Alpha[FA].txt
"Alpha" By Raska Kannagami
"Sir, is your name Mateo?" the lanky Retriever asked the Alpha of Cautel Pack. The big wolf smiled and nodded, much to the young reporter's relief. The dog kept his eyes away from Cautel's own, he'd heard that was something wolves did to show respect, and he definitely wanted to present himself well to Alpha Cautel.
"Welcome to Cautel Pack lands, Mr..." The big Alpha said, smiling and offering his paw.
"My family name's Ellis, sir, but please call me John," the journalist replied, shaking the paw of Cautel Pack's famous Alpha. To the younger dog, it was like shaking paws with a legend. Well, he kind of was.
Bringing him back to what was at-paw, Cautel spoke in his soft yet domineering way, "So, John, I hear you're planning to put an article about me in the city paper. What exactly were you planning to say?"
"I really hadn't thought of that yet, sir," Ellis replied honestly, "I was hoping to get to interview you and some of your packmates...and then write it from there."
Cautel nodded, " 'Tis a good enough plan, I guess. You could'a just did the research. Yanno those history books got most o' the facts right."
The young dog looked up, catching the older wolf's gaze and holding it as he replied, "I want to write about the real Mateo Cautel, not what some historian made you out to be."
There was a new respect in Mateo's eyes as he regarded the young journalist, "John, I can't say how much I'll be honored to have you write about me. On behalf o' my Pack, I wanna say that you're welcome on Cautel lands whenever you feel the need to drop by." Ellis knew that was a big thing, a huge show of trust. Cautel was the largest Pack on the plains, the largest group of wolves - Anthro or Feral - to band together and call themselves a Pack. Like the other Packs, their lands were considered mini-nations, and 'crossing the border' was as difficult with them as it was with any other country. For Alpha Cautel to give him a free pass...it showed a lot of respect.
"Now, get out your pen an' paper, puppydog. I'm gonna tell you a story...once upon a time-"
"You can't be serious!" a new voice, belonging to Sota - Cautel Pack's exceedingly young Beta - interrupted, "What kind'a story starts with 'Once upon a time'? Quit pullin' the kid's tail, boss!" Sota walked up to the campfire that Mateo and John Ellis were sitting at, and sat next to his Alpha.
"My story starts with 'once upon a time', sweetheart, so shut up and let me tell it," Mateo replied, playfully slapping his Beta's cheek. Aside from Mateo calling him 'sweetheart', Ellis noticed - perhaps subconsciously - that Mateo and Sota shared a more-than-friends relationship, though how far that might go exactly, it would be rude to ask.
"Once upon a time..."
* * * * *
... my father was a First under Sabas, the old Cautel Alpha. I'm almost ashamed to say it, but my father asked Sabas to give me a ranking position as his last wish. Sabas was an honor-bound old wolf, and my father had served him well. Sabas made me a Seventh, the lowest-ranking of the 'officers' of a Pack. It was hard work, keeping the Packmates under me in line, me bein' only seventeen and a few o' them bein' a damn sight older.
Everything happened so quickly. Alpha Sabas and the officers above me were out hunting. State soldiers ambushed 'em with guns an' suddenly, I was Cautel's Alpha. At barely seventeen, I was Alpha of a Pack.
I had no idea what to do. In fact, for the first few hours after it happened, I was just a little worried that they were late. Then, a sympathetic Doberman passin' through told me what had happened, and I was left with twenty wolves snarling for blood who had no choice but to turn to me for orders. Rocco, the wolf who would become my Beta for a time, was the first to approach me.
"You realize that you're Alpha now, right?" Rocco asked, in his condescending way. He was four years older than me.
"Of course I fucking know!" I snarled, "Just gimme time t'think! Organize the others under you as you see fit. You're Beta for now."
He was clearly surprised that I chose him for Beta. Me an' him had fought before, and it suffices to say that there was bad blood between us. However, I couldn't deny that he knew what he was about, and I needed a wolf like that as my Beta. He got right to work, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
My Pack would want blood. They'd want revenge for their Alpha. Fuck, I wanted revenge. But first we needed weapons. There was no way in hell we'd be able to fight the regular army with fang an' claw. There were two other Packs who had modern firearms, and one of them worked for the State. The other was a desert clan, one of the smallest packs, but they were known for their gun-running.
