Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins.

It didn't take long for the pack to settle their business and reconvene at the city gate. Arfsdale was not a walled city, so the gates were more symbolic than anything. They were really just fancy arches that framed the main entrances to Arfsdale. Still, they were good landmarks for where the main roads connected to the city.

Hawl was silent, but the rest of the pack made idle chatter as they set out on their journey.

“So, Mauor. How are you liking life in the city?” Reea asked. Despite her prediction, she seemed to be getting along with her rather well so far.

The white wolf smiled politely. “It's been a bit of an adjustment. But I've mostly been enjoying it so far.”

“Mostly?” Reea asked, just a tiny bit defensive of her home. “What’s the issue?”

Mauor bowed her head a bit nervously as she explained. “Well… It's a bit more… active than I am used to. With all sorts of folk up at every hour of the day. I remember when I first moved in. I sat by my window and just answered my neighborhood howls until my voice gave out.”

Reea laughed. “Haha, yeah. The neighborhood howl can be fun every now and again. But you learn to suppress the instinct real quick when you live in a city. Otherwise you won't get anything done.”

Mauor nodded with agreement. “I know right? It feels so rude to just ignore wolves all the time. But it just keeps going, on and on. Eventually you have to get on with your life. You know?”

“Mhmm.” Reea agreed.

Wouf drifted closer to Hawl with a cheeky grin on his face. “Hey, are you sure you don't want to try to hit up Mauor? I think the two of you would be a cute couple.”

Hawl growled at Wouf, forcing him to back off. The big brownish black canine may have forgotten all about their argument, but Hawl was still mad at him.

He tried again to make some small talk, but Hawl repeatedly shot him down. Wouf sulked a bit, but quickly bounced back by joining the girls' conversation.

The small pack continued to follow the paved street as Arfsdale slowly drifted further into the distance behind them.

Wolves were notoriously loud creatures. And Arfsdale was one of the largest wolf cities in the world. Everyone who lived there for any amount of time had to get used to the constant howling and barking that was intrinsic to their species.

The howling didn't stop completely as the city disappeared. There were still wolves howling on the roads. But compared to the cacophony of the city the air felt inexplicably quiet.

A few miles later and the silence became truly deafening. Yes, there was still the rustle of the wind, the chirps of lesser beasts like grasshoppers, and even the click clack of their claws hitting the cobblestone. But all of it sounded so quiet when compared to what they were used to. And it would stay that way for at least a few days until they inevitably got used to the new volume.

They walked for hours. As the miles passed them by, the road beneath their paws lost some of its grandeur. The cobblestones thinned out and became sloppy compared to the tight ordered patterns of the city. Now there were plenty of gaps and edges which were filled in by gravel.

“We should take a break.” Wouf declared randomly.

Hawl looked at him and dismissively blew air out of his nose. He was determined to keep them moving. At least until Reea spoke up. “I'm with Wouf on this. We don't need to set up camp or anything, but I'm super tired.”

Hawl slowed his brisk pace. His body was worn out as well, but he was willing to push through the fatigue. But he supposed they were running a marathon here, rather than a race. He made a grumpy sound and then sighed. “Fine. Fifteen minutes.”

Wouf beamed with gratitude. “Thanks!” he chirped, as he found a nice thick patch of grass to lie down on.

Hawl glared at the larger wolf with unaddressed anger. He hated the way Wouf could stir up trouble and then just abandon it as if the conversation never happened. But if he said anything about it now then he would be the one stirring things up.

Hawl found his own spot a few paces off the road and sat down. He was barely down for half a minute before Reea trotted over and cuddled up beside him. This time he did growl.

“Oh don't be like that.” Reea chastised him. “I'm just being friendly, you don't have to be rude.”

“You don't have to sit so close. Back off.” Hawl growled in a dark hushed tone.

Reea was utterly unphased as she tisked him. “Girls don't find it attractive when guys blow up over little things. You should really keep that temper of yours in check.”

She was pushing his boundaries and they both knew it. But every time he pushed back against her she found a way to turn it back on him and make him feel like he was being unreasonable.

The annoying thing was, she wasn't unattractive. If she didn't act the way she did then Hawl would have gladly given her what she wanted. But he had seen the way she treated her previous sexual conquests.

