Against Two Prominent Rules

Ulo

I daubed at my eyes, hoping that no one would be able to see the height of my humiliation. Crying? Seriously? I wished I could punch the living daylights out of my own body.

"Yo, bud. You're okay?" Jamil came rushing over.

"I'm fine." I snapped not feeling up to the task of dealing with Mr perfect at the moment. "Let's go." I continued, still daubing at my eyes and hoping it would be gone before we reached the palace. It would be really embarrassing to appear before the council looking all weepy.

The entire way to the palace, I kept thinking of all the ways in which I could start up a conversation with Blaire and clear the air within us but it all ended up starting and ending within me. Then there was Jamil too who was only trying to help while I kept shutting him down. All of these were really starting to give me a headache so I was relieved when we appeared before the council and were asked to give our reports.

We reported what we had seen and then watched as the council exchanged glances.

"Who do you think this is?" Elder Beta asked his other companions. Today, the full council was in attendance. Seven people in total. People who I was supposed to know but of course do not know. The council started to speak in low tones.

"You think they were sent by the Light Crest Claws Pack? They have a grudge against us." An elderly woman with long white hair suggested.

"They are not the only ones. It could have been anyone. We can't simply point fingers or we might very well be inviting war with our own hands." Another of the elders, a man replied.

"But Light Crest Claws Pack has it out for us the most. The man referred to Beta Green not being a good leader, no offense." The woman replied.

"As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about that." The Beta started, stroking his jaw like he usually did when he was deep in thought. "The boy is of age, isn't he? It is about time..." He paused, looking toward our direction like he suddenly recalled that we had not been dismissed just yet. Then he did just that. "You are dismissed."

As we left the palace, I thought about what we had heard. It wasn't much but what we had heard was enough to know that the pack was about to undergo a change in leadership. But the Beta had mentioned he? I wondered if he was referring to Indrik or Leon. I hated it but I couldn't shake the feeling that he had not been thinking about Indrik when he had been speaking.

Speaking of the two, I wondered where they had gone off to. I hadn't seen either of them in what seemed like ages now. While there was no love lost between me and Leon, it was still strange to spend a single day without running into him not to speak of days on end.

"When did you last see Indrik?" I asked, without looking thinking that Jamil had been walking beside me but I was terrified to see that I had just spoken to Blaire. I half expected her to give me a rude reply but instead she smiled weakly. I noted that she looked much better than she had this morning. "I haven't seen him since last evening." I had heard that news about three times now and was certain that she was already growing tired of repeating herself but I was still glad that she answered me. And because I was not a person who was inclined to expressions, I took that as an apology and we were as good as new in my books. Strange? Yeah! That is my department.

"You heard what Beta Green said about the boy being of age?" Jamil asked to which the both of us nodded as we looked toward him. "Anyone think he was referring to Indrik?"

None of us replied but the answer was pretty evident in our expressions. I figured they shared my sentiment about Leon being leader. He would totally suck at being a leader. The mere thought of having to address Leon as Alpha was enough to make me recoil.

"It would be unfair for them to skip over Indrik. He is still the first son of the Alpha." Blaire blurted. While we all agreed on that, we also knew that fair had never really been a word in Indrik's book. All his life, he had only ever been dealt unfair cards so it would be ridiculous to start clamouring for a fair card now.

"I think we really should stop jumping to conclusions. Who knows, maybe they were referring to something else, like Ulo becoming the next Beta." Jamil winked at me while I glared at him. I couldn't even imagine that. Oh, the horrors.

"Leon would be a terrible leader." Blaire cried.

"Definitely. He would burn down this pack in a day and a half." Jamil agreed.

"And probably send all of us packing in the remaining half of the second day." Jamil and Blaire stared at me incredulously like I had suddenly transformed into Leon. I blushed as I realized what I had done. I had just actively participated in a conversation. That went against two of my most prominent nonbreakable rules which read: 1) Ulo must remain quiet at all times.

2) Never should Ulo call attention to himself.

"Is there anything we can do to avert this calamity?" Blaire asked, looking from me to Jamil. I didn't think there was much we could do but I was definitely glad to once again not be the center of attention.

"Not sure we have much power but Indrik might. You think we should tell him?" That was Jamil.

"No!" Blaire shook her head emphatically.

"Where is Indrik by the way?" Jamil asked then seemed to realize that he had made a mistake as he bit his lip. But really though, where was Indrik?