Wolf pack

New Recruits

Five wolves and a victim sat in a circle, looking over a fire. Cleo had fallen asleep peacefully, Anu standing over her protectively and speaking quietly as to not wake her up.
"Who is next?" He whispered. "I know there are more like us."
He pointed his words directly at Nate. Nate had a twin, Anu knew this.
The Supermoon werewolf had his eyes on Melody, bringing her close into his chest so she was warm. Anu could tell he was thinking, and yet Nate said nothing.
It was Melody who spoke.
"When I escaped Valia, I took refuge in a cavern. I met a massive, white wolf with light blue eyes that was able to heal me. I was so badly injured I could barely believe she could heal my scars. Not only that, she quenched my hunger and restored me to full health. She seemed sad and in pain, but she was good."
The wolves turned to look at Melody cautiously.
"A werewolf did that?" Anya asked, nearly invisible against the darkness.
Melody nodded. "Yes."
Anu sniffed the air. "Any clues as to how to find this healer?"
Nate lifted his head. "I know how to get to Valia's fortress. If Melody can direct the cave from there, we might have a chance at getting a scent."
Anu walked into the circle to face Melody, not bothering as the flames licked his body. Nate shot him a warning glance.
"You say she healed you?" Where?"
Melody cautiously pulled on her sleeve, revealing an arm previously littered with bite marks, then exposed her neck and shoulder, where massive scars should have been present at the second bite. What remained were barely even scratches.
Anu stepped forward, sniffing the air and drawing close. Nate shot another warning growl, and Anu growled back.
"I am not trying to bite, I am getting a scent. Overprotection is your middle name Nate."
"I don't have a middle name." Nate flicked his ears back.
Anya silvery eyes smirked in the darkness. "Yes you do. It's 'overprotection.'"
The black wolf held in his growl as Anu smelled the wounds, then retreated back to Cleo. "Strange. I could find the sensation but cannot get a good gage of the smell. She must be special indeed to block me."
"She never seemed eager to be found."
"Do you know her name?" Anya was listening intently.
"It's been a long time, but I think it was-" Melody stopped and closed her eyes, attempting to remember. "-Nimera."
Anu's eyes were cast into the fire. "White wolf. Blue eyes, rapid healer who doesn't want to be seen. I think I know what Nimera may be."
The other wolves turned to look at him.
"Blue moon. She will be difficult to find, but we have a heading now. Are there any other special wolves you know of?"
There was silence, Anu watching Nate intently as he waited for a story about his twin. Anu started to grow impatient, Nate showed little desire to share. All he needed was a little nudge.
"Nate, tell us who you know."
The black wolf's eyes turned up, watching Anu, as if asking how do you know?
The blood wolf pressed in further, leaning into the fire. "You know someone, don't you little brother."
"Don't call me that."
"Why? Because you miss your -other brother?"
Nate's eyes grew sharp, the Wolfpack now as engaged as Anu. "How would you know."
Anu chuckled, letting stored blood drip out of his fangs. "Blood hides no secrets. Now, you have a twin, don't you."
Melody turned to Nate. "You never told me you had a twin."
Cleo blinked awake and raised her head.
Finally, Nate closed his eyes and sighed. "I never told, because it was too painful."
Anya's silver eyes simmered, a feeling of calm immediately spreading through Nate's mind. He relaxed enough to continue talking.
"Me and Lokan followed after different parents. I took the form of a werewolf, while he preferred the form of a Halera. The supermoon had an affect both of us, and not just physical. While our bodies and minds were altered, the biggest effect was how our parents looked at us. Suddenly we were dangerous, and one day they just left. Me and Lokan tried to take care of ourselves, hunting together when we could. We would often team up to hunt unicorns."
Melody frowned at the thought of Nate eating unicorns again. She preferred to leave beautiful creatures alone.
"All was well until me and Lokan arrived near a Halera tribe."
Jynx and Cleo's ears raised in anticipation.
"The tribe thought that Lokan was somehow a member, and I- unable yet to transform into one of them- was cast out instead. I thought Lokan would stand up for me, but he saw how much better life was in that tribe. I lingered by in hopes he could return to join me, but every day the colony grew more and more invested in him. Before I knew it he was on the line to become High Alpha."
