[AlexFili]

Chapter 4: The Leaders

Magnus reached into the box. “Ulric got 5 votes, Lorn got 2 votes, Silpher got 3 votes, Karn got 2 votes and there’s one for me as well”, Magnus took his hand out of the box. The males whooped and cheered for Ulric. “Okay”, Magnus proceeded, “Ulric is voted in as Alpha, Silpher, you’ll be second in command”. Silpher nodded.

Now they voted for a female leader. Each of them wrote a new name on a piece of paper. Once again they picked the names out of the box.

“Let’s see here…”, Dogol started digging around in the box, “Inna has 4 votes, Tulia has 4 votes, 2 for Lara, 1 for Bitsy”. The girls cheered. Inna said, “Oh, but we have a tie”. Inna looked worriedly at Tulia, but she was smiling. “It’s alright, I’ll step down and be second in command”, Inna gave her a hug, “Thanks”. Tulia knew this was what Inna wanted all along. Tulia looked at Silpher, a smile in his eyes. If they were both second in command, they would be spending a lot more time together.

Lorn nodded, “I think that’s everything for now. Let’s get back to our rooms and read all of this”. Everyone nodded. Karn reluctantly agreed.

= 2 months later =

It was time for hunting to begin. The Vykkers managed to get Elums and Paramites for the hybrids to practice on. Although the Vykkers mentioned Scrabs a few times, Ulric and the hybrids decided that it would be too dangerous. Bitsy was also worried that if they attacked the Scrabs, it would feel like attacking family, since they are half-Scrab after all. Braxley agreed, but warned them that they could not always choose whether or not to hunt a particular animal. They might have to resort to Scrab meat if nothing else was available.

Bitsy started reading a lot more than she usually did. However she was not interested in hunting or meat recipes, she looked at the herbal leaflets to find out which mushrooms were safe to eat. Bitsy would rather eat food that didn’t run away from her or left you messy afterwards.

Silpher and Tulia were spending some time reading to each other. Tulia could hardly believe that they would be spending more time together over the next few months. Tulia knew that Silpher would make a great leader, regardless of how high his status was. Tulia felt a longing to be near Silpher even more than ever, but Silpher still viewed her as a friend. Lorn walked into the room, “Hey Silpher, Tulia, I see you’re reading”. Silpher smiled, “Yeah we are, care to join us?”. Lorn sat down, “So, you think you can cope as the Betas?”. Tulia smiled, “I’m sure we can deal with the pressure”, Lorn chuckled, “That’s good to know”.

A few minutes passed, “Lorn, can I talk to you for a minute?”, Silpher moved towards Lorn. “Sure”. Lorn and Silpher walked to the next room. “Listen, I need to ask, what do you think about this whole ‘mating’ thing?”. Lorn smiled, “Well, it’s up to you. None of us are in any rush to have kids right? We can always play it safe can’t we?”. Silpher agreed, “We’re not in any rush… Thanks for the advice”. Lorn put his hand on Silpher’s shoulder and motioned to the next room.

Lorn stayed for a while and talked with Silpher and Tulia. Silpher was glad to see that Tulia got on well with Lorn. As Lorn was the oldest hybrid, he was able to give advice like no one else could. After giving some more tips, Lorn left.

Silpher smiled, “That guy knows what he’s talking about”. Silpher walked up to Tulia. “I asked him, he says we should keep it friendly for now”. Tulia smiled, “Oh, well that’s alright with me. There’s no rush, I’m only halfway through that chapter anyway”. She held his hand for a moment, kissed him on the cheek and then walked to her bedroom. Silpher felt a rush of adrenaline in his chest. “Tulia, you’re gorgeous”, he thought to himself.