by Chris Savage
He decided to toss a slippery coin as he watched Casper look to him desperately for information. He really did not want to be the one who let the wolf down, just after he’d endeared himself to him.
“Casper, Damion killed your parents,” he said with a downcast expression. He did not want to relive certain moments, but he had no choice if he wanted to continue divulging information to Casper.
The room fell silent after Mark spoke. He tried his best not to look in Casper’s eyes. He did not want to imagine what was going through his mind.
“I… I… Damion? Dr. Hagen?” He shuddered as he stared at Mark with terrified eyes.
Mark hated the fact that Damion had endeared himself to Casper, being a successful doctor who had everything Casper needed to step up his career. He had experienced first-hand how tricky Damion could be, during the Great War, and had battled him a few times. He knew at that point that Casper had to be told Damion’s true nature, and how he deceived anyone and everyone around him.
“I cannot tell you more about their death at this point, Casper, but know that Damion is nothing near the good man he is making himself seem like.”
“You cannot tell me or you will not? Huh? Because your precious alpha forbids it and you don’t want to incur his almighty wrath? What is with all of you around here? This, this is not brotherhood! You just told me someone killed my parents and you follow that with the fact that you can’t tell me anything more about their death?”
“Casper—”
“You know what, Mark, judge Damion all you want but right now, you are the one who does not seem like who he claims to be!”
“Casper!” Mark growled to calm the young wolf down. His voice took a wolf like turn as he shouted. He had not turned at all, but his voice was not human any longer. He was angry at the fact that Casper was being unreasonably stubborn despite all his efforts to reason with him and explain what was at stake. His eyes were a thick golden color as he stared at Casper, frowning. His wolf form facial fur was already beginning to grow around his face.
Casper was totally terrified. His state of mind switched from that of anger to fear in an instant. He was particularly terrified because he had never seen Mark in such state, and in fact had only known him so far to be a gentle person. He realized that he was out of control and he needed to calm down.
“I just want answers, Mark, that’s all. Answers,” he said, adding remorse to his expression as he spoke. “I’m lost. I’m really lost here. I don’t know how it was for you when you first turned, but this is unbearable. I understand that William means well, but I need guidance before anything else. I need help, Mark.”
Being a deeply caring person, Mark was touched by the young wolf’s predicament. He decided to go out and get William to return to the holding room, just for Casper to feel safe. He understood that the only way Casper was going to feel fully safe was if the alpha himself reassured him, and that was not going to happen if Casper had not been told the entire story.
“I’ll go with you,” Casper said, standing up. He was tired of sitting in the room, and felt that he ought to be allowed his own freedom if he was indeed a member of the pack.
“Casper,” Mark said, looking straight at the young wolf.
“Yeah?”
“I know you’re trying to escape.”
Casper stood upright and stared at Casper. There was silence for a few seconds as both wolves had no choice but to listen to each other’s heartbeats.
“Come on, I’m—”
“I know, Casper. You’ve been plotting different ways to escape all along, so the moment I give you an opening, you take it. That’s smart, except for the fact that I’m experienced at this sort of thing.”
Casper was disappointed in his failed plan. He understood at this point that Mark was a force to reckon with. He had sharp-edged wolf instincts and over-the-top strategic thinking.
“Tell you what Casper,” Mark added, “I never wanted to go out to fetch William. I only wanted to confirm if my suspicion was right—my suspicion about you secretly trying to find a way to escape. And voila! I was right. You jumped on the chance even before I completed my words.”
“Fine then,” was Casper’s reply, as he sat back down. There was silence in the room once again as Casper stared blankly at the ground. Mark took his time to study the boy in silence, before finally breaking it.
“He’s a good man, you know,” Mark said, with an expression that looked as though he was reminiscing about good times.
“You’re talking about Shane?”
“No. Not Shane. William.”
“Oh.” Casper said, staring back at the ground.
“My love story with Shane was all because of William. If not for him, I would not have seen the good in Shane.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, first of all, anyone who can talk sense into William deserves way more than accolades, and only Shane has been successfully able to do that over time,” Mark replied with a laugh.
“It was during the Great War,” he continued. “That was when I truly recognized who William was. His father had just been killed by Darren Hagen, Damion’s father. William was already a strong wolf during that period, with ample training from both his father and Shane. His father’s death did not derail him from the war at hand. He automatically became the alpha during the war, which was bad timing.
“But he suspended the mourning of his father for when we won the war, as he was determined for us to win. He took over the reins and led us to victory. It was a war between the Hagen Pack and every other pack in the region. It was the bitterest experience I ever had, but he saw us all through it. We have been stronger than ever since the war concluded. We do not stay loyal to him because owe him for winning us the Great War, Casper. We’re loyal him because we’re sure he is loyal to the pack, and he will do nothing to sabotage our existence.”
Casper was lost for words. He looked up from the ground and towards Mark.
“The war,” he said. “How long ago was this?”
