"Acknowledged. The mission was a success, carry on with your recovery." Image of Dragena on the screen said to Annie.

"If, I may, what about my reque…"

"I approved it. He is near the children's wards at the moment. Although, I once again recommend writing an official complaint."

"I would like to try my way." Annie quietly said, and Dragena nodded, disappearing from the screen to slide into a hospital bed afterwards. Even now, the warlord refused to show up in person, such an absence was slowly getting unusual. According to the terminal with records of Dragena and her pack, a terminal that also listed every defeat, victory, and all members who ever served as soldiers of the state under the warlord, Dragena never left her pack for long, not once in the previous years. As part of Annie's initiation, the scout had to memorize most of the history of her pack.

Annie let out a sigh, looking herself over. She woke up shortly after the packs returned back to base. The doctors said that she lost a lot of blood, the sting of the line breaker sliced all the way to her radius bone in her left arm, splitting it almost in the middle. The muscles and skin of her left arm around the injury were a bloody mess, machines spent some time stitching muscles back together. Now her left arm was tightly bandaged, her chest tightly wrapped with bandages, the stitches underneath itched like crazy, and Annie was shot with all kinds of possible medication. Her immune system was strong enough to overcome the sickness of Chosen Prince, yet Ieshua gave orders not to take any risks. In addition to this, she also found out that she had received a shot of vaccine against rabies and plague. This was sort of insulting, because following the traditions of the Wolf Tribe, members of the tribe evaded accepting medical help whenever they possibly could, believing that this strengthened their immune system. Annie was one of those believers. Doctors apparently had their own opinion on this and used the moment when she was unconscious to "fix" this "misunderstanding". Annie still had to read the full list of vaccines that she received today. For the next few days, she was scheduled to show up for daily doses of regeneration injections, injections that were as painful as poison bites of insectoids.

Not everything was bad, though. All members of Pack A and the Alpha team were safe and sound, aside from a few injured members of Pack A. Lucendra was taken away by doctors, and the injured male was locked away in the other wing. The doctors told Annie that she grew two centimeters taller and her muscle mass increased compared to data from her examination before this mission, indicating that her power rewarded the scout a bit more. Lieutenant Angoro came to visit Annie, explaining the reason why Outsider was present at the mission and that hostages were alive. The doctors made no claims about the condition of the hostages due to the hostages being exposed to people infected with the Chosen Prince virus, but healthy or not, everyone will survive, that much was clear. If they were ill, they will have to spend some weeks recovering, that is all. The man, who suffered burns on his neck, will survive, but his recovery will take much longer. Lastly, someone brought a whole vase filled with candies to Annie. That was... an unexpected, silly, cute surprise, but a tasty one.

The scout changed her blood-soaked clothes for pajamas provided by the hospital and stretched her good arm. She felt tightness in her chest, but aside from that, no pain. She felt a bit more confident, so she did two dozen squats, dreading feeling pain anywhere. None. With hesitation, she touched the doorhandle, and this time the electric shock did not hit her. All the doctors were well aware by now just how problematic wolfkins were as patients, thus they installed some measures to keep them secure. Guards outside her room checked data on pocket terminals, allowing Annie to go.

Thus far, so good. Take it slowly, Annie, don’t do anything overly stupid for now. The scout thought as she opened the door and walked through the corridor. There was still some time before the morning and most of the hospital staff were either sleeping or resting. There were people here and there, busy working on patients, but nothing compared to the daytime. Annie opened the door leading to the examination room, to get Ieshua to sign her release.

Inside the room was a shocked woman, in whom Annie recognized the raider that she knocked out before the cage with refugees. Ieshua was also present, trolls had no need for rest or sleep due to their insane regenerative abilities, and thus the doctor worked day and night in the hospital. Kassandra Trugh was sitting opposite of the bandit, behind a desk and reading something from her pocket terminal out loud. This time, the woman was without her black coat and wore a full hazmat suit.

