He could hear everything, water flowing through pipes, going through the massive boiler, and then being redistributed throughout the hull. The creaking of metal as it swayed back and forth as the ship rode the swelling crests of the waves of the Pacific ocean outside. The sounds of the AC power generators in the distance sang through the metal of the ship as it kept the lights on and the engines moving.

There was a rhythm to it all but no peace. He could never be comfortable on a ship like this. He looked up at the dirty ceiling, with the dirty pipes, covered in dirt and grime from years of neglect and hot bodies moving through even this small space. He didn’t know much about sailing or ships but he was pretty sure dusting, especially in a small storage room like this was probably pretty low on the maintenance concerns list.

When he had been in his forest, he could sit like this for hours just listening. He could hear for miles in his valley, the sounds of his far-off pack howling or playing in the distance, he could hear the wind sing to him as it passed through his trees, the sounds of birds in flight crying to one another. There were smaller sounds too, the sounds of critters foraging, running through branches up and down the mighty trunks of the pine trees. And far off to the west, he could hear the mighty Pacific Ocean, as her waves beat against the rocks and cliffs near his valley.

He sighed heavily. He knew that it was highly unlikely that he would ever see his valley again. His first true home, the first place he truly felt welcome and alive, was lost to him. Even if he did go back, it wouldn’t be the same. He had changed a great deal over the last two years or so. The old Grey hopefully was still taking care of the pack as he was always meant to. He always regretted the damage he had done to his pack and wondered about the unforeseen consequences he may have been responsible for just by coming to that valley in the first place.

William suddenly felt tired, he guessed that his sleep was an even lesser quality than he had originally supposed and now his body was demanding him to sleep. He shook his head and stood up. He had a job to do. The girls’ safety had always been a priority since they were dragged on board. He didn’t trust people at all, and wouldn’t put it past these people to not try to do something to or with the unconscious girls. They were unconscious who would know? People had been known to do similar things with girls that were dead. An unpleasant thought but a reality of mankind nonetheless.

He smiled to himself, why could he not stop yawning. His face cracked open wide again. His body felt heavy and he had to sit down on his cot. He tried to focus his eyes, but they were watery and wouldn’t focus. He tried reaching out to Ansuya but the wolf’s eyes were closed in sleep already. William reached out to Ansuya weakly. He knew something was wrong but he couldn’t force his eye lids to stay open. The last thing he saw was the beautiful brown woman laying comfortably on her back across the room from him. Then everything went black.

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* * *

Charles and Katherine and Nicolas made their way down to the Galley which was in the aft section of the ship. The ship was reasonably well cared for. All the lights worked, the floors were clean at least, and the paint only showed chipping along heavily used areas where hatches would be closed and reopened for drills or privacy.

Charles kept a few steps behind his companions. He tried to not look too conspicuous as he looked over his shoulder and down the various throughways off the main walkway. Now that he had voiced his suspicions and concerns, it somehow made them real and all the more dangerous. And the thought of being taken and trapped by slavers did not appeal to him in the slightest.

They made their way to the Galley without incident and when they got there, the place was quietly empty. This wasn’t surprising, considering that they had arrived two minutes before the Galley was ‘scheduled’ to be open. Usually they got pushed to the end of the line so they had made it a habit to simply wait an extra half hour or so and then show up at the Galley then. Of course this reduced the amount of time they had to wait, and the various sneers and insults and dirty smiles they got as the crew helped themselves to seconds before they had even got their first servings.

But today the cook angrily waved his hand at them as they grabbed trays and went through the line. Katherine pointed to the Spring rolls and held up four fingers. The cook sneered at her and spat out in rapid Chinese what she could only suspect was an insult. Katherine’s brow darkened and she pointed to the Spring rolls again and jabbed four fingers into the cooks face.

The cook looked like he was going to yell at her again before the back of his head has slapped by the lithe head ship’s cook. The serving cook turned around and got a swift hand across his face, as the ship’s cook talked forcefully but softly to his subordinate.

The man’s body visibly wilted under the chastisement. The subordinate chef turned around showing a crimson hue in his face as neck as he must have just gotten his ass royally chewed out. He lowered his head and without a second word placed four Spring Rolls on Katherine’s plate. The brunette nodded and pointed to the fried rice and pork. Charles and Nicolas had no problem either and Nicolas helped himself to a double portion of pork.

As the three sat down in the back of the Galley the crews were shuffling in, in threes and fours. Charles took a moment to study them as they entered. There was a subtle hint of something subdued about tonight. The crews were not openly leering at Katherine as they usually did. There were only soft voices and no loud jokes being told.