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Axel

Thirty years ago, the Blood Venom pack made its first appearance in the world. Alpha Theodore Langston made all of the werewolf leaders and elders kneel before his feet, making him the strongest of them all.

With his reign, the werewolf world was consumed in nothing but catastrophe and war, and many innocent lives were taken in the process. Life was covered in darkness, and werewolves started losing hope.

Then one day, when death and demolition showed no signs of slowing down, a powerful Alpha stepped forward to end the destruction brought by the Blood Venom pack. With his great strength and skills, he was able to kill Alpha Theodore and bring peace to the werewolf world once again.

The courageous man is none other than Greggory Steele, the Alpha of the Silver Raven pack, and my father. We quickly became one of the most powerful packs in the entire world, and everyone respected our clan.

I still remember that day— the day when we finally triumphed in the Blood War.

“When is dad coming back?” My 8-year-old self asked whilst trembling from the cold and biting wind. We didn’t have a house, just a few scraps of metal and wood pieced up together by rusty nails and frail rope.

We were lucky, though. Most of the wolves these days didn’t have any shelter, some of them just dying from the harsh environmental conditions.

My thin and sickly mother closed the plastic curtains when she saw me trembling from the wind. She walked to where I was and held me in her arms.

“He’s coming back soon, Axel,” she said while rubbing my arms.

Just then, my stomach grumbled in the cold and silent night.

My mother turned to me with a smile. “Are you hungry?”

I shook my head. I know that we had already eaten all our rations for the month, so I didn’t bother making a fuss. Each month, the werewolf government would give out some grains and vegetables for each family. Since the Blood Venom pack hogged almost all of the lands and resources, food and supplies were scarce in all the other packs. We’re lucky if we even get any meat for each month.

My words betrayed me, however, when my stomach grumbled even louder than before. My mother chuckled and looked at me endearingly. “You should tell me when you’re hungry.” She fumbled to get something out of her pocket, and I heard the crinkles of plastic. I waited in anticipation as she brought out a colorfully-wrapped candy out of her pocket.

My eyes widened in surprise, and I looked at the sweet treat in delight. “Is that candy, mom? Where did you get it?” I asked excitedly.

She smiled while unwrapping the candy and placing it on my waiting palm. “Your father brought some home from his last trip. I decided to keep it for when our food ran out.”

I looked at the small piece of candy in amazement and decided to split it in half. I placed the other half of the candy inside its wrapper once again and tightly held it in my palm.

“Why aren’t you eating it all?” She asked, confused.

“I want to eat it once more tomorrow,” I innocently said.

She ruffled my hair. “When your dad comes back, he’s going to give you lots and lots of candy, okay? Then, you wouldn’t have to split your candies anymore.”

Suddenly, we heard the screams of our pack members from outside of our beat-up house.

“The Alpha has returned! Rejoice!” One of them shouted. My eyes widened in excitement with the thought that my dad had finally come home.

My mother, who was usually calm, also stood up from her seat and tapped her foot on the ground in excitement. We were about to go out of the house, but we were already greeted with my father’s muscular figure before we could even open the door.

“Dad!” I exclaimed, hugging his thighs.

“Axel,” he said, kneeling down to my level. He ruffled my hair and kissed my forehead. “Were you a good boy? Did you take care of your mother?”

I nodded my head. “Yes, dad! Some bandits tried to steal our food one time, but I was able to hit them with your bow and arrow.”

He chuckled. “That’s great! You’re finally a big boy now.”

He then stood up and looked at my mother with affectionate eyes. “Aerin,” he uttered and opened his arms. My mother jumped into his arms, and I watched as my parents embraced.

“Did you win? Is it finally over?” My mother asked, worriedness evident in her voice.

My father broke away from their hug and slowly nodded his head. “Yes. We won. It’s finally over.”

My mother squealed in delight as she jumped into my father’s arms once again. My father twirled her around, her skirt flowing against the wind.

I clapped my hands as a sign of celebration. I don’t know much about the war, but knowing that my father had won, I felt happy.

“Are you not going to war anymore, dad?” I looked up to him with hopeful eyes.

He turned to me with a bright smile and teary eyes. “Yes, Axel. Dad will stay here for a long time now. I’ll also build you a big house and feed you all of the food that you see only in books and television.”

“Can you also buy me a car?” I excitedly asked.

He chuckled. “I’ll buy you everything that you want.”

Just then, I noticed another presence standing in our doorway. My gaze shifted to the small boy, about my age, clad in fancy clothes and accessories.

“Who’s this, dad?” I asked, observing the boy that looked to be from the rich lands.

My mother also glanced at the boy, then looked at my father with inquiring eyes. My dad cleared his throat and wiped his sweaty palms on his worn-out trousers. He went over to the boy and gently led him inside our house.

“Axel, I want you to meet Logan. He’s going to be your brother from now on,” he said, coaxing me to shake hands with Logan.

“Umm, hi,” I warily said, extending my hands towards him.

He simply looked at my hand and did not respond. I retreated my hand and looked down in disappointment.

“Greggory. Can I talk to you privately?” My mom said, holding onto my dad’s arm.

Dad let out a sigh and let himself be guided by my mom. I frowned as I watched their retreating figures. Why would they leave me with this boy who appeared like he didn’t like me?

Since the walls of our house were so thin, I could hear my parent’s argument.

“Why did you take him home?” My mom exasperatedly asked.

“He’s a kid, Aerin. I just can’t kill him,” my dad responded.

“You know that he’s not just a kid, Greggory. He’s the son of Theodore Langston. He has our enemy’s blood running through his body,” my mom argued.

“Nonetheless, he’s an innocent child. I couldn’t just kill him or leave him be. He’s the same age as Axel, so they could even be great friends.”

After that, our house was covered in silence. I awkwardly looked at Logan, observing his cool clothes, so different from mine.

“They hate me,” he suddenly said.

I snapped my eyes to his sullen face. “What? Who hates you?”

“Your parents hate me,” he said dejectedly.

I shook my head and went closer to him. “They don’t hate you. My dad even came back here with you. That means he really likes you,” I said, comforting him.

He sniffed. “But they don’t want me here.”

I sighed and looked into his sad eyes. I retrieved the wrapper that contained half a candy from my pocket and placed it onto his palm.

“Don’t be sad. I want you here. I’ve always wanted a brother,” I said with a smile.

He looked up at me with hopeful eyes. “Really?”

I enthusiastically nodded my head. “Really,” I affirmed.

He finally smiled. “What’s your name?” He asked.

“My name's Axel, and from now on, we're going to be brothers!”