Chapter 30: Others
“Joseph, I love you.”
Every gear driving his brain forward ceased in its rotations, his face falling into shock as he struggled to process the words that poured heat through his ear. Chains of self-imposed restrictions clattered to the floor of his emotional depths, rejected feelings bubbled to the surface against the frigid cavern he had long since lock himself inside.
He had flirted around with random women of varying species on the ship, sure, but those would never cost him anything. It was mostly an exercise in filling the void Emma left behind years ago. A reminder of what he had lost. The rejection of his most base attributes. He could be turned down over and over, and it would never diminish what he already had none of. Each refusal leaving him with as much as he started and simply another reason to pursue another avenue. Another superficial salve that stung the skin.
Now? Now a woman he had been so drawn to, shared such similar circumstances with, had carried the same shackles with even worse wounds, had cast aside the fears of losing everything for the vain hope that the object of her affections might accept her when none of her own would. A condition that wouldn’t impact her life in the slightest amongst Humans had lead to her losing the deepest desire she held at the hands of her own kind.
The path her tongue traced against his throat ached, the blood under it boiled. His ear burned from the syllables he never thought he would hear again, thought he deserved to hear again, and it warmed him in the brisk air more than the vapid heat surrounding the fire.
The flickering light silhouetted the white Lilhun as she drew away from him, every fibre of fur highlighted and every curve underneath defined against the glow. His hands fell from her back, dragging their way across her form to her hips with a firm touch lest she slip through his fingers. The pliable muscle and flesh bending at his will yet seeming to push back to continue the connection. His fingers pressed into her and were accepted by the tender heat she emitted.
His gaze rose from their defaulted resting position at her feet, soaking in every detail as it advanced past her stomach, where a small horizontal thinning of fur that had stolen her dreams lay, and lingered on her clavicle before meeting the dim yellow lights of her eyes. They reflected the orange light glancing off the snow and the almost ethereal illumination of the moon behind him, granting those intelligent portals a sense of divinity that left him breathless.
Slowly his right hand brushed over her figure, thumb resting on her cheek as his fingers held the nape of her neck. He lost himself in the eternity it took for him to process those words, each beat of his heart pounding with renewed vigour and electricity arching between vertebrae. He opened his mouth to speak but no words left him as the last vestigial tendrils of fear tore at his throat. He had repressed the emotions, fearful that all he had built for himself and all those he now cared so deeply for would shun him. Yet here she stood, her last respite laid under his foot for him to crush or cherish.
She smiled at him, tears fresh in her eyes as her paws drifted from his shoulders to his jaw. With a simple motion that started hesitantly, she kissed him, the bond carrying out what his mortal voice could not. It was tender yet chaste, lacking the aggression and lust he had long since associated with the action but replaced them with the soothing balm of philia and sincerity. He returned it, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her closer, desperate to retain the new intrusion to his heart.
They lingered on each others lips, slowly separating after a long moment accompanied by the crack of embers taking flight to accentuate her beauty in the night like fireflies. She wiped his cheek with the pad of her thumb as he opened his eyes, a wetness trailing behind it as she removed the tears that had fallen without his notice. She shared the emotions, her own fur matted with the moisture they produced in their empathetic connection. His eyes removed the blur that has accumulated with a tentative blink, terrified that each return of his vision would be met with the skylights above his bed and an empty room devoid of her. He opened his mouth again to speak.
“Pan... I... What...” He took a shuddered breath to compose himself. She simply smiled at him, the sight defrosting his apprehension. “I-”
A howl shattered the atmosphere in time with a tempered scream that held a feral edge. His blood, once warm, now froze as the hairs on his neck stood on end. He could almost hear the click of his mind changing gears as the cold calculations drove adrenaline through his veins. His haze lifted in an instant to reveal the hardened steel of determination, revitalized by his gain of yet another thing he must protect. His teeth creaked with his clenched jaw. He barked to the pack as distance rustling in the foliage drew closer.
“Harrow, Get the Atmo inside, Now.”
Harrow abandoned her mate with deft strides and ushered Mama and Violet towards the hub.
“Jax, Get the spears. Four. Go.”
The security head tore after Harrow.
“Sahari, Nalah, take point.”
The Ex-Huntress gained a few feet of distance with the blond Scout following, the former acting before he had a chance to finish.
