One last howl

The flowery scent lured my loyalty the moment it flooded my sense of smell. My mind and heart floated in a lake of serenity and solace. Even when I knew that his pain will be ours to carry and that his words will be in our tongue to speak, I didn't want to burn the profound link that connected us to him.

Tell me...how do you want me to embrace you?

Tell me how do you want me to save you?

How much pain do you carry and how much of it can you give to me?

"Caleb..."

We had recently walked out from the marsh of our own fragility. We will strive to be stronger for him. We will never sink back into the depths of pusillanimity again, because he was out there battling something that we needed to be more superior to.

"Caleb, the whole pack is waiting for you outside." Papa gently gave my shoulder a squeeze.

My younger siblings were snuggled against me while they slept peacefully. Papa was smiling down on us. I slowly sat up, being careful not to wake my brothers.

"What do you mean?"

My raspy voice caused my siblings to shift from their sleep.

"Come out and see for yourself," Papa told me with a smile before heading out.

'Droog, are we in some sort of trouble again?'

'I don't know Breux, we'll see,' I sighed.

The earlier events were coming back to me but they were still lacking pieces. I didn't know what had occurred after I released that huge explosion.

I got off the bed that woke my siblings up in the process. Conall wasn't pleased with the disruption of his sleep, following me out with a scorned face. Claude was the complete opposite. He was consistently in a pleasant mood on most occasions.

"What are those wussies waiting out for? Can't they respect someone resting?" Conall grumbled.

I stepped out of the door, expecting the worst of predicaments, yet the Goddess decided to turn the wheels into a direction that I supposed was... somewhere good?

The pack members sank to their knees in submission, bowing their heads. The overwhelming waves of people kneeling took me aback and even Fenris didn't know how to respond.

'Droog, I think we should kneel down too or else we'll get in trouble!'

'You think so?' I asked.

Who were we kneeling down to exactly?

I turned my head to see if they were stooping to someone else, but no one was there but our empty doorway. My family and noona were standing beside my frozen form. Conall and Claude snickered, a smug grin smacked on their lips.

"They're bowing to you Caleb," papa confirmed it.

'Pack must have sniffed too much of noona's weird herbs…' Fenris whispered.

I had to agree with Fenris on this one.

Wulfurin became their mediator. I listened to their side of sudden yielding.

"The pack had been foolish and regretted their prejudice towards your great presence. We would accept any punishment you see fit to each and every one of us."

I glanced at papa. He was wearing a proud smile. I tried to appreciate the sincerity of their apology, but I couldn't fully grasp the idea of forgiveness just yet.

I didn't wish any of them to suffer for what they had done to me. Never did my wolf and I think of breaking ribs for every punch we got every single day. We didn't rise up from the swamp of our flaws just to maintain the continuity to the chain that kept us sunken down in the first place. Hating was just all too tiring.

"I want the pack to have loyalty, not dedicated to the immensity of strength an alpha has, but to the love and consideration a leader possesses for its members. There will always be an alpha having greater strength and if every member will base their loyalty to mere power this pack will never be one."

The frequency of recurring power struggle, rebellion, and disloyalty will remain profound as long as the members lacked faith in the leader.

"Yes, the pack has realized that," Wulfurin responded, causing me to smile and rub the back of my neck.

"If you really do then...why do you kneel to me?" I asked.

They raised their heads in confusion.

"You are submitting yourselves to the wrong guy. My father still holds the title. His reign isn't done yet and I don't plan on taking it from him. I still have a lot to learn."

My chest swelled up with joy when I saw how much pride papa had in his eyes as he looked at me.

"If anyone deserves the pack's apology that would be Alpha Culgan, my father, the man whose steps I want to follow," I declared.

I faced the man, bowing on my waist and then kneeling in front of him. We didn't deserve that spot yet. Fenris and I still had so many things to work on ourselves. Though we had the strength that could probably match his, we had our loyalty to keep us in check.

Claude, Conall, mama, and noona knelt after me. I raised my head with resolve.

"I am a pack warrior under my father's command. I will use the strength given to me not to overthrow him, but to serve him with every bit of what I have."

