CHPT 269: Unknown Alpha...

Two weeks had passed since Dolion announced the newly changed would begin their training in learning the Shifter's Dance. At least that's what it felt like-- the sun still never shined, the moon never moved. For all he knew, it could've been months. Months of endless fighting, sleeping, losing and learning through violence. All in the dark of night.

It should've been enough to drive him insane. Maybe he already was there-- you had to be a little unhinged to be comfortable eating partially rotted corpses and wash in ice cold river water. But, insanity and an undying will was required of everyone that wanted to survive as a follower of Remus....and to survive the hellish training placed on them by Dolion.

And that's just the thing. Not everyone was guaranteed survival. In the first few days, three Lupines died a gruesome death. Two were newly changed, they failed to transform smoothly when it was called for and showed a lack of understanding or talent for the Shifter's Dance. The other was killed by another Lupine in a dominance game gone array.

In the beginning it all felt like a jumbled mess of violence led by tooth and claw. But as time went on, he felt himself understanding. He felt himself seeing it all for what it was. When he wasn't eating and learning the fighting style of the Lupines of Remus himself, he watched. He watched the field, he watched the fighters and he watched Dolion.

He learned that the inside of the Deviant was meant to be chaotic, unnerving and willbreaking. Within the dark ever-changing expanse, every waking hour was a test on the mind and body. Those that cracked would do the same in more intense situations with real consequences.

Another observation he made that worked in tandem with his first assessment was what exactly they were training for. Even though combat was set up in one on one scenarios, they weren't being trained as duelists. There was too much madness, other fights coming too close and mixing chaotically until you found yourself facing another opponent who could be worlds better. That wasn't the way of a solitary duelist. That was the way of war.

They were being trained for war-- large scale battles, concentrated carnage. And Dolion was spearheading each session. Watching from a distance in between his own battles with his Hitmen. Samuel could practically see the gears turning in his head as he oversaw every combative scenario. Dolion didn't look the way Samuel's father did when he watched him and his brother fight. His father often looked bored-- all-knowing of every obvious mistake they made in any capacity while also knowing the quickest fix and adjustment. Dolion was openly calculating, discussing, thinking critically and even trying out different things on the field.

It could've been that he was thoughtful and open to change. But his erratic, dominant and emotionally unstable personality somewhat went against that judgement. Samuel was leaning more towards the fact that Dolion was learning. He was new...

Ever since that realization-- or theory, it was something he thought about heavily in-between battle or meals.

He knew every other prominent figure within the Deviant home of the Lupines.

He knew Jack, the unhinged psycho made monster who seemed eerily more intelligent than he let on with an equally as unsettling connection to Samuel. And Dier, the Lupine fanatic and beast of beasts from the Sunlands. As well as Aiko, the horrifying yet beautiful boogeyman and slayer of weakness.

The three of them could probably mop the floor with the rest of the pack. Three people that strong, all under the rule of one.

It left him with a simple set of questions.

Who was Dolion?

How new was he to being an Alpha?

How strong and influential was the family he was tied to? And how much of that power resided within him?