Alpha Training - Chapter 9: Circle of Life

Niera lay in the cold den, shielding the four little pups that cuddled against her chest. The last week had been very hard for the family but they slowly got used to the missing spot next to Niera.

Two years had passed since she became the alpha and the four bundles of fur between her legs were the second litter since then. All of them were Khara's kids, a last reminder for the great alpha. Tanya, Minka, Hanyo and Ponyo had taken some time to understand, that their father would not come back.

The previous week, the old wolf had passed away from his old age and left Niera with their cubs.

Behind her, cuddled up against her back, were Maja, Illu and Malka, the three cubs of her first litter with the big alpha wolf. They slowly got over the sadness and helped their mother to care for their younger siblings.

Niera looked at the little pups in front of her belly and a silent tear rolled out of her eye. She still was mourning for Khara and took much longer than her pups.

One of the reasons for this was surely, that she only was able to mourn at night, when her pups slept and she was alone with her thoughts about her former husband.

During the day, she was too busy to think about it and she had to hide her emotions to lead the pack. She was the one wolf, everyone looked at right now.

She had many wolves coming to her to bring their condolence and share warm words. They all lost a strong and loved alpha.

Through the entrance of the den, she could hear the distant growling of the male wolves. It started the day before, that the beta wolves began to fight for the succession of Khara.

While the alpha male chose his alpha female, the succession of the alpha male role was decided by fights between all candidates. All betas and even a few of the lower ranks threw themselves into the election and throughout the day, fights started every few hours and then took for a while until it calmed down again.

Surely, the males were eager to proof themselves to be worthy of leading the pack and be the respected head of the family, but this was only one of the reasons for the high interest of nearly all male wolves in the pack.

Everyone knew that the price of becoming the alpha was, that they were able to chose their alpha female and it was also clear, that whoever would win, would win Niera.

She was by far the one female that was respected the most by the pack and there was no doubt for anyone, that whoever would win the alpha race, would also win Niera. She was the most wanted female and those, who had the luck of making out with her during her beta days, were bragging about the past and their encounters and threw all their power into the fights to get the price.

The growling faded away and the night began to get silent. Niera tried to hear any sign of who the contestants had been and who won, but the only thing she heard, before falling asleep, was the cry of an owl.

The next day was as busy as the previous ones. Niera spend the morning with her pups, until Nena came to take the kids to the beta den and watch over them, while Niera started her round through the pack grounds.

She saw Shawn with a scratch at his flank and humping a bit and stopped.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a silent voice, to not make this more embarrassing for the beta. The wolf winced shortly and then grinned.

"Yea." He said. He looked a bit down, but that she cared for his wellbeing seemed to have cheered him up a bit. "I was no match for Chael, but I did not want to give up, until I got this. I should have stopped when I noticed the difference between us."

Niera nudged his head with hers and licked over the fresh wound. "You always have been more brave than clever." She joked and the wolf had to laugh by this remark. Niera felt how he relaxed a bit and a warm and comfortable growl entered his throat.

"You can always count on me, when you need a brave wolf." He joked and the few wolves around them laughed with them.

Niera checked on everyone in the pack. The females, the males and the pups. She made sure, that everyone was okay, before she gave Pinya the command until she would return and headed out with the hunting party to catch the daily food.

She left Shawn to help the female beta leader, which Pinya became again after Niera became alpha, because he was not fit enough for the hunt, but she took all other alpha males with her.

The hunt was fast and successful. They brought back enough food for the pack, when the sun was not even at the zenith.

She had enough time to have some talks with the beta males to get updated on the rankings for the alpha succession.

"The fight yesterday was something to be seen." Mentioned Argento. "It was clear that Chael would win, but Shawn just did not want to give up. He really had Chael fight for the win."

Niara smiled and looked to Chael. He surely looked a bit more exhausted today but he held his head high and pushed out his chest to show his full size and bulkiness.