When Rocco got back to me, it was with a list. His name was at the top, with the word 'Beta' written beside it. After him was a wolf named Mikey, an excellent choice for First. Mikey was only a couple years older than me, six-foot-one and built like a tank. Up 'til then, he'd been thinking of joining the army. He'd sure as hell have given a new meaning to 'Army Strong'.
My new Second was Samuel. Sam was our medic, he was the oldest of us all, having served Sabas as a humble Packmate for as long as I'd been alive. It was a good thing, making him Second. He was respected enough that the others would trust his orders, but he was also the medic...no one would dare fight with the medic, losing him would be too detrimental to the Pack.
After that, there were five other wolves who were impeccable choices for their positions. All of the wolves Rocco chose were ones that had no particular loyalty to me or him, and all of them were either older than both of us, or only slightly older than me. All this meant that I'd at least have loyal, dependable Pack officers behind me. Rocco and I might've had bad blood between us, but at least in this he didn't cheat me.
"Rocco," I said trying to keep my voice level. His ears perked up and he turned around.
"Yeah, boss?" he replied.
"Tell the Pack we're heading for Miram Pack lands. We need their guns an' I want you - an' everyone else - to be on their best behavior," I informed hm, trying my best to imitate the way Sabas used to give orders. I must not have done that bad. Either that, or Rocco was too polite to laugh at me in front of the others. He just nodded and turned to go inform the Pack.
In under twenty minutes we were on the road. At the time - and this was before we started robbing State banks - Cautel was one of the poorer Packs, so we were on foot. It took us three days of non-stop running to get to Miram Pack lands. We are wolves, it's what we're built for - running like that - but it was still hard. The terrain was rough, especially once we neared Miram lands. The closer we got to Miram, the hotter the ground became under-paw, and we didn't have wrappings for our footpaws.
Our first indication that we were in another Pack's lands was a fifty-cal bullet whizzing by my ear. I immediately froze. I would've signaled to Rocco, but the report of the rifle had been pretty obvious. Even though it was probably silenced, silencers are pretty useless against lupine hearing.
"I am Alpha Cautel! I need to speak to Alpha Miram! We come unarmed, an' mean no harm to Alpha Miram, or to Miram Pack!" I shouted, my paws in the air.
There was a few minutes of silence, but we didn't move a muscle yet. Miram Pack was known for - among other things - their top-rate snipers. That bullet hadn't missed me by accident.
Then, a pair of figures emerged from the desert scrub, both dressed in raggedy robes that were colored to camouflage them in the desert. Both had rifles across their backs, sniper rifles, as I had suspected. "Alpha Cautel, my name is Yaffa, this is my partner, David. We will take you to our Alpha, but first we must assure ourselves that you're unarmed. We apologize for the insult to your integrity, sir, but it's our Alpha's orders," the older of the pair said as she approached. She was a tan-and-cream colored she-wolf, not that I could immediately tell, wit h her camouflage garb on. She was at least in her forties, and probably a First or Second if she wasn't Beta.
I nodded, "I understand, Yaffa. Cautel Pack takes no offense."
If she had misgivings about a Pack whose Alpha was so young, she didn't show it as she and David patted us down. The whole process took almost an hour, with our bags needing to be searched as well. Thank the gods, none of my wolves gave either of the Miram snipers any trouble.
Once they were satisfied that none of us were armed, we were led deeper into the desert, where we eventually came upon a rather sprawling encampment. "Miram Pack welcomes you and yours, Alpha Cautel," Yaffa formally greeted me as we entered the camp.
"Cautel Pack is thankful to be welcomed," I replied with equal formality. I'm not sure, but I think I heard Rocco sigh with relief when I said that. He was probably thankful I was representing myself as a proper Alpha. It was then that I realized that Yaffa had spoken for her Pack, something only an Alpha or Beta was permitted to do. Since she'd already said that she was taking us to her Alpha, I could only assume she was Beta.
"So, you're Miram Pack's Beta?" I asked, trying to be innocuous. She smiled and shook her head.
"No," she told me, "My mother is Beta. However, she and Father allow any wolf to speak for the Pack when greeting guests."
"Oh," was all I could say in reply.
"What about you?" she asked, "Surely you're representing your father, right?"
