I hadn’t thought about it, but I was completely covered in filth. I’d been coated in blood and gore after the fight with the wolfstags, then dragged the bodies through the jungle without taking the time to clean myself, and finally been thrown into and rolled on the ground, with dirt covering any part of my blood-painted body that wasn’t already stuck with leaves or fur. With so much covering me, I lightly scrubbed all over myself, rubbing the worst and largest sources of filth from my body before entering the bath. Only once had I made the mistake of entering the sand baths without removing the majority of the grime from my body. That had immediately polluted the bath, and it had needed to be painstakingly cleaned after.

So, before I could luxuriate in the sands, I ran my hands over my body and sloughed off the bulk of the larger debris. Finally, I flopped down into the sand and rubbed my whole body in it before beginning to more deliberately scoop and scrub every part I could reach with the sands. The congealed blood and viscera only came off after deliberate scrubbing, but the scrubbing and constant flexion of my scales felt good. With the bulk of the muck scrubbed from my body, I laid comfortably in the bed for a while longer, before rising and stepping out of my quarters. I’d thought of trying to rest more, but I’d slept for at least an hour under Rulac’s guard and didn’t need to sleep.

Instead, I stepped out into the communal area of the den, where the entire pack seemed to have cleaned themselves and were relaxing or slowly digging out more space for a pantry of sorts. Again, I was surprised to see Shemira basically clinging to Sybil and staying in Sybil’s immediate vicinity. I walked past them as I gathered up enough of a wolf to eat my fill, then strode back to the two females.

“Anything going on that I should know?” I asked as I began to set into my meal.

Sybil flicked her tail, “Not at this time, Alpha. We’re expanding the area, since we are all growing, but there is no hurry to do so.”

“Yeah, Sybil has it all under control.” Shemira chimed in, obviously teasing Sybil.

I swallowed the bite in my mouth, and turned to Sybil, “So what happened here?”

Before Sybil could respond, Shemira answered, “She saved me!”

I looked over at Sybil, who stood still, not a flicker of emotion apparent in her bearing. “Not quite so. We worked together in the hunt.” She didn’t elaborate, but Shemira again jumped in.

“Really, Sybil came to my support when I was pulled away and surrounded.” The teasing tone faded from her voice as Shemira continued, “You came when I was in a bad spot and helped me not die. Thank you for saving me.”

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Sybil flicked her tail, deflecting the praise. “Our Alpha here commanded us to trust the rest to protect us. As his Beta, I simply did what was requested of me by our leader.”

Shemira looked up at me, a smirk touching the side of her mouth. “She’s been like this since it happened. Isn’t she just the cutest?”

Sybil, completely done with the conversation, turned and whipped her tail into the wound on Shemira’s leg. This time, like when she’d done so in the clearing, she forced herself to hold back. Shemira’s whimper of pain was again joking, but as she pretended to be deeply wounded, her leg gave out beneath her and she managed to actually hurt herself. Sybil, for her part, looked down at the fool, sighed, and walked away, leaving Shemira behind. I looked down at her, watching as she gathered herself and looked at the scabbed wound she’d managed to tear open.

“You actually like her, don’t you?” I asked as Shemira began to rise.

A small wry smile spread across her face as she answered, “Yes. She is… cold, much of the time, and I hated her when she was advising Tieran. Wise, calculating, and unfeeling. I was jealous of her power over him, and twisted him to listen only to me before getting him to kick her out. I thought of her as this… thing, less than a creature. And as I watched her work so diligently before continuing to push me down I felt I was justified in fearing and hating her. But, even with all I did, she never hated me.” Shemira went silent, before finishing, “She’s just better than me.” The smile transitioned back to her usual smirk, and then, as she flounced away, Shemira laughed, “Plus, she is just too cute when she’s trying to hold herself back, right?”

I sighed and resumed eating my meal, before looking for Took. She was stood quietly in a corner, Treel and Foire nearby. Took’s head hung low, and I could tell that there had been some attempts at talking to her, but she simply didn’t engage with it. I walked close, and Took looked up at me as I approached. I simply stood there, waiting for her to talk if she wanted. After several minutes, she did.

“I am a failure.”

“No, you’re not.” My response was immediate.

“I was wounded and unable to help you hunt. Percral could. He is better.”

“No, you’re the one that escaped the ambush with Brutus. You brought back news that we couldn’t, and survived.”

“They died. It’s my fault.”

“Did you kill them?”

“... No.”

“Did you make them leave?”

“No.”

“Did you force them to do anything?”

“No.”

“Then how could it be your fault?”

Took stood, confused and upset. I trusted her and relied on her quiet support, but I had no idea what to say to her, and I didn’t think what I’d said had meant anything to her. Regardless, I patted her gently on the shoulder then walked away after quietly telling Treel and Foire to keep an eye on her.

I continued to walk through the den and talk with the keelish of my pack. I forced myself to remember the names of everyone, and I was most of the way to memorizing them all. Finally, after the whole pack had been spoken to, I turned to the five bodies we had been able to retrieve and bring with us.

What was I supposed to do with these?