Soul of the Pack

Night descends on the land. Tonight full moon will shine upon ancient oak trees of Darknorr forest, upon deep ravines where only the bold venture and mystical waters of a large lake. Tonight full moon shines upon the kingdom of the Pack.

The Pack are the undisputed rulers of these lands. Their reign has been unchallenged for generations. Their domain stretches from the Silver Lake in the north to the vast green plains of the south.
Their throne is right in the middle of these lands, the famous Blue Fang cave system.

Night has awakened the inhabitants of the Blue Fang. First to rise are the cubs. Their playful barks and ruckus they make fill the cold, vast halls of the Blue Fang with life and warmth. Soon afterwards all the other members of the pack are at their feet. All have awakened, but one.

The Alfa will never again open his eyes. His soul has departed his body, and now he hunts with his glorious ancestors. Queen has tried to awaken his lifeless body but to no avail. Her loved one will never again lead the Pack, he will never again play with their cubs. Blue Fang Pack has lost their leader, but she has lost the love of her life. Her chest is filled with pain, her blue eyes are blurred by tears but she must put all of that aside. She is still the queen, and she will put her duties to the Pack above anything else, just like he always talked.

A distinguishable howl echoed through the caves and the halls of the Blue Fang. The queen calls all adult members to the Moon Hall, and they will answer.

In a moments notice the grand central hall is filled with the members of the Pack. Through the hole in the ceiling, moonlight shines upon a lifeless body of the Alpha, and the Queen over him.
Talks and murmurs filled the hall until the Queen spoke up.

"Proud wolves of the Blue Fang Pack. Your Alfa stands in front of you, but his soul has climbed the heavenly stairs. We shall honour his body and his deeds. Night will be filled with the songs of his achievements, we shall celebrate his life. But first comes the Pack. Pack needs a new Alfa, and before even we pay tributes to the old Alfa, we need to promote one of you into a new Alfa. The Decision will be made, now and here. Any member is eligible to be a candidate for the Alfa but must have the support of other members of the Pack. If there is more than one candidate the Holy Duel will settle it. "

Alfa was old. And pretenders to the throne have already done some preparations. Each pretender has gathered the support of some Pack members, and they hoped it will be enough. The Pack split into two groups, with each group centered around two strong and ambitious wolves.

On one side of the hall were wolves gathered around the Bear. The biggest wolf in the Pack. He was not a particularly good hunter but was famous for his brutality and his strength. Larger than all others with his brown fur he resembled a bear, thus the name was given to him in the ceremony of recognition. The ceremony of recognition is what every wolf passes when he reaches 2 winters of age, but due to his abnormal strength Alfa deemed him worthy of a membership in the Pack when the Bear was just one winter old, and Queen acknowledged his attributes and he was given his adult name, the Bear. He wasn't considered a good fit for the role of a leader by all of the wolves. On the opposite side of the hall were the supporters of the Shadow. Shadow was the best hunter in the Pack. He got his name due to his speed. It is said that when he runs, it is only possible to see his shadow, but not his body. His fur was black but so was his soul. He climbed the hierarchy in record time, and he made sure everyone else knows it.

Shadow and the Bear stepped forward to present themselves as candidates. They have done so with the growls and howls from the members of the Pack. None of these candidates were worthy of an Alfa position, and the Queen knew it. But the rules were set by the ancestors and she couldn't change them. But she is still the Queen, and some power is still in her hands. And now she will make a tough decision that will include innocent members of the Pack. A tough decision worthy of a queen or a foolish gamble, time will tell.
So she talked to the Pack once more -
"Shadow, Bear, you both are eligible to be the new Alfa. Your claims are in accordance with the tradition. Members of the Pack see potential in both of you. But you will not be the sole candidates. I will exercise my right as a queen and nominate Stripes for the Holy Duel. "

The Pack was surprised by this and in particular young Stripes. He has just passed his ceremony of recognition and was for the most part unrecognized by the rest. He still hasn't mastered the art of the hunt and was considered too young in general. But queen's wishes need to be respected, at least for tonight, tomorrow who knows. Bear and Shadow didn't oppose. It would be foolish to show disrespect to the current queen but most importantly Stripes wasn't considered a real challenger.

When Stripes joined Bear and Shadow, Queen of the Blue Fang Pack continued: "Three of you will now go through the Holy Duel. There can be only one winner. One new Alpha. When one of you is unable to continue the fight you will be at the mercy of the winner. Take your places Duelists in the Silver Grove, and may the Moon bless the new Alpha."

Bear and Shadow silently and fully focused left the Moon Hall to the grove. Stripes was openly worried and nervous and didn't know who to follow, who to listen. Queen approached him and whispered to him "You are young and not prepared for this. But don't worry. I choose you, because your heart is pure, and you always put others before you. Moon will watch over you because you have all the traits of a true Alpha. What you possess those two will never acquire. I am truly sorry, but right now you are the only hope for a bright future."

Stripes was calmed down a bit by the queen's words and shortly replied "I accept my duties. I hope I will not let anyone down."

In a couple of minutes, all participants of the Holy Duel were present in the Silver Grove. Queen stood on a small high ground "Let the Duel begin and may the Moon bless the new Alpha"

When the queen gave the order Bear rushed the Shadow, but his attack was easily evaded by the Shadow. Bear is by far the strongest wolf in the Pack, but his strength didn't mean much because he had no real chance to match Shadow's speed. While the two Duelists growled and charged each other, Stripes was left out of it all. He was not considered a real threat by other Duelists so he was just left there to observe the two.

Bear was almost out of his breath and he has yet to strike a single blow with his mighty paws, or a bite with his enormous teeth. While Bear tried to rethink his strategy he lost Shadow from his focus. A costly mistake. Bear looked panicky right ad left, but instead of Shadow's black fur he just felt how Shadow's teeth sank into his neck. Soon Bear was on the ground with his eyes closed. Shadow licked the blood from his teeth and turned his attention to Stripes.

Stripes still beared a confused look on his face but while two Duelists were engaged with each other, Stripe's confidence grew, he watched the fight and more he watched more he realized - they are not invincible. Now Stripes faced the dreaded Shadow. They looked at each other, cautiously. Who will make the first move? Stripes looked closely at the Shadow's tail. Shadow curls his tail bavkwards moments prior to attack. That was the only chance for Stripes.

Stripes waited and waited. Finally, Shadow's tail curled. Stripes was prepared and he met Shadow's charge with a powerful claw attack. Claws slashed Shadows black fur just across the chest. Blood gushed out of Shadow's chest and he crashed to the ground. Stripes was the last wolf on his feet.

Victoriously Stripes turned towards the queen - "I didn't let anyone down".
But Stripes was confused. On the queen's face he could not read happiness, but some other emotion, it almost looked like....like... fear.
When Stripes realized what the fear on queen's face meant, it was too late, Shadow's teeth were already in his neck. With his teeth, still stuck into Stripes' windpipe Shadow squeezed through his teeth "You were too green, pup. The Pack is mine"

Stripes' eyes closed, and the Moon was covered by dark rainy clouds.

This is my entry for the #constrainedwriting contest hosted by @svashta.

Image sources :
http://www.misucell.com/group/wolf-fantasy-wallpaper/
http://campaztecroleplaying.wikia.com/wiki/Temple_of_the_Gods/Inner_Sanctum
https://fleurdelyse.deviantart.com/art/The-Wolf-Peter-and-The-Wolf-370670166
http://animal-jam-clans-1.wikia.com/wiki/File:Silence_digital_brown_fantasy_wolf_hood_art_hd-wallpaper-2031022
http://deskbg.com/view/27780/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/348114246170702061/