Three Little Pups

Despite an uneventful journey back after changing cars and clothes at the side house in the suburb, Favian and Richard found themselves craving boring silence instead. There might not be any internet access or reception on the way back from the side house to the main mansion, but at least there weren’t any screaming pups that caused migraines to deal with.

Putting on his best alpha face, Richard got out of the car and frowned at the two troublemakers rolling around in the front yard with tails, ears and claws exposed. The youngest of the litter and most meek pup, Oliver, was nowhere to be seen.

Favian brought all the gifts they received at work inside while Richard walked over to his useless Fenrir ancestor wolf in human form, cheering for more biting action in the brawl.

“That’s right! Don’t hesitate to use your teeth to rip your enemies to shreds! You have a tail, don’t just wave it around uselessly!”

Ambrose Fenrir was currently in his waxing moon phase and was a child of about eight years old in human appearance. The albino child with blue eyes was quite the beauty if he didn’t speak, looking very much like a doll. He had long white lashes, slightly curled white hair that framed his angular face, a high nose bridge and large expressive eyes that changed colours based on his excitement level.

Richard looked at his two older pups battling each other, looking all fluffed up to intimidate each other. Even though he was a failure of a wolf who could not transform, the CEO was still more than capable of prying the two yipping pups apart using the muscles he built in the gym.

“That’s enough,” he told them firmly, not bothering to raise his voice because Favian told him dogs that barked loud didn’t bite as hard as they should.

Still pumped with adrenaline and excitement from the fight, Ludwig and Darren continued to claw at the air, trying their best to reach each other. When their short hands failed to make contact, they started kicking and even using their tails to swipe at each other, howling as they did so.

The Fenrir, who enjoyed training the pups, pouted at his prophecised child’s return. When Richard was younger, he was more fun to bully. Now that he was the alpha of the human world, he was less fun to talk to. Then again, he couldn’t put the blame on this strange wolf. It was Favian’s influence that led the soft-hearted wolf down the wrong path.

“Oh, come on! Things were just starting to be good. I was going to reward the winner with this afternoon’s hunt!” Ambrose complained.

He hopped off the tree and landed lightly on the balls of his feet on the soil, looking very much like a forest spirit as he did so. Ambrose was more animalistic in his waxing phase, even though he looked human. The Gamma wolf ancestor emitted a feral aura, and Richard had to stop himself from taking a step back as the Fenrir walked towards him.

“They’ve played enough. Have you even helped them finish their homework Favian assigned them last night?”

Yawning lazily and giving Richard the stink eye for spoiling his fun, the ancestor wolf waved his hand with disinterest.

“What’s the use of practising how to write runes on pressed barks using a wooden stick? Compared to that boring activity Favian likes, wolves born from the forest should know how to shift and hunt. Who will defend the great forest from enemies if they all turn out like you?”

Although Richard knew that the Fenrir didn’t mean anything bad by that, his words still stung the wolf in him. As the only wolf born under a new moon and not ranked an omega, Richard was an oddity. Originally, he would’ve been ranked a gamma as one of those unclassified wolves who left the pack, roamed as a loner or turned out gay for some reason. However, he was forced to become an alpha because Ambrose needed him to find a Luna to break the curse.

Their ability to shift and return to their origin was very important in the shifter world.

Those who could return to origin quickly and harness the power of nature without much effort were considered alphas. It didn’t matter what phase the moon was in. They could make a complete transformation at will. Naturally, Ambrose was most pleased with alpha as they were the closest to the origin. However, as mana became less dense after the humans rapidly took over the world, they became much rarer.

The next best to natural dominants and leaders were beta wolves. Although they couldn’t transform fully at will, their ability to borrow the power of nature was still a cut above everyone else. Their ability to fully transform was reliant on the moon’s phase, and they were usually gifted with greater intelligence to assist the alpha in ruling the pack. These wolves weren’t naturally submissive, but they appreciated wolves stronger than them to lend their strength for a cause. As a result, betas were greatly respected even among alphas. A capable beta could sometimes take on a lesser alpha and put them in place. They were the voice of reason to the usually hot-headed alphas.

For every other shifter who could transform in parts depending on the phase of the moon, they were known as deltas. Some deltas were stronger than others and could harness more origin power even on a new moon, while others simply couldn’t transform any part of themselves unless it was a full moon. Deltas were wide in variety, and they often mingled among the human society, starting families, chasing their dreams and leading regular lives even if they belonged to a pack. After several generations, the shifter bloodline would thin out if deltas took on a human mate and produced pups. These pups were not recognised by the pack as a shifter as they would have lost all abilities to get in touch with the origin. Half-breeds were usually looked down upon by direct descendants of the Fenrir as they often used their enhanced physical talents for malice.