Reea approached love like a competition. She specifically went after wolves who she thought would be difficult to seduce. She wanted a challenge and got a thrill out of wearing her targets down. She especially liked to go after wolves who were already in committed relationships.

Hawl had seen her go through great lengths to prove herself to her victims, to manipulate animals into thinking she was their soulmate. Only to drop them the instant she ‘won’.

If she was just sleeping around then Hawl wouldn't have had an issue with her. If all she wanted was an honest night of fun then he might even be inclined to take her up on the offer. But the truth was, Reea didn't care about love or even sex. She just wanted to feel powerful.

After another few seconds of Reea refusing to move Hawl sat up and moved a few paces away before flopping back down. The red she-wolf watched him go and then sat up. She started moving to follow him and he raised his head to glare at her.

Hawl was sick of this. He opened his mouth to snap at her, but she recognized it and interrupted him with a deflection. “Did you know that Mauor doesn't have a Telling?”

He was almost certain that she didn't get up just to tell him that. She clearly pivoted to avoid getting called out for her creepy behavior. But Hawl was willing to go along with it if it meant that she would stop trying to cuddle up to him.

“So?” he asked coldly. “Most wolves don't. I'm sure after a few hard jobs she'll find one.”

“Fair.” Reea admitted. “But if you include her time in the moors then she has been a hunter for seven seasons. That's nearly two whole years! She's been on dozens of hunts. You'd think she would have found one by now.”

Hawl looked over to where Mauor was lying down and panting happily. He raised an eyebrow as he thought through the implications of that. “That's… pretty impressive actually. Either she is really talented or she has gotten really lucky. Or unlucky I suppose, depending on how you look at it.”

Reea nodded in agreement. “A mix of all three if you ask me. We shared a few hunting stories on our way to my place, and from what she says it sounds like she is a bit of a prodigy.”

Hawl hummed. “She could just be acting a rat and exaggerating the truth to make herself look good.”

“Maybe.” Reea conceded. “But I don't think so. She doesn't seem the type to brag.”

Hawl hummed to himself, as he rested his chin on the ground. After a while he came to a decision and raised his voice so that everyone could hear. “After our rest we should do a hunting game to get some practice working together as a pack.”

Wouf perked up with a huge grin. “Heck yeah! What you thinking? Tag? Stalker? Oh! How about tug of War!?”

Hawl was already exhausted just thinking about it. But these sorts of exercises often could mean the difference between a successful hunt and a failure. “I was thinking we should start with something that tests coordination. Spottertrack maybe?”

Reea smirked. “Sure. I'll be your spotter and you can-”

Hawl interrupted her, with a heavy note of annoyance. “We'll take turns being the spotter and the tracker. Two teams, two rounds. You Reea, can be on Wouf’s team.” He emphasized that last part, just to make it absolutely clear that they would not be on the same team together.

Reea pouted, but thankfully didn't argue the point. Mauor took notice of the tension between them and wondered what the hostility was about. And Wouf was just excited to play a game.

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Hawl decided that they would make a habit of playing games between rests and travel. He disliked how much it would eat into their travel time, but he needed to be sure that they could function as a pack.

They may be apex predators, but it wasn't unusual for wolves to get seriously hurt or even killed on hunts. Prey animals were not harmless creatures, and the ones who earned predation notices tended to be especially dangerous. So they couldn't afford to be sloppy.

Luckily, Mauor was quick to adjust and easily found her place in the pack. It became very clear from their exercises that she really did know her stuff. And the rest of them were already well acquainted with each other’s strengths and weaknesses by this point.

By the time the sun started to set, Hawl was feeling more confident in their ability to do the job. Not that there was that much doubt to begin with. He had his issues with Wouf, but he had to admit he was an excellent hunter. They could probably finish most jobs with just the two of them honestly. But Hunt Command liked to play it safe.

The four hunters went off road to set up camp for the night. By this point in time the cobblestones had long since disappeared, replaced by an earthy trail where grass constantly threatened to reclaim the dirt.

Reea was carrying the tarp which they could set up as a crude tent to keep out the rain. But since the sky looked clear they didn't feel the need to bother setting it up. They could just sleep on the grass under the open sky. Their fur would be enough to see them through the night.

