"You," Kate shuddered slightly, twisting her snout in pain as the massive claw slashed across her shoulder, drawing blood and tearing flesh in its wake. Alpha licked off the blood from her claws, stopping for a moment, "Promoted. From now on, you are a scout."

Aranea and others stood by attention, allowing normies, males, warriors, and medics to take away the wounded and prisoners. Right after the battle ended, Alpha, still covered in Huntsman's blood, demanded the presence of several people involved in the operation, listening to Aranea’s report offhandedly and telling everyone to be at ease. The wolf hag half thought that Alpha was ignoring her, but the moment she fell silent, a whip of fear struck her, prompting Aranea to continue the report. Occasionally, Alpha would leave cuts on the wolfkins. When Aranea wanted to try and stop, she saw the looks of the others.

They were fine with it. The cuts that people received from Alpha were marks of honor in the same way that they were marks of punishment. Even Sly nodded to the wolf hag, begging her to remain still. Try as she might, Aranea could not understand their reasoning. Sure, Janine gave them all some scars for various sins, but who in their right mind loved them?

Not like I can force her to stop. Aranea grumbled to herself. Endure this foolishness.

"Yes, warlord, thank you, ma’a… I mean, thank you, Alpha, ma’am!" Kate saluted the warlord with a trembling paw, clattering her fangs at the whipping hit of the fear wave.

"Feel free to run off to your mate."

"Negative, ma’am! Kaleb will laugh if I ditch my new duties, ma’am!"

Alpha moved her gaze away from Kate, going to others. The wolfkins and soldiers standing before her handed over their armors to the engineers. The flames were put out, and a worker team was busy dragging the command center away to mount it back on the crusher. Several lightly wounded soultakers were still sitting in the darkness of the trees, guarded by soldiers. The trucks from the main base only took the most heavily wounded patients back to the base. Jericho was forced to revert his power, returning flesh back to Geldi and a few others, before Svetlana made him eat several power suppression pills.

Aranea tried her best to stand at attention, but eventually she had to ask Tiny and Keyl to help her. The pain in her ribs was driving her mad, but for the sake of her deceased leader and her pack, the halfbreed intended to stay for debriefing. Under the bandages, the wolf hag could almost feel the edges of the bones pressing against each other.

Alpha took a military coat, once belonging to Janine, and pulled it over her shoulders. Even this piece of cloth was too small for someone of her size, almost immediately, it got torn on her shoulders. Black veins still ran all over Alpha’s body, giving the warlord no discomfort. Her claws struck, leaving deep cuts above Leila’s left breast and on Sonya’s shoulder.

"Promoted to wolf hags," Alpha continued, licking the blood off her claws. Her gaze lingered at Leila, "A correct decision, a wrong method. You can't just lock it away. Treat it like any other dangerous skill. Hone it and, yes, restrict it. Otherwise, one day you'll cause a disaster wielding it in a time of need."

"Damn it, I’ll never catch up with her." Kate mumbled, looking at thoughtful Leila.

With fluid grace, Alpha turned toward Yuki, lowering herself on one knee before her and placing both paws on her knee. The gigantic snout came next to Yuki’s face, sniffing her and observing the glowing skeleton beneath her skin.

"You earned promotion, Yuki," she said softly, "but we both know you're not cut for this."

"Not yet, ma’am."

"Good. One of my own had problems, not dissimilar to yours... It made me read a bit about mental health. Tell me, do you still..." Alpha paused, noticing Yuki's shudder, "I see, the ghost still lingers. If you want to, Csonka can use another roommate. Funds are no problem, the state pays. Spirits know, the Core Lands are too lonely for our kind."

"No need, warlord… Alpha," Yuki corrected herself, "I can push through it."

"And Lady Csonka is not alone," Keyl said as he took a step forward, "First Sunblade himself...

"How did you know!?" Alpha turned around, calmness changed into a raging fury in an instant. Her claws made a full arc, tearing off a piece of flesh from Lucendra’s forehead, Velka’s chest, Ultis’ ear, and leaving a cut across Sly’s nose. The massive claw stopped just short of Keyl’s head, leaving him unharmed. Alpha’s tongue struck out, licking off the meat and blood from her claw, "Don't push it, knight captain! I am not against my kin speaking with their cousins, but Csonka is weak. Vulnerable. Unable to properly protect herself or think clearly. Leave her out of this!"