"Mateo is Alpha Cautel, you bi-" Rocco immediately growled, lunging for her. Both his words and his movement were cut short by my arm across his chest.
"No trouble, Rocco. Remember?" I said to him. He quieted and backed down, but his ears were still flat to his skull, and his fur still a little bristled. I turned to Yaffa.
"Please forgive my Beta, Yaffa. In answer to your question, no. I am Alpha o' Cautel Pack. Three days ago, State soldiers ambushed an' killed our Alpha, our Beta, an' our First through Sixth wolves. I am now in command o' Cautel, an' we need to humbly ask the Miram for help."
"What kind of help, Alpha Cautel?" an old and shaky voice inquired. I turned to the source of it, and found a grey-muzzle wolf who could only be Miram's Alpha. I bowed my head respectfully before speaking.
"Alpha Miram, we need weapons, ammunition, an' training. I don't think any of my wolves have handled more than a pistol, an' some o' them not even that. If you can manage it, we could use some armor, too."
Alpha Miram looked thoughtful, but he replied quickly, "You plan on starting a war, Alpha?"
"They killed our packmates for no reason! Pretty soon, I think, they'll be after all the other Packs on the plains. They want our fucking land and that's all they care about!" Rocco shouted, unable to contain himself any longer.
Miram nodded, obviously forgiving Rocco for speaking out of turn, "It would be arrogant of me to say that the Miram would be safe from that, being a desert clan. However, I didn't get this old by being stupid. Alright, you'll have what you need, and whatever other aid we can render. Miram Pack will stand behind you in this war of yours, Alpha Cautel."
Alpha Miram got his Pack to provide us with guns. Mostly old 'surplus' military stuff. They taught us how to use 'em, too. It's not hard, most of us took right to it. Thank the gods, every gun the Miram gave us had built-in silencers, or we've all been deaf by the end of our training. Wolf hearing can be a curse, in its way.
Yaffa and David got permanently assigned to us - well, to me. It was weird, at first. They weren't part of my Pack, but they sure as hell acted like they were. They were assigned to us for two reasons, one - it would take too long to properly train Cautel snipers, and Yaffa and David were Miram's best...and two...they were to be my bodyguards. Alpha Miram didn't want the State doing to me what They'd done to Sabas.
It was a week after we'd arrived in Miram lands that our trainers decided we were 'good enough'. I was nervous, of course I was. I was about to lead my untested, non-miltary Pack in a war against the greatest military power of our time. How could we win? Especially with me running things? I was the youngest Alpha ever, what did I know about running a Pack, let alone fighting a war?
"Having second thoughts, Mateo?" Alpha Miram asked, startling me. I swear the old wolf could read minds.
"About all this?...yeah," I replied honestly.
"Scared?" he asked. I nodded. He nodded, too, "Don't be ashamed of that fear, kid. You are taking on a very powerful force. I'd doubt your sanity if you weren't afraid. I certainly wouldn't give you access to my guns if I thought you were foaming at the mouth."
"You got any advice for me?" I asked the old wolf. I figured that he, of anyone, would be able to help me.
"Talk to the Vindachi Pack. I know they work for the State, but they're wolves first...lapdogs as a day job, at least I'd hope so. If you can convince them to join you...a civil war could break the State's power. At the very least, you'll have another full Pack at your back," he told me after some consideration.
It was advice I trusted, but I was wary about the Vindachi. I didn't yet know what - if any - part they had played in the deaths of my packmates. I trusted Alpha Miram, though.
Miram lent us three vehicles, all three military-grade. One was an army Jeep that looked like it hadn't seen a battlefield in its life, it was so new. If the green drab paint weren't a matte color that was nonreflective, the sun would've made a little twinkle-spot on it. The other two were open-bed trucks, with enough room for ten wolves each. Our plan was simple enough: Rocco would take the trucks, and he and the Pack would go around to all the other Packs of the plains, tell them what had happened to us, and ask for their support. I would go in the Jeep, along with the Miram snipers David and Yaffa, to the Vindachi. It was that part that Rocco was wary of.
"I don't like it, Mat, I don't want you to do this. Send me! Fucking...this could be a fuckin' trap, and you'll walk right the fuck into it!"
