Suma: A Short Story Part 1

Status-Quo

Once upon a time, before the west had people, a litter of eight wolf pups were born in the territory that would one day be called Oregon. Theta, the mother, wept in the darkness, dampening the already damp dirt, snow clung to the opening, threatening to invade the safety of the den. Their father, who had, in folly, mated, violating the hierarchy and his social position, was killed by the impatient, dominant Alpha-male five weeks after they were born. Theta struggled to keep her litter a secret, managing it for a week longer, long enough for them to begin to eat meat (6 weeks), before the fear was too much and overtook her and, in attempt to please her Alpha and save herself from death, became one of the Alpha-male’s mates, abandoning her offspring. The Alpha-female was not pleased her mate’s distraction, his distraction of Theta not only caused her, rightfully so, to be jealous, but also weakened her authority in the pack as Alpha-female. Theta sought protection from the Alpha-female’s fury through the Alpha-male’s favor. Her protection was found, and the Alpha-female was powerless to do anything to defend her rightful authority and livelihood. Meanwhile, Theta’s pups struggled to survive the harsh winter, alone. Before spring was gone and their lives but seven weeks old, four of the pups died in the cool dark den because they were not mature enough to survive without their mother. The other four, Suma, Epsilon, Kappa, and Delta, were fortunate enough to find their way to the rendezvous and joined the pack and the six other pups that were born to the Alpha female and were accepted, despite the Alpha-female’s understandable bitterness. The rendezvous was an open area with some large rocks, an old den, and dirt and grass.  The spring was warm and bright, perfect weather and condition to raise strong, healthy pups. There they play fought with the other pups, ate with the other pups, and played with the same “toys” – feathers, animal skin, bones - as they did. Regardless of their activity together, there was no confusion of who came from what family. Suma, Epsilon, Kappa, and Delta were from one, and the other six were from another, and it was not to be forgotten by anyone. Out of all the siblings, Suma was fondest of his brother Epsilon, his only other sibling that had sense. Epsilon, a handsome, agile young wolf, was a mellow extravert and Suma an active introvert. Epsilon was still more active than Suma, similar in body, but extremely mature compared to their two other siblings. Delta, an attractive, lithe young female, and Kappa, muscular built, who always followed along with Delta, were very active, extraverted, and causing trouble in all imaginable ways. Their lives were careless and reckless. Even the mini-hierarchy of the pups meant nothing to them. They did what they pleased, a ruinous lifestyle. Despite Suma and Epsilon’s cautious advice, they would not hear of giving up their frivolous ways. As long as that moment was a joyful one or soon to lead to an amusing instant they were happy, and they could not imagine anything more important. Suma and Epsilon focused more on intelligent play, such as fighting, hunting, mimicking adult wolves to learn the future way of life.  Most wolves develop their aggressive skills first, then their submissive behaviors to avoid fighting. Although this was true in Epsilon, Suma first acquired a weapon deadlier, if in the right character, than aggressiveness and intelligence together. He had acquired patience. With this weapon added to his own intelligence and strength, he was second to only one, Epsilon, who made up for the lack of this weapon in other areas. Suma’s patience taught him to be cautious and watchful, giving him quickness in learning, and a skill in fighting and foreseeing. Epsilon, who was more inclined to be rash, had difficulty learning this, but was wise enough not give up effort. By the end of the summer, Epsilon and Suma had distinguished themselves as potential future Beta-Wolves (Beta wolves = highest in the hierarchy besides the Alpha pair) and Delta and Kappa distinguished themselves as the pack fools, a reputation that bothered them naught. Nothing had hindered their amusement; therefore they cared about nothing but amusement. Around this time, on warm, windy end of summer day, Suma overheard two Omega females discussing the pups.

“Delta and Kappa will be the Omegas before next spring,” the younger female, Tiesa, remarked, “I promise… the helpless, hopeless fools!”

