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A surprise side-story to my wolf series "The Half-Moon Tribe"! As many of you know my friend who is the inspiration for Arch is gone. It feels like an absent brother, my best friend, and a piece of me is not quite there. I had meant to finish this before he left but alas, life (a broken ankle) got in the way.

This story is all about Arch and his youth. I had to wrestle about which to write about and what not to, and what not to give away! Questions about the vague parts of Arch's past are intended in this chapter which will be explained in coming chapters. I did this on purpose!

Anyway, this is a tribute to my best friend. He's gone to become a soldier, and like a good friend I'll leave a candle burning in the window. Come home safe and sound, soldier.

p.s. All characters are copyright to me, TiberiusRings. Enjoy!

Blood. I could smell blood everywhere.

Blood on me that wasn't entirely my own.

By the stars, what happened back there? I'm in pain, I hurt, and I want to stop. My feet are moving so quick that the soft earth below them fly up, leaving flecks of grass and soil as they move me across the woods. I sometimes have to jump over downed trees, logs, and rocks. I'm running so fast because I'm being chased.

My name is Arch. I have no last name, no family tie. My family died when I was very young. I was told my mother died during my birth and I was her first child. The shaman of my caern told me I barely made it into the world alive. My mother had bled to death just minutes after I took my first breath of air. I was told she died holding me in her arms.

My father was a warrior and died just days after my conception. The Shaman and other warriors told me that the caern was having a very dry period and in the middle of summer where the storms come by no rain falls, that isn't entirely a good thing. Lightning had hit the ground of a dead field. My father and the other warriors had taken huge pales of water to the field to put out the fire. The story went that a tree, burning and hot, had fallen and surrounded my father, who burned to death.

I never knew my parents.

I tripped. I felt my shoulder slam into the ground and skid, removing bits of fur and flesh from my shoulder as my legs kicked and thrashed. I twisted my body and managed to push myself up and continue. I lost time there, I could hear the sound of people running after me but I didn't slow down.

I suppose I should say why I am running. I am a strider, a new strider. I had only just passed my trials two weeks ago and given my first assignment as a strider for the Black Paw caern. It was simple, running a message to the jaguar caern to our east, over some hills and across two rivers and return home. There was no urgent need to get the message there or back, but it was somewhat long for a new strider. I had made the trip in the correct amount of time. I'm not the fastest strider in the world but I'm far from the slowest. On my way back I had smelled smoke. The woods surrounding our home were tall, dense, and impossible to see through. I thought that someone was simply burning wood for a large bone fire.

As I got closer I could smell more than burning wood and smoke. I could smell blood.

As I passed the rock formations that ringed the interior line of our caern, where our tents, homes, and ruined temple were, I could hear the screams. I heard the struggling shout of people and the cackling laughter of some others, sounds that were not wolfish in nature but disturbing beyond belief. I was about to turn the corner of a building when I heard someone shout at me.

"Run, boy!" It was Izaz. The Warrior-Beta. I turned to look at him, and my eyes widened to the sight. His legs had been severed at the hip, blood pouring out of the wounds, leaving him in a puddle. There was a long gash across his back, down along his spine and cutting across his buttocks. Part of the flesh on his head was gone, leaving the sign of a bloody skull. What terrified me more than the horrific sight in front of me was the fact that he was still alive, able to speak even though he was beyond dead.

I could feel the feet of the people following me. I could hear it in the soil, and I knew I was close. I also knew I was well beyond the territory of my own caern, now into the neighboring body of someone else. The problem was I didn't know who exactly I had invaded. The scent of the people following me, probably striders like myself, were foreign in scent. I wasn't sure if these were the people who had burned and killed my friends and family, or if they were simply protecting their own borders.

I jumped over a log and found myself in a clearing, coming face to face with a large temple. It was old and ruined, made of sandstone or something. I had just enough time to look up when someone slammed right into my back. I groaned and fell forward, sliding on the grass and soil in front of me, coughing loudly as the wind had been knocked out of me.

I somehow managed to get onto all fours and the sight in front of me did not bring me any comfort. I was surrounded by five striders. I knew they were striders by their height and muscle definition. They were wolves like me. They were armed with short weapons, small blades meant to be carried for fighting if and only if necessary. I could smell others coming and my ears twitched to the sound of falling feet. I saw warriors approaching.

Before I knew it I had been surrounded by more than twenty wolves of all various sects, from mages to warriors, they had surrounded me and were ready to bring a kill. My eyes were wide and my heart pounded. I knew I was moments away from death. I could see the tensing warrior muscles and the gleam in the eyes of the striders. I had invaded their homeland and was legally within their rights to be a dead wolf.

When I was sure a warrior was going to pounce, I crouched low and prepared to at least go out fighting. I was weaponless, I was bleeding and covered in the blood of someone's corpse I had bumped into on a tree on the way here, and now I was staring death in the face.

"STOP!" I had heard yelled, just as my feet sprang. I managed to tug my weight at the last second and then stumble forward, grunting and falling, unceremoniously, on my chin.

The laughter of the people around me caused me to look up and around, blinking my eyes in surprise and confusion. Who the hell had yelled that? I quickly pushed up to a kneeling position, just in time for a warrior to wrap his arm around my neck, flexing his bicep right under my chin and force my gaze skyward. I watched a wolf, a large wolf, step into view. He was gold in coloring, but he was aging. A powerful man with muscle that decorated his body, but the sheen of a healthy, young man was fading to the dullness of old age. His eyes were sharp but also worn, the look of a man who had spent far too much time on this planet in serious thought than in celebration of life. The sign of an Alpha.

"Who are you?" I asked. The wolves around me blinked in surprise. I could tell I just stepped over political and social bounds by speaking first.

The large male, who had spoken to me, just stared. I could feel his presence. It wasn't magical, it was social. T his man was strong enough and smart enough to pull people around him into a collective and functioning society. He was able to dominate anyone and defend his position. Those amber eyes burrowed deep into my mind and I could feel the desire to kneel and bow my head. I didn't want to tuck my tail between my legs, but I found myself doing it. However, I managed to remain standing.

No one spoke and then I realized why. This Alpha wouldn't talk to me until I introduced myself. The Alpha doesn't speak first, though technically he had. "I am Arch of the Black-Paw caern, Strider Omega in rank."

I heard some whispers behind me, but even my keen ears couldn't pick up exactly what was being said. I did notice the tension of everyone around me sky rocket. I felt fear wash over me but I quickly pushed it down and burried it under my determination to not die today.

"Black-Paw, you say?" The big wolf said. He stepped closer and grabbed my muzzle with his large hand, holding my chin up and forcing eye contact. I found myself whimpering.

Dominance in a wolf pack isn't exactly what can be explained on paper. When you're faced with a dominant person and you know you can't fight back and win, it feels good but in a bad way. Your own desires begin to drain out of you and your attention tunnels, focusing only on the figure who was imposing dominance. I felt my jaw quiver even as the strength of the palm held it, and my knees give out. The next sensation wasn't hitting ground, but an arm wrapping around my waist and holding me up. The hand left my muzzle but the eye contact remained.

"I am Kaudi of the Half-Moon, Alpha male to all in these lands. You have crossed our territory, little hybrid."

"H..Hybrid..?" I found myself stumbling for words. The exhaustion was leaving the small cell I had forced it into. I could feel my muscles burn and my joints ache. I could feel the broken claws on my feet and the cuts on my body. I swallowed and found the darkness in my vision tunneling even further.