Hawl had been quiet through most of the trip. Sure he spoke up now and again, mostly to contradict Wouf and Reea whenever they got sloppy with the truth. But mostly he just listened to the others talk.

They shared stories and socialized well past when they were supposed to be sleeping. As team leader it was Hawl's job to keep them moving towards their goal. So he eventually put a stop to it and insisted that they got to sleep.

Wolves were incredibly social creatures by nature, so it pained him to put a stop to the socializing. But there would be plenty of time for that on the road ahead.

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It was still dark out when Hawl roused from his sleep. He yawned and stretched as he looked around lazily. He estimated that the sun wouldn't be up for another five hours at least, which was fine by him.

He stretched, feeling well rested but a bit hungry. They should probably start a fire and get breakfast cooking. Wouf had the flint and steel. So Hawl walked up to him and nudged him gently. “Time to get up.”

Wouf made a sound like old wood groaning under weight. As he tightened his eyes and curled up into an even tighter ball. “mmmnnnnoooo… five more minutes.” he protested through a thick haze of groggy exhaustion.

“I need you to start a fire because you have the flint and steel.” Hawl explained.

“Just take it from my pocket. I'm too sleepy.” Wouf offered.

Hawl nudged the large ball of black and brown fur again. “You're a nocturnal animal Wouf. It won't hurt you to act like it. We're supposed to be up at this time.”

“Yes it will.” Wouf quipped. “It hurts me a lot.”

Hawl rolled his eyes and returned the sarcasm. “Yeah yeah. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. So get to work.”

Wouf grumbled and whined, but he didn't dare argue against the idiom of their species. Even if he didn't exactly leap into action either. Hawl gave him some space to wake up. Though he made sure to cast an eye in his direction every now and then to keep him from slacking off.

He then nudged Reea to wake her up and quickly backed away in case she tried anything funny. He was half expecting her to be pretending to sleep as a part of some harebrained scheme. But thankfully her confused blinking seemed genuine enough.

“Wake up.” He said, trying not to sound too harsh or too friendly. “We are going to need a few animals fetching sticks for firewood. Is that something you could help with?”

“What? Oh, okay.” Reea mumbled tiredly. Unlike Wouf, all she needed to transition from sleeping to consciousness was a good stretch and a yawn.

After that she gave Hawl a familiar smile. “Are you going to help me? I would hate to go out into those scary dark woods all alone.” She fluttered her eyes at him invitingly.

Hawl looked over at the nearest patch of trees which dotted the rolling hills. It would be a bit excessive to call it a full fledged forest, but he supposed it was possible to get lost if you weren't paying attention.

He looked back at Reea and shrugged. “That's fine. Mauor and I will help.”

Reea’s smile slipped for just a second. Then she casually stepped forward and pressed her body against his. “Oh come now. We don't need three animals fetching sticks. She can do something else. Maybe have her watch over the camp instead?”

Hawl averted his eyes from her teasing and made a pensive sound. “Hmmmm… Perhaps you're right. I wouldn't worry about bandits while we are in wolf country. But we should have someone stay behind to keep their ears pricked just in case.”

Reea nodded her agreement as she not so subtly tried to get his attention and show off her body. “With us working together, I'm sure we could get the job done in no time at all. But don't worry. I'm sure I can think of something fun for us to pass the time with while we are alone.”

Hawl raised an eyebrow. “Don't bother. You will be the one patrolling the area for threats. Mauor and I will fetch the sticks.”

“Wh- But you-” Reea sputtered. “I got you pack lead. You owe me.”

Hawl stared blankly at her as if he was completely clueless as to what she was implying. But when Hawl spoke next it was with authority. “I was voted to be pack leader because we all agreed I was the best wolf for the job. And as pack leader, I expect you to follow the orders I give you without complaint. Understood?”

Reea looked disappointed that her schemes had been ruined. But she couldn't argue with him after he pulled rank like that. “Fine.” She grumbled as she temporarily admitted defeat. The reddish brown she-wolf gave him a dirty look before stalking off. No doubt she would be keeping an eye on him from a distance.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Hawl waited until she was a good distance away before letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He wasn't afraid of death or danger, but Reea made the adrenaline rush in his blood.