Pan didn’t receive an instruction as she had already joined him in his defensive posture, her stance a mix between the practised modified boxing footing and a sprinters form. Her claws and teeth were bared with a laser focusing of her eyes on the trees wherever his eyes did not search in an effort to cover as much information as possible. Few moments really highlighted the depth of the bond, but her instinctual execution of his unspoken instructions saved precious moments. He smiled inwardly. They had all trained with the wildlife in mind and it was time to test them.
Jax returned a moment later, his endorphin fuelled breath leaving clouds behind him. He tossed two spears to the forward females and one to Joseph, keeping an additional one for himself after handing Pan her practice wraps. Jax and Sahari quickly wrapped their fists with the hardened straps as well.
Joseph motioned for Jax to join the right flank and he and Pan moved to cover the other, Tel having disappeared at some point. Joseph made note of the absence but chose to ignore it for now. A threat was approaching and he had plenty of time to either find her in the confrontation or yell at her later. He hoped his assumptions won out.
They all watched the trees, breaths controlled but muscles almost grinding under tension. The rustling grew apparent in the moonlit landscape, breaking way for a figure to run into the snow-covered meadow. The bipedal creature gained ground, each step accompanied by a small puff of frosted breath as it held one arm with the other, leaving uneven steps in its sprint. It covered about a third of the distance into the clearing, adjusting course towards them when it noticed their existence, several wolves revealing themselves in the chase. Joseph inhaled, flashes of images passed through his mind. Scenes of his friends gored by the beasts that charged on their territory.
He was removing the threat. Now.
He opened his mouth, allowing the instinct to consume him.
“Five targets. Take them down.”
The pack exploded into motion.
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Branches smacked his ears in his exhaustion, himself too tired to adjust his footing in the snow and too worn to think to fold them. His left arm swung limp, the shoulder having been dislocated in his attempts to remove the beast from it. The bite was deep but would heal with time and a bit of physio... Assuming he could escape them, that is.
He barely dodged a snapping maw at his foot, spinning in place to deliver a kick to its chest and gaining some distance that sent him sprawling to the ground. With a stumble he got to his feet and proceeded towards the smoke he had seen over several suns. He prayed that it would be more of his kind.
There wasn’t supposed to be a settlement out this far, the other packs he was aware of having set up several suns south and to the west, but he held hope that one of the missing groups had somehow managed to find shelter so far out. At worst, he hoped it wasn’t a colony of those insects. He had little chance against the beasts that hungered for his flesh and had doubts that the living weapons would have a harder time ending him.
It was stupid of him to leave his mates. Yes, they were hungry. Yes, they had been tasked with scouting the source of the smoke. Yes, the pack was struggling and was hoping to merge with a secondary pack this far north, but if he had known he would be forced to hide his loved ones in the trunk of a hollow tree formation while he distracted the creatures then he would have rather just hunted a bit before reporting it was some anomalous tectonic activity that had surfaced some magma or something that had set fire to a patch of trees. Of course, it was a regular occurrence that only persisted during the dimming of the local star and ceased shortly after the moon surfaced, so he had to inspect it anyway.
A small orange beacon flitted light between the trees. A fire. An outline of a building lay behind it but he was too exhausted to care to register it in detail. He adjusted his course to move towards the flame with desperate hopes for salvation on his tongue. A howl informed him that the beasts had caught up with him, them having caught his scent again and renewing the hunt. He cursed with ragged breaths, stumbling over a root for a moment as he broke the tree line into a wide meadow covered by snow.
He could discern several figures, their features obscured by the bright flame behind them. His legs felt weak at the possibility of assistance. They fanned out into a wide semi-circle, keeping the light behind them. A single bark cracked through the air behind him as he poured every last ounce of energy into his legs, the appendages acidic in the abuse. He could almost hear the pack of predators behind him shoot into the clearing in their chase, his mind scrambling to find something, anything that would ensure his survival for even a moment longer.
The pack by the fire launched into motion, five figures tearing towards him in unison with several holding weapons. Another bark behind him caused him to turn in fear, his feet catching against one another as he crashed into the snow on his back.
He watched wide-eyed as one of the beasts closed in on him with a snapping maw and growled vocalizations. He dared not close his eyes as the last moments of life played out before him. The instant the jaws would close around his throat, he wanted to watch, an admittedly sick fascination overcoming him. He wanted to burn the memory of the creature that ended him into his soul so that the Hunt Mother may allow him a target in the Great Hunt. He prayed for an endless retribution at her behest after seeing what the Void might offer. It leapt towards him with teeth exposed and prey ready for the taking. He drew what he assumed to be his last breath in preparation for his final moments.
