Taming the Wolf (A Hobbit Fanfic)

Chapter 8

Golden eyes watched as the woman approached, a sleeping child on her back. The pale moon lightning her path. Once she noticed the dark grey wolf, she greeted him with a nod. Though worry was evident in her eyes, even when she gently adjusted the sleeping form of her child. Not that he could blame her. He had called her over for something important and he had sounded distressed.
'Fêrram,' she said, looking at him with her dark blue eyes. 'Why did you call me over for? What is the matter?'
'It's the pack, my dear sister,' the ferian answered, shifting his form. 'They have rallied against me.'
'Rallied?'
'Yes.' Fêrram looked down in sadness. 'They say they will not follow me anymore. They only want the true alpha to lead them, which would be you, Cànna.'
The child shifted slightly, muttering something in her sleep. It was in that slight movement, that Fêrram had a clear view of his niece. She had grown a lot in these past ten years, letting her silver hair grow out. And no doubt she had traded all her baby teeth by now and has gotten a nice pair of sharp fangs in return.
'I stepped back from my position when I joined the dwarves, making you the alpha. Why are they rallying after all these years?'
He didn't answer. What could he possibly say to that? When his sister had left to marry that dwarf, it had been clear to Fêrram that Cànna would remain with the dwarves. And as the beta and brother of the alpha, Fêrram would replace the dwarf as the alpha-male. And he had been a good one! But times change and desperate decisions had been made.
'Fêrram, I am sorry, but this isn't the right time,' Cànna apologized after a moment of silence. 'Frêllian is showing signs she will be shifting for the first time very soon. I can't leave her right now. There is no one at home who can help her when her time comes.'
'I know, Cànna,' Fêrram agreed as his eyes travelled to the child again. 'I know. But they are very clear about it. The true-born alpha, or her child...'
Gasping at this news, her eyes shifted to her shoulder, where Frêllian was resting her head. No one could touch her pup, that was a well-known fact amongst everyone. With his brother-in-law as a dwarf warrior and her mother a respected ferian - and once the alpha - only a fool would try and hurt their child.
But fools did exist. And with an openly expressed threat towards Frêllian, they hoped to make Cànna return to the pack. At least, that seemed tot be their plan.
'Fine,' Cànna answered with a low, feral growl. 'They want to see me, then they will see me. Fêrram, I want you to take me to them and then take Frêllian somewhere safe, while I have a little chat with those foolish mutts.'
Fêrram nodded, but before he could even move, a sinister voice boomed from the darkness of the forest. A voice that send chills down his spine as his sister growled dangerously at the newcomer.
'You!' she called out as she looked around. 'You aren't suppose to be alive!'
'And yet here I am.'
His laughter made Frêllian shift again, though this time waking her up.
'And you've brought your little runt with you as well. Excellent.'
Ignoring her daughter's sleepy call for her, Cànna demanded for him to show himself. The sounds of footsteps were heard, but he remained unseen. A handful of ferien of her former pack walked into the light, all in their wolf-form, followed by a pack of wargs. All growling at her.
'Mérre, what is going on?'
'Nothing, my dear. Just stay here with your uncle, while I take care of this, alright?'
Frêllian nodded, getting off of her mother's back. Then she moved over to Fêrram. Never before had she seen a ferian - not counting her mother and uncle - nor had she ever encountered a warg. And why were they even here, with the pack?
Well, Cànna was about to find out! Shifting into her light grey form, she bared her teeth at the other canines as they approached. Next to her, Fêrram took Frêllian in his arms and took her a few steps back. No one was as fast as Fêrram, so should things turn for the worse, he would bring Frêllian back home, where she was safe.
'What a shame you have fallen in love with that dwarvish scum,' he said lowly as he finally moved out of the shadows. 'Someone such as yourself should not dwell behind rocky walls, being a pet to those pathetic creatures.'
'The only pet I see, is the one you are sitting on. Tell me, Matriarch, when did you let yourself lower to such position?'
A snarl escaped the white warg as she advanced. The others made way as the large warg passed by, either out of fear or respect. And whether for the warg herself or her rider, Cànna didn't even care about finding that out. All she cared about, was the safety of her daughter!
'Watch it, mutt!' the warg snarled as she stopped in front of the ferian. 'You wouldn't want to leave your pup motherless.'
