Mister Ōkami

I head over to the healing room and find Frostt curled up with her two patients. Hash looks a lot better since this morning and Chain is still stable. Hash lifts her sleepy head and smiles at me. I don’t know if the healing will last just yet, but she definitely looks like she’s in a lot less pain than before.

“Hi, Hash,” I say, smiling back at her.

“Hi! Frostt is taking good care of me, don’t worry,” Hash says with a laugh.

“Yes. I’ve thoroughly cleaned those wounds and held the split skin in place so it can seal properly. Chain isn’t improving, but he’s not actively bleeding, either, so that’s good…” Frostt says and then with a small dissatisfied growl, “So don’t you dare take them from me…”

“I won’t. Looks like Hash can nearly rejoin the rest of our pack,” I say.

“I miss hanging out with the others…” Hash says.

“I’m going to go check on Viper, Bounce, and Jewel now. Keep healing,” I say.

I stoop and lick both pups. As a result, I get smacked in the face by Frostt who’s still a bit bitter over this morning. She looks so sad, so defeated. I shake it off and continue on with my life.

“Hi, Suisen. How was the hunting today?” Viper asks.

“Hunting went very well, thank you,” I say.

“Guess what?” Bounce says.

“Oh my gosh…not again…” I say.

Bounce’s belly has increased to two times the size it was previously. Either something very odd is going on or this multiplication thing is a more common occurrence than we thought. I suppose that, like unicorn magic, unbirthing and rebirthing is not a very well researched process. The other two mother wolves are happily resting beside Bounce now that their litters have shrunk.

“LUCY IS DEAD!” Alpha’s voice calls out suddenly.

No freaking way! I rush out of the nursery and find the border patrol has returned and is in terrible shape. Mister Ōkami has a terrible gash down his left shoulder down to his elbow. Hill seems to be alright, but she’s helping prop up Mister Ōkami and he’s bleeding on her.

Presha, the large pup, is missing some flesh on her back and her backbone is exposed. Lucy’s mangled dead body has been laid on the ground and everyone is padding over to pay their respects. Lucy was 9 years old. I will remember how silly and fun she was; unable to stop her running in time to prevent crashing into walls.

We’ve lost our blue wolf (X) and a light brown wolf. If only she weren’t dead, then we could have still saved her. I was a lot closer to Lucy than X and…I don’t know what to say. I’m utterly ruined. Another friend, a sister, gone.

“We’ve also got ten more wolves, but two of the pups are nearly dead,” Mister Ōkami says.

TEN MORE AGAIN! My heart can’t take this whiplash! The pain! Both of the nearly dead pups appear to be about 4 months old. Someone is going to need to take them in. Who, though? We are out of Omicrons aside from the Omicron pups who are too young for this task.

“The city is not barren yet, though we keep hoping to not go there anymore. Lucy died in the city as we were picking up two unrelated pups who were huddled up in a dark wet corner. The little boy pup is nearly dead, but the little girl, who’s a bit older than him, is not injured,” Mister Ōkami reports. “As we were moving in to rescue the pups, Lucy tripped and fell right into a trap. The guards were surrounding us and things got intense. I ended up severely injured and Lucy died…but Presha leaped in, nearly getting chopped to bits, and took Lucy’s body back from the guards. Presha truly deserves a rank up for her bravery.”

“I did what I had to, but I wish I could have actually saved her…” Presha whines.

“It’s a shame our adult Omicrons are all booked up. We don’t have room to unbirth and rebirth anymore pups,” Mister Ōkami says.

“I’ll take that city dweller,” Dollop announces suddenly.

“YOU?!” Mister Ōkami exclaims. “You’re an OMEGA! How could you possibly handle a pup?!”

“Can I at least try…?” Dollop asks.

“Fine. He’s as good as dead anyhow. Come take him,” Mister Ōkami says, rolling his eyes.

The others all stare on as Dollop, even more shocking than Jewel, steps forwards and takes the pup. There he goes, back to the womb. His actual mother is probably dead and would have no idea that her pup is being saved. Dollop finishes the task and retreats to the other mother wolves who have come to greet her.

“Welcome,” they say, soothingly.

“Next, after nearly getting caught by a helicopter, we ventured to the outskirts, dragging Lucy with us. We found cousins, a 6 month old male pup and a 5 month old female pup. With them, an unrelated 6 month old female pup… Only the 6 month old female is injured and it’s easily treatable…just a few nicks…” Mister Ōkami continues. “Then, we entered The Feral Lands. All of the edge of The Feral Lands has been ravished. We found nothing but blood, death, and broken dens. So we went deeper, almost to the Feral Sea… We found a 7 year old female, her nearly dead 4 month old male pup, and her 5 month old nephew. Neither the mom nor the nephew are injured. Lastly, we found a 14 year old she-wolf and her 13 year old sister who’s paw pads have been rubbed raw and need tending to.”

“So, uhhh, should- should I do that- that “unbirthing” thing for my son?” the 7 year old she-wolf asks, setting her dying son on the floor.

“If you want him to live, then, yes,” Mister Ōkami says.

“Okay…” she says and copies how she saw Dollop do the process.

“I see Suisen and Gargle brought plenty of prey home again. Let’s eat, then we can lay Lucy to rest afterwards,” Mister Ōkami says.

There’s food for 65 wolves and 58 of us. Again, Alpha eats more than anyone else. Once he is done, he heads to Frostt to get his arm wound taken care of. We all eat and leave enough for 24 more wolves so we again return the leftovers to storage.

