Deathless chapter 2

Well as you may know if you read the last chapter. This is something slightly less ridiculous than ‘The curse of an Omega’. But as I said, Wolpy ‘catches’ something, you’ll find out soon. It has something to do with Pro- no I don’t think I will tell you just yet. Ha ha.

  Deathless chapter 2: a long awaited punishment

  Wolpy sat in his den, brooding and smouldering in an ugly mix of anger, fear and despair. He was in for a bad time. But oddly enough he felt quite satisfied. This was due to the fact that at the end of the court with his Alpha and until recently, father, Urten. Wolpy felt quite good that he was no longer Urten’s son.

  ‘It’s not as though he acted like a father in the first place.’ He thought with a bittersweet satisfaction. But the fact that he was disowned wasn’t the good bit, it was what Wolpy had said when Urten asked him the ‘Do you have any last words?’ question, to which Wolpy replied with the following,

  “Yes actually, I wanted to say this for quite a while and since I’m screwed I might as well get this of my chest; I, Wolpy, without a doubt or any regret whatsoever, hate you.” The resulting reaction made Wolpy smile in his den. He remembered some of the wolves gasping and talking amongst themselves and had decided to push his verbal knife deeper. “Ever since you made me an Omega I hated you, I was loyal yes, but do you really believe that just because I’m your son that I automatically revere you? Every single bit of crap you and the other wolves threw at me just made me hate you all the more. I’m glad you disown me, because you made me freer than ever.” It was at that point that Sansenite had thrown himself screaming at Wolpy. The soon-to-be-Exile unconsciously put a paw on his on his neck where Sansenite had bitten it. But Wolpy still smiled, it had felt so good.

  “Hey Exile! Come out here!” That was Pazu. Wolpy slowly got up and padded out into the sunlight. As he expected he was met by snarls and jeering wolves that spat and cursed at him. Wolpy wilted underneath their gaze, then reminding himself that he was going and stood a bit straighter. He looked at Sansenite, who sported a small gash on his face; a result of an ‘accidental’ flail by Wolpy. The yellow wolf chuckled slightly at that small victory. His smirk faded when he saw something which he wasn’t expecting at all;

  Uliar. The grey stood in a fairly hunched stance, not particularly interested in the events unfolding before him. The Alpha of Logan stood beside a massive dark red wolf. At first Wolpy thought the wolf was male, but she was in fact female; she had the curves of a she-wolf, Wolpy barely managed to notice. The she-wolf was as tall as Urten, possibly taller, Wolpy didn’t even bear thinking about getting into a fight with her. Unlike Uliar, this wolf’s stance was aggressive and feral, her every muscle bunched and ready to spring into action, this wolf had a short fuse, Wolpy guessed. Her face had two markings positioned just above her eyes on it; one was shaped like a tear drop, the other like a diamond. The look on her face was a mix between rage, scorn and even a hint of amusement.

  The last wolf sent shivers down Wolpy’s spine; it was the she-wolf who was guarding the caribou the night he stole it. There was a cold look of cruel triumph on her face. Wolpy never felt more scared in his life.

  ‘What’s going on?’ his mind was screaming at him to run and hide. Wolpy’s thin musculature was bunched with fear. He was sweating already. The massive female turned to the smaller female, her deep green eyes never leaving Wolpy’s azure orbs.

  “Is that him?” She asked simply. The smaller she-wolf nodded and said, “Yes mother.” A small amount of surprise and even amusement flickered on Wolpy’s eyes at the thought of those two being related. The massive she-wolf turned her anger-filled gaze at Wolpy who wondered if she had some sort of anger management problem.

  “I see.” The massive she-wolf said as she stalked towards Wolpy who went stiffer, if that was even possible for a wolf that was so tense he could break his own bones. The wolf glared at Wolpy who took a step back, only to be met by more growls from behind. The Omega was cornered. “Well,” The massive she-wolf began. “Your name?” she was addressing Wolpy.

