“Of course, you deserve one, boyo. But it’s not in my place to do that.” Helldog said frankly. “The Alpha has the right to do that. And if you looked around you………”he spread his thin hands. “There’s no Alpha around here,” he was enjoying all of this, but his expressionless face showed nothing of what was going on in his head. “Only if there was an Alpha, granting you a reward would have been a lot easier, I mean a lot!” he gave the boy another wolfish grin.
“Who says? You are the next in line after Jack right? You are the Alpha!”
Helldog stiffened, holding his breath. He instantly filed Amwolf away into the list of his loyalists. The boy had touched a topic that had been hanging on a hook, gnawing at them all: The topic of who the next Alpha is going to be?. Of course, Helldog knew he was unquestionably the next Alpha. But when it come to politics, and power is within your grasp, no matter how hungry you are for it, sometimes you’ve got to act the fool…..play the humble card, letting people fight on your behalf to get it for you. That’s exactly what Helldog was doing. Already he could hear some murmurs going around the camp and he knew they were all beefing about who the next Alpha would be.
“You are our next Alpha.” The boy went on, oblivious to the commotion around him. “And I believe you should start acting like one,”
“Shut your mouth, boy,” Valko snapped. “It’s not your place to decide who’s Alpha or not,”
Amwolf’s eyes grew round.
“What? You mean still wanna contest this? This is no contest, bruh! Helldog’s next in line. He’s the lieutenant. Jack is dead and gone. Who’s next after Jack? Helldog! Do I need to school you, sir?” he jeered.
Valko’s face twisted with hatred and anger. He got to his feet, his fist clenched, sputtering curses from his mouth, and began to move towards Amwolf.
Helldog planted himself in his front.
“Lay off! He’s just a kid,”
“You gonna allow this young runt to talk to me that way?” Valko glowered at Helldog.
Helldog said nothing, but the message in his eyes was clear. Valko marched back to his seat, his face red with fury.
Lexi got to her feet. She looked around the camp.
“I think Amwolf here has touched a topic that needs urgent attention. Jack here would have wanted another man to take his place so as to keep the camp going. Of course, following due process, Helldog is the next Alpha. But if Jack were to be here, sorry to say, I believe it can’t be you, Helldog,'' She looked at Helldog. He shot Lexi a cold look, a blazing hatred surging through him. She went on, unperturbed. “The only name that comes to mind is Victor,” She pointed at Victor, who was sitting like a statue where he was. Everyone in the pack turned their eyes on him. “Yes, Victor. Jack had said it openly here and even offered his bride.” Her eyes went to Safiya, who still had that vacant, bleak look in her eyes. Lexi continued. “Victor had fought with Caesar and survived. Also everyone here knows that Victor had really tried for this pack as a Delta-lieutenant before he was banished and replaced by Helldog. I believe Victor deserves to be the Alpha,”
“If you want Victor to be Alpha, fine! But my Alpha his Helldog,” Amwolf seethed out.
Razor goes to his feet. He regarded Helldog, an evil glint in his eyes.
“Let’s cast a vote then. I think that would save us time,” he suggested.
Helldog opened his mouth to refute this, thought better of it and shut his mouth. But he glared at Razor murderously. He knew the man was still nursing a grudge since the day he had nearly killed him. A cast of votes coordinated by Razor began. The vote lasted a minute. Victor lost to Helldog with just only one vote. It was the vote of Amwolf.
A man from the pack stood and went to Helldog, he grabbed his arm and raised it.
“Here’s our new Alpha, people! He screamed, his voice resounding around the camp. The new Alpha of the blood river pack is Helldog.”
The whole pack members went on their knees immediately to pay their respect and homage. Victor, knowing he wasn’t part of the pack, didn’t join them, he looked on, his face expressionless.
“Arise, my fellow wolves,” Helldog said, his voice filled with merriment. They all got to their feet and sat on the logs. He turned his face to Victor. “Do you really think you could beat me?”
Victor scoffed and got to his feet. He came over to where Helldog was and stood before him.
“It was good while it lasted, brother. I only came here to pay my last respect to Jack. He was a good man.” He smiled, but it didn’t not reach his eyes. “Good luck brother. You are the Alpha now, act like one.” and as he turned to go, Helldog caught hold of his arm.
“Jack wanted you here!” He said in a low, guttural voice. “But I don’t want you here. Next time I see you here, I’ll kill you myself,”
Victor shook his hand off impatiently.
“You do what you have to do brother,” he said and stalked off into the stiffening darkness.
Helldog watched him go and turned to his pack members. He screamed; “This calls for celebration, people! Tomorrow we feast!” A loud nose of howls went around the whole camp. He turned his head slowly to look at Safiya where she sat. She still had that dead, empty look in her eyes. They both regarded each other coldly. He ran his lips over his tongue, and he smiled, a cold vicious smile.
