*A few hours after the events of the previous chapter*

*5/18/90*

Rose's body felt heavy as she pushed open the door of her favorite tavern and stepped in, flask open and ready to be filled. The Temple was full of people mourning the losses of those who fell in the latest werewolf hunt. Not wanting to wait to get to the urns, she left for the next best thing. The pub.

She and Hunter told everyone that Coraline and Ellora would have to leave the area permanently. With the sheer sadness that followed being so intense, Rose was practically driven to the smell of whiskey like a moth to a flame. She wouldn't get drunk. She knew Coraline wouldn't like that. Still, she needed a few swigs to calm her nerves.

Kevin was there, staring into a deep mug when she approached. "Hey, blondie," he slurred. "Haven't seen you here for a while. Thought you were doing better?”

"I guess not," Rose replied, feeling a stab of guilt as she looked at Kevin. Yes, she hated him, and he’s a total jerk, but she understood his pain. He lost three of his group in the last werewolf hunt. During the past few days, it was easy to forget that others would never have their loved ones come back from the dead. "How're you holding up?"

"Eh,” Kevin shrugged. "Having a buzz helps. Still, I keep seeing the faces of my dead friends everywhere I go. Ya probably know how it feels, huh?" He shook his head. "To hell the Maidens for all I care. They always take the best of us,” he slammed his fist against the bar.

A few people glared at Kevin. Rose shot them a look that caused them to quickly return to their business.

"Come on, Kevin," Rose murmured, placing a hand on the large man’s shoulder. "Your friends wouldn't want you doing this to yourself. Why don't you come home with me? Sit with some familiar faces for a bit.”

"Hmph. The way I have been treating your group, we'd probably end up throttling each other," Kevin said with a snort. "So, you getting a drink, or what?"

Rose looked at the deep circles under the drunk man’s eyes and closed her flask. "Actually, I'm good."

Kevin smiled weakly. "Heh. You're a stronger person than me. Always was,” he took another long drink from his mug. "Why don't you go home, huh? I’ll be fine.”

"Okay. Try to go easy on those. Don't get sick,” Rose patted Kevin’s shoulder and left the pub, waving to some regulars as she closed the door.

When she returned to her group's shared house, she found Brianna eating breakfast alone in the kitchen. "Hey, Brianna. Got room for one more?"

Brianna looked over her shoulder, and a smile immediately came to her tired face. "Of course you can, Rose. Pull up a chair."

Rose sat down, watching her closest friend eat. Her mouth watered at the aroma of bacon. "How're you holding up?” she asked, wincing as the words came out. “Of course, she's not holding up well, dummy!” Rose thought bitterly to herself.

Brianna let out a long, heavy sigh. "As well as one can expect, I suppose.” She looked up at her lifelong friend, and the light from the window highlighted the bags under her eyes. “Maybe the Maidens are trying to tell us something. To have all this happen the night with you and Coraline together isn't just a coincidence.…” she breathed a sigh. “What about you? I noticed your breath doesn’t smell of liquor, and Mason wasn’t called to carry you home."

"Yeah," Rose muttered, glancing sadly at the table. "I…I figured Coraline wouldn't want me to drink myself to death."

"Probably," Brianna chuckled softly. "I'm glad that you are coping in a way that isn't harmful. But if you ever need to talk, I'm right here. I am sad, but I know my pain is a simple tickle compared to what you must feel right now."

"I know, Brianna,” what she wanted to say was: "Why were you up all night reading again? Coraline would be worried for you. She will be leaving forever soon. Get some proper sleep so you can come to say a proper goodbye!" She held her tongue and started eating the breakfast she hadn't even noticed Garrett gave her. She started to feel more comforted by the warm eggs and toast than by a shot of whiskey or a prayer in the Temple.

~o0o~

Hunter was unprepared to be called to Kenny’s office. That meant there was a serious conversation about to happen.

"You were out late," Kenny commented without preamble.

"I was on a hunt with Rose," Hunter replied primly. "We chased away some werewolves.”

Kenny's expression lightened but only slightly. "Pity you didn't kill any.

Still, you did the town a service,” he scribbled down a few notes on a few straw pieces of paper.

Hunter glanced around Kenny’s office. It was tidy. Every book was straight on its shelf. All scrolls and writing instruments were perfectly arranged. The floor was lined with various expensive rugs and werewolf pelts. With what he knew now, Hunter felt a sick sensation in his stomach as his feet sank into the thick fur. He couldn't help but imagine Coraline's black and red pelt under his feet. He barely suppressed a shudder.

Kenny gestured toward another chair, which Hunter sat in. "I wanted to talk to you about this sooner, but in the light of the recent raid, I elected to give you a few days to mourn."

