**Authors Note- hallo guys I just want to let u know that this will be the last chapter that we will see Hutch participating in alpha school. After this we will skip vooruit, voorwaarts a few months to his graduation dag and first dag as an alpha. Hope u enjoy it**
"So, how did it go," Eve asked as Winston walked into the den.
"Not very well, I'm afraid Tony is still stuck on the combining of the packs," Winston sighed as he sat down volgende to his mate.
"I refuse to force my daughter to marry someone," Eve growled.
"I know dear, but don't worry, I told Tony that I would never force any of my children to marry someone they didn't love. But,"
"BUT," Eve asked suspicously.
"Well, when I told him that, he threatened to invade our territory and u and I both know we can't afford a war right now. So, I promised him that my son would mate with a female in his pack," Winston explained nervously.
"Wait, but Winston, we don't have a so- WINSTON HOW COULD YOU," Eve shouted angrily.
"Eve, I know it was wrong, but what else was I going to do," Winston shot back.
"Anything but that Winston. Hutch lost everything and u expect him to do this,"
"Would u rather Hutch of one of our own pups," Winston shot. Eve started to say something but stopped herself.
"How long did u tell Tony it would be," Eve asked still sounding upset.
"One year,"
"Make sure Hutch knows before then," Eve zei as she shook her head in dissapointment.
*Meanwhile*
"Good Hutch, duck, roll, and jump," Tiberius encouraged as he watched the soon-to-be alphas work on their agility and hunting skills. They had spleet, split up into groups of four, and were having to work as a team to get through obstacles as fast as they could, as well as catch prey.
"Team, Theta formation," Hutch ordered. Without vraag Lobo shot right, Percy to the left, and Candu straight ahead. In the center of their formation was a boom stump playing the role of some unsuspecting prey. Hutch let out a slight whistle, signaling the attack to begin. Candu sprung up and bounded off of a boom to slinger, sling himself at the stump. He slashed his claws through it as he passed over it, being closely followed door Percy and Lobo who followed the same plan on the flanks, while Hutch pounched from behind and delivered the final blow.
"Regroup and sprint the the finish," Hutch called. His group did as they were told and they finished far before any of the others did. They all fell to the ground panting as exhastion swooped over them.
"Good job guys, get ready fpr team sparring practice," Tiberius zei as he turned his attention back to the other groups.
"Well, u heard him guys, lets do this," Hutch encouraged as he pushed his aching body off of the ground.
"Ugh, I don't know how much meer I can take of this," Candu panted.
"Tell me about it, this is the roughest dag we've had so far," Percy agreed as he foreced himself up onto his paws.
"I know it hurts guys but we have to push through it," Hutch urged as he helped Candu up.
"This is horrible, it feels like my legs are going to fall off," Lobo grumbled.
"Jota, your group vs. Hutch's group, start when you're ready," Tiberius zei as another group of wolves burst through the trees. Hutch walked over and looked at Jota, who was panting heavily.
"You can call it, we're ready when u are," he zei with a nod. Jota smiled slightly and nodded back.
"Thanks Hutch," Jota zei as he turned back to his group and huddled them to plan for the battle. Hutch did the same, assigning each of his team members to a member of Jota's team, as well as a partner that they would watch out for.
"We're ready," Jota announced as his group broke up and assembled into their battle formation.
"Call it when you're ready," Hutch zei as his group dissassembled and took up seemingly random positions.
"No claws, no teeth, bare paws only," Tiberius reminded as he watched them prepare.
"Ready, BEGIN," Jota called as he darted straight for Hutch. Hutch rolled aside and waited until Jota was right along side him before kicking into the dirt and went slamming into Jota's side. Jota was sent rolling to the side as Hutch re-focused himself to continue the fight.
From atop the heuvel at the other side of the valley, Winston watched as the groups fought. His main focus was Hutch, who was not only leading his group, but supporting their fights, as well as his own fight against Jota. Hutch was revealing himself to be a natural fighter, and a bold leader. He would have made a brilliant pack leader, and... an exceptional mate.
"He'll never forgive me for this, I've taken away his happiness for my own selfishness. But, I'm sure he'll understand, it was best for the pack," Winston pondered to himself trying to figure out a way to break the news to Hutch.
