The Wolf of the Wilds

The Summit

She returned to the Lonesome Succubus while it was still dark and spent quite a while trying to sneak back into her room without being noticed. Once tucked back in bed she allowed herself to sleep, but her night time detour had severely reduced the amount of sleep she got. When she awoke from her short slumber, she felt barely rested and was cursing the sun under her breath.

The Montis wolves were slow to rise and no one seemed to noticed the odd smells that clung to her clothes from that night. Helena once again hid her knife beneath the mattress of her bed and then headed downstairs to join the others. No one appeared very rested so she blended in easily.

They all unanimously decided to eat on the way to the summit, none of them wanting to risk the inn's questionable looking breakfast. It was a dark grey gruel of some kind and Helena could've sworn that it'd writhed as she passed the grimy vat it'd been stored in.

They walked through the streets as a disorganised gaggle. Adrian, Felix and Lena stood close together, the others dotted around in amongst the jostling crowd.

Felix sniffed the air and frowned, looking at Helena.

"You smell odd Lena. Is that vampire?" He asked, turning up his nose with a slight grimace. Adrian looked over as he spoke, also taking a deep breath of the air.

Helena merely tilted her head forward.

"I had some jobs to take care of last night," she replied cryptically.

Adrian made a small noise and nodded, his lips parting.

"You hired one then?" He asked quietly. Helena nodded slightly to him.

"Yes. I spoke to an old friend who has good contacts. He's just as invested in this as we are so I know he'll come through."

Felix listened in with bewilderment painted across his face; he looked between the two wolves with a concerned scowl, his fingers fussing at his sleeve.

"What's going on?" He asked, his voice tight and unnerved.

Helena looked at him and sent him a slight smile.

"Don't worry Felix. Everything will be fine," she reassured him, the tense twitching nature of her shoulders giving away her false facade. Felix slowed down, grasping her arm and huddling into her personal space.

"Don't lie to me Helena. I'm not stupid. I may be an Omega, but I'm also your friend and I want to know that you're safe. Please," he said.
Helena stopped, her face morphing into a torn grimace.

"Adrian. Should I?" She asked. Her voice sounded stiff. The beta also slowed his steps and looked back at the pair. He sighed and scratched his nose.

"You heard him Helena. He's old enough to make his own decisions," he said, turning his attention to the younger man. "Felix, this situation is dangerous. It is also top secret and no one, no one at all, can know what we will tell you. Are you sure you want to get involved in this?" He spoke with the authority of a beta, almost appearing taller as his stare pierced into the young wolf. 

Felix didn't break eye contact and stubbornly clenched his hands at his side.

"Tell me," he said without evening pausing.

Helena's shoulders sagged and she stared at the ground, shaking her head several times.

"It's too busy to talk about out in the open, but we'll tell all once we're somewhere private. Is that alright with you?"

He nodded.

"Yes. That's fine, but I will hold you to that." He broke the tension with a small, comforting smile.

They continued onwards, towards the large den that stood tall above the city. It was expansive and seemed to fill the sky. It was totally unlike any other pack den on the continent and Lena had only seen comparable buildings in the ruins of human cities. Steps led up to its large oak front door and the structure was wider than it was tall. A queue of wolves snaked from the entrance all the way down the street.

They joined the line at the back and spent what felt like an eternity as they slowly inched closer. The wonder and excitement of meeting wolves from across the continents was quickly snuffed out as their feet began to protest and the grim Imber skies began to spit down upon them.

Once finally inside, the halls felt like a stifling furnace. Wolves were crammed into every available space, eating, drinking and chatting.

To Helena's ears everything sounded like a raucous cacophony and she resisted the urge to cover them with her hands. She could barely make out what Ed said to the group, but since everyone began shuffling off in different directions, she assumed he wanted them to mingle.

She made a beeline for the staircase up to the next floor where a balcony overlooked the packed atrium. There was still quite a number of wolves wandering around, but it was quieter and infinitely better for spying.

The mixing scents of all of the wolves below made it impossible to distinguish any one scent from another. She leant against the railings and peered down, watching for anything odd or unusual. From within her bag, she grew out a notebook and scribbled down notes.

As the Alphas of the Semul Trio welcomed everyone to the summit, she didn't listen and instead noted down the reactions of the visitors below. For every wolf that acted suspiciously, she would jot down a short description and make a note to either talk to them or watch them closely. Some looked uneasily and flighty, some seemed to be exchanging whispered conversations and others looked plain smug. Once the announcement was over the volume began to rise again as people turned back to their conversations.

Granted, it wasn't an efficient system, especially when you considered the number of people in attendance, but it was a start.

A/N-

Sorry this part is a little late and not particularly enthralling. I'm starting university on Monday so I've been running around trying to get everything ready. I'll still continue writing this story regularly, but I might not be able to continue with the twice weekly updates. I'll have to see what the work load is like, but I'll try to get out a least one part a week.

Have a nice day!

-H