"She accepted the offer to stay in his care on her own volition," Keyl refused to back down, even when the gigantic jaws came close to his face, showing fangs. "No harm will come to her in First Sunblade's custody, he merely wants to know more about his cousins."

"When Voidrunner was injured, I stood guard over him for three months, waiting for his recovery. When Camelia nearly bled out, Martyshkina dragged her from the battlefield, letting the sword saint recover in her den. Meanwhile, my sister came to you in time of need. Tell me, was she harmed or not?" Alpha demanded to know, standing up.

"She was. Through the treachery of our own flesh and blood, she was harmed." Keyl replied, looking into Alpha’s eyes. He bared his neck for her, and Alpha nodded.

"You know our traditions at least."

"Lady Bel taught us well. Some of my bones still hurt from our spars."

"Good. At ease, cousin," Alpha moved her gaze at Velka, "You. Olesya is out cold, but her pack lost a wolf hag tonight. Promoted to…"

"I refuse, ma’am! I don’t want to be a wolf hag and I will not take Hine’s position! Hine will live!" Velka shouted defiantly.

"No one survives such wounds," Alpha tiled her head, "Both coward and brave. A bet then. If Hine dies, you will take her place. What do you want if she lives?"

"Make me as strong as Olesya." Velka gulped, looking down in shame. Aranea smiled sadly to her, understanding her feelings. The scout didn’t believe that Hine would survive either. She was in denial, refusing to accept the reality. It will pass. Reality never changes because of one's wishes.

I will ask Olesya to speak with her. Or do so myself.

"Accepted," Alpha moved on, walking toward Aranea, "Janine's pack still has one spot. Promoted to wolf hag," She said with a single glance to Tiny.

"What, no slash for me?" Tiny asked, looking up at her mother, "Why are you leaving me out of this?"

"Because you are defective," Alpha told her plainly, "You are weak, pathetic, and unsuited to endure punishment."

Aranea could stand aside no longer. She took a step forward, her face twisted from pain, and came to a halt shoulder to shoulder with Tiny.

"Warlord, I will not allow you to speak like this…"

"It’s ok, Aranea," Tiny extended her arm, speaking with a twisted leer on her face, "It’s just Mom’s way to weasel out of a talk when she has no idea how to act."

"I am not your mother."

"Say this to my birth certificate!"

"Birth certificates were a mistake," Alpha shook her massive head, "I simply took you in because no one else would at the time."

"Bullshit! You bought me medicine, you taught me how to fight! You bought me treats and read books to me at night!" Tiny calmed down, closing her eyes, "Mom, remember our bet? I became a scout! I have friends and comrades now, I bleed for them and they for me! I am no longer weak," Tiny opened her eyes, "Can you tell me why Dad and Mom threw me out?"

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"They didn't," Alpha never moved her gaze, burrowing Tiny with her eyes, "Your mother loves you. This much I swear. The situation is just... complicated," Alpha raised a claw, as if to strike Tiny, before stopping, "You wanted a reward? Fine. Elea."

"Elea? What is it?" Tiny blinked in surprise.

"This is your real name. The one given to you by your parents. Tiny is just a nickname that I am calling you by."

"This doesn’t clear up anything!"

"I promised you the information as a reward. I gave it to you. Not my fault that you failed to specify the amount I should have given you. Now, to finish it."

The flesh above Aranea's ribs was slashed by the claw, causing the wolf hag to frown in pain. Alpha left her a long and ugly lacerated wound, sparking a new pulsating pain in her shattered ribs. The warlord licked off the blood, looking down on the wolf hag with something akin to hatred.

"Coward," She hissed, "Janine failed to raise a proper replacement. Safe for Leila, none of you are even close to Annie’s level. The pack will be absorbed into the Alpha team"

"No," Aranea looked into her eyes, enduring the hit of the fear wave. She gulped, forcing herself to speak on behalf of Janine's pride and to protect others from the warlord's rules: "The warlord taught us well, ma'am. I demand a right to prove you wrong. Give us a goal, and we will prove our right to exist."