"...Thus, the state will promise to nurse you back to health if your illness causes bone, skin, organ, sensory deprivation, or any other long-term harm to your body or psyche. Observers from the Iterna will serve as guarantors that the Reclaimers will fulfill our obligations to you and your family in c…" Kassandra finished reading and looked up, her voice sounded a bit dull because of her suit, "Hello there scout, how are ya feeling yourself?"

"Just fine, ma’am," Annie bowed to show that she could move just fine and nodded at the bandit, "What is she doing here?"

"She is a volunteer of sorts. Our guest here is infected in the early stages with a shit of Chosen Prince. No doubt you heard his voice in your head this night, when you were injured. Here is the kicker, all of the raiders were infected, this is why they were such a sorry excuse for a raiding party, Chosen Prince was whipping their asses to move. We plan to evaluate her condition over the next few weeks, allowing illness to bloom, fester and learn exactly how Chosen Prince takes over the wills and minds of others." Kassandra shrugged her shoulders casually.

"And in exchange, my kids will be permitted to move to an orphanage in the Core Land, if I die during the experiment?" The woman asked in a trembling voice.

"Yeah, yeah, you heard the offer. Your sentence will also be reduced to two years in regular prison, allowing you to avoid Torment. Even if you die, you win." The agent responded dismissively.

"Please do not scare the patient, agent. You will not die, and you will not become maimed, miss," Ieshua put his large hands on the woman’s shoulders, speaking in a deadly calm voice, "Some damage to the body is to be expected, true, but it is nothing that we can’t fix in a couple of months. One day in a prison hospital is equivalent to two days in prison, so it will benefit you in the long run. Worst case scenario, we prepare a medical capsule specifically for you. Once the experiment is over, you will be brought to the peak of your physical form again, have no fear."

Ieshua let go of the woman and walked toward Annie, checking her visually briefly, before sighing her release and nodding towards the exit. Upon leaving the room through the main exit, Annie had to pass a long decontamination procedure, but finally massive steel doors opened wide, and the scout was free to go.

Annie almost ran into Kayleen as she leaped from the doors. The wolf hag caught Annie with one hand under her right shoulder, stopping the scout in place.

"Are you still under effect of the medical drugs, or just an idiot in general? Who runs in these hallways?" Wolf hag cocked her to the side. Kayleen was freshly laundered and dressed in a black civilian jacket and, surprisingly, a black long shirt. Out of all the wolfkins of the Dragena's pack, Kayleen was the happiest about free clothes from the Core Lands. Even if they came from bitter rivals, the wolf hag gladly accepted them.

"A bit of both, to be honest," Annie answered honestly, "I messed up tonight, right?"

"Warlord found no fault in your actions. I will grill you for hours about needless risks of your life later, aside from that, I have no complaints either. Come, we have a duty to do."

"I am not sure that I follow. I thought we were on leave…"

"You still have to learn the responsibilities of a leader. After me, future wolf hag." Kayleen said these words without a hint of sarcasm. The usual anger of the wolf hag stepped back, Kayleen was speaking in a calm and almost respectful manner, so unusual for her.

Both of them walked toward the hospital wing meant for people with minor injuries or for those who were undergoing rehab. People and even a few soldiers with new mechanical limbs were testing them out under the supervision of medical staff, those who suffered from muscle degradation during illness were performing physical exercises, therapists were busy helping people who suffered mental scars from losing old skin, injuries, or other problems to move on and live on. Even at this hour, the place was busy like no other due to the sheer number of recovering patients. On the one hand, Annie was bothered to see so many victims of war. On the other hand, she was proud of the people of her state. Most of the doctors, workers, and nurses here were normies, they do not have the supernatural abilities and endurance of new breeds. And yet here they were, putting many new breeds to shame with their dedication.

