Naylan, an Alpha by birth, has always dreamed of running a pack of his own. Born into the busy city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, where city wolves run in small groups, and disregard communal living, Naylan had to pursue his dreams elsewhere - Toronto, a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
MAVIS
Although the strange decline in rabbits this season was concerning, the coyotes didn't have to worry too much about it because Naylan kept his promise. Over the next few weeks, the storage area that belonged to the wolves had become a makeshift meet-up site for trading food. We were able to get the meat we needed by increasing our gardening and fishing output.
I felt a bit useless since hunting was my thing and things weren't going too well, but I recognized that my ego wasn't more important than the well-being of my mother, grandfather, and community at large.
Because of the arrangement, I got to see Naylan a lot, but he avoided me for the most part and seemed shocked whenever I would get the urge to call out to him. He took my request about acknowledging but ignoring the bond seriously.
The thing was, I was having a hard time doing that myself.
Seeing him around wolves that he was close to was enough to make me uneasy. I knew it was irrational to think that he would start dating someone out of the blue, and also if he did start dating someone it was none of my business—but I couldn't ignore that it stung a bit when so saw someone linger too close, or hold on to his shoulder or arm for longer than usual.
Something else I noticed about Naylan is that he maintained a more dominant demeanor around his pack mates, which he immediately dropped when he was around me. At first, it annoyed me to think that he thought it was in my best interest to mitigate his Alpha status so that I could feel more comfortable. I was older than him, taller, and more experienced with weapons. I was holding a gun to his face, and he had gawked at me with a childish expression and a lowered head.
I thought I was being made fun of, but then as time went on I saw it was how everyone else looked at their mates—Elijah gave that look to his wife, and I noticed my grandfather's eyes did soften when he talked about my grandmother even though she had passed away years ago.
It was a look of affection—maybe even love. The softness in the stance of canines was a symbol that they wanted you around and that you weren't in danger.