"Thank you," Hunter replied, still waiting for whatever Kenny wanted. “What could he possibly want to tell me?” He thought curiously.

"I understand the loss one can feel under these circumstances, believe me," Kenny sighed. "When my darling wife died, keeping myself busy was all I could do to keep functioning each day. But I had duties, both as an owner of lesser people and as the leader of this fine village. I know that you understand the value of duty, so you have continued your hunts without fail. For that, I know your parents would be proud.”

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"Thank you," Hunter said, though his voice carried a hint of surprise. Genuine praise from Kenny was rare. He couldn't help but be suspicious, as if the older man was getting ready to tell him something he wouldn't like. He was right, of course.

"Hunter, you know that your uncle and his wife have been living in London serving the king for some time, right?”

Hunter nodded. “Yes. My father chose them to become fully licensed Huntsmen and bring those skills back to the clan. But after the train crash, they remained in London for whatever reason they refused to say.”

Kenny nodded. “Yes, I remember receiving the news.” He reached into a drawer in his desk before pulling out a letter and handed it to Hunter. “Your uncle sent you this.”

Hunter opened the letter. His eyes carefully skimmed over it. Then, he felt as if a bolt of lightning had just hit him. Vanessa, the wife of Hunter’s uncle Joey, was killed by Shadows. Now, Uncle Joey was asking for Hunter and his crew to travel to London and meet with him before his next mission.

Now he had to schedule the final meetings with the werewolves while planning to travel to London in time to see Joey. He felt his head spinning as thoughts swarmed his mind. He and the others had never set foot in London before. He read about it and the wondrous technologies within its walls that only a handful of cities and wealthy villages had access to. Flying machines, rail cars, whatever those were, the strange phenomenon called television. How would he and his group handle the drastic changes in living?

"There is a man in Glenside Cottage, just before the mountains," Kenny continued. "He owes me a favor and will grant you access to a working train or airship free of charge. However, your group must make the journey there on your own."

Glenside Cottage was one of the most expensive villages to travel to thanks to its five-stare security and living standards for a village as far from London as it was To have a favor from someone living in Glenside Cottage meant that they put their neck on the line more than once.

”Kenny…. I-I don’t understand! Why are you-"

"I owed your father a few favors. I figured I finally cash one in for him," Kenny said, his voice like steel. "Your father and your late clan saved this village on more than one occasion. Why do you think I let you rent such a big house at a discount?”

"But-! Wait? Discount? How much do you charge the other families that lives her-"

"That is all,” Kevin said quickly before he turned away and unrolled a scroll on his desk, effectively ending the conversation.

Hunter composed himself, barely resisting the urge to angrily protest why he didn't receive the letter sooner. Instead, he just stood up and left.

For a moment, he entertained the fantasy of his group running away with Ellora and Coraline, roughing it in the wild with a pack of werewolves, riding on Ellora's back into battle.

He chuckled. “I'm starting to think things I would never have a month ago.” Lately, he and the others had been talking more and more about the idea of an alliance between humans and werewolves. It was completely ludicrous, of course. That didn't mean it wasn't a nice idea.

“No,” he thought reluctantly. “Even if I refuse my duty as a Dead Rabbit, I cannot abandon Castell Henllys. It is my home, and I have to protect it. I need to let Coraline go.”

No matter how often he repeated that fact, he felt no better.

~o0o~

"Hey, Ellora?" Coraline asked as she chewed on some dandelion heads she had found. They were bitter, but they would fill her stomach until they could hunt something.

"Yes, Coraline?"

"Why exactly do werewolves have powers?" She was thinking back to their fight with Ember. Multiple times, she had nearly been overpowered by the alpha stares directed at her. The betas were been responsible for tracking them down, surely. And Steven soothed everyone's emotions with his powers after the humans left. While the powers were beneficial, Coraline couldn't help but wonder why they were present. “Weren’t wolves supposed to be wholly bestial? Also, Shadows don’t have powers.”

Ellora sat up, folding her hands. "No one is quite sure. Werewolves have a story about how we were made originally. When our friends come back, I'll tell them. It might be nice for them to hear it. As for the powers, it is believed that they were given to aid the pack's dynamic. Alphas are the leaders. Their stare can stop fights and unneeded bloodshed. Betas are the hunters and patrollers. They make sure that the pack is protected and fed. Omegas are the heart. By soothing emotions, they can gently control our wild side and keep the alphas in check. Lunar wolves are the guardians. They protect the pack when we are weakest.”

"Is that how it always works?" Coraline asked, frowning. "From what Steven told us, Scar used the stare all the time, and all the wolves submitted to it."

