Centaurus was sitting at night, the scent of wolf surrounding him. Sunspot was next to him, her large eyes staring out at the moon.
"A lovely night, isn't it?" Sunspot purred in a silky voice.
"It is," Centaurus responded, his tone neutral.
"Where is Nakomis?" She pressed.
"Nakomis is out hunting. Why do you ask?" Growled Centaurus. He was becoming suspicious now.
"No reason," Sunspot said softly. She was silent a while longer before she started inching closer to the Alpha male.
Centaurus let out a furious snarl and sliced the female's muzzle open. Sunspot wailed in agony and lunged back.
"Never, ever get that close to me ever again," Centaurus growled.
Sunspot nodded and raced for the outskirts of the den area. Centaurus watched until she vanished into the forest. He howled, summoning Nakomis to his side.
The she-wolf trotted out of the woods in the opposite direction that Sunspot had gone. Centaurus rose to greet her.
"What is it, my love?" Nakomis asked. She smelled heavily of blood, and her muzzle was smeared with the crimson liquid.
"Sunspot," Centaurus snarled. He remembered the events and thought about how Sunspot had seemed to think Centaurus would allow her to take over the spot of Alpha Female.
"That cowardly, mangy, cur!" Nakomis roared when Centaurus had finished the story.
"Calm down; she is gone now, and she probably won't return until she has healed."
"And when she does, I'll rip it open again! And when that heals, again!" Nakomis paced angrily in a circle around the den. She was interrupted by a small whine.
"Mum, why are you so mad? Where is Sunspot?"
Centaurus swallowed nervously at the sight of Nika, the source of all his troubles and his deepest secret. The small she-pup stared with large, wide eyes at Nakomis.
Just after she had given birth, Nakomis had discovered Nika and quickly adopted her. She did not know the truth about the little, fragile pup.
Nakomis swallowed, as if trying to get ahold of her anger. "Nothing, dear. Sunspot is fine. Just go back to sleep."
Nika blinked and disappeared into the realms of the den.
Nakomis lowered her voice. "If Sunspot returns, I shall kill her myself."
***
Centaurus slipped away the next night. In his stomach, he carried food for Sunspot.
"Sunspot," he called softly. "I am sorry."
Slowly, the she-wolf crept towards him, seeming to materialize from the air.
Centaurus regurgitated the meat for her, and, after a moment's hesitation, Sunspot began to eat.
When she was done, she cast Centaurus a hurt look. "Why?" she whimpered. "Don't you remember..."
"Do not speak of it," he growled. "Nakomis must never know."
"But she will find out," Sunspot whined, looking at the ground.
"How? How will she find out?"
"Because Nika is starting to remember!" Sunspot spat suddenly. "She was with us nearly two weeks, while Nakomis was waiting in the den for her own pups. Nika was bound to catch fragments of memory!"
Centaurus winced, thinking guiltily of the pup. "What has she said?"
"Not much. Only to me. She has asked about Nakomis, and why I don't nurse her anymore. Why you avoid her."
"It was a mistake," Centaurus growled suddenly.
"Oh, so our pup is a mistake?" Snarled Sunspot. She seemed to grow to twice her size. "I am a mistake? Shouldn't you have thought about it before you mated me, Centaurus?"
Centaurus bared his teeth, thinking of how he had taken advantage of Sunspot when she had been in heat.
"It is your fault as much as mine," he snarled.
"Is it? Really?" Sunspot rose and walked in a circle around Centaurus. "It is not!"
Centaurus snarled again and turned to run away. He did not notice the swift shape racing towards the den. He paused and turned back to Sunspot. "Nakomis is my mate. Not you. So leave me alone, and do not try to rub salt in a healed wound." With that, he vanished into the distance, leaving a confused and angry Sunspot behind.
***
All the memories of that night overwhelmed Centaurus. The guilt he knew he would feel when Sunspot became pregnant, but the dismissal of it. The instinct to mate had hit him and destroyed his rational mind. But he would not let it happen again.
As he neared the den, he became aware of the scent of blood. He growled and pushed faster. When he emerged into the open, he stopped short.
Nika's throat had been torn, and she lay, her eyes frozen in a perpetual state of fear.
Centaurus whimpered at the sight, and he suddenly realized that this was Nakomis's doing. She had taken out her wrath on a helpless pup.
As he stood, staring, Centaurus heard the rustle of leaves behind him. "Nakomis-" he began, turning to face the wolf.
But it was not Nakomis, it was Sunspot. The she-wolf stared at him. Thankfully, Centaurus's large body blocked the scene, but the scent of blood and Nika informed Sunspot.
"No!" The wolf howled.
"Sunspot! You must leave! Run, now!" Centaurus snarled, snapping at the side of the wolf. But she did not run.
"No. My pup has been killed. I will not-" Sunspot was cut short, her eyes widening in horror at the sight of something next to Centaurus. Slowly, he turned his head.
Nakomis was standing, her eyes filled with hate. Her muzzle was still caked with the blood of Nika, but she had a new target now: Sunspot.
Without saying a word, the two females leaped at each other. They clashed in mid-air, and before the had hit the ground again, Sunspot's blood had splashed onto the ground.
Nakomis stood over the dead wolf, her eyes blazing. "Your turn," she hissed, advancing on Centaurus. "Then, once you are gone, I will destroy all evidence of what you have left." She cut her eyes toward the den.
"Nakomis. You're mad," Centaurus whimpered, but before he could move, Nakomis had landed on his back, and soon, the great male was lying, slaughtered, beside his mistake.
Nakomis, covered with the blood of her once-mate, turned to the den. Horrid shrieks of pain filled the air.
Nakomis drug her three pups out of the den and set them next to their father. Then, she pulled Sunspot and Nika in a ragged circle around Centaurus.
"This never happened," Nakomis muttered, as if she was already erasing the memories from her mind. She then turned and raced into the forest, abandoning her pups, her mate, her beta, and her rage.
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Subject: Nakomis's Rage 
04/12/11, 07:40 pm
