Redael showed no mercy, understanding, or patience upon my arrival. Whenever I’d arrived in the days before, he had been in his den and then had exited eventually, never leaving me to wait more than a quarter of an hour. This time, whether because he knew I was coming, or because he was waiting, Redael was stood outside of his den when I arrived. I was about to apologize or explain myself when, without preamble, he rushed towards me.

I knew what was coming, and ducked his first strike, my legs nearly giving out under the sudden movement. There was only so much I could do under these circumstances, but I tried to press in on Redael’s chest like I had to Rulac. When my hand started knifing towards Redael’s chest, though, he swatted it aside with contemptuous ease before striking my face with his other hand in an open palm. As always, his hand smashed into me with so much force that I was immediately seeing stars. With the reaction beaten into me, though, I dodged away as best as I could.

Between my stunned mind and weak legs, I unfortunately couldn’t escape. Redael’s tail cracked into the side of my knee and I went down without any real fight left in me. I was too tired, too weak, and couldn’t muster the strength. Regardless of my low morale, I didn’t want to be beaten senseless like on the first day, and I tried to cover myself, rise to my feet, anything, but I couldn’t see or stand or move, and after a couple contemptuous strikes, Redael backed away.

Disbelieving, I looked at the Alpha. He apprised me, a hint of disappointment evident in his gaze. After a pregnant pause, one that had me convinced Redael was about to set back into me, he turned with a flick of his tail.

“Get some rest. Be back here in two days. Don’t you dare be late again.”

With that, my “training” was complete after only being hit maybe five times. I was too exhausted to truly appreciate the feeling, though I was happy to have avoided getting dirt stuffed into every one of my face’s orifices. After I was sure that my punishment was truly over, I struggled to my feet and began to stumble my way back to where Rulac and Took were. Now that I was truly in no hurry, I stepped slowly and carefully, allowing myself to recover. I was exhausted, but not wounded, and with slow steps and allowing myself the time necessary to recuperate, the journey was slow but no longer agonizing.

Eventually I made my way up to the den, where Rulac was still standing vigil over Took. He took one look at me, nodded slowly, and said, “You can lay down. If you fall asleep, I’ll wake you once she does.”

I slowly slid to the ground, resting but staying upright. “No, I need to tell the pack that she is alright. I’ll just rest here a moment before continuing.”

“No need, there was a little male who showed up not long after you left. I showed him the girl and he went back to your pack to let them know. I told him that you would be back once she woke up, so you need to wait here anyway.” As he spoke, Rulac stepped closer and gently pushed me to lay down. I didn’t resist, but as I laid down and began to get comfortable, I asked a question that had just occurred to me.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Wait. This isn’t your den. Why are we here?”

“This is where your little friend passed out, didn’t want to move her.”

“But where are the keelish who live here?”

“Kicked them out.”

I shook my head and sat up a little, beginning to worry. “And they didn’t care?”

He cocked his head. “Why would I care if they care? There are only three keelish in the swarm who wouldn’t immediately do what I told them. One of them is talking to me right now, and I’d die before I tried to tell Redael what to do.”

“And the third?”

“You’ve met Wisterl. You think anyone can make her do anything she doesn’t want to?” Rulac’s rumbling laugh filled the den as he stretched himself out. “No, she does what she wants.”

I could feel my eyelids beginning to grow heavy as I enjoyed the companionable conversation. “And what does she want?”

“To fight, mostly. I like hunting more than most, but rutting is better. A good nap? Great. Fighting? Can be fun, but I prefer the hunt. But then, that’s why Wisterl isn’t Beta. She’d never want to be anyways.”

I wanted to continue the conversation, but I found myself slipping into unconsciousness.

It felt like only moments later when I was shaken awake, and as I opened my eyes, I saw Took leaning over me. I startled and bolted to my feet. Again, Rulac’s laugh filled the den, and I looked over at the massive male leaning against the wall.

“Relax. You have a female excited to see you when you wake up. It’s a good thing!” Rulac stood, stretched lazily, and continued speaking, “Now get out. We’ve been here long enough.”

“Thanks Rulac.”

“Sure. Keep up the training, by the way. You could almost hit me earlier.” Rulac’s face resumed its usual smirk, and then, surprisingly quickly and quietly, he walked out of the den and was gone. I shook my head, trying to fully wake up as I stretched the stiffness from my body. After a moment, I turned to Took who looked chagrined.

“You ready to go back to our den?”

She flared her frills, then bowed. “I’m sorry. I failed.”

I held my tongue from apologizing. “I should not have given you that assignment when you were so heavily wounded. I should have gone myself, or sent another. I won’t make such a mistake again.”

Took didn’t seem to know what to say in response. She bowed her head, then wordlessly joined me on the trip back to our territory. It was abundantly clear that she wasn’t happy with our current state, but I couldn’t say what it was I should say or do to help, so I did nothing.

Finally, we arrived back in our territory and as we approached the den, I was surprised to hear… nothing. There was always some sort of noise in the area, but now, there was near perfect silence. A panic began to build in my chest, and I began to run until I turned into our den. Only three steps later, I was in our communal area and saw the reason for the continued silence.

“I said I was looking forward to your story. I was so excited, in fact,” Rulac said, “that I decided to bring a friend along.”

Redael’s voice cut through the echoes of Rulac’s little speech, “It sure looks like a story to tell.”