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Little Red Wolf - 08 - Alpha

Two wolves ran through the woods as nature sang of life and death. Their path took them northeast where they easily took down a sleepy deer. The male wolf stood guard as the hungry she-wolf fed. He knew she would make a powerful alpha female, but first she would need her strength to overthrow the current one. Once she had eaten her fill he lead her to a waterhole where she lapped for a time.

A cool breeze cut through the trees and the leaves rustled. Brisk autumn weather was still being held at bay by summer's might. The day would be hot once the sun climbed to its peak. The business of posturing and fighting would need to wait for the evening. The rest of this day would be used sleeping and recovering from an eventful night.

Their journey back to the rest of the pack ended with excitement. There was some odd whimpers about the missing pack mates but the newest addition distracted them all. Two females approached the newcomer but were intimidated into submission by her furious posture. The pack's alpha female was not there, she was hunting. The new member was led to a place where she could rest. Multiple pack members drew close to her and recognized her superior position. As mid-morning arrived the red wolf was surrounded by her new pack mates and all of them drifted off to sleep.

*****

The red wolf awoke from a dream of hunting with her new pack. Their warm bodies comforted her, making her feel like she was home. She cared little for what was happening outside of the pack and was making plans to earn matting rights so that she could have the pack alpha for herself. A sleepy female shook her head and looked at the newcomer. They stretched their snouts toward one another and familiarized themselves with the other's scent. They then licked muzzles in acceptance.

The red wolf rose from the mass of furry bodies and stalked to a location where the pack leader was sleeping. She slipped into his presence and nuzzled him gently. He ignored her. The she-wolf became a little more insistent. He still ignored her. Finally she circled around to his face and batted him on the nose.

The big male opened his eyes and stared at her. His cold, feral gaze sent a chill through her spine. Part of her noted that there was no warmth in his eyes, only an instinctive understanding of every wolf's place in the pack. Her advances were not welcome. He was not interested. She needed to go away.

As the red wolf backed away from the alpha male there was a horrible growling from behind her. A large gray female, whose body held the scars of a battle hardened life, was warning the red wolf of her place in the pack. The scarred wolf was angry and the red wolf quickly realized that this must be the female alpha. If the red was going to have what she wanted then this bitch would need to be overthrown.

The alpha she-wolf snapped at the little red wolf. The newcomer jerked back but did not retreat. Pealing her own lips back, the challenger snarled and bristled at her superior. The alpha leaped onto the beta and held her down with her jaws. The little red wolf struggled, twisted, and broke the grip. The bite was then returned and soon both combatants were snapping at each other.

The rest of the pack woke to the commotion and formed a loose circle so they could watch. The alpha male knew only one would survive. The scarred gray wolf clawed and flashed her teeth as the red wolf pounced and battered the other's face. The larger wolf then pounced on the smooth furred one and bit her solidly in the flank. The younger wolf twisted, swatted her opponent's face, and then caught the gray's front leg in her jaws.

The red wolf's human knowledge recalled the use of leverage. She applied this leverage to the other wolf's leg and snapped it. The gray wolf then bit the red in the side and tore a large piece of fur and skin. Without allowing her wound to interfere, the more experienced combatant locked her teeth around her enemy's throat and began to thrash.

Remembering the injury, red jaws clenched the broken leg and swung her head with all of her weight. The gray lost her grip as she yipped in pain. Having gained the upper-hand, the little red wolf seized her rival in the throat. She then pounced with all of her weight in an effort to hold her opponent down. Blood gushed from the wound and covered the ground. In a few minutes they stopped moving. The old gray alpha was dead.

The new red alpha female turned to the alpha male and looked hungrily into his eyes. What his gaze returned was not what she expected. His eyes seemed to say that she had acted just as he had expected. She had defeated the old alpha, and earned mating privileges for her victory, but she had failed to defeat the alpha male. He wanted her for the pups that she would birth him, nothing more. She was now his property.

In a rush of enlightenment, Scarlett remembered who she was. She remembered her drive to be free. She remembered her oath, never to be owned. She remembered that this brute would either dominate or be dominated. He would never be anyone's equal. He could not understand equality, he was not Arthur.

