I wasn't sure how to react to this beast in front of me. There really wasn't any other way to refer to him. I'd never thought that any of the spawnlings were chubby, or even had baby fat on them, but Redael was all tendons, sharp edges, and muscle. Every one of his movements bespoke power and authority, as if he had been chiseled from a block of malice and power. He had smiled in as warm a fashion a 70kg reptile could, but the glint in his eye and his poise insinuated violence and a barely contained desire to enact it upon anything nearby.

"So. You're the first one like me I've seen in years." Redael wasn't about to mince words here--he was direct, and I was lesser than him, so he didn't care.

"Um, I guess so." He cocked his head dangrously, and I quickly tacked on, "Sir."

"Well, if you grow to adulthood, you might become something like me. If you make it that far and think to challenge me," He suddenly was towering over me, having moved about 5m before I'd realized it, "I'll welcome the challenge and subjugate you. Hope you live until then."

[True Dominance skill is being exerted on you. Due to your [System] advantages, you resist. However, it is advised that you leave the influence of the True Dominance skill as soon as safely possible.]

Damn... so if I evolve that skill, I can get followers by scaring them?

"Now, as thanks for you locating the thunderfang that offed my last beta, I can fulfill a minor request of yours. Anything you want?"

I began speaking carefully, "Well, sir, I would like some help getting more followers so I can truly begin becoming an alpha."

He grinned wolfishly. "You want my advice on getting followers?"

"Your help, sir."

"Well, then here's my help--take them. We follow the strong, and while you are strong in body, you're weak in spirit. Grow into your fangs and others will flock to follow you." He then flicked his head towards the door. "My debt is paid. Get out."

I was slightly taken aback by the quick turnaround in his demeanor, but I figured that it was better to take Redael seriously, as he could just as easily kill me as look at me. So I left.

I looked around for a moment, and, seeing that Rulac was nowhere to be seen, I decided I should just make my way out according to my memory of the path we had followed here as best as I could remember.

...

It was a relatively straight shot out of the depths of the den, but I was stopped no more than 5 times by a variety of these adult keelish. 3 were females who, on seeing my hands, started talking about who they thought would have been so lucky as to mate with Redael, as I must have been his child. The other 2 were males who seemed to just generally be the kind of petty bottom feeders that found themselves so low on the totem pole that they would leap at any opportunity to make another feel lower than themselves. I mostly just kept walking, and once they realized that I knew where I was going, lost interest.

I got back up to my pack, and could finally begin to breathe easy. After a moment's thought I again realized that there were keelish that I was feeling close to, and, since we weren't going to leave the den until nightfall, I was left to muse over that for more time that I would have liked. I needed to admit that, while keelish were certainly a plague on all the surrounding living beings, they too are creatures, and I've been helped by these pests.

I was uncomfortable in my musings, so decided to talk to Brutus, to try to get to know him a bit better, but I might honestly be better off talking to the den walls, given the predictability of his responses.

Favorite thing to do?

Kill and eat.

What does he want to do as a member of the pack?

Hunt.

How was it being beta for Percral?

Dunno.

After a painful 2 minutes of trying to have some sort of a conversation with our newest member, I couldn't handle it any more, and decided to talk to Took instead (another difficult conversationalist, but she's been improving since her instatement as the beta.).

She spoke at length (for her, so that mostly meant that she used primarily complete sentences and even sprinkled in a couple of descriptors, so I was pleased) about a couple of her worries for the pack, and the hunt. Took did speak highly of Brutus's contributions to the hunt though. Apparently, he was a good follower, and as bloodthirsty as me, but without needing the smell of blood to get him going.

Oncli, of course, wasn't to be outdone, and expanded and expounded on everything that Took said. Having now seen some of the other relationships among keelish, I was starting to notice that Oncli fawned over Took. Weird to think that they might someday have little Tooclis running underfoot. The thought sent a shiver down my spine, and I started to realize exactly how caged I was feeling, given that I was seriously thinking about how my subordinates might mate.

Finally, night was falling, so I gathered the pack up, minus the twins, and we made our way out of the den. I, somewhat hopefully, tried to use my light-based vision, but was disappointed. My night vision (without counting the thermal) was abysmal, and I immediately but grudgingly switched back to my thermal vision, and we left towards the forest cover. My pack fell in behind me, and I felt myself subconsciously stand taller, and a grin crossed my face. I was surprised by how excited I was feeling as I finally got back into the groove of stalking, fighting, and killing.

It was time to resume the hunt.