Fourth Alpha | Years 15-18
Áleifr
Your pawsteps crunch as you make your way over the mixture of pebbles and leaf litter that is the riverbank. You've been traveling along the river for miles, following a faint scent of other wolves that has been slowly getting stronger. You look up. The forest rises up from the river into the foothills of a distant blunted, craggy blue mountain. A blustery breeze buffets your fur and you give a shake and push on.
An hour more of travel passes and when you look up again the mountain is closer. The scent of wolves is stronger here, the strongest it's been yet. You hear a twig crack somewhere behind you and spin around. Nothing. You shake your head and chalk it up to the fatigue sustained from all your travel. Continuing on, you notice that the river takes a gradual turn into the forest. So far you've taken care to stay on the outskirts, between the river and the treeline, but now it seems if you are to follow your path along the riverbank you must enter the woods.
You finally reach a point where the scent of other wolves is so strong that you must be directly in their midst. You glance around nervously, your fur prickling. Normally you might not be so unnerved, but the length of your journey has drained you and your mind plays tricks. A sound reaches your ears from the left, then from the right. They must be all around you. Something shuffles in the leaves up ahead and you crouch low, hackles raised, ready to make a stand if you must. You wait for what seems like several minutes while the shuffling gets louder, the stranger coming closer. Another minute passes and you have to shake your ears to clear them. Was that a muffled curse? Is this really the best they can do as an attack?
You are absolutely bewildered as a nearly green-furred young wolf hops his way out of the underbrush in front of you with a grin and a shake of his front paw. "Aha, I got stuck in a thicket! I'm alright now. You look just absolutely knackered, come along with me! Don't mind my limp, just need Nicht to yank out these thorns when we get there."
You have no idea how he conceals himself so well with that bright, colorful fur; who on earth Nicht is; or where there happens to be. The stranger seems friendly enough, though, and you're just about on your last legs, so you shrug to yourself and hurry after the swiftly disappearing green-tinged tail which leads you to a bustling hollow nestled in a river glade.
Áleifr was born to a distant pack in the southern forests past the low hills that form the southern border of Redfeather territory. He was a part of a very important alliance made during Håkaan's reign between the Redfeather pack and Áleifr's home pack in order to prevent a potential war. When Áleifr was still quite young, he made the long journey to the river glade with his mother and siblings to join his father and be trained as a Redfeather foundling. He was trained in the ways of diplomacy from a very young age and chosen to succeed his father as breeding male in part because of his talent for peacekeeping and in part as a stipulation of the accord he was a part of. He took over the role soon after he became a full pack member and his father passed the role of alpha to his sister and mentor, Ātaahua.
As a young wolf Áleifr was playful, carefree and fun-loving, getting into all kinds of harmless trouble with his friends. He, Peregrine and Caio would spend whole days running amok through the forest with young Idrit at their heels or lazing about and catching fish in the river. He would also spend lots of time with his siblings who had remained with the pack. He and Nila were very close, and they would often play tricks on and mess with their elder sister and alpha. Áleifr and his friends and sister would often train together, and they would even sometimes accompany the young breeding male on his diplomatic assignments as a bit of adventure.
Áleifr was a great force for peace between the packs of the west beneath the blunt mountain. Every one he visited couldn't help but be put at ease by his easy nature and confidence in his job. He became one of his sister's most powerful assets with which she grew the Redfeathers' influence in the western forest. Together Áleifr and Ātaahua put to rest all dispute about the Redfeathers' right to the river glade, and the pack entered a time of peace and prosperity. It was then that Ātaahua decided that her brother should become her beta and eventually her successor.
