Chapter Seven: The Packhouse

Vuko POV

Beta Abir disapppears again for the rest of that afternoon. I feel like an idiot going from pack to pack asking if they've seen my Beta so I give up after a bit. Nobody had seen him but apparently my battle against the champion has gained me some fans. Ana has to rescue me from one waterwolf who is all but sitting in my lap rubbing against me.

The waterwolf (Tina? Bettina? Trina?) is really pretty and sweet. I admit that I was enjoying the attention. But mostly I was embarrassed. I'm male, I'm nearly twenty-one and I've been separated from my true love for four years. Can you even imagine how hard that is?

Ana has little sympathy. "Your face!" she keeps saying, then bursting into laughter till the tears are running down her face, "Mr I-defeated-a-giant-but-turn-to-jelly-with-the-girls."

Not like jelly at all, I want to say, but keep that to myself.

As I finish my rounds, with Ana at my side as a sort of female-attention deterrent, we talk about the confrontation with Didi.

"I think we need to start taking him seriously," I tell her.

"What did you see, Vuko?" she asks me. I take heart that she isn't dismissing the idea outright. Ana is smart and I like how she thinks things through before she judges.

"He's so young," I say, "I mean he's only just sixteen but since Silvia left, he's changed. There's something angry and hurt about him. But there is also something very strong and sure. Ana, I think he made a genuine mistake choosing that champion," I look at her, wanting to know what she thinks of this in particular since it is key to my thinking, "I think he was genuine when he said that he had not told his champion to transform like that in order to win the battle."

We have stopped walking now and we stand below the hill leading up to the packhouse. The fields around us are silent.

She nods, once. "He made that mistake once. But he will learn quickly. I've heard how some of the youth talk about him. Like he understands them. He shows them a different way, a different life where they have more say."

I frown, "That actually sounds good," I say, "But there's something that's not right."

"He's angry," she says, "And afraid."

"Of what?"

Suddenly the bell rings out from the packhouse. Ana raises her eyebrows at me. "I think we are not the only ones who have seen Didi's threat."

//

The packhouse is already filling up with the Alphas and Betas and their selected advisors. Ana leaves me at the door as she goest to her father, the Waterwolf Alpha. Ana is his heir but even without that title, people would still clear a path for her, I am sure. I watch her go and Abir sidles up next to me.

"Holy crap," I say, turning to him and meaning to yell at him about being a Beta and what that means but it all dies on my lips. Abir is also following Anahita's path and I swear there is actual heat coming off his body as he watches her. "Nevermind," I mutter and leave him to it.

Weird. And disturbing.

I actually hate being in the packhouse. This is where Silvia had her Naming--they say there was even a witch there. I missed that. This is where she had her Trial. I missed that too.

All because of Jedan's trick. One I should have seen for what it was: a means to get me out of the way as he stole Silvia for his mate.

I waited for her like a fool in the pine forest like the note she sent me had asked me to. Only she never sent that note.

I realise the other Alphas are already seated at the round table in the centre of the packhouse. They are looking at me--except for the Ironwolf Alpha who stares absently off into space--and I take my place.

I'm the youngest there by around thirty years. Add that to already feeling like I shouldn't be there and that the Moon Goddess has not sent me a mate (or she has but she was sent away?) and see how awkward that can make you feel.

It is the Waterwolf Alpha, Alpha Blue, who speaks first.

"The Wildlands cannot support another pack," he says.

There is general agreement on this. I say nothing. There could be enough if we were more efficient about farming and hunting.

"We need to drive them out," says Alpha Sera who is the Earthwolf Alpha and the oldest Alpha there. He thumps his fist on the table as he speaks, causing glasses of water to rattle, "By any means necessary."

The Airwolf Alpha, Alpha Ciel, agrees with Alpha Sera though it is rumored they were once mated. The two of them start talking about an old war in which treasonous youth were executed. Alpha Blue says that's not at all what he was saying and Ironwolf Alpha, Alpha Dur, continues to say nothing at all.

