As Brianna made to follow the others, she spied Ailana, the Jaeger woman watching her at the edge of the crowd. With one nervous glance across at the Fleischers, she made for her.
"Hey," Ailana began. She seemed more hesitant, less assured than usual.
"Hey," Brianna said. She wondered if she'd misjudged Ailana, held her at bay for no reason. "So what do you make of it? What will you guys do?"
"We'll swear fealty, of course." Her voice was bitter. "What else can we do? We knew this before the council. We are too close to their territories, to far from any one who might stand with us."
"We would stand with you, if we could," Brianna said.
"Across miles of neutral territory? It'd be no more than a token support. It's okay, we will make the oaths we must. But we will stay out of things as much as we can."
Brianna thought about what Arthur had said about the Ritters. If we are going to have uncertain allies in this, best they be on the other side. She nodded. "We understand. You've got to protect yourself, too. If things change..."
"Yeah, you too." Ailana said. "We will make this vow. Once done our passage home is safe enough. But you? What will happen now? Has he guaranteed safe passage or not? I couldn't tell."
"He was being purposely vague," Brianna stewed. "Keep us guessing. Besides, if the Fleischers move, he can claim he didn't tell them to."
"Just gave them the nod," Ailana agreed. "You could," she paused. "You could come with us. Our territory is close. Once there..."
We'd still be miles from home.
"You could take a plane."
Brianna stared at her in shock and then grinned. A plane. Why hadn't she thought of that. "I'll pass that on to my alpha. And thanks for offering." She gave Ailana a hug and then they exchanged a kiss on the cheek.
She turned to discover Jonathan hovering nearby, waiting for her. The rest of the pack was already gone.
"What was that about?" Jonathan asked as they headed back.
"A possible way home," she said. "I'll tell you more when we get back."
YOU ARE READING
Bear Naked 4: The Sons of Garm
Werewolf"It's going to be a blast," the Fleischer werewolf continued. "Fenrir and the guys who killed his brother, camping together like one big family." Only a few weeks after confronting and killing Loki, Amanda, Connor and pack will have to go to the Wo...