  “W-Wolpy.” He tripped over his own tongue in fear. The massive she-wolf smiled, there was nothing remotely nice about that smile at all. “My name is Gracier and this,” She pointed at the smaller she-wolf. “…Is Racher. She told me a rather interesting story about a pair of wolves coming into our territory, unannounced.” Gracier circled around Wolpy, like a predator around a dying victim. Wolpy was the victim, and he got the feeling he was going to die very soon. “These wolves stole something from us; our kill, which we exerted effort into catching. One of them was yellow.” She had done a complete circle and was staring at a trembling Wolpy. “In all honesty, I was expecting someone… taller.” The wolves chuckled. Gracier turned to Urten. “I suppose you intend to go through with this, despite the fact that he is your son?” Urten glanced at Wolpy who could have sworn he hesitated.

  “You may do as you wish.” Wolpy finally perked up the courage to speak, “Do what?” Gracier laughed, “And you didn’t even tell him, ha! That’s cold of you Urten!” Wolpy glanced between the Alphas. Noticing his gaze, Gracier turned around, “You see… Wolpy was it? Well Wolpy, your father here agreed that the terms of your punishment would fall to Logan’s judgment, only when we feel you’ve got what you deserve you will be exiled.” Wolpy gaped at his father in horror who turned away. Uliar grabbed Wolpy by the ear with his fangs and took him away. Wolpy tried to get away, the last thing he saw before Gracier knocked him out was Dawnsoul’s face, filled with horror, sadness, and most of all, betrayal.

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  Wolpy slowly came to in the wasteland, the place he was exiled to, twice now. He was quickly aware that he was alone, or so he thought when he tried to move.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” said Uliar. Wolpy whirled around, banging his head on a nearby log which was pretty rotten. “Nice one, ace.” Wolpy groaned as he tried to get up on shaking limbs.

  “Why do I feel so weak?” He mumbled. Uliar smiled, “You didn’t think Gracier would let you wake up all healthy and well, did you? She may be a militaristic maniac but she isn’t stupid. She drugged you with sap from a specific plant, we’ve got quite a few braincases in our pack.” Uliar chuckled and tossed him some old, dry meat. “Better than nothing Exile.” The scrawny (for an Alpha) wolf said.

  “Are you going to keep rubbing that in?” Uliar sniggered as Wolpy moodily snaffled his snack down. “And since when were you so… lively? I’ve heard you’re as lazy as my brother, except all of the time.” Uliar laughed again. “Yeah well… I’m on guard duty, in fact I volunteered, now then, how are you feeling?” Slightly confused but nonetheless trusting Wolpy replied, “Fine.”

  “Good, let’s get you out of here.” Wolpy started, Uliar was helping him? “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to take the chance I’m offering you?” Wolpy followed slowly. “Right, Gracier will be around here, she’s hunting with Racher to get some temporary grub since the last of it’s down your gullet. When I say you will do exactly what I tell you to.” Wolpy paused and said hesitantly, “Why… are you helping me?” Uliar sighed in exasperation and turned around to face the smaller wolf.

  “Several reasons actually, first, I don’t like giving out punishments because it’s a waste of time, secondly, Gracier drives me nuts so this is a petty revenge and finally, what you said to my brother.” Uliar’s face cracked into a massive grin. “I know what you said, good job my boy! I never knew Urten could be hurt so badly! If it wasn’t for the fact that you are very unpopular I would induct you into my pack.” Wolpy suddenly felt guilty, he remembered the things he said but, he got no feeling of satisfaction now. One question whirled through his mind.

  ‘Did I really mean all that?’ He was struck from his thoughts by Uliar.

  “Quick, hit me.” He whispered. Wolpy raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “Hit me,” Wolpy wacked Uliar over the head as hard as he could. “Now run for it. Before Gracier comes.” Wolpy heard alarmed shouts and took the hint.

  “I owe you one Uliar.” He sniggered before speeding off. Uliar sniggered as Gracier reached him. The massive she-wolf turned to Racher. “What are you standing there for? Get him!” Racher sprinted after the Exile. Uliar’s smile was hidden now as a single thought went through his head. ‘He packs more of a punch than I thought.’ before fainting.