A heavy impulse rocked the beast as a shadow fell over him, a blond-furred Lilhun that postured over his fallen form had speared the creature through the throat, its own momentum finishing the job. A black blur passed him, placing itself a distance closer to the trees before slamming a spear into the ground with a primal grunt behind it, the weapon sticking up at an angle in the dirt and snow. The black-furred female adopted an alien stance and stared down an approaching beast, lowering her hips and widening her footing.
The beast hesitated, staring down the intrusion with snarls and growls as it sized up the intruder. It feigned strafing around her before lunging.
The black one met the beast head-on, lowering herself further. With a deft movement she brought the back of her forward paw up into the jaw of the beast with a muted thud as the maw snapped closed against the owners wishes, the paw rotated to grip the throat and she followed it with the other, digging her claws into its stomach on the upwards thrust. With a feral yell she spun on the spot and hefted the beast over her shoulder into the planted spear, the weapon impaling the creature from end to end with little more than a momentary whimper. It slid the rest of the way, drawing his gaze until it met the snow below and the weight dislodging the spear from its placement, causing both to slump to the ground motionless. A bark some ways off to his right was the next thing that drew his eyes.
A small white Lilhun was being charged by two of the beasts but she showed nothing but steeled focus, her claws retracted and paws brought to crescent palms. She held them at a staggered interval from her chest, both sitting about level with her muzzle yet neither covering it directly. The first beast lunged at her head-on before being deflected by her forward paw to her right and the rear paw completing the push to the side in an instant, sending it to a large black-furred Lilhun who began engaging it with another spear.
The second beast took advantage of the broken stance to lunge as well, this time being caught underneath by a rising foot. The white-furred Lilhun extended the forward leg under the beast into a perfectly vertical split, transferring all the horizontal momentum into the sky before spinning in place and catching the beast on the fall with a sweeping kick of her right leg that launched it with alarming speed towards him, her leg compressing like a spring and firing like a cannon. Blood trailed in its wake as the claws on her toes had gouged four holes into its abdomen. He took another breath in fear until a vague pink blur closed in towards him.
The beast was stunned but still more than able to finish the job on him as it soared towards him mid-air. A sickening crunch resonated out as a fourth being pounded a fist into the airborne beast’s ribs and halted all forward momentum with its corrected course leading it directly into the ground with a second report of shattered bones. The being held one pink fist to its jaw while the other completed the follow-through from the downwards strike. A spear dropped to the ground shortly after, having been abandoned in favour for a far more violent alternative. A splatter of green blood left the beasts muzzle as the triplicate assault on its bones left the lungs behind them shredded with shrapnel, it dying the moment it hit the ground.
Another yelp came from a beast that had engaged the large Lilhun, its fight having been far more even until a thin stick protruded from its skull that sent it flopping to the ground in an instant. He could barely make out an orange Lilhun holding an oddly shaped staff that had its ends bound together by a thin line in the distance. She held the object outward with her left paw and her right remained level and parallel with her muzzle, now empty but implying it was holding something a mere moment ago.
In what amounted to the time it took for him to prop himself onto his good arm, they had dispatched four of the beasts in brutal yet efficient fashion, each movement carried out as if drove by a single mind with many weapons at its disposal. He glanced around, looking for the fifth beast he knew to be following him. After a second scan he caught sight of the creature charging the undefended pink one; The biped whose legs seemed wrong.
It turned with a sweeping gaze, the brief eye contact sending his body into shock. It felt like the grips of death were pulling at his limbs and stealing his oxygen right from his lungs. Every instinct screamed for him to run, to find somewhere safe. For that fraction of a second, that one shot of acknowledgement between the two left him more fearful than the entire pack of beasts. The being of ice before him harboured nothing but frozen intent to kill whatever drew its ire. The warmth his body tried to generate in combat with the winter air was siphoned from him as the Void itself stared through him. He felt as if the ground was wrapping him with frigid mercury as tendrils constricted his heart. The cold one turned to face the beast, the pressure of death abating yet leaving him weak in its wake. His nose burned at the assault of arctic fury in the fleeting flicker of the engagement.