Áleifr was not aware of his sister's plans to install him as alpha after her until much later when wolves began whispering his name and he went to confront her about it. Up until that point he had thought that he would simply continue as peacekeeper and beta for the pack. He hadn't put it together that she had been training him as the next alpha, and by the time he realized it had been all but decided by the pack. Suddenly he was struggling to catch up, to scramble and make the effort to get to know his pack beyond just his sisters, Peregrine, Caio and Idrit. In his confusion and panic he sprang into action, calling on his skill at diplomacy to create connections to Ātaahua's inner circle whom he had previously been very intimidated by. If he was going to lead the pack well he would have to have them on his side to guide him, he figured.
He also made more of an effort with the young ones of the pack, including his son, Winnie, who was a foundling. It was easier with him and with the other pups than with the inner circle since all pups wanted to do was play with him. He ended up becoming quite close with his son and friends, adopting the daily habit of spending time playing with and teaching them. It was around this time that he began to take an interest in the hunter, Coorah. She was the adopted daughter of lead hunters, Orynne and Hufen, and he became enamored after running into her the day he found out he would be alpha. Naturally, he made a complete fool of himself upon their first real meeting which was partially— along with being his sister's successor, of course— what spurred all of the self-improvement in the first place. Once he felt that he was coming along in his quest to become a better prospective alpha he approached her and began getting to know her. No other Redfeather alpha had ever had a mate per se, but Áleifr wasn't about to make that a tradition. Somehow she wasn't too put off by his breeding male or alpha successor roles, or the fact that he already had a son within the pack, and the two of them became pair-bonded by Ātaahua.
When the time came for Ále to take over as alpha he had a strong if still very reverent relationship with Ātaahua's inner circle and a strong— and very wise for her age— mate to advise him. He was still wholly unconfident and had little to no self-assurance upon taking the lead, and he relied heavily upon the inner circle and his herbalist and aunt, Ríonach, for support in everything. He knew the Redfeathers' territory and how to make and keep peace with other packs, but managing his own pack was a matter that daunted him terribly. Still, with the help of his advisors he pulled through the first year, then the next, managing to juggle all of his duties and always becoming more confident in his command. By the time the pack's second big disaster hit he was nearly ready to handle it. Nearly.
Around the pack's sixteenth year an unseen menace struck and took hold of the western forest. First the winds changed, then strange things began to happen at night. Lights would appear, voices or strange sounds would be heard. At first it was simply a minor disturbance, but then a dense fog rose, the sky darkened and wolves disappeared. First Áleifr's beta and best friend, Peregrine, vanished just before a hunt. Lead hunter, Hufen, and the rest of the inner circle reported that they had seen him running toward them and then he was gone. Then Ále's other close friend and inner circle member, Caio, disappeared while out looking for Peregrine. After that, the new herbalist's sister became enchanted by the mysterious floating lights that appeared at night and in dark parts of the forest and was put under guard in the sick dens. Áleifr became frazzled, trying to keep his pack safe and together while meeting with the other alphas of the forest to try and figure out what was going on. For weeks no one could understand what was happening, and then the new herbalist, Nicht, got involved and found that the lights and strange happenings were centered around strange chunks of stone with odd runes carved upon them that each of the alphas had found within their territories.
At first Áleifr didn't take Nicht seriously, thinking she was far too young and inexperienced to contribute anything to the search for answers. She was just Ríonach's successor and hadn't been herbalist for very long. However, she was the one to discover that the runes fit together as pieces of a broken whole, and when another pack's elder and herbalist revealed that a shadowy monster of legend was likely behind the strangeness the story began to unfold. After several weeks of confusion and fear a plan began to take shape. Each pack would bring a party of their best wolves to accompany the Redfeathers to the lair of the creature and put the forest to rights. While most other packs focused on bringing fighting wolves, Áleifr opted to simply bring Nicht in case she spotted something else that the others did not. He meant to leave it at that before an unexpected pupsitter, Alastor, crashed the pre-expedition meeting claiming to somehow know where the monster's lair was and that he could lead the packs there, and then the elder, Orynne, who Áleifr had thought disliked him for his polarizing decision to retire all of the older hunters to mentorship, pledged herself to the expedition as well. Thoroughly baffled, Áleifr accepted the help, said his goodbyes to Coorah, Winnie, and his pack and set out to try and defeat the evil that had beset the forest.