Scarlett dashed off into the woods.

Arthur...

Her muscles pumped hard in their desire to outrun her fate.

Arthur...

If the stories she had heard as a little girl had taught her anything, it was that no one could outrun their fate.

Arthur...

No matter how fast or how well one ran, fate was always there, waiting.

Arthur...

Scarlett cared for Arthur. She was too confused to tell if she loved him or not, but she did know that he was worth fighting for. Arthur had sacrificed for her. Arthur had restrained himself and done his best not to hurt her. Arthur was counting on her to kill this brute.

Scarlett felt ashamed. She had allowed her instincts to control her, to seduce her, to make her run. Now her plans lay in a shattered heap. She had looked into the eyes of the other members of the pack. They would not go against their alpha. She would have to fight him alone and her opponent had already bested her once.

She wished she was bigger. She wished she was stronger.

"Why am I so weak!?!" Scarlett skidded to a halt, she had spoken. As a wolf she had spoken. She looked at her front paws. If she could shift into her man-beast form now while her opponent was still a wolf then she could overpower him. She could put Sasha to rest. She could free Arthur.

She stared hard at her paws, but nothing happened. She strained and flexed them and tried to make them change. Nothing seemed to be working. Time was ticking by and she did not know what to do. It seemed hopeless... he would win.

"D-Dewdrop!" The name was hard to pronounce with a wolf's pallet but she got the name out. The shimmering green light approached and Scarlett began to cry. "I-I'm going to lose, Dewdrop. I d-don't know what to do!"

"Scarlett," said the fairy, "you can talk!"

Scarlett was so stunned by this statement that she grew angry and began yelling through her tears. "Didn't you hear me? I said I'm going to lose!"

"But Scarlett, you can talk!"

"So what!?"

"He can't talk," Dewdrop pointed out. "I don't know any wolf who can talk. I also don't know any werewolves who can talk either."

"But he's too strong," Scarlett insisted. "I can't beat him."

"The scarred gray wolf was bigger and stronger than you too. You beat her."

"She was different," Scarlett insisted.

"I know," Dewdrop said with a smile. "I think we both know why you fought so hard." Scarlett flushed in anger and embarrassment. "Nothing gets the blood pumping like a fine piece of hard-"

"But I can't do that here," Scarlett shrieked before Dewdrop could finish her sentence.

"Not as a beast, you can't," Dewdrop agreed. "But Queen Titania wants to test your ability to think and control yourself. She doesn't want you to be a bigger beast. You need to out think him."

Scarlett saw the wisdom in the pixie's assessment of her queen. She forced herself to calm down and tried to think outside of what her instincts told her. If she could not win by tooth and claw, she would need to use what humans used, tools and guile.

"Puck's dagger," her eyes lit up, "I can beat him with silver."

"Puck can't loan you his dagger," Dewdrop informed her. "He's home and in bed with a bad case of 'gothisassstompeditis.' That and some blood loss will keep him in bed for awhile. This is YOUR quest. You have to use the tools you have."

"No fairy magic then?" Dewdrop shook her head and Scarlett sighed. "My, quest..." Dewdrop nodded as Scarlett wracked her brain. What skills did she have? What could she do? "What about wolf's bane or nightshade?"

"Wolf's bane is deadly to you too, and I don't think you could convince him to eat nightshade."

"What about traps? I can set a few, run him through them, and then ambush him!"

"How are you going to pierce his hide? You have no silver." Dewdrop's words silenced Scarlett, whose mind was still tumbling through ideas. "You know," Dewdrop said with a hint of mischief, "it's going to rain tonight."

"How do you know that?"

"When the moon is covered the beast does not run as wild as when the moon is uncovered."

"So... when it rains tonight..." Scarlett thought then suddenly it came to her. "Control... if I can learn to control my transformation... Can I shift without the moon?"

"That depends on you."

"I must find a way."

Dewdrop giggled, "All you need to do is figure out why you can talk!"

Scarlett looked at her, blinked, and then grinned. "Because, I need to."