Up close, with Dean seeing his brother's eye color, he realized there had been a change in the two of them, a change in status, but having grown up together and living side by side, it was impossible to just start acting differently.
It was the same for Lupus as well, which was why Lupus was having a private meeting with just the two of them to begin with.
“You know what, I’m going to make your dream come true,” Lupus said. “I can change things so not everyone has to stay here and we can expand out of Ruin City, let the werewolves do as they wish.”
Dean’s eyes widened the moment he heard this.
“Wait, let the werewolves leave this place? But then what about the full moon? What happens if they run so far that you can’t even keep track of where they are, and then on the next full moon, a bunch of people end up dying!” Dean exclaimed.
“You do have a point,” Lupus said as he placed his hand on his chin. “But I talked about how I would change things, make things different. I know there are those like you that don’t mind staying in this place until we grow old and gray, but there are also those who want to go out there and do something.”
“They’re expecting something from me, and I don’t want to go back on my word. Especially since I want to do this anyway.”
Dean started to scratch the top of his head. Dean himself wasn’t the pack leader, whereas Lupus was. If Lupus was stubborn about it and made it so, then there was really nothing anyone could do.
This was the problem when the strongest would be declared as the leader rather than the one who might be forward-thinking or just have a general plan of what to do. It had worked out for centuries for them, though, and it wasn’t something they could stop.
“What about the pack rules?” Lupus said. “If I change the pack rules, I can try and limit them in a way where things could work out and control them better.”
“So the person who is giving them freedom is also the one restraining them?” Dean replied. “I’m not sure people would like that too much either. With things the way they are, any type of change will also be fought against. Change needs to happen slower for people to accept it.”
“And besides, if you let werewolves roam about everywhere, then what’s going to happen when another Alpha wolf comes into play? You won’t even know that’s the case, and they will have their own rules to go by.”
This had really given Lupus a lot of thought. During their father’s time, there hadn’t been another Alpha wolf. So there were no such problems, but with the pack being in one place, if another Alpha came about, they would know instantly.
“You’re right, but I need solutions, not just problems to my ideas, you’re killing me here,” Lupus said.
Eventually, Dean came up with an answer.
“How about changing Ruin City to be a better place? Make the environment we are in better. Those that have always been here will feel comfortable, and the others will feel like change is coming about.”
“Make Ruin City a place where we don’t have to hide our true selves.”
Lupus nodded as he liked the idea.
With that and Lupus being the new Alpha, change did occur in Ruin City. It started to grow in many ways, no longer becoming a tourist spot, but an actual city. Teams were sent out to do hard labor for the neighboring cities, bringing in money.
With learning techniques, construction work started in Ruin City, making it grow itself. Then, when a neighboring gang from another city wanted to take care of those in Ruin City, they made quick work of them, cementing their name fairly quickly.
The Kings at the time, and larger gangs, didn’t pay Lupus and his group much attention because they didn’t stray far away from Ruin City, and to them, it felt like a place that there just wasn’t much for them to gain from if they did take it over.
The pack, the werewolves, were enjoying the new reign under Lupus and Dean, and then finally, their father passed away.
Both Lupus and Dean were relatively happy that their father was able to see what was happening, what they had built up, before he passed on.
Occasionally through the development, their father had been involved, also giving advice to Lupus. He was also the voice of those who were afraid when things were moving too radically in one direction.
He would bring it forward, and surprisingly more times than not, Lupus would listen to the advice, but now that he was gone, it was all down to Dean.
Dean had to be the voice of reason for his brother, who tended to get wild once in a while.
Inside the office in the castle, which now was only used by the pack members, Dean was going through a number of papers. New constructions were being built everywhere, and in some cases, Dean was somewhat selected as the mayor of the town.
“What’s this?” Dean said as he started to rub his nose. “The government is finally trying to get involved in Ruin City. They’re requesting a meeting with us. I thought as much. They didn’t care too much about Ruin City when it was just a bunch of stalls, but people have started to move here.”
“Now, the government wants to try reigning in control of this place. Lupus isn’t going to like that.”
While placing the document down, Dean could feel his vision blurring slightly, a heavy pain in his head which only lasted a moment, and then, a heaviness that was lifted off his shoulders, a lightness that was felt all around him.
His vision completely returned.
“Why do I feel so different?” Dean asked, unaware at that time, his eye color had changed.