The Wolf of the Wilds

The Pub

The hike back to the Fengari territory was subdued. Neither wolf knew quite what to say after their previous conversation and it was a little awkward between them.

Helena was still reeling from his decision, and her own for that matter. What had possessed her to agree to join him? She had near enough agreed to join a pack for heaven's sake! That would not do, not at all. 

She turned to him, wringing her hands together.

"Adrian. You know I have a distinct dislike for packs, correct?"

He didn't even look at her. "I'd have to be truly and utterly stupid to have not realised. Why?"

"I'll join you, up north, but I won't join the Montis pack. I'll be in the general area, but don't expect me to be all chummy with your alphas."

"I won't. You're your own wolf and you can do as you wish. I can hardly force you to join and nor would I," he glanced her way, "plus I reckon you're smart enough to decide what is right for you. It's not as if you would force me to leave my pack, so I won't go forcing you to join one either." 

She wasn't sure how to reply so she mumbled a thanks and fell back into silence.

When they returned to the village, Adrian seeked out his pack members. They were huddled in the pub, crowded around a corner table. Adrian stood in the doorway and glanced at Helena.

"I know you don't want to get chummy with any of the Montis wolves, but would you mind if I introduced you to them? We'll be travelling back up north with one another so it might be worth you meeting them at least," he suggested tentatively. Helena stared over at the table, watching the group of wolves talking and laughing over their drinks.

"Alright. I suppose I should make some kind of effort to be civil."

They crossed the room and Adrian greeted his fellows. Despite them all having the decency not to outright stare, Helena could still feel their wondering gazes pass between them. Adrian quickly went through introductions. She knew some of them already, but she played along with the social niceties for the sake of ease. The pair then pulled up chairs and began discussing things.

"After we've finished our talks here, we'll be heading back up north," Edgard explained, "it should take a fortnight or so on horse back as long as the weather doesn't decide to do a number on us." His eyes flicked towards the rogue. "Unfortunately, we don't have any spare horses Helena, but I'm sure Adrian will lend you his."

Her jaw tightened and she massaged it slowly with her fingers. "He can keep his horse. I am perfectly happy to run alongside you all. My stamina is perfectly adequate and I doubt I will slow your party," she replied testily.

Ben raised his head, taking a sip of his mead.  "Ed. Don't go patronising the Lady. She'll rip our throats out before accepting charity. I'm sure she'll be fine," he said, earning himself a slight nod and a smirk from Helena. Edgard scrutinised the woman with his sharp brown eyes, clearly inspecting her for any visible weaknesses. When he found none, he hunched his shoulders a little, making himself seem larger. Helena was used to such body language. For years many wolves had had that reaction to her and she knew the signs that an uncomfortable wolf gave off when threatened.

Hermine noticed the subtle tension that'd overtaken the table and leant forward.

"It will be good to return home after so long on the road. I imagine our betas will be glad to see us," she said to the table at large. Adrian nodded in agreement, taking the tankard that Marty had handed to him.

"Victor is probably going insane from all the beta work he's been doing. It can be easy looking after a baby and the pack," he agreed. Helena's frown deepened and she leant closer to him.

"Who is Victor?" she murmured.

Adrian glanced at her. "He's another of the pack betas. Great bloke. Gets stressed easily," he replied. Her expression was incredulous as the full implications of his words hit her.

"Just how many betas does your pack have?" she whispered hurriedly.

"Six. Our pack is rather large so we need multiple. It's a trend near us to have large packs. Montis is about 10,000 strong, but the largest pack I know of is close to 30,000 members."

Helena swayed on her chair, trying to picture that many wolves. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't do it. "That's absolutely insane. The full moon must be unbearable!"

Adrian nodded, scratching at his nose. "Yeah. It's not fun. We usually stay in protective rooms or cages to limit the havoc the moon causes, but there's also a large forest near by that many of our people spend the night exploring. Over the years we've adapted to our large population."

Helena was still grimacing and distracted herself by pulling at a loose thread on her cloak. "Well, this trip is sure going to be interesting."

A/N

Thank you for reading this part. I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a good day.

-H