Photo to the side is of Jun Alexander Hiatus. >>
~
The Alpha's face came into view. Then, Klein's. They were walking closely together, but Klein slightly behind. It was a way to show subordination, and to Klein it must have come automatically. His head was hung high, but not higher than Jun's father.
Jun was standing idly in the pack garden. It was his daily past time when he wasn't worrying about pack duties. He didn't have a lot, he noticed, and that didn't slide easily with him. He didn't want to be pampered as he most commonly was. He wanted a piece of this pack for himself, and with his father treating him like pure gold, he didn't have the opportunity.
"Son," his father addressed as he neared Jun. "I need you to return to the house. It's not safe out here."
Jun mentally cursed.
"The Scouts haven't made their morning report," the Alpha continued. "Klein and I are going to see if their dead or just incompetent."
"I go with you." Jun jumped at the chance to leave and explore.
"No," his father said quickly.
"I-"
"No." This time it was Klein. "Your safety is our first priority."
Jun's father nodded his head in agreement as he smiled at the young Beta. Jun, whose mouth hung open, was too shocked to utter a reply. He looked to the blonde Beta with so many things to say, but he couldn't even say one thing. He felt something dangerous creep up in his throat. 3 words.
I want you.
He swallowed them back down. If he had thought Klein attractive before, you can imagine how he felt when Klein started to order him around. It made his head spin with so many sensuous emotions. He wanted Klein to order him around more.
But as he arrived out of his imagination, Klein and his father were already walking towards the outskirts of the little village. They were now accompanied by many of the other pack members, Warriors, who were bred to fight and scout. Through his own eyes, Jun witnessed for the first time the Change of Klein Britanis.
Klein's blurry form wavered and sputtered until he was in his wolf form. A huge, dark grey wolf with red eyes. His father Changed as well, but Jun was so focused on the built wolf's form he barely noticed. As he watched on, Klein turned back, locking eyes one last time until he disappeared from view and into the forest.
Nothing short of amazing Jun thought as he walked back to his room, plotting on ways to make Klein Britanis his and only his.
~
"The report?" The alpha asked one of the Scouts who had spotted the rogue earlier this morning. "I need to know every single detail, do you understand? If you leave anything out, I'll kill you right here." He let his concerned facade drop along with the kindness he only used on his son, Jun.
The Scout's eyes dropped to the Wintery forest floor. "S-sir," he sputtered. "We spotted the, uh, lone wolf about two hours ago while on our training run with the runts." He looked over to the more timid looking wolves in the corner. They weren't born wolves, they were Turned, and they had one job. "We pursued but-"
"But?" Steam was practically coming out of the Alpha's nose. He searched the Scouts down-turned eyes.
"We lost him, sir," the Scouts whispered. The Winter air was silent all except for those words. They sunk into the Alpha's skull and it took his whole being not to strike down the scared little bastard right then and there. He would have, too, if not for Klein Britanis.
"Sir," Klein interrupted just in time. The Alpha has raised his clawed hand ready to strike, but paused. "The Warriors have located the wolf in question. We should pursue while we have the chance." The Alpha thought, then lowered his hand. The relief in the Scout's eyes would forever be visible. "It's cornered North of here near the bridge."
"The Falcons' Bridge?" He asked, forgetting all about the non-complacent Scout. He turned towards Klein and waved him on. "Go," he ordered. "Find the rogue and bring him to me without fail." He turned away from his Pack and headed towards his comfortable office. As he crunched through the snow he didn't forget the defiant look in Klein's eyes. It was always there, even when it wasn't suppose to be.
Yet, the only time they softened was when they looked upon Jun, the Alpha noticed. A great advantage in the War to come.
~
The rogue wolf was pinned to the ground by 3 Warriors, all struggling to hold the very aggressive enemy. The wolf was a mixture of ivory and crimson as blood mixed with its white coat. It tried to break free multiple times, but it wasn't enough.
Klein broke through the trees in his stealthy wolven form. The rays of sun bathed on his back as he stood frozen, watching the wolf struggle beneath the greater Warriors. He had seen rogues before, but this one in particular made his skin crawl.
Their eyes met, both crimson as red dawn. Recognition bloomed in Klein's mind, but it was quickly forgotten as he took grasp of the dire situation.
