The Alpha's Mutt
Credit Where It Is Due

Over the next couple of weeks, Farris and I had both begun investing time and effort into getting to know Hugo better. At first it started simple with visiting him in his cell every day to spend time talking with him, simply getting to know each other better.

Then it became a bit more personal. Farris helped to get him some new clothing, so that he would have some options available. But most importantly, he would feel more comfortable. And even though I would not consider myself a stylist, by any means, I gave him a haircut as he was really dissatisfied with how long and unruly his blonde hair had gotten. Deene had even gathered together a bunch of books and we put a lamp into Hugo’s cell so that he could spend his time reading rather than staring at a wall.

Day by day, Hugo seemed to be growing more open and comfortable with us. He appeared happier and more at ease. And I was quickly beginning to learn that the Hugo we had first met was nothing like the Hugo that he really was inside. He was actually a rather shy, quiet type. He enjoyed the simple things in life and even though he had been lower ranked before becoming a soldier in Master Belial’s army. He had really enjoyed the work that he had been doing as a gardener.

Now I understood why he had appeared so interested in my ramblings about expanding the pack’s fruit and vegetable growing opportunities. It was not an act or merely out of boredom, he was genuinely intrigued by what I had been saying. This gave me an idea. A chance to build our friendship, and therefore our trust, even further.

“Farris…” I began hesitantly as we were both lying in bed one night. “I want to let Hugo out of his cell.”

“I am not sure that is the best idea, Mysti.” Farris cautioned after a moment of silence. “I know that we have been getting to know him and we see a different side of him. But I am not sure how the rest of the pack will feel about it. He is still, technically, the enemy.”

I could see where he was coming from, I really could. Hugo had come to us under difficult circumstances. There were bound to be wolves in the packs that were not going to take kindly to his being released from the basement dungeon so soon. Especially while the vampire threat still loomed large.

“Well, how about this…Hugo lives in his cell a majority of the time, so that no one gets uncomfortable with us allowing him too much freedom. However, we give him opportunities to come out and explore, let him get to know the pack. We are trying to start this new vegetable garden and Hugo used to be a gardener. I think that we could use this as a way for him to bond with the pack on a larger scale. He could meet more wolves and discover that we are not the savages that he has been taught that we are. We are just a normal community that live and grow and work together.”

“It is hard to argue with that.” Farris admitted with a sigh. “But, if we are going to do this, the pack members have to feel safe. So, for the time being, he cannot go anywhere without you or me and at least one guard.”

“Agreed.” I nodded with a smile.

That was a more than acceptable compromise and from what I knew of Hugo so far, he would be happy with any time out of that cell. Now I would just have to convince a couple of our gardeners to meet with him at night. They usually worked early in the mornings, but for Hugo’s sake, they would need to meet in the late evenings for this to work.

“Odd.” I thought.

I had never before considered the difficulties of being a vampire gardener. They really did live entirely different lives than we did. Vampires and wolves, alike, were both creatures of the night. But the vampires’ aversion to the sunlight, really made that statement truer of them that it did us. If we chose to, wolves really could lead fairly normal lives. I wondered how easy that would be for the vampires as they could not interact during the day.

There was really so little that we understood about their species. All we had to go off of was mere speculation and ancient stories. It was truly a shame that things were playing out as they were. If all of this were different, we could use this opportunity to come together and relearn about each other’s species. Perhaps we would replace that we had more in common than we think. After all, I had been replaceing my newfound friendship with Hugo to be quite pleasant. Perhaps the things that had once made us enemies, would now allow us to become friends.

But would we ever get that chance? Would the other vampires be as receptive as Hugo has been? Or would they all be blinded by hatred as Master Belial seemed to be? I supposed that there was really only one way to replace out and that was to cut off the snake at its head. Would there be others who would step in and fill his seat with their own hate? Of course, there would be. But that did not mean that all of them would be that way. How many of them are just like Hugo? Not really believing in the message but needing somewhere to belong. Perhaps we could show them a different way.

Provide them with a new path and forgive them for their mistakes. It was not as though the wolves were a perfect race either. My former pack was proof of the prejudice that still existed within our own society. But we were taking steps to move forward. Wounds were beginning to mend, and our society was beginning to evolve. These vampires needed the same opportunities. The older generation of vamps were the ones that still held the hate in their hearts. The younger ones just needed to be shown that they could think for themselves. They did not have to follow the same path that their ancestors had.

Now the question became…how to fight a war while killing as few of the enemy as possible? You could not ask the wolves not to defend themselves against those who would seek to harm them. But the fewer of the vampires that we brutalized, the easier it would be to convince those that remained that we are not savages that needed to be exterminated. This was going to take some careful consideration.

I had a fitful sleep that night, my mind too full of thoughts to properly rest. I had this feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. It was not exactly dread. But it certainly was not excitement either. It was as though my thoughts from the night before had unlocked something within me. Something that my body was aware of, though, I was most certainly not conscious of it. But I had a sense, a sense that I would be forced to do something drastic. Something that could have long-lasting effects.

However, I did my best to push those feelings aside so that I could focus on the task at hand. Farris and I rose out of bed early and hurried to the area that we had mapped out with the packs to create the new garden. We did our best to explain to those who were working on the garden as to why it was important for Hugo to be involved in this project. At first, they seemed fairly reluctant, which was understandable. But soon they came to understand the value in what we were trying to do with Hugo. I knew that they were still likely going to be on edge around him, but all we could ask was that they try.

