Chapter 2

• It was winter in Boston again and the packs were roaming around the woods. Alpha Lucas was walking behind the pack, some few feet away from Finnigan — the weakest Omega.
• “What are you? A hungry puppy?” Luke growled, pushing Finnigan so he could speed up. “I don't get it, I have never seen a wolf run as low as you do. Even my pups run faster than you do.”
• Finnigan looked down, his nose almost touching the thick snow that covered the ground. Hal, the Beta, stopped running and waited for Finnigan.
• “Right! Keep pacifying his weakness, Hal,” Luke growled at Hal, sneering on the action that he extended towards Finnigan.
• “Come on, we have to patrol the other end to make sure that our territory is safe. We have seen nomad wolves wandering around,” Hal looked at Finnigan's eyes, rubbing his nose against his cheek.
• Lucas was just staring at them, disgusted by the tolerance that Hal had for Finnigan.
• “I don't think my fur is thick enough, I am freezing,” he complained.
• “Maybe if you run faster, your body heat will double. Unfortunately, you are designed to run behind us, because speed is not in your features.” Lucas was usually sarcastic towards Finnigan, and Hal could not do anything about it.
• “Come on, Lucas, he's still young!” He hissed, staring sharply at the Alpha.
• “I was way faster than him when I was his age,” he replied.
• “Because you are an Alpha,” Finnigan uttered, butting in between Hal and Lucas.
• Lucas jumped so high and he landed in front of Finnigan, he pushed him with his nose, and Finnigan lost his balance and fell a few inches on his left side.
• Hal immediately positioned himself in front of Luke, hiding Finnigan behind his back. “This is very unnecessary, Lucas, he is just a boy!”
• Lucas could only answer by taking some deep breaths and by showing his canines. Finnigan was feeling scared already, he was always scared of him. Luke's back arched and his hair hackled, as if showing his dominance.
• “Get up, Finnigan,” Hal ordered him. “Let's go back home!”
• Lucas howled, and then he started lunging away from the two wolves.
• Before Hal and Finnigan made it out of the bushy part of the woods, the two had already transformed into their human form.
• “You are feverish,” Hal noticed, realizing the body temperature of Finnigan and the tremendous shaking of his shoulders.
• “Why does he hate me a lot?” he questioned as they entered their home that was situated along the road.
• “Probably, he is reminded of your father,” Hal replied.
• “Did he also hate my dad?”
• “He envied him,” he mumbled.
• “Why?”
• “You father was the fastest, he had the sharpest canines, and his dominance had cemented his Alpha position when the time came. Unfortunately, he didn't make it before that day came.” His explanations had caused Finnigan to wish that his father was still alive, realizing a better life for him in the pack if his father was still around.
• “Was he jealous of my father?”
• “If that's how it sounds to you, I guess you are right,” he answered.
• “But my father is long gone, and he is the Alpha now! Why does he hate me and still want me to join the patrolling pack?
• “You are 23 now in human age, and that makes you a juvenile in wolf life, Finnigan,” he explained. “Juveniles patrol the territory together with the adults to protect our land.”
• “Protect our territory from who?” he curiously asked.
• “From nomads, from other packs, from human.”
• “Humans, like The Falcons?”
• “Yes, just like them, but there are also humans that hunt Wolves for their own entertainment,” he explained, pushing a bowl of seared meat towards Finnigan.
• “I don't like eating raw meats,” he complained.
• “Can't you see it's cooked, and we only eat raw meat in our wolf form.”
• “I mean, I don't want to be a wolf.”
• Hal looked at him, curling his lips as a sign of disagreement to Finnigan's notion.
• “It's in your blood and in your spirit,” he seriously uttered. “You were born this way, it will never change.”
• “What if I stop transforming?”
• “It's different under the moonlight, I mean during a full moon. You know very well that it's uncontrollable during a full moon.”
• “Yeah,” he agreed with a disapproving look. “At least I only need to transform once a month. I don't like the fact that I have to transform on a daily basis.”
• “Are you aware of how weak and slow you are?”
• “Hell's yeah! Like, I hear that everyday from the other wolves,” he quickly replied.
• “And you are not bothered by it?”
• “I am not, it's Alpha Luke that bothers me the most,” he said in reply.
• “And don't you want to shape up? He might probably like you once you become stronger and faster,’’ he suggested.
• “I don't feel like giving him that satisfaction,” he surely uttered.
• “The only reason that you are not becoming the strong wolf that you can be is because you are not embracing your identity as a wolf,” he narrated, glaring at him eye to eye.
• “I am in my best form when I am human! Hal, I am human!”
• “Your scent says otherwise!” he quipped, trying to lessen the weight of the budding heavy conversation.
• “You complain whenever I splash some perfume,” he replied, bursting into laughter after.
• “I am pretty sure that Lucas will not like it too if you become stronger, he might feel threatened actually.” He narrated while staring outside the window. “Here's the thing, I want you to discover yourself, Finnigan. If you want to live just like a human, then I won't stop you.”
• “Really?” he asked in full excitement.
• “Yes, it's 2024 now, and I don't think the busy cities still keep an eye on us, they consider us a myth. But you have to be careful, and make sure that you keep track of the full moon.”
• “But, where would I go?”
• “Definitely not in the woods,” he quipped again.
• “I want to go to New York!” He exclaimed, widening his eyes and shaking his hands in excitement. “When can I leave?”
• “Whenever you are ready,” he answered.
• “Will you come along?”
• “You know that my position in the pack is very important, but I will track you and try to watch over you from time to time?”
• “How can you do that?”
• “Wolf thing,” he replied, and then moved towards the kitchen to get something from the cabinet.
• “What is that?” Finnigan asked him when he handed him a necklace.
• “That stone will neutralize your scent, so other wolves won't notice your smell. Keep it around you all the time.”
• “Thank you!”
• “Now, get your things ready, and prepare to run before sunrise.”
• “Is this legal?”
• “Huh?” Hal furrowed his brows in confusion. “You are leaving the pack, and it only means you are not coming back. Lucas will not chase after you and put you back here.”
• “I can't come back? But you are all I have!” Finnigan put the necklace back on the table, and he got up to get next to Hal. “I can't do that!”
• “Yes you can! You will!” He snarled, the conviction in his voice filled the place. “Trust me, one day you will return and they can't do anything about it.”
• “I don't understand,” he complained.
• “For now, but soon enough you will!” He tapped his shoulder. “Don't be afraid, your fate has been written and it won't change!”
• “I… don't know..” he stuttered, fears started covering his heart.
• “Take this,” Finnigan handed him some money. “You'll need this! I will know where you are, and I will make sure to still guard and guide you no matter what!”
• “I am afraid,” he breathed, feeling confused.
• “It's just an hour before the sun rises, it's time. Run!”