Doom of an alpha.

He was outside again, with the net in his hands. It was a bit awkward as a wolf hunting for grasshoppers, but to him, it was merely a hobby.

Although, he had to admit that it was a strange hobby, not one worthy of being looked down soon as he regularly was. Now, it was nighttime again, and he had gone out with his traps, ready to begin his work.

As he began to set the traps around, his mind drifted to the girl locked in his room. She was now sleeping, and the last time he had seen her, she was muttering to herself. That time, he had come to drop the plate of food at the door and had not even set a foot inside to know what she was muttering about. In fact, he had not set a foot into the room ever since that incident that took place barely twelve hours ago.

She had a strange power, he knew. One that was erratic and uncontrollable, he realized, by how the looks of the furnace had been after she was done with it.

He recalled briefly, how the fire was so hot that he began sweating profusely in the room. He also remembered her screams at him, the way she assumed he had abducted her, and how she proceeded to use the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ method to neutralize him, who she thought of as her enemy.

She was skilled in combat, at least a little. She clearly had undergone training, the wolf thought as he continued to wade slowly through.

If she were any other girl, he would have sent her away, with all the barrage of questions and mostly accusations she had piled on top of him.

But now, as his mind was even clearer, he had to somewhat admit that the girl sounded mostly scared instead of defiant and looking for a fight.

Something had to have happened, he realized.

The idea of that was there, and he knew that it had to have contributed to her powers behaving erratically.

It was frustrating for him.

He sighed lowly, to not scare off his prey. Of all the situations that had to land on him right then, that was the worst. Now, he had to unwittingly play host to her after she nearly burnt his damn house down, and she had not even for once, acted grateful for his efforts in even saving her sorry arse.

The wolf shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts that now bothered him.

Damned soft heart, he cursed himself.

The process of his pleasure-hunting continued.

When he had amassed such several grasshoppers that he could call it a day – or night – he then hoisted the bag that contained his traps over his shoulder and began walking back to his place.

No sooner had he reached the edge of his grounds, than he caught a whiff of a scent, and he immediately recognized it.

Darius, let a small grin come to his face, as he approached his house and spotted Darius standing just in front of his door.

“Darius,” he caught his friend’s attention and waved at him.

His friend waved back and waited for him to approach his house, and the bag he still carried on his shoulder made some small sounds as they swayed.

Once he got to his front porch, he paused, turning to Darius and realizing that they could not speak in his home. What if that girl woke up? Even worse, what if something set her off and her powers react to it?

Without any other thought, he quickly waved Darius aside, before opening his front door and saying, “I’ll be right out. Hold on,” while he went to drop his bag of tools, and pick up two bottles of beers – his friend’s favorite – quickly moving out of the house.

His ears were cocked to hear a minute sound from the room in which the insufferable girl was in, and did not hear a thing. Perhaps she was still sleeping, he thought as he slowly began to relax.

The sun had only just begun to rise, after all.

Therefore, instead of going out on a long walk as he intended, he simply took Darius a few feet away from his house.

The two men simultaneously opened their beer bottles, and the scent of barley filled the air. He took a swig from his bottle, watching Darius do the same.

They were quiet for a moment, watching the sunrise over the horizon.

Then, Darius finally broke the silence, getting right to the point, “The Alpha is dead.”

The news shocked him so much that he whipped his head to stare at his friend with wide eyes.

“What? When? And how did that happen?”

“It happened all of a sudden, man.” Darius took another swig of this beer, before turning to meet his friend’s eyes. “One morning, the Alpha was found in his bed, unable to wake up. He was alive, though and there was a lot of hush-hush about it, so as not to worry everyone. But everyone knows that it was definitely murder,” he took another swig, finishing his beer.

He stared at Darius, the gears turning in his eyes once more.

So, the unruly alpha had finally met his end. But first…

“You said he was still alive then,” he queried Darius. “What happened afterward?”

“He looked strange like his soul was gone. I saw him, and there was definitely no light behind his eyes. I thought that even as he was alive, I was looking at an empty husk,” Darius shook his head, his mind clearly replaying what he had seen before. “I cannot say when he died, but everyone says that it was just a matter of time. He didn’t look alive at all. He just looked empty. They did try to resuscitate him, though. Didn’t work, but they did try.”

He nodded, his mind still in shock.

The realization of what this implied suddenly hit him. He had to reclaim his throne, then. Finally.

But how?