Chapter Text
Prolougue
If you asked any tribe in Africa if there was someone that they were afraid they would all say “the Wolf men”. Hidden in the deepest part of Africa there resides a people that they say are neither man nor beast but something in between. The Nokatai, a group of people that have been rumored to be there since before the tribes could remember, were the teachers to the tribes ancestors. Legends say that they were blessed by the gods to have control over nature itself. More feral and bloodthirsty than any other tribe they are more wolf than man. And their newest heirs are the strongest the Nokatai people have ever seen.
Chapter One
I grunted in pain as Minions Three and Four threw me into my cage, their sick laughter ringing out against the growling of my siblings.
"You'd think they'd get tired of growling at us every time we do this!" Minion Four snorted with a laugh that sounded like a 50-year-old cat lady.
"Can you not?" I said tiredly. "Do you know what your laugh sounds like? I swear, it sounds like a cat in heat being dragged across a chalkboard. I'm not kidding. Are you even a fully matured adult? 'Cause your voice sounds like you've been stuck in puberty for the last fifteen years!" I exclaimed, smirking as I heard small snickering and chuckles come from the other cages. The small laughter quickly changed into pained groans and clenched screams as Minion Four growled in anger and pressed a button on a remote, sending electric shocks to all the cages.
"Not so funny now is it, you damn brats!" Four said nastily laughing at our pain. He turns quickly to still snickering Three. "And what are you laughing at?"
"Well she's not wrong! You do sound like that!" Three laughed, then calmed down. "You might want to stop shocking them before you end up like Minok and Daryll though."
Paling at the thought, Four quickly released the button and the shocking ceased. I pulled myself up by the bars and glared at the minions.
"Your bastard of an Alpha and I had a deal! I'm the only one that gets hurt, and you're not to hurt my Littermates at all!" I snarled at them.
"Well, if you had kept your smart mouth shut then I wouldn't have done it, you little bitch! Still think you're back home as the Main Alpha-Heir? Well, you're not! All you are here is a little Omega bitch! If any of them get hurt it won't be anyone else's fault but your own!" Three snaps angrily as he slams the remote back down in its place.
A few of the other Minions laughed as they walked out . As their footsteps faded away, the sounds of rustling and whimpering from the other cages emerged. "Are you alright, Nasa?" my Thrikun, Wolfscar, groaned as he sat up in the cage to my right. My siblings sat up in the cages surrounding me.
"I'll live, but more importantly, is everyone else alright?" I looked worriedly at them.
"We're a bit singed but we're okay, Saka. What did they do to you today?" my sister Naka asked, reassuring my worries but consumed by her own.
"They tried to increase my healing factor again," I grunted as I shifted to my left side so that I could pop my right knee back into place; all of them cringed at the sound.
"Big sister?" I look to my left to see my youngest sister holding herself in the fetal position trembling. I look into her powder blue eyes and my face softens. "What is it, Chere?" I ask softly as I slowly move to where the side of her cage and mine touch.
"I-I'm scared." she replies nervously. "I want to go home." She looks at me pleadingly.
I sigh. "I know little one, I know. We all want to go home."
"Then why can't we?" Chere demands. "Why do you let them beat you up? Aren't you the strongest of us?"
"I am bu-"
"Then why don't you fight back?!!!" Chere blurts out, piercing my heart with her baby blue stare. "I want to go home and Maka said you were the strongest of us and that you would protect us, so why-"
"Because!" I exclaimed. As soon as I saw Chere and the others shrink back, I softened my tone. "Because Chere, if I do that, he will kill you."
"He will?"
"Yes, and my job, when our Penaks aren't here, is too make sure we all come out of this alive. I can't make him pay for this without knowing for sure that all of us will get out okay. You and the rest of our Littermates' safety is my first priority. That's why I'm taking all of the experiments instead of them being done on you. Because you're not guaranteed to survive, while I am. Everything I am doing is to protect you and our pack," I finished softly, watching as Chere seemed to process all of what I said.
"But you know what you can do to help me?" I asked as I touched her hand through the bars.
"What's that?" she answered softly--weakly.
"Save your strength, so that when I tell you to, you can run and get out of here, and we'll be safe away from HIM. Can you do that for me? Can you all do that for me?" I asked, looking around at my twelve siblings. "Can you trust me enough to get us out of here? All I ask is that you be patient with me. Can you do that?"
The room is silent for a few minutes. A whisper breaks it. "I trust my Lil' Alpha." It came from my older brother Abyss as he rocked back and forth. Assents from the cages gave me hope and then I felt a small hand in mine.
I looked at Chere who, smiling, says, "I love you, my Sakara. I didn't know that's what you were doing--I'm sorry."
I smile and squeeze her hand. "That's okay. I forgive you, but you need to sleep now; we all do. They'll be back to test in the morning. May Lord Okami watch you as you sleep."
Various voices murmured, "And yours as well" as they all tried to get some sleep. I watched as they slowly fell asleep, petting Chere's soft blonde hair. I thought to myself, I will get them out of here if it's the last thing I do.