Annie woke up to a numb feeling in her entire body. She struggled to open her eyes. Both of her eyelids were swollen and heavy. Finally, pushing them open, she saw a white medical room. She lay on a bed in a slightly upright position, several pillows were placed behind her. A tight bandage was wrapped around her neck, covering the wound. The lower part of her body was covered by a warm blanket, but Annie could feel the tight feeling around her waist, where a bandage was placed over a wound on her belly. She moved her legs and felt only the tip of her fingers obeying her. Something was pressed against her nose, pulling the ruining thing forward, but she could not exactly see what it was. Her body was wrapped in elastic bandages, hiding the scratches that she made on her own body. There was no pain, but the wolfkin felt herself just utterly empty and devoid of any and all strength. A large TV was placed across the room on a wall.

I lost. Annie understood numbly, trying to remember what had happened before.

"Finally woke up, huh? A familiar voice said nearby. It took Annie some effort, but she managed to turn her head to the left side. Virginia was laying in next bed, chained to her bed with a set of belts. Just like Annie, her body was covered by bandages, "Took you long enough," Virginia said, trying to sound cheerful. Annie turned away from her, "Listen, I… I have no idea what the fuck came onto me… I…"

"Shut up, hero. Enjoy your victory." Annie said simply, looking at the white ceiling.

"Annie, I am sorry. Just tell me how I can make up to you and…"

"Disappear from my life."

"Annie, please… I know that I fucked up… If you want to, you can spear me with your claws as well…" Virginia said pleadingly.

Annie turned her head to look at the wolf hag: "The loser must obey the winner, but I will never harm a fellow soldier just like that. Tell me what you want as a reward for victory."

"Annie, I didn’t win. We were knocked out, remember?" Virginia tried to smile with trembling lips.

"Liar." Annie responded in a half-dead voice, "Just tell me what you want or leave me alone."

"I want you to forgive me!" Virginia pushed against restraints, "I don’t know what came up to me, I swear that I will never ever do such thing again. Just let’s be friends as before, ok? Annie?"

"You are forgiven. "Now leave me alone," Annie said, relaxing on the pillows and looking up, "Unless a mission requires our assistance, never speak to me again."

"Annie… Just say how I can fix it. P… Please, I will do anything!" Virginia said in panic, mangling words and struggling against her restraints, "Annie, we are friends! Seriously, remember how well we worked together!"

You can’t erase my shame. You can’t give me back my pride. Annie ignored Virginia’s words, looking up. She trained so hard and all for naught. No matter. Just gotta train harder.

"Will you two shut up! Trying to relax here!" Someone said to the right of Annie. She turned her head, ignoring the pleadings of Virginia, and saw the warlord Ygrite laying on the bed, with her paws behind her back. A syringe driver was installed over her bed, several tubes ran into her arm, feeding some unknown substance to her through the needles.

And behind her was Lacerated One, laying on another bed. The shaman was chained to the bed through the numerous chains, that held her immobile. Her snout was strained from the efforts to break three, each slash and wound on her body was cleaned and bandaged, and she herself looked frustrated.

"Warlord. Shaman." Annie quickly said, trying to stand up. Ygrite waved her paw, showing her to relax.

"Lay down. I am just here receiving the first part of my…" She reached with a paw to tap at the tip of the claw coming from her eye, "So-called treatment. Soon enough, I will leave for the Core Lands via air. As for my sis over there, Ieshua shot her with a sedative dart after the Gathering."

"I will skin him alive." Lacerated One promised in a furious voice, trying to break through her restraints.

"Jokes on you, he'll simply regenerate from this," Ygrite winked to Annie, "Ieshua even got an official order from the Dynast no less. My poor sis can’t self-flagellate herself anymore and will have to pass therapy treatment, like a poor little cub." Ygrite showed her tongue to the furious shaman, clearly enjoying herself.

The door to the room opened and Zero, along with Dragena, stepped in. Zero was dressed in a long black tracksuit, her black cloak thrown over her shoulders. The pitch black helmet turned to face Annie, while the warlord herself approached and sat on a nearby chair.

"Annie, Virginia. Glad to see that you are awake," Zero said cheerfully to them both, "All is fine, I hope?"

