A Pine in the Wind

The fire brought warmth, but the cold eyes of the council pierced him like the biting winter winds. Rayne did not want to be this far from the colony, but the privacy of the issue required it. He hunched his shoulders and lowered his ears in respect and humility, anxious over his secret now revealed. If anyone could help, the elders could, but their stares around the dancing flames shook his resolve.

The gray-coated Amaya addressed him. “All in the colony had high hopes for you, but the ways of our people are clear on how shifters will be treated. Rayne, you will-” She choked on her words, and whined as she looked away.

Rahg raised his head and spoke. “Your potential in any clan is dismissed. You may stay with the colony, or you may leave. The choice is yours.”

As often was the case, Rahg oversimplified the issue. Leaving the colony would be abandoning their way of life and choosing to follow his own path, alone. That was the Coyote way. Staying with the colony would force Rayne into the Omega clan, the lowest clan in the colony, little more than drudges. In either case, from this point on they would see him only with contempt.

“So, I must choose exile or shame, because of my ability to shift into wolf form.”

Rahg growled a warning.

Quure raised his nose in the air. “Shifting to wolf or human form does not matter, only that you can. You are unhinged in your existence, and therefore deficient in the Earthlife.”

“Yet he was born one of us, not bitten.” Shaman’s voice was low, resolute.

“Save us your need for argument, Shaman. As Amaya said, the way is clear.”

Amaya stood on all fours. “Need your heart beat so cold, Quure? Rayne has been a pillar in our colony; he does not deserve this fate. Do you feel nothing?”

Quure stood and faced her. “I feel betrayed! Shifters are treacherous. They become something they are not. Now our most promising student reveals he can shift. You say he does not deserve this fate? He can deceive all whom he meets with his appearance! He is as untrustworthy as the rest.”

A low groan of disagreement issued from Shaman’s throat. “Then why does Rayne bring this before us, of his own accord?”

Quure turned to Shaman, smugness wrinkling his muzzle. “Fear.”

Shaman hung his head, and then met Quure’s amber eyes. “Sometimes it is better to let the prey escape than lose your fangs in holding it.”

“Enough.” Gorra finally spoke. She was so quiet that Rayne almost forgot her presence. “You make your point, Shaman. Rayne shows great integrity in revealing this to us, but he must still choose.” She turned to Rayne. “Will you be placed with the Omegas, or will you follow your own way?”

Rayne could not meet her eyes. Banishment or subjugation–neither held any future compared to his potential mere moments ago. Apparently, Amaya realized his thoughts.

“Your brow weighs heavy, Rayne. We understand. Consider your choice, but do not take long. You must make your choice in the light of this fire, before we return to the colony.”

Most of the elders stood and left the fire’s warmth, their seasonal coats of fur protecting them from the cold. But Shaman stayed, eyes dark brown in a mask of faded gray fur, yet now reflecting the firelight as a pale green glow.

“You meet your demons with resilience.”

Rayne hunched. “I face my doom. Does it matter how I face it?”

Shaman nodded. “If you were about to die, perhaps not. But you are going to live, and as you live, you make a difference for everyone around you.”

Rayne lowered his ears, and his head. “I do not understand.”

“You have met every clan’s skill with great aptitude. You face every trial successfully. No one denies your potential. You will be Alpha.”

Rayne shot an alerted look back at his mentor. “I know our calling. We tend the Earthlife, we seek the best of wolf and man to make our own, and we hold our pack above ourselves. I will not leave the colony merely to be Alpha for a pack of one. That is the Coyote way, and I will not be Coyote.”

“Then do not be Coyote.” Shaman smiled, and narrowed his intelligent eyes at Rayne. “Be the leader you are.”

Something hid in those words.

Moments of thought and meditation passed. Finally, Rayne raised his head with understanding and determination. He yipped twice, followed by a short howl, calling the elders back to the firelight.

“You have made your choice?” Quure asked.

Rayne took a deep breath. “I will not leave the Colony. I will follow our ways and join the Omega clan. I will hone my abilities and become their Alpha.”

Many of the elders stood on all fours and growled, white powder tossed as their paws reseated.

“There is no Alpha for the Omegas!”

“But there is an Alpha for every other clan. Why not Omega?”

Quure bared his fangs. “You shifters cannot be trusted! You-”

Rayne stood upright on his hind legs and roared at Quure, then snarled his presence at all of them. Even with the turmoil of Rayne’s emotions bolstering his actions, the stance felt awkward to him. It was not in their nature to roar, and was only used as an ultimate way to gain attention. The elders instinctively froze, as rigid as the shrouded creek in the ravine. Their full attention latched onto Rayne as he dropped to all fours and spoke.

“The way of our colony says an Alpha leads each clan. Nothing says the Omega clan is apart from that. You know my abilities. You know my potential. I will be Alpha–if not by title, then by heart; if not with your blessing, then solely with that of my fellow Omegas.” He scanned the lupine eyes of the elders.

Shaman smiled. “The teachers guide the student when appropriate, but the student will guide the teachers when necessary.”

Quure rolled his amber eyes and whined.

Amaya cocked her head, assessing Rayne. “You sway but you do not falter… like a pine in the wind.”

Rahg yipped. “Indeed, you make yourself a force to be reckoned with. But you will still be Omega, and you will still be treated as such.”

Rayne bowed his head, but he did not lower his eyes. “It is what I am.”

Rahg, Amaya, Shaman, and Gorra all crossed their paws and lowered their heads in acceptance, and even Quure agreed.

Rayne took his place in the Omega clan, soon leading them as they had never been led before.

End.