by Claudia King
"The fight is over!" he bellowed, forcing the snarling wolf to release his hold and heaving him bodily away from Caspian.
"Nothing is over!" a man at the front of the crowd, seemingly one of Karel's packmates, called back. "He did not submit!"
"He was pinned and beaten, the fight is over!" Khelt retorted, quieting the hubbub of disagreement with a snarl and a flash of bared teeth.
Caspian and Karel reverted from the shapes of their wolves, nursing their wounds as the crowd surged forward to embrace them. There were still voices of dissent insisting that Karel had won, but Caspian was clearly the victor in the eyes of most. A smile of satisfaction touched his lips as he rubbed his bleeding neck, eyeing his humbled opponent as he glared back through the crowd.
Then he felt Netya's arms around his shoulders as she tugged him to his feet, and the rush of victory melted away as her panicked voice pushed his wolf back into hibernation.
"Are you hurt? Why were you fighting? What has happened?!"
"Netya, Netya," Khelt called with a chuckle as he made his way over to them. "Worry not! He fought bravely for your honour. Celebrate in Caspian's victory with him! He has won great status for us this night." The alpha paused, remembering himself again. "Ah, great status for you and your new pack, of course. But as my sworn brother, I still say any victory of his is a victory of mine!" He laughed and threw an arm around Caspian's shoulders. "Such a fight! A good one, for sure, though you could have taken him sooner."
"Do not worry yourself, I am well," Caspian said, giving Netya a smile. "It was good to fight for something. For you." He ran a hand over his neck, feeling the scratches and cuts Karel had left on him, but none of them seemed severe.
But rather than relief, Netya was looking at him with incredulity. "And when have you ever been one to fight? Why? What if you had been hurt?"
"Netya, I am fine," he replied, returning her look with bemusement. He staggered for a moment, feeling the effects of the fermented drink once again, and put a hand on her shoulder for support.
"You have been gone for hours," she said. "This is not like you."
"No," he replied, starting to become exasperated. "It is not. I spend weeks, seasons tending to my pack. As I am proud to. As is my duty. But tonight, I sit with my friend, and I remind myself of all the things I have come to miss."
"You miss fighting?"
"No, Netya," he repeated with a sigh. "I fought for you. He insulted your honour—"
"I care not for my honour! I hear a dozen different voices whisper sun wolf after me every time I stray outside our camp. Adel says we must be cautious, not pick fights. She was looking for you this evening, I have been looking—"
"Then perhaps she is the one you should be spending your evenings with," he replied shortly. The pride of fighting for Netya's honour was turning to mud in his stomach. This one night, just this one night, he had wanted to put the trials of the past year from his mind, to sit with his friend, and to permit himself the things he so rarely wished to be a part of. Could Netya not understand that?
She looked hurt by his words, but so was he by hers. Everything he did was for her, the challenge he had just won first and foremost among them, and yet still she seemed more devoted to Adel than to him.
"Very well then," she replied, giving Caspian an icy look that reminded him far too much of her mentor. "Drink and feast and fight if you must. I will be back at the camp once you have had your fill."
"Netya, do not—" he called after her, but his words trailed off in a groan of frustration as she turned her back and hurried away stiffly through the crowd.
"Ah, females and their sensitive spirits," Khelt said with a wry look. "She sometimes confused me with her wants also."
Caspian rubbed his forehead, allowing himself to be led back to the remains of the fire by Khelt and one of the female huntresses, who quickly set about dabbing his wounds with a handful of damp moss once he sat down.
"She was your woman?" the girl asked.
Caspian nodded.
"I would have been proud if my man won a challenge for me," she continued, trying to ease Caspian's clothing gently away to get at the cuts on his shoulders.
He shrugged her off after a moment and got back to his feet, ignoring her words of concern.
"Where are you off to, my friend?" Khelt said. "There is plenty more drink to be had, and the night is young!"
"You must enjoy the rest of it without me, I fear," Caspian replied. "Save the drink for tomorrow. And thank you for your company this evening. It is good to be back together with such a fine friend."
Khelt exhaled a long breath through his nose, but he gave his companion an understanding smile and a nod of respect. Excusing himself from the huntress still trailing along behind him, Caspian left the fire and made his way to the edge of the clearing, seeking out the quiet of the trees as he took the long way back to Adel's camp.
—15—
A Night of Schemes
Adel's nimble fingers worked the final black feather into place, weaving it together with the others as she threaded a strand of sinew through the hollow shaft with the aid of a tiny bone needle. With a smile she surveyed the finished garment, the work of many long nights spent up by herself. She would need a new task to occupy her time once the gathering was over, but that could wait for now. News of Khelt's arrival had found its way to her side of the camp earlier that evening, which meant the circle of alphas was now fully assembled. If they were to reach a decision on whether to accept her or not, it would happen soon.