Our papa had taught us many great things. One notable lesson I learned from him was that:

'Power doesn't always dress extravagantly. People with great power do not boast excessively and if they do, that means they are trying to hide what weakness they have.'

The pack didn't question my decision nor did they try to refute. The members should know where to stand and who to stand for at this very moment. Indecisiveness and saying that they would wait for someone better deserved banishment. Those who didn't trust my father's judgment were free to leave. If anyone would try to challenge his authority, I would be the very first one to rise and strike.

The day continued on with normalcy. The members resumed the usual daily activities except for the bloody brawls.

After being forced to kneel to someone he tried to overthrow using his son, Basba hid in his house like a mouse. Ulmer left the pack the night before and no one knew where he went.

"We did it, breux..." I said in relief.

"Papa will lead safely now," Fenris chirped.

Our plan worked. I honestly didn't think Fenris and I could pull it off.

I sat under the shade of the tree while trying to carve a wolf with my knife. I heard there will be a gathering later about relocating the pack to a much safer place. We were surrounded by mountains. The only way to access us was through the tunnel that I destroyed or if you put effort into mountain climbing. The rogues obviously used the tunnel but now that it was destroyed, it would be a lot harder, if not impossible, to get to us.

"We have five more tunnels," papa announced during the gathering.

"What?!" I gasped.

"What can I say– we werewolves just love digging," Wulfurin sighed.

"So what can we do?" one of the pack members asked.

"We destroy them but we leave one intact," papa suggested.

"We put warriors on guard in that tunnel," noona added.

"That settles it then," papa concluded.

There were still many members injured during the fight yesterday. Those who were able to recover and those uninjured were sent to the tunnels to carry out the plan. I was preparing to head out and help but papa dropped by and asked an unusual question.

"Do you want to go out for a run?"

I had never run with anyone for leisure before. Obviously, I had no friends in the pack. Conall was too shy to admit his care for his older brother. I didn't bother asking Claude to run with me, because I didn't want him to be discarded by his own friends. It had always been Fenris and I, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't jealous of Ulmer belonging to a group that adored him.

I wanted us to belong somewhere even if it was just a small group of people. It didn't matter to me if they were werewolves or not. We will fight for them if they fight for us.

Papa and I shifted to our wolves and papa's wolf, Canyon, had never ceased to amaze.

Fenris and he had nearly the same dark-colored fur but he glistened in blue whenever the rays of the sun hit him.

Fenris and Canyon playfully yet harmlessly gripped each other with their teeth as they ran through the forest. Papa led us deeper into a part of the forest that we never dared venture before. Even if Fenris would sometimes trip because of his clumsiness, Canyon would walk back and nudge him gently with his nose to stand up.

Once we reached our destination, Canyon leaped up and bit on a net hanging by a tree. Blue butterflies fluttered out, making Fenris leap up and down from excitement.

'Droog look, look droog! Look at the butterflies!' Fenris shouted, chasing them while bumping his nose to Canyon every now and then as thanks.

Canyon shifted back to his man form. Papa sat down and watched Fenris. When the butterflies were too far to reach for my wolf, papa called out to Fenris, leveling down on one knee. He cupped Fenris' face. My wolf licked his cheeks relentlessly, causing him to chuckle and embrace us in his strong arms.

"Words cannot express how grateful I am for having you as my son…" Papa whispered.

Papa…

'Fenris loves papa!' my wolf responded.

"I love you too Hijo...You've already surpassed me, you know that? You are already a greater alpha than I'll ever be," he murmured.

He withdrew and patted Fenris on his head.

"When the time comes and you lead your own pack, do not be so forlorn when you make mistakes. Mistakes make us stronger. They help us raise our children into someone better than us. You're young and you will experience so much more. I pray to the Goddess that she gives you people who will be your crutches during your days of weakness. Those days are a lot more frequent than those when you are at your strongest."

Papa rose up to his feet, looking up to the bright sky with a calm smile. "Be prepared for the storms ahead, and once the sky clears don't forget to enjoy days like this one."

A dark musty beam shot up to the sky. Rot spread out, covering the daylight with despairing tenebrosity.

"That's where the village is!" papa shouted.

"Let's hurry papa!"

I conquered the physical state and scampered beside papa to return.

