Warclaw (4 page)

Chapter 5: The Pack.

The night was drawing in when the wolves got back to the pack. The sky had become dark and the air was fresh. The owl in the trees that surrounded the den started making itself known to the wolves. As they arrived they looked around the den. Their once magnificent home had been desecrated. As they walked around their den, they looked around for signs of life but there was none. Only dead wolves littered the ground. There was no sign of living wolves or weakened ones, just dead wolves that littered the ground. As the wolves walked through the den, there was still no sign of life.

The wolves were getting towards the edge of their den, when suddenly; there was movement behind an old oak tree. The wolves walked up towards the old oak tree. One of the wolves, whose name was Wibeke, looked over to the other wolf and then nodded. Wibeke and the other wolf walked around the tree, one on each side of it. When they got to the other side of the oak tree, there was a wolf cowering at the bottom. "It's okay, we're here now." Wibeke said to the young wolf that was cowering below her. The wolf looked up towards Wibeke and smiled. "Thank the high Alpha that you are here, Wibeke!" The wolf said with relief that could never be faked, before going up and hugging her.

Taking the young wolf over to a quieter area, where the other wolves weren't searching, she asked what had happened on that mournful day. The wolf started to tell her how this devastation had not long happened. There had been no warning. No chance of escape or salvation. Wanbi shivered as he remembered the events that had happened. It made him scared that there was nowhere, where any-wolf could get protection from that devastating event. He shivered, goosebumps started to form on his skin and his fur stood up on end. Wibeke asked again what had happened. "I can't describe it Wibeke! It was terrible. We couldn't do anything to protect ourselves. Every-wolf was running for shelter and as they ran it struck them down one by one.” Wibeke interrupted Wanbi.

“What struck them down, Wanbi?” She pressed.

“I don’t know. It came from the sky and the storm that’s all I know.” Wanbi hung his head low and sighed. “I was one of the lucky ones to get away. I didn't know what to do! You weren't here! You were with the Alpha...." Wanbi paused. He started searching for the Alpha. There was no sign of him anywhere. Wanbi looked back towards Wibeke. "Where 
is
 the Alpha?" Wibeke didn't want to answer his question, as she knew that there was enough to be dealing with at this moment in time. By looking into Wibeke’s eyes, Wanbi knew. He just knew. Wanbi couldn't describe how he knew, he just did. The Alpha, Waya, had been like a father to him. A tear slowly rolled down his snout. Wibeke saw the lone tear roll down his snout, and licked it away. She put her nose down on his neck. Wanbi embraced Wibeke’s hug. 

Wibeke heard a wolf come running over to them, and she suddenly jumped back from the embracing hug. She looked over to the other wolf. Wibeke tried to smile without embarrassment, at the other wolf. "Yes Will?" Wibeke asked. Will looked a bit surprised but answered his superior. "I... erm…" Wibeke looked plainly at him, a waiting for the answer. “What is it Will? We haven’t got all day.” She said with the hint of annoyance. "We have found another survivor." Wibeke's eyes started to light up. There was now some form of hope, that the pack hadn't been totally obliterated. There was a chance now that they could compensate for the loss of the majority of the pack. "Who Will? Who has survived?" Wibeke asked repeatedly, demanding to know who it is. "It's Wren who has survived."

Wren. Wren was a small, powerful wolf that had a lightning fast reaction. He had a smart brain. Wren was powerful, very powerful in fact. This made him dangerous, like Warclaw. But what separated him from Warclaw, was that Warclaw was far more dangerous due to his unpredictability. Now Wibeke had to tell the pack, what was left of it, that Warclaw was their new Alpha. Wibeke would have to wait till the remaining survivors of the pack were gathered and then tell them the bad news. But until that moment, she wouldn’t tell them but when she did, it would be as gentle as possible.

