The group walked toward Dragena’s house. Instead of her old tent, the warlord now lived in the proper house. Dragena ordered the construction of this house prior to her pregnancy and even supervised the construction herself. This two-story tall building was made from stone and reinforced with steel plates. The windows were made from armored glass and were capable of withstanding even the hardest sandstorms. A mailbox was installed in a wall, almost always empty, for the postman rarely visited the Wolf Tribe’s villages. The house itself was once white, but after two years in the Wastes, it has turned a gray color. Dragena used to call cubs from the village to her tent, allowing them to watch cartoons and eat treats. Nowadays, she has her paws filled with her own cubs. Each of her children had their own room and personal toys. Two sets of consoles for gaming were in the living room, along with two TVs. The father of the family was on his duty, near the border with the Core Lands. Much to the disappointment of the cubs, he was only able to visit the family for five days, once every two months. There were no trees in the area around the village, and even from here, Annie could see the patrol post far away on the horizon.

Jenny stepped ahead of Annie, opening the front door for the wolf hag and everyone else, bowing down in respect. Lidya charged inside past her, giving a joking pat on the head to her sister, causing Jenny to growl. The girl quickly composed herself, stepping inside after Annie and closing the door.

"Don’t go running to the kitchen until you change your shoes!" Annie strictly said to Lidya, catching her by the nape of her neck with one paw before the girl could charge toward the sweet smell coming from the kitchen. Annie placed Hubert on the floor and delegated to Jenny the task of ensuring that all the cubs washed their paws while she walked directly to the kitchen. The air in the house was cooler thanks to the air conditioners installed inside. The warlord had very peculiar views on the temperature at which her cubs were supposed to grow.

Dragena has hardly changed in the last two years. The warlord was still a towering being of might and power. The only noticeable change was her choice of attire. Where before she would walk half naked or only in a shirt, nowadays she was dressed in strict trousers, a long white shirt, slippers, and a sleeveless vest. Dragena stood with her back to Annie, busy putting food on the plates. On the refrigerator, Owoger's "paintings" could be seen. From the kitchen’s door, Annie could see a family photo in the living room, Dragena herself, five cubs, and an unknown male wolfkin were posing against the walls of fort Uglo. Except for Dragena, the entire family was smiling in the picture, while the warlord herself looked emotionless as ever. Near the photo stood a toy that Dragena received from the troll years ago. A large terminal lay on the table behind Dragena.

"…they are still below average in action. However, I have consulted with Siri and with other wolf hags and concluded that potential is there. Tell Zero to count me in …" A strict voice could be heard from the terminal, accompanied by metal sounds.

"Greetings, Annie. How are your injuries today?" Dragena asked her regular question, turning off the terminal. Not once did she ask Annie how her children behaved. The warlord always trusted them to speak the truth to her.

"All is well, warlord." Annie bowed to Dragena. She was about to ask if Dragena still needed her for today when the cubs charged into the room.

"Food!" Tim was the first to jump on the chair, and Dragena put a plate before him.

"Ew. Veggies and ishes again." Lidya frowned her nose upon seeing the fish and vegetables on her plate, right next to a sizeable chunk of cusack’s meat.

"They are good for your growth. Eat them all, or you won’t get any treats," Dragena responded, putting food before the other cubs. She looked over at her daughter, "Your clothes are in tatters again."

"Oh, yeah!" Lidya slapped a palm against her snout, "I forgot. I broke your rules again and almost bit off Nikka’s ear today."

"No more video games for you for a week. And no cartoons either," Dragena icily responded, turning toward the shelf and reaching for the med kit, "Annie, how bad was Nikka’s injury?"

"Yeah, about it!" Lidya jumped in her chair, "Mom, can I invite Nikka over for a night or two?"

"Just how hard did you bite her?" Dragena turned back to her daughter.

"It’s not about that! If Nikka stays alone, she will grow resettlement toward me…"

"She meant to say resentment." Jenny said to her mother.

"Yeah, this word! And as a future wolf hag…"

"In your dreams, perhaps." Jenny smiled, picking up vegetables with a fork.

"… I must take care of my future pack." Lidya finished as if nothing had happened.

"Sure, bring her in," Dragena easily agreed, "But no video games for you in any case. You are punished."

"Great! Owoger, Tim, after me!" said Lidya, jumping off her chair.

"But why do you think that she will even go with you?" Owoger asked in confusion.

"Yeah, you gave her a beatdown. I would’ve avoided you, if I was her." Tim said, picking up the fish with a fork.

"Don’t worry, I have a plan," Seeing how her brothers groaned, Lidya quickly added, "A good one this time! You two will help me to help Nikka with the chores in her tent, then we will all come back and…"

"Finish your food, first," Dragena commanded, inviting Annie to sit with them, "Then you can go. Jenny, how was your day?"