“Two hundred years.”
Chapter 8
Shane was beginning to get tired of the tension caused by William’s refusal to reason with the young wolf, but he was well aware of the fact that William’s failure to reason was intentional. He never understood that part of William, however, since it literally meant taking the wrong decision, while knowing the right one. He stared at William, who stood in front of a fire under the big bright moonlight. He was meditating. Even if he knew what William was up to, Shane thought it best not to bring up any topic relating to Casper or any of William’s plans for him. He walked up towards William by the fire and stood by him. He stayed silently and decided to join him meditating. These sort of activities were necessary to maintain a wolf’s focus, particularly the sensory abilities of any wolf. He smiled as he recalled the last time he ever made an attempt at meditating, which was a result of constant persuasion from Mark. Of all members of the pack, including William, meditating was Mark’s specialty, as he was best at being calm and assessing situations based on the most strategic course of action. Shane knew that he never deserved him, and always felt deeply ashamed whenever Mark said the same.
“You joining?” William asked Shane, confirming if the wolf was merely standing with him before the fire or if he had intentions of meditating as well.
Shane let out a mild laugh. “I thought you were deep in meditation, William, how did you notice me walk up here?”
William kept his eyes closed, smiling mildly. “You thought so, Shane,” he said, still smiling. “But you were wrong. We both know I suck at this, not everyone’s Mark, you know,” he replied, opening his eyes to look at Shane upon mentioning Mark’s name.
Shane in turn laughed at the flattery. “No we’re not, we definitely aren’t Mark.”
“But you know what, Shane,” William continued. “We can both try right here, right now, and help each other achieve the exercise. We both can make our Mark right here, i
f you know what I mean,” he said as he grinned wildly at his attempt at a play on words. Shane could not keep it in at this point. He began to laugh loudly to the heavens as he looked up at the sky. He laughed, not because William’s pun was the funniest, but because he had indeed missed this part of the alpha. It had been a while since William had made an attempt at being funny, let alone achieved the tiniest bit of success at it.
“Yes we can, Bill, yes we can indeed. We can make our Mark,” he replied, still laughing, louder this time as he heard himself say it.
At the same time, they both closed their eyes and held each other’s hands. They focused their hearing on the silence of the night. Most members of the pack were back in their homes in town now, except the few who were dwellers of the woods, most of whom resided in the other buildings situated meters away from the main Naltice Cabin. They listened, past the constant sounds of crickets and croaking of frogs. They listened beyond the different variations of occasional sounds made by birds at night, and still holding hands, they listened until they could hear nothing, but mere silence. Dead as a graveyard. They focused their hearing in their inner selves as William heard his own heart beat continuously, and his blood flow through his arteries and veins. His facial wolf hair began to develop on his face now, as he was getting deep into the exercise. Shane’s nails had elongated as he held on to William, already oblivious of the presence of anyone apart from himself on the spot where he stood. He felt his wolf hair spring up all over his body and could swear he heard them extend out of every hair follicle. Subconsciously, he howled once, which extended for a very long period of time. William, deep in the ritual, didn’t hear the howl, but coincidentally howled immediately after.
Recognizing the howl, Mark stepped out of the holding room and traced the sound towards the fire where they stood. He smiled to himself as he remembered the number of times he had tried getting Shane to meditate and the number of times he’d succeeded.
He stepped towards the pair, knowing that this time they had succeeded in getting to a certain level of success in the exercise, and spoke, knowing they could not hear him.
“The kid’s scared, William, he really is. And what bothers me is not the fact that there is friction between both of you at this moment, what bothers me is the fact that he is scared of himself, and not you. His fear springs from his confusion. He realizes there are too many things to learn, and he is a curious one, he wants to know everything at once. He is not like you, William. He’s not as calculative as he is fearless. He is an instinctive one, and being overly curious does not suit a wolf who thrives on instinct alone.
“I am beginning to get to him, and he’s beginning to accept the fact that we have good intentions for him, that you have good intentions for him, and that you’re a leader we will all die for. I just need time to totally bring him on board, I just hope it’s not too much time I need. I hope I get to him soon.”
“Do that, Mark, get to him in time,” William said, to Mark’s surprise. Mark looked up at William with a shocked expression on his face.
“You spoke long enough to pull me out of that thing, Mark, I’m not calm enough to stay in there while you literally spoke directly to my face. Nope, Shane has that one on me,” he said, pointing towards Shane, who was still in deep meditation.
“I really did not hear most of what you said, Mark, but from what I hear you’ve been speaking here for quite a while.” He snapped his fingers before Shane’s face and close to his ears, but did not revive the older man to his presence.
“Wow, Mark, you really taught him well.”
“Don’t give me credit for that, William, I’m as surprised as you are,” Mark said, looking at Shane with a bit of admiration as he spoke. He immediately let out a loud roar directly at Shane’s face, jolting Shane out of his deep state of meditation and off his feet as he landed on his ass on the ground.