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The final creature leapt at the biped, the being having no time to react to the otherwise silent approach. He watched, his bones chilled and arm aching as it reached the unknown one. A flash of yellow then dark grey passed over him and straight into the beast.
It grabbed the beast from the air, impaling its eyes with two needles that were thrown during the interception. With a swift adjustment of the legs during their flight, it sent the two into a tumble on the ground that ended with a female Lilhun slitting the throat of the beast with an odd ring-ended dagger that was unceremoniously spun rapidly on her claw before tossed into a panel-like holster that housed five others on her leg. She immediately adopted a forward lean when she stood and counter-balanced herself with a tail that spun figure-eights behind her, clasped paws following it to her back as she approached the cold one along with the rest. She brushed her tail up its torso and rubbed her shoulder into its own, the biped vocalizing in a foreign language before lightly pushing the female away. The female laughed, getting close enough for him to detect the faint traces of heat that lingered on her. Her pupils were dilated and solely focused on the biped, even as others joined the group.
The overpowering promise of violence washed away as the pack confirmed there was no more beasts, shifting into loud celebration and several pats on the back.
The group spoke to one another in the language he couldn’t understand, eventually ending as the white one approached him. His strength left him as the fatigue caught up to him, his vision dimming long enough to register the respectful atmosphere the others showed the white one. He fell back into the snow, closing his eyes and letting rest take him. The urgent barking of the unknown words were the melody he drifted off to.
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He stirred, his shoulder aching but responding to commands. He rolled the joint and found it had been reset while he was unconscious, a cautious touch confirmed the wounds bandaged by an odd glowing plant. He opened his eyes to take in the environment.
He was in a sparsely furnished room that seemed to have been repurposed into a medical ward. Various medicines lay on a shelf near the door along with more strips of the plant that coated his arm. It was a far cry from a hospital but far more than he expected.
“Lay down.” The command came gruff and baritone. “You’re still healing.”
He focused on the origin of the voice, finding a black-furred male that stood resting against the wall. A hesitant sniff told him the male before him sported a fresh mark from his mate. He tried to speak but found his throat too dry. The male handed him a wooden mug with water. He swallowed it slowly, testing his mouth after every sip until it proved hydrated enough to vocalize. “Where am i?”
The male turned his head to the left a little more than necessary to look at him, his left eye being scarred at the top of the socket. “You are in our den. Med bay, more specifically.”
“The beasts?”
He raised a brow. “The wolves? Dead. Good thing too, i liked the meat.” He ended the statement with sharp but short exhale through his nose in a laugh.
“So i was not hallucinating?” He asked, his eyes buried into the bottom of the mug.
The male grabbed a stool and laid it near the window, sitting down and using the structure as a back rest. “That would depend on what you thought you saw. It was a bit of a blur for us, to be honest.”
“Several of you dispatched those... ‘wolves’ faster than i would have thought possible.”
He snorted. “Yeah. Commands will do that.” He closed his eyes with a smirk as he rested his head on the glass. “Yes, that happened. Five of them were chasing you down when you stumbled into our territory. We took care of them. Actually, should be some of their meat ready to eat soon.” He mused the concept of food for a moment before lazily opening his right eye to look at him. The smell of simmering meat was indeed present in the air.
“You kill five of them and start preparing them for a meal before i can even wake up? How many of you are there? How long was i asleep?”
“First,” The male interjected firmly. “Your name. Pack too, if applicable.”
He drew a breath before pausing. True, he was too overwhelmed with everything happening to think to introduce himself. “Sorry. This one is named Atrox. Scout. I serve under second-year Mi’low.” The response evoked a hum from his inquirer.
“Jax. You’ll meet whom i serve soon. You slept through the moon.” Jax nodded as he answered informally, standing from his chair. “i will retrieve some of the others since you are up.”
“I... Okay, i guess.” Atrox let himself fall back onto the bed as Jax left, a question left unaddressed. It was softer than he expected, even if it was pure wood. It was pretty comfortable actually. He inspected his shoulder, the brown fur having been shaved close near the bandages gave him pause but it seemed needed for the strips to stymie the bleeding.
Movement at the door drew him from his observations as a second and third Lilhun entered the room with Jax. “This is Sahari,” He waved a paw at the black-furred female that Atrox remembered having impaled a beast on her spear. “And this is my mate, Harrow.” He rested his other paw on the shoulder of the orange one. She shared the same fresh mark to corroborate the earlier assertion. Both gave him a brisk greeting before taking seats on stray stools. The lack of titles or rank chaffed against his sensibilities but Atrox decided to humour them for now.
