Inside his nest a female tempest wolf, one of the strongest wolf breeds in the world with lightning-like powers, welcomed him inside his cave. A white wolf almost half as short as Grey rests on a twig pile.
Tasha opens her eyes and smiles when she sees Grey. "What brings you here this early?" Grey smiles back at Tasha and replies, "I have a surprise for you." Tasha's eyes widen with curiosity as Grey gently places the baby beside her. "We ran into something at our hunting party."
Tasha, intrigued, asks, "And what could that be?"
Grey answers with a straight face. "A human cub. He smelled good. I liked him and brought him home as our new child."
Tasha takes a minute to gather all the information and answers, "Huh?"
Grey looks at her and says, "As I said, I found a human cub."
Tasha snaps, "What do you mean you found a human cub in the forest? How? And what do you mean he smelled lovely and like him?"
Rather than responding, Grey puts the baby on the ground and moves to the back. Tasha gets closer and opens the bag, only to discover a baby peacefully sleeping inside.
Tasha, dumbfounded, moves closer to the baby and starts smelling him while Grey watches her nervously. Soon enough, Tasha smiles, starts licking the baby, and gives only one answer: "Ok."
Grey sighed in relief and looked fondly at the baby and her.
Tasha asks, "Why is he asleep?"
Grey says, "They drugged him into sleep so he won't wake up."
Tasha: "These humans are despicable."
Grey takes a long breath and contains his anger. "They always are." He looks at Tasha. "It's time to introduce the pack to our new cub. I hope the other cubs like him, too, he says while worrying.
Tasha giggles, "Of course they will, you silly big wolf."
With the infant in her mouth, Tasha followed Grey outside. Grey howled to get everyone's attention. Soon, everyone gathered around them and looked curiously at them. And then they started to notice the baby with Tasha: "Ehh, a human?" "Why is there a human cub here?" "Why is Tasha carrying it?" "What is a human mom?" "Human, what is that?" The cubs, adults, and old ones whispered between each other.
The old ones look at Fang and the others to see his reaction, only to see him calm.
The commotion grows loud enough to wake the pack's oldest and strongest wolf.
An 8-meter brown wolf, covered in scars and adorned with two fangs, opens his eyes. The old wolf takes a long sniff that surprises him. The old wolf wakes up. He sets off towards the clearing where the commotion is taking place. His strides produce a reverberating echo on the ground.
Once he is outside, all the other wolves are surprised at him.
"It's the ancestor!" they all shout. "Even the ancestor is scared of the human cub!" The cubs are surprised by the big wolf, whom they have never seen because he is always hibernating in his nest while leaving the tribe's affairs to the new alpha. He only comes out when a major thing happens and protects the tribe.
"That is the biggest grandpa I have seen in my life." One of the cubs yells.
The other added, "Look at his fangs; he looks way stronger than Uncle Grey."
Once the ancestor is near enough, all the old and adult wolves bow their heads to him. Soon, the cubs imitate their parents and bow to him, too. The cubs watch in awe as the big wolf approaches, his presence commanding respect from all members of the tribe. They feel a sense of pride knowing that he is their protector.
The ancestor walks until he reaches Grey and Tasha, who are bowing and looking at the human baby. Soon, his eye sees the baby and takes a long sniff. Then he sighs and looks at Grey and Tasha.
"This cub is loved and blessed by mana and hated simultaneously. His appearance may pose a threat or serve as a double-edged weapon. Should you take him as your cub, my dear Grey, you will be blessed and cursed simultaneously." Grey and Tasha exchanged a worried glance, unsure what to make of the ancestor's cryptic words. The weight of his prophecy hangs heavy in the air as they contemplate their next steps.
"But I see amazing things for our tribe coming from within him," he says, taking a deep breath. There may be a period of turmoil initially, but eventually, great things emerge. I'm not the one to lecture on how the young ones care for the pack. However, if you keep this cub, remember to treat him as a pack member. Remember to take him as one of us. Let this be a warning to all of you, too. This one will never have a place among the humans, and he shall be our child from now on." The ancestor, speaking loudly and glancing at the pack, concludes by saying, "And whatever he brings with him is one of our own too," as he gazes at the child. The pack members nod in agreement, accepting the new cub as their own.
"WE OBEY THE ANCESTOR," howled all the adult wolves, followed by the cubs.
Grey looks at Tasha and nods to his ancestors. Despite their warning, he decides to raise the baby as his cub.
Fang and the other adults sighed and decided to run with this idiot. They knew it would be a challenge, but they were determined to protect and care for the child as one of their own.
The ancestor smiles at the wolves, looks around, and blesses the cubs by licking them individually.
Grey knew that raising the human baby would not be easy, but he was determined to do so with the support of his pack. As the ancestors finished blessing the cubs, Grey felt a sense of responsibility and love for the new addition to their family.
The ancestor continues, "What is a pack? Is it one individual commanding others to do his bidding? Or an organization that uses all the members to get what they want? A pack is a family run by everyone who lives in it; everyone has their purpose here. We, the old ones, lived long lives in our prime and are ready to sacrifice our lives for the pack if necessary. The adults' jobs are to provide for the rest of the pack by hunting, guarding, scouting, or taking care of the cubs, our future, whose job is to learn from the adults and the old ones and be ready when they go old.
