Chapter 7: The Den
Reggie slowly approached his den knowing that he would soon detect his brother’s lingering scent. He would see his spot and grief would rush over him like a tidal wave slamming into shore. He was not prepared for what was to come. He could not admit that he would never again see, talk, annoy, tease, play, or sleep beside his brother. He told his followers to go to the den and the following day they would start learning the rule of the land. The wolves did as they were instructed and Reggie simply sat on the ground near the den boundary. The thing he was desperately avoiding occurred. He sniffed and picked up his brother’s scent. Tears filled his eyes as he buried his snout under his paws wishing things were not as they were. He curled up to sleep, and right in front of him stood Rex. Reggie, still laying down, simply stared. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing.” Reggie shrugged weakly, “I’m either hallucinating or this is some sort of apparition. Anyway, you’ll poof away soon enough.” “Well, that’s not very nice. Denying I exist. Reggie, that is down right hurtful. A less secure wolf would be in tears.” “Rex is dead, what did you expect?” “Rex is not dead.” Rex snickered. “No, no. He is. I even avenged it and all. Don’t worry, it’s my heavy heart that made you appear.” “Excuse me, I am not dead. I would know. I’m him, he is me, and Rex is Rex.” “Please, ghost or hallucination, don’t fight me. I need to sleep.” Rex then smacked Reggie’s head. “Can a ghost do that, you knucklehead.” Reggie jumped up. “Rex, Rex what? Please don’t mess with me, are you really you?” “Last I checked, yup.” Rex laughed. Reggie hopped onto his brother ecstatic with joy, sniffing and snuggling him. “Oh, you’re not dead!” “Reggie!” Rex exclaimed, “I was high-fived with a huge rock, do you think you could take it easy with the hugs.” “Oh nonsense! If you can take on a boulder, you can handle me!” “Reggie, I would like to officially state that while ‘what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’, rest and recovery first is needed too.” Reggie backed up. He laughed, elated at the change in circumstances. “Rex! Don’t take this the wrong way, but how come you’re not dead?” “Ah, a weaker wolf would take offense but considering the body slam you just gave me, I couldn’t possibly be a weaker wolf.” Rex teased, “That rock Butch planned, it fell; but it made a loud crash before. Elfie and I looked up and saw it. I jumped out of the way but there was some debris that caught me and I got buried under it. I guess Butch took that as a sign of winning the fight.” “Oh shrooms! What about Elfie?” Reggie gasped. “He’s fine. If you didn’t take care of Butch, he probably would have.” Rex said, crawling closer. “Speaking of which, you, my baby brother, took out another pack’s alpha!” Rex proudly spoke as he patted his brother’s head lightly, “Reggie, you did good. You gave his pack the chance to move on from his iron paw. Mom and dad would be proud. I’m proud.” Reggie’s heart filled with joy. While he was glad he made the right decision, he was thrilled beyond expression that his brother was not gone. His life didn’t suffer a loss he could not bear. And there, in that moment, as the sun slowly rose in the sky, Reggie was truly happy. “Rex, does this mean you can be the alpha again?” Reggie asked as he curled next to his brother for a quick morning nap. Rex laid down and put his right paw over his brother, “It’s up to you, Reggie. You made this pack.” Reggie drifted off to sleep and simply hummed, “Yeah, I think I like it better the old way. I’ll make the salad and arrange the weekly welcome assemblies and you, you be the alpha.” Rex chuckled and took in the moment. New challenges would come. New problems would present themselves. New foes would come near, and old foes would try to take another shot. But there, as the warm sun lit up the sleepy sky, Rex was sure that he and his brother could handle anything, the wolf way.