“Damn it, Mark, was that really necessary?” he said, trying to regain his balance as he was helped back up by William.
“I’m sorry love, affairs of the state need to be attended to,” Mark said, mocking his partner.
Shane decided to take advantage of the jovial atmosphere to express himself to William, who he had been wary of ever since the altercation with Casper.
“William,” Shane said, looking at his face.
William knew already that Shane was about to give him advice which he would initially say no to.
“I know plans have begun regarding the ceremony at the clearing in front of your home, but you need to call the wolves there. You can’t go on with the ceremony.” Shane knew that his suggestion would be met with an arrogant show of authority by William, but he was prepared to try his luck. “The boy’s not ready, William,” he added.
“If that’s your reason, then I don’t think I should keep listening to you at all. When will he be ready, Shane? Huh? After the war? After Damion has finally wiped us all out with the army of programmed wolves he’s preparing, and after he has killed Casper just like he did his parents? Answer me, Shane!”
“William—”
“Why do you all fail to see the fact that I am doing this for his safety too? Or do you want to tell me you don’t believe that? Is that it, Shane, you don’t believe I’m doing this for the right reasons?” William yelled.
“That’s not it, William, and you know it! How do you want to make him accept this marriage? What are you going to do, force him?” Shane decided to go through the fatherly role he played in William’s life and continue to talk some sense into him.
“He’ll come around, Shane, we will all make sure of it.”
“He’s not going to come around after you have turned him into a slave of your marriage, William! There will be no going back after that!” Shane was beginning to lose it now, which would not play out well for anybody.
“So what are you saying, Shane? You’re saying we forego tradition? Forego what this pack is based on? There is no better time to select a mate than right now! This is a critical period for the pack, and you know it! Strategy demands that we solidify the pack and ensure continuity just in case the war doesn’t go well for us! You taught me that.”
Shane knew that William was being practical about everything he was saying, but the truth was that he was being too practical about it. He believed Casper could still remain part of the pack without marrying William, and that still would solidify the pack and increase their strength in case total war broke out.
“So you suggest we get married during the war then? When you think he’s ready? Tell me, Shane! What sort of wisdom are you bringing to the table right now? What if he dies? What if I die?”
“You were the one who spoke against bringing him into all of this mess, and now you want to have him as your mate! Come on, William, I thought you better than being two faced!”
“Watch it, Shane! That’s as far as you go!”
Just as though the members of the pack preparing for the ceremony heard the bout between them, there were multiple howls coming from the direction of William’s home, which signified that the crew was done preparing for the ceremony.
“Mark, I think you should go get him now. He’ll meet us at the clearing. Let’s go, Shane. We’ve had enough debate over this.”
Mark went on to fetch Casper for the rituals and the other two wolves left for the ceremony venue to prepare themselves to welcome Casper.
“He’s going through with it, isn’t he?” Casper asked Mark, seeing the look on his face as he walked into the room.
“Yes Casper, he is.”
“Very well then, let’s go.” Casper’s reply greatly surprised Mark, who stared at him in awe as he walked past him and towards the door. “Let’s just get this over with, Mark. At least it’s better than my boss at work trying to kill me.”
William stared at Casper in admiration as he approached the venue. A few wolves were present as different campfires lit up the entire environment. William stared at the young wolf and smiled awkwardly as he stood
right in front of him.
“Casper,” he softly said.
“William,” he replied almost as calmly, to William’s surprise.
The ceremony was basic, and ended quickly, as William believed he had done enough to freak out the young wolf. In order to give him enough time to process the situation before spending the night with him, William decided to sleep at the Naltice Cabin, moving Casper to his personal home, the mansion in the woods where the ceremony was performed.
“You think he’ll come around soon enough?” William asked Shane that night as they both spent time at the cabin. He always returned to Shane for counsel.
“Well, he somewhat agreed to the ceremony, that’s a step. Let’s see how things go from here on out,” Shane said, indicating to William that he still had his back despite any misunderstanding that might occur between them, and whether or not William actually took his advice.
“Let’s hope Mark comes with good news in the morning,” William said, his hand running through his hair.
“Yeah. Let’s hope that.”
Chapter 9
The following twenty four hours after the ceremony were the most confusing of Casper’s life so far. After Mark’s story about William, the young wolf decided to be rational about things, and the scientist in him had made him understanding about all he had experienced so far and the surrounding circumstances. He tried to listen for Mark’s presence outside the door and realized Mark was still there.
“Mark?” There was no reply from the wolf who stood silently outside the door.
“I may be a novice at this wolf thing, Mark, but I can still hear heartbeats. And yours is beating right now. So come in, will you.”
“Keep listening,” Mark replied, “You’ll get to hear more than just heartbeats.”
“Hey, did I do something wrong? Are you… mad at me for agreeing to the ceremony? You were the one who told me he was a good guy, remember? And besides, you never said anything against—”