Her words hung in the air. There was a danger in them that William knew all too well. His survival under the tutelage of Ares had never been certain. He had faced death a few times already, they all had. His other pack mates didn’t say anything, and he left them all to their private thoughts. He wasn’t much in the mood for talking anyway. He leaned back against the cold stone of the den and waited.
He must have fallen asleep because when Nicolas finally entered the den William started, his body jerking itself into a sitting position. On his heels strode Aceso. The two were about the same height in werewolf form. William noticed that Nicolas’s tail was bowed behind him but it was still sticking out in a show of defiance. He walked straight to the back of the den and choose a depression in the wall as far from the entrance as possible. Aceso took a place next to him in between Nicolas and Achelois.
William wanted to know what had gone on outside for all this time but he wasn’t going to ask her in front of Nicolas. The one thing that people did not do well with was deal with embarrassment. Nicolas had been embarrassed by the female alpha. He hadn’t taken it very well either and his manner suggested more of a wounded animal than a human being. As much as he hated Nicolas and thought that he had gotten everything that he deserved, he wasn’t going to twist the knife by asking for a play by play from Aceso.
“Now what?” It was Katherine who broke the silence.
William pushed off from the rock wall of the crevasse. Aceso looked at each of her betas in turn. “We have to be ready. I doubt that this test will simply be us surviving for three days out here.”
William looked over to see Nicolas seeming to straighten himself on the wall. Even he was paying attention. What happened between those two? That particular situation drew more and more of his curiosity, but he had other things that needed his attention.
“If that is the case we should fortify our den,” Achelois said.
Aceso nodded, her tail thumping the rock underneath her. “Yes, we need to make this place as hidden as possible.”
“So, we’re really going to live in this hole for the next three days?” Nicolas retorted.
Aceso turned an icy stare toward the blonde werewolf. “Yes, this will be our home for the next few days and our den when we are sent away from the city. It will be your job to make it more of a home and less of a hole.” Nicolas started to protest but seeing the look in Aceso’s eyes he slumped back against the wall with shrugged shoulders and a wave of his hands.
“How do you think we’ll be tested? Do you have any ideas? Is there any way to prepare ourselves?” Katherine asked.
“From what my teacher has been teaching and telling me”, it was Charles who spoke, “I doubt that any one of us could know how they would test us.” He looked at Katherine and then to Aceso. “If we are to be tested it’s best that we prepare for anything and everything we can think of and then stay alert. Whatever we can think of, the Elders and our teachers know each of us and they know where we are most vulnerable. When the test comes, it will be from somewhere we least expect.”
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Nicolas muttered something that even William couldn’t quite make out. Aceso turned toward the male. “Would you repeat that, Nicolas?”
Nicolas looked her straight in the eye. “I said ‘it could come from any of you for all I know’.”
The words hung in the air like a poison fog. William had not interacted with any of these people before, except Aceso. If the Elders were in fact going to test them, wouldn’t it be just like them to plant a mole inside their own pack to attack them from within? He looked at his pack mates and he wondered if Nicolas knew what he had just done. He saw a shadow over every werewolf in that crevasse. He knew he was being ridiculous, but the thought was there and the thought that he might be betrayed, even in a testing environment, put a strain on how much he wanted to get to know these people. He looked around the circle and Nicolas’s words didn’t seem to bother anyone else. He tried to shake the feeling of a traitor in their midst but the feeling of unease in his chest would not lessen.
“I don’t believe that the Elders would bring us together, to have us build a trust with each other, just to have it shattered for a test.” Katherine said. She looked around the circle. “We have been tested before, individually. We have had to come to terms with who and what we are.” She looked at each member of the pack as she spoke. “The purpose of those tests I believe, were to break down our fixed belief in who we thought we should be, to open ourselves up to the possibility and acceptance of who we are.” She looked around the room. She held William’s eyes. He stared back at her.
“I agree with Katherine. We were taught to have faith and to believe in ourselves. Now we have to have faith and belief in each other. Like Achelois said, ‘the pack is everything’,” Charles said.
Aceso nodded her agreement. “There will be no more talk about traitors. We are a pack and our first duty is to each other.” She stood up and walked to the center of the den, her tail was arched high into the air. “Let’s get to work.” She pointed to Nicolas. “Nick, go outside and gather materials to make this place a little more comfortable.” The blonde stared at her with venom in his eyes but nodded. She turned toward Achelois. “Achelois, you will help him.” The black, white, and tan werewolf made no move but continued to look up at her alpha. Aceso turned toward William. “William, I need for you and Katherine and to see about our entrance. Wipe away all traces of our being here and camouflage the opening as best you can. The harder it is to find this place, the more peace we will have over the next few days.” William nodded and saw Katherine do the same.
“Charles, you and I will go and scout out the surrounding area. We need to find fall back positions and places that will be defensible if we are attacked. We also need to find the nearest water source and maybe go try to hunt before night falls.”
“Very well,” Charles replied.
Aceso turned around looking at each werewolf in turn. “We all have work to do. Let’s get to it.”
William pushed himself off the ground and walked outside without a second glance at any of his other pack mates. He slid through the narrow crack in the rock and was outside again. The air of the cavern was warmer than the air in the crevasse and he found himself shaking off the cold of the den. He turned around and immediately began sorting and piling the rocks that had been strewn about the crevasse opening.