"Son of a Warrior and a Strider, who walks the line of not Scout, but both. Your scent is that of one or the other, and your body is deciding which it will be." The alpha said. I could barely pay attention as the words began to sound like faint echos of reality, my body shutting down. Was I dying?

"...Pro...Pro...tection," I managed to say before I passed out. The only thing I remembered was the darkness enveloping me. I didn't know if these wolves were going to be allies or enemies, or if they had been the ones who murdered my caern. Right now, however, my body demanded rest, or death. Only time would tell which would happen.

********

I gasped! I was alive. I stretched my limbs out and felt not the rough soil or the hard grab of an Alpha, but the softness of something grand. I risked my eyes opening, and blinked at what I had seen.

I was laying in a large, plush bed with dark earthen blankets and crisp white sheets. The bed was large enough that ten of me could have fit inside and still had room for one more. There was a fireplace ahead of me, at the foot of the bed with large logs burning. The light washed over the bed. I could tell it was canopied. The tall wooden posts rose up to the hanging sheets, giving the bed an intimate glow. A bed like this didn't belong to just alone, it...

"Welcome back to the world of the living," That voice sounded. My eyes widened.

"A..Al--Kaudi," I said, pushing up. I looked down as the sheet fell down from my chest, pooling in my lap. My wounds had been mended with needle and powders, wrapped with linen bandages and cleaned. I also noticed my fur was cleaning. My typically average black coat was shining with healthy tips and gloss. They had bathed me, and not with just stream water and average soap. Whomever had cleaned me up had used special items and oils to make my pelt look this handsome. I felt a wave of pride rush over me, knowing that I must have looked good. I then remembered someone HAD to have cleaned me, and undressed me. I knew I was naked under the sheets. I felt my ears redden a bit.

The Alpha male grinned faintly. It was as if he could read my mind. "To answer your question, yes you were treated and bathed by our mages. The women typically don't enjoy cleaning someone as much as they did you."

My eyes widened and I looked down. I slid a hand to my thigh and slid those fingers up along the inner portion. I could feel the smooth fur all the way up. I stopped when my fingers brushed my testicles, and stopped. I stared at Kaudi. "They cleaned my genitals!"

"You mean your sheath and testicles?" He had to make it a question. I could see the act, the uncaring expression on his face. He was sitting in one of those plush chairs near the fire, mostly hidden by the shadows the light cast, but I could still see his face. "Of course they did."

"T..T..I should have been awake for that!" I growled at the alpha.

"You got an erection too. What of it?" He said with such plain, simple words. I wanted to fight him now. I wanted to attack him.

"WHAT?!" I growled and jumped to my feet, the sheets sliding down my naked form. "How dare you and your people abuse my body!" I crouched and leaped at him, my hands up and claws out. They weren't as sharp as I liked, but it was a brave move.

I saw Kaudi move. He was fast, but the age was catching up with him. I watched as his fist connected with my stomach and sent me flying back onto the bed, slamming me into the downy fabrics. I grunted as I laid on my back, blinking my eyes.

"Attacking an Alpha Male can be considered a true challenge and a death match. You want to fight over something as stupid as someone who was healing and cleaning you seeing your bare flesh?"

I growled, rolling onto my side and holding my stomach with my palms. It hurt a lot. I looked up at him and huffed, my cheeks felt hot as did my ears. "Shut up. This is a matter of pride. No one has seen it before."

"And if you don't watch your tongue, no one will, brat." His voice was sharp, and the tone rang in my ears, right at the core of my being. My inner wolf, the wolf who knew Kaudi was better than me in anyway, began to submit. I could feel it, him really, laying on his back, looking up at Kaudi and whimpering. I could feel my body wanting to do the same, and it did. I was on my back, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"I saw it fit to have you cleaned and healed, and you, like any teenager, rose to the occasion. What is wrong with that?" Kaudi's voice echoed in my head. I felt his presence, his heat, wash into my body like that. It was warm and inviting, and my body twitched. I watched with wide eyes as my stomach flexed and my hips rose from the bed, gasping for air as I felt my sheath begin to stir.

Kaudi was on his feet, walking slowly to the bed as he held me with his gaze. It was by no means an uncomfortable, or frightening experience. Kaudi was an Alpha male, and my contact with them was relatively minimal. They were very different from the typical wolves, and I knew their gaze was penetrating. However, I did not expect my sheath to be twitching as rapidly as it did. the only time in my past where I had felt it respond so easily, and so eagerly, was when I had seen one of the female wolves at the river just a month ago. As a boy I was not allowed down there at certain hours, and I sneaked down with one of my friends.

I felt Kaudi push more of his dominance into me, and I gasped again, moaning a whispered sound of surprise through gritted teeth and stilled tongue. I tried to resist, but when I felt the warm air of the bedroom on bare flesh, the tip of my erection exposed, I knew I was done for. That part of my body, just awakened a few years ago, was always eager. I swallowed firmly and tried to force Kaudi out, not focusing on anything but the sound of the fire. I couldn't just not look, to do so would mean Kaudi could use physical means to get me to pay attention to him. I didn't know WHAT to do.

Kaudi forced his presence into my body, waves starting at my toes and tips of my ears and fingers. Like hot waves, they shot up my limbs and down and up my torso, culminating in my groin and forming erection. I could feel, and mentally picture, Kaudi's energy pulsing and pushing inside. I could feel the energy riding up and down my length as it rapidly extended, I could feel it pulse in my knot, pushing at those walls and forcing it to expand, something that I was only used to feeling a few times. That sensation made me moan, no longer resisting. I had given up on fighting. I couldn't keep Kaudi out of my person.

I looked into his eyes, trembling, but loving the man at the same time. My inner wolf was loving this personal attention, and it felt good. This was by no means rape, this was very much eagerly enjoyed, but I was nervous because I did not know what to expect. I could taste the power of dominance on my tongue, and a part of me longed to do this to someone else, to push someone under my control. I could feel his strength and his comfort as well as his ability to manipulate my body. I salivated as I could feel my lips at the edge of a forbidden fruit that I longed to taste.

I felt him force his energy pleasurably down my erection, traveling down the path I didn't know, right to my testicles. I felt his energy explode in them. My eyes rolled into the back of my skull as I pictured explosions all throughout my body, I trembled as my testicles pulsed and expanded, or at least that was what I pictured in my minds eye. The explosions flowed together, forming into one large one within my length, and then...

"Oh, no!" I gasped, and lifted my hand to try and stop myself, but it was too late. I moaned loudly as I felt myself orgasm. I watched with wide eyes as my ebony length erupted, spurting out the ropes of my semen. I roared out in pleasure as I felt my body tremble, more and more of my seed just emptying itself, unable to remember when I had last released THIS much. I gasped and squirmed, arching my back as my seed fell to the earth, splattering my body and the sheets. When it ended, I felt a rush of something, flowing the opposite direction down my penis. It made me gasp and arch my back.

"Fire..." I whispered, and blinked at the wolf looming over me. I panted, wearing my seed and looking like a boy who had lost his virginity. I still had mine, but I was sure I looked too adorable. I didn't like that.

"Your body walkd the line," Kaudi said, his voice strong. He leaned over to me, almost nose to nose with me. "Warrior or strider, most likely a scout when you became an adult. I made it otherwise."

"What do you mean..?" I managed to say, wiping some of the seed from my cheek, and flicking it at the male who had made it happen. I watched with satisfaction as he blinked and moved his head away, huffing in anger.

