flew off at Rallan’s blow and Rallan struggled to his feet, feeling his blood flow freely from his right leg. He limped over to the Alpha as his enemy got to his feet and took the Alpha’s neck in his mouth.

“No! Wait, stop!” the Alpha shouted, but Rallan wouldn’t hear him out.

Before the Alpha could protest or plead any longer, Rallan twisted his head, hearing and feeling the bones in the Alpha’s neck snap in his powerful jaws. Rallan felt and saw the Alpha’s body spasm before going limp in his hold. He tossed the corpse to the ground and the warriors of the Lylrite Pack cheered loudly, the warriors of the Farin Pack quickly turning tail and running away in fright. Typhoon ran up to Rallan and nuzzled his son.

“Excellent work son! You’ve defeated our enemies once and for all!” Typhoon announced ecstatically, “We’ve killed their Beta and you just killed their Alpha! I’m so proud of you son! You’ve become exactly what I trained you to become: a perfect soldier and leader; a perfect wolf!”

No Dad… I’m a murderer… You’ve turned me into a monster… Rallan thought to himself, but nodded to his father, keeping his eyes on the body, then falling to the ground in a grunt of pain.

Typhoon noticed this and instantly got a look of worry. He saw the wound on Rallan’s muzzle and leg and motioned for Spirit to come over. She took note of his injuries and quickly ran off, returning shortly with a mouthful of herbs. She licked his wounds to sterilize them and ground the plants up in her paws, applying the powder liberally to his wounds. Rallan flinched due to the stinging the herbs caused, but quickly settled.

“Come on, help him up!” Typhoon commanded and immediately two soldiers went up beside Rallan, helping him to his feet and standing beside him as they walked for stability.

Typhoon led everyone back into their lands. By the time they arrived home again, the sun was just beginning to rise, the sun casting the dark sky into an orange hue. Rallan’s wounds had already begun to heal, Spirit keeping a close eye on him.

“Remember when I said one day I would be the one thing saving you from death?” Spirit asked Rallan.

“Yeah, I do… You were right…” Rallan replied with a smirk, fatigue clear on his face as his eyelids began to droop slightly.

“Damn right I was right!” Spirit said jokingly and smirked playfully back at him.

A few minutes later, the soldiers left Typhoon and Rallan at their large family den. Typhoon helped his son inside and onto his bedding of soft brush. Rallan sighed heavily as his body hit the brush, closing his eyes immediately.

“Get some rest son… You deserve it…” Typhoon said softly, smiling down at his son, “I’m so proud of you…”

“Thanks Dad…” Rallan muttered, almost completely asleep. He still could see the bodies and blood, making him feel sick to his stomach. Those thoughts were quickly lost to darkness as Rallan slipped into a deep, deep sleep.

For the next four weeks, Rallan was cheered on and congratulated for sealing a victory out on the field of battle against the Farin Pack. Though he would always smile at anyone who did congratulate him, deep down, he couldn’t get rid of the visions of the violence and death out in that canyon on that night. The smell of blood was still clear in his mind; he’d never forget that horrible night when he realized what his father had trained him to do and become.

After four weeks of congratulating, Rallan couldn’t take it anymore! He’d had enough praise for killing other wolves. Though he was far from being a pacifist, he hated warfare; he found the whole ordeal pointless. One night, he ran from his family’s den, needing to be alone for awhile. Slowly, Rallan wandered through the silvery moonlit forest. The stars overhead twinkled and shined brightly, not a cloud dotted the night sky. Everything was serene and perfectly peaceful.

Suddenly, the silence was broken when Rallan heard two voices. At first they sounded as if they were just talking, but then the tone of their voices changed, one going angry, the other going sad. Rallan quickly moved through the woods, the voiced steadily getting louder as he moved onward. Eventually, he pushed his head through some bushes and saw Typhoon talking to Varim, an angry look on Typhoon’s face and an upset one on Varim’s.

"Why can’t you be more like your brother?" Typhoon asked angrily, causing Varim to recoil slightly.

"What if I don’t want to be like Rallan?" Varim asked, his voice quivering slightly, "What if I just want to be myself?"

"You couldn’t fight anyone to save your life!" Typhoon shouted, Varim narrowing his eyes a bit, "Rallan killed an Alpha! That’s more than you’ll ever do!"

"So you’re proud of him because he’s a murderer?!?!" Varim asked in a raised voice.

"I’m proud of him because he’s the perfect wolf!" Typhoon shouted back, "You’re just a pathetic excuse for an Alpha’s son!"