The den mother's well-trained ears picked up the distinct rhythm of Netya's footsteps creeping through the grass outside, cautious and quiet as always, accented by the tap of the loose leather ties that dangled from her moccasin boots. She had sent her apprentice out to find Caspian earlier, and it did not sound as though she had returned with him in company.
Carefully folding up her work and concealing it back within its bundle, Adel stepped out of her tent and circled around the sleeping shapes of her followers until she found Netya huddled up by herself on the side of the hill facing toward the trees. She was alone, as expected, and her fur blanket was clutched tight around her shoulders. Adel made to sit down beside her, but as she took a step closer she heard the sound of a muffled sob. Hesitating, she listened to Netya's quiet weeping for a moment longer, then backed silently away with a frown.
She knew her apprentice would have come straight to her or one of the others with anything urgent, and she was familiar enough with the tears of young women to guess at what was bothering her. It had taken longer than Adel expected, but it seemed the girl was finally learning that love never remained pure and unchallenged forever.
Casting her eyes over the gathering, she caught sight of Caspian wandering through the trees in her direction a short while later. He had a slow, meandering gait to his movements, and once again it was no difficult task for the den mother to guess at what he had spent his evening doing. Gathering her gown about her, she slipped quietly down the side of the hillock and disappeared into the trees, making her way toward him until she was close enough to see the fresh cuts on his face and neck.
For the first time that night, she was surprised by what she saw. Caspian was a speaker of pleasant words who attracted the attention of males and females alike, not the sort who picked fights and sought to assert himself through his physical strength. It would not have surprised her if Netya had found him in the tender company of someone else that evening, as was often the case with young lovers in the heat of the gathering, but perhaps she had been wrong in her assumptions.
Forgetting the string of reprimands that had been lingering on her tongue, she stepped out to meet Caspian and placed herself squarely in his path. Taking her sudden appearance in his stride, the male gave her a weary look and came to a halt a few paces away.
"Netya, and now you," he said. "You seem like mother and daughter these days."
"You have been fighting," Adel observed.
&
nbsp; "You may thank your brother. It seems his pride still needs tending after the way you dismissed him. Come then, will you scold me like a child for being a foolish male? For fighting when I should have backed down? It may be easy for you, Adel, and you know I have never been one to act rashly. But I am still a man, whether my pack believe themselves in need of one or not. I won you the respect of many tonight, the kind of respect that cannot be earned through magic or healing. I cannot advise you the way I advised Khelt, so I do what little else I can instead. Tonight, I fought. Will you turn your wicked tongue on me for that?"
Adel looked at him curiously, unperturbed by his tone. The pair of them were wily enough to speak openly with one another, disregarding the customary respect that most exchanges between their people were bound by. And so Caspian's words did not insult her, but rather left her intrigued.
"This is a side of you I have rarely seen, Caspian," she said.
He let out a small snort of amusement. Clearly he had been enjoying a night of drinking in the hours prior. "It is a side that my time with you and the others has brought out," he replied. "Every male wolf understands that a pack needs an alpha. I would ignore the beast if I could, but tonight he felt like coming out. If I cannot counsel you as I did Khelt, then perhaps this is to be my role in your clan."
"Our clan," she impressed upon him, her thoughts quickly darting from one possibility to the next. In truth, she had been at something of a loss as to what to do with Caspian. He had followed her for Netya's sake, but that could not be the only thing that bound him to her new pack. "Netya is upset with you," she continued, "but I am not. I do not believe we can survive without strong males among us. If you won a challenge against my brother this evening, then you did me a great service."
Caspian seemed a little taken aback. "You approve? Why? I thought you planned to win status through your talents as a seer?"
"That was before you showed me your willingness to fight. Rokan and Hari are no great warriors, and I believed you had no taste for it." A cunning smile touched her lips. "If you think our pack is in need of an alpha male, then that place is yours to take. I need a champion. A warrior who can rise to the challenges of the other packs when they respect nothing but power."
"I still have no taste for such things," he muttered, but Adel could tell he was considering her offer. Even though Caspian walked the path of restraint and wisdom, she suspected the male part of him deep in his core still lit up with elation when others cheered his name in victory. Perhaps he had experienced it that very night.
"How would I explain such a thing to Netya?" he said. "Clearly she does not approve."
"Does a warrior need a woman's approval?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Stop testing me. You know I am not that kind of man. If I fight for you again, it will upset her."
"I would not ask you to do so unless there was need. The girl may be upset, but she is no fool. There may come days when tooth and claw are the only things standing between us and our fate, and will Netya not feel safer then knowing there is at least one tested warrior to defend her?"
"I do not know! I am torn, Adel. I can no longer be the man I once was, and yet in being something different I risk losing the very things I care for! If there is a new path I must walk, then I cannot see it."
"If you wish, I could venture into the spirit world for you. I may catch some glimpse of what your fate holds."
