United Glory

Chapter 1, Resa

Abruptly I stand and Alpha’s eyes widen in surprise but he doesn’t voice his concerns as I thought he would, instead, he motions for me to come forward with the subtle ripple of his tail, a test I’m sure. I stride forward and sink into submission. Although my sight of him is limited, I can sense his muscles tense. I dip my head lower to see behind me, but no immediate threat there so I can only think of one thing that might be causing this reaction, he’s attacking me! Immediately and without hesitation, I roll to the left, not my usual side mind you, and jump to my feet just in time to see both front paws come crashing down on where I was and a bit to the right. “Looks like you have learned to be unpredictable and predict your opponent’s next move,” Alpha says, pride overflowing his expression. Instead of relaxing like he expected me to, I tense and get ready for any attack he may throw my way. He launches himself at me and blocks both sides expecting me to go over him, a mistake, anything. Instead I duck under him and use the back of my paw to brush his snow white underbelly letting him know I could have easily gutted him then and there.

“It seems you still underestimate my ability,” 

“It seems I do, Resa,” If you didn’t know Resa means “Strong Wind” in the old pack language, so with me being as strong as I am, (It also helps that my father is Alpha) and the pack being of the Wind element, my name became Resa. My father’s doing.

“Who else will go, Father?”

“For sure Kina, Kiki, Fawn, and Lanx. I am also thinking of bringing Riko,”

“WHAT?! The twins and my brother! Brother can’t fight! What use will he be?!”

“He will be our Healer as he is awakening his powers,”
“Yeah powers I can only dream of possessing. Why can’t fighters awaken their element?”

“It is the way it has been since The Shadow Pack abused their abilities and no one could be trusted except for Healers and Alphas,”

“So I will never get those powers,”

“You will when I die,”

“But isn’t it always the first born son that gets to be the Alpha?”

“Normally yes, but in this case your brother has dedicated himself to be a Healer, so he will not get to be the Alpha, and with you as my only other child, you will become the Alpha. You and your brother are the Yin-Yang of our pack. Even your coat shows it,” He replies, taking in my unusually black coat with a white smudge over my right eye. I also have the Yin-Yang symbol on my underbelly that only my immediate family knows about. Many in the pack say I'm cursed with the element of death as the entire pack has a white colored coat. At first I was ashamed of my coat color, then my mother showed me my Yin-Yang symbol that matched my brother’s. At that point, I became proud of my uniqueness. My brother always flaunted his symbol to anyone who would pay attention, but I wanted to be known as something more than a special coat pattern. So I became the best fighter in the pack. Some say I can even instinctively tap into the buffs that the wind element can give someone, and that’s another thing that makes me special, but I can’t truly control the wind. Every element was given healing abilities and when the sun and moon took these powers they made the exception of Healers and Alphas.

“I’d rather forget about my coat. It is not the only thing that defines me. Unlike Brother who seems to want everyone to know he’s special because of his coat pattern. No one should be defined by what they look like but instead by what they do,”

“You will make a great leader,”

I try to hide my smile but it does no good, ”Thank you Alpha.” As I walk out of the den I see my brother showing off his symbol once again to many that have already seen it. Everyone is fascinated at the symbol as it is supposed to represent the sun and the moon as light cannot be without dark, nor dark without light. They say he is blessed while I am cursed. I roll my eyes and stride into my den. Being Alpha’s daughter has its advantages, including having my own den. In the privacy of my den, I roll onto my back and look at my Yin-Yang pattern. Fuck, it’s glowing, meaning Brother’s in trouble. Again.

“HELP! HELP ME!!” I can hear my brother screaming. I stride outside thinking it’s one of his cruel jokes but when I see the commotion I know something’s terribly wrong. I see outcast Shadow warriors and immediately drop to an offensive crouch. I leap into action and start fighting when I feel a rush of power fill me. Oh no. DAD! Instinctively I leap to my father’s den and find a Shadow warrior looking into the eyes of my father, who is pinned down by the might of this assassin. In a rush of emotions I pounce on the intruder and the power seeps back out of me. My father leaps to his feet and starts fighting his attacker. When I know he can handle himself I rush back outside where more warriors have gathered to help. In a few minutes the intruders retreat and I go in to check on my father. He has minor cuts but nothing more.

“Thank you, Resa, you saved my life,”

“Well that’s the price I had to pay for you saving mine,”