Varim’s eyes welled up with tears. His body shook violently with sorrow and he stood up. Though Varim was clearly upset, he growled softly, his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Why do you hate me so much?!?!" Varim shouted, "What did I ever do to deserve this hatred?"

"You are a failure as a son and as a prince in my eyes!" Typhoon snapped, glaring at Varim with a seething hatred.

"Well if I’m such a failure to you, then why don’t you just kill me?!?!" Varim shouted, his voice shaking terribly. Typhoon snarled and bared his teeth to Varim.

"Good idea, Varim…" he growled fiercely, "Why don’t I?"

Typhoon leapt at Varim, catching the young wolf off-guard and rolling about on the ground for a moment before Varim kicked him off. The two wolves got up and circled each other. Though Varim had the spirit, Typhoon was more experienced and had no combat training whatsoever, thusly giving Typhoon an easy advantage. Typhoon grabbed Varim by his neck, tossing his own son roughly into a tree.

Varim cried out in pain as his body hit the large pine tree and fell to the ground. As Varim struggled to get back to his feet, Typhoon bit into Varim’s side, drawing a large amount of blood. As Varim cried and whimpered in agony, Typhoon dragged his son back into the center of the clearing, leaving a trail of blood on the grass where Varim had been dragged.

"Dad… Please, don’t-" Varim began but was cut off by his father.

"Don’t what? Do this?" Typhoon asked and grabbed Varim’s throat in his jaws. Varim struggled to push his father away, but failed horribly.

"Dad, no! Stop! You’re gonna-" Varim said, but never got the chance to finish. Typhoon clenched his jaws closed tightly around Varim’s throat, bringing a startled and choked gasp from his son. Varim’s body gave a sudden violent spasm and Typhoon pulled away, turning Varim’s throat into a gory mass. Rallan’s eyes widened and he dashed into the clearing.

"Nooooo!" Rallan shouted and tackled a very startled Typhoon, knocking him away from Varim’s body.

Typhoon gasped in surprise as a sudden force pushed him away from the corpse of his son. He hit the ground and rolled, scrambling to his feet and looking around for his attacker. When he spotted Rallan, his face went as white as snow.

"Rallan- this isn’t what it looks like!" Typhoon said quickly and nervously.

"Isn’t what it looks like?!?!" Rallan shouted angrily, looking back down at the bloody body of his brother, "You killed my brother! You killed Varim, your own son! How could you?!?!"

"Rallan, just take it easy…" Typhoon said calmly, "He asked for it anyway…"

"That doesn’t mean you had to kill him!" shouted Rallan, his voice increasing in volume and rage, "What kind of father kills his own son?!?!"

"First off, I’m an excellent father and I’m your Alpha and you will show me my due respect!" Typhoon shouted back, smirking slightly, "Besides, he was a failure. He deserved what he got…"

Rallan growled angrily at Typhoon. His eyes narrowed in pure hatred of his father; all respect he had for him had evaporated from his body, replacing it with a burning rage.

"You bastard…" Rallan growled and ran forward, tackling his father.

Typhoon’s eyes widened as Rallan barreled into him, knocking him off of his feet. Both father and son tumbled across one another before Rallan pinned Typhoon down. Typhoon grabbed Rallan’s muzzle in his mouth and tossed him roughly to one side, allowing him to get up. Rallan also got up and the two wolves began to circle each other.

Rallan and Typhoon exchanged furious looks and growls, a bitter hatred now apparent between the two of them. Typhoon jumped forward and grabbed Rallan by the neck, brutally pulling him down to the ground. Rallan grunted as his body slammed into the hard ground, feeling his father’s jaws tighten around his neck and begin to cut off the airflow to his lungs. Rallan gasped for air and tried to push Typhoon off of him, trying to keep from ending up like Varim had. After a few minutes of struggling, Rallan finally pushed Typhoon off, the Alpha’s fangs tearing slight cuts through his neck, but nothing fatal.

Rallan flinched as a few razor-sharp pains ran through his neck, gasping for air as he stood up. Typhoon lunged for him again and missed Rallan’s neck by an inch as his son pulled back, smacking at Typhoon with his paw and forcefully knocking him back to the ground. As the Alpha struggled to get back up, Rallan leaped forward and pinned Typhoon to the ground, grabbing his father’s neck in his mouth.

"Get off of me, you ingrate!" Typhoon shouted furiously, trying to push Rallan away. Yet no matter how much Typhoon pushed Rallan, Rallan only tightened his grip on his father’s neck.

"Submit Dad, and I’ll let you live for a trial!" Rallan said through his father’s fur.

The struggle went on for several minutes, both wolves grunting as they fought against one another, father and son locked in furious combat. After awhile, Typhoon placed his paws on Rallan’s