Heavy Expectations

Chapter 1

6 months later... Apollo stood tall, watching his older sister startling to bound over to him. her paws carefully dodging around any things in the way.

"Ugh! get away from me!" He cried, leaping toward her, smashing his head into hers. "Yowch!" Apollo yelped.

He rubbed his head with his paw, huffing in annoyance. A small bump formed on the crown of his head.

"Atlas! Why would you do that?" Apollo stood up, with a small growl, then relaxing a big more.

"That was not me! It was all you, you did it!" She was rubbing her own head, she also probably would have a bump for the next week or so. "You bone head! I was supposed to catch you!"

Apollo rolled his eyes. "You expect he to just sit there and get caught? I'm not stupid Atlas." what is she thinking? I'm not just some pup that can be bossed around anymore. he thought, with a small huff.

"Whatever, I suppose your right. Father should be coming home from the hunt with Mother soon." Atlas picked herself up, picking out any sticks or plants in her fur.

Apollo admired Atlas, even if they didn't always get along. She looked more like their Father than Mother, and Apollo was the opposite. Her fur was a beautiful shade of dark blue, and light blues, while his was mostly brown, with a little of white on his muzzle. Maybe he should be okay with it, I mean, he did look like his Mother more, which he was rather glad about. Apollo didn't particularly have a good relationship with his father afterall.

He followed his sister back to the den. The two of them relaxed for a bit and talked till their parents arrived. The two of them would have gone with their parents to watch, but it was dangerous with men nearby. Men were the worst type of predator. They preyed on everything with no reason except the intent to kill. Maybe wolves were wrong about that but it seemed unlikely. Why would men kill a wolf, take its fur and then just leave it? Apollo had thought at first that the men killed wolves because that was the only thing they ate, but then he heard a story about them killing almost any animal. Maybe they just kill what they find because yhry can eat anything.. Apollo had thought.That case was also put to rest when one day he found a man skinning a wolf, and then just leaving. Maybe any other wolf pup would have been traumatized by that scene, but Apollo just felt more interested in men, and wanted to learn more about them.

But then there was his father. Apollo wanted to leave and explore, maybe learn more about men, but his father had other ideas for him.

"Listen up son" Orion had said to Apollo "You will need to help us hunt and bring down prey." Apollo understood that enough and was okay with that, but then he had continued. "Once you get older, I want you to inherit my pack. Usually pups would leave to make their own, but I want to create something new, something different. I want to create a system where Father's passed down their pack to their son's till one day it becomes a great kingdom."

Apollo found his idea dumb, he didn't want that, he wanted to explore and create his own pack, like a normal wolf.

"Why can't you give it to Atlas? She is a much better fit..." Apollo had said to him. it was true, Atlas excelled in everything that Apollo didn't.

"You can become better than your sister. Yes your sister is great, but there has always been Male leaders." Orion had said.

Apollo had looked at him in a disgusted manner. How could he say that about females? They could be leaders too. Orion was still interested in Apollo inheriting his pack when it got larger and he became older, but devoted most of his time toward training and helping Atlas get better. How could he say he wanted Apollo to lead when he wasnt even helping him achieve that goal?

Paws stepped into the den, the scent of a fresh kill filled the den. A small deer was layed on the ground.

"Most of the elk are leaving, not much green grass. Hopefully spring will give us better luck." Orion's voice said, as Sunna and him entered the den.

Apollo wrinkled his snout and then fixed it as the two got closer. "Mom, Dad your back. Thanks for hunting." Apollo said, standing up.

Orion nodded. "Of course, that's our duty afterall."

"Welcome back!" Atlas said unexpectedly.

Orion smiled at his daughter. "Hello Atlas. Eat up, we are going to go train soon." He said, swivling around behind her and ousting her forward gently.

"I'm going! I'm going!" Atlas laughed, and then dug into the deer.

Apollo walked over to join her but was stopped by his father.

"What do you think you're doing?" Orion growled.

"I-Im eating!" Apollo said, rather startled. His father had never actually growled at him like that before. What had gotten into him?

Orion stood up to his full height. "Let her finish first." He said, Apollo though he heard annoyance in his voice.

"D-Dear... why are you doing this? you've never done this before..." Sunna said, also startled.

Orion looked at her, sharp piercing eyes looked into her soul. Atleast that's how Apollo felt. "He needs to learn to fend for himself if he's going to lead this pack in the future. Or atleast let your sister eat first, it's selfish of you to try an eat it all yourself." Orion said, at first toward Sunna, and then turned toward Apollo, talking to him instead.

Atlas looked back, she apologized to Apollo with her eyes. Apollo shook his head, saying that it was okay, even if he didn't actually say it. Orion turned around to face Atlas, as she ate. He layed down and waited. Apollo went to him Mother.

"Mother... I feel like something is wrong with father... he usually doesn't act like this..." Apollo whispered to Sunna.

Sunna nodded. "Yeah... he usually appreciates you... maybe he... maybe he is just having a bad day?" Sunna guessed, sitting down.

Mother is probably right... it'll blow over tomorrow,. Apollo thought, going to lay down in the far end of the den, away from his father.