Chael sure was the biggest of all alpha wolves. He looked very similar to Khara, just that he was even bigger than the old alpha had been, and that his snout was white.

"Who is still in?" asked Niera to keep the conversation running.

"Me, Argento, Chael, Bahg, and Tito of the Beta's." Malte responded from her other side. Behind them, Bahg and Tito were carrying the two deers that they caught. Tito was the youngest of the beta males and just recently rose to the rank.

"And in addition, Sanyo and Olek" Niera remembered the two strong black wolves. They were only gamma and with being very old already, they were past their prime, but if anyone was close to being beta, it was these two.

"So, all the beta's except of Shawn are still in?" she asked and turned her head to Malte.

"Yes, but only because the beta's have so far avoided to clash with each other, before Shawn took the initiative yesterday." Responded the brown wolf. "We agreed to let those, who fought, rest for a day before anyone challenges them. But I think that I will show Argento who is boss tonight." He boasted and both wolves to her sides started laughing.

"Just try!" Argento taunted him. "If you want to be the second beta to leave the race."

The males continued to play fight with words and Niera had to giggle when she noticed that they tried to impress her by clashing with each other.

"I am sure, that the fight will be great." She mentioned. She knew that she would not be able to watch it. She had to watch over her pups and there were surely a lot of requests for her decision again this evening.

"I will tell you all about my win." Boasted Argento and Malte countered. "Too bad, that you will lose!"

When they put down one of the deer at the food deposit and went to the beta den with the other one, she looked around to check the faces of the wolves they passed.

The shock and mourning of the pack seemed to have vanished and they smiled again and lowered their head in respect, when she passed them.

She knew that the excitement of the fights for the alpha position made everyone forget about the sadness. This was another thing that was different for the death of an alpha male and the death of an alpha female.

The fights for the succession also functioned as entertainment for the other wolves and because it happened so rarely, that a new alpha male was selected, everyone showed big interest and even the younger wolves and older pups looked in awe when the adult males clashed and fought over dominance.

The fights usually took long and were more of an endurance match. Injuries, like the one of Shawn, happened, but they were rather rare, because injuries were bad for the pack.

Niera only saw one of the fights from afar yet and it looked like the males were dancing around each other, jumping and sliding or just standing in front of each other, staring at each other and baring their teeth.

They were games of intimidation and stamina. Whoever got tired first or showed an opening would be jumped. At this point, the weaker opponent usually gave up and accepted the loss. Cases like with Shawn, where the weaker wolf fought until they got injured, were not the rule.

Niera understood, from the explanation of Malte and Argento, that the males had put up some rules to ensure, that they were fit enough for the hunts and that the fights were fair. This also showed her that, even though everyone seemed eager to win the alpha spot, they were in no rush.

She felt a nice warm shiver running down her spine, because this meant, that everyone trusted her so much, that they risked having no alpha male for a few more days and leaving the leading of the pack to her.

It took a few more days, until the fights finally were over. Niera watched the last fight, which was a brotherly duel between Chael and Bahg.

Niera knew both very well. She had trained together with the brothers and knew all their strength and weaknesses just as well as they knew each other.

In the end, it was Chael, who won, after a fight of over an hour that brought both wolves to the brink of exhaustion. Bahg finally had to give in, with shaky legs and a heavy breath. But even Chael was breathing hard and looked tired, but proud to have come out on top.

The howling and cheering, that celebrated the win of Chael, stopped, when Niera got up and run onto the plateau, which was surrounded by the whole pack, including all the pups.

She first went to Bahg and gave him a playful and encouraging nudge at the shoulder, before she continued her way to Chael, who stood there, with his neck straightened up to hold his head as high as possible, looking towards the nearing Niera.

All wolves were silent and the only thing, that was audible, was the heavy huffs of the two males, that slowly calmed down.

Niera nudged first the shoulder, then the chest and the flank of Chael. She circled him and took in his scent, which she knew all too good already, and ran her body against his. She allowed him to take in her scent as well and he lowered his head to sniff at her.

