Suma: A Short Story: Part 2

Spring came six new pups were now a part of the pack, making the pack the size of 16 wolves; nine males, seven females. Suma and his siblings were now a year old. One a sunny spring morning, Suma traveled alone to the rendezvous point. The sun was causing a beautiful affect upon the forest as the rays lit the leaves above. He took this time to think. As he did, he realized he hadn’t spoken to Epsilon in awhile, nor Delta, nor Kappa. They had all been rather busy promoting their own interests. Epsilon was far ahead of him now, but Suma was being patient. He felt that if he went slowly, but surely up, he would be slow in falling, if he ever fell. If he used all that he had to get where he wanted to be, he would have nothing left to stay there. With these thoughts, Suma was content with patience. Epsilon once told him that he tried to be patient, but when he saw an opportunity, he felt better taking it rather than chancing loosing it, and it hurt him not to take it. To Suma’s displeasure, he often saw that it was Epsilon’s rash prudence and impulsive behavior that brought him favor rather than his patient, thought out behavior. Delta was still fighting her decline, but the harder she fought the faster she fell. Kappa remained satisfied, though he did trod the edge occasionally. Suma noted that while Delta was beginning to lose heart, “the very thing that might save her life,” Suma thought, Kappa and even Epsilon were beginning to grow arrogant and cocky. It was midsummer when Suma was once again in the same rank as Epsilon, a Beta-wolf. Epsilon had found his place organizing hunting. Suma wondered if Epsilon was settling for it, or was still aiming for the highest goal, the Beta-male, second in command, with only the Alpha-male to answer to. If so, Suma would not have rivalry with him. A short chat with him dispelled such hopes. Epsilon’s mind was still very much on the position as Beta-male. What they both soon discovered was that, though strength and skill might help get you there, it was intelligence, favor, intellectuality, and patience that might promise the coveted seat of power; all of which skills Suma had so diligently learned and possessed. As Suma began to rise to Beta-male, his three siblings were struggling. Kappa followed the footsteps of his father exactly and that late winter was found guilty for the same offense. Suma, who was now close to the Alpha-male, attempted to passively talk him into mercy, but the Alpha would not have it. Kappa was killed the very day he was convicted. Epsilon, struggling with his arrogance, finally picked a fight with the wrong dog, a fate Suma had long predicted and dreaded. For three days he was guarded at the rendezvous place, forbidden to eat, drink, or leave, while the Alpha decided what to do. He didn’t actually think about it much, he was busy with other things. That is why nothing was decided until the third day.

“Sir,” Suma spoke to the Alpha-male on the third day, “Epsilon is still a prisoner. His guard is taking up three of our able wolves for hardly a worthy cause, as many have offended in the same way before him and fate was chosen within the day. Forgive me if I am being overbold in my views, but I see not why we must waste good wolves for such a trivial task.” He was not yet Beta-male, but the Alpha favored him, and often called Suma to consult with, for at the moment, there was no Beta-male.

“The cursed family,” the Alpha answered irritably, “it is the curse of their father that ails their doom. His family will never live peacefully beside mine; I should never have accepted it, allowing the pups to live. The fool should be killed as his father and brother before him. Why did their father have to produce such able offspring who spoil their value with their idiocy? Now I must regret to lose him.” Suma hoped to influence the Alpha into giving no punishment and let it pass, but if that should fail, his following plan had to be done before Epsilon lost strength. The Alpha’s last comment gave him hope.

“Sir, forgive me if I am wrong,” Suma interjected, hiding his urgency, “but I can see you are in no mood to kill another wolf. Why put yourself at any displeasure. He is what you say; only an able fool, hardly worth any attention.”

“Yes, only a fool,” the Alpha resolved, “but a punishment must be made. I cannot have my pack rising against me. If not death, what would you suggest?”

Suma hid a cringe at these words. It was the last cringe he ever felt, it was the cringe that he had been waiting for. All his hiding his thoughts and true feelings had finally turned his heart into a walled city. This was the last blow, as the final gate was closed. It was not that he no longer had a heart; it was that no longer was there any free access from the outside to the heart. Every word, every action was analyzed, and rarely did any pass through the iron gates.

Fortunately, Suma had also expected such a question, and proceeded to suggest a punishment harsh enough to please the Alpha-male, but merciful enough that Epsilon might survive. “Perhaps run him off,” Suma proposed, “he would most likely be ambushed by another pack in another territory and killed anyway.”

“Very well,” the Alpha consented, “see to it yourself that it is done.”