Anu and Jynx looked at each other, both recognizing the story.
"I was no longer able to sneak into the halera tribe, it was simply too dangerous. From then on I travelled on my own, taught myself how to hunt and finally made my own pack.." His voice wandered off as he recalled his old pack.
"It makes no sense how Lokan became their leader without ever belonging to their alphas first." Nate shook his head. "It is a mystery."
Jynx and Anu looked at each other only moments longer. They both knew how Lokan became leader in the other Halera tribe: Lokan was the very same pup Jynx had convinced the pack to respect as a leader.
Jynx, however, kept this to himself.
Anu wouldn't give an explanation either, distracting himself instead as if bored.
Anu placed his paw in the fire, watching his soles burn as he shifted it about. It was always amusing how injuries so severe could disappear within moments. It almost made him wonder if his own impact would truly be significant. He had destroyed countless lives and left a great scar on the land, he liked to believe he would have a lasting impact burned into the memories of all those he faced. Yet as he watched his fur already beginning to grow back and black flesh fall to reveal new healthy muscle he had doubts.
Even if he could turn himself into memories, soon as those who hold the memories die his story and impact would  die with it. The land will heal, the haleras forget, he will be just one more speck in history.
Anu growled low to himself, sinking his paw into the hottest part of the flame, feeling the intense pain move up his arm. He held it there, watching the damage unfold as the flames began to sink deep into his flesh and eat away at his bones. If he was lucky, the damage may be permanent. The pain was getting almost unbearable, just a few more minutes and-
"Anu, please step out of the fire."
It was Cleo.
At the sound of her voice he quickly pulled back his scorched paw. To his annoyance, the black flesh and singed fur fell as his boiling blood was already healing his paw. He turned to look at her.
"You should know better than purposefully hurting yourself."
He shrugged. "Pain is refreshing, it is something I can feel with the comfort it won't last."
"For most pain is a warning we need to get out of danger."
"I am danger."
Cleo shot him a glance and took a look at his paw. To her amazement it was already repairing itself. Finding there would be no lasting effects she looked back into his eyes. "Seeking out danger is an indication of stupidity."
"And of fun." Anu smirked, leaning back from the fire to avoid her glare.
"If you didn't heal so quickly you would get yourself killed."
"Absolutely."
"So the task at hand-" Anya interjected, "-to find Nimera and Lokan, am I correct?"
Melody nodded her head, looking at Nate. "We may need you to help find both."
Anu stood, eyeing Nate. "He is your twin, correct?"
"Yes."
Anu thought, sitting down. He had something he wanted to try but never could before. He knew the blood and scent of multiple of Lokan's relations: Nate, Cleo and his own. He may have been able to piece together a scent from the blood around him. Closing his eyes, he reviewed his own blood in his head. He reviewed the blood from Nate- separating the two he could get an idea of Strider. He shifted his focus then to Cleo and Nate. They shared a mother, he picked in his mind through the differences, finding the similarities of Vulvas blood.
Now was the tricky part. Anu focused his attention only on the two separated bloods- strider and Vulva. He combined them together in his head, leaning on his knowledge of Nate. He allowed a generic Halera smell to overshadow it, as Lokan would be in halera form.
In this way a new sensation filled his head: a blood and a smell. It would not be perfect, but it would be enough. He already had a direction.
Opening his eyes, Anu turned to Nate, looking at Jynx with the corner of his eye. "And, where is this Halera tribe your brother rules over?"
Nate looked away, avoiding Anu's gaze but he answered. "Towards the thicker forests, right before the reach the tropic lands."
It was as if a spark lit in his mind. The scent fabricated in his head nearly came alive. Anu stood excitedly, because the location he had created was exactly correct.
"I can lead then. First thing in the morning."
Cleo yawned tiredly and resting her head on Anu's paws. He grinned and curled around her.
The others took that as signal of a closing, leaving to their own places to rest.
Anu couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched the fires. If he could fabricate blood accurately, he could track far better than ever before.
His prey could never escape.
Never.