"A town," The fear was gone, along with the rage in Alpha’s eyes. The warlord seemed… content? "Bring a town down. Since your pack lacks a warlord, I will stay with you for this challenge. Wield me as you wish."

****

Anissa woke up to a world of pain and gurgling. Pain was expected, she remembered how part of her body disappeared in the mouth of this blasted psycho. What irritated her was the question of why she was still alive. The mental binding should have killed her by now.

She looked around and noticed herself strapped to a stretcher, naked. The med-gel was applied to the stumps of her missing leg and arm, as well as the shattered and partially bitten ribs, to keep her from bleeding out. She sniffed out furiously, angry at the fact that the bastards didn’t have the courtesy or skills to apply a bandage over there, such usage of the med-gel was beyond wasteful! You can partially recover it later, for a future use, but only if you cover the area.

Anissa was in… some vehicle? The walls were made of steel with a bit of rust on them, and the smell of blood hit Anissa’s nose. She turned her head to the side and saw Geldi and another female bald medic working desperately to try to stop one of the doggies from bleeding. Judging by a single breast, it was a female doggie, the rest was hard to tell, part of her head was missing, revealing the wet skull and brain matter.

Even in the crusher, Anissa would be hard pressed to save someone like this. First, she would have to hook the woman up to a life support system, ensure that an artificial lung will work, clean the dirt and dust from the wounds… Oh, her spine is visible. Yep, the doggie is dead.

"She is going to bleed out." Anissa whispered weakly. Something in her refused to see another living being die like this.

"No, she will not!" Geldi threw back, not turning to look at her.

Anissa had a slew of questions for this traitor, beginning with why she was no longer made of stone, but she felt as frail as a kitten right now. Instead, the prisoner went for the major one.

"Promise me something, and I’ll save her."

"What?" Geldi’s body visibly stiffened, but she still kept on fighting, trying to cauterize the arteries.

"You heard me. A promise in exchange for an unknown promise, like from the time of the academy."

"Fine," Anissa made no move, and Geldi turned to her, "I promise." Anissa smirked, seeing desperation in the traitor’s eyes. She knew that her patient was about to die otherwise.

Nodding to have her remaining arm freed, the medic made a half-cough, half-laugh, before extending her arm and touching the edge of the doggie’ wound. Then her arm fell from exhaustion, while the doggie's muscles spasmed from pain when new bones shot from her body, followed by a piece of flesh.

"What…" Geldi’s eyes beamed, "Ani, I never knew you could do it! Quickly, heal yourself now!"

"I can’t. Can’t do shish for myself," She coughed out blood, waving away the medic, "Give her plenty of water and some food. Some, not all! Otherwise, her stomach will burst. Now for the promise. Geldi, take a scalpel and slice off my neck, will you?"

"What? No!"

"You promised!" The prisoner looked at Geldi in desperation, "Please!"

"If this is about limbs, then…"

"To hell with the limbs! Geldi, I gave the oath. I can’t just walk back on my people like that. And… And I know what happens with the women in prison! Please, please, Geldi, just a syringe filled with air, or a blade, or let me bleed out. You may even give me a syringe, I do it myself, please, just don’t let them touch me!"

"No one will dare." Geldi responded, and Anissa screamed.

The prisoner gathered her remaining power, lifting her arm to reach for the wounds on her side, trying to scratch away the med-gel. Geldi grabbed a panicked Anissa by the arm and strapped her back to the stretcher, securing her properly: "Sorry, seems like I lied. No one’s dying on my watch."

"And I owe you all a blood debt," The doggie gasped, breathing in air with her new, working lungs, "From this day on, you are my sisters in blood."

"Shut up, you mutant!" Anissa cried out, feeling tears coming from her eyes, and she did not care. She thrashed, trying to break the med-gel coverage to bleed out.

A feeling of cold steel against her neck made her freeze. She looked up, seeing the bald medic’s angry face. The woman kept Geldi away with one arm, holding a scalpel to Anissa’s neck.

"Mia!" Geldi shouted, trying to reach for the weapon.

