[1st draft] Bora's near-death experience caused a brief separation from Gemma, but to live in peace, he must end the Seven Shadows.
Bora Hawk, the polar wolf, has an unexplained target on his back. His enemies want him dead, caged, or becoming the...
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"Wolf style, huh?" The iron tastes on my buds with a clog-ear. My senses are not hundred percent, but enough to punch a hole in a brick wall. The metal gym is a part of steaming pipes that maintain this place up to par. A group of guys enter with black oil smudges on their salt cheeks while they stare ascending the arena four-step stairway with a brash attitude.
"Exactly. None of that weak shit, human lover." Keko stretched his torso.
"Human lover, you say, but using human slang. Funny." I mocked him with a laugh as he grimaced, which drove me to cackle harder.
They see who their true alpha is that stands before them. They're testing me. I am shorter, but it doesn't prove their strength. A bunch of dirty posts. It is itching for me to crack and drag them into submission, prickles of my claws looming.
"Young Bora." A broody accent, heed a jolly gray giant with a pepper rope ponytail interrupts my shift, stumbling in here with a fat king toad potion bottle in his clutches and swinging a war hatchet in the other, drunk. The beard lengthens on his armor plate, tilting his head in confusion that encourages my eye to twitch.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Your uncle, Manueli Ski Enceladus. My brother, who is your father, was close." He pounded his chest and did a gorilla belch.
"Adam?"
"Xannon Ski Enceladus."
"I have never met him."
"He was the Alpha, our war hero, yada, yada, and we are passing it to you after you defeat Keko."
"I'm standing right here." Keko forced his presence, but we ignored him.
"It is a tradition. Life can be unpredictable." He rubbed his beard in far thought. "Whatever you choose, you have my loyalty." He slapped my neck, guffaw, feeling his weight heavy on my left side, and I nudged him off.
"Still here." The crier cries. The men around the room rose taller. Honored, but Keko flicked one of their chest. They all synced in their natural posture. This adherence is what I would care to give to my gem. I have souls to offer her. I have an army, but-
"You can't stand against the Elders. You don't know me." Plus, it is wrong to lug her into this life alone. She will have me, but not her family. Or what's left of it. I could be her new home. Having so many bairns and the clan could teach them combat. Of course. My attendants shall be strong, too, to protect my young. That builds a powerful battalion.
"Ture Alpha words, selfless." He tore his pea green eyes as he knew where my priorities were. "You wouldn't be nothing without your father." He ahem. "Explore and get in shape. You need it. You have a long journey ahead of you." He nodded at the sect, departing. The afternoon I devoted myself to boosting up my muscle core, tracking two thousand reps as a warmup. I dropped, feeling the stares as I glanced to the side, seeing servant she wolves clinging to each other, whispering with giggles.
