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Chapter 4

  • Alpha Isaac
  • "Fights aren't won merely by strength. There's a lot about winning wars that depend on fear."
  • I paced around the room, enraged at the news I'd just received. Two of the neighbouring Packs had dared to challenge the AirPack. It was something strange. Everyone was always afraid of my Pack. They were all afraid of me.
  • "What do you have to do, Alpha?" Martin asked.
  • Martin was my Beta. I had selected him to be my Beta after the death of Stan, my best friend, who died in the battle that took the life of my father some years ago. It was he, who was supposed to be my Beta. There was no one else qualified to have that role. I wanted to be the first Alpha to be without a Beta, but the elders thought differently.
  • I was told that I was never going to be crowned as the Alpha until I chose a Beta. It stung my ears like a bee. I was being told to do what I didn't want to. I, Isaac, the terror of all that had breath in them. It was a slap to my face.
  • I had to do as I was told. I went for Martin because he was Stan's cousin. He was nothing like Stan. I felt insulted being beside him sometimes. Yet, I couldn't deny that there was no better choice. His counsel was always the best around and even though it was nothing to mine, it always helped me think of something Beta.
  • About the elder that told me to pick a Beta. He was the first wolf I executed upon my coronation as the Alpha. I used him to set an example of how not to ever threaten your Alpha under any circumstances. Or your Alpha to be.
  • "What we need to do is to give them something to think about," I said, still pacing around, making sure to make the sound of my slippers heard as I walked.
  • "Should we attack them? Should we declare a battle against both Packs?"
  • "What do you think?" I asked.
  • "I think that'll be suicide." I could see him bow his head a bit. He was probably unsure if his response was appropriate. I could see the fear in his eyes. It was almost as if I could touch it. I loved it so much.
  • "Correct, Martin. That's why we wouldn't be doing that," I uttered, bringing some relief to him as he gradually began to breathe normally. "What has kept all the neighbouring Packs in check all these years is fear. That's how you win a battle even before lifting a finger or a sword. We need to make them fear us once again. The near successful attack by the rogues has sent a signal to the Packs that they do stand a chance."
  • "How do we make them fear, Alpha?" Martin asked.
  • I walked to him, with my face frowned as though I picked an offence with the question. I didn't. I just wanted to give him that impression. As I got to him, I placed my right hand on the table in front of him. "Get up!" I screamed at him, sending chills to his spine with my loud husky voice.
  • He immediately jumped out of his seat and his whole body began to quiver. I placed my left hand on his shoulder and brought my face to his ears. "Why are you afraid?" I asked.
  • "I… I don't know, my Alpha," he stuttered as I drew my head back and gave him a pat on the back.
  • "Exactly. People do not need a reason to fear," I said to him. "They just need to fear. People will always be more afraid of what they don't know, than what they know. We need to do things we've never done before."
  • I saw Martin take some deep, long breaths. He needed it. It wasn't a small thing to have me on his face like that. He had seen the things that I could do. He had seen how many lives I had taken like they were nothing, just because they said something I didn't want to hear. That was the thing that kept him and everyone else in check; the fear of what might happen. Yet, nothing mostly happened. I couldn't kill everyone around me, especially the ones I did trust. I'd have no one to rule. Yet, they were all afraid. They were too scared to think.
  • It was the same with the neighbouring Packs. I had to make them fear again like they used to. It was the fear of what would happen to them that kept them at bay. Now, they felt they could stand a chance and I had to get that off their little brains very quickly and I knew just how to do it.
  • "We are going to encroach into their territories, uninformed, and claim them to be ours." I saw Martin's eyes grow wide and I could tell he was surprised. "We're going to push the boundaries of our borders into enemy territory, killing anyone who dared stand in our way and we'll place our guards there."
  • I needed to send a message to the Packs. They had to understand that we were to be feared, not challenged. If we declared war, they'll most likely be expecting that, but this was certainly going to be unexpected. This sort of move could only be thought about by someone certain about his power over you. That was the statement I wanted to make. Yet, I knew I couldn't make it without a proper strategy, lest they choose to retaliate and we'll be in trouble.
  • "Alpha, what would we do if they tried to fight back?"
  • "They won't. We won't let them strike back. We'll slay everyone there before they'll even know it." I walked to my throne and sat, scratching my head a little as I thought about my next move. I couldn't believe how smart I was. The goddess had indeed blessed me with great wisdom.
  • "We're going to send in our shadow warriors. They'll wear leaves to blend in with the environment. The archers would climb the trees around the area, dressed in leaves too. There should be no mistakes. That way, we'll be able to finish off any wolf who manages to escape from the shadow warriors. We don't need any survivors. There should be no one to tell the story. That way, they'll only hear what the rumours say. We'll be the bearers of the rumours."
  • A huge grin appeared on Martin's face. He was quite impressed by my plan. Who wouldn't? It was a master plan. Yet, something was missing and I hoped he'd mention it.
  • "Yet, Alpha," he said. "Chance is never a trusted ally to a fighter. If we must win, nothing should be left in the hands of chance."
  • "You're very right, Martin. This is why I love to have you by my side, despite your obvious shortcomings." That was a compliment. I expected him to take it that way but he didn't. The smile on his face slowly wore out and threatened to appear again at some point. It was a sign that he didn't know what to think of what I just said. "We're going to make sure that the thought of fighting back will not cross their minds before we attack them and this is how we'll do it."
  • I came down from my throne and walked to a drawer by the left side of the room where very important books were stored and I took out a plain sheet of paper and a pencil and walked to the centre table. I placed the paper on the table and began to draw a plan.
  • "See, our pack is at the centre of many packs, so we're at a disadvantage geographically. Yet, we must use that as a strength. We can decide to encroach into the territories of so many packs if we wanted to. We have to be prepared for retaliation too. That's where this second plan comes in."
  • Martin listened with keenness, nodding as many times as he could, to make sure I could tell he was listening to me. It wasn't a nice idea for anyone to not pay attention to me.
  • "To instil fear, we're going to recruit a lot more into the army. We need more warriors in the pack and we must get them. The more our number, the more the Packs around would fear us. Do you know what's going to be better than recruiting more warriors?" I asked.
  • He shook his head, just as I expected and I went on. "How we'll recruit them. We need to show ruthlessness in the way we do things. We must pass a message that we don't just have a lot of warriors, but we also have no cowards amongst us. Send a message to the chief warrior. We need to recruit all male wolves who just clocked 20 to 21 years. Any wolf who refuses would be severely punished or hanged. Leave out the weak ones, but make sure that they show courage or else they'll be dealt with. This will pass a strong message to everyone around us that in this pack, we show no mercy. They'll understand that they can expect the same from us."
  • I wrapped up the paper and handed it over to Martin who quickly stood and walked across to the mini library where he dropped it.
  • "We're going to dominate the area. No Pack will be able to withstand us and as long as I live, I'll vanquish every single rogue until there's none left…"
  • I was interrupted by a knock on the door and I wondered who it was that dared show up in my sitting room uninvited. "Open up," I said as a huge bare-chested man hastily walked into the room