"Brandon!"

The young Alpha turned, tilting his head questioningly as a figure waved their arm in the distance. Shaking out his fur, he glanced at the rest of the hunting party, who all had succeeded to take down their marked deer and were in the process of shifting back to field dress their prey.

After all, it would be a terrible waste of meat if it got spoiled due to spilled stomach or bowel contents. They may be werewolves with hardy digestive systems but even they could become sick from bacteria infested meat.

Since the rest of the party had no issues gutting their kills and quickly ending any lives needed to avoid suffering, Brandon gave the command to one of the present Betas before loping towards the figure.

For a moment, his heart was racing in his chest, fear and dread gnawing at his stomach. It had been a few days since Gabriel had been introduced to Jamie, and his brother had mentioned they were going on a run today.

So naturally, his first instinctual thought lead to the pair of them.

Something has happened. Someone has stumbled into Jamie or heavens forbid, Sean. What if they've had a panic attack? What if they had –

"Oh hey Brandon, Marisha wanted to ask you a few questions regarding the movement of the remaining herd of elk and deer." Stephan blinked, hand hesitantly lowering as they looked at me. "Are...are you okay?"

Brandon didn't instantly reply, instead slowly relaxed as his brain caught up to the facts. Nothing happened. They are okay.

They better be okay.

He shook himself out, feeling a slight shiver over his back and a murmured reassurance from his brother flitted through the link. A quick reassurance and a glimpse that showed Gabriel and Jamie running through the woods along the perimeter without a care in the world.

"I'm fine, you just...caught me off guard. I thought something was wrong." Brandon replied, to which Stephan grimaced and seemed uncomfortable.

"Oh, right, you're in charge of the Omega people are whispering about. Fuck man, I'm sorry." The young man held out a set of soft shorts, which Brandon took before shifting. "I already told Marisha that she could've asked you after the hunt, but you know how she is."

Brandon snorted goodheartedly. Marisha was one of the younger members of the pack who had just been given supervision over a few of the hunting trips.

She had excelled in her show of leadership but, either her Alpha was taking over or she desperately wanted to prove that she could take on more responsibilities.

It hadn't been the first time that she hunted down other Alphas with more seniority and responsibilities to try and curry some favor.

"I know she means well but with the way she keeps pushing people's buttons, she's going to bite off more than she can chew." Brandon groaned, rubbing his hands over his face as he overlooked his own hunting party.

Stephan nodded in silent agreement, a grimace darkening his features. "Yeah...about that..."

Brandon shot him a look that Stephan understood as the Beta sighed and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Reason why I'm nagging at your ears and not Marisha is because she fucked up Andrew's Hunt and is trying to fix her mess."

His wolf growled lowly, a spark of anger making him inhale sharply through his nose before blowing the air out audibly. "She did what exactly?"

"She wanted me to distract you while trying to pin everything on Andrew." Stephan growled, his own eyes blazing with fury. "As soon as she said that, I contacted your dad and let the present Alphas know."

Brandon breathed through gritted teeth but gave Stephan a grateful nod. Andrew was one of the few Deltas who had actually volunteered to lead the next hunt.

Thanks to his slimmer frame and keen eye, he was quite the capable hunter and had proven himself to be a valuable asset to any hunting team.

Andrew was swift, agile, could track prey in difficult conditions and had a persistence that few of the pack showed.

He had been praised by Alphas and Betas alike for his agility and determination. Being able to outrun a speeding elk, tackling down his prey while avoiding their sharp and lethal hooves.

Something that Marisha or rather her wolf, had grown envious of and had wanted to retaliate. There had been a few times where Brandon had to intervene with Marisha trying to plan a hunt that overlapped where Andrew and his team would be.

And as Stephan explained, Brandon's brow only dipped deeper and deeper. While Marisha thought she was being sneaky, the higher ups had all been keeping a close eye on her and watching her every move.

The young alpha knew for a fact that Marisha's hunting party was sent towards the Eastern borders of the pack. So how on earth did she end up in the West side of the territory, unless it was done on purpose.

Which meant that in her pettiness, Marisha had abandoned her own hunt, which automatically took away food from the tables of the pack.

Not only that, she proceeded a secondary hunt within Andrew's designated zone. Brandon had been the one to calculate and observe the herds there.

And there had only been one herd in the area that was big enough to not hurt the future deer population. Because the other herd consisted of does with their fawns. And those were off limits so the population had a chance to grow.

Brandon knew what his father's reaction would be to this amount of venomous hatred for an innocent soul. For an Alpha to be lashing out against those they were meant to protect.

To not only go against orders from the Alphas that outranked her, but to meticulously and viciously sabotage not one but several hunts just to try and demean someone she outranked...

Her actions had hurt far more than just Andrew. She had hurt the pack.

The young Alpha turned back to the hunting party, urging them to clean up and start heading back towards the packhouse. He already knew that by the time they got there, his dad would be summoning all of the pack.

Because of Marisha's actions that could influence the whole pack, her punishment was also handed out in front of the entire pack.