Hawl then went to the spot that Mauor had been sleeping. Apparently, she was up already. So he followed her scent to the top of a small hill. Where the off white wolf was looking up at the night sky with silent fascination.

Hawl walked up beside her and politely exhaled a puff of air through his nose to get her attention. She looked down and he told her. “We are going to start a fire to cook food. You and I will be fetching the firewood.”

“Alright.” She agreed without much fuss.

The two of them walked towards the nearest cluster of trees and began collecting sticks in their mouths. They made a few trips back and forth between the trees and their campsite. Until Wouf had enough tinder to start trying to ignite it.

But he would need more wood if they wanted to get some proper embers to cook over. Mauor suggested that they walk a little bit farther to reach the edge of the forest proper. Because they had already scavenged most of what the nearby trees had.

Hawl agreed, and soon they were walking together in silence. Normally he would be perfectly content to do without conversation. But there was something weighing on his mind.

“Can I ask you a question?” he asked.

Mauor smiled. “Sure.”

Hawl took a moment as he tried to think of how he wanted to word this. “Before you joined this pack, Wouf described you as being a ‘real stick in the mud’. But so far you seem fairly laid back and sociable. Do you know why Wouf would have that impression of you?”

Her smile dropped and she hesitated. “Yeah. I have a pretty good idea.”

Hawl nodded once. “I'm simply asking out of my own curiosity. You are not required to share anything that isn't mission critical.”

Her smile came back and she chuckled. “No no, it's fine. It's not like it's a secret or anything. You see, on the last job we took together our pack had just stumbled upon a random dead body.”

Hawl's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting. But that was certainly not where he thought this story would start.

Mauor went on nonchalantly. “It was a bird. Looked like she died in a flying accident of some sort. The meat was still fresh enough and Wouf wanted to take it with us.”

Her voice took on a frustrated tone. “But they were just some random civ! They didn't have a predation notice on their hide. So we couldn't legally take their body. I tried to explain this to Wouf but he just wasn't having it. The whole thing turned into a huge argument.”

Hawl winced slightly. “Yep… That sounds like him.”

“Don't get me wrong.” Mauor clarified. “I also hated to see good meat go to waste like that. But we are hunters. It's our responsibility to be a positive representation of our empire.”

She sighed. “Wouf didn't see it that way. In his view, it was only a crime if we got caught. So he planned to just have the pack eat the corpse to save on rations. I think he thought that he could convince me to turn a blind eye. But I put my paw down. I told him in no uncertain terms that I would not spare any details in my report.”

Hawl nodded with approval. “Good. Sometimes that wolf really does need someone to tap his nose and tell him no. I bet he wasn't scruffed enough as a pup.”

“Hah, yeah. He is a stubborn one, isn't he?” Mauor chuckled. “We literally wasted an entire day arguing over that corpse. I don't think the other wolves really cared what we did by the end of it. They just wanted to get on the road again.”

“What did you end up doing?” Hawl asked, as they neared the tree line they were headed for.

She shrugged as she started scanning the ground for good firewood. “Eventually someone spotted a flock flying overhead. They called them down to speak, and we ended up doing a groggy bargain with them as a compromise.”

Hawl winced.

A groggy bargain was a well known euphemism among carnivores.

Predators couldn't just take the corpses of prey animals for obvious reasons. But what they could do was buy the dead from a relative of the deceased.

A groggy bargain was the practice of finding an unscrupulous member of the same species of a corpse. They could then claim to be a relative and sell the body for some quick silver.

It was technically legal, since the wolves were under no obligation to ask for proof when buying the dead. The only one who could be held responsible for a groggy bargain was the seller, and they hardly ever got anything more than a slap on the paw. Unless the corpse they sold was someone rich or important of course.

Though, regardless of the legality of the matter, Hawl always felt that groggy bargains were a morally problematic practice. In truth, he lost a bit of respect for Mauor after hearing how nonchalant she was about essentially subverting the spirit of the law through a commonly exploited loophole.

“I see.” was all that Hawl said before he began gathering sticks. He hoped that his disapproval was properly conveyed through his tone of voice, but for some reason he doubted it did.