Atrox stared at Harrow for a moment before asking the first pressing question. “Was that you who put the thin stick into that ‘wolves’ creature? What was the odd stick you were holding?” His curiosity got the best of him and he skipped other inquires he knew he should be pursuing.
Harrow laughed with a paw covering her mouth, preening slightly at the excitement in his voice. “It’s ‘wolf’ for singular and, yes, that was me. It was a good shot! Glad i practised. The thing i used is called a ‘bow’; Joseph supplied the general design, i just improved it.”
He ignored the name, it bore no title and as such wasn’t important for the moment. He turned to Sahari. “And you threw that wolf onto your spear with such little effort!” His voice grew enthralled as flashes of the combat made themselves known.
She smiled gently in return before nodding. “It was a technique that was drilled into me by him. I held faith that his teachings would prevail and executed them with the modifications required for the opponent.”
“Him?”
“Joseph.” She answered plainly, shifting her weight on the stool and using her tail to stabilize herself. That name again. Atrox thought for a moment before reasserting the earlier question.
“How many are in the den?”
A voice answered from the doorway. “We are nine.”
“Huntress Pan.” Jax and Sahari greeted the white Lilhun in the door. Harrow flicked an ear and nodded in a more subdued acknowledgement.
“Pan?” Atrox arched a brow, inspecting the Lilhun with narrowed eyes. “Seamstress Pan?”
“Greetings, Atrox. I see we found you well.” She answered with a calm and level tone that held traces of disdain.
Atrox burst out laughing, the rumbling in his chest aching his shoulder. “You are a Huntress? You?” He didn’t notice the shift of temperament in the other occupants.
Pan ignored the ridiculing tone, letting a nasal sigh out before answering in a slightly exasperated cadence. “Yes, Atrox. I have been stationed as second in command of the pack.” She entered the room fully to stand with her arms crossed at the foot of the bed.
“Oh, come off it! Who would want a defective like you as their mate? What degenerative idiot crawled your way?” He was all but sobbing as the laughter started hurting his stomach. He felt a paw grip his throat, claws threatening to pierce his jugular and forcing out a gargled yelp.
“Our Grand Hunter.” Sahari kept her voice quiet, though the twitch of her paw on him spoke to a contained anger that had forced her from her seat. Atrox coughed under the pressure on his windpipe. “You will show respect that is afforded to her title, Atrox. It is by her request that we gave you painkillers, else you be screaming throughout the day.”
He tapped her arm in surrender, feeling fear as the grip tightened instead of releasing him.
“If you utter one more derogatory comment from your muzzle about her...” She leaned in to whisper into his ear. “You will come to know harm. It will not be quick. It will not be painless. That is not a threat, low one. That is a promise. You know not the depths of terror until you test it. Understood?” He nodded, his ears pinned back as he fidgeted in her grip. She released his throat and stepped back. Huntress Pan gave her a long look but didn’t speak to the altercation.
“As you said, I have been accepted as the mate to the Grand Hunter. I don’t care to reignite your ridicule that you harboured against me on the ship, Atrox. You were saved by his command. You will respect his territory and you will act accordingly.” The Huntress stated coolly. “He has questions. You will answer them as payment for your treatment.”
“Why do i have to listen to-”
Sahari placed a claw on his shoulder, lightly pressing it into the bandaged wound. “We can undo what we have done, low one.” The threat came out casually with a disinterested expression, Sahari not deigning to even turn to him as she twisted the claw. He grimaced, nodding his understanding until Sahari removed the offending digit. He eyed her carefully but decided that his challenging words brought it upon himself. They had been kind enough to fix him up, so he supposed it would be best to return the courtesy. If for no other reason than that he was currently indisposed and under their care.
“Then we have reached an understanding.” Pan left the room in measured strides as her arms fell from her chest.
Atrox turned to Jax. “Is it just me or is she different?”
Jax snorted. “If you think she is the same weakling as she was on the ship, you would find yourself in the Void before the moon dawns over your corpse.”
“She is the one who kicked that wolf towards me, right?”
Jax chuckled outwardly. “Honestly, I am slightly terrified of what Joseph has turned her into. Both of the wolves she dealt with were done without the slightest hesitation and directed towards those who could take over.”
