"I think swallowed some of that one dog's mangey fur," Alarra says, gagging.

"One of the horses kicked me in the side," Sam grumbles. He walks with a noticeable limp, so he's probably not even exaggerating.

I sigh. While I'm sure they'd enjoyed their job at the time, it's become apparent that they share the unfortunate trait of being dramatic. How I hadn't noticed before now is unclear.

I'm just about to turn around and tell them to 'zip it' when a howl cuts through the air.

"What was that?" Alarra asks, her tone was suddenly a lot less whiny.

"Sounds like Flare," I say before breaking out into a sprint, weaving through the trees like an old pro.

"Why are we running?" Alarra shouts over the wind in my ears.

"Flare howled!" Sam shouts back to her. "Tha's him tellin' us to get to where he is righ' the fuck now!"

"Less talking, more running!" I bark.

The other two shut up.

***

We burst through the tree line and into the meadow, panting.

"Flare?" I call out, loud enough to echo in the stillness of the night.

"Over here!"

"I'll call you if we need you," I tell the other two.

I rush towards the voice, slipping into Flare's den and finding the red-furred wolf hunched over a crumpled form.

"What's this?" I ask, ducking my head down to sniff the form.

"I got back early and wasn't sure when you'd be back, so I decided to do a little hunting. I scented the wind and smelt human blood," Flare says, before nosing the woman's skirt up her legs and exposing her heavily bleeding knee. "So obviously I went to investigate. I found her unconscious on the river bank. I checked her breathing, but she, well, wasn't. So I performed CPR on her -er, as best I could with paws and a muzzle,"

I hum, roving my eyes over her form. Flare's CPR must have done something, given that the woman was breathing. Her skirt was muddy and torn, mostly along the bottom, her blouse was also torn and muddy, although that was mostly along the sleeves. Not to mention she was wet, looking more like a drowned rat than a respectable member of society.

"What should we do with her?" Flare asks.

"I... want to try something,"

"Oh?" Flare asks, surprised.

"Call it an experiment," I say, appealing to the scientist in him. "I want to test the bite,"

Flare straightens, looking both intrigued and unsure. "What do you hope to accomplish with this experiment?"

"I want to know how much bite it takes to turn someone. Does it have to be an actual bite or will just a slice with one tooth do it?" I wonder, looking over to the wall that contains all of our 'research'.

"I see," Flare says, sounding contemplative. "And how will we know the results of this experiment? Do you want to keep her here until she either turns or doesn't?"

"No, that's just the thing," I say, grinning. This has provided a brilliant opportunity for a problem that I was otherwise stumped on. "I want to send her back into society with a task,"

"And what's that?" Flare asks. And it says something that he doesn't ask why the woman would follow along with this task. They would threaten her, of course.

"To lead Wulfric Barron into the woods after dark, so that I can turn him,"

Flare's tail twitches in recognition of the name. We have discussed my brothers many times before. "Your younger brother?" He asks anyway.

"Yes," I confirm.

"Darra-"

"You can't convince me not to turn my brothers, Flare," I warn him. My tone offers no argument, which surprises me. Perhaps I was getting used to this 'leader' thing after all.

Flare sighs, squeezing his eyes shut and hooking a paw over his muzzle.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" He questions regardless. "What's your plan after we turn your brothers?"

"We migrate,"

Flare blinks. "You're kidding, right?"

"No," I say, frowning. "This is a surprisingly populated part of the forest. I want to move us further north, now that I've finally remembered that that's towards the mountains,"

"And abandon all that we've built here?" Flare asks, sounding scared rather than upset.

"There are lots of rocks near the mountains, Flare. We'll scratch out our research and our map, and we'll move closer to the mountains,"

"Hold on, hold on," Flare hastily urges, holding up a paw. "Logic me through this. Why do you think we should move closer to the mountains? Pros and cons,"

I take a breath, compiling all the reasons I'd gathered up in my head over the past few weeks. "Well, there would be fewer hunters without a town nearby, which would make it safer. Less populated means more animals, which means we could support a bigger pack. And there would be more space to expand. There are caves near the mountains, which means we won't have to dig so many dens. There would be bears, but not many, and I think the five of us could take down a bear. There would be wolves, too of course, but we're a lot bigger than normal wolves, so they probably won't be a problem. There are lakes near the mountains, which means more fish," I stop mid-sentence to find Flare giving me a warm, proud look.

"You've really thought this through, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. I have,"

Flare takes a breath. "Okay, we'll move to the mountains. When do you think we'll go?"

"In a couple of months," I say automatically. I had given this a lot of thought. "We need to turn my brothers and sabotage the caravan, but after that..."

Flare nods firmly. "We'll talk this over more tomorrow. We need to hurry if you want to bite this girl," he says, nodding down at the woman.

I had honestly forgotten about her. I pin her injured leg to the ground before digging my sharp upper teeth into her flesh as well as I can without using my lower jaw as well.

The woman whines and flinches and I remove my teeth almost as fast as I had sunk them in. I lap at the wound, as well as the one that had already been inflicted.

