Shades Of Morality

"Friendly advantage"

Hello everyone, I would like to start of with a quick explanation  and an apology on why this part took so long.  The reason being that I had to completely rewrite it instead of just editing like I normally would.   Now it's pretty short compared to my average chapter size, and again I'm sorry! But I will finish rewriting the second half of this chapter soon, and I shouldn't have to totally rewrite anything else going forward.  

Thank you so much for reading.

Blair winced.
"Yeah, sorry." she said as she shifted in place. 
Why was she apologizing? 
"It's not your fault.  It's the wendigos, and you got back at him." My tone was light, trying to comfort her. 
She still seamed like she felt guilty but I couldn't do anything about that, alphas taking on responsibility is kinda their thing.
"Blair it's fine, I can rebuild my cabin." I said in a tired tone.
I was going to say more but was cut off when something heavy crashed into the door.  Blair was on her feet and between me and the door before I had enough time to flinch.
"Shit!" I said belatedly.

Blair was silent as the wendigo raged against the door as if it were an addict and we were the fix it was desperate for.
It kept at it for minutes, whaling and pounding against the metal barrier in its path.
When it finally stopped and we heard it's heavy hoof beat retreating, the sudden quite was ere.
Blair still stood in front of me, body slightly hunched in a ready crouch.
"Blair?"
She didn't respond, didn't even twitch.  I moved over to her and lifted a hand, I only hesitated once before resting it on her shoulder.
"Blair, are you good?" She was so tense that I thought I was resting my hand on a marble statue. 
Her breathing was slightly ragged and the air was filled with tension.
We stayed like that for a minute, both of us silent.  Eventually she relaxed her stance, her shoulders sagging slightly as she turned to face me, I let my hand drop.
The red in her eyes drained away like blood, flowing at a much slower rate than I had seen before, leaving uneven streaks of red mixed in with the blue. 
She finally blinked and only once her eyes where closed did I realize I had been meeting them directly. When she opened them again they were a uniform blue. 
"Thanks," Blair's voice was lower than usual and she quickly made he way to the couch.
"I'm not used too confined spaces this close to the full moon. Especially not when creatures are running amok on my territory."
As she spoke her voice slowly returned to her normal tone, which was still deep, but not inhuman.
I gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. 
"Anything I can do to help?"
She flashed me a quick grin before she stretched out across the couch.
"Distractions.  Distractions would help." She said as I sat down across from her.
Well, I still had a burning question and she had said a distraction would help.
"Why are you and the other packs here?"
As I asked the question I found myself leaning forward, eager for her response.
Blair laid for a few long moments before finally replying.
"A summit." She paused for a moment as she sat up.
"The major powers are gathering for a meeting, some of the major packs sent their younger members in early, to train and gain information about the town.  The mages are just the first major power that's arriving, many more are soon to fallow."
Blair stopped and began to laugh.  I had leaned too far forwards and almost fallen out of my chair.  
"As I was saying," Blair said, her voice still tinged with laughter.  "Many major players are going to be showing up, and the more factions that arrive the more dangerous it's going to get."
Blair stopped and looked distinctly uncomfortable. 
"What?" My voice was sharper than I intended.
Her refusal to look at me had me on edge, if an alpha didn't want to meet your eyes it couldn't be good.
"Some of those factions will see you as a target." She said as she finally met my eyes.
A creeping suspicious rose up and I asked,
"Why?" 
"... you've been declared a friend of the pack, and that applies to my parents pack as well. That means if someone were to take a shot at you it would bring down the wrath of the one of the most powerful werewolf packs in the world." She paused to take a breath and I cut in.
"I'm sensing a "but" is coming." I said, my tone dry.
She winched but nodded.
"But it's still less risky than attacking a full member of the pack directly, well still delivering a massive insult." 
I blanched, "in other words I'm going to be the prim target for anyone who has a grudge against your family."
Blair's face was grim.
"Shit."

"If they try to attack you I'll rip them apart." Blairs said, the words an odd blend of comforting and threatening.

Was there any advantage to being a friend of the pack? Had she done nothing but put me in more danger? I shouldn't praise it like that though, I don't want to set her off.  "Did becoming a friend of the pack do anything for me? Cause right now it seems like a pretty bad deal."  Perfect.

Her eyes narrowed and a low growl emanated from her chest.

I threw my hands up, "hey don't give me that! So far all it's done is make me a juicer stake!"  It seemed that every time I got a small break something worse came by ready to kill me.

I was so tired.

Her growls stoped and her glare softened. "There are advantages, you are much less likely to be attacked by anything less than a major power, and even then it's not a guarantee. And it's not just protection, things like your cabin, I'll help rebuild it, and you'll be staying in the manner while that happens." Blair's said as she met my eyes. 

I felt an odd warmth in my chest that I couldn't place, it was an odd feeling, she had told me I would be living with them instead of asking, but... to have another be person look out for me, to care.  I didn't know what say.

I settled for choking out a, "thank you," before turning and moving to the far side of the room, I needed some time to think.