*The day after the events of the previous chapter*

*6/5/90*

The sun had risen, and the humans were several miles from Castell Henllys. Hunter exchanged a look with his group before telling everyone to stop.

Marry looked up from the trail. "Are you getting tired? We should probably go a bit further. It looks like it might rain soon."

Hunter sighed. "Relax. We won't lose Rose."

"How do you know?"

"We won't lose her, because she'll find us once she knows it's safe."

There was only a brief pause. Then, in one motion, all of Michael’s group drew their weapons.

"They did put you under some kind of spell!" Rus growled.

"Please snap out of it," Michael begged. "We don't want to hurt you."

Brianna started to brandish her rifle, Phantom Enforcer, but Hunter waved her down.

"We're not under a spell," Hunter said calmly. "And we won't fight you. I'm going to tell you what has happened since the raid on Castell Henllys. When I'm done, you can try fighting us, but I promise that six angry werewolves will come running to help us if you do. You can go back home and tell them we gave you the slip. Or, maybe, you'll come with us and help us find a way to help everyone involved."

The four looked helplessly at each other. Rus took a step forward, only to be stopped by Michael, who was glancing around fearfully. Marry glanced at Hunter’s group, then at the surrounding woods, as if she was trying to pick out the forms of werewolves in the shadows.

The group slowly lowered their weapons. "This had better be good," Rus grumbled.

Taking turns, they came clean about everything. They talked about Hunter's first encounter with Ellora years ago, finding Coraline during the full moon hunt, the talks that followed Emma's failed rescue, Ember exiling Ellora and Coraline, and everything leading up to the previous night. It was past noon by the time they finished.

There was silence for a few minutes. Michael stared thoughtfully at the ground. Marry clicked her tongue. Kevin looked impassively into the trees. Rus listened intently to the woods, wondering if he would hear one of the wolves nearby.

Finally, Michael spoke. "So, how was Rose turned if she wasn't bitten?"

"I have a theory about that," Garrett said. "Werewolves turn people either by biting them or if their blood gets into an open wound. So, blood and saliva are key. Maybe blood isn’t needed at all. Coraline and Rose shared drinks several times before the full moon. That could have been the cause."

The others looked at each other, nodding slowly. "Well, you don't exactly hear stories about people drinking werewolves, so that could be it." Hunter turned to Michael. “So, what are you going to do?"

Michael thought for a moment. "I think we should meet these werewolves."

"What?" Kevin gasped. "What if they kill us?"

"They could have if they wanted to," Hunter said. "If I know them, they're near enough for Flint or Summer to sense us. I'll go and call them over."

"Just don't attack them," Mason warned. "Or we will fight you."

"I say that only one werewolf comes over here," Kevin said firmly.

Rus nodded. "That's fair. We'll put down our weapons and Hunter can bring the wolf over."

Hunter sighed. "Fine. Let me go see where they are." He walked into the trees. Once he was a good distance from the others, he called out: "Flint? Summer? Are your beta powers on? I need someone to come over here."

A few minutes later, Flint, Ellora, and Steven came out of the shadows. They were glancing around warily. Flint looked particularly tired. All three were nude, and Hunter quickly averted his gaze, blushing a bit.

"I can't do this much longer," Flint groaned. "This is really straining me. What's happening?"

"First, where's Rose?" Hunter asked, still carefully keeping his gaze locked on a nearby tree. "Did she find you?"

"Rose is fine," Ellora assured him. "We sent her ahead with Coraline and Summer." She noticed that Hunter wasn't looking at them, and rolled her eyes. "Really, Hunter? I’d think you’d be used to this by now."

"Hey, I'm just trying to be a gentleman, okay?" Hunter grumbled.

"Okay," Ellora replied, an amused smile coming to her face despite their situation. "So, why did you want to talk to us? How big of a threat are the humans with you?”

"I managed to convince them to talk to you," Hunter said. "They'll put down their weapons, and I'm to bring only one. After that, we'll see what happens next."

Steven swallowed loudly. "Uh, I can go," he mumbled. "We shouldn't risk Ellora or any betas."

"Steven, being an omega doesn't make you expendable," Ellora said gently.

Steven's lips twitched into a small smile. "Thanks, but it should still be me. You're our leader, and we need all our betas. Besides, I probably will scare them the least."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Thanks, Steven," Hunter said. "Oh, uh, you should probably put on some of the clothes we gave you. At least the pants, okay?"

After Steven put on some pants, Ellora touched his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll stay close. If you need help, we'll be ready."

