remained on the move. Why?" she asked one night.

"I wanted to see as much as I could," he replied. "Every day gave me a new possibility, a new beginning. I wanted to climb the highest hill, cross the largest woods, run as fast as the wind itself. I was driven to fill my day with new experiences and that meant that I could never stop. If I stopped, who knows what I could have missed."

"And somehow, through all that, you found your way back to your brother."

"Yeah, though it's the strangest thing because I didn't expect to find him," he replied. "The chance of me finding him after wandering for years is… really, really small," he said, chuckling a little.

"Unless… there was some other force at work?" Sami suggested.

"What, you mean like fate? I don't know... I was never one to believe much in spooky stuff like that. I always thought that I could choose my own destiny, my own path. Everyday, I would choose a new direction to go, not always knowing what was ahead of me, but always wanting to see something new."

"And then you chose to join your brother's pack and settle down," she continued. "That seems like an interesting turnaround for someone who wants to keep things new."

"It is, but in a way, it also makes sense. After a while of wandering alone, settling in a pack and staying in one place would have been something new as well. I could have just kept on going… but I chose to stay with my brother. I chose my own fate, and I will continue to choose it as long as I live," he finished.

"Wow... that's amazing," she said. His strong sense of personal freedom caused her mind to start thinking of new possibilities and new lands. She loved the way Mias looked at the world, and briefly tapped her nose to his in thanks before dashing off.

'I always thought that fate controlled everything - and I still think it did when it brought Mias here, despite what he says - but maybe a part of our lives can be chosen and controlled ourselves,' she thought. Until now, she thought that her position as alpha female meant she was destined to be with the alpha male, but she was hesitant to be with Mayak. Despite the great things Mias told about him in his stories, she still wasn't sold on the idea of being with him. She wanted someone better for a mate. 'So what if I chose my own fate with this? Where would that take me?'

---

Chapter 2: The Secret's Out

For the next couple of weeks, the idea of forging her own path grew in Sami's mind, emboldened by Mias' example. Mayak tried again and again to impress her, but she grew progressively distant from him. Mias tried to help his brother's mood, but he also seemed to be getting more uncomfortable whenever Mayak brought Sami up. Mias suggested he come to the evening gatherings too, but Mayak declined - he never enjoyed social gatherings very much. What he didn't know is that if he did attend, he would have noticed that Mias' and Sami's talks afterwards were growing longer, sometimes becoming long walks around the woods…

Sami continued to dodge Mayak's advances, but even she couldn't take his pestering forever and finally gave her final answer. Mias wasn't present to hear the exchange, but he would see the after-effects. He found Mayak sitting alone with a forlorn look on his muzzle. "What happened?" he asked.

"She said no," he mumbled. "No reason, no excuse, just… no. No, and nothing else."

"I… I'm so sorry about that."

"It's not fair… she didn't even give me a reason."

"Well, sometimes life isn't fair to you," Mias offered in response. "You may not like it, but you have to let it be."

"Heh, easy for you to say. You're not the one who has to lead the pack effectively… you can just tell your stories and wow the crowd while I stay behind. You don't have to worry about getting others to like you; it just happens with or without me."

Mias paused on hearing this; never before had his brother ever spoken to him like that. He didn't know whether to take it as his brother envying him… or resenting him. "I know I may be more outgoing, but it doesn't mean I don't care about you too," he said. "I could have gone off and traveled more, but I chose to settle here because I care about you. You're my brother and nothing will ever change that."

"… Thanks," Mayak mumbled before Mias turned to leave. He didn't want what he said to be taken as antagonistic, but part of him still felt as though his brother was stealing his thunder. Before, he had been the center of power and attention in the pack as the alpha, which made up for the lack of a personal connection with them. He thought that bringing Mias along would help as he would have a familiar face on his side. However, Mias was a very outgoing person and that led the pack to prefer the older brother over the younger. He was the one who listened, he was the one who joked. Mias was their new favorite, while Mayak just gave out orders.

'Could I be jealous of his popularity?' he thought. 'Everyone seems to love and respect him more than me. Maybe it would be been better if he just kept on traveling. It's almost like the pack wants him to be alpha instead… wait, what am I thinking? He'd never try to usurp me. He's my own brother and he swore he isn't the type to do so… but why am I so worried?' Mayak pondered this thought, trying to find a reason for his doubts towards his brother.

'Maybe I'm just trying to make sense of this whole thing with Sami. Mias did try his best to help me out with her, but in the end her call was the final one... but to have an alpha female turn down an alpha male is still highly irregular, and would need a very good reason. She may not have been willing to give me a reason today, but I will find out why... some day.'

---

Mayak was determined to find out a reason for Sami's rejection, but she refused to say more than a few sentences to him. When asked, she would either avoid the question, or repeat, "I'm just not interested." That never seemed to satisfy Mayak, so he persisted, with both of them becoming increasingly irritable with each other. Finally, Sami had enough of him, and started to turn her back to him, refusing to answer him. Had it been any other wolf, he would have been within his rights to strike out for such disrespect, but Sami was an alpha as well - she had as much authority as him.

"Mayak, I seriously think you should drop this," Mias urged him. By now Mayak was borderline frantic. "She's already upset with you and dragging it around won't help you at all."

"How could you say that?" Mayak shot back. "I thought you were on my side here!"

"I am on your side!"

"Oh really, because I don't know anymore. I thought you'd be eager to help Sami and I, and yet here you are telling me to give her up," he said venomously. "I thought you'd be with me all the way to the end, but all you do is tell your stories to the dazzled masses."

At this, Mias gave him a stare cold enough to chill a glowing ember. "So that's what it is. You're going to blame me for this?" he growled. His expression was flat and neutral, but Mayak could sense the anger building in his brother. "You're going to pin this on me just because I don't agree with you on everything… no wonder she rejected you." Mias turned right around and started to walk away, but he paused after walking a few feet. "I'm just the storyteller; I can't control whether or not my audience likes it. I may not agree with it, but it's ultimately the choice of the listener to decide whether or not they like it." With that, he dashed away without another word.

Mayak was soon alone in the clearing, but the image of his brother's expression remained. He had never seen him look so angry with him, but there was something in his voice that told another emotion. It was sadness… sadness about how Mayak had accused him blindly. 'Why did I say that? Of course Mias would never betray me,' he thought, regretting what he had said. 'He tried his best to help me with Sami, which is more than I could have asked from him. He's right, he can't control who likes his stories… he just tells them. And through all that, he's stuck with me, trying to help.'

No matter what, Mias had always stayed with him. When they did have their disagreements, it was only because of what Mias thought was right. He had never tried to lead Mayak astray with his advice, and yet he still put his bother's loyalties into question. 'I never should have said that; the worst thing you can do to an honest wolf is to call them a liar, and I did just that. I just hope that Mias can forgive me for this.' After finding his brother's trail, he followed it through the woods, hoping to catch up with him and apologize. He didn't want to push his brother away over something like this - over a female. The stress from Sami's rejection had gotten to him, building up until he released it on Mias, the last wolf to deserve it. Losing Sami was one thing, but losing his brother would be far worse. He was the only family that he had with him.

After following his trail, he soon heard Mias behind some bushes. There was someone else with him - a female. It wasn't until he was right up behind the bushes that he recognize the