[First in Genre, Action/Adventure - The Shadow Awards]
[Best Heartbreaker - The Shadow Awards]
Alema (aw-leh-may) is the dominant male of a small African wild dog pack, dedicating every day of his life towards his family. He has remained blissfully...
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The sun had risen to its mid-day height when Alema figured out how the Split-river pack earned their name. The rest of the pack, two females and a litter of five pups, were situated on a small patch of ground that separated two drying up rivers, awaiting the rest of the group.
"Took you long enough," one of the females said. The other, smaller female, remained where she sat with the pups.
"Did you plan to return when my pelt turned gray?" the larger female spat.
"Good to see you too, Hadley," Bahadur hooted. He approached the female and began delicately sniffing around her scruff in greeting. She pulled away and glared at Alema with the same judging glare that Bahadur had used, and Alema quickly gathered that she must be the dominant female.
"Who is this?" she asked in a half-growl. Her pelt was dark like mud, and her ears sported several nicks and notches. The female's gruff appearance made her mate look warm-hearted and welcoming in contrast.
"This is Alemayehu," Bahadur told her.
"You can call me Alema," Alema added impulsively, and immediately shrunk back in his pelt and silently scolded himself.
"What is he doing here?" Hadley questioned. "The last thing we need is another wild dog to hog up the few prey we have to catch."
"He's just going to come with us to the city," Bahadur told her.
Hadley pushed her ears forward. "Since when did we pick up hitch-hikers?" she demanded.
"Relax, it'll only be a day or two," her mate promised.
"I don't think it's such 'n unreasonable request," the younger female cut in, getting to her paws.
"Shut up, Laleh," the dominant female snapped, not taking her eyes off Bahadur.
Laleh immediately fell back to the ground, not saying another word.
"The jackal that accompanied him promised us half of his kills," Bahadur said.
"And you believed him?" Hadley countered sharply. "You really are stupid."
Bahadur disregarded his mate's harsh comment. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll handle it."
"That jackal better be telling the truth," Hadley growled, "if we're going to drag this dog around with us."
"It's just until we reach the city," Bahadur reminded her.
Hadley whipped around and walked away.
The dominant male turned to Alema, seemingly unnerved by the argument. "We're resting here for a bit," he said, and then added, "but don't get too comfortable."