The conversation pretty much ended once they started fetching wood. Since it was exceedingly impractical to talk and hold sticks at the same time. Unless they wanted to hold them with their paws? But trying to walk around on two legs like that for any amount of time sounded like a great way for a wolf to injure their back.

Mauor hummed a little working ditty as she labored. But Hawl was perfectly content to just silently steep himself in the drudgery.

Soon they had collected several bundles of sticks and bound them with string so that they could be hitched to their uniforms. The biggest and longest branches were saved for their teeth on the long trek back.

Hawl had perhaps gathered a bit too much weight, but he would rather suffer a bit and do one trip. Rather than risk underestimating how much wood they needed, and being forced to take a second trek out.

They got a little over halfway back to camp before the wind changed and Hawl noticed the smell of smoke. It seemed as if Wouf had gotten the fire going.

And then a howl pierced the cool night air. It was Reea! She sounded distressed! Woufs' voice joined hers shortly after.

Howl was the inherent language of their species. Wolves didn't learn Howl, it was written deep onto their ancestral memory. Which consequently meant that howl was extremely primitive. It couldn't convey even a fraction of the detail or nuance of a proper learned language.

“Danger. Here. Moving away. Request: Answer.” Reea repeated. Wouf echoed the message from a slightly different location. Notably, he was not where the smoke was coming from.

Hawl and Mauor looked at each other in alarm before they both spat out the sticks they were holding and broke out into a run. They did not have time to unload the sticks still strapped to their backs and flanks, so they just had to bear the weight.

“Here. Moving towards.” Mauor howled as she ran.

At the same time Hawl howled out a longer message. “Here. Moving towards. Order: retreat. Order: regroup. Request: Stealth?”

His heart was pounding in his chest as he thundered along. What was happening? Were they okay? Neither of them reported being hurt. What was going on?

After a few seconds Reea responded. “Here. Retreat. Regroup. Moving.”

Hawl listened, but Reea did not echo his request for stealth. Which meant that she probably felt it was unnecessary. Wouf also signaled that he was on his way.

Soon enough all four wolves were running towards each other across the fields of grass. Wouf and Reea caught up to them much faster because they weren't burdened by bundles of sticks.

“What happened?” Hawl called out once they were close enough for learned language to carry.

Reea needed a second to catch her breath, but opted to close the gap a little bit more before she shouted her reply. “Megabeast!”

Hawl nearly tripped, but caught himself last second. Then his expression hardened. “Is it a known variant? Was it aggressive? Where is it now?”

The four wolves practically crashed into each other as they all gathered into one spot and checked each other over. They were all panting heavily and on high alert.

Wouf was the first to answer. He kept glancing over his shoulder, but had a huge relieved grin on his face. “It was huge! It looked mammalian, but its body was segmented. And there was this, orange ooze dripping from its face!”

Reea was less amused than Wouf. She sounded worried, then almost offended when she realized that she was probably at a safe distance now. “It just… Pulled itself out of the dirt! Then it went straight for Wouf!”

Wouf nodded excitedly. “Yeah. I heard the rumbling and then your warning. When I turned around I saw it waddling straight for me. But when I ran from it, the thing ignored me entirely! I think it was attracted to the fire.”

Hawl cast a confused glance at the smoke plume. If he squinted, he thought he could see a lump of grass moving slightly. But wolves were not known for their vision.

“A megabeast that is attracted to fire?” Mauor pounded aloud.

Reea shrugged. “Wouldn't be the strangest thing. Megabeasts are weird creatures, and each one has their quirks.”

Mauor shrugged. “That’s fair.''. Then she turned to Hawl. “If it's not actively hostile, do you want to ditch the sticks and go see if we can catch a look? I want to see this creature for myself.”

Hawl had to admit he was tempted. It wasn't every day that you saw a megabeast. Hunters sometimes were sent on kill missions if one of them got a little too rowdy around civilization. So he had seen a few in that context. But most of the time animals left them alone because of how dangerous and unpredictable they could be.

As Hawl mulled it over Wouf had an idea. “Why just look at it? If we take that thing down then we could get enough meat to feed an entire city block without an ounce of grain! We'd be rich!”

Reea glared at him. She at least had a more practical view of the situation. “Don't be an idiot. Unless it's a known variant, then it's a coin toss if its meat is toxic or not. And none of us are experts on beasts.”

