It was still morning when I had newly established control over the rest of the spawnlings. I figured that there was no time like the present to begin establishing rules and a hierarchy, so I immediately turned to Took.

"We now have two hunting packs. You take Brutus, Illne and Foire, and get Shemira to show you who her main hunters were. Take whichever seem best to you, and make sure to include a tracker. I'll take Silf, Treel, Vefir, and whichever you decide not to take from the hunters." I leaned close. "Don't let Shemira far from you, and if you feel like what she's doing is potentially dangerous to the pack, don't hesitate to make her stop."

Took grinned at my last sentence, and then smirked at the eavesdropping Shemira.

"Ummmm, what do you mean by 'make me stop'?" Shemira hesitatingly asked.

"Whatever Took decides is best and fastest. And, since she's Beta, she won't be swayed by whatever your trick was with Greel. And no," I mirrored Took's expression back at Shemira, "I won't let you stay in the den while Took and I are out hunting." It was only at this point that Shemira began to understand how tight of a leash I was keeping her on, and she began to show small signs of panic, but she quickly calmed herself. Unfortunately for her, it wouldn't be too long before she realized that the den wasn't going to be any better for her, since Sybil will have uninterrupted exposure to many from Shemira's old pack. It couldn't have gone better for me if I had planned it.

...

It wasn't long before the two hunting packs had been established. Both were 10 strong, a perfect number for cleanly taking down any small groups we would come across, while still not compromising our ability to move stealthily. This left 14 at the den under Sybil's instruction, and I figured that this number would diminish as we finished indoctrinating the leftovers of Shemira's pack.

The three packs were:

1. Me, Treel, Silf, and Netre, alongside 5 unnamed keelish from Shemira's pack and her beta, a male who stood at about 60cm that went by Cazala. He was wiry and quick, a bit like my previous state, but with longer arms, a bit like Foire. None of mine seemed to have evolved into the "brute" form of Treel, Took, and Brutus, but seemed generally more lithe and quick instead.

2. Took, Foire, Illne, Brutus and Shemira, alongside 5 of Shemira's followers. Took had taken all the big ones with her--I figured she would try something crazy in the next day or so to prove her new strength, but I'd decided to trust her.

3. Sybil, Octavi, and Vefir, with all the rest of keelish (Bella and her followers included).

I'd made sure to have at least one representative of the original pack in each pack, but couldn't help but wonder if Vefir's presence in the den would be a hindrance or a help.

I had asked Sybil specifically if she needed me to leave a bigger keelish behind with her, just for today, but she'd confidently waved me away with her tail, saying "I'm built for this. You'll come home to the beginnings of a true swarm." She then whipped around and began giving orders, which were reluctantly followed under my watchful eye. I decided to trust her just as I trusted Took, and prepared my pack to go out to the hunt.

...

It wasn't too long before my new pack understood my basic hand signals, and we began to set off towards the forest in the rising sun.

Silf quickly and excitedly found a track that he was sure would lead to a successful hunt, and he was right. It was slightly different from usual though, as we witnessed the mating ritual of the Toothy Bullfrogs firsthand.

The male (as we found out later) hopped in a strange, earth-shaking pattern, and alternated his hops with loud calls. We must have caught him at the best part, since a female slowly hopped forward from nearby cover. They began to communicate and approach each other, with the male going to mount the female, and I figured there would be no better time than the present, so I signaled for the pack to approach, but held myself back.

This was the first time that I had stayed back in a hunt and actually watched the attack. For lack of a better way of saying it, it was terrifying. The two frogs, about to begin, were absolutely blindsided by what must have been over 200kg of ravenous, ripping rage. Treel tore into the haunches of the male, and pinned him down on top of the female, and the rest of the pack followed her to the massacre. Cazala mirrored her on the other side, adding sufficient weight to hold the frogs down completely, and the rest simply dug in.

There was no consideration for life or suffering, only hunger. 7 starving maws gaped, and made quick work of the soft sides and bellies of the grounded amphibians. Blood sprayed and pooled around them as they screeched and tore into the bodies of their still living prey. The male whirled around, trying to get a bite into at least one of his killers, but they were quick to dodge then quicker to rejoin the feast. The foresty colors of their keelish scales were steadily covered by more and more crimson as they finally finished the two frogs off.

Meanwhile, I had finally been made sure that there would be no casualties from the hunt, and decided to peel my eyes to see if there were any lurking dangers about. I heard something shuffle away from us about 50m away, but, given that it was going further away, I didn't concern myself overly with what it might be. Instead, I focused and worried about if there were any approaching wolfstags, young or otherwise. It was just a matter of time before I needed to confront some that had already grown their magic generating organ, and I wanted to make sure that it was on my terms, not theirs.

After making sure that there were no obviously lurking dangers, I turned back to the blood-flecked area in front of me.

"Good. Now, onto the next."