Lastly, there was the omega of the pack. Usually, this was the weakest shifter who might not be called a shifter. They were born from Ambrose Fenrir’s powers but could not transform or tap into the power of the origin like their blood brothers. The only difference between an omega of a pack and a regular human or half-breeds was their ability to sense and listen to the origin. They might not be able to tap into the powers of origin like their brothers, but they could hear the sounds of nature, talk to animals and share telepathy with those of the same lineage.

Then, there were the gamma shifters who simply couldn’t be categorised because they were too unique. The only case of a gamma wolf for the longest time was Ambrose Fenrir. It went without saying that the ancestor wolf couldn’t be classified in any pack with any hierarchy because he was the patriarch of shifters. However, as the humans started changing the environment, Fenrir’s harvested mana started to alter drastically, creating more unusual pups.

Before humans drilled the earth for metals, there had been no gay pups. However, stranger pups were born after they started tearing down forests and poisoning the air. Gay pups were considered gamma shifters. Some shifters had no desire to return to their origin and preferred to live as humans without animalistic desires to run wild and hunt. Ambrose deemed them gamma wolves as well. These wolves usually didn’t belong to any pack and didn’t feel the need to have any. The moment they were old enough to mingle in the human society, they never returned to the Blue Moon Mansion.

Ambrose wasn’t too sad about parting with these gamma pups. If anything, the ancient wolf god felt happier that he didn’t need to waste his energy raising ungrateful pups who couldn’t understand the ways of the origin. The only thing the ancestor wolf was unhappy about was the continuous drain of mana in his territory. He blamed the humans but could not kill them all as humans were the ones working for many of the benefits he now enjoyed, especially the thing called N*****x.

Instead of retorting the ancestor wolf, Richard let him be. Ambrose had his phases, and his thinking followed that phase. As of now, he was still rather animalistic because the new moon was just over. During the new moon, Ambrose would return to his original wolf form and roam the forest, hunting and guarding it like a true wolf guardian god. Nobody should leave the Blue Moon Mansion at night unless they wanted to be attacked by Ambrose, who couldn’t tell enemy from foe in that state.

The Fenrir went through four phases of transformation. As the ancestor shifter who was the manifestation of origin energy, Ambrose would appear as a wolf on the new moon and grow in stages from a child to a teenager until the new moon, where he assumed the form of a man in his thirties for one night before de-ageing again.

He was most human-like in thinking and behaviour as an adult that made him a reliable sitter during those rare moments. It was up to Richard and Favian to strike a balance between the wolf and human lifestyles for everything else.

Once everyone headed indoors, Richard could smell something delicious coming from the kitchen. Darren and Ludwig quickly forgot about their brawl earlier and salivated, running off towards the smell when Richard let them down. He figured that his capable beta could handle the rowdier boys, so he began a different mission.

Oliver was the youngest shifter born one day after the new moon, much to Ambrose’s chagrin. The pup was the meekest of all three and often the target of Ludwig’s bullying. From the day he was born, he was different even in appearance, resembling a little bit of Ambrose and Richard the most. He had Ambrose's fair skin and blue eyes but Richard’s shade of ash brown hair. The pup was a little slow on the uptake, but he was extremely kind-hearted and gentle to everyone, including the prey he was tasked to hunt. Richard related the most with Oliver as they were rather similar in many ways. He tried to look out for the runt as much as possible and gave Darren a mission to protect Oliver as much as possible in the way Favian protected him when they were younger.

Visiting all his favourite places as a child, Richard finally found Oliver hiding behind a huge flower pot in the backyard. The kid was covered in scratches and mud, a sign of play fights hosted by Ambrose. The scratches were new, and Richard recognised the deep streaks caused by tiny claws. Darren would never hurt Oliver, so this must be Ludwig’s doing.

No wonder Darren bit of a chunk of Ludwig’s fur this afternoon. Richard finally understood what happened even without asking for the full story. Slowly, he knelt down and patted the sniffling child on his head. Oliver didn’t dare show his face and simply buried it further into his knees, curling up into a tiny ball.

“Hey, kid. It’s time for dinner.”

Refusing to budge from his safety corner, Oliver continued to whimper even as Richard enveloped the tiny shifter in one arm. Using his scent to comfort the weakest pup, the alpha wolf didn’t rush Oliver to join the rest of the boys. He felt slightly bad for being unable to live up to the expectations of a worthy pack leader. If he had better leadership and was firmer about the hierarchy within his temporary pack, Ludwig wouldn’t bully Oliver as much just to prove his worth against Darren, who was Ambrose’s favourite pup.

The Fenrir had a very old-fashioned way of educating pups. The idea that the strongest was king was instilled very deeply in the young wolves. The strong had rights to everything while the weak could only put up with injustice. Richard hated it, but he was a weak alpha even with Favian’s support. There were just some chains that couldn’t be broken no matter how much time passed.