   Racher panted as she tore after the Exile. Wolpy glanced backwards at Racher, she was a long way away. Wolpy turned his head back and ducked suddenly as he nearly ran into a branch.

  ‘I really hope I’m not running in Logan nor Gangvar’s direction.’  He wasn’t, however he was running into a familiar situation. Wolpy ran over a log that spanned a massive ravine. He was just about to reach the edge when he heard Racher cry out, “Hey!” Wolpy paused and turned around.

  “You again,” He looked at the bridge that he and Racher were standing on. Wolpy chuckled, “Seem familiar?” Racher chuckled in turn, despite herself and the situation. Before she could say anything that log lurched. “Stop! Stop!” Wolpy yelled. Racher paused. “The log… is unstable, no sudden movements… otherwise we’ll both go.” Racher took a step forwards, another lurch. “And don’t move forward either, we have to balance it out. Get back, back!” For Racher had attempted to move forward again. Wolpy held a paw out and looked down. The drop would be lethal. He slowly looked back at Racher. “Move. Back. Slowly.” Racher shook her head.

  “Nuh-uh. No freaking way. I’m not letting you go again!” Wolpy sighed. “Look, I’m trying to help us both, I don’t want to get caught, and I know that despite your orders, you don’t want to die, I could easily leave, the log would fall and you’ll die. So can we just set our differences aside for a second and cooperate?” Racher seemed like she was going to agree until Gracier stormed into view from behind a bush.

  “Racher!” Racher turned around sharply, the log moved, and the screaming started. Racher leapt off the falling log and looked over the ravine; Wolpy wasn’t there. Slowly, she looked down her mind was screaming at her not to, but it was that situation where you couldn’t help it. There, sprawled and broken, twenty feet down, was Wolpy. Racher screamed and ran away. Gracier looked down and felt slightly sick, but more from vertigo than from the corpse in the ravine. Gracier turned away and walked back to camp.

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  Wolpy’s broken body lay in the dark ravine, unmoving and unresponsive.

  But not alone. Something shifted in the dark, a creature whose outline resembled that of a wolf’s. But if one were to get a closer look, they would be horrified. The wolf was a walking corpse, patches of its fur had fallen off to reveal red and raw musculature and it lacked an eye. The diseased creature that had once been a wolf had come from the south in search of victims, its hunt was now successful. The infected wolf limped over to Wolpy’s prone body. Some of its bloody saliva dripped onto Wolpy body, sinking inside. The infected wolf began to feast on the dead wolf’s body.

  But something was wrong. The small amount of saliva contained the DNA of the infected wolf. The infected cells merged with Wolpy’s dead cells, triggering the change. Slowly, Wolpy’s cells began to mutate and change. The virus surged through Wolpy’s corpse, altering it, making it something else. The infected wolf seemed to somehow realize this and backed away, hissing menacingly at the seemingly deceased wolf. The infected wolf was about to attack and was standing above Wolpy’s head, its jaws were ready to crush the Exile’s skull between its rotting teeth when Wolpy’s change had reached its final process; reanimation.

  Wolpy’s heart lurched into life, he woke up gasping for air, smashing his head against the infected wolf. Wolpy was in a blind panic, he remembered falling, he felt the impact, he felt the pain fading away, he remembered dying. Why was he alive? The answer eluded him. The infected wolf, most of its skull missing, roared and charged. Wolpy yelped and lashed out. An attack like that from an ordinary wolf would daze the assailant long enough for said wolf to escape, but now Wolpy was no ordinary wolf. The infected wolf’s head was torn clean from its shoulders. Wolpy screamed and ran away, unaware that he was clearing several meters in a few seconds. Wolpy's vision was blurry and he ran in no particular direction until he spotted a collection of rocks that made a makeshift staircase of sorts. The yellow wolf didn’t even hesitate, he ran up the boulders and out of the ravine.

  ‘That was easy.’ He thought to himself, more than slightly confused. He took a calming breath and looked around, he was on the wrong side of the bridge. ‘Damn it. No choice but to go back.’ Wolpy turned around and went back the way he came.

  Meanwhile his body was undergoing changes that would change his life forever.