"You have performed your duties to the letter, both of you. However, Virginia, you need to learn to control the bloodlust. Annie, you must learn when to surrender. We will iron out this flaw out of you later." Dragena said, walking to the window and looking outside.

"To the letter?" Annie asked in confusion, "I got lost in a bloodlust…"

"And I fucked up. Badly." Virginia mumbled.

"All true," Zero said, "Yet your ritual combat," Disgust could be heard in the words of the warlord, "Persuaded even the most stubborn that Branded are not so different from the rest of us."

"You should show more reverence, when you speak about traditions." Lacerated One frowned, and Zero simply waved her arm, pleading the shaman to let it go.

"Tell me the truth, warlord," Annie asked Zero, "The words that you have said to me… You were using me all along?"

Dragena briefly looked at Annie, while Zero looked down, putting her paws on her knees. Annie saw once more how elegant her fingers were, despite their size, Zero’s fingers looked almost like the fingers of normies, only covered by fur and larger. Even the entrances of her claws were invisible to the naked eyes, nothing ruined her perfect form. Annie had always wondered why someone as beautiful as Zero would bother hiding her body beneath all of these clothes, cloak, and helmet.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Annie, how about we talk about this later…" Zero started talking.

"If you won’t tell her, I will." Dragena said, looking outside.

"So my hunch was right!" Lacerated One said, looking at Ygrite, Dragena, and Zero, "You were working together for a long while!"

"Hey, don’t lump me with them!" Ygrite waved her paw, "I only joined them recently cause I needed to ensure my Branded will excel."

"I wanted to use you," Zero said to Annie. She took a sigh and leaned back, carefully finding the words, "You see… For the Wolf Tribe to survive and thrive, we have to grow up. This stupid segregation, Crippled and Branded… It all had to go. Ravager would simply use her strength to impose her will on others. Alpha outright ignores laws she views as unjust. I wanted something different. I wanted a change through peace and understanding. So when Valerye came to me with her plan, I eagerly agreed. It took me and Dragena some time, but we ensured that some Branded cubs would be accepted into the army. We hoped that others would see and understand that the Branded are just like us."

"But you also had another plan." Annie accused Zero, "One that you have prepared yourself."

"Yes," Zero responded simply, "Before Valerye came to me with her plan, I had a far crueler plan. Alpha trusted me and I knew for a long time that she was taking in Branded cubs, erasing their records and raising them as regular wolfkins," She nodded at Virginia, "Virginia’s potential is simply outstanding. She have the potential to become a warlord one day. Thus, I took in someone…" Zero stopped, looking for words.

"Useless." Annie finished for her.

"Stop pitying yourself," Dragena commanded, and Annie looked at her, "Self-pity is naught but poison. You want praise? You saved lives. Fought side by side with comrades as an equal. Bled for a cause. What more recognition do you need? You are not useless. Just far less gifted in combat than Virginia, which is all. I am weaker than either Zero or Alpha. Do you consider me useless?"

"No, warlord," Annie whispered. She nodded to her leader in thanks, "Thank you."

"Annie… I have no idea what they are talking about. I was never part of any of what they are speaking of," Virginia said passionately, "You are not weaker than me… Annie do you believe me? Annie, we fought each other, we fought side by side, you should know that I am speaking the truth!"

"Virginia indeed had no idea," Zero continued her story, "Once Alpha told me that she had found someone so gifted I took you in. In my cruelty, I planned to use you, giving you the minimum amount of training. A wolf hag against a wolf hag, as my sister has said."

"Only the outcome would be rigged, right?" Lacerated One hissed, straining in her bindings, "How could you do this to our own kin!"

"I... couldn't," Zero finally admitted after a long pause. "I imagined Annie facing Virginia in the Gathering and losing badly, proving that the Branded are just as capable as other wolfkins, and then I would have paid the therapists to ensure Annie's mental scars faded, and then I would have given Annie the best life ever… This was my selfish plan. I couldn't go with this plan after I saw how lost you were after losing your father, how lost you were after losing to Virginia. You are not a toy, Annie, neither you are a tool for me to wield. I asked you what you wanted and ensured that you will join the one warlord who could help you chase your dream the best. After that, Dragena and I proceed with the plan of Valerye in order to win fair and square. I never intended to involve you anymore."