"All nice… But I had to skip insectoid hunting to watch over Hubert," Jenny tried not to sound disappointed, "It’s not like he would cause problems, but he would be lonely with the shamans…"

"I will take you to the hunt later myself," Dragena looked at Slick, whose eyes were closing, and he nearly fell face down onto his plate of food, "And you, young man, will go straight to sleep. I will warm up your food later."

"I am not tired." Slick gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay awake.

Dragena walked toward him, picking up Slick in her paws. The young cub screamed in protest, scaring Hubert and Jenny put a paw on the boy’s shoulder, calming him down. Dragena raised Slick, looking him in the eyes. For a second, Annie became afraid that Dragena might slap her son. She started to stand up when the warlord spoke:

"You are not weak, Slick. This is merely a phase in your life as you are growing up."

"You lie! I am always getting tired too fast, always want to fall asleep first!" Slick almost cried out in embarrassment, his eyes closing against his will.

"And yet you are already stronger and healthier than many other people in the world. Be content with what you have and work toward betterment, step by step," Dragena took her son into her arms, gently rocking him in her arms, "Don’t rush, focus on being happy instead. I will take you with us when we go hunting for insectoids."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Promise?" Slick asked, while his eyes were closing.

"Promise. Now sleep." Dragena waited for her son to fall asleep and looked at the other children, before carrying him away to his room.

"No teasing him, you got it?" Annie whispered to the cubs.

Lydia zipped up an invisible zipper on her lips and threw away an imaginary key. The other cubs simply nodded, while Hubert looked surprised.

After the cubs finished feasting, Annie offered to help clean the plates, but Dragena refused to accept any help. Kassandra arrived to pick up Hubert, while Jenny went to her room to study, and Lidya charged away with her brothers. Dragena prepared a tea for herself and Annie.

"You heard the recent news?" Dragena asked.

"Pearl is unhappy with our "daring raid", I gather?"

"They are, and yet they will do nothing about it," The warlord drank from her cup, putting the terminal on the table, "Pearl is a complex nation. Numerous political parties struggle with each other for dominance there. Some are angry at us, some are secretly thankful to us for embarrassing their political rivals, and others are openly glad that at least some criminals will pay with their lives. The Dynast offered them the entire underground arena, and the incident is more or less over. No. What I am speaking off is…" She pressed the button on the terminal, "This."

The display in the terminal showed a massive figure clad in armor, standing before the reporters. The Reclaimers released a series of videos showing that Huntsman and Blaguna Nokto visited the arena in Pearl. The Dynast himself demanded that these two arrive to give evidence about the ongoing trial. King, the leader of the Resistance, was giving a press conference in response to recent claims of his involvement in the arena business in Pearl:

"…Dynast claims that his state intends to "reclaim" Ravaged Lands…" Despite his scary visage, King spoke with a deep, calm, and assured voice. His entire figure showed restrained strength, rather than violent fury, "Reclaiming usually means that someone owned something, lost it and now wants it back. To my knowledge, there is not a single person in our lands who was a slave to Dynast. To my knowledge, neither Dynast nor the Reclamation Army ever conquered the Ravaged Lands. Dynast does not own us, nor does he have any claims to our lands. Naturally, we refuse to give up our independence and will try to settle the dispute between us and Dynast…" Annie noticed how King was using Dynast’s name instead of addressing all Reclaimers. Clever trick, but he underestimates the loyalty of the people in the state if he hopes that anyone will go against the ruler, "…Through diplomacy. If any of our people want to leave for the greener pastures of the Reclamation Army, we will, of course, allow it. However! Despite our cooperation, we now see the full danger coming from the Reclamation Army. Recently, they carried out a military operation in the neutral state of Pearl. Who do they think they are, carrying on illegal military operations in a sovereign state? In light of this news, as well as the demands sent to us by Dynast, the Resistance is unfortunately forced to begin preparing for a possible defensive war. We understand that the Reclamation Army is a strong nation, and thus we humbly ask our neighbors for the assistance in negotiating a peace treaty that would satisfy both sides. We will also accept any help that other countries are willing to spare for us. Please understand, we do not intend to start aggression against our mighty neighbor, but we will defend our right to live as we see fit on our ancestral lands!"

"And if Dynast refuses to see reason?" One of the reporters asked and King looked at him, somehow conveying pity and determination through the posture of his armored body.

"Then may the Planet show mercy upon us all. Even if I stand alone, I will protect the people who trusted in me enough to put me in this position as long as my body is able to stand." The King's words were accompanied by thunderous applause from his bodyguards, and Dragena turned off the recording.

"Have you noticed something in his speech?" Dragena asked Annie.

"He is mentioning the Dynast. A lot. He is pinning whatever will happen next on him." Annie responded.

"True," The warlord nodded, "He is also not refuting the allegations of being involved in the arena business."