"I mean," The big wolf said. "I made you pick warrior. I also did something else. Your body knows domination, and how addicting it can be, but also the restraint of a submissive wolf. I let you have the release of an alpha male. You are going to be the next Alpha."

"Alpha...Of what?" I managed to ask, thinking Warrior.

"Alpha of the Half-Moon. Welcome to the caern, Arch."

***************

Some time had passed since I had been "welcomed" to the Half-Moon. A month, actually. It had been unique. I was technically the Alpha's adopted son and official heir to the position when he died, if I could defend it, then it would go to the first dominate male who would want the position. I wasn't sure why I was picked, but Kaudi had been right, the taste of dominance had been so delicious that another bite was all I thought about. Being a stronger, better male was all I thought about during my recovery in the Alpha's (and now mine) room. I saw people come and go, mostly to change my bandages and help me bathe. I saw the women in a new light, submissive but strong creatures who could be attracted to me with just a thought and a display. The other were males. I saw some warriors come to talk to Kaudi, and I felt anger that I couldn't fight them on equal ground, but also acknowledged their strengths. I would have to be strong and smart to fight a group of males who were naturally that large and powerful. As the week went on and I saw more of the warriors the anger had changed to something more of a curiosity. Could I best them? Could I do more than they could? Yes, I knew I could.

My body was also changing, that I could tell. When I was allowed out of bed and allowed to train with Kaudi, my body rapidly developed. I felt my muscles, typically lean, harden and extend. Kaudi told me that because he had awoken the "warrior" in me, my body was shifting from the strider traits I got from my mother to the stronger ones of my father. What surprised the Alpha was that my speed and agility were remaining in tact, but not forever. He said as I bulked up my agility and stamina would go down in long distance running and sprinting, but I wouldn't need to use those often or for long periods of time. I was changing from someone who brought messages to and fro to a man who could fight in front lines and defend someone who needed it.

Today, Kaudi had brought me to the Warrior Enclave. It was where all the warriors trained and lived. It was a large, dome like building with barrack like rooms in the back. The dome room was set up as an arena with sand in the middle and ringed. Stone stands went up to the ceiling so warriors could watch and comment. There was a large marble chair at the side where I was told the Warrior-Alpha and Beta to the whole caern sat. Today he was not sitting, he was standing on the sand with a few other youths.

The Beta was a tall, strong looking man with a body that was like Kaudi's. His pelt was once red it looked but had faded with age to the point it looked like a dull orange. He was a handsome figure none the less, his left eye gone, but he wore scars of battle. He was wearing a black loincloth and two swords hanging from his waist, and a large battle-mace on his back. His hands were gloved in leather and adorned with gauntlets. He looked ready for a fight.

The youths with him were about five in total. There was really only one I focused on. He was taller than the others by a few inches, so almost half a head taller than myself. He was a patch looking wolf, with white and black patches decorating his body, one going along his muzzle and down along his neck, one over his left ear, giving him one white ear and one black ear. His body was strong and broad, but young with youth. He was my age obviously. He wore a blue loincloth with no weapons, but his hands and wrists were wrapped in bandages. I saw the other boys stare at this other, and saw he was their leader. I also saw the hand of the Beta on his shoulder.

"Boxer," Kaudi said as we stopped on the sand. "This is Arch, a new warrior. He needs to be outfitted and trained."

The Beta looked at me, and I could feel his gaze try to dominate. As Kaudi had taught me I stared back, and though I resisted, my ears fell back. He was a beta, and I was not his equal, yet. I did put up enough of a defense for his eyes to momentarily widen.

"Strip that loincloth off. Chance, get him a loincloth for a warrior." I watched as the boy who had been touched by the beta ran off and fetched something from a basket. He came to me and I saw his gaze.

We stared at one another for a moment, and I didn't let my ears, or my tail, waver. I didn't let Chance's gaze dominate mine. I saw the patch-like wolf sneer, and kick some sand at me, and tossed the loincloth at me. "Here," he said and went back to his father.

I removed the one paneled loincloth and tossed it to the sand, and put on the new one. It was paneled on two fronts, giving my groin and my rear end covering. It was also leather with cloth wrapped around the leather, providing protection. There were also rings woven into the belt, for what seemed like displaying weapons. It felt funny on my body, but I didn't show my discomfort.

"He's rather small, Kaudi." Boxer said as if I wasn't in the room.

"He'll grow. He needs refining and education in the warrior ways. I know of no better teacher."

"Ugh," Boxer said. I watched the big male roll his eyes and snort loudly. "You can stop flattering me. Chance, go."

"What the--!" I didn't get a chance to finish as I saw the biggest boy charge me. My eyes widened as I had a heavy right hook delivered to me, sending me sprawling down onto the hot sands below. I groaned.

"This isn't--" I got a heavy kick delivered to the side of my muzzle, sending me spinning briefly, and ending up on my side, laying there in the sands. I looked down to watch blood drip to the sands. Kaudi had moved back, as had the other boys and Boxer. Apparently this was a fight.

I heard Kaudi begin to speak. "This is a real fight, Arch. He won't hold back, nor will he wait for you to be ready. A warrior is always ready and able to engage in any situation."

I was in trouble. I had some combat training, but nothing like this. I watched as Chance came at me again, and on instinct, I rolled away. I watched out of the corner of my eye as his heel came down and connected to the sand. I managed to get up just in time to shift my weight to the side and avoid a quick punch toward me. This boy was quick!

I did the first thing that came to mind. I ran forward, wrapping my arms around Chance's waist, shoving my face against his chest. I felt his hands grab my own, and it became a grappling match. I could feel his stronger body try to knock me over, but I kept my balance firm. I knew that if I went down to the sand this time, Chance wouldn't let me back up.

"You don't belong here." I heard him say through a grunt as he pushed at me. I pushed back.

"What?" I managed to say, grunting under his superior strength.

"You, a strider pretending to be a warrior!" Chance told me through gritted teeth. He was having more trouble than it appeared. "You should go back to running messages and licking the feet of the better wolves."

"Better wolves....better wolves like you?" I asked, equally pushing, but not too much. Chance could have been a jerk and moved his body in a way that would send me to the sand if I wasn't careful. I had to keep focused and remember Chance had done this more than I had.

"For starters, yeah." Chance said, and did just as I had expected. he stopped pushing and quickly pulled free of my body.

I felt myself stumble forward, but twisted, falling down on my back. I watched as Chance had lifted his leg and tried to deliver a powerful kick where my body had been in the air. When I landed on my back I pushed my weight onto my shoulder blades and put my hands down into the white sand, gaining leverage. As Chance was pulling his leg back in, mine shot out. My feet slammed right into the other boy's stomach, making him stagger backwards, hopefully knocking the wind out of him.

"You're not better than me, Patches." I said, giving Chance a nickname. To my left I heard some snickering. I was up on my feet before Chance had a moment to react, throwing my body forward and slamming my fist into his muzzle.

Chance staggered back, groaning as I had split his lip, his hand still on his stomach as he couldn't realistically breathe. I didn't stop there, oh no. I kept moving forward, punching hard, slamming my fists into each side of his muzzle, watching as his head reeled to the left and the right three times before he finally lifted an arm to deflect my fourth blow. His own fist clenched and his free hand hit me hard on my side, sending a sharp burst of pain down my side, all the way to my knee.