Steven smiled. "Thanks, Leader."

Ellora stiffened at the title but didn't say anything against it. "Be careful, both of you."

"We will be," Hunter promised before leading Steven back toward the others. "Just stay behind me. These are our friends, and they listened to the story of what happened, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about. One of them's an albino if that helps."

Steven tilted his head. "Yeah?"

"Uh-huh." He paused at the edge of where he had left the others. "We're coming out. Are the weapons down?"

"Yep!" Nora called back.

"Okay. Come on, Steven." Hunter led the small werewolf out of the trees and toward the others. He felt clawed hands gripping his arms and Steven's breath on his back. The poor omega was trembling. "Michael, Kevin, Rus, Marry, this is Steven."

Steven peeked out from behind Hunter, activating his powers so he could read their emotions. To his relief, their fear and anger were largely tempered with curiosity. The albino boy seemed the most calm, while the large man was the most nervous. "Hi," he murmured.

Marry took a step forward. "Huh. He seems a bit timid for a werewolf."

Steven gulped. "W-Well, I'm just an omega." He moved a little away from Hunter and held out his arm, where the scar from the bite that had changed him resided. "Still a werewolf. though."

Marry hesitated before touching her fingertips to the bite. She shivered but didn't move when nothing happened. "So, an omega, huh? Hunter said you can manipulate emotions. Is that true?"

"Yes," Steven replied. "I can show you if you want."

Kevin's eyes narrowed. "I'd rather you didn't mess with my girlfriend’s emotions, thank you."

Steven winced, quickly moving behind Hunter again. "It's not messing. We mostly use our powers to calm people down and keep our packs from getting into fights."

Michael was the next to approach him. "How were you changed?"

"Scar's pack attacked my village when I was little," Steven murmured. "He took me back with him, me and a few others." He stared at the ground. "He always said he saved me, but now I know it's probably not true."

Michael eyed him for a long moment before holding out his hand. "It's good to meet you."

Steven blinked at her, then glanced at Hunter. When Hunter nodded encouragingly, he held his hand out and carefully gripped Michael’s. He held on for a moment, then quickly retreated behind Hunter again. "S-So, you guys won't attack my pack?"

Michael looked at the others. "I don't think he's a threat, and I trust Hunter."

Marry nodded. "This is crazy, but if these wolves haven't murdered anyone yet, they probably won't."

Kevin frowned. "Unless you include Rose and that one unlucky albino kid."

"Hey!" Jade snapped. "She just bit in self-defense. IKenny's the one who actually killed him."

"I tried to call him over," Brianna sighed. "I wish I had noticed sooner…"

Steven whimpered. "A person was bitten and killed for it, just like that?" He shook his head. "That's terrible."

Rus folded his arms, thinking about what their next move would be. "The way things are now, we can't go back. We can only go forward. Perhaps this idea of an alliance can be looked into."

Kevin thought for a moment before his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Well, damn. Looks like we're exiled. Do you really think Kenny will sit long enough to hear your little story? He'll run you through if you go back. Us too. What do we do, then? Keep wandering the wild with a pack of wolves and abandon Castell Henllys?"

"I don't want that," Hunter admitted, thinking of his family back home. "But, I don't see any other way. Especially since my group is supposed to meet up with my uncle in London.”

"There might be a way."

Everyone turned to see Ellora and Flint, who were thankfully wearing some of their clothes. Ellora nodded courteously to the new humans. "Hello. My name is Ellora, and this is Flint." She stepped out, glad that none of them moved for their weapons. "We called Coraline, Rose, and Summer. They should be by shortly."

"What were you saying about another way, Ellora?" Hunter asked eagerly.

"Well," Ellora said. "At first, there was no friendship between your people and mine. Then, we became friends. Then, we taught Bandit, Scarlet, Flint, Summer, and Steven. Now, these four understand. We might not be able to win over a whole town at once, but perhaps we can spread this idea of friendship around to several people. When there are enough who believe us, we can all go back to Castell Henllys and address the town as a big group. They won't attack a large enough gathering, and they won't be able to ignore so many people. The same will go for Ember's pack, surely. When she sees so many humans and werewolves together, she'll realize that Coraline and I weren't betraying her. We can all come together, and work to influence other towns in the future."

The humans looked at each other. "Hm," Garrett murmured. "That might actually work."

Hunter nodded. "Yeah, and we know our friends will support us, or at least not kill us immediately. But we still have to make our way to London. We can’t put off meeting my uncle any longer than we already did.”