"Because he can’t! No doubt Hilda already spilled the beans under the power of Ivar or Wyrm Lord."

"That’s the crux of the issue," Dragena stopped Annie's enthusiasm, "Yes, I have little doubt that they already made her talk. Yet who will believe that the Dynast won’t be using wyrm’s power to get a go on the Ravaged Lands? We all know that our liege wants the region to join the state. No, to get a proper reason to invade, the Dynast needs irrefutable proof. And yet here King refuses to even talk about allegations, much less refute them, almost as if he is mocking the Dynast. While Iterna and Oathtakers keep their silence about the matter."

"What do you mean?" Annie was confused as to why Dragena was leading.

"A few years ago, we moved forces to the border of Oathtakers. However, the military campaign never started. The official reason was that we wanted to help our allies against Chosen Prince and his hordes… But it almost looks like some sort of a deal was made, the Dynast got something from Iterna and the Oathtakers to not start a massive war. Soon after, the Third Army began to be massively upgraded with fresh weapons, people, and equipment. And now King insults the Dynast, knowing full well how our liege treats challenges, while all three of the King’s potential allies are silent. I can understand why the Dynast wants the war, but why would King want a war that he couldn’t possibly win?"

"Why does it matter if we have irrefutable proof?" Annie scratched her, not understanding, "Resistance is just a bunch of raiders mixed with a few stable countries. Back in the old days Reclaimers…"

"Because we are no longer "back in the days", we are in now and here," Dragena looked Annie in the eyes, "Annie, times have changed. What was allowed before is no longer allowed now. The civilization... We have grown up. All of us, even Dynast himself. We play… now we are trying to act in accordance with the international rules to avoid coming in a direct conflict with Iterna. To avoid… becoming barbarians. For this reason, the state had to give concessions to Pearl in order to mitigate this scandal. If King just admits that someone from his organization was involved and he didn't know anything, heads will roll, but the Dynast would find his hands tied up and King will be free from suspicions. Now however…"

Dragena stopped speaking when she heard how someone slammed the entrance door. Annie turned up, seeing Lidya and the smaller wolfkin girl stepping inside the kitchen. Unlike Lidya, Nikka was walking barefoot.

"Lidya, show hospitality to the guest. Bring slippers, at once," Dragena commanded, looking at the smaller wolfkin, "You are Nikka." This was not a question.

"Yes, warlord. I apologize for causing problems for your guest, warlord," The cub bowed, showing her neck to Dragena. Annie noticed some dried-up blood around her ear. Dragena noticed it as well, picking up and dragging the scared girl toward herself with ease.

"Annie, pass me the med kit." Dragena commanded, seating the girl on the knee.

"This is not needed, scars are the honorable marks and I am perfectly able to weather any injuries!" The cub squeaked, trembling and afraid to look up at the warlord. Dragena ignored her fear, opening the med kit and starting to clean up the blood from the ear, spreading the fur across the ear to see the injury.

"I believe you. There is no need to add to your scars, though," Dragena looked at Annie, "I am sorry, we will have to speak another time. There is a more important matter right now. Nikka, the flesh in your wound is still bleeding. If you can’t reach the wound or don’t know how to stitch the edges of the wound yet, just ask any shaman, any wolf hag, or even come to me to treat your wound next time," Dragena tilted her head, cleaning the blood from the wound and working to stop the bleeding. She looked up, seeing her daughter coming into the kitchen, "Lidya. Come here. You did this, now I am going to show you how to treat this. Watch and learn. Next time you hurt anyone, you will be responsible for their full recovery."

"I know how to treat wounds," Lidya jumped on a chair near her mother, standing up on her feet and trying to look over Dragena’s shoulder, "Slick taught me and Jenny when we…" She stopped.

"When "we" what?" Dragena asked calmly. She never raised her voice, looking at her daughter with bland eyes.

"Oh. You are not supposed to know. It’s our secret." The girl became shy all of a sudden.

"I see. Show me then how you would treat this injury."

"Please don’t use me as a training dummy," Nikka asked and forced the next words out of herself, "I am scared." Despite her fear, the girl didn’t move. From birth, the wolfkins are taught to obey warlords and shamans in everything and always speak the truth. In the past, such behavior caused some tragedies. During the time when the Tribe left the state to look for Ravager, one of the warlords used several cubs as a distraction to save a large part of the Tribe. Alpha skinned this warlord alive for this, condemning the woman to stay forever in the rank of the wolf hag.

"We don’t, you won’t even have a scar by the end of it. Everything is under control," Dragena looked at the girl on her knee for a moment, before adding, "Stay calm and you will get an entire chocolate bar once we are done. A large one. Work slowly and carefully, Lidya. We will talk about this secret of yours later."

Annie smiled and left the warlord, feeling better all of a sudden.