I clear my throat.

"I don't think executions or 'any means necessary' are the course we should follow," I say, trying to be diplomatic, "Though of course we honor your great wisdom and experience," I say to Alpha Sera and Alpha Ciel, "Alpha Blue," I say to the Waterwolf Alpha, "I agree that there are limited resources for another pack." Ana, standing behind her father, makes a small nod which lets me know I'm doing okay. So I go on, "I think that is the point that Didi is making. He has been telling our youths that we should be venturing farther afield, but that we are holding them back. And that is why they need a new pack."

"Venturing further where?" asks Alpha Dur, finally paying attention.

"Past the Barren?" asks Alpha Ciel.

"Impossible," says Alpha Sera.

"I think we should invite Didi here in order to hear his ideas," I say.

There is a stunned silence.

Alphas Sera and Ciel shout down my idea immediately. But it is Alpha Blue I am watching. He, in turn, is watching me "Didi almost had you killed yesterday," he says.

"I do not believe that was his intention," I say. "I believe he invoked Combat Rules to get our attention. He is young."

"Exactly," shouts Alpha Sera, "any means necessary," he repeats.

I see Alpha Dur shoot him a horrified look."My son is not for your target practice," he says, "I may not agree with his methods, but he is no fool."

There is silence after this. I may have an ally.

It is Beta Abir who ruins everying. Stepping forward he bows deeply and asks permission to speak then speaks without me doing a damn thing to indicate he has it.

"Esteemed Alphas," he says, "I have just had word that Didi is planning an atttack on the stores.

The meeting just falls apart after that as each Alpha decides that they will defend their own stores according to their own methods.

"Sorry," says Ana stopping next to me as she is on her way out with her father, "I'll see what I can do," she nods toward Alpha Blue.

Suddently Beta Abir is next to me and staring at Ana like he wants to eat her up. He takes her hand and bows low over it, "Ana," he says, kissing it, his lips lingering. I notice goosebumps rise on her flesh and her cheeks blush mauve against her pale blue flesh. She snatches her hand away.

"My name," she says, "is Anahita." She stalks off.

Ana can be a real bitch when she wants to. But I'm not sure what exactly is happening between her and Abir. I may be mateless but that doesn't mean I can't recognize the scent of a potential mating. Abir of course is gone again as soon as she is.

Ana is beautiful inside and out and smart and funny. She's much too good for Abir. But I've seen how some of the pack females watch Abir with hungry eyes so I guess he is probably good looking if you like the over-muscled, hairy, suave type. I'm probably not the best judge.

But ...

Anahita and Abir? Future Waterwolf Alpha and Ironwolf Beta? Only the Moon Goddess knows.

Freywulf has to call me a few times before I snap out of my speculation on stuff that's none of my business not least because I should be thinking about the real problems the pack faces.

"Vuko," he calls again and this time I hear him.

"I'm sorry Omega Freywulf," I say, bowing my head in respect.

Freywulf is Firewolf's Omega. But there's a story there. An old one. I don't know all of it but I know it involves a betrayal by my father. And I know that Frey overcame impossible odds, proving himself as a hunter and a warrior to re-establish himself in the pack's hierarchy. Now he is Omega in name only.

He's also my mother's true mate and he hers. They just had to wait thirty years or so to make it happen. I'm more than happy to think of him as my father.

But now he looks worried.

"Vuko," he says, then looks around, "Can we talk--in private?"

The other Alphas have left but there are enough people lingering in the packhouse to make it a bad place for a private conversation. I nod and we leave, walking down the slope towards the pine forests. The air is crisp with early winter's bite. This is why the packs are so worried. In recent years, Winter has become a time when we watch the stores dwindle too quickly. Any delay in the Spring is potentially life-threatening.

Didi is right that we need to rethink our resources. He's just not right in how we go about it.

Frey sighs and runs his hands through his hair.

"I know where Silvia is," he says.