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

The surviving wolves had gathered around a fire that had been burning in the forest. The forest surrounded the den making it safer, or so was the idea. Wibeke looked around at the other wolves, stopping at the last surviving wolf of the pack. She didn't know how to break it to them but decided to tell them head on about the Alpha not surviving and who had become the new Alpha. Wibeke knew that she had to break it to them gently though, as some of the surviving wolves had been very close to the old Alpha. Finally, taking a deep breath, she started telling them about finding Warclaw. Wibeke could see the joy in their eyes, but she knew that she would soon be crushing their joy. Their hope that Warclaw was now dead was going to be crushed. Wibeke then moved onto the fight that had happened between the old Alpha and the new one. She remembered how hopeful they'd been to get rid of their old Alpha, but not to this extent. She never expected him to die nor did she want him to. This was a deep wound to the pack, that would take a while to heal and she knew that this would hit the pack the hardest. Wibeke took another deep breath. Now it was time to reveal the
good
news.

Wibeke looked into the eyes of each of the wolves. Savouring the moment of joy and hope, Wibeke took a deep breath as she was about to make it all slam down hard into the ground. "The Alpha is dead." This one line that Wibeke had spoken had crushed the pack. The surviving wolves looked at each other in shock; they never had expected that from Wibeke. Wibeke was the most loyal warrior and protector of the pack and she had let the Alpha die with no intervention. She had tried to make it less hurtful for them, but that hadn't worked. It had come out the only way foreseeable and that was damaging. No matter what way she tried to put it.
That
was even before she told them that Warclaw was their new Alpha. Wibeke let the group settle back down again. Now was the time to finally tell them who their new Alpha was. But before she had the chance to speak out, a member of the pack asked her "So are you our new Alpha, Wibeke?" What a wonderful thought that was but sadly, that wasn't true. “I am not the Alpha.” Wibeke sighed. Surprise fought its way onto their faces.

"Then who is?" The wolves asked as one, all perfectly in sync with one another. There was a pause... silence. It was quiet. So quiet that all you could hear was the rustle of the leaves on the branches of the trees and the wind gently sweeping past them. Then Wibeke spoke "I don't know how to tell you this but, here it is..." She took her final deep breath "The new Alpha... is Warclaw." Each wolf gasped in surprise, shock and fear before looking at each other. No-wolf had expected that to happen. They all knew that this was going to be the worst thing that was ever going to happen to this unlucky pack. Even with the bad luck of losing the majority of the pack couldn’t and wouldn’t mount up to what was about to happen. Was this the beginning of the end for the pack?

Chapter 6: Complete Control.

Warclaw was happy and content. In fact, he was very happy and content with himself. To Warclaw’s great joy, he had now got complete control over the pack that Waya had once beheld. Having this knowledge, it made him very happy with himself and delighted, maybe even ecstatic, that he had got all this power back, flowing in his veins. Of course, now was the greatest time to have taken over the pack, especially since the "coincidental" storm happened the day before. He knew that the storm had nearly wiped out the whole entire pack. Warclaw laughed. A laugh that was pure evil! Warclaw took pride in each and every step that he took. Swaying from side to side, smiling his evil grin. Yet again, to his joy, he had become powerful. All through his body he could feel the sensation of his power flowing through his veins once again. He loved that feeling of being powerful, standing over every-wolf and them cowering beneath him. He could picture all the wolves standing beneath him as he stood on the giant rock that overlooked the area of the pack. The rock was silvery grey and it stood high above the ground. Each wolf would bow in front of him. He could picture it distinctly in his mind. Warclaw could hear all the wolves shout in unison "Alpha! Alpha! Alpha!" in his mind. Warclaw thought 'Yes, I like that. Such the power is that that I have!'

Suddenly a blackbird tweeted in the background making Warclaw snap out of his daydream. His mind was pulled back to reality and to the tantalizing question of how he was going to get that treasure out of that wrecked darkened room that lay at the bottom of the ocean.

Looking out towards the calm sea he noticed that ocean had started to recede. Warclaw knew this was the time to go and retrieve that treasure of his. Walking onto the beach and looking around him, Warclaw noticed that all the debris from the lighthouse had been scattered all over the once glistening golden beach. It was all around him. He stopped walking and stood still, taking it all in. 'What has this all come to? There was no need for nature to have done this! The treasure isn't
that
dangerous, well in my paws at least. In the wrong paws though, it could be dangerous.' Warclaw thought as he kept looking around at the scattered pieces of brick and glass that littered the ground.

