Orion

One. Doubt, Blasphemy, and Confusion

He didn't have to turn around to know that they were following him.

He didn't need his ears to know that they were following him.

He didn't need his God damned sense of smell to know that they were following him.

He didn't need the link to know that they were following him.

Orion paused, listened as the ones behind him did the same. He shook his fur out as the sound of crunching leaves, snapping twigs, and quiet growls filled his mind. They didn't speak, but they were following him loudly, showing him that they trusted their leader and would stand behind him even when they had no idea what he was planning.

Touching, but all the action did was further irritate him.

He'd already told them once not to follow him, damn it!

When he finally turned with a gaping maw pulled back to reveal his fangs, they all leaned away from him. Some whimpered. No, they all whimpered, males included. Jaws snapping, and bubbled saliva dangling from them, a low growl started to build deep in his chest.

A different pitch of whimpering pulled him short, and he froze at the sound. At the back of the pack, there was a pup.

He hadn't noticed her before, hadn't paid any mind to his followers to take the time to listen and see that there was a pup in the crowd. The parents should have known better.

Ignorant recklessness like that would get the pup killed. She was small enough that Orion could have easily tripped over her, and she'd have been dead.

She was a dirty brown, fur too short to mat, but long enough to hold chunks of dirt, mud, and grass, probably a few rocks. Her eyes lit up when he stopped in front of her, and the little yip that fell from her lips sounded similar to the sound a fawn made when Orion's teeth were closing in on its gullet, but she was excited, she knew who her alpha was.

Orion had no problem with pups, he felt it was his job as alpha to protect those tiny members the most, and it seemed that they noticed that, because unlike other alphas, Orion didn't terrify his youngest members like he did the older ones. The pups loved their alpha, and their alpha loved them. He'd even set aside a couple of hours during the week exclusively to play with them. Any alpha ignorant enough to forget his youngest followers didn't deserve the title.

These little girls and boys would grow up to be fighters, leaders of the pack, they were the future, and if they didn't have the right relationship with the alphas they were raised with, they would have no idea what true loyalty, true respect was. When Orion was an elder, or was ready to step down, he wanted his successor to give him a prideful death, not a cheated one, and if he was allowed to live, he wanted to be an elder held with the utmost respect, and maybe he'd receive it, because he would be able to know that he gave just that to the former young pack members, but he didn't treat them like that just for good karma. They were too innocent, too excited, too energetic to be mistreated.

The pups were the most important.

Another yip, and then the pup pawed at her nose, jumped from behind her mother, and nipped at Orion's larger paws.

The mother didn't move a muscle, but a long and low warning growl emitted from her. The pup paid her no mind, jumping at Orion once more. He snapped at the juvenile, the lowered his large head and pushed her back to her mother. This time, when the pup moved away, the mother snapped at her, and she took heed to the warning.

Orion shook his body out once more, let out a loud bark, and turned to the rest of the pack, Go back to the main lands. I have nothing for you.

The mother taking up the back was the one to answer him, We are loyal to you, Alpha. Where you go, we will.