Alpha of the Pack

The Disgrace

   Flame's paws tingled with excitement. Today they would be going to the forest and learning how to hunt. The beta, Indigo, was going to teach them! Fang, Misty, and Flash didn't look as excited as he did. They had already done this several times before. How could they not be excited when they were going to be taught by the beta?
Indigo led the pups out to a clearing in the woods. Flame looked around, taking in as much as he could at the sight of the forest. How beautiful it was! Flame spaced out, watching the leaves rustle and listen to the birds sing.
"Flame!" Indigo said with a sharp bark. "Pay attention!" Flame pricked his ears up with alertness, looking down at his paws with embarrassment. There goes his chance to prove himself. Indigo took a deep breath in.
"Sorry, please try to pay attention," Indigo said more calmly. Flame nodded and waited for him to go on.
"So, as you have heard, a lone wolf won't catch his prey unless he had the help of his packmates. Teamwork is an efficient way to bring down a large mammal, such as elk, deer, moose, and others. A pack hunt may consist of..." Indigo went on and on. Flame sighed and started to block out his blabbering. Flame was disappointed, he'd thought they would be learning how to pounce, how to stalk, how to make the killing bite. But no, all it was was talking and explaining what happens. As Flame was thinking about his disappointment, he managed to catch some of Indigo's last words.
"And we are going to practice all of that today. Of course, we won't finish all of it today, but we'll do some tomorrow," he said. All of Flame's disappointment blew away. His paws were tingling with excitement once again.
Indigo had demonstrated how to stalk, gaining speed as you got closer, then, once the prey noticed, tire it out by chasing behind it at a steady pace. Once all of its energy was gone, use your remaining energy to leap on top of it, making the killing bite at the base of its neck.
Misty had gone first, doing it perfectly and ending with an A+. Fang went next, and him too, getting an A+. Flash went after Fang and got an A-. Now it was Flame's turn. Nervousness crept into his belly, fluttering around like there were butterflies trapped in there. Flame padded up to Indigo. Indigo nodded and Flame crouched down, keeping his paws in front of him as he crept silently across the clearing. Slowly, he gained speed, and soon, he was at a full sprint. Just as he was about to leap, his front paw tangled around his hind leg and he tripped, smacking his head down on the cold, hard earth. A sharp pain shot through his forehead as he rolled onto his back. Flame moaned in pain. Indigo rushed to his side while Misty and Fang snickered with laughter. He was going to have to try harder at proving himself than he thought.