Running with the Pack - 3. Chapter 3

Ethan hiked for a little while before stopping to give his leg a rest. It was hurting some, but did not seem that bad. While resting, he wondered if he should try to make his way back to Richmond or maybe figure some new city to head to. The more he thought about it and the life he had left behind, the less he wanted to return. A part of him would have preferred if the wolves or something else finished him off instead of going back to that life. He was not sure what new city he would want to go to, north to New York or maybe south to Miami? Neither choice sounded any better than returning to Richmond where he would still be sleeping in alleys or doorways, and turning tricks to survive; he figured for now, he would spend a little more time camping in the mountains. No matter what, this was better than life on the streets and the solitude from people gave him an inner peace he never thought he could find.

He finally decided he had rested enough and put on his backpack and started hiking again. Since he did not know where he was before versus where Caleb’s cabin was, he had no clue which direction to go or how far it might be back to where he had been attacked. He also did not know if it was safe to return to that area since the wolves might not be agreeable to him being there anymore. He was going to miss his wolf though. He didn’t miss being around people even though Caleb was nice, but he did like when the wolf was around.

He could not get the image of the wolf changing into a person out of his head. The more he thought about it he could only come up with one answer, his mind had been playing tricks on him just before he lost consciousness; there could not be any other explanation. He knew the wolf had tried to protect him from the others so it made sense in his mind the wolf saying he was sorry for Ethan getting hurt.

******

The group of ten teens stood still and quiet as the three large men talked amongst themselves. When the men finally looked towards the teens, the leader, the Alpha of the Parker Valley Wolf Pack, John Stockdale cast a stern glare at the group while he tried to remain calm. The boys, ranging in age from fourteen to eighteen, all stood and shifted around nervously, waiting for what they knew would be a very unpleasant experience. All except Aiden, who appeared calm and ready for whatever came his way.

After crossing his arms and making everyone as uncomfortable as possible with his glare, Alpha Stockdale’s voice boomed. “Do any of you understand what you’ve done? Two of our highest laws are NEVER hunt a human as prey and DO NOT EVER BITE a human! Which one of you is going to explain to me exactly what happened?” His eyes bore into his son with a mixture of anger and disappointment.

The group stayed quiet for a moment too long. “WELL? I EXPECT AN ANSWER!”

His son, Michael, looked at the floor in front of him as did most of the rest. He sounded almost dismissive about what happened. “We were just having a little fun for our last night of camping.”

Alpha Stockdale’s eyes flashed amber in anger as he glared at his son who could not meet his gaze. John kept quiet hoping someone would speak up.

Aiden Jacobs, a tall, ruggedly handsome, dark haired young man of stepped forward, looking at his leader. “Alpha, while we were camping I went for a run by myself in wolf form and ran across a human boy. He seemed very lonely and I was curious about him and why he was all alone in the forest. He appeared to be too young to be there by himself and I hoped to track him back to his family at least, only to find that he really was there all alone. I visited the spot he was camping several times and followed him when he’d go hiking while remaining in my wolf form. One of the others found out by tracking me after I’d left our pack to spend time with the boy. The other wolf decided to have some fun with the boy. Someone not brave enough to challenge me to my face,” Aiden glared at Michael, “drugged me with Wolfsbane extract or something similar. When I came to, I found that I’d been bound. I’d heard some of the others talking as they shifted that one of the group had found a lone human and someone decided to have a little fun and make him their prey for the full moon hunt.

“After they left, I managed to get free and ran after them. By the time I arrived at the boy’s camp I believed they had him thinking he was going to be killed, though I do not believe that was the intention of all that were present. When the group started moving in on him I didn’t know if they were just out to scare him or if anyone actually intended to harm. It looked like they were really going to attack that boy, so I jumped between them to try and protect him.

“I didn’t want to see him hurt and neither did my wolf as we considered him a friend. One wolf did attack and we fought as I defended the boy. The others stayed out of the fight, but the boy received a bite to his leg. I got the other wolf down by the throat until he rolled onto his back and submitted.” Aiden again looking over at Michael with a smug grin. “The boy went into convulsions and passed out, from a combination of his fear and the bite I think. We all shifted back to human form and cleaned the wound as best we could. With the help of a few of the others, we packed up the boy’s camp and took him to Doctor Alexander as quick as we could.”