His old pack had sent his replacement already. Another person to murder to Shadow Wolf, his beloved Jun Alexander.
And it was none other than his own brother, Ivan Britanis.
He steadied his heart beat. He couldn't afford to let on suspicion. He had already hesitated too long. If someone noticed, he was done and so was Jun.
Klein stepped forward to address the Warriors who had safely secured the rogue. "The Alpha wishes to see him alive," Klein said with much malice. What would Ivan tell him? What would he tell the Alpha? "Any other injuries done to him, and you'll answer to me, you hear?" They nodded. "Good, now this mongrel out of my sight."
The Warriors began to drag Ivan towards the village. Their eyes met again and just for a moment, Klein could see the amused smile dancing on his older brother's shadowed lips.
~
"Jun, this will be your new playmate."
4-yr-old Jun Alexander Hiatus looked at the blonde boy with amusement, but quickly turned to his father. "I don't need a playmate," he retorted. "He'll just make me weaker."
His father laughed at this. "No, son, he'll make you stronger. Sometimes you need a right-hand man to be there for you. Like Carson is for me." His father stood over Jun. "Now run along and play together," he instructed the two boys giving them a little push on the back. Jun whipped around and glared defiantly, but noticed the older boy not move.
"Hey," Jun tugged on the boy's sleeve. The boy didn't reply, so he turned to his father. "Is he broken or something? You gave me a broken toy?"
"No, son, he is not broken. Just damaged."
Jun sighed lightly. "I'll fix him for daddy," he said grabbing the boy's arm this time. He began to tug him away, and the boy followed silently as Jun dragged him outside and into the light.
"Don't you speak?"
The boy remained silent, but finally said, "Yes."
"Then say something," Jun nagged.
"I like your eyes. They're beautiful."
Jun puffed out his cheeks and pouted. He was suppose to be manly! Not beautiful! He let it go, though, because he thought the boy with crimson eyes was beautiful, too, in a sense. He would grow strong, and in turn, he would be Jun's right-hand man.
~
Jun wandered around aimlessly when he heard news that a rogue had been captured in the Northern forest near Falcon's Bridge. His father way be able to keep him hidden and safe, but Jun had his own methods of finding out what he needed to know. Many people feared his father, but even more people feared Jun.
"So a wolf with white fur, huh?" Jun said as he turned a corner.
"Yes, sir," Jun's spy, Axel, said as he hurried along through the shadows. "An ivory wolf with crimson eyes. The Warriors acted like they were afraid to touch it. As if it were some holy being."
Jun giggled. "Well, a white wolf is rare. I can understand their concerns as they were forced to defile one. A thousand curses in the Underworld for them , supposedly."
"They're more afraid of the Beta, to be truthful."
"Klein? Why, he couldn't hurt a fly." Well, Jun pondered, that's what I had originally thought until as of late. He had noticed a slight change in Klein. It seemed to him to be a deep longing, which Jun assumed was for his past life long gone. He had also become fiercer, more orderly. It was a change that Jun had never expected to see in his beloved Beta. Well, his soon-to-be Beta once his father finally retired.
Axel laughed quietly. Most of the time that would be disrespectful in the eyes of a superior, but Jun and Axel were good friends regardless of their servant/master relationship. "He's the talk of the town, though. Many people say he's out to be the Alpha. Many people want him to be the Alpha."
Jun stopped walking. Klein, the Alpha? Ridiculous. "He's not cut out to be the Alpha, Axel. Everyone knows that."
"Yeah, but they see more of him than they do of you. That says something to the Pack. People start to talk when you're cooped up in this house like a guarded princess."
Again, Axel's words borderline treason, but they're merely harmless in Jun's eyes. "I know, and I'm sick of it. I really am," Jun sighs. "My father is doing what's best for me, I know, but it can be a real pain in the ass."
Axel patted Jun on the back lightly. "I'm here for you," he said before disappearing into the shadows once more. Jun could tell where he was though. He could see his retreating form. Jun was a master of shadows, and you couldn't hide from him in them. They were nothing more than a beacon of light leading the Shadow Wolf right to you.
"Thanks Axel," Jun whispered before approaching his father's door where the rogue was being questioned. He met the crimson eyes of a very flustered looking Klein Britanis.