After we eat, pups Lost and Kurai, joined with Bound and Cuttoe, take the body to bury it. I can only assume they have had to bury wolves before, before I had joined the pack. Kurai leads the way as the pack member who has been here the longest. All who are present sing laments again as we had when X died.

Silence falls, and then, while I have their attention, I speak up, “I have heard again from the messenger.”

“Now really isn’t the time for that, Suisen…” Mister Ōkami says with a little growl.

“I was told I have to tell you this and I figured since we are already mourning, I may as well deliver a bit of bad news,” I say.

“Okay, fine. What could possibly be that important?” Mister Ōkami asks.

“Remember when I mentioned The Lion of Judah the other day? I’ve just been informed that we cannot meet with him as we are,” I say.

“What?! That’s not fair! Why?!” Mister Ōkami asks, outraged. The other wolves gasp.

“From what I was told, our creator is perfect, and we are not…” I say. “We were all born cursed. All have fallen short of the glory of God. No one can meet with God as they are.”

“NO! HOW DARE YOU?! YOU’RE SAYING I’M NOT PERFECT?!” Mister Ōkami exclaims and strikes me.

“Ow!” I exclaim.

“I’M PERFECT! WHOEVER THIS MESSENGER IS BETTER WATCH THEIR BACK OR I MAY VERY WELL KILL THEM FOR THIS OFFENSE!” Mister Ōkami howls in rage. “AS FOR YOU! THAT’S A RANKING DOWN!”

“I’m…I’m sorry…” I say, trembling.

I can feel everyone watching me. Even Frostt has emerged from the den and is watching. Mister Ōkami attacks me, sinking his fangs into my tender flesh. I wail in agony, trying to get away, but I can’t.

“I thought you loved me, Suisen! How dare you betray me like this?!” Mister Ōkami asks, releasing me from his grasp.

“I… I do love you…” I whimper, trembling in fear and pain.

“Don’t you DARE call me cursed or imperfect ever again, you hear?!” Mister Ōkami says with a threatening growl.

“Yes, Alpha,” I say, sinking into the ground.

At this point, I may as well be buried with Lucy. I’ve lost my favor… I could become an Omega like Kurai, and be hated by Alpha forever. What a curse, that I should be in love with this vicious beast…

“Ohhhh, hey,” Frostt says.

I’ve literally been lying next to the partially eaten poop pile for hours now. I don’t know what to do. I’m sure Sage didn’t intentionally set me up to be destroyed. Now, Frostt of all wolves, has shown up.

“Don’t talk to me…” I mumble.

“I can talk to you if I want. You can’t stop me,” Frostt says, smugly.

“I’m worthless…” I say. “I should be an Omega…”

“Yes. That’s what you deserve. What? You thought your little relationship with Alpha could last?” Frostt asks with a scoff. “Foolish Suisen. It’s no wonder you’ve been ranked down.”

“I know,” I say.

“Regardless. You can’t stay here,” Frostt says, doing her business while talking to me still. “You’ll get bacteria in your wounds and slowly die of a painful infection.”

“Maybe that’s what I deserve,” I grumble.

“And cost me MY job?” Frostt asks, kicking some dirt over her fresh offerings. “No. Come on. I’ll clean your wounds. For my sake.”

I slowly follow Frostt, walking so close to the ground that my belly drags. We make it back to the healing room and Frostt sets about cleaning my wounds. I don’t deserve healing. I’m a fool.

“Stay still…” Frostt murmurs. “The more you wiggle, the more you’ll bleed…”

“I am staying still…” I grumble.

“Nuh-uh. I can feel you moving,” Frostt says.

“Yeah, well, I’m breathing. You expect me to hold my breath?” I ask.

She slaps me and says, “Don’t get sassy with me, Omega.”

“Sorry,” I apologize, sighing.

It’s the next day. My wounds are healed and I’m ready to accept whatever fate throws at me today. The air yesterday, though so warm and bright, seemed to be harboring a dark secret. Storm coming, perhaps… Or, I suppose, not a literal storm.

I hear wails of agony from some other room. Again, something has gone wrong. I stand up so fast that Oil, who was snuggled up with Kurai and I, tumbles over. Quickly, I follow the sound to Wall who is staring at Presha.

“She’s in pain!” Wall exclaims.

“What’s happened?!” I ask.

“It hurts! It hurts!” Presha wails, drooling intensely as she whines about pain.

“Where?” I prompt, gently rolling her over.

“My belly!” Presha cries.

“Let’s get you to Frostt. She’s the healer apparently,” I say.

“Good luck,” Wall says.

Despite being a pup, Presha is a little bigger than me. I wish Wall would help me carry her, but he’s not allowed to touch her. Alpha would kill him if he were to touch her.

Struggling, I bring Presha to Frostt. The pale blue wolf looks up from changing Hash’s bandages. Chain is fast to sleep, snuggling with Frostt’s tail. Presha continues wailing so I lay her on the floor.

“What’s this?” Frostt wonders.

“Presha is complaining of intense belly pain. I figured you could help her,” I say.

“Yeah, sure, of course I can,” Frostt says.

Frostt gently removes Chain from her tail so that she can check on Presha. I watch closely as Frostt runs an examination. She gently presses on Presha’s abdomen with her nose. The large pup screams louder when Frostt touches a particular spot towards the middle of her belly.

“Feels like…foreign object…” Frostt says, looking deeply concerned. “In the small intestines.”

“How are we supposed to get it out?” I ask.

“We can’t…it’s not like we can climb inside and remove the object…she’s just gonna die,” Frostt says, shaking her head.

“Climb inside, you say…?” I say, thinking on this.

“…you’re not seriously thinking of trying it, are you?” Frostt asks.