Atrox stiffened. “Does she not know fear?”
“No.” Sahari confirmed. “She was acting under her bond. A potent one at that.”
“Bond?” He grabbed his head with his right paw. “Shes...”
“Defective, Yes.” Harrow chimed in, entertainment outweighing annoyance. “Joseph has proven a lot wrong since we’ve met him.” She giggled as she swayed side to side in her seat, her mood higher than the rest of the room. Jax smirked as he watched her, the orange Lilhun beaming slightly brighter in response.
“Where did he serve on the ship? How come i do not know who he is?”
“He was not on the ship.” Jax laughed with his mate, both of them finding some amusement in his reactions. Even Sahari dropped the antagonistic attitude to join in with a soft chuckle.
Atrox grew frustrated, feeling mocked for his ignorance. “Then how in the Void did he get here?”
“Crashed.” Harrow provided, stopping her swaying to respond. “He showed up...” She placed her fist to her lips in an odd gesture. “I want to say a hundred suns ago. Around there. We’ve been busy.”
“And you made him Grand Hunter?” He cried out, annoyed at all the mystery around this leader who simply showed up and was handed the position without years of dedicated service. Even if this was a separated pack, the designation was not to be given lightly.
Sahari raised a paw to indicate he should calm down. “He has proven more than his worth in his role.”
“He bested me rather handily.” Jax huffed in amusement. “Let us just say that you best not think him weak.”
“Weak? What size of Lilhun is he? Around Pa- Huntress Pan’s size?” He corrected himself after a pointed look from Sahari.
“Find out yourself.” Jax nodded towards the door. The entrance was occupied by a biped wearing a short sleeve garment on his torso and a dark blue pants of woven materials. The fur on his head looked to have been slicked back with water to keep it from his face and the fur around his jaw seemed to have gotten something of the same treatment. The smell of a soap of some description wafted in his wake. He was about the average height of a female, some height shorter then Atrox, but the muscle that was visible on his neck alone hinted that he weighed far more through sheer density.
Atrox stared for a moment, inklings of recognition kicking in as he compared the avatar of death to the relaxed form before him. The eyes held a small amusement that was subdued by a slow focusing as it gazed at him but it lacked the intensity that had been displayed during the assault. The being before him seemed harmless and tired, nothing more.
“This is our Grand Hunter. Essence of The Guardian; Joseph.” Huntress Pan announced as she entered the room behind him. Joseph took a stool offered by Sahari and sat near the bed with the two black-furred Lilhuns slightly more forward on either side. Pan stood directly to his right with hands layered in front of her, a claw held up to imply questions should wait when she noticed his mouth open at the initial introductory title. “I will act as an impartial translator as he does not speak our language. Do mind that i am quite proficient at it, and as such will not filter what you say. For your own safety i recommend keeping scathing remarks to yourself.” She gave him a pointed look. “Our den makes no promises of health for those that seek to disturb it.”
Jax and Sahari glanced at her and each other with raised eyebrows before returning their gaze to Atrox; Jax’s expression far more amused than before.
“You will be asked several questions about yourself, your pack, and assorted dealings regarding the survivors of both the incident at the camp and ship. If you wish to not answer any questions, you will not be punished, but we will not assist you further than absolutely required by our Grand Hunter. This will continue until the Grand Hunter deems the session satisfactory or you refuse to answer.” She continued, ignoring those around her and their mildly impressed expressions as well as Atrox’s somewhat disturbed one.
“You’ve really changed...” Atrox commented with hesitation.
“Yes.” She confirmed curtly, waving a paw to dismiss further commentary. “You may ask questions of your own should any surface but we retain the right to refuse answers much the same as you.” Pan turned her head to nod to Joseph, who nodded in turn while speaking. She listened to him before turning her attention back to Atrox.
“Joseph suggests that we trade question for question in the name of fairness, with you asking the first question, though this will be short due to the time constraints.” She translated swiftly, barely taking a second to word the proposition. Atrox shifted nervously on the bed, opting to speak while observing the biped instead of suffering Huntress Pan’s piercing stare.
“What are you? Obviously not a Lilhun nor one of those ‘diplomatic’ races.”
The biped spoke, Huntress Pan repeating it for him. “Human male. He has no idea what races were included in the attacks on Lilhuns and as such can not comment on his race’s involvement. How many dens are out there?”
