I slip and fall on the mud. My Beta, Ivan, comes over and kicks my leg. "Get up. We don't have time to relax," he says and continues to go ahead.
I plant my palm at my side and use it to push myself up, but my palm slips, too.
"Stop being lazy and hurry up!" my Delta, Chloe, shouts while passing by.
Those two definitely know I don't really want to get up.
Being the Alpha of a small pack is very anticlimactic. It's like being the Sheriff of a small town in the middle of nowhere. Sure, you're the Sheriff, but you might as well be just the security guard; It's all the same.
"Oy, Leah, you want me to drag you here?" Chloe shouts from ahead.
Reluctantly I get up off the mud, and reach them. When we arrive closer to the lake the old woman who made the complaint joins us.
"Ma'am, it might not have get caught. You don't have to come with us," I tell her.
"What? Your trap better had caught it Alpha!" the elderly angrily says. "Seriously, in those days the Alpha went into the water themselves and caught those crocs using their muzzles," she says.
I scratch my neck. Yeah, that's not gonna happen.
A little ahead of us my Beta and Delta are walking like they can't hear anything.
"Why don't you try that?" the woman says, "Transform and get in!"
The last time I transformed I was probably nine or ten. And then I became old enough to realize hunting rabbits was the only thing transforming was worthwhile for, but also that I'm a vegetarian (that's a major identity crisis for a werewolf to have). So that was the end of that.
Sooner or later everyone in our town gives up on transforming anyway. It's too much trouble.
But the packhood still exists, and so do the ranks. Mine, Ivan's and Chloe's families have held undisputed successors of the three highest ranks for centuries now.
Because nobody else wants to take these shitty jobs off our hands.
Even on the day I was set to receive the alphahood, I sat waiting at the doorstep with hands on my cheeks hoping some guy was gonna show up and begin to say, "I challenge you-" And then I would jump up and tell him, "You win, it's yours!"
But no one showed up. I even tried to persuade Ivan and Chloe to exchange ranks with me, but those sly friends of mine didn't budge.
So now I get to be the one patiently smiling at the old woman as she suggests I go kill myself between the jaws of a crocodile so it could leave her dumb goats alone.
It's true. Her goats are dumb. They leave every other big, greener pastures and keep coming here to graze.
But it's never the goats' fault. No. It's the fault of the incompetent Alpha who can't fit in a crocodile into her damn muzzle.
We reach the lake. Ivan, Chloe and I exchange glances, shocked. Then back at the cage and the croc inside it. I'll be damned. The trap worked.
"See?" I say to the woman, pointing at the cage, "It worked."
"Tsk," she says and leaves us.
That's right, lady, you won't be seeing a bloodbath today.
"What do we do now?" Chloe says.
"You and I take the cage out. Ivan, go bring the truck over."
Although not as great as those Alphas who wrestled with giant reptiles, the three of us still get to be strong enough to move a large iron cage containing a heavier crocodile.
We drive it away and drop it off at the reservation two towns from here, and return late at night.
When I enter my home, my mom comes out of my parents' room and starts heating the dinner.
I drop my head and shoulders over the dining table and sit down. "Did you catch it?" Dad says coming out and taking his seat opposite mine.
"Why else would I be this late? We couldn't drive fast because of how heavy that thing was," I tell him.
"Of course that crocodile would be that heavy. Mrs. Treckkett always has the fattest goats," dad says.
My mom places toasts and potato gravy in front of me.
"That stingy old hag should've hired someone to herd those animals instead of bothering my poor child," mom says.
I nod while taking a spoonful of the soup.
"Your poor little baby is an Alpha now. She has to do things like this," he tells her before turning to me and says, "So how's the work so far?"
"I hate it," I say, chewing on the toast.
My dad understandingly nods. "It's okay, you're just getting started," he says, "give it a few more weeks, then you'll hate it more."
I give him a dry smile. My dad and his jokes. He says, "What about that stab victim at the Nondre Pack?"
"I haven't heard much about it. I think they are just handling it themselves."
"Still, keep an ear out on this," he says. I nod.
After dinner dad gives me an envelope. "It's the Rothman's Meet," he says.
I groan. "Do we have to go?"
RM is like an annual get together of sort for all the Alphas and their Betas and Deltas across the country.
"It's not like anyone will notice our absence," I say.
He shakes his head. "This is important. You three can't skip it. Besides, it'll be fun and you kids will learn a lot there."
"Fine, we'll go," I say, dragging my tired feet towards my room, "but I seriously doubt I'll learn anything. I bet none of them big shot Alphas had even caught a crocodile before."
My dad laughs. "That's even better," he says, "You can teach them then."
Sighing, I close the door behind me before falling on the bed and start counting goats in my head. I count until a crocodile appears in the line, and then practically pass out.
End of chapter
A/N - Let's see where this goes now :) I'd also started my book ABIDE right before this one. So if you missed it please make sure to check it out and leave your feedbacks. Catch you soon :) Bye.