Annie lay back on the pillows, looking up, trying to understand it all. She closed her eyes: "Please don’t tell Svetka about it. Ok?"

"I swear." Zero responded. Dragena and others also voiced their agreement.

"This situation irks me to no end," Lacerated One growled, "I am half of the mind to just call the shaman council and rethink my decision… But that will only hurt our kin. Screw it, I swear as well. This time you got away, Zero."

"I do not regret my choice to lose to Virginia," Annie said to Dragena, opening her eyes. The warlord simply looked at her, neither praising, nor condemning, "The needs of the many must always be put ahead the needs of the few. Had I known about it all before the Gathering, I would still have made the same choice. But… Because I was meant to be a sacrificial lamb," Annie looked down at her ruined and injured body, "So many months… years even had been squandered by me," She whispered, "I will never be able to catch up now."

"Annie, it doesn’t matter," Virginia said, trying to break free of restraints, "You can kick my ass at any time! I won’t resist!"

"This is exactly the problem," Annie responded, feeling anger rising in her, "The only reason that I can hope to beat you, if you let me!" She forced her voice down, afraid that doctors outside could hear her, "I was just a spare wheel in a plan, unneeded and barely used. And for this, I was robbed even of the tiniest chance to be on par with you! Zero… I trusted you and you simply used me?! Have you ever even trusted me?"

"Annie, you were never a spare wheel to me," Zero said, "What I have planned was horrible, true. But we can still turn it all around…"

"Turn it around?!" Annie laughed at the sheer insanity of this, trying to think clearly, "How? You said it yourself, my potential is worse! Can you turn the time back perhaps?" Zero shook her head, "I heard that Valerye shows her face to the wolfkins who joins her pack. Can you do the same for me? Take off your helmet, look me in the eyes, and tell me that you at least trusted me."

Zero moved her arms up, her paws reaching for her helmet. Annie heard a soft hissing, as if something was about to come off… And then Zero left the helmet back on her head: "Sorry, Annie but not here," Zero looked at Virginia, "There are some things that others must not see. Come to me later, when you are healthy and…"

"Why? So you could have enough time to compose yourself and lie to me?!" The wolf hag laughed, feeling relieved at last. Finally, she knew what to think. She was nothing to Zero. Her life was just a coin for the warlord to spend on the way to the future. Dragena. Only Dragena never lied to her.

"Annie. I swear to you that I never had anything to…" Virginia started to say again.

"Please stop, Virginia," Annie said in a tired voice, "I believe you. In this, I absolutely believe you. You were just a tool for her, same as me." Annie nodded at Zero, while the warlord was looking calmly at her.

"Then…"

"Then nothing. Listen, do me a solid and don’t ever dare to lay a claw on your own pack, unless it is for a ranking match. Never dare to harm any prisoners, no matter how vile they may be." Annie added, remembering the words of Virginia during their infiltration of the arena, "And leave me alone. Please, just… Let’s go our ways, okay?"

She fell silent the moment the door opened. With a mild surprise, Annie saw Ieshua and Svetlana coming inside. Svetlana looked relieved the moment she saw Annie and the wolf hag felt shame. She really acted like a fool this time. What was she even thinking, hoping to take down Virginia in her condition?

"Svetlana," Annie nodded to her sister, "I am fine and sorry for worrying you…"

"You are not fine, you idiot!" Svetlana snapped at her, coming near the bed, "Do you have any idea how hard we had to work to stop your internal bleeding and make sure that your blasted nose will work in the future?!" She threw her arms up, before taking up the syringe, "Do me a favor and don’t act like these two," Svetlana nodded at Lacerated One and Virginia, "Spirits know, I have my paws full as it is, without the need to struggle with you. Just lie still, take the painkiller shot and let me change bandages."

"I am going to skin you alive." Lacerated One said to Ieshua, while the troll was busy checking her condition.

The man simply shrugged his shoulders, unbothered by the threat, "If it helps in your recovery, feel free. My skin will regrow before the evening." Ygrite laughed at these words.

Annie joined her laughter, feeling the pain in her broken ribs. Whatever happened, everything was behind now. Now it was time to move on and live.