Suma made his way back to the rendezvous where Epsilon was. “The good Alpha has decided to spare his life,” Suma coldly told the guards, “he is to be run off from this territory, never to return.” Suma looked at Epsilon, hoping he could read into his eyes that he was trying to save his life. Epsilon, still wounded from the fight and weak from not being allowed to eat or drink for three days, stood up, his own eyes told Suma; he understood. Epsilon left that day, but Suma held hope that he had been strong enough to make it to an unmarked territory to live peacefully and free. Suma’s sister, Delta, his only sibling left in the pack, lost her struggle soon after. After nearly provoking a fight with a higher female, the Alpha-female reprimanded her, and threatened “to finish the fight.” Delta’s courage and spite failed her. She cowered from the Alpha-female, revealing who she really was, and fearfully accepted life as Omega-female. After a few days, most the fear fell away, but enough stayed that Delta never challenged her position, but she was miserable. She often babysat the pups, who she hated, and distracted other wolves when they were about to fight, an act quite contrary to her nature. She despised life and everyone in it, but she was too afraid to lose it and too afraid to attempt fending for herself. Her pride stung every day. She was wholly and completely dependent and enslaved to her fear. Suma kept a watchful eye on her. He had already lost two siblings, one being his best-friend, as best-friends go. He knew that the Alpha-pair were not his parents as they were all the others. Suma reached his goal soon after the affair. He was Suma, Beta-Male. During this time, Suma had more contact with his mother, Theta. One could hardly tell Theta was his mother. Suma treated her with respect, but any further relationship was impossible and was not wanted. Theta had worked so hard to be accepted by the Alpha-male, to be what she thought was loved. Seeing Suma reminded her of all that was, all that hung by a thread, and all she owed. She wanted so deeply not to fear; she wanted so passionately to know she was forgiven of her past and that she was protected the persecution of the Alpha-female and the past that haunted her. The Alpha-female’s life was hardly better. She, too, lived in fear. Every day she had to aggressively protect her position as Alpha-female, every day she was burdened by the fear that she would be replaced, and that all she knew would be gone and she would have to survive alone. The one male that had been her own, with whom she bore offspring with, was the very one whom she could not trust to protect her life, although it was with him it hung. This gave Suma’s position more power, for, since the female’s influence were divided between Theta and the Alpha-female, the Alpha-male relied greatly on Suma’s influence, often deciding one way or another depending on what Suma thought. From that, Suma learned another skill, influence. He learned that influence used correctly and cautiously brought amazing power. Patience taught him how to use Influence properly and effectively. Favor and Cleverness taught him how to use Influence for his benefit, or the benefit of others. The Alpha-female despised Suma. Many times her plot to rid herself of Theta forever was foiled by Suma’s patient, convincing words of advice against such a plan of action to the Alpha-male. Theta, who knew nothing of Suma’s influence, only feared that he was reminding the Alpha-male of what she had done, and he would lose favor in her, therefore, did not like him, either. Theta has ceased to truly live, she only survived. She felt no emotion, the emotional trauma earlier in her life had killed her, she had no hope. She was almost a living dead. Suma did not like what his mother was doing, he felt it was not fair to the Alpha-female or the Alpha-male or even herself. He couldn’t help but have compassion. This was one of the only reasons he secretly influenced in her favor, besides, she had raised them to be old enough to possibly survive rather than abandoning them immediately and he understood the desperation, the fear, and the hopelessness of her situation. In a large sense, she didn’t have any other options. She was drained, dreaming only of love, freedom, and forgiveness, something she feared she would never have with Suma reminding the Alpha-male of her past. Even with the opposition, Suma’s patience and knack at pleasing his superior kept him relatively safe from loss of position, but he, too, often lived in hidden fear.