Atrox mulled the word ‘Human’ over in his mouth before nodding softly to answer. “I don’t know. We were receiving messengers from two other dens somewhat regularly but the winter has slowed them. There could be dozens or we could be the last two, I honestly have no way to say for certain.” He tried to keep his answer concise and stave off additional questions about how he could be sure there was two and so on. “How long have you been here? This den, I mean.”
The biped waited for the translated question before snorting and answering. Pan showed none of the humour when she passed the answer on, refusing to pause again between answer and query. “Just before the snow. Time means little when you are busy. How many are in your pack?”
“We are twenty. My mates and I were sent to investigate the smoke that occurred every sun recently while the others maintain the settlement.”
The biped leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, a hardened glare pierced Atrox while Pan offered the translated question with no regard for the turn order. “How far away are your dens?”
Atrox closed the opened mouth that jumped to answer. He wanted that gaze removed from him as soon as possible as it sent mild shivers down his spine, but it could also spell the end of everyone’s lives if he told them. There was too many uncertainties and little trust. His Huntress would perish, his mates… His mates..
“My mates! Please you must help them!” He shouted, barely keeping balance as he leaned towards the pack.
Huntress Pan rose a brow. “Your mates? What of them?”
“I had them hide in a shelter not far from here when we noticed the beasts tracking us. I can show you where it is. It’s northeast from here but not far.”
Jax spoke up, shifting weight on his stool. “Rounded rectangle? Domed roof and patched walls?”
Atrox stuttered and fumbled as he tried to parse how they would know of it. “You’ve found it? It’s rather well hidden in the trees, we almost missed it ourselves. We suspected it made by natives.”
“Jax put it together.” Sahari explained. “It was our shelter before Joseph took us in.”
“Took you in? So this den is..”
“Entirely his, yes.” Huntress Pan confirmed with an annoyed edge to her voice. “Much like you, he saved us from death with no expectations of a return. Unlike you, we assist him to the fullest. Answer the question.”
Atrox flinched at the tone taken with him. The diminutive female, far shorter than most, had shifted from a weak and subdued kit into a barbed wire whip that threatened to cut and constrict him. “The… the den I belong to is about four suns east. I don’t know how far it is to the next closest since the messenger was sent to us and it wasn’t my place to deal with them.”
The biped leaned back with a sigh before propping himself to his feet and leaving the room with an over-the-shoulder wave and a few words that Huntress Pan offered for him before following. “He is ending the questioning for now. He said to rest and that food will be brought soon. Tel and Nalah will retrieve your mates and bring them here. After that, you are free to return to trading information or leave. He thanks you for your time.” She paused in the door, offering her own thoughts before tailing the human. “Do keep your interruptions to a minimum, Atrox. We are a busy den.”
Atrox sat in stunned silence for a moment before regarding the rest of the pack in the room. “Is she always that… Aggressive?”
Harrow laughed. “You interrupted their confessions and separated them before they could bed since we needed to pull people to keep an eye on you along with our normal watch. Joseph pulled a double for me and Jax. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen Pan actually angry with anyone. Or at all, now that I think about it. Didn’t help that you started the conversation by insulting her mate. I promise that Joseph was much friendlier than the translation she gave you.” She assured him with a dismissive wave of her paw.
“He’s the one that launched a wolf into the ground with a single punch while it was flying, wasn’t he.” The question came out as a flat hope that he was wrong.
“Yep.” Jax chuckled. Atrox turned to Sahari who had since receded into a placid demeanour, her eyes lingering on the door.
“When you told me that I would be harmed, you weren’t threatening me, you were warning me of him.” Sahari nodded in a single exaggerated motion.
“Do not attack the den-kit. No matter what your instincts tell you.” Jax warned in a rapidly serious tone. “I doubt you will live long enough to wet yourself if you do.”
Atrox threw him a bewildered glance. Jax pointed to his scarred eye. “You attacked the den-child? How did he do that to your eye? Spear?”
Jax looked out the window with a small regret linger in his eyes. Harrow rested a paw on his lap while Sahari looked sorrowfully at the ground. “Radius. He snapped the bone in my arm and used it to blind me before I could think straight.” He turned his head back to face Atrox, the latter noticing the slightly glazed look of his left eye as the pupil refused to adjust properly to the light. “Don’t. Attack. Violet. You’ll live longer.”
Atrox swallowed with a hurried nod. “Paws to myself. Noted.”