I remember when I ran into a snotty little Black whelp full of hatred and revenge, the ancestor says while looking at Gray. He was full of vigor and life. And was ready for trouble. When I welcomed him back then, I would never have guessed he would be the new alpha one day, just like how we welcome this new member today. I ask you, old and young, to be patient with him. He may be different, but he soon will be accustomed to our ways and become one with the pack.
Everyone in the pack nods at his words with respect.
Tasha, looking at the ancestor nervously, finally yells, "Ancestor, these vile humans have drugged my child, and he won't wake up." The ancestor's eyes widen in shock, then narrow in anger.
All the wolves exclaim in anger upon hearing what the humans did.
The ancestor nods and says, "I know, my child; he will wake up in a few hours. His health is in excellent shape, so don't worry. What you need to worry about is what to feed him. Humans don't eat our food, as far as I remember. The ancestor looks at Tasha while smiling.
Tasha exclaims and is dumbfounded by this new knowledge. The next thing she knows, it takes her a whole day to realize she has to feed him food in fluid form (yeah, for your sake, I'm going to leave this part out).
Later that day, in Grey's nest, Tasha and Grey sat anxiously, watching the baby as he finally opened his eyes. Tasha felt a heightened nervousness, uncertain if the baby would accept her.
A moment of connection followed as round black eyes gazed at them curiously. A tiny hand reached out, and Tasha inched closer to allow it to touch her fur. As the baby ran his hand over her coat, he experienced a warmth unlike anything he had felt before; in that instant, a sense of safety enveloped him. Tasha felt relief, recognizing the baby's touch as a sign of acceptance. However, the baby finally called a heart-wrenching cry that had long been repressed. Grey observed with a mixture of emotions as the baby finally unleashed his pent-up emotions in a cathartic wail.
To soothe him, Tasha gently licked his face. Soon after, she brought the food she had prepared and fed it to the baby with her mouth. Once he had enough to eat, he calmed down. Grey couldn't help but feel grateful to Tasha for her nurturing instincts. Together, they forged a stronger bond as they comforted the baby.
The baby looked around, taking in the sight of the two wolves, who were at least twenty times his size, before finally drifting off to sleep.
Grey appeared puzzled. "That's it? This cub is boring..." But just as he attempted to finish his thought, he felt a chill run down his spine when Tasha shot him a furious glare.
With an angry expression, Tasha retorted, "What do you expect? He is only a few days old. And remember, human cubs take longer to grow than wolves do."
Grey suddenly thought, "By the way, what name should we give him?" Tasha's eyes lit up with excitement as she pondered the human cub's name. "How about naming him Luden? As in light and hope," Tasha suggested with a smile.
Grey liked that idea and agreed that Luden was a perfect name for the human cub.
As a month passed, Grey started complaining that Luden was taking too long to walk and was berated by Tasha again. A month later, the same things happened again. But nothing prepared them for what would happen when Luden turned four months old.
One day, Tasha was licking Luden to clean him while he lay on his bed of leaves while Grey was out hunting. He was giggling while being tickled by Tasha's tongue when Grey came back from the hunt. When Luden saw Grey coming, he rushed toward him while crawling. Grey was amused by the little ball of joy crawling toward him, but soon, his eye turned to shock when Luden tried to get up slowly and take his first step toward him. Luden started to lose his balance. Once he was about to fall, Tasha approached him with her face full of pride to catch him. But Grey said, "Don't, let him fall and learn." Tasha stopped, sat, and watched Luden with amusement as he slowly tried to get up and get close to Grey. Once Luden reached him, Grey started laughing. Howling with his full voice, which started a howling troupe when the other cubs joined him. Until an old wolf berated and shouted, "Which bastard started this?'
Luden was only four months old but quickly began speaking like a wolf, howling at the moon, and running around on all fours. He would often curl up in a ball and howl himself to sleep.
One day, Grey was watching the Luden run around the den with joy while he was chasing Tasha; by this time, they had gotten used to the antics of running on fours and growling broken language when Fang came by.
Fang was surprised to see the Luden imitating a wolf and asked Grey how he had taught him to do that. Grey chuckled and explained that the Luden seemed naturally inclined towards wolves, much to Fang's amusement.
Grey walked by, smiled at Fang, and said, "So what brings you here, you old, grumpy wolf?"
"Old?" Fang asked. "I get the grumpy part, but old? Bastard, I am younger than you," he added with a stern face.
So, how do you feel? Fang asked
Feel about what? Grey asked back.
"You know about having a child," Fang answered, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, it's okay," Grey said shortly.
"Really? That's all?" Fang answered, feeling speechless.
"It's great, okay? It's the best thing that ever happened to me. It's like a whole new world has opened up for me. I never knew I could love someone so much until now. Well, apart from her." Fang said timidly.
"What? The fact you attracted a Tempest girl?" Fang said sarcastically.
"Bastard, what do you mean, attracted Tempest girl? I'm a great black wolf," said Grey proudly.
"Who are you calling a bastard? You are the bastard." Fang yelled back.
Soon, they realize a storm cloud is over their heads; horrified, they look at Tasha, who is now angry. Tasha's eyes sparkle with fury as she unleashes her powers, causing lightning to strike the ground around them. Fang and the Grey exchange a nervous glance, realizing they are in for a rough time ahead.
Tasha snapped when Luden started calling her the new word he had learned, bastard, while he was chasing her.
The two wolves ran away from the den while Fang cursed Grey for his choice of women. Tasha's eyes flashed with fury as she heard the word repeated. She knew she had to confront Grey about teaching their child such language.