"There are soultakers who are bleeding out at this very moment. Your own people. Ours too," Mia spoke calmly, pressing the blade against Anissa’s carotid artery, "Will you let them die?"

Yes! Anissa wanted to scream. She was afraid. All too often, she saw what others were doing with their prisoners. Cannibals at least eat those they catch. Raiders and slavers were far worse in this regard, mutilating their prisoners, or simply robbing them of their free will. And then there were pleasure slaves…

But at the same time, she remembered the oath that she and Geldi had taken. To help people of the Resistance. To heal others. She remembered the countless sleepless nights that she studied dusty tomes, trying to learn everything she could. To become the ultimate healer. Of course, it was all in vain; the information was simply too much for her to take in. Anissa could never reconnect nerves at the same levels as others. Or locate the inner bleeding as quickly as Geldi could. Anissa's talent was in rehabilitation and treating broken bones.

Until one day she gained the power. The power to heal every wound that a person received within twenty-four hours. She begged and lusted for this power out of a selfish desire to be the best in the healing field. To die now and let it go to waste…

"No," Anissa whispered, hating herself for giving up, "I… I will save the people from both sides who are about to die. But this is it. I will not heal all of your wounded, or your leaders."

"Good," Mia gave the scalpel to Geldi, "And don't ever try to end your life! As a medic, you have a duty to others, to people who can't save themselves! Lost limbs can be rebuilt, crimes can be atoned for...

"I committed no crimes to atone for, you bitch!"

"Oh, sorry. Just projecting." Mia turned away.

****

A soultaker coughed out blood, falling on his knees and allowing his comrade to fall. Ignoring the cold spreading from the left side of his body, the man reached out to a woman lying face down on the ground. With trembling hands, he turned her around and saw a glassy expression in her face. Her chest was riddled with torn wounds, the makeshift bandages were soaked with blood. Taking off his glove, he checked if she was breathing.

She was not. The soldier wanted to howl and curse, he managed to drag her away from these mutants! Both of them were injured, but he at least hoped that they could maybe face some other survivors, anyone who could help them treat their wounds and warn people back at the base.

The fate decided otherwise. The forest was empty, not even insectoids would come out to finish him. The soldier took off his helmet, waiting for the morning light. Soon it would come, leaving burns against his skin. To be honest, he didn’t care anymore. All his friends were either dead or captured, no doubt they would be eaten soon. And the one life he was able to save is no longer burning.

The ground shook, and something enormous landed next to him. The soldier’s vision was blurry, but he saw a mangy mane of hair coming from the gigantic head and the gigantic body of this naked intruder. He wanted to ask who this was, but lacked the strength to do so.

The creature grabbed the dead body, using a single claw to carefully and almost playfully strip the deceased of her clothes. With his trembling hand, the soldier tried to raise his rifle, but it fell from his grasp, firing a bullet into the night. The creature dropped the dead body, racing into the dark and out speeding the bullet, before catching it up and returning to the soldier. The beast showed it to him before clapping its massive paws several times, almost begging for more shots, like a child would beg for another treat.

Seeing that the soldier was too weak, the beast snorted in disappointment, grabbing the woman’s dead body and finishing stripping her clean. With a casual gesture, the beast brought its head down, swallowing the body whole. The jaws closed, and the soldier heard the disgusting sound of countless bones being broken, followed by a chewing sound.

The beast grabbed its sides, giggling like mad. Its whole body trembled, the oversized eyes changed shape and color, becoming the dark eyes of the devoured woman. The leather-like hide changed to tanned skin, the legs, arms, and torso shivered. Finally, the head changed too, replaced by the head of the deceased woman. In a span of a few seconds, the beast disappeared, and the dead soldier was looking at the soultaker.

"Shit, where are we?" The creature looked around, speaking in her voice, "Why am I naked?! No matter, you are wounded! Let me help you, we need to warn Jekaterina and others!"

Who are you… The man wanted to ask, while the creature changed his bandages, stopping his bleeding, and helped him stand. At one point, he decided that he was delirious, and that this beast never existed and his comrade was never injured.

The skinwalker and the soldier went to the nearby city. The man and all others were safe for now, for the skinwalker still thought that she was the dead soldier. For now, at least.