Alpha King Amir

Chapter 4

GENESIS

Without second thought the pup charged at me. His movements sloppy and fueled by anger made it way too easy for me to block his hits.

I danced around him tauntingly while dodging his every attempt as he became more frustrated by the minute.

He reminded me so much of a young pup that has been thrust into training for the very first time. What I did notice however, he was very light on his feet and his determination was unwavering.

Finally, he managed to land a punch to the side of my face. As soon as his knuckle made contact with my cheek, I grabbed his arm, spun him around and pinned him to the floor my knee pressing into his neck.

"Yield" the simple word and a slight wave of my dominance caused him to submit.

Still bristling from the slight kick to his ego, I extended my hand to him pulling him up to stand.

"Anger can be good and it can be bad, you must learn how to control it in order to effectively wield it. If you allow yourself to be controlled by it, the consequences can be deadly."

We walked in silence for a while until the sound of running water along with its crisp scent filled my senses.

"Why did you that back there?" I knew exactly what he meant but I wanted to here him say it.

"Do what?"

"You know what, call me a pup" looking at him head to toe I responded.

"Aren't you a pup? Why were you so offended by it?"
I felt the presence of his wolf bristle at my comment, but he knew better this time around.

"Im about to be 16 years old, almost a fully grown male yet still they keep me on watch dog duty calling me that very same thing. I'm ready to be enlisted as a warrior, most of my peers have already begun basic training yet I'm still considered a pup."

By the time he was finished with his little rant we had reached the stream. Stripping down, to just my undergarments I dived right in. Breaking the surface of the water I watched as the boy stood mouth agape.

"Don't be ridiculous boy, I'm still clothed. Get in"

We both swam and enjoyed the cool water against of skin and the purity of the air. We didn't talk much at first, both lost in our own worlds until I broke the silence.

"Why won't they let you train?"

He lifted his hand to show me the red ink on the outside of his wrist. The confusion must have been as clear as day on my face as I stared at his tattoo.

"This might look like simply body art, but this is actually a rank. As members of the Royal pack, our customs are a bit different. The year after every pup shifts they go through the usual process of a year being dedicated to helping them get accustomed to their new bodies, controlling their shifts and also to assess their natural strengths and weaknesses in order to work on both."

I nodded my head in understanding as I too went through this period after my first shift at 10 years old.

"At age 12 in the Aimilios Pack, each pup receives their first ranking. They are then tested and ranked again at ages 16 and 18."

It wasn't hard for me to digest this information, and come to the realization that Michael and I's induction process would be something of that liking.

"The rank we receive at age 16 is a preliminary rank while the rank we receive at ages 18 are usually the ones we carry on throughout our adult life. Rarely does it ever change."

Interesting. The hierarchy of the Aimilios pack is vastly different than any other pack that I have studied.

For the first time, I realized why it was deemed important for pups to attend schools for wolves, so they could be educated on their society. Unfortunately I wasn't afforded that privilege.

"Duties are given based on rank as well as it being a sort of measure of that dominance and prestige. Are you following?"

"I'm not slow" I said, swimming to the other side of the stream.

Following closely behind he said, "Debatable, you did follow a complete stranger into the forest without a second thought."

"You have a point kid, tell me more about the rank system and why you're red ranked. I have a feeling you aren't too pleased with that."

And I was right.

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Speaking to the pup was way more insightful than I had initially thought it would be.

Joel, which turned out to be his name, sported a red rank which signified his inability to engage in strong combat among his peers. The lowest rank of his age group, well his age group at the time.

Ranking, unsurprisingly, is very important to competing wolves especially males. Dominance and prestige makes them all the more desirable for their female, not to mention being able to breed pups of high pedigree.

It's in our nature to be attracted to power, and it made me understand why the red rank that Joel sported wasn't something he was proud of. Even though he hadn't even competed in his second ranking, he didn't solidify himself as a worthy male at age 12.

I chuckled at the thought, it may seem a bit sick that we regarded children in such a way. But facts are facts, we are beasts in our own right.

Peeling the last item of clothing from my body, I stepped into the shower basking in the steam and allowing my body to relax.

As I washed myself, I thought of Joel and the way he seemed to be a genuine kid despite me meeting him mere hours ago. How would he feel about me helping to train for his next ranking?

I allowed the thought to linger a bit longer, curious about the pack's other traditions then about a certain male.

The Alpha King.

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