"What is that papa?!" I asked as I looked at the swirling smog. The pungent scent of rot made me gag.

"This excessive rot…there's no doubt about it. This one is a catastrophe. But how did it get here?"

Screams erupted from the village as bodies lay lifelessly on the ground. This spirit-like being can transfer from one vessel to another once the original vessel gets destroyed.

Papa barked orders at the panicking bodies and guided people out. I forced myself through the rampaging forms to search for my mama and brothers.

My eyes widened. My blood ran cold. Conall was running away from Claude who lost his healthy color and the vibrancy he always had. Mama was already gone. Her pale hand was on the bump where my unborn sibling was. She leaned against the fence of our house.

There was black sand whirling around my brother's body. His eyes were completely devoid of life. I hurried forward to meet Conall halfway. A crazed pack warrior screaming revenge came out from one of the houses and aimed for Claude.

"No! Don't hurt him!" I screamed.

The pack warrior grabbed Claude's neck and wrenched his throat out. I caught Conall but I was rigid after the immense shock.

"Wh…what?"

Claude's form fell forward. A sudden burst of pain struck me so heavily that I could only release shaky breaths of disbelief.

'Caleb…Claude is…'

"He's not Fenris! He's not dead!" I cut my wolf off.

"Th–then we have to help him! We have to get him to noona!" Fenris cried.

He clutched onto the hope that I falsely made him hold on to. The soul that possessed Claude transferred to the nearest pack warrior. I sprinted and picked up Claude's body, still bearing hope that he could still be saved.

"Let's go Conall!" I shouted but was then tackled backward.

Conall scrambled back when a spirit slithered down his throat. My brother's skin slowly paled. He clutched his neck while gritting his teeth. Dark veins branched out from his skin.

"AHHHHH!!! Urgh!"

"Conall!"

I held both of my brothers, hurrying outside. Conall weakly punched my side.

"Le--leave us…You have to—"

"No! I won't leave you here! I won't abandon you!"

There was still hope. They can still be saved. I won't let them die!

"Caleb!" noona called out.

I placed Conall and Claude on the ground. Noona immediately took a look at them. Her expression had told me everything that I still kept denying.

"Please help them noona! You can't let them die!"

She stared at the writhing Conall and the lifeless Claude with pursed lips. When I realized that she would not lift a finger to help them, my body heated up.

"Why won't you help them? Do something, noona! Don't let my siblings die! Plea–"

My hand gripped my chest. I coughed out, feeling as if my heart was split with an ax.

Fenris became restless inside me. My tail came out and claws came out.

"What's happening…Mate…My mate!"

"Caleb, what's wrong?!" Noona came to my side, pulling me into her embrace.

Why?

Why did you kill yourself?

Why didn't you wait?

"Mate…dead…" we whimpered.

"Your mate is gone?" noona asked in surprise.

She quickly glanced at Conall and then me before finally making a decision.

"I can only save one of you…" she murmured.

She cupped Conall's cheek.

"Forgive me."

"Do it…" Conall croaked. "Sa...Save him…"

Noona placed her hand on his chest, extracting a blue orb. The extraction completely stole Conall's consciousness. She slowly transmitted the orb to my chest. The extreme and deadly pain that was chipping us away dissipated.

A rustle in the bushes made noona look away from me and papa's voice poured in.

"You have to go Caleb…

My hand didn't leave my chest as I stood up. I turned to face papa who was covered in blood. He had an expression of forfeiture.

"Papa…I'll stay. I want to stay," I pleaded.

Papa swayed his head and snatched me to his arms. He held me tightly for a brief moment and then pushed me away.

"There is no reason for you to stay anymore…" he told me.

He coughed out a thick and black substance. His fate was sealed to be doomed.

I didn't want to run away. My mate was dead wasn't he? Why should I leave to live?

Yet I promised that I would always obey the alpha of our pack. And running away was his final order and his final wish.

"Go…now! Don't ever look back. That is my final order. Don't you dare betray me now!" he snapped at me.

My feet weakly trudged back. I was torn in half.

The forest decayed. Noona stayed behind for the same reason. There was no moon for a wolf to dedicate his howl to but papa's one last howl was not to give praise to the Goddess, but to give tribute for our pack's woeful end.