The blocking arm Chance had used grabbed my wrist, hauling my arm above my head, almost lifting me up and forcing me to stand on my toes. I twisted and tried to pull free, but Chance slammed his forehead right into my face, sending white hot streaks across my vision, blood flowing from my nose. He did this twice, causing more damage, causing me to cry out once.

I heard Boxer. "All right, boy. That's enough f--" He was cut off. I growled and widened my eyes, feeling something deep down in me spark to life. It was hot, intense and almost overwhelming. My inner wolf ran toward the blazing mass, and when he dove in, I roared.

"I am not done!" I growled, my free hand shooting up and catching Chance's face in my hand as he tried the head butt once again. I stopped him. My eyes wide and my throat growling as I pushed forward, my fingers extending each of their claws, piercing Chance's flesh. "This isn't over until I've won, Chance. You best roll over now."

I watched Chance's eyes close, trying to protect those precious organs. I knew if I blinded him I would be in trouble, but I could. I didn't want to though. When I felt Chance's hand drop my wrist, I brought the gripping hand slightly away, unhooking my claws from the flesh on his face. My hand shot to the left, cutting down his forehead, between his eyes, and down along his muzzle. Blood sprayed and I kicked him hard in the stomach, sending the bigger boy to the ground.

I turned to face the other group of boys, lifting my clawed hand. Blood dripped from it, and I growled at them, holding it out to them with the fingers bent at the knuckles, making it look as fierce and violent as possible. "I am Arch, son of Kaudi, and I am your future Alpha. Anyone else who doesn't like that can get right over here!"

I looked at the other boys, stunned as they looked past me to the bleeding Chance. I knew he was scarred but I didn't care. I had earned my right to stand there, victorious. I saw Kaudi looking annoyingly passive, and Boxer looking angry. I couldn't tell if it was because his son had failed him, or if I had taken it a step too far. I didn't care about that either.

I knew the order was coming before Kaudi was going to say it, so I turned and nudged Chance with my foot. "The battle is over, I am the winner, and you will go to the mages and get treatment. If you don't go right now I will break a finger for every minute you lay there like a whelp!" I snatched his hand from his side, and would do it. I felt dominance seeping from me, and I felt it cloud my thinking.

As that moment a large hand slammed down on my shoulder, forcing me to my knees. A presence forcing me to gasp for air, and try to breathe. I felt that power, that dominance, slip out of my throat and mind like the tide leaving the beach. Kaudi was forcing himself upon me, once more. I had no choice but to let Chance go.

"ARCH!" He growled right into my ear, but the sound was so loud it felt like it vibrated along the domed ceiling above us. "There is dominating and then there is torture. You won and there is no need to hurt him further. Control yourself!"

I found myself dropping to all fours, and still gasped for air, holding my chest with one hand. Kaudi touching me directly, he could make me whimper like a pup. I made a decision then, that when I became Alpha I would never use the power this way. It wasn't enough, to force someone to comply with a touch wasn't true domination. True domination involved as little contact as possible, and the person willingly doing what you wanted. Regardless, I nodded.

"Yes, Alpha."

*******

Two months would pass and I was almost exclusively training with the warriors, Chance and his friends, inparticular. It took Chance a few days to heal up, but the mages said he would have a scar forever that went down between the eyes and across the muzzle. He wore it proudly, actually. He had told me he took it as his first badge of true combat.

My victory over Chance, the Warrior-Alpha's son and best student had worked its tendrils into the caern. Women who would not give me the time of day were paying far more attention to me than ever before. i found myself no longer sitting alone during meals I did not share with Kaudi. I liked the attention, adored it.

Right now, I was adoring Ice, a female warrior whom had touched my thigh during lunch. We had decided to stop eating and go to the top floor of the temple, standing on the roof among broken pillars. She had told me it was where people went to kiss, and other things. I was led like a puppy up to the top floor, and had her back pinned to a stone pillar as I kissed her. I could smell her scent feel her body. My chest, now strengthening and becoming broad, pressed against her front. I could feel her soft breasts through her tabard, and I could feel her need. I lowered a hand to grasp behind one of her knees, and lifted it up, sliding her knee along my waist as we kissed. The feeling of her small, thin hands along my neck, my shoulders, it was a wonderful feeling. Her hands slid down my chest, feeling my forming pectoral muscles, along my biceps, and along my stomach. She had pulled her lips from my own, breathing her warm, sweet breath against my muzzle, which was equally open and panting quietly.

"I heard you're not red like every other males." She said gently, sliding her fingers down until her fingers bumped into my waistband.

That rumor was started by the other warriors. I hadn't slept with anyone, and Kaudi wasn't one to talk. Apparently, my black penis was a rare thing in the wolf world. Chance was apparently my color as well, and after training and in the showers built in the warriors enclave, tips sometimes exposed. A conversation, and a bit of exposing one self followed. it ended after that though. Apparently my peers were telling people I was rare.

"Maybe, maybe not." I told her, smiling as my fingers slid along her back, finding her tabard clasp. I tugged it gently, and with a simple twist, the leather came free. I looked down at the first pair of naked breasts in my life, and my lips salivated. I found the male figure attractive, but biologically, this was equally a draw. I could feel my sheath swelling and myself expanding from my protective casing, sliding down the interior flap of my heavy leather loincloth.

She smiled, touching the back of my head and edging my muzzle down, letting my lips touch them. I licked around their curves, teeth and lips finding those pert little points at their tips. My hand lifted, cupping one. I growled with feral pleasure, finding this to be really amazing. When I nipped one of her nipples, she yelped and slapped the back of my head playfully.

Speaking of playful, she was undoing the sword and one handed axe I wore on my belt with slow, teasing motions, undoing the snaps and ties with delicate care, and catching the weapon before it fell, letting it gently slip out of her palms to the ground where her tabard fell. My own hands were sliding down her narrow hips, finding her loincloth and tugging it quickly, not in any mood for playfulness, I wanted to see her naked!

My eyes widened at her naked body, admiring a female closeup was a wonderful sight, and my body pulsed to remind me of the throbbing erection I was sporting under my now uncomfortable loincloth. I felt her hands slide down my sides, finding my waistband and undoing the tie slowly, making me grin as I licked her chin and collarbone, down along her breasts as I rubbed up her sides along her ribs. She got that last knot undone and the heavy piece of clothing fell away, leaving me just as naked as she was.

"It IS black!" She gasped a bit with a giggled surprise, her fingers sliding down and grasping my throbbing length, giving me a few teasing tugs. I looked at her and shrugged.

"I guess I am."

She continued to tug on me for a few moments before she let my shaft go, which was now drooling a clear, lubricating fluid from the tip. Her arms had come up and wrapped around my neck, holding there securely. "Lift me up a bit."

My hands slid down to her waist and lifted her up a few feet, and when I lifted her as high as she liked, her legs shot out and wrapped around my waist, pressing her hot sex against my groin. She giggled when I apparently missed some mark, and then slid one of her hands down to grasp me at the base.

"Hold on tight, Archie." She told me, and then moved her hips back a little bit. I had no idea what to expect.

Something black and hard met something soft and moist. My once virgin penis slid between her folds, pushing past those folds, sliding my smooth bare flesh along her inner being. I could feel her pulse around me, her wetness, her eagerness. I just blinked my eyes and swallowed, my face hot and burning, but I didn't stop pushing forward as she had showed me where to aim my mark. when I felt my knot bump against her folds, I shuddered. In that instant my virginity was gone. I was closer to that goal of being alpha male.

