»-» Rise of the Stars «-«

Awakening- Dodger's POV

     I groaned loudly, opening my eyes. For a moment, everything looked blurry. I was tempted to close my eyes and go back to sleep, but I knew I shouldn't. I needed to stay awake.
     "Dodger?" a gentle, sing-songy voice asked. I sat up, then fell back down, yelping as pain shot through my right shoulder. Shot! I thought, eyes widening. The last thing I remembered was the sound of the hunter's gun and the pain as it hit me.
    "Dodger? Don't try to sit up yet. You're hurt pretty bad," the voice echoed through my mind. I looked up to see our healer's daughter, Kaia, standing over me. Her eyes were wide with what I assumed was worry.
     "Is he awake?" a deeper voice called. Another female, but older. I focused my eyes in the general direction of the sound. There stood Tanya, the healer. I tried to sit up again, gasping.
     "No, Dodger you have to lay down," Kaia insisted, nudging me. I nodded, but everything seemed to spin around me. Kaia and Tanya started talking, but I couldn't listen. Their voices faded in and out oddly, making my head hurt. My leg shook for a moment before giving out beneath me. Everything darkened as I fainted for the second time.

»-» • «-«

     "Son? Are you okay Dodger?" a voice distracted me from my thoughts.
     "Yeah dad, I'm alright," I muttered unconvincingly. I looked at my father, his large wings spread out and his eyes critical.
     "You're distracted again. This is important training. You need to know this for when you become the alpha of this pack! I get that you're injured, but you have to focus!" my father scolded. Oh, did I forget to mention that my father, Abir, was the alpha of the Taiyang Pack? Yeah, and I'm his son.
     It's been two days since I was shot, and my father is still trying to teach me everything about being an alpha. I still have heavy bandaging on my shoulder, which was currently quite itchy. Not only that, but I just wasn't feeling motivated today.
     "I'm not even close to old enough to rule this pack yet! I'm just a pup! You're too hard on me! I just want to be free," I mumbled the last part glaring at the dirt.
     "Go to the den!" Abir snapped, his eyes blazing. His right side was jet black and smoking a little. I don't know why he's like that, but I know when it happens to listen up. Something's off about my dad, but I don't know what. Grumbling, I stood up and limped back towards the den.
     As my father turned around and walked over to my mother, Aela, I scampered to the far side of the camp in search of Cain. I regretted running, but I had to so I could get there quickly.
     "Cain!" I called out, approaching the mottled gray and blue wolf.
     "Dodger? What's wrong?" Cain asked, turning around to look at me. He must have noticed my look of anger at my father.
     "Nothing, come on. We're going exploring," I replied easily, looking over my shoulder at my parents. Aela was yelling at my dad now, looking furious. She was overprotective of me, but my father was just the opposite.
     "But you're hurt! And didn't we get in enough trouble for the whole hide and seek incident?" Cain whimpered, pinning his ears.
     "Don't be such a worry wort! It'll be fun... Unless you're too afraid," I taunted. It may have sounded like I was being rude, but Cain heard the amusement in my voice.
     "Oh, alright," Cain replied, his voice sounding annoyed. I just barely caught the look of excitement in his eyes as we snuck out the entrance to camp.