"Well, he trusted u after u kept his mothers death a secret, but I wouldn't keep pushing the limits of his trust. u and I both know that at some point his trust will run out," Rose scorned as she walked up beside of him. Winston jumped lightly, her appearance catching him off guard but he sighed when he saw who it was.
"Eve told u didn't she," Winston asked.
"What doesn't she tell me Winston," Rose chuckled. Winston laughed slightly but his smile quickly faded.
"I was only looking out for my pups Rose, I didn't mean to bring him into this," Winston zei sadly.
"I know Winston, and I can understand that, I would only want whats best for my pup. But, if u are serious about making Hutch the pack beta, then he will have to learn to live with certain responsibilities, but u have to keep up your own end of the bargain. Take Felix, he would never have told u no. But he would have also thought about himself, and his family, and he would have expected u to do the same. And with Hutch being so emotionally hurt, u need to be even meer careful," Rose lectured.
"I know Rose, but at the time all that I could think of was my own pups safety," Winston sighed.
"I know Winston, and I can understand wanting whats best for your pups. And to be honest, u may have made the smartest decision for the pack. But in my mind, unless Hutch is willing to do this, u made a terrible mistake,"
"Just this one time Rose, I will completely admit, I was wrong,"
*Meanwhile*
"How did your little arrangement with Winston go," asked a dark red wolf who sat volgende to Tony. His voice was cracked but deep and hinted at his old age.
"Exactly like I expected it would," Tony replied.
"He refuesed didn't he,"
"Well, at first he did, but then he changed his mind as I was getting ready to leave. And fortunately for us, it will be earlier than we thought. Apparently Winston has a son in alpha school who will be ready to mate in a year,"
"I didn't know Winston had a son,"
"I'm not going to vraag it, as long as he combines the packs," the dark red wolf smiled and nodded but then his smile turned into a ponderous expression.
"There is one problem though, who would be willing to put their pup through an arranged marriage,"
"Kota, we've been waiting two years for this, I'm sure there's someone willing," there was a moment of silence as the two went over the possible solutions.
"What about Trega's girl Linda," Tony suggested.
"No, Trega's to defensive of her, he'd never agree," Kota reminded.
"I know, Keltag's daughter, u know, Claw,"
"Of course, he's been desperate for the packs to combine, besides, after the abuse her mother put her through I'm sure Claw could use a good mate,"
"Well then no use in wasting time, let's go see if he's alright with the idea," Tony zei enthusiastically. Kota nodded in agreement and followed Tony to Keltag's den. The eastern pack was very different from the west. The trees were meer widely spaced from one another and there were meer clearings. The gras wasn't nearly as tall, and the shrubs were hardly as tall as a wolves knees. The wolves themselves were also very different. While in the west there were tans, greys, blacks, and whites, in the east their vacht, bont was usually a red to a red-orange. As the two approached Keltags's hol, den they could hear him talking to himself, a hobby he had taken up since his mate was removed from the pack.
Keltag had become mates with a young alpha named Jessica, who he had been crushing on through alpha school. The mating ceremony was the same as any other, no better no worse, and Keltag believed it was one of the best days of lives. But his opinion had changed. After she gave birth to their daughter Claw, things started to change. Her attitude became harsh and violent. Everytime she would see Keltage she would constantly insult him, and he could never leave her alone with Claw, because she would hurt her. Eventually he told Tony what was happening and Tony had no choice but to ban Jessica from the pack.
"Tony, Kota, it's good to see you," Keltag zei quickly as he turned around to greet the two.
"It's good to see u too Keltag, but, we need to talk about something important," Tony replied.
"Sure, what is it," Keltag asked.
"Well, Winston has finally agreed to combine the packs. He's agreed to send his son-"
"Winston has a son," Keltag interrupted.
"I zei the same thing,"
"ANYWAY, he's agreed to give up his son in an arranged marriage. The only problem is, we need a female to be his mate, and we were hoping that Claw could be his mate," Keltags reaction was not what they expected. He just sat speechless staring at them.
"I see, well, what's his son like," he asked nervously.
