Inferno (MxM)

One

Felix

Being a deer shifter surrounded by wolves was... difficult, to say the least. 

I always felt like an outsider in my own home. Mama Toby and I were the only deer shifters in the entire pack. The pack had no problems with Mama Toby becoming Luna because My Father Kalen and Mama Harper were also leading alongside my Uncles Shiloh and Rue. Mama Toby had much fewer responsibilities than my other parents and uncles, and the pack preferred it that way. 

The problem the pack had was with me. When it was announced that I would be taking over as Alpha when my parents and uncles retired, a slough of complaints came rushing in. First is was the ban on consuming deer meat, and now one was going to be responsible for leading a pack of wolves?! 

The people wanted me nowhere near that Alpha title. And if I was being honest, I wanted to be nowhere near it as well. Father insisted. I was his firstborn son, after all. I was a dominant shifter and in his eyes, I had every right to carry the Alpha title. I would rather have Father pass the Alpha title down to one of my younger siblings or cousins but none of them were eligible for the position. 

My brother Claye was born when I was eleven. Now he was eight, and I, nineteen. He was an omega, therefore he was not eligible for the Alpha position. I got along well with Claye, ever since he was born he became my best friend. 

I was not allowed to play with the other pups because they could hurt me and I wouldn't be able to defend myself. Deer shifters weren't big on violence while wolves were even if they tried not to be. They were predators, while I was prey. 

When Claye was born I spent all my free time playing with him the way I never got to when I was a child. It made me feel some sense of normality in my hectic life. Taking time to spend with my siblings was always the highlight of my day. 

Next came Talulla, age six, and Norah, age five. I wasn't as close to them as I'd like to be. When they were born, my studies increased and my free time lessened. Not long after, my youngest brother Waylen, age three, was born. 

All four of my siblings were birthed by Mama Harper. Only I was born through Mama Toby. From what I was told, he had a traumatic birth and I almost died. It made him never want to carry another child again. 

Father was always harsh on me, claiming that to be a strong, powerful alpha, I had to immerse myself in my studies until I had every last subject memorized and perfected. It only got worse as I grew, the pressure to be an outstanding alpha weighing on my shoulders. 

This is why I'd begun to sneak out, often for a few days at a time, when Father was too busy to notice my absence or away on business. 

I would travel through the woods and visit a small settlement called Willow Village. Trees were surrounding the town on all four sides, a nice secluded, tight-knit town in the middle of nowhere. 

The inhabitants of Willow Village were mostly self-sufficient. One small food mart, a clothing store, a quaint diner, an auto repair shop, etc. A small primary and high school for the children of the village. 

A few motels and gas stations were primarily used by tourists in passing, using them for a quick fill-up or a place to sleep on their journey to whatever hyped-up tourist destination they were off to next.