“What does he want from you?” Michael asked.

“I’m not too sure. I do know that he needs my whole crew in London before he leaves for his next mission, so it must be very important.”

"Well, knowing Uncle Joey, it is," a new, tremulous voice interjected.

The others turned to see Rose, Coraline, and Summer emerging. All were wearing the basic tunics and pants that had been packed with their other supplies. Rose was glancing nervously around and looking at her arms as if she expected fur to sprout from them again. Coraline stood right next to her, one hand on her shoulder.

"Rose!" Jade immediately pulled her friend into a crushing hug. "Are you okay? Last night must've been hell for you!"

"Hrk! It was," Rose gritted. "Hello, Kevin," she added.

"Hello," Kevin replied. He noticed how tired Rose looked. "Well, since we're all gathered, maybe we should get some sleep."

"We're not all gathered," Jade reminded him as she put Rose down. "Bandit and Scarlet still need to find us." She frowned. "I hope they were able to get away.”

"Well, between how long we've all been talking, and the fact that we need to sleep, they should be able to catch up with us," Hunter reasoned. "I'll take the first watch. Rose and the betas should get some sleep."

Summer groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah. My head's pounding!"

"I'll keep watch as well," Ellora offered. "I'm not tired."

The humans unrolled their bedrolls while the werewolves passed around blankets. Michael and his group slept the furthest away from the werewolves, with Jade, Garrett, Mason, and Brianna acting as a barrier. Hunter couldn't help but smile when he looked at Coraline and Rose, who were cuddled up against each other, already breathing deeply. Coraline had had her arms wrapped protectively around her sister, and her face buried in her yellow hair.

"This is a huge mess," Hunter sighed. "But at least those two get to be together."

Ellora nodded. "They deserve to be happy. They've both gone through so much in such a short amount of time." She sat on a rock and peered at the surrounding trees, ears trained for any noise. "I wasn't looking forward to leaving either," she admitted.

"Yeah," Hunter agreed. "I hated the idea of saying goodbye to Coraline." He paused before adding: "I didn't want to say goodbye to you either. I'm glad we’ll be traveling together."

"So am I," Ellora replied immediately, her eyes bright with happiness. "I've lived around people talking about destiny and fate for as long as I can remember, and it didn’t seem right for fate to separate me from my human so soon."

Hunter blinked dumbly, a blush coming to his cheeks as her words registered. "Your human?"

Ellora's face flushed as she realized what she had said. "I'm sorry. That must have sounded strange. It's just that, ever since you saved me when I was a pup, that’s how I thought of you. You were a secret that only I knew about. My parents had always told me to never attack humans, but meeting you was what made me want to be friends with them. I'd sometimes look for you when I was near the village, but I didn't see you again until that full moon with Coraline. And since we met again, I have been…admittedly more concerned for your wellbeing than the others, though I care greatly about them as well."

"It's not strange at all," Hunter murmured, his cheeks still dusted a light shade of red. "I mean, it was a pretty big secret for any kid to grow up with." "Her" human. “What does that even mean, especially now?” he wondered.

He was also surprised by how weirdly happy he felt. “A werewolf just told you that she has essentially claimed you. You should be disgusted, or at least mildly disturbed.” He wasn’t though. Maybe it was the innocent, honest way she said it. Maybe it was that connection he had been feeling between them during their meetings. Either way, he found that he was surprisingly okay with the idea of being "Ellora's human."

He glanced guiltily to the side as he thought back to his childhood days after that first encounter. "I looked for you too, though it was during raids and hunts. I never told anyone what I did, and was worried that, at some point, the pup I saved would grow up and kill someone in Castell Henllys, despite the deal we made." He hated to say this, considering the way Ellora had regarded him while he had feared the idea of her betrayal throughout most of his life.

"That's perfectly understandable." Ellora placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "Your first concern was protecting your home. You had no way of knowing anything about me beyond a moment that could have easily been a fluke. It's honestly a miracle that things worked out the way they did."

Hunter looked at her hand, his guilty expression softening into a smile. "I guess you're right." He met her emerald gaze, and his cheeks flushed again. Her human…

There would be time to further discuss Ellora’s plan and Hunter’s group's scheduled journey to London but for now, everyone was just enjoying the peace and quiet as they waited for Bandit and Scarlet.

If they were just a few miles closer to home, they would have heard the terrified cries of their friends as they were hunted by Ember and her wolves.