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

The sky was clear of white puffy clouds and the fire had died down in the woods. Wibeke paced back and forth, thinking of ways she could stop Warclaw. 'I could try to be diplomatic with him... no, that wouldn't work... I could bribe him... no, that wouldn't work; he's too smart for that!' She kept thinking but nothing seemed to be working or be substantial enough to fool Warclaw. It was only so he wouldn't suspect a thing. Suddenly, Wibeke heard something move behind her, she stopped her pacing and turned around to look at what had caught her attention. Wren stood between the two trees that were like an entrance to a temple. There was a small breeze in the air that danced with the leaves on the trees. The trees bowed over to each other, like two people bowing to each other before a Waltz, creating a mesmerizing archway. The leaves trickled down like rain drops, and as they blew in the wind, their movement was as graceful as swan. They moved with such magistrate that could only be performed by kings and queens. And stood in that archway was Wren. He looked at Wibeke with inquisitive eyes.

"What's wrong Wibeke?" Wren asked quietly. Wibeke looked at him blankly, showing no emotion on her face or in her posture. To Wren she looked warn down and exhausted, as it looked like she hadn't slept for weeks. 'This is not her.' He thought, worried. At her posture, he tilted his head, trying to get her attention or some form of reaction from her. "Come on, tell me what's wrong. Every-wolf can see it Wibeke. Every-wolf can see that you're run down and exhausted. So come on tell me what's wrong. You can be straight and honest with me, you know that." Wibeke could see that Wren was honestly concerned for her but how could she tell him? After everything that had happened and what she had put the pack through, she couldn’t tell him without sounding pathetic. 'I'm going to have to lie to him. But how can I do that? He'll know something's wrong. I'm not the world's greatest liar! No. I'm going to have to tell him the truth, even if he judges me and thinks I’m pathetic. Besides how else am I going to get out of this mess?'

Wibeke sighed and looked away from where Wren was standing. 'Here goes.' She thought before taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "I've been worried about the pack. I have been thinking..." Wibeke paused, taking another gasp of air in to calm her racing heart."Thinking about what?" Wren asked inquisitively, looking into her hazel brown eyes.

"That it's entirely my fault that the pack has ended up where it has! I was the one to persuade every
single
wolf, that Warclaw should be the new Alpha. Just look how wrong I was?!" Wibeke let out a big sigh before looking down to the ground in dismay."It wasn't your fault Wibeke. The whole of the pack, including myself, decided that we were all going to make Warclaw the Alpha. Not just you alone." Wren said, trying to be comforting.

Wibeke started pacing back and forth again. Her paws bedding down in the dirt, making the ground ware down. She had worn it down so much that it became like a sheet of ice that once you stepped on it, it would shatter. Wibeke was trying to calm herself down and she took in gulps of air to try and slow her irregular breathing. She could feel her heart race in her chest. It raced with such force; it was like a horse in the middle of a race, not slowing for anything. "How could I have been so stubborn? How could have I thought that he could've been better for the pack? I was stupid, unprofessionally stupid. I thought he would be better for the pack and now look what has happened to it. All the wolves that could've fought for the pack are now dead. We're left with the old who are about as useful as a bucket with a hole in it, no offence to them or anything. And then there's the young, and they can't exactly fight now can they? All that is left is just us. The only ones that are protecting the pack are me, you, Will and Wai. That's it! There is no-wolf that can help us. We are run down for pack members. Warclaw has become too powerful and now we don't even have a pack that can stand up to him!"

"Wibeke, how could you think that?! You were not to know that he was going to revert kill the Alpha and do what he did. I know the older wolves aren't that useful, neither are the younger ones, but whom else do we have? We have to try and get them back before Warclaw destroys our lives even more and then the rest of the world!" He rested his head on her shoulder.