There are things in life that can’t be explained. Why me? Why do we live and go through all these horrific moments just to die at the end of it? My life seemed right on track. My father was the Alpha of our clowder, the lead Enforcer, a loving husband, a good Alpha and a great father.
On my tenth birthday Oracle Bloom appeared at the gifting ceremony, I would finally find out where my place in this world would be. I had prayed and prayed to be an Enforcer like my father, to successfully lead my people when my turn came. Only an Enforcer could be the next Alpha and I wanted this more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.
“Damian Woods, step forth child,” the Oracle said as her eyes glowed.
I took a step forward full of confidence, tonight I would also be able to talk to my beast for the first time. My father looked at me proudly, he always looked at me proudly and I wanted to be him when I grew up.
Oracle Bloom touched my forehead and I felt something powerful flow through me. I had to close my eyes as forces unknown to me took over and I could feel it deep in my soul. Something was scratching just beneath the surface of my skin and I heard a powerful roar in my head.
“Coercitor,” she said after a few minutes of silence.
The clowder erupted into wild cheers and my smile couldn’t get any bigger. The Oracle’s eyes widened slightly and she quickly pulled her hand away from my forehead. The look on her face was one of foreboding and sadness as I felt the burn on my right wrist as the Enforcer mark was etched onto my skin.
“What else did you see Oracle?” Benjamin, my father, asked her.
“Alpha Woods, it cannot be revealed now or the choices he makes will not be his own,” she said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Clowder members, I welcome Damian Woods, future Alpha and Enforcer of this pack!” my father said loudly as members congratulated me and I couldn’t be happier.
As I lay in bed that night I wondered what the Oracle meant, every person had some wisdom bestowed on them by her on their tenth birthday but mine couldn’t be revealed. It gave me a feeling of uneasiness and dread.
“Hello little one,” a voice in my head said.
“Hello,” I replied.
“My name is Axel and I will always be with you,” he said and I smiled as I closed my eyes.
A feeling of such contentment overcame me that I knew no matter what happened, I’d never be alone. When you’re ten you don’t want to be alone but fast forward a few years and the voice in your head can get pretty irritating especially if he’s like Axel, mocking and taunting me, sarcastic with a very dry sense of humour.
By the time I was sixteen, my father had been training me for six years. The stronger your body, the easier your first shift will be, it can be quite painful the first time. Imagine having every bone in your body break repeatedly while you suffer through fever and bouts of delirium and there’s absolutely nothing you can do.
My father and I were deep in the surrounding forest with the two Elders that resided in our clowder. They also had to witness my first shift to validate that I had indeed shifted on my sixteenth birthday and therefore could claim my father’s seat one day.
The shift took about two hours, which according to them was a new record for shifting so quickly for the first time. I don’t think I’ve ever screamed so much in my life as my father talked me through the process.
My shift was almost complete when a group of rogue wolves attacked the four of us. We were surrounded and my father had been so engrossed with my shift that he sensed the rogues too late. The attack spurred my shift on and before I knew it I was attacking wolves. My first instinct was to protect the Elders and just as suddenly as they appeared they turned and fled.
“Alpha Woods!” Elder Isaac yelled as I shifted back to my human form and knelt next to my father.
“Damian,” he whispered as he coughed up blood.
“Dad, no,” I said as I tried to pick him up.
“Just know that I love all of you,” he said as I held him in my arms and his body slumped against mine as he died.
The Elders stood behind me as I knelt over my father’s body and cried. The sudden guilt that hit me was like a truck speeding towards me and I was unable to move out of its way, if he hadn’t been so engrossed with helping me he would’ve been able to defend himself properly.
The Elders had linked warriors and they carried my father’s body back to the house as I followed behind them, numb and unfeeling, guilt-ridden and afraid. My mother, Sara, had lost it. She was overcome with sadness and retreated back to her room and she didn’t come out for the next six months.
My sister, Kat, clung to me instead as our mother wasted away and it felt like I had lost both of my parents that night. My father’s funeral ceremony was a somber affair and even the heavens shared our pain as thunder crashed and the rain beat down on us mercilessly.
“We are gathered here today to give our last respects to Alpha Benjamin Woods, our lead Enforcer for the last twenty years, may he find peace in the afterlife and may his wisdom, kindness and gracious heart lead us forward,” Elder Isaac said as we stood around his coffin with our heads bowed.
My mother didn’t attend the funeral as she lay in her bed almost comatose like, refusing to eat or talk to anyone and I wasn’t sure what to do but I’d already spoken to the clowder doctor. If she didn’t snap out of it by Monday he would start feeding her through a tube.
We carried my father’s coffin to the waiting hearse, where he’d be taken to a crematorium to be cremated and then we’d put him to rest in our memorial wall where all our fallen clowder members were placed.
Two days after the funeral, two Council members together with the two Elders and an Oracle I’d never met before arrived at the house and we gathered in the meeting room. Jared was there with me, he was my chosen Beta, it is something you just know, just like how you know who your Gamma will be, Connor was mine.
“Damian, thank you for receiving us,” Council member Carl Rathbone said.
“I received no request for a meeting so unfortunately I’m ill prepared for it,” I said to him.
“The request was sent to Beta Joshua,” Elder Isaac said.
“I see,” I said slowly starting to lose my temper. Since my father’s death the Elders had referred any and all clowder related things to him and not to me and now it was starting to piss me off.
“We’ve gathered here today to discuss Beta Joshua taking over as Alpha until you’ve reached the age of twenty-one when future Alphas normally take over from their predecessors,” Elder Isaac said.
“No,” I said as I looked at him daring him with my eyes. I was after all my father’s son and we stood back for no one.
“You’re sixteen years old Damian, you are not capable of leading this clowder,” Council member Carl said to me.
“What does it take to lead a clowder? Strength, wisdom, money?” I asked them.
“You are a child, this clowder needs a leader to lead them, being an Enforcer is more than just being the previous Alpha’s son,” Elder Isaac said and I slowly built up a hate for him that I knew would never go away.
“Joshua is a Beta, not an Alpha, I’m an Alpha and if anybody tries to take this position from me it will be over my dead body,” I said.
“I second that,” Jared said as he stood up and walked to stand right behind me, signifying his loyalty to me.
“Perhaps it should come down to a claim fight,” I said and the air around us changed as Oracle Bloom appeared looking furious.
“What is going on here?” she asked.
“I’m being ousted Oracle Bloom,” I said as I turned in my seat to look at her.
“Oracle Charles, what is the meaning of this?” she asked him.
“I am merely here as a witness to the proceedings,” he said.
“Elder Isaac, I have made my intentions for this boy clear. He is to be the Alpha of this clowder, and not when he turns twenty-one, now. His father taught him well and I’ve seen what this clowder can be with him at the helm, you are also relieved of your duties Beta Joshua, I think retirement outside of this clowder will suit you well,” she said as she glared at them all.
“Thank you Oracle Bloom,” I said as I stood up, “now that we have established that I’m the true Alpha, you may take your leave and consider the loyalties you showed here today because I won’t forget.”