In another unexpected turn of events the alphas could not figure out how to connect the runes, Nicht was the one to confront the monster first and Orynne and Winnie— who had stolen after the party in the shadows after being told to stay behind— were the ones to hold off the creature until the fighting wolves of the other packs could charge. As they fought the creature a seriously injured Nicht dragged herself to the alphas and began shifting the rune chunks as if she knew how they connected, and a bright white light exploded from her there in front of the shadow creature's cave, blinding everyone. In the end Áleifr had more questions than he had begun with, but he was proud of and humbled by his little team. He led the way back to the hollow— finding his disappeared and mind-boggled wolves returned and healthy— the next morning, a confident and victorious alpha.
Now it has been several months since all of that and things have settled down again. Áleifr leads the pack with pride and confidence in himself as well as his wolves. He has built an inner circle of wolves that he trusts and still relies on, he has made Coorah his new beta, he's keeping an ear out for which of his young family members the pack will finally settle on as his successor, and he has the complete and utter respect of the entire western forest and surrounding lands.
Áleifr's Inner Circle & Family
Áleifr paced back and forth outside his den. There was so much to think about on a normal day, but now there was the additional issue of wolves going missing. Not just any wolves, either, but his best friends, one of which was his beta. It was too much piled on top of everything else. Rasp was getting a bit squirrely again, the new hunting teams always had questions and difficulties, and now he was constantly meeting with others in regards to the dilemma of the disappearances. Other packs who'd lost wolves were trying to collaborate to find out what was going on, Nicht was working on information gathering, and Thorn, Wing and his sister wouldn't leave him be for more than an hour before coming to him with a million questions about their missing mates and family members.
"At least the diplomatic issues are being handled by the Wise and Strong since they don't have to worry about hunting anymore. Finally I actually made a good decision about something," the troubled alpha said to himself.
"Of course you did," Coorah's voice sounded and the silver she-wolf nuzzled him reassuringly, "you're doing just fine under the circumstances. I know we'll find them eventually. We've got too many wolves working together on this not to."
Ale looked up at her with a smile, "I think I'd go insane if you weren't here talking sense."
Áleifr is not the most confident wolf about his leadership, but he is reliable to a fault. He never expected or wanted to be alpha, but after being told by Ātaahua that he would succeed her he applied himself to getting to know and being able to work with his inner circle as well as he would need to to lead. Though he respected and loved his sister, he felt that her influence over the pack to choose him was wrong and he has always been afraid that he isn't the right wolf for the job. He had great respect for the inner circle that Ātaahua built before he succeeded her, listening to their counsel well before each decision he made. He does the same with the inner circle he built for himself, having chosen many experienced and skilled wolves to advise him where he feels he himself is lacking. He especially values the counsel of his beta, Peregrine, and his mate, Coorah. Though he was lacking in self-assurance when he began, his inner circle and pack always trusted him to lead them implicitly, and he has made leaps and bounds in progress since he began, becoming a great leader who has continued the pack's legacy well.
| Betas |
Peregrine, then Coorah
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| Herbalists |
Nicht
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| Strong & Wise Wolves |
Elder Group: Leveque, Syndestar, Hufen, Orynne
Younger Group: Wing, Peregrine, Caio, Nila, Daya, Alastor
Younger Group II: Idrit, Coorah, Thorn, Nicht, Zinnia
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| Lead Hunters |
Hufen & Orynne, then Thorn
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| Breeding Males |
Áleifr
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| Apprentices |
Nīkau, Anahera & Winnie
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| Parents |
Håkaan & Gust
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| Mate |
Coorah
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| Pups |
Winnie, Faleeah, Arnfinn
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"hello, newcomer. Care to stick around and hear a story?"
