She is Alpha

Begin again

As I was jogging through the woods, I could smell the rain on the leaves. It felt so fresh. I could feel the wetness of the ground through my paws. I smiled. I started to like the rain again. Now it doesn't bring me the cold and hunger. I began to speed up, pumping my legs as fast as I could. It was the first time since I had Leia that I felt strong again. I ran along the river bank. The same river that brought me here. It has been three weeks since I woke up in Ater moon pack's hospital.

And it has been two weeks since my training started. A lot of packs don't let rouges join them, but this pack is different. Rouges built it. After moon pack means dark and unlucky. But, for a lot of wolves, it is a new start. Three rogue wolves' families united and made a new pack. It was a new hope for their families and others without a home. And now this pack lets other rouges get another chance. But we all know how unpredictable and dangerous rogues are. They trust no one. But packs are built on trust. So they give everyone a chance.

The training to become a member is a long process. It is up to six months, and it starts right away after crossing the pack's territory or, in my case, after one week in the hospital.

If a wolf wants to become a member, it must cross the territory in human form. That is when we are the most vulnerable and have to say to any pack members that they want to join. Pack can't turn down anyone, old, young, firm, or weak. Everyone gets a chance. But only a handful of wolves can pass. Some can't stand the hierarchy. Others simply can't be trusted, and the psychological evaluation is more challenging than the physical. But while the wolf is in training to become a member, they are safe. No one from outside can hurt them or even know about their being here. And it stays like that if the wolf passes and becomes a member of the Alter moon pack. They will go into war for any member of the pack, doesn't matter how low the rank is.

They proved it years ago when they won a battle against an old and powerful pack named Storm runners pack. A teenage girl joined the pack, and after news got out of her whereabouts, her family came and wanted her back. Her family was Betas of the Storm runners pack, and she had to marry another pack's Alpha to make an ally, but he wasn't her mate. That is why she ran away. She started the training process very young; her wolf hadn't woken up yet. That wasn't a very common situation, because mates are very important to us, but other packs believed that we needed to do it for the family's sake and the pack's honor. My dad never thought that, so I grew up believing that my mate would bring the best in me, and neither does the Alter moon pack does. That was years ago, that little girl grew up and found her mate. Now she is Alter moon pack's Luna, Josephine. I smiled. She hated that name and preferred to be called Jo. I have never met her; my dad told me this story when I was younger. This war put the Alter moon pack on the map; they became a strength to count on and got a lot of respect from other pack's Alphas. Now they are one of the most robust packs in the world. And Leia wants to be a part of them.

I finished my run in the park training ground's territory. Still, in the woods, I changed and went to the basket hidden behind bushes and got my clothes out.

In becoming a member, they provide rouges with everything. For every day, a t-shirt, jeans and shoes and one outfit for training; we have to take care of it ourselves, wash it and lookout for it. They provide us with food as well, but we have to cook it ourselves because it is a huge deal to be invited to eat with the pack. Sometimes, when wolves become a member, they are asked to eat with the pack, which means the Alpha is already trusting them, which gives them a great motivation to train harder. I haven't been asked yet, no one of us is, but at this point, I enjoy being by myself.

I put on my training outfit and my long hair in a ponytail. As I came out of the woods, I saw the tiny house village, or pack members call it the rouge village. That is where I am staying. In this village, only rouges live to become members; if they are successful, they get to move into other villages. It depends on the choice of their profession in the pack. And there are a lot of them. If a wolf wants to become a healer, they send him to a village that is built around the pack's hospital. If a wolf is interested in cooking, there is a village built around restaurants and bakeries, and if the wolves are the best at it, they can be invited to the pack's house kitchen and serve Alpha and his family. Which is the most significant honor there is for a cook. The same goes for teaching and manufacturing. The pack is like a little country; the best can provide for themselves without interacting with other packs or humans.

Of course, the pack territory is near human cities, and they can go to human cities without asking for permission. Only the rouges in training can't, and we can't go to other villages in the pack's territory without permission. That is why rouge's village is near the pack's west boundaries. The only village that is close to ours is the soldiers' village.

Their village is so close because many of them are our trainers and, of course, for security reasons. Untrained rouges together without supervision are a threat to any pack's safety. There is a big fence around the Rouge village, so we can't get to other villages in the pack, but if we choose to leave training, we can go into the woods, and if we cross the river, we become rouge again.

I like to run near the river and see the cliff which I fell off. I would lie if I said that leaving never crossed my mind because I know that at some point, I will have to tell them who I am, and I don't know if I will ever be ready to tell my story.

As I walked to the training station, I passed my house. It is small. We all get a tiny house when we attend. There is a small kitchen with everything that we need for cooking, a tiny bedroom with a bed for one person and a pillow and blanket, a bathroom with shower and towels, and all the shampoos and everything. If we need to clean our clothes or refill them with shampoo or shower gel, there is a clean house. In our free time, we can go there and put our clothes in washing machines and take what we need for hygiene. No one runs the clean house, so we need to keep it clean ourselves. If it is messy, we can get punishments, like more exercises. There are many rules here, so others can follow the rules better than others; for some, these rules are tough to follow, so they choose to leave.

There are around twenty tiny houses like mine; built in two rows, mine is closer to the woods. Next to it is the training station, which contains a gym, a stadium, a classroom and a tiny house that is for our trainers if they want to stay there for the night, and a gatekeeper's house and that is it. The saddest little village I have seen, but for now, it is home.

As I was walking, I saw our trainer going in the station's direction. Other rouges were already there, and I was the last one. I started to walk faster to outrun him and be in line before he got to the stadium. As I ran past him, Ben shouted - Maia!-. I stopped and looked at him; he was in a simple black training outfit; I was looking into his face, and those deep green eyes looked straight at me, and I had that weird feeling like I always have around him. -You went for a run this morning?- he says after it felt like an eternity. -Yes.- I said as I started to walk next to him. -And?- he said with a bit of smirk on his face. -I am getting stronger.- I simply said.

All the walk to the stadium, I was looking forward, but I got curious when there was no following question, and I looked at him. I saw a strange look on his face like he was waiting for something from me.

We reached the stadium, and I took my place next to the other rouges in line.

Ben stood in front of us and simply said - Okay, you are all here, and after Sunday ( that is our day off), no one decided to go rouge; that gives me hope! Today we will have physical training and a test. And there is a prize- the best will come to the border check run tonight with me. - He smiled a bit devilish. After seeing that smile, I knew that today was going to be complicated. But I wasn't afraid to work hard. I was scared to win and then ran the border check with Ben... alone.