I watched David and Yaffa pack their gear. They were true professionals . They didn't waste a single movement, every bit of their equipment efficiently seen to with loving care. "I think I can trust these two to watch my back, Rocco. Besides, I can shoot just as good as you, now. Just do your job, Beta, an' don't fuck it up. We need the other Packs' support," I replied, barely taking my eyes off the Miram wolves.
Rocco looked about to say something, but instead only snarled, "Fucking..." and stomped off. I briefly considered making sure he'd do as ordered and not follow me to the Vindachi, but he hadn't yet given me reason to doubt his loyalty, so I left him alone.
It took Yaffa only four hours to drive us to the Vindachi. She was as excellent a driver as she was a sniper, taking hours off our trip by driving at close to the Jeep's top speed while artfully managing not to get us killed. Now, the Vindachi were probably the most despised Pack on the plains, for several reasons. One of those reasons, the biggest reason, was that they'd been State lapdogs for over fifteen years. They helped the State deal with the other Packs, whether through negotiation or other means. One of the other reasons was that they weren't a 'Pack of the plains', not anymore. They were city wolves now.
Them being city wolves was something of a problem for me. In order for a wolf of the plains - or any wolf, for that matter - to get into the city, they had to pass through a State checkpoint and give their name and Pack affiliation. Well, if I gave my real name and my real Pack, they'd surely arrest me on the spot. To deal with that, Miram made me, and all the other Cautel officers, false identities as 'strays. A 'stray' was a wolf without a Pack. A stray was of no consequence, even to the State, so it was perfect. It didn't stop me from being nervous when we reached the checkpoint.
"Halt! State your names and affiliations, wolves!" The Doberman running the checkpoint ordered.
It was Yaffa who answered him, as she was at the wheel, "My name is Yaffa. I am Third of Miram Pack. This is David, a Packmate of Miram, and in the back is Oliver, a stray."
The Dobie looked a tad suspicious, but Yaffa looked over her glasses at him, "Is everything all right, officer?" Somehow, she'd cowed him with that look, as he gulped and waved us on.
The Vindachi Alpha lived in a rather nice house on the east side of the city, with the homes of his packmates nearby and equally plush. I was surprised that David, Yaffa, and I were able to walk up to the door unmolested. There was no way a wolf of the plains would let a stranger approach his Alpha like that, especially not a stranger armed as we were. I remember thinking that these city wolves were complacent and soft.
Alpha Vindachi answered the door himself, he soon looked to regret it, seeing three armed wolves at his door. He kept his cool, though, and invited us in.
I began the talking, "So, Alpha Vindachi, what can you tell us about what went down ten days ago...Yanno, the State killin' off Cautel Pack's officers?"
He paled, as much as a wolf can pale, with all our fur. His other body language was much the same: his ears drooped and his tail began swishing agitatedly, "Now, look, I didn't have nothing to do with that mess!"
Yaffa grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, which was surprising considering her size compared to his. "The young Alpha's not asking what you did, he's asking what you know," she growled.
Vindachi looked ready to retaliate, and with the strength he had on her I was worried for a moment. Luckily, David saw the danger to his Third and drew his pistol, aiming it squarely at Vindachi's eye. Vindachi snarled silently, but his paws were in the air, "Fine...it was a few days before it happened, the army comes by askin' all sorts of questions. They asked what we knew about Alpha Sabas and his wolves. We told them what we knew, which wasn't much! Then they left. I would'a warned you guys but-"
"But what!?" Yaffa growled, shaking him roughly.
"Look, what I've got going here is good. My Pack is happy, comfortable - I gotta look out for them, right? I don't wanna rock the boat here, I got my Pack to think of," Vindachi whined.
It was an excuse, but I could understand where he was coming from. He was an Alpha, his Pack's comfort and satisfaction was his top priority. It was despicable that his Pack's happy lifestyle meant betraying other wolves, but still, I could understand. I gestured to Yaffa to let him go, which she did, reluctantly.
"I've come to ask you to help us. You won't have the good summer-coat life your Pack has now, but at least you and they will be able to sleep at night. You won't be turning your backs on your fellow wolves anymore. So, Alpha to Alpha, what's it gonna be?" I asked him.
He looked at all of us in turn, "I can't make that kind of decision for my Pack. Let me talk to them...come back in the morning."
I nodded, "Alright..."
I would come to regret that concession, and later berate myself for my naïveté.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Copyright (c) Raska Kannagami 2011