A TV in a hall was showing a large crowd of people, citizens of the Wastes. Here were normies, new breeds, with a spontaneous gathering in front of Gregore City Hall, seat of Wyrm Lord in the Wastes, growing by the minute. Leaders of nomad families in their traditional poncho cloaks, hunters from the north of the Wastes covered from head to toes with stingers of insectoids, city dwellers, farm owners, and even heads of villages across the border, there were so many different people gathered at the same time. People demanded that refugees go back to Oathtakers, claiming that they are the reason for recent attacks. The patience of the locals was already thin, with an attack on the sand cruiser, the situation finally exploded. Blue wyrm and black wyrm swoop from the clouds above, landing on two gigantic pillars before a brown-colored building. Ivar looked at the crowd of people with contempt, while Scorpio was looking at people with a playful smile on his snout. Clouds above the City Hall were torn open with a single flap of mighty wings, and, like a settling sun, the massive golden form of Wyrm Lord appeared on top of the building, spreading wings wide and dwarfing people on the ground. The golden light that emanated from the scales of Wyrm Lord banished the darkness of the night, covering those before him in the soft light.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

But the commander of the Third Army was silent to the demands and screams of his subjects. The visage of the commander of the Third Army and ruler of the Waste and Ravaged Lands betrayed sadness as he looked down on the crowd of people. The camera showed the blonde journalist from World Without Borders, going by the name Larry Kosh. The man was suspiciously silent after the debacle with the warlord, but according to Dragena, reporters were still busy gathering information about the Wolf Tribe. Half out of stubborn refusal to give up, Annie asked him to look into the disappearance of her sister. She still kept writing to the police and services of all three countries, but no answer came. The reporter took her request seriously, promising to look into the attack on the village. To Annie’s surprise, Larry was not even aware that the village of the Wolf Tribe was wiped out in the attack.

"…We are live at the city hall, where Dynast has promised to address the worries of the people…"

"…Oh yeah? And I wanted to be a hero but instead was beating up other kids for fun." Ears of Annie twitched as she heard male words behind the door to which Kayleen was walking. She glanced at the TV one last time, yet there was no sign of the Dynast so far.

"Oh yeah? And I utterly failed everyone during my first mi…" The voice of Lucendra stopped the moment the door to her room was open.

The young wolfkin was sitting on a bed, with her back pressed against a wall and her hands wrapped around her knees. She was dressed in a white t-shirt with an image of a black raven on it, white socks, and socks. On a bed nearby, a young teen was sitting. Scar was running across his left eye, half of his hair on the left side of his head was missing, and his skin bore markings of burns. His entire right arm was replaced with a mechanical prosthetic arm, shaped elegantly after the image of an organic arm. Metal connected with flesh and bones in the shoulder area, the teen clenched and unclenched his new fist with minor surprise.

"What are you two doing here?" Kayleen demanded to know, and Lucendra was silent for a moment.

"Arguing which one of us sucks more as a person. Why, you care?" Arrogantly asked the teen.

"As a matter of fact, yes. You are the rascal who makes Lia worry, right?"

"She is worried? About me? But I bu…" The teen blinked in surprise.

"This answers my question. Name’s Kayleen," The wolf hag pressed two fingers to her temple in a mocking gesture of greeting, "And this is Annie. Because you are a new breed with power, higher-ups assigned me as a trainer in a rehab program for people like you, so get your ass rest up and get ready to run a lot of miles tomorrow. Without the help of your power." Kayleen smiled with a honey smile, and Annie pitied the teen. She was well aware of how ruthless the wolf hag could be.

"But doctors said that rehab is only supposed to gently help me accept my new arm… How is running…" asked the teen in confusion.

"Don’t you worry, I will ensure to make you do push-ups until you faint as well. Sleep while you can, cub, the big day is coming soon."

"Hey there, Lucendra," Annie said as softly as she could, imitating Kayleen's tone, "How are you? Bones, body, everything ok?"

"I am fine. Commander shielded me with his power. Doctors locked me here to calm down." The soldier admitted to failing miserably.