The statement earned a horrified cry, as Frêllian tried to get over to het mother, only to be stopped by Fêrram. Azog smirked as he watched her, before nodding at the male holding her. Fêrram nodded in return, before gently guiding her over to the pack.
'Fêrram!' Cànna cried out once she noticed her brother's action, but a flash of white fur blocked her path, effectively preventing her from following him. 'Traitor! Where are you taking my daughter!? Get back here!'
But he ignored her as he held a struggling Frêllian. The child was screaming for her mother as a pack of growling ferien and wargs was circling around the female ferian. And were those orcs joining in now as well?
'It looks like your pup will be motherless after all,' the pale orc mocked with a smirk, dismounting Matriarch. 'And she will lead us to victory!' Then he turned to the female warg. 'You know what to do.'
With that said, the warg leaped at the ferian. Painful howling filling the air as fur and blood flew everywhere on the ground. Snarling and snapping was heard everywhere, as the two packs encouraged the large warg. But Cànna ignored them, her eyes trained on her opponent.
Only when a high-pitched howl was heard, did Cànna stop dead in her tracks. For no pup had been around either packs. Yet a pup had been howling! Her eyes found her brother easily as he held a struggling, almost white pup by the neck. Again she let out a high piercing howl, before looking straight at her mother.
Yellow eyes meet, before Cànna was painfully reminded of her fight. A fatal mistake, as Matriarch used all her weight to hold the ferian down.
'Don't worry, I will take good care of the runt.'
And with that, she bit down.
With a loud howl, Frêllian shot up, causing Bilbo to fall to the ground with a loud 'thud'. But she didn't care. The dream still fresh on her mind. Well, not even a dream, nor a nightmare, but a memory. One she had thought she had forgotten.
'You okay?'
Turning her head a little, she saw Dwalin sitting against a tree. His eyes on her as she sat down again.
'Why do you care?' she snapped at the dwarf, glaring at him. 'I am just a traitorous mud, am I not? A halfbreed runt? Or perhaps you prefer the term 'monster'?'
'I've never said any of those things,' the dwarf replied with a glare of his own. 'Unlike Thorin, I don't share his hatred against your mother.'
'But you do not trust me.'
'You have yet to kill the hobbit, while you've had plenty of chances. You have yet to harm Fíli or Kíli, while they have been bothering you quite a lot. Even to the point of annoying you. Especially Kíli.'
He smirked at her, as she stared at him dumbfounded. Had he been watching her? That bastard! What else had he seen? Had he followed her as well, whenever she was training Bilbo? Had he seen her true form?
'I have noticed you don't howl that often. Why?'
'In contrary to what you might think, we do not howl to the moon,' she sneered, glaring at him again. 'There are many reasons to howl, but that is just plain stupid.'
'I know you don't. I used to be close to your mother, remember.' A strange emotion filled his eyes as he stared at the flames of their small campfire. 'I am just curious why you don't howl often. Not when you are happy, not while you are hunting. Heck, this is perhaps the second time I have heard you howl, and this was out of fear.'
'It is none of your business, Drêgasen.'
His eyes travelled back to the ferian as she lowered her ears. Though not in anger, he could tell that much from her body language. More so in regret. Whatever it was, it had to do with the reason why she wasn't howling much.
'Is it because of your mother?'
Her whole body tensed up at the mention of her mother, before she looked at him. No trace of her glare visible, only sadness. So Dwalin took it as a yes, but he didn't press her on the matter. Not even when she looked down at the flames again, nor when she turned her head away - hiding the tears in vain. He just looked at her in silence, deciding to let her tell him if she wanted to.
'She died because of me,' Frêllian finally whispered after a long silence. 'Why did I have to shift right then? Why did I have to howl? If I didn't, mother would not have been distracted and could have killed that warg scum!'
A sob escaped as Frêllian desperately tried to hold back the tears. Why was she even telling this? She hadn't even told Bilbo, so why entrust Dwalin with this information? He would probably use it against her someday!
'You don't decide when you change for the first time, Frêllian,' Dwalin told her softly, using her name for the first time. 'They happen when they happen.'
Surprised by his kindness, Frêllian looked at the bald dwarf again. Then she nodded at him in gratitude, for the first time seeing a different side of the warrior.