Redeeming the Lost (A Comforter's Tale)

Chapter 17

My ears swivelled to each of the wolves as they spoke. Conrad, Josh, Michael, and Amber were doing most of the talking, although the rest were listening intently as we sat in a circle.

"It wouldn't surprise me if other ferals approach us as we travel," Amber said. "You remember how we felt drawn to Julie once we had felt her aura."

"I'm more concerned about lawless rogues trying to take her," Conrad replied.

The dark brown wolf beside me bared her teeth in a silent snarl. "I'll tear them to shreds if they try."

"No one doubts that, Vera," the dappled grey wolf said as he shook out his fur. "Although, I'm in favor of seeing if we can help more ferals if we do cross paths. We just need to take some precautions since some are more unstable than others."

"Good point, Josh," Amber replied. "Even when we were feral, I remember there were a few ferals who were hyper aggressive and attacked us. We might end up in a fight."

"How many ferals are there?" I tentatively asked. Vera and Conrad's injuries had fully healed from their scuffle several days ago, but I still didn't want them to get hurt.

"Not as many as you might think," Conrad replied. "It actually takes a lot to go insane. Some ferals are heavily affected by bloodlust and go from pack border to pack border, so the packs assume there are more of them than there really are."

"Some of us were never affected by bloodlust," Amber quietly countered, "and some were only affected once the scent of blood was in the air."

Conrad nodded in agreement. "Yes, and the reason they lost control has a heavy bearing on how a feral will behave as well."

Josh winced – he had been one of the more aggressive wolves in our group, having gone feral from betrayal rather than from grief, although he had also lost his mate just weeks prior to that event. With the similar circumstances, I hoped that the Luna hadn't gone feral. The only way to find out was to find my pack.

"I'm willing to try as long as you can keep them from attacking me," I said, perking my ears up. "If we find some rogues, I'm hoping we can stop and see if they've heard any news about the Woodhurst Pack or if they know where it's located."

They knew I was anxious to find out about my old pack, although they had no idea where it was. I also wanted to see if I could help more ferals as well. Every part of my being longed to help people, so knowing that there were people in pain out there – even if they were ferals – made me want to find them and comfort them.

"I think that settles it then," Conrad said, getting to his paws. "Let's go track down some ferals and see if we can find Julie's pack!"

Our group howled in anticipation and determination. Vera grabbed my scruff, and the pack took off at a run with their noses in the air as they checked every scent on the wind.

~

       I wagged my tail at the light cream-colored wolf and tilted my head cutely. She bobbed her head, curious, but didn't come any closer. As far as I could tell, she wasn't aware that the other wolves weren't feral. Then again, their behavior was still more feral than rogue, even if they were in control.

After a while, she shook her fur out and laid down in the grass, remaining along the fringes of where the pack was lazing.

Amber yawned and rested her head on her paws. "Well, it took Conrad three days before he was ready, so we can't expect much the first few hours."