"Then all is good! You will be out in no time!" Annie allowed a smile of encouragement to slip onto her lips. She was partially pleased with her soldier. Finding weak points in the enemy in such a short period of time was commendable. Lucendra seems to be hanging around with Carty and Ultis as of late. Annie made a note to ask them what sort of prize would be fitting for the warrior.

"Wolf hag." Lucendra said, and Kayleen looked at her, "I understand that I brought shame to the pack. My hesitation put others into danger, and I acted unworthy of a soldier of warlord Dragena."

"You panicked on your first mission. Big deal. I got shot in the head on my first mission. Stop mopping down and work harder in order to not be dead weight in the future for a group." Annie almost wanted to slap the warrior out of her strange state of mind, but caught the look of Kayleen and stopped.

"Annie. Shut up and remember." The wolf hag hissed.

What am I supposed to remember? You kicked me in the ass after my first mission and… oh, right, be gentle. How is one supposed to be gentle? Well, here goes nothing.

"No, scout Annie is fully correct. Wolf hag, I betrayed your trust in me," Lucendra sighed, "but I swear I will train hard. Please do not throw me out. I will lick your boots if needed, I can do any chores, I can’t go…"

"Oh, calm down already," Annie said, lowering herself to meet the warrior's gaze, "How old are you?"

"One hundred and thirteen cycles, scout."

"Traditionalist, huh…" Annie quickly counted the days in her head. Cycles were an old and outdated system that was used by shamans. Each cycle was roughly equal to thirty days, "Wait, you are so young and yet you are bothered about your performance? What else did you expect at such an age? Trust me, when I was at your age, I was shit, weak, uneducated, and my warlord cared not for me… And look at you, you grew up a little bit tonight as a result of your first struggles. You came up with ideas on how to take line breakers far faster than I or the wolf hag managed to think about them," The scout put her paws on the shoulders of the warrior, trying to calm her down, "Lucendra, I know that I can be daft at times, but trust my words here. You've got nothing to worry about, your fear will pass as you gain experience. Everyone makes mistakes, just look at me. We came to see you because we were worried about you. We never even considered throwing you out, right wolf hag?"

"It’s just Kayleen for tonight. Yes, we came here to cheer you up and see how you are holding up," Kayleen scratched the back of her neck, clearly hating every moment of acting nice, "As for your worries, drop them. There will be something for you to do pretty soon. Listen, what are you drinking and eating?"

"Warrior Lucendra, am I correct?" Annie turned around, hearing a voice from the door.

The wolfkin, standing taller than six meters, had to bend over to fit through a doorway. One hand, bigger than Annie’s head, grabbed the top of the doorway to help slide the massive bulk inside. The newcomer was wearing a military leather coat of grey color, the sleeves of the coat were cut off, revealing impressive muscles. The brown fur of the newcomer's fur coat was thinning in places and showing tanned flesh covered by countless scars underneath. The newcomer's snout was a thing of horrors. Fangs pierced skin on both the lower and upper jaw, coming from below the nose, fangs were also sticking out from the sides of the jaws and even came from underneath the skin of her neck. The left eye of the wolfkin no longer existed, a sharp fang was coming out of the eye socket.

"Yes, ma’am." Lucendra nodded in surprise at this giant visitor, her voice trembled for a brief moment.

"Name’s Ygrite," When the warlord spoke, Annie shuddered against her will, looking at the mouth filled with white fangs. She had no idea how someone could eat, much less live, with so many fangs in their mouth. Row, after row, they grew from gums, from cheeks, from the palate, and even below the tongue, running all the way down the throat. Each breath of the warlord sounded strained, she had to struggle to push the air into her lungs. In her hands, the warlord carried a measuring tape, "You calmed down, this is good. Hold still, I have to check something for myself."

The warlord stomped toward the bed. Unlike Dragena, Ygrite barely cared about keeping grace, each of her steps made the beds in the room jump slightly. She reached for the warrior and used a measuring tape to check the biceps of Lucendra.