When she returned to his head, she nudged his head and licked over his cheek and nose, before their noses met in a short nudge.

"Long live Chael, our new alpha!" She all wolves started to throw their head in the neck and howl to celebrate the new alpha of their pack.

Chael stepped next to Niera and pushed his big body against her small one. She looked nearly half as big as the male, now that they stood next to each other, and he bent down his head to lick her muzzle.

Niera felt, how his legs trembled from the exhaustion and understood, that part of him pushing so hard against her was, to keep standing and not showing any weakness.

She had accepted him as the new alpha already and this mean, that at least for the moment, she was his alpha female, until he would select another one, if he did not want to keep her. And as the alpha female, it was her job to support him and make sure, that he looked his strongest.

She supported his big body with her small frame. Luckily, despite her small built, she was the strongest female in the pack and therefore it was no problem for her to hold his weight until the trembling of his legs stopped.

They stood there, listening to the howl of all other wolves in the pack. Even the pups joined in with their tiny and cute voiced.

When Chael calmed down enough and his breat was not going so heavy anymore, they looked at each other for a short while and then lifted their head in unison.

They joined into the night howl of the pack and their strong voiced climbed to the top of the voiced and echoed through the valley.

After minutes of constant howling, the whole gathering calmed down again and every wolf came by the couple, that now stood in the middle of the plateau like statues, to show their respect to the new alpha male.

One of the last ones was Pinya and she had the pups of Niera in tow. "Does brother Chael live with us now?" asked Illu, one of the two years old pups of Niera and she nodded. "Yes dear, he will live with us now. He is now the new alpha."

Niera knew, that the pups would not see Chael as their father, because they only had known him as their half-brother. But she also knew that the pups loved him and that there would surely no problem with him joining them in the alpha den.

"I kind of knew it would be you." Said Pinya and Niera started to giggle, which Pinya joined in right after. "Listen Chael. Make sure to learn from Niera what you must do and be up to task quickly. She had been doing all the work for weeks now and needs some rest. You need to make sure, that she does not overdo it."

Chael smiled at Pinya and threw his chest out again. "You can count on me. You will be proud of me as your alpha." The beta female giggled again and turned around to join the other beta females, that went around to collect their pups and bring them to the beta den.

"Who would have thought that we would end up here, after all this training, right?" Niera whispered, when they slowly went up the hill, passing all the wolves that made way for them and bowed their head to the alpha couple.

"This has always been my goal since the first day I saw you." Chael whispered back and Niera felt her blood rush into her head. "I always loved you and I will never give you away." He licked her muzzle and rubbed his body against her, while they slowly advanced towards their den.

The pups bounded off, when they saw the den's entrance and the two adult wolves slowly followed.

"I would love to claim you right here, right now!" Chael said with a smirk and Niera licked his muzzle and then nudged him into the throat. "Stupid!" she laughed. "You are exhausted, it is time to sleep and we've got 7 pups to watch.

Chael looked a bit disappointed, as if he was robbed off his price for the win, but then showed her a hesitant smile.

"As you say!" he replied. "But better be ready, when we are rested." Niera smirked. In the last year, with the energy of Khara getting weaker from age, the old alpha did not mate much with her, but she was sure, that Chael would be totally different and that she had some exciting days in front of her.

Niera groaned softly when Chael pushed hard to pop his knot through her folds, until it was being sucked in by the moist insides of her tunnel and held deep within her by the lock of her lips. When she felt the big organ inside her throb and the balls, that snuggled up with her drenched pussy, contract, she moaned together with her new alpha, who emptied spurt after spurt into her already filled womb.

They had left the pups with the beta females this morning and since then, Chael had been on top of Niera nonstop. The female was still adjusting to the sudden eager actions of the male. At the first few times, it had hurt a bit, because Chael not only was much bigger than Khara, but she also was not in heat and it had been a while, that she had mated outside her heat.