It was a punishment that every Alpha dreaded, young or old, a punishment that Brandon had once volunteered for to teach his Beast a lesson.

As the hunting party arrived at the center of the town, their faces grew grim with understanding. The meat was quickly stashed away in the freezers before everyone gathered to watch Alpha Ryker on stage.

Brandon quickly scanned the crowd and was relieved to not see his brother nor Jamie and Sean anywhere. While it was common for the entirety of the pack to observe these kinds of punishments, everyone's attention would be inescapably drawn to the unknown person among them.

And with emotions running high, feeding off of the nervousness from Marisha on the stage, the pack might react to any stranger they'd see in an unforeseen manner.

Everyone was present. Alphas, Betas, Deltas and the few Omegas the pack was proud to protect. Even the human mates had been gathered and all of them were observing the stage.

On top of the stage, Alpha Ryker started to explain what happened to the pack. Providing everyone with the history between Marisha and Andrew and providing evidence of her transgressions against the Delta.

Even the Omegas were soon frowning as every transgression was mentioned. Every infraction, every time Marisha had disrupted Andrew's efforts during the hunt.

"An Alpha who willingly targets someone who they outrank due to their birth lineage, is not worth being called an Alpha." The pack Alpha announced under the agreeing murmurs of the crowd. "An Alpha who risks the health and safety of the pack to satisfy their own needs, is not a true Alpha."

One of the nearby humans leaned closer to their mate, eyes flitting to Marisha before whispering "Babe? Isn't this a bit too much? She gets it."

Both women looked at one another before the Beta smiled and pressed a reassuring kiss to her mate's forehead. "Marisha probably understands but her wolf has shown to be stubborn. Any wolf being scolded by the pack Alpha, being reprimanded in front of the pack, would've shifted and shown submission as soon as they understood."

Understanding sparked alive in the human's eyes, who flitted back to Marisha. Hands fisted by her sides, nose twitching in a barely suppressed snarl.

Her wolf was not submitting in the least. Instead, it was looking through the crowd as if trying to locate a specific individual.

"Equally as worse is the fact that Marisha was using her born rank as a means to try to intimidate fellow pack members. She was commanding them to lie and cover up for her own misdoings, instilling distrust and deceit in the pack."

Brandon could see the frustration and resentful acceptance in Alpha Ryker's eyes as the pack Alpha nodded to himself before making a gesture.

"Marisha will be sent off to the reformation center, where she will be monitored closely." Several Alphas and Betas cringed in the crowd and even Brandon rolled his shoulders with unease.

The reformation centers were well known among Alphas and even a few of the higher strung Betas. It was a place where wolves running rampant were sent off to. Taught how to better control their inner Beast, how to teach understanding to both human and beast and make a better, proper connection.

Because without guidance, those with the strongest beasts were at risk of pushing their packs away. And an Alpha without pack was doomed to devolve into a Corrupted.

Hell, Marisha was already showing the first subtle signs of corruption. The insistent need to dominate and outrank someone weaker. To be praised and worshipped for their power and abilities, to never be outranked by another.

While most of these traits were being accepted and seen as natural for Alphas, there was a limit to how far one could act on these traits.

There was a big difference between a friendly rivalry and competition between pack members, and the vindictive persecution of a single, lower ranked wolf.

Life of an Alpha was hard. Often underestimated because Alphas were the ones who ruled the packs, who took charge and helped those around them.

But it was an eternal struggle of balancing human and beast. To keep a good bond with your inner Beast, give it guidance and knowledge so it would never lash out.

Brandon still struggled with his beast from time to time. Alpha Ryker, seen as one of the most calm and compassionate Alphas, struggled with his Beast. Rarely, but that was thanks to years upon years of practice, trial and error.

And Alpha Ryker had never hidden his shortcomings for the pack. Had even asked for their help and guidance, to never fear of putting a finger on the issue if he were to act out.

Thanks to this mutual understanding, being Alpha to see that even Alphas aren't the perfect beings they're often perceived to be, the pack grew.

Bonded far beyond the limits of most packs. Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omega or human. All the members trusted one another explicitly, would risk their lives to come to the aid of any and everyone in the pack.

Because they understood that all of them had imperfections. None of them were equal in the sense of strengths and weaknesses. Some wolves were innately stronger than others, were more agile, smarter or were capable of producing drool worthy dishes in the kitchen.

Within their pack, none of that mattered. You could be an Alpha who was incapable of hunting or an Omega who with the drive to lead hunts.

Everyone in their pack participated, using their own personal strengths to help in whatever way could. Because everyone understood that nobody is perfect.

At that, Brandon's Beast snorted in his mind before supplying a memory of their last run. Where Sean had been blissfully asleep, belly bared to the sky and bathing in the last rays of sunlight that peered past the canopy.

Well... perhaps some exceptions can be made...

A.N. Bit of a shorter chapter and apologies it took so long but I'm sadly in the middle of another flare up, so my health is flipflopping all over the place.

Edit ; I noticed I made a small mistake and wrote down Gammas instead of Deltas. I corrected it.