She flicked her nose in the air and sniffed self importantly. “I don't know about you. But I'm not going to risk my life hunting something that might end up being worthless.”

“Reea is right.” Hawl said with a sigh. “We are not equipped to hunt megabeasts. Even if we did manage to kill it, we would need a specialist to look over the corpse to determine if it's edible.”

Mauor nodded her head slowly. “Most megabeasts are completely unique from each other. So even if we had an expert, they probably wouldn't be able to make a solid determination either way.”

Wouf looked disappointed at the sensible refutation of his glorious idea. He considered that they might try having one of them eat some of it to test if it was edible. But even he was hesitating at the thought of gambling with his life like that.

Hawl decided that was enough excitement and put his paw down. “We will leave the wildlife alone for now and continue the hunt we are already on. When we return home we'll report the sighting and let Hunt Command decide what, if anything, they want to do about it.”

He was expecting Wouf to grumble or complain about missed opportunities. But the older canine just shrugged. Strangely enough, it was Mauor who seemed to hesitate the longest. “Are you sure? Can we at least check it out before we go?”

To answer, Hawl turned to Wouf. “Do you still have the flint and steel?”

Wouf blinked and then nodded. “Yeah. Nearly left it behind, but I managed to scoop it up last second before I took off.”

Hawl nodded. “Then we have no reason to go back.”. He turned around and started to walk. “Come on. In another three miles we can attempt another fire. Until then we will just have to go without a proper breakfast.”

“Looks like I will be starting my fasting early.” Wouf grinned with good natured humor as he followed his leader.

Mauor seemed disappointed as she longingly glanced back at the incomprehensible distant shape. But she too rejoined the group with Reea.

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They stayed close to the road for a while after that, figuring that would be safest. It also gave them the opportunity to warn the occasional traveler to be cautious.

Mauor and Hawl ditched their sticks pretty quickly. They were heavy and easily replaced once it was time for them to try making camp again. Which wasn't for a little while yet.

“I'm hungry.” Reea complained, and Hawl heartlessly quoted the idiom at her to shut her up.

Now that the excitement from earlier had worn off everyone was feeling particularly grumpy. Everyone except for Wouf, who was well accustomed to going without food.

“Now there's an idea.” Wouf said randomly after a while. “What if we could solve the meat shortages by hunting more megabeasts? Sure, most of them are poison, but identifying the ones which aren't could turn them into an invaluable food source.”

Hawl shook his head. “That's not practical at all, we've tried it. Not even turtle scholars know why there are so many different variants of megabeast. It's like over half of them are born as completely unique species or something.”

He shrugged. “True, there are some variants that are known to be edible. But they are so incredibly rare, partly because we killed them all already. We would be much better off trying to hunt regular beasts. Like terrier beetles or fish.”

Wouf unhappily huffed out a puff of air. “Who wants to eat bugs? Gross! As for fishing, you know we can't compete with cats!”

Hawl raised an eyebrow. “Why not? I personally think I would be an excellent fisherwolf.”

“Well of course you would be.” Wouf admitted with an exasperated groan. “But not everyone shares your aptitude for the water. Besides, the cat’s idiom is much better suited for fishing because it is all about luck. Whereas our idiom is much better for matters of skill and mastery like hunting.”

Hawl wrinkled his nose as if he tasted something sour. “I'm sure there is more skill in fishing than you give it credit for. But fine. I can admit that cats are better at it than us. Though why do we have to compete with them at all? If Chuse gets elected then he plans to push for increased trade with cats, goats, and birds alike.”

“You're an idiot if you think Chuse will be able to get our neighbors to agree to any trade deal better than what we've already got.” Wouf exclaimed with disgust.

“And why not?” Hawl asked with growing frustration.

“Because he is weak!” Wouf complained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “No one will respect us if wolves like him are leading our nation! I mean, have you seen him talk? He's all smiles and tail wags. No bark, no bite! He’s a total dog!”

“Hey!” Reea snapped. “Language!”

