every wolf in our pack has jumped off those cliffs into the lake except me. I still remember how badly I wanted to shift and jump off the cliffs with Lilly the summer after she shifted. I watched from the edge of woods as everyone else took turns jumping in wishing I could but knowing if I did I would be putting everyone I love at risk. Lilly tried to convince me to do it with the necklace on but I was worried it would come off when I hit the water. Today I hadn't shifted in our backyard like normal. Instead I had quietly snuck out my window and made my way to the pack house on foot. My parents were home so I didn't want them to hear me. They worry about me a lot.

I made it to the pack house in no time. Silently I snuck into the trees surrounding the lake and made my way up to the top of the cliffs. I had gotten nervous on the walkover and was contemplating if I was actually going to jump. Looking at the water below I knew i had to give myself no choice. I walked backwards from the edge a few feet to give myself a running start and jumped. I shifted seconds after jumping and the feeling of the air rushing through my fur and the sight of the water getting closer made me feel so free. I couldn't hear anything except the wind rushing past my ears as I plummeted down towards the water. Excitement grew and bubbled inside of me and I felt like I was close to exploding. Just as I thought I was going to fall forever I broke the surface of the water and sunk to the depths below. the water was cool and calming and I truly felt like I was home. As my head broke through the surface of the water I was debating on if I wanted to jump again. I felt amazing. I felt free. But just as I started to doggy paddle towards the edge of the lake I heard a low growl.

Fear instantly consumed me. As I looked around to see where the sound was coming from I locked eyes with the only wolf in our pack that was bigger than me. Ricardo 'Rico' Southerland, Brocks older brother his copper fur always seems to glow in the moonlight. I flattened my ears down as my paws hit the soft dirt of the bank and I let out a low whine as I walked towards him. He let another low growl rumble through his chest as I approached him. Without any hesitation i shook every drop of water out of my fur making sure some got on him. The annoyed look he shot me was exactly what I hoped for. With my tail wagging I sat down by him and perked my ears back up. He's not a threat to my safety and this isn't the first time he has seen me in my true wolf form. The first time was a few years ago and I was terrified he was going to turn me in but he didn't. Since then every so often maybe once or twice a year he'll come across me again in the woods while I'm on a run or doing something else. He's never realized who I am though I've never shifted from Wolf to human in front of him and he's never really pushed to figure out who I am he's just always let me be. After a few moments of him just staring at me like always he nudges me with his nose let's out a small bark and heads back towards the back house. It's his way of letting me know that I should probably get on my way. Slowly I stand and head towards the direction of home. At first I thought he was like this with me because he's supposed to become our alpha someday but something's happened with him and he has stepped down from the position of future alpha. Now Brock is set to become alpha and well that's just unfortunate. There's been plenty of rumors that have gone through the ranks on why he has stepped down from the position of alpha most centered along the lines of him drinking too much or partying too much or not being what his father wants for the pack. Lilly thinks it's something else though. She thinks there's more to it and that we shouldn't assume that what we hear is the truth. I personally don't know what I believe. I have never met him face to face. Honestly I haven't met a lot of our pack members beyond the full moon runs and a handful of the pack events I helped with or went to but Lilly has though and says that he is a true alpha who cares deeply about his pack. Lil always tells me about who is who in the pack she's a beta and her natural urge to stand as the alphas second in command makes her an excellent judge of character. Just like my alpha power makes me naturally want to protect my pack and family and yes I do want to protect my pack members even though they haven't been the best towards me. Lilly loves to joke that I should challenge Brock for the title of alpha now that Rico has stepped down. At least I think it's a joke.

I shifted back to human just before I left the tree line. Creeping along the fence i hear some hushed voices talking just on the other side. Great. It's Papa and Lilly. They must have figured out what I was up to. I put my necklace back on and pause for a moment before I open up the gate.

"Hey guys." I say with the sweetest smile I can manage.

"Clover what have I told you about sneaking out?" papa scolds.

"Nobody saw me and I had on my necklace." I lie. Lilly is intensely looking at me for a minute before she lets out a big laugh and a hugh smile spreads across her face.

"You did it. You finally did it you sneaky wolf!" she whisper shouts as she runs up to me and hugs me tight.

"Oh god, what did you do?" asks papa.

"Jumped off the cliffs." I say with a smile.

"Clo that was so risky what if you jumped to soon or couldn't find the edge? Or what if your necklace broke?"

"I know Papa" I mumble while avoiding his eyes. He quickly pulls me into a hug and sighs.

"I bet it was amazing though" he whispers. "You two go get in bed now your Dad wants to take you shopping for the ceremony in the morning and we will just pretend that this never happened."

"Okay." me and Lilly say in unison as we head towards the house.

Just as I start to head towards my door Lily grabs my hand and drags me into her room instead. she quickly pushes me towards the bed and tells me to tell her the truth about everything. I tell her everything sparing no detail. With a sigh she shakes her head.

"What? I figured with the dinner being tomorrow that everyone especially Rico would be too busy." I say.

"Clo you genius. Rico stepped down so he's not been dealing with any of the ceremony stuff Brock has." Lilly laughed.

"Ooh." I had figured at the least he would still be helping with stuff.

"Yeah honestly Brock sucks at it all though. Plus no one really knows what Rico has been up to the past few weeks but his mom is trying to convince him to go to the ceremony one last time."

Rico is 3 years older than me and graduated 4 years before us. He has gone to the ceremony 4 times. Most wolfs find their mates on the first or second time but for others it takes a few more times but it's almost unheard of for anyone to go more then 4 years without finding their mate especially an alpha. I feel bad for him honestly.

"Let's go to sleep Lilly." i say as I grab a pair of her shorts and a shirt out of her dresser and climb in bed next to her. We lay in silence for a few minutes until Lilly squeezes my hand.

"I'm nervous Clo." She whispers.

"So am I." I whisper back as we hug each other again. Tomorrow is the last day before the ceremony and what might be my last day with my family. Lilly knows this too and squeezes me tighter as we fall asleep.