Ansgar

Did I mention that I can be a big fool?

And a tired fool with eternal problems falling asleep?

Thanks to rotating thoughts?

No?

Well, both are the case.

In retrospect, I can say that everything that happened in the following days could have been avoided. Could have. If it hadn't been for my overtired stupidity, boredom, and curiosity.

But I don't regret meeting HIM.

And I'm not talking about Wilderich, the idiot. He had lost to my sister and was looking for a fight with me afterwards. In summary, Wilderich was beaten up twice in one day.

I generally didn't understand why he was already challenging my sister. (Or ME...) Our mother was Alpha of the pack, not Juta. Juta was chosen as her successor and was older and stronger than Wilderich. If he wanted to take her place, he had to become stronger first. He had a good chance if he had enough patience.

If he wanted to be the Alpha NOW, he had to defeat our mother. And then my sister, as she would challenge him immediately. In short, his provocations were nothing more than annoying.

Annoying, super annoying, and extremely useless.

Unfortunately, Mom refused to chase him and his mother out of the pack. And this, although Wilderich's mother had already challenged her to fight for the alpha position. Back when she and her son came here. After the loss of their pack.  Instead, she became Beta and her bundle of joy of an a*sh*le the future Beta.

And apart from them, no one could fulfill the position.

There was no one in our pack.

The only beta wolf was blind.

I would be in favor of just leaving the position open, but according to my mother, other packs would then look down on ours. See us as weak and try to overtake.

Wolf Law.

Not that we had much contact with other packs. Nope. The Witch Queen had issued a 'travel ban' since the rebellion had taken on greater proportions.

We wolves were not allowed to leave our assigned territory, except as slaves. Very different from humans and the magical. Witches and Wizards: those who enslaved us. We, on the other hand, were not allowed to meet with other packs.

Of course, these stupid laws were not unbreakable. Especially not now, when fewer soldiers roamed our territories, and wolves had joined the army of the rebels.

A girl, daughter of the mad queen, led the army.

If they won, everything would change. For all packs.

For my pack.

I was also out of the question as a beta substitute in the pack.

Of course.

Too inattentive, blah blah blah...

Bored, I lay on my bed and threw a ball of wool at the ceiling. Again and again. Should I have joined the rebellion? I was strong...

The vampires came to mind.

Vampires. Here. Criminals? Or did they want to join the army?

I heard Juta arguing with our mother. They were in the kitchen, which was just below my small room. Their voices echoed through the entire house, which was also small. It was about Wilderich, about his mother, about my birthday and her wedding plans, about my uncertain position in the pack and my feelings... Somehow, they managed to argue about everything at once. And without asking me for my opinion.

"What if your brother wants to start his own pack?" I heard Mom say. "You know he's never going to be a good beta. He's an alpha wolf."

I rolled my eyes and stared at the ceiling, my head hanging from the edge of my bed. A pack of my own? No, thank you. Too much effort and responsibility.

It was dark in my room. The only light came from the moon. It was late, but as always, I couldn't sleep.

I was content not to bear any responsibility. Still, it would be nice if the pack didn't see me as a 'misproduction' of my parents.

"Mom! I beg you!" cried Juta indignantly. "His own pack?"

I agreed with her without a word and let myself fall off my bed. Then I got up, opened my window, climbed through it, and jumped down into the street. I had to find a few vampires.

Out of pure curiosity.

I lacked the courage to join the army. They would send me away immediately anyway.

I was no good as Alpha of a pack, how was I supposed to be a good 'soldier'? And I'm sure I'd be homesick.

The vampires, on the other hand, I really wanted to see them!

That promised to be funnier than listening to an argument and moping. So I sneaked out of the small town into the depths of the night. I didn't know where to start my search, but the night was long, and I was awake. So I ran along the rough meadows, over gravel paths, over hills, past cliffs.

Aimlessly, with only the moon and the stars at my side.

Oh!

And a bunny which hopped along the path just as sleeplessly as I was. A fluffy, sweet bunny. Very fluffy... Grinning, I ran after the frightened animal until it disappeared into its burrow.

I knelt in front of the hole and peered in.

It was too dark to see anything. "Come here, bunny!" I called into the rabbit hole. "Let's be friends. I'm not going to eat you."

I didn't get an answer.

"What a pity."

Still crouching on the floor, I looked around. I had followed the animal into a small part of the forest on the edge of a slope. Around me were bushes, trees, some boulders, and the remains of a campfire. I saw blankets, a cauldron...

Interesting.

In the distance, I could see a few lights. One of the small villages is close to our town. Another pack. A smaller one.

I wondered if I wanted to sneak into the village to play a prank on the pack, or just to look around. If I was not mistaken, this pack was already outside the area in which I was officially allowed to move. I had long forgotten exactly how far I was allowed to go.

And where were the vampires?

But before I could implement my new plan, I heard an unfamiliar voice…

"What do we have here?"