William tried to ignore the fact Ares was standing very close to him and there was no walls or dividers to help hide him from the open nakedness he keenly felt by being in the bathroom like this. He had never felt this kind of awkwardness when he was in his valley or when he was running with Aceso. Why did he feel the almost forgotten pressures of society so keenly here? William had some difficulty starting. His body was locked up and even though the pressure had built to being somewhat painful he couldn’t relax enough to pee comfortably. After a few minutes, the shock of where he was subsided and he was able to relieve himself. It felt really good to let go of that. The pressure immediately released and he was able to finish. He didn’t know which he was happier to do, finish peeing or being done so he could pull his pants back on.
He walked over to the sinks and turned the facet on. The water was ice cold and he gasped. His hands were soon numb with the cold water. He found soap containers jacked into the wall just like he would have found in any public bathroom. The soap smelled a little funny, but he really didn’t want to know what he was putting on his hands. He rinsed his hands off in the frigid flowing water and turned off the faucet. He dried his hands on one of the hanging brown towels. The fabric was warm and soft. He was reminded of being home. His family’s bathroom had always had clean fresh towels in them and they always seemed to be warm. He finished drying his hands and followed Ares back out into the street.
Ares didn’t say anything as they walked back to his bedroom. The ramp leading back up to his bedroom gave him a little bit of trouble. His legs protested with the incline and he had to lean against the building next to him several times to prevent himself from falling. They reached his bedroom and Ares moved aside to allow William to enter first. William walked back to his bed and sat down on the warm furs. He tucked his still cold hands under his armpits to try to warm them. It had been a little while since he had felt the pure cold of mountain lake water. The river in his valley seemed to be warmer than the water he had just used to clean his hands with.
Ares followed after William and sat down across from him on the floor. William was warming up and he was already getting drowsy. The warm furs were pulling him down to sleep but Ares was looking at him and William knew that it would not be wise to fall asleep if Ares had something to say.
The werewolf looked at William. “Is there anything you want to know right now?”
William was caught off guard by the straightforward question. He had seen so much in so short a time but his mind was sluggish and he had trouble concentrating. His mind slowly turned over and something that had been bothering him did come to mind. He looked up at Ares. “Why were you assigned to train me?” Ares jerked at the question. William hoped he hadn’t insulted him. “It’s not like I’m ungrateful. But it seems to me that training a new guy like me would be something menial. You seem to be important here. It seems that everyone knows you. So why were you stuck with me?”
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Ares stood up and moved to the open doorway. He sighed and from what William could see he was looking at the indoor forest. Ares was silent for long moments and William began to think that Ares wasn’t going to answer him at all. “I am Ares, protector of the mountain.” Ares turned around and held William with a weighted stare. “My pack and I are the protectors of this city. My alpha is Mr. Davis. I am the biggest and strongest enforcer in the city.”
“If you’re the biggest and the strongest, why aren’t you the alpha of your pack?”
Ares lowered his head and scraped the floor with his foot claw. “I’m not the alpha because I never wanted to be.” Ares hunched down on the floor. He studied it keenly. When he finally looked up there was a deep sadness there that made William feel for his teacher. “I only wanted to be part of a pack. When I was young and hadn’t discovered my…abilities I was happy.” His eyes glazed over as he lost himself to his memories. “I was just another young wolf protecting my pack, hunting, and living. I was happy to be there. Our pack alpha was a wise older Timber wolf. He was old but strong and he knew things that I could never have hoped to learn. I admired him and I only wanted to serve him and his mate faithfully.”
Ares eyes refocused and settled on William. “When I was brought here, I was only about four years old. I had been captured by werewolves. They were gentle but they also made me painfully aware that they could rip me limb from limb if necessary. I was brought here and they began to train me and condition my body to pain. Eventually, I was allowed to see the moon once more.”
Ares stood up and looked at the ceiling of William’s bedroom. “I remember that night well. They took me to a part of the mountain that I had never been to before. I was surrounded by moon flowers and green grass. There was a heavy curtain that they withdrew from overhead, and I could see the stars. It had been months since I had seen stars and I was so happy that I started to bark and jump. I rolled in the sweet-smelling grass and I was happy. I looked up and the white orb of the moon was just coming into view through the opening in the volcano.
“I stared wide eyed at the beautiful, white, shape in the sky. I howled in homage to her, our moon goddess. The werewolves that brought me there were standing in the deep shadows and didn’t allow the moon beams to touch them. At the time I wondered why they didn’t join me in worship.” Ares shook his head and smiled at himself. “I was so young… and so naive.”