I watched her face, but soon found my muzzle drifting down to her neck, licking along her throat and shuddering as I felt my inner wolf demand me to move! My hands, still on her hips, braced her against the stone pillar and pulled myself back. With a wet sound I felt my shaft begin to leave her folds, and when I felt like I was going to slip out, I pushed forward. When the tip of my penis bumped something she rolled her head back and cried out. I could feel her fingers curl into the fur on the back of my head, and by the heavens it felt so good. I had no idea what I was doing, but it felt so good.

I was a virgin, and this was my first time ever having sex. I knew nothing, and it showed. My thrusts were erratic, and when I felt close for the 10th time I would stop and wait, rest, pant, and continue. I thrusted forward, pushing her back against the stone pillar, rocking her forward as her juices poured down my groin, coating my testicles in her slick wetness.

I didn't really know what I was going to do, but when I felt that peak edging up against I couldn't fight it off anymore. I just kept thrusting, furiously, firmly, but never hurting her. I was rough, but I was not mean. I kept pushing myself in and out of her, and when I felt her walls clench and listened to her cry out during her own orgasm, I had mine. My penis felt like it exploded, and I felt that rush of seed pouring up my length and then spraying out. I looked down to see anything, but only saw our combined flexing stomachs as I felt my orgasm pour out of me, feeling my penis pulse in time with her wonderful walls, drawing every drop of my semen from my penis and into her womb.

When our orgasms ended I stumbled and fell back, holding her securely, as i fell against the stone walls of the temple. I felt her lay against me as I pulsed inside her. Her body was warm and wonderful, and before either of us knew it we were drifting off. I fell asleep with my penis still hard and buried inside my first female. I couldn't imagine a better way to start a nap.

When I woke up I found myself not on the top of the temple but in a dark room. It didn't feel like home, the Alpha's apartment, it felt different.

"Welcome back, Archie." I heard a familiar voice say.

"Chance!" I said with a growl, moving to stand. I was leaning back against stones, and had a sheet in my lap.

Chance was standing to the side of the small stone room, his arms crossed over his broad chest. Behind him was a simple grey and white strider boy... if that was how to put it. The kid couldn't have been more than 10. I looked around and saw we were in what appeared to be a storage room of some kind. Chance, or the strider-boy, had brought pieces of blankets and pillows. There was a low table and candles. Was this Chance's hideout? I knew he had one but I never cared to go looking for it. It felt extremely childish to have something like this, but then I wasn't going to fault Chance.

"Stay down, Arch." I heard Chance say and gently put his hand on my shoulder, edging me back down to sitting on the ground. I was tired and a bit embarrassed. I felt my hand brush my groin, finding my loincloth absent.

"Where's my clothes?"

"Ice took 'em!" The strider boy said with a grin. His flash was cute; he was losing his baby fangs and growing new ones.

"Why would she take my clothes?" I asked, rubbing my eyes with a tired yawn.

"Oh, I don't know," Chance said a roll of his eyes. "Maybe it's because you just fucked her and it was your first time? She wanted something to remember you by."

My eyes widened. "My swords?"

The strider was carrying them toward me. They were being held against his chest. The small frame and palms were cute as he struggled with the twin weapons, and when he finally got to me he gently put them down on my side. I saw Chance go to a basket and toss me a loincloth, which landed squarely in my lap.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked as I slipped the loincloth below the blankets and began to tie it around my waist. I needed to get cleaned up before someone like Kaudi heard.

"Why wouldn't your subordinate help you?" Chance said so matter-of-factly.

"My subordinate? Are you admitting I'm better than you?"

"Just by a hair!" The little strider said, holding an index and thumb so close to visualize the distance of a hair between fingers.

Chance growled and bonked the boy on his head, gently. "Be quiet, Slayn!" He looked at me then and shook his head. "You're barley better than me, but yes, I figure that if I'm riding your tail then I can get what I want out of life a bit better. Everyone would rather watch Kaudi's boy more than me anyway. Good."

"Good?" I asked, a bit curious.

"I don't want to be Alpha. At least not Alpha Male. Too much work. I like training, I like being around warriors. The Alpha Male has to handle everyone, every problem. I'd rather just work with what I know." Chance admitted, something he probably wouldn't have said to his friends, if they were around.

"You're hanging around with the whelp." I pointed out, pointing to Slayn who was eating a piece of beef jerky.

"He won't go away!" Chance made a motion to hit the boy, but he just sat there, eating his jerky. He sighed and looked to me again. "He knows I won't seriously hurt him, and he likes warriors he says."

I was about to say something when the door to our left began to shake, and then explode inward. I watched with wide eyes when the door slid up along the ceiling and pressed to the stoney surface. Chance moved to stand between me and the person who had blown the door open, but he was quickly thrown back. Slayn was quicker than he looked. If he hadn't moved he would have taken the full impact of a teenage wolf hitting him. The strider hid behind a barrel.

"ARCH!!" The voice was female, and angry. My eyes widened and ears fell back.

"Hello, Alpha-Mage." I said with a bit of a tremble in my voice.

"Don't 'hello' me, PUP!" She stepped in deeper. Reyna, the most beautiful female in the pack, the strongest mage, and the one person Kaudi avoided, was standing in front of me. She was tall, silver in fur, and sleek. Her hair was raven black and wore it all the way down to her waist in a thick, broad braid with a golden clip at the base. Her clothing was typical; a simple loincloth and tabard to cover her breasts and a white robe with runes of blue coloring decorating the hem and along the hood. In her left hand she carried her gnarled wood staff, the head shaped like a wolf and holding a blue jewel between its teeth. "I know what you did to Ice."

The color fell from my ears and nose, and I looked away, and stood up. I had my swords in my hands and was fastening them to the loops along my belt. "I don't know what you mean."

The next thing I knew was the sensation of being thown against the wall behind me, groaning as she didn't just let me fall, she held me there and slid my back up along the stones until my head hit the top of the ceiling. I then felt her magic give way and dropped me onto the ground, forcing me to land on my side.

"You and you virgin whelps!" She said with an angry tone, and over-expressive hand movements. "You put your dicks into the first willing thing. Did you think that maybe you should have checked with people first?!"

"Well..." I said, but was cut off when she hit my head with her staff. "OW!"

"Shut up!" She said, pacing the room. "You're just lucky her heat passed this morning or you'd be the father of some child in a few months, boy!" I saw her reach into her pocket, and threw something at me. It was a silver ring. It was large and wide, but the band itself narrow and smooth.

"Wear that ring next time you want a female. I don't make those charms often, but I think in your case I had better."

I held the ring and put my finger through it. It was way too big. "Reyna, I don't think--"

"NOT THERE YOU IDIOT!" She said and stormed out of the room.

"Heh," I said, twirling the finger through my fingers.

"W..W..what's so funny?" I heard that little strider's voice call out.

"Nothing," I said. I grasped the ring in my palm. "Just that the caern is slowly coming to the realization I'm going to be the Alpha Male one day."

********

Who would think I'd last six years as a warrior? I surely didn't! Every day training and being groomed to be an alpha male had me unprepared for what I heard one morning when I was eating some breakfast at the foot of the temple.

"THE SIGNAL!" I heard a shout. I stood up from my little spot on the rock and put down my plate. Up in the sky not one but three smoke trails were rising. The smoke was as black as possible and as narrow as the outposts could possibly make them. It was a signal that someone was attacking that outpost. The fact there were three of them meant there was an attack on three of the outposts at once.