The last ride however had been pleasurable, after all his spunk, that he pumped into her, made her more slippery and helped him to glide into her more easily.

Nobody disturbed them the whole day, while Chael claimed Niera again and again, testing her endurance. The female still knew all the tricks to keep up with multiple males, and therefore, when the sky began to darken, Chael was exhausted and lay huffing next to Niera, while she licked his muzzle lovingly.

Chael had always been the one, beside Khala, she had loved the most of all males. She was happy, that he won and became the new alpha.

In the evening, Pinya brought the pups over, just after Niera and Chael had cleaned each other and were presentable again. The older female blinked an eye to Niera and the girl giggled, while her pups cuddled up with her and started to tell her all about their day.

The rest of the week was hard work for Chael. Niera led him around the pack grounds and shared with him the responsibilities, that they had as alphas. Only at night, when the pups slept, Chael found some time to take Niera once or twice, before they went to sleep to gain energy for the next day.

They split the work as an alpha between them and Niera made sure, that Chael looked great. Most of the wolves still came to her with questions or for decisions, but she encouraged Chael to give his opinion and slowly trained the wolves to rely on him just as much as they relied on her.

It was not, that they did not trust Chael or looked up to him as their alpha, but Niera had grown into the role in the last years and therefore it felt natural for the pack to come to her with every important decision.

The alpha female organized the day and how they split their works and made sure, that Chael got more exposure, by giving him the responsibilities of most hunts or the rounds through the pack grounds, while she took a bit more time to spend with her pups and the beta females.

Even though Chael was respected more and more as the leader, every wolf felt, who the stronger partner in the pair was and who was giving the final decisions in their relationship. It was not only because Chael knew, that Niera beat him in all of the playfights they had, after their training, but also because Chael was so affectionate and enchanted from his new female, that he tried to make every wish of her true.

It took a month, until they grew together as an unbeatable team and even though some wolves still preferred Niera for some topics, it was the other way around as well and both were equally asked for advice by their fellow pack members.

Chael still was not giving up on daily fun with Niera, but because of their responsibilities, and because of the pups, they often just did it once or twice, after the pups went to sleep.

"The three from last year have grown quite strong already." Mentioned Chael, when he watched Maja, Illu and Malka play. "Especially Maja clearly the daughter of you and dad." She nudged him and looked at the three older pups playfighting, while the younger pups already lay cuddled up at her stomach, after having their dinner.

Maja surely was the strongest of the three, but Malka was nearly as strong. Only Illu seemed to be a bit shyer and not so dominant.

"You want to tell me something with that, right?" she asked with a warm smile. She knew Chael too good to have missed, that he did not just casually mention that.

"Well..." he looked at her and caught her smile and could not help to smile back. "I was thinking of sending Maja and Malka to alpha school, what do you say?"

Niera pondered a bit. "I think that it is time, yes. What do you think about Hina and Haku?" she asked. The 3 years old pups were the result of her own father claiming her in the year after she came to the pack.

"Well, they sure are strong, but you were not an alpha back then and they do not look like they are my fathers' pup, even though he vanished with you during this heat."

"You are right." Niera whispered and blew some air into his ear. "They are my fathers' pups." She continued and the look at Chael's face showed, that he was surprised and also a bit shocked.

"What? How? Why?" - "Schhhh!" she silenced him and looked at the little pups in front of her belly, that already had fallen asleep.

Niera told him about the deal, that Khara apparently had with her father and how her father had traded her for alpha school for a chance to get his own daughter.

"Your father is a sly old man." Chael chuckled. "But I am thankful for him to send you to training this year." He licked the cheeks and muzzle of Niera and she pushed her nose into the fur at his throat and ran the upper side of her nose along his yaw. "Me too." She breathed.

They cuddled for a few minutes, while the older pups continued their games.

"I think you are right." Chael finally said. "Hina and Haku are already the strongest of the three years old pups and I am sure, Paqu will be delighted to even have two females in his alpha group.