The alpha and his two advisors silently noted that Aiden did not name who the aggressor was.

Aiden took a deep breath then continued, “I believe if I hadn’t gone to visit the boy and spent so much time with him, none of this would have happened. I think for the most part, the rest of the group just made a bad decision based on what one person wanted to do. I was one of the leaders on this trip, so I will accept full responsibility for what happened since none of the others sees fit to step forward and speak.” He glared directly at Michael. “While I should have focused on working with my pack mates, I don’t regret my actions. My wolf seemed to be drawn to the boy and able to make him feel less alone. He may not have been pack or even a lycan, but no one should be so totally abandoned by the world.”

Alpha Stockdale appeared livid after Aiden finished. He looked over the groups of teens in front of him before him. “Do you all agree with Aiden’s description of events?”

With the exception of his son, the group all nodded their heads. “Yes, Alpha.”

It did not go unnoticed by the alpha his son had lost yet another challenge to one of his pack mates, Aiden to be specific, this time having to show full submission on his back in front of the others on the trip. The alpha thought to Aiden’s credit he did not specifically name his son in front of him as the attacker or the one that lost the challenge even though everyone present already knew. And was offering to take responsibility for all his pack mates errors. He knew one day Aiden would make a great leader.

“I want to know what the intentions of each of you were when you approached that boy. Were you just planning to scare him? Or were you planning to harm or kill him or even bite him and leave him on his own to possibly die during his first change?”

Each boy in turn answered they thought it was just to scare the boy and have a little fun. Even Michael answered that way although the alpha detected a shift in scent that made him think his son way lying to him.

The alpha deployed his command voice on the group. “I want to know who bit the human since Aiden decided to leave that out.” Even though he already knew the answer he wanted it stated.

Compelled by the uniquely alpha ability, Michael answered in a very quietly voice. “I did, father.” He never looked up.

In a deep, powerful voice, Alpha Stockdale commanded the group. “You’re all to remain in town and stay in human form until further notice. If you leave town or the pack territory you will not like the consequences. Michael, you are confined to the house and you’re lucky I don’t confine you to the pack jail right now. If no one has any additional testimony to give, I will consider what’s been said and have my decision at tomorrow’s pack meeting. If someone wishes to add anything, my office door is open. We are adjourned for now.”

As the ten teens left the room, the alpha walked over to speak with two men that had been standing behind the teens.

“Okay, so what happened?”

“Alpha, we’re so sorry we let you down on this trip. We honestly thought everything was going fine. We checked in with them at the regular times and there was no sign of problems.”

“It’s not your fault. The group is given the independence they are to test the older boys’ leadership abilities and give a chance to bond with the younger wolves. One showed himself to be a leader while the other two failed. Unfortunately, the rest of the pups went along on something they should have known was wrong and we need to address that.”

“Thank you, Alpha.”

John and his two advisors left the room.

Outside, as Michael and his entourage were leaving the building, he walked past Aiden and glared. “This isn’t over.”

Aiden stared him down. “Name the time and place and I’ll be happy to beat your ass down once again. You obviously like it on your back with your legs in the air like a bitch.”

Michael could not hold the stare of the stronger teen and stormed off, having been embarrassed yet again. Aiden and the rest of the group walked off in the opposite direction.

******

Back in his office with his beta and enforcer, Alpha Stockdale paced. “I’m impressed with how Aiden tried to take responsibility for everything even though by his account all he did was befriend a human and eventually, thankfully protected him.”

His beta and closest advisor looked between the two. “He was right in a way. If he hadn’t befriended the human none of this would have happened. He should have stayed clear and kept to why he was on that trip: to spend time with his pack mates. Even if he was in wolf form he had no business being near that human.”

The enforcer, the pack’s third in command, glanced between the other two. “Alpha, he said his wolf was drawn to the human. If that is the case can Aiden be held to any blame? It also wasn’t Aiden that bit the boy.”