"Take her outside and prop her against the oak tree. I'll wait in my den for her to wake up and- ahem. Ask her to assist us,"

Flare nods respectfully. "Yes, Alpha," he says before grabbing the girl by the boot and awkwardly dragging her out of the den.

***

"Alarra! Help me out here? She's waking up,"

Alarra cocks her head, her eyes catching on the woman, who was propped up against the oak tree in the middle of the meadow.

"What do you need me to do?" She asks, trotting after me, towards the woman.

"I'll do the talking, you just prowl around and look scary,"

"That shouldn't be too hard," Alarra says, pointedly kicking at the mist gathered close to the ground. That combined with the full moon and two giant wolves should indeed make quite the terrifying picture.

I grin, "I should hope not, you're one of the scariest wolves I know,"

"Really?" Alarra asks, her eyes bright with awe, as though I had just given her the highest compliment imaginable.

"Of course," I say honestly. I turn back to the woman and drop my head lower, lips pulling back as I prowl towards her stirring form.

"Wulfric Barron, " I growl. Her eyes snap open and catch mine, which no doubt reflect the moonlight, giving them the illusion of glowing.

The woman gasps, backing up further against the tree.

"Wulfric Barron," I repeat, making sure that she can see the way my mouth moves with the words so that she has no doubts about who's speaking.

The woman whimpers, tears streaking down her cheeks. She lets out a broken sob. I pull my lips back in distaste. This woman would make a weak wolf, too soft, too sensitive. She would be an insult to the pack. A large part of me hopes the bite won't take so that I won't be stuck with her.

"Bring me," I rumble, choking back the sour taste in my mouth. "Wulfric Baron,"

The woman takes in a gasping breath. "I-I-I-I do-don't know- who th-that is," she chokes out between sobs, barely legible.

I hear Alarra growl behind me, and for a moment I'm sure she feels the same disgust that I do at the thought of this woman becoming one of us. But no, she was just following orders like the good subordinate she is.

I snarl, an angry, irritated sound that has the woman closing her eyes tight and slamming herself back against the tree. I growl deeper at that, irritated that she was wasting Alarra's valuable time with her snivelling.

"Look at me!" I roar. The woman sobs but complies. Some of my visceral disgust of her dissipates at that. At least she can follow basic instructions.

"You will bring me Wulfric Baron," I say slowly, prowling closer to her until I can feel her harsh, tear-warm breaths against my nose.

"I don't know anyone with that name!" She shouts, her voice steady. That soon dissipates as she dissolves into sobs once again.

"I will take you to him, and you will bring him to me on the new moon," I say. Then, I drag my tongue up one of her tear-wet cheeks, slowly. She freezes, trembling. It's an action designed to unsettle, rather than comfort. "Or we will use your blood to wean our pups,"

The woman crumples again and I let her, slinking away from her.

I keep my stance aggressive as I approach Alarra, keeping the act up. I straighten up, no longer looking at something below my eye line.

"How was that?" I ask in our natural tongue.

Alarra grins. "It was great! I got chills, I'm not even kidding,"

I huff in amusement, nipping at her ear. "Oh, hush,"

"Nice touch with the blood thing by the way," she complements. "Very frightening,"

I duck my head in a mock bow. "You're too kind,"

"You wouldn't actually kill her, right? You'd turn her or something?" She asks curiously.

I sneer, casting a sideways glance to the still-sobbing woman. "She doesn't belong here,"

"What makes you say that?"

"She's weak," I spit, bristling. "She's got no backbone, I can tell. Just the thought of turning her makes me sick,"

Alarra cocks her head, seemingly unaffected by my outburst. "And why'd you turn me? When I first came across you in the orphanage, I thought I was going to piss myself,"

I smile, the disgust rolling off of me, replaced by fondness for my newest pack-member. "But you didn't. You looked me in the eyes and held your head up high, daring me to just try it," I breathe the last part in awe. Alarra blinks, surprised. "Don't you get it, Winter? I didn't kill you that night because I could tell that you were meant to be one of us,"

Alarra sucks in a gasp, her whiskers twitching minutely, the wolfish version of blushing. "I- I don't know what to say..."

I flick my tail dismissively. "You don't have to say anything, it's just the truth,"

But Alarra shakes her head before stepping closer, ducking down and pressing the crown of her head against my chest. "Thank you, Alpha," she says emphatically, her voice clogged with emotion.

I lay my head across her shoulders, returning the pseudo-embrace. I'd never done this before, but embrace seems like a good word for it, like how when I press my neck against another wolf's it feels like a hug.

"Thank you, Alarra," I whisper. "I love it when I'm proved right,"

Alarra laughs softly before pulling away. The fur on the top of her head is mused from having rubbed against my chest.

I look back to the woman, to find her starring blankly at the space directly in front of her. She probably can't see for shit, given the hour and her pathetic human eyes.

"I'd better get her moving," I say before looking back to Alarra. "I think Flare wanted to grill you on your mental shift, although I'm pretty sure it's over, by now," I say, thinking of the way she'd thanked me for turning her and called me 'Alpha' in the same breath.

Alarra cocks her head. "My what?"