"Paqu?" asked Niera. Chael had been at his first alpha meeting this day and returned a short while ago, so he had no time to tell her about it yet.

"Oh, yes. Let me tell you about it." Chael replied and he told her about the meeting.

Her father still was the leader of the eastern pack, and the old father of Jeliso also was still ruling the southern pack, but just as Chael, Paqu also won the race for the alpha recently and took over the Northern pack. From the story of Chael, it seemed that he did not select an alpha female yet.

Apparently both the alpha male and female died together when they were saving some pups at the big waterfall in the north.

"So, you think he will pick one of my pups as his new alpha females?" she asked and Chael grinned. "I am sure. He specifically asked about you. I think he originally planned to ask me to send you over to him. But after I told him, that you are my alpha, he asked, if I don't want to send some of your pups to alpha school."

"This sly dog!" Niera chuckled. "Well, I am not sure if they are ready for alpha school." She sighed and looked how Maja just beat her brother Malka in a fight.

"Were you ready?" asked Chael and licked over her head and ears.

"You are right, I was not." Admitted Niera and closed her eyes to enjoy the loving touch of her alpha male.

"Okay, I think it is time. Hina and Haku have asked me a few times already if they could go to alpha school. After all, they are already 3. And even though I think it will be hard for Maja, I am sure, that she will manage. After all, she got her older sister with her."

Niera put her head on her paws and Chael placed his head on hers. Both watched the pups play, until they stopped exhausted and joined them for the nights rest.

"I will tell them tomorrow." Niera whispered, while she felt the warm body of her older pups cuddle up with her back. Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep, with the scent of Chael all around her.

One week later, Niera watched her 4 pups leave with Chael. He would bring them to the lake in the middle of the valley, so that Paqu would take them to alpha school.

She had told them to train hard and not make a shame for her or the pack and then let them go, knowing, that she would probably not see her daughters again.

When Chael came back, she asked about every detail and heard, that one of her brothers would also join alpha school, as well as 3 wolves of the norther pack and two of the southern pack.

"Quite a lot more than in our class." Niera mentioned but Chael only nudged her and answered. "But they are two girls this time. I am sure they will manage."

Niera thought about her pups a lot while the winter came over the pack and they all worked hard to keep the bellies fed.

When her heat came, Chael surely claimed her new patch of litters and for the full week of her heat, they had organized for Pinya to take over the daily work, so that they were undisturbed for the full days.

At the end of her heat, Chael even invited the three years old Nenya, one of the pups of Niera and her father, into the den and Niera understood his intention the moment she smelled the heat of her daughter. But as an alpha, he had the right to mate with any female in the pack, especially when they were in heat, and therefore she did her best to make the first experience with mating of the young female as easy as possible and supported her by drawing the attention of Chael away, when she saw that her daughter needed a rest.

After the winter, Malka and Haku returned to the pack. They had surely grown stronger and it did not take long until they had fought their way into the ranks of beta wolves.

Like the rule of the alpha training said, they did not talk about anything they did there in regards to their sisters, but from the smile on their face and the way they checked out all the other females, Niera knew exactly, that that must have had a wild ride with their sisters.

A few years later, when Chael was holding the alpha trainings and came back, she encountered her granddaughter Layla for the first time. Apparently, Maja had had the same transformation that Niara herself had gone through in the past and right after the training, Paqu had made the young wolfess his alpha female.

And it seemed, that Paqu had a deal with Chael as well to send his first daughter to alpha school, which was why the proud alpha came back with a strong young wolfess, that looked very similar to Niera.

And so, the circles of life continued in the packs. Alphas died and were replaced, and new alphas were trained, keeping the packs in the valley strong and healthy for decades. But even after Niera died of an old age, and her granddaughter Layla became the new alpha female and many after her, the pack still talked a lot about the small wolfess , that once had been their alpha. She had been one of the most loved and respected alphas the pack ever had, and many mothers gave their daughter the name "Niera" in respect to the legendary alpha.