“Aiden is just trying to cause trouble for your son, Alpha. I know Aiden’s training to work for me and I like the boy, but those two have never gotten along and I feel Aiden might be trying to set himself up for a power grab at some point in the future.” The beta crossed his arms.

“Dan, you are so full of it. If Aiden was trying to cause trouble he would have come right out and told everyone it was Michael that led the attack. Even if every one of those boys already knew it. He went out of his way not to and tried to take full blame to protect the alpha’s son even though the two can’t stand each other.”

The alpha stopped his pacing and looked between the two. “Alright, enough. Aiden is a powerful wolf in his own right. If he’s destined to become alpha here or anywhere else, it won’t be in a power grab. It’ll be earned and well deserved. And yes, I do realize that their feelings towards one another is about the same as putting boxes of dynamite and a flamethrower together. I’d hoped that putting them on this trip could get my son to actually work with him for a change. That part of this whole mess is my fault. The actual issue here is that a member of this pack, regardless if he is my own son or not, broke two of our most sacred laws and bit a human. I don’t care if it happened by accident in a fight or not.

“That fight should never have happened in the first place. Those pups as a group should have never gone near the boy. One on one I can understand, especially if Aiden was drawn to this human, but sure as hell not as an attacking group. None of us know what would have happened to that boy if Aiden hadn’t stopped the attack. Using a human as prey is forbidden under pack law as well as Lycan Council law. My son of all people would know that so there will have to be punishment.” He paused to run his hand over his head in exasperation. “Dan, you can go. Rafe, I need a few words with you still.”

Dan, the pack’s beta nodded respectfully to the alpha before getting up to leave the office. Once he was gone the alpha continued. “Rafe, I know you hate dispensing punishment but I have to ask that of you again old friend.”

“I know, John. Neither one of us takes it lightly.”

“Aiden will be the last that you’ll punish. Make it look convincing and tell him if needed. As for the rest, it’s business as usual. I’ll administer Michael’s punishment myself. God, I may be alpha, but my wife is going to want to kill me when she sees me take the strap to her son.” They both laughed at the alpha’s comment.

“Do Aiden’s actions really warrant punishment? I know he found the boy and spent time with him, but he is the one that came to his defense against the others. It just seems wrong to punish him.”

“In my view, he doesn’t deserve to be punished, but technically he left the group and was spending time around a human while in wolf form. The last part isn’t a crime, but heavily frowned upon. He also took responsibility for everything that happened. As a leader, the buck stops with him.”

“John, what do you make of Aiden’s statement that his wolf was drawn to the human? I can only think of one reason unless it was just him feeling sorry for the human being alone in the forest. But lots of people go camping alone even if it was just a boy.”

“You noticed that too, I see. I’ve been giving that some thought and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right. The question is: will he realize it and can he accept it if it’s true. I’ll see what I can do to help the situation along regardless of the outcome.”

******

Ethan found a nice spot to camp for the night. He figured he would move on in the morning. He managed to catch a fish in a nearby stream and cooked it. While it tasted good, he just did not enjoy it as much. It was a nice warm night and from the gentle glow of the fire he reread a couple tattered pages of a story about a white dragon and wishing a real dragon could show up, or better yet, his wolf again. He put out the fire and crawled into his sleeping bag.

His dreams were filled with images from what he had been reading. Ethan was riding on the back of a great white dragon surrounded by bronze colored dragons being ridden by their human riders. His dreams kept returning to the wolf and instead of riding a magnificent dragon through the skies, he was suddenly running through the forest chasing and being chased by his wolf. The image of the wolf kept shifting to the guy he thought he had seen. Ethan would ask him who he was and what happened to the wolf. The handsome figure that replaced the wolf responded by telling Ethan he already knew the answer to the question. By the time Ethan woke in the morning, he was both exhausted and more confused than ever.

He walked down to the stream and washed up, packed up his things, made sure he left the camp site as clean as he had found it, and started hiking. He had no destination in mind and picked a direction at random. He followed a well used game trail for some distance until he found a spot he felt would be a good place to stop for the night. No matter what he tried to do to distract himself, he kept wondering about his wolf.