Nico & Nox

Hope from Home

Nico

Nico arrived at Qalamkara Tribe at half past ten in the morning. He was accompanied by other team members and they met a Pakistani Werewolf who would be taking them to their hotel near the tribal grounds and then to Roshnai Foundation for Special Children where Nico would be working for three weeks.

Nico had called and let Emma know that his flight had safely landed and that he was alright. It was a partial lie, hence easy to tell. No words could describe his pain when his flight had taken off.

After a buffet lunch consisting of Palak Paneer and Kofta Kababs, Nico boarded a bus which would take him to the Foundation. Heavy traffic slowed their progress and they all but crawled on the roads. Forty five minutes later the bus pulled up into the Semi-school and Nico met the heads of several departments. A well educated woman, named Sajda showed them around the Roshnai Foundation and introduced staff members to Nico as well as other members on the team. Nico met physiotherapists, occupational therapist, psychologists and several speech-language pathologists like himself. A part of him was eager to learn about their assessment, management and treatment protocols and methods.

He was given a work place- a small sound proof cabin- and the team manager handed him his time schedule. He would be attending a meeting early morning at seven followed by consecutive one on one sessions with children. He was told that he would be observed by students and some staff regularly.

At quarter to five, Nico, Alex, Savvanah and Louis were asked to join Alpha Qalamkara in a feast to honor their arrival. They took an Uber to pack grounds, leaving the humans on the team to return to their hotel by bus.

Alpha Qalamkara was a beast of a man. He stood seven and a half feet tall and was atleast half of that in width. His moustache curled on its own and he wore a bright red turban around his head. His pack was the largest of the Eastern packs and consisted of about forty werewolves. The eastern packs had no betas or deltas, they only looked up to their Alphas for guidance. The alphas were solely responsible for their tribal business and maintained a balance within and inbetween packs while also constantly being on the move as weather- and hunting- demanded.

Nico's hand was engulfed in the alphas, who gave Nico a kind, welcoming smile despite being almost three feet taller than Nico. Alpha Qalamkara's tribe had lit a huge bonfire and were cooking hunted prey over it. Women wearing heavy garments and jewellery were spicing the meat and keeping the fire alive. Half dressed pups were playing and sitting around the fire. Some tackled one another in play and then quickly ran away before the others could catch up. Nico grinned as he watched the pups.

Meat was cooked and passed to the Alpha, who offered his guests the first bite. Children were given seconds and then the alpha ate with the rest of his tribe. Nico was impressed by the Alpha's leadership and humility. Soon dinner was over and men started to play the Tabla and the Baansri. Beautiful musical tones snared Nico and he found himself gawking at the weres who had started to dance. They interlinked their arms and held each others shoulders-men with men and women with women- and danced to a  rhythm their forefathers had danced to.

When the moon began to rise higher, Nico found himself yawning. The Alpha laughed when he caught Nico's eyes mid-yawn. He ordered the dance to stop and sent a guard to bring his casket. The casket was carried by two men and upon opening, revealed gifts the Alpha had planned to give. Nico was gifted a deep red patterned shawl the Alpha called 'Ajrak' which had to be worn around the shoulders.

Laden with gifts and prayers, the Western wolves parted from the Qalamkara Tribe to return back to their hotels for the night. Nico bathed away the smell of smoke, curled up around his pillow and prayed for sleep.