Call Wolf

Chapter Eight

DeN

The animals Maria had been left with weren't in any sense of the word tame. She knew this because, despite the instruction to simply watch her, she was continously fighting off nipping teeth and swiping paws. Occasionally one would leap across the circle, forcing her to jump back. It was all fear tactics, she knew that very well but was starting to get a little pissed off. She had to aim her palms against the ground just to make sure she wouldn't accidentally harm yet another one of the beasts.
Charles watched it all play out.
Kripin stood next to him, both a little ways outside the crowd and both with their arms crossed, a grim expression playing on their faces. Nobody had noticed them yet.
"So she's actually telling the truth... You are friends."
"I wouldn't go that far," Charles responded, watching the exhasparated Maria cuss out one of the packmembers that had tried to take a bite out of the leather coat.
"She did."
He hummed disapprovingly before settling on, "She's a good person."
"Well, she hurt one of the youths pretty badly so I have to ask." Kripin glanced up at his leader. "Is she good enough to be spared?"
"She saved my life."
Kripin remained silent but nodded. Once.
"I'll fix this," Charles said before making his way towards the crowd, allowing his scent to fill the vicinity.
The pack grew wilder, bumped against eachother and yipped and howled. Maria grew scared before she saw Charles enter the circle. The animals gave him some room but he didn't stop until he stood a metre or two from her. He crossed his arms.
Maria flinched as one particularly loud animal let out a feral growl.
Charles raised his hand.
The pack quieted.
"Thank you," Maria said, exhasperated, while pulling on the coat.
"Why are you here?"
She pointed to the truck but Charles only spared it a brief flicker of interest.
"One of your friends went against it."
"You ran one over?"
"No!" Maria pointed to the truck again, this time at the dent on the passenger-side door. "It went against it. See? Must have thought I was food. But then I explained that we knew eachother and, err, could you please tell them we know eachother?"
Charles gave her a long look before calling over his shoulder, "We know eachother."
The animals instantly dispersed. Some went back into the trees, some made a point of running past Maria, almost making her tumble to the ground from the sheer force. Once they'd all cleared out Charles and Maria remained.
Maria looked to the spot where the last creature had dissappeared.
"So you are their leader of sorts?"
"I am an alpha, yes. But that doesn't matter now, it's starting to rain."
She looked up to the clear skies, listened to the birds chirping.
"It's not raining."
"It will," he insisted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Make sure you get to another town soon."
"I can't, the engine is fried."
Charles stood silent for an abundance of seconds before nodding, turning around, and beginning to walk in the direction most of the creatures had gone. As he was almost out of sight, he glanced at her over his shoulder and jerked his chin in a message she understood clearly: come here.

"Where are we going?" Maria asked once she'd joined up with Charles. He didn't answer right away but it wasn't because he was rude; some trees seemed to be very interesting. He let his finger run down a few fresh scratches in the bark and then brought them to his nose before humming thoughtfully and continuing.
"I'm bringing you to my den."
"Really?"
"Until I figure out a way to get you to where you need to go."
Maria almost stumbled on a root but managed to keep upright.
"Listen, I really appreciate that, but I don't think I'm made for living in a hole in the ground."
Charles stopped to smell another tree, this one leaving a frown on his face.
"These woods aren't safe. You're lucky the worst to find you was my pack."
"Didn't feel very lucky," Maria grumbled but he didn't seem to hear her.
Charles stopped as suddenly as the trees did. He stepped aside, allowing Maria to enter the large clearing, and let her take it all in.
"Holy shit."
The clearing was bustling with life, an oasis in the middle of the deserted forest. There were people everywhere - but even more beasts - and each one was heaving, planting, or destroying something. A few cubs were fighting under the watchful eye of a man stringing up fabric whilst, a little ways down, two young men in armor were being lectured by a burly woman on how to properly swing a sword. The clearing wasn't leveled, meaning the left hand side rose into a hill. Lining the lower tree line were quaint cabins. A large wooden house sat perched on top the highest point, overlooking the area.
"I-I don't know what to say."
Charles shrugged but couldn't hide how proud he was of his people. A few bowed as they saw him and he nodded in recognition, but he didn't want to stand around any longer.
"Come on."
"What?"
"I told you, I'm taking you to my den."
Maria nodded, still not completely finished with the view but nevertheless began to move towards the cabins.
A hand landed on her shoulder, spun her around. Charles' furrowed brows met her.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I thought we were going to your den."
He looked from her to the cabins and then back again before shaking his head. His finger flew out, pointed up the hill, to the large house.
"That's my den."

A/n
Another one lmao