With that in mind, he shot a covert look at Nicolas who had picked himself up and was eating once more. William knew that Nicolas was their weakest link. If I was going to attack this pack, I would take out Nicolas first. William went through all of his pack mates perceived strengths and weaknesses. He knew Aceso was a Healer, but he had seen her in the Whyte plain and knew that she could fight. Maybe their enemies would underestimate her? That would be a mistake on their part but something worth thinking about. Charles was big, but he was a Tracker. He hadn’t had any problem taking down that deer though. Maybe his physical prowess wasn’t something to be written off either. He knew that Nicolas was a scout and that Achelois was also a Healer. He hadn’t seen any fighting skill from either of those two, but he had fought Nicolas and knew that the blonde was all talk and no substance in a fight. He is definitely our weakest link. His gaze came to rest on Katherine once more. He couldn’t remember what the other member of a pack should be. He tried to remember but Ares had never mentioned anything about what makes up a pack, or who belongs in a pack, or how the Elders chose a pack. Come to think of it, Ares hadn’t really told him anything.
His mind reached back over the last week or so. Or had it been longer than that? All the lessons and all the tests that he had survived to bring him to this point had taught him so much about himself, but he knew next to nothing about any of his pack mates. He shook his head and took another bite of deer. He didn’t have anywhere near the kind of experience or knowledge that he needed to be making tactical decisions of who was or wasn’t going to be useful in a combat situation. Although he did find it kind of hard to justify the two pack Healers and the scout going off together as a team.
“Aceso, wouldn’t it be better if I went with Nicolas and Achelois on the first watch?” William asked.
Aceso looked over at her pack mate. “Why?”
William chose his words carefully. “Well, I was just thinking that wouldn’t it be a better idea to have a Healer in both groups tonight.” He looked over at Achelois. “After what happened today, I just think that it would be better to have that support in both teams instead of putting both of you at risk in one group.”
Aceso lifted her head the slightest fraction. He never would have detected the movement were it not for his wolf sight. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket eh, William?” William nodded. “Very well,” Aceso looked over at Achelois and Nicolas. “William will be on your watch team.” She shot a stare toward William. “I meant what I said about keeping your group in eyesight at all times.” She looked back at Nicolas. “And save the fighting for when and if you get attacked tonight. Am I understood?”
William and Achelois nodded. Nicolas threw his hands and the air and collapsed backward on the den’s carpet once more.
William grabbed more meat from the, by now mostly skeleton, of the deer carcass. He looked over at Achelois who was finishing her portion in silence. She had a thoughtful expression on her face. William could only wonder what it was she was thinking about.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Aceso looked around at the group. “Is everyone finished?”
William was a little surprised to find all of the meat that he had grabbed for himself was gone. He glanced up to see that everyone else had also finished.
“Then I think it’s time that the first group should go out on watch.” Aceso said.
William nodded and stood up. Nicolas rolled over on to his stomach but didn’t start to raise himself. Achelois turned her head toward Aceso, but didn’t make a move to stand up.
“William,” Aceso said. “I want you to take the carcass and place it somewhere near the fake den entrance.” She made eye contact with him and held his gaze. “Don’t put it anywhere too obvious but somewhere hidden and nearby to better sell the idea that that place is actually our den.” William nodded and began to heft the bones and fur of the mostly eaten animal.
“Why do I get the feeling that all of this is pointless?” Nicolas asked as he rolled over on his back.
William looked at the blonde. “Nicolas, will you shut up and help me with this?”
Nicolas propped himself up on his elbows. He looked around at the rest of the pack. Charles and Aceso looked at him. Katherine was looking at William. William saw the look from the corner of his eye, but he was focused on Nicolas. The blonde werewolf seemed to enjoy the attention and rolled his head back onto his shoulders while he arched his back. Achelois stood up. She moved to the opposite side of the skeleton and bent over the carcass. William turned away from Nicolas and hefted his side of the bones. He and Achelois began to move to the crevasse and the exit of the den.
The carcass wasn’t heavy it was just very fragile and awkward. It took most of William’s concentration to keep the thing from falling apart. The two moved into the crevasse and out of the den. Once outside of the den the two moved a little faster. There was less maneuvering, and William had space. They still couldn’t move as fast as he would have liked but they were walking at a good speed. He was walking backward, and he saw Nicolas walk out of the forest behind them. William saw that his tail was a little droopy and he had a sour expression on his face. William hid a smile by coughing. Aceso must have had another little talk with him. Nicolas joined them and walked alongside them. William made eye contact with him once. Nicolas shot daggers at him. William didn’t want to press the hurt ego of the Scout, so he tried to ignore him, with varying degrees of success. When they got to the fake den entrance, William led them past the opening in the rocks. Around the back side of the rouse, he found a nice little depression in between some rocks with a good earth bed. William nodded to the spot and Achelois moved with him over to the spot. They dumped the bones into the slight bowl of earth. William bent down and with his claws, upturned the earth around the bones and fur. That effort alone was enough to almost bury the carcass. William stood up.
He motioned with his head to some nice green boughs hanging low form the trees. “Will you guys go grab some of those nice green, aromatic branches? We will use them to cover the scent of the carcass.”
Nicolas looked at the trees and back at him. His tail was stiff and he had a look on his face as if to say, ‘Are you really asking me to do that?’
“I thought the whole point of bringing the leftovers out here was to create a better illusion that we are here instead of somewhere else,” Achelois said. She glanced down at the pit with the half-buried carcass. “If we completely cover up our remains wouldn’t that be defeating the whole purpose?”