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Wolves and Men
Book 3 Chapter 13f

Book 3 Chapter 13f

He looked out at the night sky. The moon was rising just off to his right and the stars were particularly bright tonight. The wind that whistled across the mouth of the cave tugged at his fur. He ignored the annoying sound and the wind altogether. His eyes locked onto the stars and to the moon as she made her way up to her proper place of command in the night sky. Thoughts of Charles and Achelois dominated his mind even as he tried to lose himself in the quiet solitude of the cold night sky. Looking out of the rocks and the flat lands leading to the woods beyond, he considered what would happen if he just left.

“What brings you out here, William?”

William didn’t turn around at the sudden voice coming from behind him. He recognized it instantly and choose to stay frozen where he was staring at the stars.

Ares sat down next to him. The two shape shifters gazed at the night sky in silence for a time. “What has happened to Charles?”

Ares didn’t seem surprised by the question at all. He answered in an appropriately grave voice, the voice that William most associated with Ares the teacher. “Nothing has happened, yet. As I told you before the Elders have given him a few days. Just as with you they are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, based mostly on Aceso. She spoke very highly of Charles and yourself.”

This caused William to turn and look at his former teacher for the first time. “Aceso spoke for me?”

Ares seemed amused. “Of course she did. If she hadn’t, you would’ve been killed the second you reentered the city. Very few werewolves get a second chance, William.” William did not try to hide his emotions. He was thinking that it might have better for Derceto to kill him for all the good that he had done for his pack. Ares face remained passive. “William, you will find that the word of an alpha is valued at a high level in the City under the Mountain. The Elders trust the alphas here as they would one of their own. The word of an alpha carries weight that I don’t think you could ever fully grasp.”

William nodded. “So, what happens now?”

“Life goes on and you fulfill your duties to your pack as its Enforcer.”

William shook his head. “That’s not exactly what I meant, what happens with my pack?”

“Eventually, the Elders will assign another healer to your pack and you will move on doing that which the city needs you to do.”

“Why does it have to be a healer?”

Ares took a deep breath and eased himself back onto the rock that he had claimed as a seat. “William, the packs are made up of one of every type of werewolf, the alpha’s type determines the sixth member. Since your alpha is a healer the sixth member of your pack must also be a healer.” Ares paused. “I only hope for Aceso’s sake that whoever that healer is they turn out to be something like Achelois, she will be sorely missed.”

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William cocked his head at the comment. Of course Achelois would be missed. “What do you mean by that?”

Ares looked up at William as he placed his claw onto his leg. “The one thing that every good alpha needs besides a loyal supporter, such as yourself, is a pack member who challenges them, keeps them honest. Do you understand?” William shook his head. “Achelois kept Aceso on her toes. Aceso knew that every decision she made was being judged and scrutinized by Achelois. Having that tension between those two was good for Aceso. For every decision she made she knew that Achelois would question it, so Aceso was forced to have a good reason for everything she did.”

William nodded. “Aceso needed Achelois more than she ever needed me to be a good leader.”

Ares picked up on his mood. “That’s ridiculous and you know it. Aceso needs your help and support. Without it, things could easily go the other way and Aceso would start second guessing herself and that’s even worse than being over confident.” Ares lowered his head and shook it once to the side as his tail thumped on the rocks behind him. “I’ve told you before, what happened out there was not yours or Aceso’s fault, it happens.” Ares looked up and locked eyes with his former student. “We are at war, William.” Ares voice took on an edge. “You have had two encounters with one side of that war, and you have survived. This, in and of itself, is miraculous. Pups rarely survive one encounter with the Whyte Plain much less two and yet you and Aceso and the majority of your pack is safe and in one piece.” Ares turned his head and gazed out the tunnel mouth.

William followed his teachers gaze and looked at the bloated moon. She drowned out the light of the stars next to her. William raised his claw and played with the soft shadow that was cast by the light of his Lunar Mother. He looked up and noticed that a thick storm front of clouds had intruded on the mouth of the cave. The clouds were moving quickly. He watched as they threatened to overtake the moon and drown out her light. The clouds were dark, and he could see the flash of light from a lightning strike that happened outside of his line of sight.

“We’ll have to go back there, won’t we? To the Whyte Plain.” William asked quietly.

“Yes, you will.” Ares turned his head back to look at William once again.

“Why do we have to go back there?” William had felt fear before but the thought of having to go back to that place terrified him. He had encountered and overcome things that he had never imagined, and the Elders were going to tell him that that is where he had to go, the one place he never wanted to see again. “What is so important about that place?”

Ares stood and moved toward the mouth of cave. From the reflected pale light of the moon on the angry storm clouds, William could see Ares’ profile perfectly. His former teacher turned around and made his way to the back of the cave. Without answering William at all he howled and the cave silently opened. Ares was halfway inside the tunnel entrance when he stopped. He tuned to look at William, “It’s not the Whyte Plain itself that we are fighting for, it’s the shadows inside it.”

“What do you mean?” William asked desperately before Ares could duck into the tunnel.

Ares stopped moving. “Have you ever thought about what those shadows in the Whyte Plain are? Or how they got there?” William shook his head. “William, we fight against those shadows because they used to be part of our kind, and therefore are our responsibility. That’s why we can never stop till every last one of them is irradicated and gone, and the Whyte Plain is cleansed.” Ares paused. Then as he turned back to exit the cave he said, “Those shadows used to be werewolves.”

Before William could ask anything else, Ares moved back into the darkness. William was left sitting in the cave as the clouds continued to overtake the moon. Behind him the stars were being swallowed one by one and a flash of lightning ripped across the sky, briefly revealing the solid back wall of the cave where Ares had disappeared.