Ellora sighed, closing her eyes. "That's not how it's supposed to be. I can promise this: Scar will suffer for what he's doing. A werewolf cannot use its powers constantly or for too long. If they do, they begin rapidly losing their strength and sanity. Scar's pack is doomed between that and the fact that there are no other alphas.”

"Can't a lunar, beta, or omega lead?" Coraline asked.

"It's very rare," Ellora said. "There have been beta leaders, but usually only in small packs of betas and omegas. Omegas hardly ever lead. Few werewolves would follow one. As for lunars, they are so rare that I haven't ever seen one to know for myself,” Ellora looked intently at Coraline. "You need to understand something: You haven't experienced a werewolf pack in the way one normally would. Since I trained you, you started off as more of a loner. When you reach the inner circles of a pack, however, there are regular power struggles, alliances between different groups, and ongoing speculation on who will become what."

Coraline nodded slowly. "Is that why Ember was so threatened by you, even though you never wanted to lead?"

"Yes," Ellora murmured. "Though, I had hoped that she would be above such things. She never got along with my parents, which makes it a bit worse."

"Why didn't they get along?"

Ellora smiled. "Believe it or not, I had a soft spot for humans before meeting Hunter. My parents were adamantly against raids on settlements and towns."

"How come?" Coraline wondered. "I mean unless they were raised differently or were whelps at one point…."

"Actually," Ellora said, returning to a long-ago conversation with her mother. "It's because a human Huntsman let my mother go once."

Coraline gaped. "A Huntsman let a werewolf go?"

"Yes." Ellora nodded. "It's possible that this was the woman's first hunt, and she froze up. Still, she lowered her weapon and let my mother go. I wouldn't be here if she hadn’t done that."

"Wow,” Coraline shook her head slowly, a look of wonder on her face. "Did your mother ever see her again?”

"No," Ellora said. "But she said she'd know her if she saw her. Even though she was a young, normal-looking woman, he had pure white hair."

"White hair?!" Coraline let out a short laugh. "That can't be right. The only none albino family to have white hair from birth is the Hvit family, and they're famous for hating werewolves. My Uncle's wife was exiled from that family and moved into our village before I was born. She and my uncle have been living in London for a long time now.”

Ellora's brows creased. "That’s interesting. Does she have any other relatives of this land?"

"I don't think so," Coraline thought back. "I guess her first fiance dying is one reason she and my father were friends. They both knew what it was like to lose a lover."

“Your father had more than one mate?” Ellora questioned.

“Kind of,” Coraline admitted. “He cheated on my mom with some two-coin hooker, which is why I am here. She died during childbirth, so I never knew her. Emma became my mom afterward even though she was angry with my dad,” her shoulders slumped. “She became really bitter and angry after my father died….”

"Losing family is never easy," Ellora sighed. "I still think of my parents often, even though it's been a few years,” she stared into the trees. "I know that it is hard to be an orphan. What about everyone else?" She was mainly curious about her human but wanted to know about the others.

"Well," Coraline began. "Everyone else are orphans. Brianna’s father was killed in a brawl with some humans in town, and her mother was bitten and killed. Jade and Garrett lost their families but aren't ready to tell us how. Mason lost his parents by albino bandits. We are all that’s left of our clan. All we have is each other. Our brands always remind us of that.” She looked at the ground, thinking for the thousandth time about what could have changed had Castell Henllys known then what she and her friends knew now. "I am an orphan, and Hunter and Rose might as well be since Scar has mom now.”

Ellora placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it."

"No, it's fine," Coraline insisted. "You’d like Auntie Vanessa and Uncle Joey, I think.”

"Yes,” Ellora nodded with a sad smile. "I think I would like them."

Coraline noticed Ellora's expression. "Still thinking of your dream of us all being friends?"

"Yes. Do you think it's possible?"

"No," Flint cut in before Coraline could answer. He walked over, sitting down near them. "It would be suicide for us. Only a handful of humans are open to being friends with us, and we are the only werewolves who favor the idea. You saw how Ember reacted when she saw you with Hunter,” he shook his head. "No. We must leave this place and hope the humans we befriended can show our kin mercy and save a few lives."

Coraline brought her knees up, hugging them to her chest. "That just doesn't feel like enough.” She thought of Rose, feeling a lance of guilt in her heart. “Why did I agree to meet her last night?” she wondered. “I'm just making things harder. I'll never see her again once I leave, after all. I’ll never see any of them again.” Tears trickled down her cheeks.

Steven noticed Coraline's quiet sobs and started to walk over, only to be waved away by Ellora. Coraline didn't need her emotions manipulated. She needed to feel them.

So, the small pack sat silently around Coraline, watching with tearing eyes. She was mentally prepared for the inevitable moment when she would have to say goodbye to her clan. The people she's survived countless battles with. Her family.