In the end, several members from my pack had agreed to change their schedule so that they could work with Hugo after the sun had set. I was proud of my pack for being so welcoming. It assured me that they really were the wolves that I thought that they were. Our pack was founded on the idea of accepting lost souls, no matter who they may have been. And I was glad to see that we could extend that to those who were non-wolves as well.

And though they were more hesitant and I, myself, knew how prejudiced that they could be. I really had confidence that, given time, Farris’s pack would eventually get there as well. They had already been much more welcoming with my pack than I had ever expected them to be. It showed that they could grow given time.

Which was good. Because if my plans were to work, then they may need to be even more embracing of vampires than they had ever dreamed they would be. But we would cross that bridge, if and when, we come to it. For now, it would be baby steps and getting them to accept Hugo would be a great move in the right direction.

That evening, Farris and I went into the dungeon to deliver Hugo’s dinner and tell him the good news. I knew that he would be excited and that was making me giddy. I was bursting at the seams with the need to tell him, so much so that the second I saw Hugo, I simply blurted it out. He stared back at us in surprise, and I was certain that he was not sure that he had heard us correctly.

“Did you…just say…that you are going to let me work in your garden?” Hugo asked, his voice filled with amazement.

“Yes.” I nodded, enthusiastically. “I told you that we were looking to expand our pack’s food growing capabilities. We are putting in a large new garden plot, there’s also a greenhouse, as well as a flower garden behind the pack house.”

“There is a lot of work to be done. We could really use someone with your expertise to help us.” Farris added, making certain that Hugo knew that he was on board with this plan as well.

While Farris and Hugo had been developing their own friendship as well. Theirs did not have the same ease as mine and Hugo’s had. I knew it was a bit more difficult for both of them to attempt to form a relationship with each other, there was still a bit of mistrust on both sides. Hugo, for all his ability to forgive, could not help but flinch a little when Farris approached him too swiftly. He remembered all too clearly being on the wrong end of Farris’s fists not so long ago.

And Farris for all his understanding and efforts at acceptance was still an Alpha male. His mind was constantly focused on the protection of his pack and his mate. Having Hugo around put both of those things at risk and no matter how hard he tried, he had great difficulty being completely at ease around him. But I had a sense that we could trust Hugo and Farris was trying very hard to let that be enough for him to do so. As I had done earlier when assessing the packs and their abilities to be welcoming, I had to give credit where credit was due.

“And what about the pack? Are they going to be alright with this? I am not going to be attacked, am I?” Hugo questioned and his worries were well founded, he had recently been our enemy after all.

“No. We have assured your safety. It has already been discussed with them.” Farris responded and you could see Hugo visibly relax some.

“One of us will also be with you, at least, in the beginning to ensure a smooth transition for everyone.” I assured him further, successfully putting his mind completely at ease.

“So, when do I start?” Hugo asked, a wide grin spreading across his face.

“Tonight, as soon as the sun has completely set. We brought your dinner, so that you can eat, and we are going to go have our dinner as well, then we will be back as soon as we are done to take you over to the garden.”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank us. You deserve a chance to spend some time out of this cell and we could really use the help.” I explained. “Just don’t make us regret this.” I teased, with a chuckle and Hugo laughed in return.

“I promise you that I won’t.” He stated with a hand over his heart, and I believed him.

“Good.”

With that, we left Hugo to his meal, and we went to have our own. The Elwood Pack had all but abandoned the dining room in the pack house during the worst of the virus. Now, it was customary for both packs to join together to share dinner outside where my pack had set up our camp. We would have a large bonfire every night and everyone would gather around it to share a meal. It had become a real bonding experience for the packs. So, Farris and I made a point of always trying to make our presence known at the gathering. Further encouragement for the packs to continuing uniting.

After a little more than an hour of mingling, the sun had completely set in the sky, and I was eager to start our little experiment with Hugo. So, we quickly reminded our Betas of what we intended to do before we headed back to the dungeon to give Hugo his first chance at earning his freedom.

When the cell first opened and Hugo stepped out, I could sense the relief in him that was almost instantaneous. Farris, on the other hand, was immediately tense. I could tell that he was waiting for Hugo to attempt to make a run for it. But Hugo made no such move. As we exited the dungeons and began to walk towards the greenhouse where we were going to be meeting the other gardeners, Farris slowly began to relax. Hugo was just happy to be out of that cell and in the fresh air. It did not seem as if escaping were even a thought in his mind.

When we arrived at the greenhouse, the small group of wolves from my pack were already there and working at different tasks. But they stopped as soon as we arrived and greeted their Alphas with respect.

“Hugo, I would like you to meet Ivailo, Ashina, Lupa, Blaidd, and Channing.” I announced pointing to each wolf as I went. “Everyone this is Hugo. You will all be working as a team with him from now on.”

Each of my pack members then stepped forward to greet Hugo personally. Before I knew it, Blaidd had already roped Hugo into helping him with a project and they had wandered off together talking about nutrients.

Farris and I hung around for the rest of the time that they were working together that night, just to be certain that everything went smoothly. But we were not really needed. The group of wolves took Hugo in with ease, and they seemed impressed with his vast knowledge.

And just like that, friendships were formed, and prejudices were erased on both sides.