One of Runts

Chapter Six

Chapter Six: New Beginning

        I stand in the training field off to the side of the back of the pack house. Many wolves stand around me with bags holding any items that they think that they will need. Most have around two bags.

        Some, like me, hold one bag on their back. They're the seasoned wolves, though. Not the wolves in their late teens or early twenties. They know that the majority of our time will be tracking down and fighting rogues. You need to have one bag full of things you need, not two or three bags full of stuff that you won't need.

        I shake my head at the wolves around me. Some of them have shifted already and are struggling to hold their bags. Idiots, I tell myself. Don't they know that we are running straight to the castle?

        We will be running to the castle as opposed to driving. The Alpha King had driven here, him having talked to a few other highly trusted packs before coming to Whisper Howl.

        I look ahead at the two powerful Alphas. I have always thought that my Alpha had a stronger aura than my last, though having royal blood in his veins does explain it.

        The two Alphas are talking with one another, Luna Emery standing beside Alpha Quill. The Luna Queen is not here as she had to take care of the castle with the Royal Betas.

        The Luna is in her mid-thirties. She is from our pack and hadn't known that Alpha Quill was her mate until a few weeks after he became Alpha. Alpha Quill was twenty-five at the time and she was twenty-one.

        Everyone was happy when we figured out that she was to be our Luna. She was always like a mother to us when the previous Alpha reigned. She protected us when others couldn't. We love her for that. She is a natural born Luna.

        I see a few more wolves with bags run out of the house and join the group. All of them have a large backpack full of items. "Those bags look heavy," I link Leah. Leah, standing by the house, looks at where I'm looking.

        "They do," she says, amusement in her voice. "Would have thought that they were smarter and got bags like you."

        Being in wolf form, I have to turn my head to look at the bags on my back. They're actually saddle bags that some owners put on their dogs while hiking. I crammed as much stuff as I could into them, so they stick about three inches off to the side of me. The straps are a bit loose in some places since I had to slip the bags on after I shifted. They wouldn't have slipped on if they were tighter.

        I have managed to pack in about five training suits, a few shirts and jeans, my training boots, my phone, and a few items that will keep me alive in case I have to go on my own.

        Strapped on my back is my bow along with two quivers full of arrows. In one of the compartments of my bag, I have about three daggers and a hunting knife, along with a fire starter.

        A few of the wolves around me send me odd looks or looks full of disgust. I understand, though. I am wearing a garment meant for dogs. No wolf would even consider wearing an item meant for a pet.

        Their loss, I think to myself, shaking out my dark gray, nearly black fur to relieve a piece of fur that the straps were pulling at.

       The two Alphas look around the field and I hear my Alpha send a call down the link for any wolves leaving. I sit down and wait for the Alpha King to shift and lead us all to his home.

        The Alpha King hasn't told any of us why we will be going to his home, though I suspect that we will be looked after to see which squadron we will be classed in.

        The Alpha King and Alpha Quill walk up to the front of the group of wolves. "May I have your attention?" Alpha King practically demands rather than asks. Everyone stops talking immediately and stares forward at the two powerful wolves.

        "If you all have the belongings you choose to bring on your journey, I would like for you to shift into your wolf skin." The wolves that didn't shift beforehand immediately shift at the Kings words. The Alpha King, nodding to his men and women, shifts into his own wolf. Half of his group will be traveling with us while the other half will be taking their luggage and cars back to the castle.

        I bow down at the Alpha King as he stands tall as a regal looking wolf, his back and face black and the color getting lighter as it travels to his light gray toes. The wolves beside me bow down as well as the King's men and women shift as well.

        My eyes train to one of the King's wolves. His fur is a light gray, some parts of his fur all over his body a darker gray. His face and underbelly are the parts that are nearly white, the darker gray starting on his back and covering the outer side of his limbs. His tail is also light gray with a part of it a darker gray. His eyes are a pale green that almost looks light gold.

        I stare at the wolf for a few seconds, not understanding what makes him seem so different from the other wolves. His rank, maybe? I look around me, but I see no other wolves looking at him. He sits to the left of the Alpha King, a very high ranking wolf in this party. He's a second to the Alpha King, his first standing to the Alpha King's right.

        I perk my ears up as my Alpha begins to speak. "My beloved pack members," he starts. "Thank you for taking the choice of joining our King. I wish you all luck on your journey and I wish that most of you join me when your mission is done."

        My Alpha turns and walks away with his Luna at the same time that the whole group shifts apart to allow the Alpha King and his men and women through.

        I look at Leah swiftly, "I'll see you." She nods at me and I can tell that she is extremely sad about my leaving.

        "I'll see you when you get back," she tells me. I can tell she's holding back tears. I nod to her as I feel a link form.

        I look towards the Alpha King as he stands in front of the forest. "I have formed a temporary mind-link between the all of us and my pack so you can mind-link with my pack and me," he states through the newly formed mind-link. Only Alphas have the power to form mind-links between non-pack members.

        The Alpha King turns around and trots into the forest. Some of his men and women walk around the whole group, making sure that everyone is there and won't get lost. I stay close to the back of the group as many wolves push me out of the way and practically walk over me.

        I see them do this to many of the other runts of the group, though there are only eight other runts as some chose to stay with the pack. Out of the one-hundred-fifty names called, only around sixty of seventy wolves have decided to come.

        I lash my tail around in annoyance as another wolf bumps into me. I am a high ranking pack member, though they do not treat me as one due to my being a runt. I let out a soft growl as I finally enter the forest.

        I had wanted to be nearer to the front as I am a fast wolf, though now I stand closer to the back of the pack with some of the slower wolves.

        I mentally shake my head and keep myself at a soft trot near the edge of the group next to one of the King's men. This is a new beginning for me, I won't let a few pack members ruin it for me.