Moon, Fire, and Whispers

Chapter 5

Hade tried his best to keep Conan out of the way of other wolves, but it was clear by midday that everyone was curious to see the buck that had joined the pack. When those came who were more outspoken about their distaste, Hade wanted to hide, but Conan took it all with a face of stone, showing no one that they got to him. That's my friend. Hade smiled. One wolf in particular had quite the bone to pick with the idea- Riego. "What, so we're letting prey animals join us now? Next thing you know, we will be taking in rabbits and squirrels." Technically, he hadn't really joined yet, Hade sighed, but that doesn't change anything. Wolves aren't used to sharing their dens with an animal that is usually prey. Hade would have shared this, but didn't want to hurt his friend's pride. Let him handle this.

Nalu had been a little hesitant when Hade shared Conan with her, but after a quick explanation and having had the buck share with her himself, she smoothed out without problems. Veya was unusually complacent about the new "member." She seemed to get along with him just fine, and it seemed it wasn't just Hade who found that odd. Even Conan appeared a little caught off-guard when she would ask him casual questions like he was just another Pack member. He'd get used to it in time.

On the third day since his arrival, it was the Epsilon's turn to hunt. Hade was not elected to go along. Veya promised him that it was nothing personal, and he assumed she wanted Conan to have someone there to protect him until the commotion died down within the Pines. Watching them go, Conan and Hade sat at the edge of the pine-strewn wood. Left to their thoughts, Hade thought about his pack... not the Pine Belt, but the Jade. The woods of the Jade had never really been a place of apparent joy. It was the little moments that meant the most. The sun scoured them brightly through the leafless, blackened trees, and the pups would squeeze into what little shade there was... this was Hade's first season alive. Water was hard to come by until the rain season, when clouds would cover the sun and drop them into patches of cold. Then it would open up and buckets of rain fell. The earth hungrily soaked up most of the perspiration, so all of them would hurry to drink as much as possible.

Hade smiled, remembering the first time he had seen rain. Well, he had smelled it first. The scent was strange... it filled his nostrils refreshingly and cooled him down. Not long after the scent came the rain itself. The dark gray pup had stood in the open of the clearing, dumbfounded, as mothers ushered their pups to the shelter of their dens. His pelt was quickly soaked with heavy rainwater, and he blinked water out of his eyes. He parted his jaws and stuck out his tongue without thinking about it... and felt a cold drop splash onto his face. He licked the air, laughing loudly as he pranced in the crystal falls.

Hade twisted his back, rasping his tongue across a long wound on his side. Conan watched, blinking. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, worried. How much more of this can you take?

The gray Lupus turned. "Yeah, I'm fine." He flicked an ear. Wolves from most of the lower classes had been fighting him in a steady stream, though none of them were Epsilon. He wondered if it was through loyalty, or if Veya forbade it. Regardless, he was glad to not have his politics get in the way of his team's operation.

Hade, lost in thought, almost confused a low growl for the sound of thunder. He whirled around with Conan to face a wolf, whose mouth was dripping with saliva. "Ready to fight for your pet, deer dog?" Both dogs snarled at one another, fur rising. Another fight?

Behind him, a line of wolves stood, growing larger. Hade felt himself get lightheaded, then realised that most of them were not there to fight, but to observe. His heart felt wretched. They've all been waiting for this.

The gray Lupus separated himself from the buck to fight, circling the wolf, who he recognized as one of the Deltas. But he couldn't shy away from this fight. I have to win this. For Conan.