*******************
Safiya was painting her nails when Helldog slipped into the room. She had put on a red, see-through nightdress. She jerked around on the chair, seeing his face in the big mirror.
“What do you want?” She said, getting to her feet.
Helldog’s mouth went dry with sexual desire. Through her thin nightdress, he could see the points of her small breasts, the sturdy thickness of her thighs, and the dark hollow between her legs. He stared at her hungrily.
Safiya’s mouth tightened when she noticed the way he was looking at her with a starved intensity.
“Won’t you talk?” She snapped.
Moving like a jungle cat, he came around the bed and reached for her. She skipped away, her eyes cold and hard.
“What’s all these?” She said curtly. “Please leave,”
“C’mon Safiya, that ain’t the way to talk to your Alpha,” Helldog said, moving slowly towards her. “You know you can’t deny your Alpha his rights,” he moistened his lips with his tongue, his eyes leering at her. “I don’t wanna make this rough for both of us, baby, see. Let’s do this nice and slow. You know, like lovers do. I bet you don’t wanna start anything stupid,” He trailed his fingers on her arm.
His hand felt thin and scaly on her skin, goose bumps from irritation breaking out on her body. Safiya moved away from him, her eyes cold as cold as ice.
“If you don’t leave now, I’m gonna scream,” she said through locked teeth. “I’m not your bride yet. Do I have to spell that out for you?”
“Aw, c’mon, don’t be like that,” he said feverishly, sweats rolling down his thin face, and he moved closer to her. “I know the whole ceremony is tomorrow. But we can’t start something now you know, I’ll fuck you real good, baby. You’ll gonna like it, I bet you would.” he knew he was talking too much, but he doesn’t even care. It was her nakedness……her nakedness was driving him stupid.
She stood there, shivering with fury. She could smell his stale breath, feel his lust for her, and sense the savagery in him, and it all made her sick. She pointed to the door, with a long, slim finger.
“Out now, you smelling fool!”’
The hungry sexual desire went out of his face. A sudden viciousness appeared, and to her he looked like a deadly, wild animal, and she stepped back from him, startled with fright.
“You fucking bitch,” he said, his voice strangled. “You dare call me a fool! If not for the fact that I wanna make you my bride, I would have broken your pretty, little neck,” he grabbed the front of her nightgown, twisted it in his fist, and jerked her to him. She opened her mouth to scream, but his free hand, like a monkey wrench, clamped her cheeks, nipping the cry back. “By tomorrow night, you shall be my bride,” his breath fanned her face and she wrinkled her face in disgust. “You had better get used to the idea now, cause what am going to do to you would even make Jack turn over in his grave,” he took his hand off her mouth, and grabbed her breast, squeezing the small mound wickedly. She struck at him wildly, but his arm was too long. He held her away from him.
“Jack spoiled you rotten!” He said stiffly. “I will correct that! One way or the other you will learn, and you’ll surely learn the hard way,” his voice took a dangerous note. “Been watching you for some time! you deserve some whooping for having this big mouth of yours! By God, you will get some,” and he gave a hard smack across her face with his open hand, at the same time releasing his grip on her nightdress. She violently landed on the bed, flat on her back, her face red with pain.
“Yeah, that’s more like it,” he looked her over in distaste, and left the room as quietly as he had come.
Safiya scrambled off the bed, half insane with rage. She stared at the closed door, then held out her hands before her and strangled the air. Then her grip loosened into fingers and she could still feel the tingling sensation of the slap. Shuddering with fury, she dashed into the bathroom. She turned on the sink basin tap. Bending down, so that her face was right in the basin, she splashed some water on her face. Satisfied, she raised her head, and stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror for a long moment. All of sudden, her lips curved into a slow smile……..an evil smile.
Fool! All of them, fools! She had played them. She had played them all. She had fixed Jack. Dear stupid, Jack! How she had played him so good he didn’t see her coming. The way she did was too good to be true, but she did it all the same. No one would believe how she did it……..no one!
She turned her mind to Helldog. She laughed to herself when she thought of him and how mad he would be when it was time for her to be betrothed to him and he discovered she could not be found. The ugly wolf would walk up the wall with anger, yeah, he. would definitely do that. She laughed to herself again and turned her mind to the secret she had kept from everyone. For some time, she had been nursing this secret…a dark, scandalous secret that could make her a formidable threat amongst the pack and get her killed; she was madly in love with Caesar Davenport. Now that Jack was dead, it was time to seek out Caesar. It was time to find him. Tonight, she would go to him. It’s high time they met. The wait has been too long. Caesar! Caesar! the name rang in her head, making her heartbeat go like a clock. She stood quite still in the bathroom, holding her small breasts, her eyes half closed, thinking of Caesar …..thinking of a man who absolutely had no idea of her existence.