All around me people began to gather, and a few striders instantly began to move. The rules were simple; gather the Alphas, Betas, and Kaudi. The striders knew their job. I knew mine. As a child still in the eyes of our people I was going to have to "sit back" and wait while the adults did their job.

In the six years I'd been with this caern my body had changed almost completely. No longer was I the short, thin little thing that made me the perfect Strider. I was tall, broad shouldered and thickly built. The endless days of training with not only Chance but the other boys under Boxer's watchful eye had turned us from the small whelpish things to grown, strong men. We were in the prime of our lives and ready to prove ourselves to the men and women around us that we were ready to take up the mantle of a warrior.

However; the ceremony from boyhood to adulthood was not until next month. I was still a child and afforded no rank or honor because of it! I argued this point often with Kaudi, who easily disregarded it as a boyish cry for attention. He may have been right but it didn't excuse the bitter taste in my mouth.

It took all of five minutes for all the Alpha to gather with Kaudi on the steps, holding his hand up to block the sun out from his eyes. I stood back as the warriors, striders, scouts and mages all began to gather and wait for instructions.

Kaudi wasted no time. "This is a serious threat to us all," he began, looking at us, and me in particular it felt like. "Every able bodied adult will be mobilized as of this instant! The Alphas and myself will move to the front line, the Betas will remain behind to guard the temple. Children, women with child and people unable to fight will go inside the temple. The stronger boys will barricade the doors and wait for further instructions."

All around us people began to move, warriors began to run into the woods as Boxer shouted orders. I heard him deploy his men and women right to the outposts. Zhay, the Strider-Alpha, was talking to her Beta, Cinthi.

"I want the fastest runners to all the outposts to relay messages. Deploy striders at the temple and one with each Alpha. I also want striders at the mid-point between us and the temple." Her voice was collected and calm, and her logic was sound. She was setting up the defensive information network. Kaudi would be informed. I heard orders to send men to the non reporting outposts, but they were Scouts. They would report back with information. Some warriors were also being left behind to guard the temple, but only a few. if the lines of defense were breached that badly...well, I didn't want to think about it.

"Kaudi!" I shouted as I began to follow him and his Alpha.

"Ah," Reyna said, shaking her head and sighing dramatically. "The boy wishes to fight it seems, Kaudi."

"Shut up," I growled at her, and then looked Kaudi in the eye. We were finally eye level. "My friends and I can fight. We've been practicing..."

"This is not a game, Arch!" Boxer growled as he sent more men into the woods. "This is a serious fight where you could die. That notion to combine the talents of the castes... it may look pretty in the sands, but out there..." He let the words trail off.

"Give us a chance, Kaudi," I pleaded in my best attempt to roll over and play pup. It was becoming harder to do that with each day. I knew I still had to obey Kaudi, but... I almost didn't want to.

I watched as Kaudi looked at me and then sighed, rubbing the top of his head. "You and your friends can be deployed to the inner most defensive line at the BACK of the temple."

I knew what Kaudi was doing. He was sending us to where he felt we were most protected. The enemy was attacking from the front where the three flame signals were coming from. They would have to travel a lot of unfriendly ground to get there.

I didn't balk at the bone I'd been thrown. I nodded and ran to the temple, bringing my hands up and cupping them to my muzzle. "CHANCE! Gather everyone!"

I didn't even have to wait a minute. They were all standing at the top of the steps and were rapidly coming down. I was glad my friends were willing to fight. Having to pull someone's tail to get them to move was never a fun thing.

We trained differently than most boys our age. I wanted to try something two years ago and with Kaudi's permission I was allowed to experiment. I wanted to see how a group of different individuals from different castes fought together. I had been allowed Chance, and with him there were two warriors counting myself. I had a strider; a boy named Slayn who had been following me around for years. He was quick and sharp, but easily lost to the crowd in my mind. I also had a Scout who went by the name River. He was a good combination of strider quickness and warrior boldness. He wasn't as strong as Chance or myself, or as quick as Slayn, but he could easily fill either role for a short period of time before running out of energy. Scouts always lacked stamina. Finally, I had a mage. It took a lot of begging from Reyna but I got one boy, who was my age, to train with us. His name was Cor. A tall (for a mage) silver wolf who was pretty good with magic. Not one of the best, and definitely not one of the worst. He could do what I needed when I needed it.

I told them where we were going and then ran to our position. I didn't want to waste any time.

Two hours later I was bored out of my mind!

We were crouched low in the trees and brush, grouped together. All of us were armed; Chance and I wearing our two- handed axes, Cor with his staff and the other boys with sharp knives. Slayn wore a pack on his back that contained some items we may need. Right now I needed something to drink to stay awake.

We heard nothing, and I didn't want to send Slayn back to the temple to get information. If we ran into something I wanted him here. I didn't really think he would help us in the fight, but he could at least get help if we needed it. Heaven forbid though. Kaudi and Reyna would never let me hear the end of it.

"Arch," Chance said, huffing. "This is stupid. We could be in the temple with the girls right now."

"Shut up," I told him, growling at my best friend and snapping my teeth. "This is serious."

"Oh yes," River said, waving his hand up. "We get the dumbest spot in the whole forest to guard. Oh shit, watch out! A turtle may come too close."

I was growling under my breath at the way my friends were acting. They were bored and that was typical, but they weren't taking this at all seriously. Cor was crouched down by a tree and drawing something in the dirt with a stick and Slayn was crouched in a tree somewhere, looking into the woods.

"Arch..." I heard Slayn whisper. "I see something."

"Everyone," I said, my heart pumping. "Crouch and shut the hell up."

For the longest time nothing happened. I figured Slayn had seen a bird, or something in the brush, and mistaken it for someone. I was about to stand up when I saw a bush move. At that moment my eyes widened.

Our enemy...

The ones who had burned my home and killed my people...

The Hyena tribe.

How did I know? The smell. That odd scent, and the laughter. It all made sense now. In an instant memories of my Beta, dying and broken into pieces telling me to run. I owed that man my life and now, for the first time in a long, long time, I was afraid.

Fortunately, there was only one man. He was tall, at least a head taller than Chance and myself, and completely muscle. He was broad shouldered and wearing leather trousers that had seen better days. Across his chest was criss-crossing straps of leather connected to a rusty ring between his pectorals. Atop his grayish brown head was a cap of sorts.

My stomach almost turned when I saw it was a Wolf head. The same head as the beta who had told me to run so long ago.

The hyena was carrying a heavy looking axe, black and as tall as he was nearly. There was two blades on it that were sharp and curved, and unlike the man's body, which seemed completely rugged and ruined from travel, the blades were exceptionally sharp and polished.

I gulped. We had one shot at this. One shot to take this bastard down and report back to the temple we had some people making it through the brush.

I signaled Slayn, who silently slid down from his perch and crouched low. My hands made a few gestures and all of us knew what to do. Slayn bent down and slipped out of his pack the long chain he kept in there. I watched as he passed one end to River and kept the other in his other hand.

Cor was painting something on his palm with some of the paints he wore on his belt. Some runic symbol I could never make heads or tails over. I knew my part, and so did Chance. All of us would do a maneuver we had practiced many times. If it worked we'd kill him and move on. If not...well...

With a flick of my wrist I began the attack.

Cor leaped out onto the path the hyena had been walking on. The male stopped and stared, hefting his axe onto his shoulder. "Hello there, puppy." The hyena began, grinning and showing his sharp teeth. "Are you lost?"