"I can't say, I've never met him," Tony replied. Keltag sighed and fidgeted nervously.
"Well, if he's anything like Winston, I don't suppose he would be all that bad of a mate. But I want to make sure he'll be good to her, I want u to learn meer about him,"
"I'll take care of that, u just make sure Claw knows. The wedding will take place in one year, u have until then to let her know," Tony zei nodding to Kota.
"I will, just make sure he's make a good mate. I don't want my little girl to make the same mistake I did," Keltag zei sadly.
"Don't worry Keltag, she'll be fine, I promise," Kota zei reasuringly with a smile. Keltag smiled slightly and nodded.
"I trust you,"
*Late that night*
For the fifth night in a row the creamy oranje wolf shot awake from a nightmare. She panted and looked around to see if she had woke any of her friends, which were still sleeping soundly. She sighed and walked out of the den, parched from the experience, and decided to go get a drink of water. She walked away from the hol, den and towards the closest stream, which divided the two packs. As she lazily stumbled through the trees she heard someone howling. It was a beautiful howl, not even close to being matched door anyone in the eastern pack.
As she came to the creek, she lowered herself in the bushes to see a wolf about her age with a deep grey jas and a black mane. There were two small black rings around his eyes and a stripe that went across his nose. She blushed when she saw him, and her hart-, hart melted as he howled. To her, he was gorgeous. But, his howl was strange, it was almost sad, like he was mourning. She listened to him for a couple meer minuten before he slowly stopped and a small tear fell down his cheek. He looked down at his reflection in the water and sniffled, but to her surprise he spoke.
"You can come out now, I promise I won't hurt you," he zei with a shakey voice. She was hesitant at first, but she worked up the nerve to toon herself. As she stepped into the moonlight and Hutch saw her, he felt his cheeks grow hot with a blush. The moonlight shinned beautifully off of her creamy fur, and her light green eyes sparkled, unlike his bronze.
"H-hello," she zei shyly.
"H-hi," he replied just as nervous.
"Y-your howl is beautiful," she complimented, causing him to blush even deeper and smile.
"Thanks," he replied.
"You're not from the east, are you," she asked curiously.
"No, I'm from the west,"
"I thought so, you're jas isn't as bright as anyone I know. But, it looks good," she giggled.
"Thanks, and your vacht, bont is beautiful too. I'm an alpha door the way, my name's Hutch," he zei wanting to step closer to her.
"I'm an alpha too, my name's Claw. Not that it's not nice to meet u of anything, but why were u howling all the way out here," Hutch frowned quickly and his ears fell flat against his head.
"Well, I sorta lost one of my vrienden a couple days ago, and-"
"It's alright, u don't have to say any more," she zei stepping into the creek. Hutch suddenly felt strange. He felt compulsed to step in the creek with her, and so he did. He walked towards her until they were nearly nose to nose.
"We could get in a lot of trouble it we get caught together u know," Claw pointed out.
"I know, and honestly, I don't care," Hutch replied as he touched his nose to hers. Claw's spine tingled and her legs went numb.
'Wow,' she zei to herself as she caught her breath. he bushes behind them suddenly shook causing them both to jump out of their fur.
"We should go now, if anyone catches me away from the dens I could get in serious trouble," Hutch sighed sadly.
"Yeah, I should get back too. It was nice meeting u Hutch," Claw started to walk away but Hutch stopped her.
"You know, this doesn't have to be good bye, we could meet again the same time tomorrow night," Hutch offered. Claw blushed brightly and smiled.
"I'd like that," she zei happily.
"Great, I'll see u tomorrow Claw,"
"I'll see u then Hutch," she giggled. The two quickly shot off back to their respective packs. All the while they were being spied on.
"Well Hutch, you're the last wolf I expected to fall in love with an easterner, especially this soon after the incident. Perhaps just this once I'll keep this from Winston" laughed Tiberius as he watched Hutch run off and dissapear into the darkness. Tiberius sighed and shook his head.
"Hutch would have made u proud Felix,"
**Authors Note- hallo guys, sorry this chapter took so long but I had some problems with my computer and it took a while to get this typed. Please remember to leave a little review and let me know what u think. Hope u enjoyed it :) **