“What?” Wouf asked indignantly. “It's true! He's a soft, domestic, pushover who has never suffered a day in his life. He is a traitor to our species and he hates everything our idiom stands for. If anyone fits the description of a dog it wou-”

Something in the air changed as the words seemed to be snatched straight out of Woufs mouth. An unnatural quiet had violently cut even the faintest of sounds from the world.

What's happening? Hawl saw Mauor try to ask, but her breath could do nothing against that weight. That wall which seemed to shut everything out.

He wanted to answer her and tell her that she wasn't in danger. But it wouldn't do anything. All he could do was look at her and shake his head calmly.

“What did I just say?” Reea’s voice was hushed, but even a whisper would feel like shouting against the void of silence. “I am getting real sick of your squabbling.”

Wouf winced but was helpless to do anything but listen to Reea lecture him. “You want to argue about politics? Fine, I don't care. But I won't suffer you using the D word or any other slurs while I'm around. Understood?”

The larger wolf nodded slowly. It almost seemed like he had to strain to convey any response at all, because of how thick the air felt. As if they were all submerged in the clearest water in the world.

Reea huffed, “Good.”. Before the oppressive grip of silence was released with what seemed like a rush of the natural sound returning.

Hawl relaxed as he regained the ability to hear himself breathing again. Then he scowled at the rusty she-wolf. “Hey, Reea. Don't invoke your Telling without discussing it with the rest of us first. You could have gotten us into real trouble if something was sneaking up on us.”

Reea looked genuinely offended. For once she wasn't using it as a ploy. “Why are you scolding me? Didn't you hear what he-”

She paused as she saw the look on Hawl's face. She calmed down a bit as she realized that she was technically talking back to her superior officer and could get in a fair bit of trouble if Hawl was so inclined.

With a heavy sigh she tore her head away and she scowled at a distant tree. “Yes sir.”

“Good.” Hawl breathed before turning to Wouf. “And you. While we are on this mission you are acting as a representative of the wolven empire. As such you must uphold a standard of professionalism befitting of your station. This includes avoiding language that is vulgar, hateful, or generally inappropriate.” Hawl narrowed his eyes. “Failure to comply will result in punitive action. Understood?”

Wouf looked guilty and apologetic. Then he cracked a sheepish smile. “Does that mean no more politics?”

Hawl wanted to immediately snap back with a yes. But he grit his teeth and answered honestly. “You may still discuss political matters, so long as you keep it professional and work appropriate.”

He leaned in and lowered his voice just a bit. “That being said, I would greatly appreciate it if you tried to keep some of your more fringe beliefs to yourself.”

Wouf tilted his head looking genuinely confused. “What are you talking about?”

Hawl sighed. He had a sneaky suspicion that he was going to regret bringing this up. “I'm talking about your harebrained theory that Chuse is faking having a Telling.”

The bigger wolf untilted his head as his expression darkened. “Come on, Hawl. It's the only thing that makes sense! That wolf has spent his life with an ivory bone between his teeth. There's no way he could have found a Telling of our Idiom.”

Mauor cringed a little before she spoke up. “Yeah, I don't like Chuse all that much either. But that would be such a difficult and weird thing for him to lie about. I mean, we've literally seen him use it all the time during the debates.”

Wouf pointed at her with his paw. “Yes, but have we ever seen him use it while he is alone? No! He always has an entourage nearby. Obviously one of his handlers is the one who really has the Telling. And they are using fur dye to make them look like a different wolf every so often so that we don't get suspicious.”

Mauor’s brows furrowed as her mouth gaped a little. “That's so stupid. Why on earth would they go through all that trouble? Just to make him look slightly more accomplished? No. He may be a liar, but that is just too much work for too little gain.”

“I'm telling you it's true!” Wouf complained. “He doesn't even believe in our Idiom! There's no way he could have found-”

Reea was still upset as she leered at the two of them arguing. She leaned over to Hawl and judgmentally whispered. “Look what you did. Now he won't shut up for another hour at least.”

Hawl took in a slow breath. “Sorry.”

Reea unhappily grumbled petty insults as she drifted off to make some distance between her and the rest of the group. That way she wouldn't have to endure the pointless bickering which annoyed her so.

Hawl’s belly murmured its hunger as he listened to his pack mates grumble and argue for no reason.

He could already tell that this was going to be a long and unpleasant hunt.