Cor didn't do anything but stand there. I watched as the palm with the rune symbol painted on it began to glow, flicker, and then crackle with energy. The spherical energy began to condense in his hand, curling around his fingers and create a pulsing light show of white and red.

"Oooh," The hyena began, laughing. "The boy knows a magic trick or two. Do your worst, kid." I watched as the hyena began to move forward quicker, shifting the weight of his axe.

"GO!" I shouted

In an instant Slayn and River lept from the bushes, holding the end of their chains and running at the man. They used their superior speed to throw him off guard.

"What the--" He said as the two slammed the chain against his arms and ran behind him.

They didn't stop. They ran at their fastest, circling the chain around him. Slayn went low and River went high, crossing the chain but never tangling each other up. When they passed each other four times with the exceptionally long chain they would move to phase two.

Chance and I were there at the Hyena's side. River passed me and shoved his chain end into mine. If Slayn was worth anything he had done the same to Chance. Using every drop of our warrior's strength we pulled on that chain, tightening the grip. I hazarded a look at the hyena. He had his arms pinned with his axe against his chest, his mouth open in a roaring growl.

"You brats! LET ME GO!"

"This is for Black-Paw" I whispered quietly and looked to Cor.

The small sphere he had formed in his palm exploded into a much larger one that surrounded his whole arm to the shoulder. He was focusing but sneering the whole time. His robes whipped about behind him as he lifted the glowing sphere toward the Hyena. In an intant he let the sphere fly.

The air cracked like thunder as it left the mage. The sphere flew at the chained up hyena, ripping up the ground and uprooting a few bushes that came too near. Chance and I would only have one second...

Right before the sphere hit the damned hyena Chance and I let go, giving us enough time to hit the ground. The sphere hit its mark. I felt the blast explode around us, and knew in my minds eye what it looked like. It had impacted the hyena square on his chest and axe, sending waves of energy washing around him and forcing his ruined body backwards against the large rocks that were behind him. The blast had plucked the leaves from the branches all around us and had knocked the two smaller males over. When I looked up I saw a smoking mass against those large rocks and smirked.

We had won.

I got up from where I had been knocked to the ground from the initial explosion, coughing up smoke and dirt. I quickly looked back to the smoldering pile behind us. I couldn't see any remains but the ground was smoking and the chain that we had used was now laying in pieces. I could see Chance standing up on the other side.

I was about to say something when I saw an axe fly out of the smoke. My eyes widened as I saw the huge, two handed weapon flip over and over again heading right to Cor.

"MOVE!" I heard Chance shout. He had removed his own axe from his back at that same moment as I.

Cor, standing frozen in his place by a huge weapon fly at him, did nothing. He was actually saved by Rain. The scout leaped from the bushes, his foot out and kicking the axe on the flat of the shaft, sending it spiraling a different direction -- for all of half a second.

The hyena had leaped out of the smoke and past us, looking unharmed but a tad dirty from the explosion that had rocked him. The hyena, still unnamed to us, snatched the axe from the air just as it was flying in its new direction. He swung it like a heavy club and hit the still mid-air sticken Rain with its flat side. I had never seen someone fly like that, but I watched Rain fly into the brush as if he were a ball, hearing a painful yelp when a tree shook.

"COR!" I shouted, charging with Chance at the back of the Hyena.

Slayn had come out of the bushes then, leaping over Cor and kicking him in his gut to get him to respond as that huge axe had been raised. Cor managed to roll to the side at the last moment before the axe came down, cracking the earth where he had been only a second before.

"Slayn, his legs!" Chance shouted.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Slayn pulled out a small dagger from his belt and flick it in his palm, leaping at the legs of the hyena.

"Hmph," The hyena had grunted. I only saw a quick spin of his axe and then a flash of blood followed by a cry of pain from our smallest and youngest member. The hyena had kicked Slayn with his foot right into Cor. The strider had a huge, wide gash from his shoulder to his wrist from that axe. His arm was also bent in all the wrong angles. Somehow Slayn hadn't lost his arm but had deflected enough of the axe not to die. Regardless, injuries like that don't simply go away.

"You little wolves break so easily," The hyena said and began to walk forward.

I slipped around him then and without giving him so much as an opening my axe was brought on an upward swing, slamming my heavy metal axe right into the larger weapon the hyena held. To my amazement the hyena was using only one hand to deflect my weapon like that. His other was up.

"Don't forget about me," Chance said from our side.

"I didn't," The hyena said and shot his hand forward right at Chance. I saw my friends eyes widen as a blade extended from the leather brace the invading male wore. It was long and curved, and with a heavy arm swing downward a cut slammed into the top of Chance's head, cutting down along his muzzle and down along his neck and chest then, spraying blood everywhere. I heard Chance scream and saw him stagger back long enough to feel myself lifted up off my feet by my own axe.

"Your alpha was a fool," The hyena said right to my face, shaking me hard enough to make me wince. I was no longer the small little strider of the past but to be picked up this easy and shaken, it was unnerving! With a strong twist of his arm and a shove I went flying, letting go of my axe. I managed to flip my weight and land on my feet, dropping down into a crouch and extending my arm downwards to balance myself as I skidded backwards.

I could only count Cor as uninjured, but the blood had paralyzed him. Rain was probably dead and Chance was bleeding a lot, on a knee. I could see his white and black pelt becoming matted and pouring down his strong body, pooling below him. He was going to pass out soon if someone didn't do something...

"Kaudi's old, but no fool," Someone said behind me. The hyena, who had lifted his axe looked from me, and then to the person behind me.

My ears flattened. "Oh god, not her..."

"Shut it, pup," Reyna's voice echoed behind me. "I had a feeling you could bite off more than you could chew."

"Reyna, I have this." I said and began to back up.

Looking at her I could tell she was ready to fight. Her clothing was typically long robes with longer sleeves and cumbersome jewelry. Today it was a simple short robe without sleeves past the shoulders. I could see her tabard and loincloth on under her open robe. She had wrapped her feet in linen and her hands as well. Her staff, her focusing point for magic, was a long and gnarled wooden staff with a wolf head on the top. In the jaw was a violet sphere.

"Sure you do, Archie." She said, smiling at me as I took her side and held my axe at the ready. "Your friends are hurt and this hyena doesn't seem typical."

"Who is she, your mother?" The hyena asked, hefting his axe once more onto his shoulder. "I thought your men were your strongest warriors."

"Oh, I'm no warrior," Reyna said, sighing and shaking her head as he planted her staff into the ground. "I absolutely hate leaving my libraries and the temple."

"So you don't fight?" The hyena asked, a bit perplexed.

"Well, I--ARCH!" She yelled at me.

I had taken off with my axe ready and found myself soon in front of the huge hyena. The axe was lifted and caught the connecting force as our axes crashed together. Unlike Chance I rolled my shoulder and shifted the force so the hyena's axe slid down and toward the ground. At that instant I brought the base of my axe up and slammed the butt into the cheek of the man who had hurt my friends.

Satisfaction rushed through me as I saw him stagger back as blood cascaded down his cheek, pouring down along his neck and shoulder, trickling across his half naked chest. I smirked and lifted my axe once more, only to find a glowing barrier infront of me.

"Arch!" I heard Reyna growl. "This man is not normal and if you insist on fighting him like THAT you're going to die! I'm tired of you not thinking! Not thinking got your friends hurt!"