“Hopeless they may be,” the older female Zere answered cautiously, “but helpless and fools they are not. Kappa is a brainless bear, and he’s as strong as one, too. And if Delta is a much like her mother as she has shown, she has as much spite and connive as she does beauty and strength to match them both. Have you seen how lithe and agile she is?”

“Their mother?” the Tiesa asked in surprise before the first finished her last sentence.

“Indeed, do you not know, Theta the Alpha’s mistress is their mother,” the Zere answered, “Delta’s likeness to her mother is Veeta’s – you know the Alpha’s favorite daughter – likeness to the Alpha-female in her youth. They are both headstrong temptresses, but Veeta can’t afford to be as frivolous and ridiculous as Delta.”

“Why ever not?” the younger one puzzled, “I would suppose that the little brat being the favored daughter could afford it, while Delta being born from an inferior, disgraceful birth wouldn’t.”

“Delta is charming by nature and no one dares challenge her.” the Zere explained, “She is a formidable opponent and is as easily provoked into a fight as she is provokes others. The whole family inherited their father’s daunting strength; Kappa received the most of it.”

“Terrible strength he has,” the Tiesa murmured, “a giant.”

“Of course she’s got his and Theta’s pride and ambition, too,” the other continued on about Delta, “She won’t be humiliated easily, you’ll see. I’d not be surprised if she leaves or ends her life before she experiences being an Omega.”

“Epsilon and Suma, are they part of the family?” Tiesa attempted to move on, “no, no, they are far too intelligent. Did the family have any intelligence at all?”

 “The two oldest brothers,” Zere exclaimed with delight. It was obvious she enjoyed showing off her knowledge of the disgraceful family, telling their story without discretion. “Yes, yes, they are a part of the family. Now, don’t get it in your mind that the parents were born fools. No, the arrogance was always there but the folly was tipped off by their false security in their achievements and intelligence.” Zere was thoughtful for a moment, “Suma and Epsilon seem to have skipped out on the arrogance. If they keep the course, they just might make a good name for themselves.”

“Good name?” Tiesa asked, “If they keep their course, they’d be Betas before fall if not for the Alpha-female.”

“And Theta,” Zere added, “she won’t like having the reminder that the Alpha-female hates her because of what she did and that each time she sees them she’ll remember afresh.”

The two moved on to other topics, and Suma slipped away feeling sick, without knowing why. Seldom did siblings care about each other, but he did. He felt ashamed of Delta, Kappa, and Theta’s folly as well as his father’s, whoever he was. Suma seldom thought about the matter, but it was always in the back of his head. It never did seem to matter anyway, everyone was for themselves. It was a hard life, and one had only time to look out for their own livelihood.

At ten months old, the nomadic period had come to the pack, and the pups were able to show what they were worth. During the nomadic hunting time, Suma and Epsilon were among the more valuable pups, the pups the adults spent more time teaching and paying attention to, due to their self-taught skill they learned as pups. Before the month was out, Epsilon had played an active role in bringing down one buffalo, three elk, and had alone brought down two deer in one day. Suma was close behind, sometimes assisting Epsilon in his hunt, sometimes hunting on his own. On several occasions, the game would have been lost if it hadn’t been for Suma urging patience. A year had passed since they had been born, and they were both well respected. Together, Suma and Epsilon, as predicted, began to quickly rise to Beta-wolf. Delta was struggling to gain respect, or at least seduce it, but charm, arrogance, and drama only went so far in adulthood. Suma cringed as he watched Delta continue to act like a pup as an adult. Had she only listened, Suma thought. Contrary to prediction, clumsy Kappa, who had been abandoned by beautiful Delta, found merit through strength and settled down contently as a subordinate wolf, where he safely had his fun. As he showed promise, Epsilon attempted to coach him, but Kappa wouldn’t have it. He had realized he was strong and was now arrogant. “Just like his father,” Suma heard a Zere scoff to Tiesa.