She seemed to want to sulk. She stood there, motionless looking at nothing. William was sure she wasn’t going to say anything. Achelois spoke into the heavy quiet. “You don’t care that she took advantage of you?” She looked up and stared straight into William eyes.
“When someone takes advantage of someone else it’s usually for selfish reasons.” William looked at Aceso who still stood separate from the rest of her pack. “Aceso told me that the only reason she found me on the Whyte Plain was because of that pack connection we now share.” He looked down at everyone else. “I don’t feel like I was taken advantage of in any way. She saved my life and I know that she would do no less for any of you.”
The words he spoke were swallowed by the emptiness around them. Nothing moved and no sound was present. William had no idea what kind of response he expected from that little speech but he hoped that he had defended Aceso well enough to at least convince Achelois that Aceso hadn’t done anything wrong. Achelois however, made no move to speak. William glanced at Aceso who seemed to have drawn into herself. Her tail was drooping down behind her. It was saddening for William to see his proud alpha plagued by this kind of doubt and opposition. William wished that he could do more, but he knew that he had said all he could. Now it was up to the rest of the group to either forgive her or condemn her.
Achelois whirled on the ball of her foot and strode up to within inches of William’s snout, her tail sticking straight out behind her. “Do you really not care that what she did to you was something like what your species calls rape?”
William looked down at the shorter werewolf. “I don’t know about any of that. All I know is that I would do it all over again if given the chance.”
Achelois stared into William’s eyes shifting her gaze from his left eye and then to his right eye and back again. “What she did to you was wrong.”
“Shouldn’t that be my decision to make?” William answered.
Achelois took a step away from him and pivoted on one foot. She strode up to Aceso and stared her in the eye. Aceso met the gaze unflinching. Her eyes held an emotion that William couldn’t place. It wasn’t sadness or apathy. Maybe it was pain or embarrassment? William couldn’t be sure. What he did know was that he felt really helpless right then but he knew Aceso had to deal with this on her own. The two werewolves stood there looking at each other. Achelois’s tail was high in the air while Aceso’s was in a more relaxed, droopy state. Everyone watched the two and waited for the outcome. William hadn’t realized he was holding his breath and he let it out.
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“You shouldn’t have done it,” Achelois said.
Aceso looked at her. William noticed however that her tail had picked up and it was beginning to assume its previous proud high arch. “I did what had to be done.” William knew that response was a mistake and he winced at the sound and force of those words.
Achelois turned her head to the side, threatening to leave Aceso standing there. She wrenched her head back to face Aceso. “William might have forgiven you, but after learning what I have learned today I don’t know if I can.” Achelois took a step back and measured the whole of Aceso’s body with her eyes. She spun in place and walked away.
“Do we all have to take this oath?” Charles asked.
While the question was obvious to him, William was grateful for the break in the heavy silence. It kept his mind off of the ever-growing pit that he was beginning to feel in his stomach. It also gave him some relief from the pressure that he felt growing between his shoulder blades.
“If you want to follow her, then yes,” Achelois said as she hesitated while walking around the group still on the floor, with her back to Aceso. “It is going to be a very long time before I even consider doing something like that…if ever,” Achelois continued walking. To William it didn’t look like she was going to stop anytime soon.
Charles stood up. “This is pointless and it gets us nowhere.” He stood in the middle of the group. His full height was impressive, he wasn’t as tall or as big as Ares but to the rest of them that hadn’t spent a lot of time around the massive werewolf, Charles could be very intimidating. “We have to work together for now. We have no choice at the moment and we are still being tested in some way.” He looked over at Aceso and at the retreating back of Achelois. “I can’t imagine us ignoring each other and working against one another would be seen as favorable behavior for a new werewolf pack.”
Aceso spoke then for the first time in a long time. “We should head back to the den.” William was glad to hear that her voice had lost none of its confidence or sense of command. “We’ll go back to the forest and figure out what we do from there.” She shrugged at the husks of the buildings around her. “There’s nothing more we can do out here anyway.” She walked over to the small group that had remained seated. She looked at Nicolas. “We need to go back into the forest before night falls.” She looked up at Charles. “We should hunt and set our watches for tonight as well.”
William said, “After you, Aceso.”
Aceso let the slightest smile touch her lips. She shook her head and looked back down at Katherine and Nicolas. “Come on you two, let’s go.”
Nicolas looked up at the three that were standing there. He let a small smile touch his lips. “I really don’t have a choice, do I?” Nicolas let out a small chuckle.
William looked down, squinted his eyelids, and cocked his head to the side at the blonde werewolf. To William’s ears it sounded so listless and apathetic. Like he had been defeated in a death match and he was waiting for the final blow to be struck.