In Richard’s eyes, Ambrose was that one figure he would never be able to defy no matter what. It didn’t matter how powerful he became, how charismatic he was as a leader among humans or how much money he earned for the pack. In Ambrose’s eyes, he was just the prophesied wolf fated to help break their clan’s curse and nothing more. The Fenrir did not respect him as a wolf, much less an individual called Richard Taleman.

After patting Oliver’s back for a few minutes, the CEO could hear the sobbing quieten a little. The poor thing stopped shaking for now, and Richard knew it was alright to carry the child back inside. Oliver might still be afraid of Ludwig. While Richard wasn’t the most reliable parental figure in the world, he still had enough authority to instill fear and respect in the boisterous Ludwig to not attack his weaker brother when Richard was present.

“Come on, let’s head inside for dinner. I smelled something good. Favian must have made your favourite grilled chicken.”

Eventually, little Oliver raised his tear-stained face and slowly stretched his arms out for a hug. Who was Richard to deny him anything? Giving in to the pup’s demand for affection, the alpha wolf picked him up effortlessly with both hands and cradled him in one arm. From outside, they could hear Favian’s snarling. Oliver quickly buried his face into Richard’s neck, trembling at the angry snarl.

When Richard entered, he could see that Ambrose had already escaped the lecture session with his food, hiding in the shed outside while he abandoned the two rowdy pups to face Favian’s wrath.

Darren averted his emerald green eyes and looked at the table as Favian snarled at them, barking at their mistakes. The olive-skinned pup was first to notice Oliver’s presence and gave the runt a little wave from under the table. Richard couldn’t help but sigh at how similar Darren was to Favian when he was younger. Despite getting scolded by Ambrose for something he didn’t do, Favian would merely take the blame without resentment to protect Richard. Darren’s dark brown hair resembled Favian’s a lot, and for those who didn’t know better, they might mistake him for the secretary’s biological son instead.

A brown-eyed and blonde-haired pup sulked on the other side of the table. He noticed Oliver’s presence a tad slower than Darren and glared at the runt in Richard’s arms. When Oliver’s blue eyes met Ludwig’s brown eyes, the youngest of the lot hiccuped and quickly clung tighter onto Richard’s collar.

Favian noticed the reaction and quickly smacked the fair-skinned bully of the trio with his wooden spatula. The resounded smack made Richard wince as Ludwig yelped, trying to hold back tears of pain. Favian’s glare was everything it took to make those wolf ears droop as Ludwig tucked his tail below the chair.

Carefully, Richard let Oliver down and settled him beside the more favourable batch brother. He saw grilled chicken on the menu and gave his youngest pup an encouraging smile.

When the whole family was gathered, the beta wolf finally paused his lecture. The two troublemakers wouldn’t cause any problems for a while as long as one of the adults, excluding their unreliable ancestor, were present. Everyone bowed their heads as Richard started the prayer following the usual dinner ritual.

“We thank the Origin for providing us with food that we hunt. Please bless the lives that have returned to the cycle as they nourish our bodies, minds and souls in the name of our ancestor guardian, the Fenrir.”

After the short prayer, all three pups dug in ravenously. It wasn’t surprising how they were starving after a day of running about in the forest. None of them had lunch yet because Fenrir insisted on making them hunt for lunch. Ludwig and Darren managed to hunt a rabbit each, but got into a brawl over a squirrel before eating it.

Richard frowned at the horrible dining manners the two older boys had. While most children of their age ate messily, these pups were simply tearing meat up with their claws without even touching the tableware. The alpha wolf glanced over to his beta, who simply ignored everything that happened beside him. It was easier to clean the mess after dinner and scold them for their behaviour after the bath than educate them about proper eating manners.

On the same wavelength, Richard did his best to ignore the chaos around him. Instead, he paid more attention to Oliver, who struggled to use a knife because he was the only pup who couldn’t transform into anything unless there was a full moon.

Seeing how little Oliver struggled with hands, knife and baby teeth, Richard cut the chicken into bite sizes so that the pup could eat it quickly without his brothers stealing his food.

Gazing gratefully at his father figure, Oliver stuffed as many pieces of chicken as he could in his mouth until his cheeks puffed up like a hamster.

“Slow down. I’ll make sure they don’t steal your food.”

Hearing the reassurance, Oliver ate up, and Richard watched over the youngest pup’s plate. Seeing that the alpha was distracted, Ludwig eyed the meat on Richard’s plate and was about to steal it when he felt another smack to the back of his head. This time, it wasn’t the wooden spatula. Instead, it was a random coaster.

“Don’t even think about it,” Favian snarled, and Ludwig quickly glued his eyes to his plate.

The rest of their dinner proceeded in a similar fashion as the adults kept a watchful eye on all three kids, doing their best not to cringe at the increasing mess.