The Pack Doctor

04 [Of Pack Responsibilities, LST, and Late Night PB & J's]

The first day as Alpha of Quirentine Pack went as I said it would. I helped around as much as possible and made myself of use to the many hundred people Daniel was loose and characteristically thoughtful at my side. During the hours, I could physically see his mind churning, the gears rotating with ease, his chocolate eyes sparkling when something caught his interest.

Now on that night, it was a different story. This is when I would meet the pack I had conquered. Normally, Alphas would leave the remaining members to live and die without their leader, but since it was a challenge and not a war, a Raid, I had taken what was rightfully mine.

The pack was so small, I didn't even know the name of it.

Surely it had come from somewhere close, as their mildly dirty clothes seemed like their trip had been quick and effortless.

But because they were so small, it had been an easier task for the disease to spread. People were brutally dying at the hands of such a horrid disease, one I hadn't heard of in my short years, and one that seemed to have just become a thing.

My head spun as I tried to recover from the darkness that loomed on the edge of the Land Lines I had sent the new pack members to. I had been warned to wear a mask over my mouth and nose, and gloves over my hands. LST has been proven to even penetrate past the healthy and quick-healed blood of an Alpha wolf, or at least the mate of one. There were many things I have conquered, but a disease I had no knowledge of wouldn't be one today.

I walked through the doctor's headquarters and out the back door to the cabins of wolves. Already before, I had told them we would have a meeting, so they were huddled outside, their breaths tangling with the cold air in a cloud of smoke.

The air smelled like something that tickled my nose, something sugary sweet, and right when I was about to question Kennedy (who had joined me to the meeting) about it, the scent disappeared, and in it's place was the familiar smell of burning logs and ashes. Of course my sense of smell was muted a bit due to the mask on my face, but I know what I smelled.

"Good evening," I murmured despite my confusion, taking the time to sit in front of them on a log. I could take my mask off now, as we were no longer in the doctor's headquarters, but mindful gasps of air probably wasn't recommended.

I noticed immediately, that this pack was a quiet one, very submissive. They bowed their head as a greeting.

"What was the name of your pack? And where did you come from?"

The little boy with the wisdom Affinity took a stand at the front, his wild hair making an effort to stand still in the name of all things windy, but it failed rather miserably as it tossed and danced.

"My name is Zander. We are–were of the Cresbury Pack and Region. It is a little ways away from here as your lines stretch far, and it is very small."

I had heard of Cresbury somewhere, though at the time, I couldn't quite place it, and I didn't necessarily have the time to do so.

Kennedy and I went into great detail about questioning them and joining them to our pack through blood. We could feel the buzz of energy as they joined, though small and quieted.

There wasn't much to do. We were back to the doctor's headquarters getting the run down of who was in and when they got in, then we were out. Still, with the light work, I was tired from starting the day with training and ending it with such devastating news.