"Oh, you hadn't heard?" I ask, then shake my head. I had other matters to attend to. "Flare will tell you. I may be gone a while,"

"Okay, see you later," Alarra says before trotting off in search of Flare.

I sigh, returning my attention to the woman. I stride over to her, nudging her legs with my muzzle. "Up,"

***

I herd the woman in the direction of Forest Spirit, choking down my irritation at her continued fearful whimpering.

"Bring me Wulfric Baron," I hiss into her ear every few minutes, drilling the name into her brain to make sure she doesn't forget. Occasionally I'll say, 'you have until the new moon' or 'bring him to me on the darkest night'. Just in case she was as incompetent as she looked. I tell her to bring him to the river, near the Old Willow, which was a very large, very old willow tree that had found its way onto many local maps.

When we're less than a kilometre away from the town, I circle around the woman, stopping her in her tracks.

"Do you know what you have to do?" I ask her.

She nods, her red-rimmed eyes locked on me, as though now that she can see me, she can't stand the thought of looking away.

"Tell me," I command.

"I have to find Wulfric Baron and bring him here on the new moon," she says, her voice cracking over the date, fearful.

"Ensure that you do, " I growl, circling back around her and nodding at the trees.

"He lives that way, not far now. Don't get turned around. We will be watching,"

In reality, it was only me keeping an eye on her. But she didn't need to know that.

She nods stiffly before starting forward, stumbling only slightly in the almost pre-dawn light. For me, it lights up the world in colour. For her, it paints over the black in shades of dark grey.

I follow along at a distance, using the skills I'd gained over my time as a wolf to my advantage.

She makes it to the edge of the forest without incident. She turns around, searching the tree line with hopeful eyes. I stride closer to the edge of the forest. The hope crumples before my eyes. Naïve, to think all her problems would just disappear like smoke in the wind. I would be doing her a favour to kill her...

She sets her jaw determinedly and twirls around before scurrying into town and grabbing the arm of the first guard she sees.

"Please, sir! My husband-- he's been mauled by wolves!"

The guard speaks with her for a few, frantic moments. He gets a description of the 'wolves' that had mauled her husband. Red and white and black, dozens of them, piling on her husband, biting and growling and oh, the blood, there was so much blood. Oh, and look at that, her sobbing did come in handy. It painted her as both an idiot and someone you pitied. A charity case, someone a town like Forest Spirit couldn't turn away.

Pathetic? Yes. An amazing actress? Also yes. Perhaps I won't kill her, after all. I won't turn her, not in a million years. Perhaps I'll give a small prize for her troubles. I'm sure Dean has stolen some coin in the past.

###

"It's the weirdest thing," I say as I slip into my den, assuming, correctly, that Flare will have waited for my return here.

"What is?" Flare asks.

"My instincts regarding turning. The girl today? When she woke up and started crying, I felt physical revulsion at just the thought of turning her. I mean, there must be a reason for it. Do you think it's because I'm an Alpha or because I'm unbitten?"

Flare cocks his head. "That's a good question. But I don't have enough data on those things to give you anything other than speculation,"

I sigh and begin pacing. "Do you think the wolf that turned Sam had these instincts? That there's another pack like us out there, another Alpha?"

"That is a possibility, yes," Flare says. He hesitates before adding: "I actually wanted to talk to you about Sam,"

"What about him?"

"I don't think you becoming his Alpha is entirely as symbolic as I first thought it was,"

I frown, stoping my pacing to stand in front of the red-furred wolf. "Elaborate, please,"

"I've noticed that he uses the Alpha title with far less frequency than the rest of us. I think that perhaps, in order to become his Alpha you need to- ahem, override his previous Alpha's claim."

"But Sam never met the wolf who turned him,"

Flare nods, he knows that. He was there when Sam told the story. "You didn't bite Alarra and yet she still calls you Alpha. Even though Sam has no real loyalty to whoever might be his first Alpha, he may have instinctual loyalty to them. That's why I want to make sure he's actually ours, in case we ever run into... others of our kind,"

I hum. "What's your new theory?" I ask. I'm not angry at him for potently having gotten it wrong the first time. This was a guessing game disguised as chess, they were bound to make mistakes.

"I think," Flare begins, carefully, to lower my expectations. "You should fight him,"

I open my mouth to argue but Flare holds up a paw, silencing me. "You don't have to actually fight him, just tussle with him for a bit before pinning him. Then, to cement your position as his Alpha, bite him,"

"Bite him?" I ask incredulously.

Flare furrows his brows. "I don't know why you're so surprised. It's a logical conclusion, don't you think? You need to be bitten to be turned, so maybe you need to be bitten to switch Alphas,"

Once again, this is a guessing game, and it wasn't illogical for that to be the way it was done.

I sigh. "I'll do it, but you have to convince Sam,"

"Then it's a good thing that I can be very convincing," Flare says, smirking. Then, he grimaces. "That sounded dirty, I didn't mean it like that,"

"I didn't think you did, but now I kinda do,"

"I'm gonna-" Flare snaps his mouth shut, scowling. He stands up and marches out of my den.

"Have a nice talk!" I call after him, cackling at his muffled curse.