"Reyna, this isn't the time for one of your damn lessons!" I growled, not happy with her judgment, but then I wasn't really ever satisfied with her. she was brilliant and an amazing person but it felt like I could never do anything right in her eyes.

She ignored me. She always ignored me. I watched her slam her staff down into the ground in front of her. At the tip of her staff that hit the soil a small circle of runes appeared, rotating clockwise around the tip. Ahead of us more of those circles began to form.

"Oho," the hyena said as he shook his axe a bit and held it in front of him. "A little mageling trying to fight. This is going to be good."

"It is," I heard Reyna say. Those circles stopped and out of the ground formed clay-like wolf heads that resembled the top of Reyna's staff.

The wolf head's opened their mouths and erupting from their mouths was energy. Some kind of magic I really didn't know. Magic and I never really got along, but the energy was intense. About two dozen of those small clay heads fired their energy and then crumbled.

My eyes quickly darted to the hyena. He was surely dead. But no, he didn't even falter. His axe was used as a god damn shield! I watched as he twisted the broad weapon to use the flat portion to deflect the energy and send them either in different directions or cease all together.

"Good try," I heard the man say. "Magic doesn't work too well against me. That's why that one outpost fell so quickly. Nothing but mages."

I was about to say something when I saw the hyena run at us. Reyna slipped between him and myself and I watched as the large male leap into the air, bringing his axe downwards. Reyna's staff lifted and the head began to glow a vibrant violet color, pulsing with some untold force. The axe was stopped inches from the staff but slowly working its way downward.

"Dammit," I heard Reyna mutter as one of her hands left her staff and held it up as the wolf was hovering over us, using gravity and force to push down. Her free hand began to pulse green as runes began to rotate around it. She shot her hand upwards and slammed it into the male's stomach. "Fly!" I heard her shout.

The hyena was propelled upwards by a force of wind unlike anything I had ever felt! It was so strong it even pushed me back a good few feet! Reyna wasn't done yet though. As the hyena was flying upwards she twisted her whole body in a fanciful spin, holding her staff upwards. "Now burn!"

Runes of red and orange began to appear around her in a perfect, rotating circle. Rising from these runes was an intense fire that made my eyes widen and my chest clench. The fire rotated around Reyna and rose along her staff in that corkscrew like pattern until it hit the wolf head. From the head of her staff it exploded upwards, a thick snake-like tentacle that headed right for the hyena.

The invader, however, had no intentions of being cooked. He brought his axe around as the fire got close, extending it and slamming it right into the fire, twisting the axe and of all things, he began to coil the fire around it as if it were string. He twisted and spun his body twice in the air as he collected every bit of Reyna's fire. With a roar that made my ears flatten he flung his axe-arm downward, releasing the fire.

Right at me.

I had no time to react. My arms lifted and forearms covered my face just in time. I heard Reyna call my name before the heat washed over me. I had never been so much as burned, so the intense heat was overpowering. I could feel it burn away my clothing, my fur, my flesh, char my bone. I was sure I was dead.

In the blackness that was surrounding me I felt something pulse. It wasn't my body, that was long gone now. My mind's eye flashed with brilliance and forced away the darkness. Running down a red, yellow, and orange flickering path was a wolf on all four legs. It was a brilliant creature. It was large, larger than I was on two legs. It's paws were brilliantly white and yellow, the tip of a flame. As the fur pattern extended upwards the color changed from orange to red, and finally to black tips. It's eyes were white.

It was running at me.

"Either embrace the flame or die by it, Arch." Something spoke to me. A voice neither man nor woman, neither living nor dead. Was it me? Was it my soul? Was it...

Before I could respond the wolf ran right into what was left of my life, and from there I felt an explosion like none other. In a flash my body was restored, fur and flesh were no longer ash, muscle was as it was. My eyes opened to whirling flames, so hot but so comfortable. I was standing in fire but not being burned. My forearms lowered and my hands rested at my sides. I looked down at my black fur and realized this was not exactly the body I had left. For example, my axe was gone, melted, destroyed. My loincloth was absent too. My fur looked shiner and fresh, as if I was a newborn pup who had never graced the planet.

Realization that Reyna and my friends were still there, fighting, dying, brought me out of my trance. With a flick of my arm and a thought from my mind the flames parted, revealing the world in front of me!

Reyna was standing with her staff pointed at the hyena, who was holding his axe and looked perfectly fine, not so much as a few cuts on his body. Reyna was glaring at him but when the flames parted, and ended, she spared a look at me. I saw her eyes widen.

"Arch..."

Without speaking my hands lifted, fire dancing from tip to tip of finger. I didn't know what I was doing, just that I had to do it. With another thought of my mind explosions began to sound all around us, funnels of fire shooting high into the blue sky. One after another until it made a ring of speckled fiery explosions. I looked back to the hyena.

"Your friends are dead," I told him.

The man, stunned by the little show of fire I guessed, just stared at me. "I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want, this is as far as you go."

"Arch, be careful. I can feel your energy. You're going to ovetax your power base. You're nearly empty." Reyna said behind me. She was obviously deferring to me. Good. I liked subordinates in their spot.

"Don't worry Reyna," I told her. "This man is dead, too."

I watched as the hyena rose his axe upwards, and with a widening of my eyes and an extention of my arm fire lanced out, curling around his axe as it had earlier. The fire swirled and engulfed the axe. I intensified the heat of the fire until it was blindingly white hot. In a flash the axe melted, pouring down liquid metal onto it's wielder.

The screams from the hyena sounded out as it poured down his arms and splashed down on his face, causing the male to stagger back and cry out in pain, clawing at his face and arms to get the metal off that was burning all the way past the bone.

"This is our land, Hyena." I told him.

A rush of fire engulfed the hyena, echoing his screams as the spiral of fire shot into the sky and then went out with a light. I burned him, everyone of them, to the point where they had turned to ash before the flames ended.

With a lowered arm I looked to Reyna, who looked serious.

"Arch," She began, stepping closer to me.

"I know, Reyna." I said with a smile, my tail wagging a little bit. "It's an incredible power!"

"No Arch," She said, shaking her head and putting one of her hands on my chest. I saw the seriousness in her face, as well as the sadness. "Kaudi is dead. He fell before me."

"What..." I said, shocked. Pride and joy left me in a wave. The man... the man who had taken me in, raised me, trained me himself. Was gone? Two families obliterated like that from these terrible creatures?!

"He was old," She said, looking away. "He died with twelve of them on him. He took them all down but his injuries were too much for even my powers. He wanted me to give you this before he passed away, Arch."

I looked down at her hand. In it was the moon medallion. My eyes widened at it. The crest of our caern, the one piece of jewelry the Alpha could wear to show his rank. It was passed from Alpha to Alpha. Kaudi always had kept it on him in a pouch on his belt.

"Arch, Alpha of the Half-Moon Tribe," She said, a faint smile, even though there were tears at the corner of her eyes. "We have work to do. Your friends are alive but just barely. People are hurt and saddened. We need our Alpha right now..."

"Reyna!" I said, growling, forcing back my own tears. "I can't just...flick a switch and do it in an instant!"

"Heh," She said, looking up at me. "That is what everyone here is for. You are a young Alpha. We'll help you. Now come on, your caern is waiting."

I stood there for a moment. "Alpha male of the Half-Moon Tribe..." I looked up to the sky, my eyes teary as I held the moon crest up to the light of the sun and smirked. "You foolish old man. But I won't let you down."

"Not at all,"