It was late winter again, the snow was deep. Suma was three years old and it was breeding time. Suma kept watch of his position with a sharp eye. He was not the same Suma. He was still patient, influential, prudent, and a fierce fighter when need be, but he was colder, less feeling. *So much fear surrounded him, that it was no wonder that he blocked it out, and became outwardly emotionless. He secretly cared about others, but the secret was kept even from himself. Most breeding times went very smoothly, but this late winter was different. A few of the females were flighty and flirty, wishing to breed, too. One female, eager to show her contempt toward her place in the hierarchy and prove that she was unruly and uncontrollable by the Alpha and Alpha-female, approached Suma invitingly several times a day. Finally, one day, she exclaimed that the hierarchy was such a bore and she would much rather go out and start a pack of her own, being the Alpha-Female. She looked at Suma and asked if he wouldn’t like that, too. Why should he have to be second best to her father? “You aren’t even his son,” she mentioned coyly, “he killed your father and your brother! You certainly owe nothing to him!” Suma shook his head, he did not want to be the third in his family, that could threaten his mother and sister livelihood and waste all of his hard work and patience. The female, Veeta, looked disappointed, but did not give up. She came back the next day, and the next. She continued to pursue him aggressively, evasively suggesting running away and beginning their own pack at the top of the hierarchy. Suma admitted, not to her, but to himself, that the hierarchy was a tiresome thing, often unfair, and cruel, but it was the way of life, and rebelling against it only to create one for themselves was a foolish thought. Finally, as spring was close in coming, the Alpha’s daughter exclaimed that she was very much disappointed in him; “If you will not free me from this hierarchy, this prison!” she vented, “I will free myself, and you shall pay for your folly!” Suma refused to be moved. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Alpha would die and he would become Alpha, and he would not break his vow not to make the same mistake as his father and brother. He had worked patiently and hard for the position he was in. He was content to wait for the promised position rather than run off with a female he had no desire for and no character at all. The Alpha’s daughter’s threat did make him wary. He knew how fragile all this was, he could not admit that he wasn’t worried. He decided that if everything fell anyway, he would not regret standing firm. It was no use running from injustice by being rebellious or unjust. Injustice would come, no matter where one was, it was unavoidable. In a way, it was part of life, and life was simply avoiding the brunt of it. Still, Suma felt sure that perhaps something better was waiting for him, somewhere in the future. Meanwhile, he would have to deal with the matters at hand. Veeta’s revenge didn’t take long. The next day she was very moody and acted as though someone had done some great wrong to her. The day after that, Suma heard a friend pressuring her to tell what had happened, and Veeta ‘hesitantly’ telling the friend that Suma had tried to mate with her, but she would not let him. That friend told many other friends, and soon, the Alpha had called her to hear her confirm the rumors he had heard. She confirmed them with tears in her eyes. Suma, who had been watching at a distance, was impressed at Veeta’s acting skills. He knew he would not get a chance to defend himself, with two of his family behaving thusly and Veeta being the favorite daughter. Furious at being betrayed – or so he thought – by another of the ‘cursed’ family, the Alpha’s wrath was turned on Suma. Even then, Suma felt nothing, no regret, no mourning, but took it quietly. In a single cold day, Suma went from Beta-male to Omega-male. The Alpha claimed to be showing mercy by not killing him, but truth be told, he did not really want to lose such a valuable wolf as Suma, who would work hard and productively in any position. Suma could not lie to himself and say that the change was easy, it was most difficult, but even so Suma was ever patient and continued to shove away his feelings. Delta was not as quiet, and raved about the unfairness of her situation, not thinking for a second the true injustice of Suma’s life. Soon, though, she realized that she could make Suma do all the work while she had her fun. Delta was not as patient and no longer more alluring as Veeta, but she knew what she wanted and how to get it much better than Veeta. Despite what had happened and his sister’s selfish actions, Suma still had a strange small hope that there would be a favorable turn of events after another terrible turn, but even that hope was slowing slipping away as hopelessness took its place.

A year passed, and the forest was again white. Suma was relaxing at the rendezvous place, finally with nothing to do; he hoped to enjoy the quiet, beautiful forest when the female temptress came around again. “Tell me,” Veeta asked, “do you regret resisting me?” Then she again begged him to ‘rescue’ her, to take her away and to start his own pack with her. “There is nothing here for you,” she insisted, “come with me and we will have a future.” When he refused, she became angry again. “Are you so stupid,” Veeta exclaimed, “can’t you see you are the lowest in the hierarchy?” Suma- for nearly the first time – lost his patience and angrily told her that if he were to leave with her, he would become a slave to her; a worse master than the others. He would never leave with her, ever, and he pitied anyone who would. She left in a huff. A month later, she was pregnant. How could she be so stupid, Suma wondered. He was not angry. He felt ashamed of losing his patience, and regained his composure even in the worst of circumstances. Delta did not share love for anyone but herself, yet when she heard of this, she felt an urgent feeling to warn Suma. Perhaps she thought she would feel guilty if she didn’t, after all he had done for her. Perhaps she saw no reason not to; after all, she had no love for the pack. Or perhaps she was as selfish as ever, and supposed that if he escaped; she might later escape to him for him to take care of her again. Whatever her reason, she insisted that he leave because he was the easiest scapegoat for the real violator. Suma did not need her urging, and on that cold, moonlit night, Suma fled. He did not know where he would go, or what he would do, but he could not stay if he wished to live.

(Sorry it's late)