"Pardon for asking, ma’am, but what in the Abyss is going on?" Annie exploded, seeing the confused look of her warrior. The scout tried to stand before the warlord, but Ygrite simply pushed her aside, acting quite gently to the surprise of the scout. Kayleen desperately waved her paws, showing Annie to keep calm. Ygrite was not a strong warlord, she ranked low among others. This warlord lost her title several times, clawing her way back up through fighting. Her pack were known for being on the front lines during the war and taking heavy casualties during breaches of enemy positions. Ygrite ruled with an iron fist, or so the rumors said about her.

"Be silent for a moment, I don't want any beef with Dragena again," The warlord checked the torso and even legs of warrior, then looked at the numbers that she got in mild confusion on her face, "Her results are adequate… Why are my Branded are not showing the similar results then?" In blindingly fast motion, Ygrite moved her left arm to move the strap of Lucendra’s t-shirt aside, looking at the ugly brand on her shoulder, "Either there was some mistake… No, shamans do not make mistakes. How is your growth so different from the growth of my warriors? What am I doing wrong with their training? Anyway, I apologize for taking your time, everyone," the last words of the warlord were barely audible, and the warlord loudly inhaled air, making the teen pale from the weird sucking sound, "Don’t worry, cub, I don't bite. As for your question scout, I am here to compare the growth of branded soldiers in my pack to the growth of Dragena’s soldiers. I had already met the males, nice boys all of them, just screamed a little too loudly and were overly nervous. Their tongues loosened up after a couple of drinks, though. Lucendra was the last one on my list. Is it true that Dragena never laid a paw on you?"

"Ma’am, did you just admit that you were getting my soldiers drunk during the re…" Kayleen wrapped a paw around Annie’s mouth, hissing to her to shut up.

"Warlord Dragena never touched any of us." The warrior looked right into the sole eye of the warlord.

"Not even to straighten you up? To give you honorably scarred as a reward?" Lucendra shook her head, showing that no, "I am doing the same to the branded soldiers in my pack! But mine are still so frail! Maybe I should forbid others from touching them… but the other soldiers mostly pity the branded anyway…" The warlord trailed off in confusion, putting tape in her pocket, "Good night and good hunt, stay safe and all that. I need to think."

"Well, that was freaking scary! You saw her mouth? It’s like the mouth of some carnivorous worm, only way nastier!" Exclaimed the teen, once the door was closed behind the warlord.

"Ygrite is from the first generation of our tribe, just like our warlord. All first generation members have various problems. Except our warlord, of course, she is a perfect soldier." Kayleen explained it to the teen, letting go of Annie.

"There were other injured members of our pack. Where can I see them…"

"You can’t," Kayleen strictly said, "Not tonight, the males are not as durable as we are, so he will stay with the medics for a while longer. No matter, surely Carty will throw a party for everyone later."

"Wolf hag, I will leave the warrior in your care then," Smiled Annie, "I must thank the Alpha team for our rescue and speak with someone."

"Deserter. Fine, I will just call Ultis instead, before she drinks herself to death alone. Lucendra, I am still waiting."

"For what?" The warrior blinked in surprise.

"What. Do. You. Drink. And. Eat?" Slowly said the wolf hag, reaching for the pocket terminal, "We are going to have a somewhat private feast and drink tonight, worry not, I am paying, choose your favorites."

"Cringe." The teen said.

"And just for that, you will also be squatting as an extra bonus," The wolf hag threw it offhandedly, "Since you are stuck with us as well, my cyborg fellow, what are your favorite foods and drinks? Keep in mind, should you say booze, I will make an athlete out of you."

Still smiling, Annie left the room. Kayleen was right in a sense. It was important to keep morale in check, to show members of the pack that they mattered, and ease their worries. But at the same time, seeing the wolf hag acting all nice and gentle, even, was some of the most hilarious stuff that Annie had seen in recent times.