Ares stood among the people that stood in his room. William could see that his tail was in a relaxed position swinging behind his legs. He wasn’t saying anything. Nobody was saying anything and standing there in his room with guests, not knowing what to do made him feel a little unprepared.
“Ares, now that we are here, what do we do?” It was Aceso who had spoken.
Ares stepped back and away from the group looking at all six of them. Four human born and two wolf born, it was not an uncommon make up for a pack. William took a few more steps into the room joining the group. Ares looked at each one, and came to rest his eyes on William. “Yesterday, I was your teacher. From now on, you will be the teacher and the student, all of you.” As he spoke, he shifted his attention to William’s other pack members. “What happened in the past stays in the past,” he said this as he was staring at the dark-haired tanned skin guy standing next to the unknown werewolf. “Our people’s strength comes from our unity, our faith and belief in each other. I won’t presume that any of your lives will be any easier from this day on.” He walked over to the door. “The final task that I give you as your teacher,” he gestured outside, “you six must learn to live and cooperate out there in the forest, for three days.” There was a slight shuffling and William could have sworn that he had heard a grumble or a sigh. No doubt Ares heard this as well. But if he did, he didn’t react to it. “Most of you know who your alpha is. If not, you’ll find out over the next few days.” Ares walked back across the room and stood in front of William’s dresser. He stood for a moment with his back to the group then turned. “After these three days have passed, I will come and escort you to your final testing.” Ares looked at each one in turn as he spoke. “Human born always have the hardest time understanding that your pack is so much more than just a group of friends. Our hope is that over the next few days you will learn the true strength and abilities of your pack.” Ares lowered his head and his tail drooped down to hang limp between his legs. “This is all I can say, the rest is up to you.” He turned toward Aceso. “Take charge of your pack, go.”
Aceso nodded once and headed out the door. William followed the werewolf, and he felt the other werewolf follow in his footsteps. He heard a slight scuffling of feet behind him, and he had a very strong feeling that some of them didn’t like the fact that Aceso was alpha. They don’t know what she’s capable of. He followed the familiar black furred werewolf down the ramp of his building. Her tail was high in the air sticking almost straight up in line with her spine. She knew who and what she was. He wondered what her punishment had been like. What had she endured in all the time he wasn’t allowed to see her?
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As they reached the bottom of the ramp Aceso and William turned back to watch and wait for the rest of the pack to join them. William looked up to see the girl walking down the ramp with an air of indifference. The tall slender man was walking just behind her at an almost comical step pause, step pause. He could have traversed the ramp in five steps, but he had chosen to follow the woman whose stride was much shorter than his ever could be comfortably.
Behind them he saw the tanned kid. He wore a look of distaste and scorn as he stumbled behind all the rest of them. He looked like a petulant child, pouting that his mom didn’t buy him ice cream. William disliked him. There was something in his manner and appearance that scratched at William’s memory but when he tried to grasp that memory, it disappeared. He shook off the feeling and watched the guy walk down the rest of the ramp. William looked up toward the top of the ramp but Ares did not exit the room. William cocked his head to the side at the puzzling nature of this and what it could mean.
Being so close to Aceso once again he could feel something in back of his mind.
“We head for the forest. Our first job is to find a place for a den then we hunt,” Aceso said. She jumped off toward the forest and started running on all fours. The other wolf born took off after her. William was caught by surprise by this, even though he knew he shouldn’t have been. He knew what she was going to say, at least the gist of it anyway. He stood there dumbly as a black werewolf and a cream-colored werewolf ran past him. He didn’t have time to guess who they were. He closed his eyes and changed. It took only a few seconds and a twinge of pain but those few seconds were enough to see him last in line. He ripped off the remains of the shreds of clothing that he was wearing only a moment before. He didn’t know if leaving the rags in the street was the proper thing to do but it didn’t seem to bother anyone else. His hesitation awarded him the task of trying to catch up to the other five members of his pack.
The line of young werewolves flowed through the outskirts of the city. They tore through almost the same alleys and back streets that he had passed through the last time he had gone to the forest with Ares. William could feel the still air of the cavern rush over his swiftly moving body. He felt truly alive in his werewolf form but something other than just that. He felt something else, he couldn’t place exactly what it was but for some reason he was reminded of something. The feeling was soon gone, and he dedicated himself to close the distance with the rest of the group.