He gave her a sceptical look. "Can you promise me it would not be tainted by your own desires?"
Adel pressed her lips together and remained silent. Caspian was too cunning. He was one of those who could see through the veil of the spirit world and the scattered promises it held. The workings of fate could not sway a man like him from the pull of his own conscience. If he was to find a new path, it would have to be one he decided on for himself.
"Curse this drink, my head is beginning to beat itself like a drum," he sighed, rubbing his face with both hands.
"I would offer you a remedy, but we have none. Sleep it away, and regain your wits for tomorrow."
Caspian nodded and began dragging himself back in the direction of their camp. For a moment Adel regretted her attempt to influence him, feeling a tug of pity for the conflicted man. But her way was best in the long run. She would lead a pack in which he and Netya could live a better life than they would have had under Khelt. Free from pointless bloodshed with the Sun People and safe from the aggression of the other clans. It would be a prize hard-won, but she would fight for it.
She watched Caspian climb half way up the hillock, stare for several long moments toward the spot where Netya lay, then retreat back the way he had come to curl up in the shape of his wolf near the entrance to the camp. Guarding his woman like a watchdog, he finally dozed.
Adel gathered her gown around her and slipped back into the trees, remaining hidden from the eyes of the gathering as she prepared herself to fight her own battles later that night.
Though she had no authority to stride into another alpha's camp and demand an audience with him, the members of Khelt's pack had not yet forgotten the status she once held over them. A chilling gaze and a few hard words directed at one of her former seers, and she was being ushered quickly and quietly in the direction of the alpha's tent. She had not worn her customary headdress that evening, and a furred cowl hid her distinctively beautiful black hair from view. No curious eyes were aroused by her presence in Khelt's camp, and those few who did catch sight of her face had the good sense to seal their lips and glance away quickly in fear. She and their alpha had, after all, attempted to kill one another the last time they were together.
Stepping into Khelt's tent, she found him lying face down in a pile of hastily scattered furs with his arm around a naked girl curled against his side. She could smell the lingering scent of fresh lovemaking in the air, and it was all she could do to keep from curling her lip in distaste.
"Girl, go back to your own camp," she said as the unfamiliar female stirred.
Khelt's companion frowned up at her defensively, but upon meeting the den mother's dark eyes she quickly looked away and extracted herself from the alpha's embrace, taking the shape of her wolf and darting silently from the tent.
Khelt rolled over with a groan, holding a wrist over his eyes. "Spirits help me I have barely slept, can I not go one night without—" His eyes flashed open when he realised who was standing over him, jumping to his feet with his teeth bared in a snarl. "Witch, you slip into my tent like a spectre! Who allowed you to set foot in here?"
"I will spare them your wrath and keep their name to myself," Adel said in a steady tone. "I have something to ask of you, Alpha."
Khelt snorted in amusement, not bothering to clothe himself as he turned and bent to pick up a waterskin from beside his furs. "What reason would I have to give you anything when you wake me in the middle of the night?" he grumbled, his aggression fading. As much as they disliked one another, they both still carried a great deal of guilt over what their unwillingness to compromise had wrought the last time they were together. It was not a path they would stray down again.
"I would have come to you in the morning, but this should not wait, and it is better said under the cover of dark."
"Is not everything you say?" Khelt muttered. He filled his mouth with water, then motioned for her to continue as he swallowed it down. "Come then, out with it, though I am in no mind to grant you favours."
"This favour will be of benefit to both our packs."
Khelt's brow wrinkled with concern. As little as he cared for her, she knew he could not pretend he felt the same way about Caspian or Netya.
"Have you spoken to any of the others about why we parted ways?" Adel continued.
"No. It is between you and I, and I told the other alphas as much."
"What about your pack? Have they passed the tale around by themselves yet?"
He gave her a grimace. "They are not fools. They know when to keep their tongues guarded."
"That is good. Then I would ask you to tell the alphas a different story the next time they question you about it."
"Ah, the lies." Khelt threw his hands in the air. "I have not been here one night and already you seek to pull me into your web." He fixed her with a hard look. "I will not sully my honour by lying to the other alphas."
"But you would seek to preserve it by denying them the truth?" Adel said with a hint of ice in her voice. "It is your lie or mine, and mine will at least do us both some good. It is barely even a stretching of the truth."
Perhaps Khelt was only focused on keeping his temper in check, but he said nothing.
"Tell the alphas you exiled me and my seers for performing dark magic."
"What?" he snorted. "Tell them you are the witch they all believe you to be? I have half a mind to, but I will not cast the names of your followers in the dirt also. You are crazed, woman."
"Consider my status, Khelt," Adel said as patiently as she could. "I have no warriors. Alpha Miral already has a taste for my blood, and Caspian cannot protect Netya and the others from his wrath by winning drunken challenges." She looked at him poignantly, and was satisfied to see him twitch with discomfort. "So what am I to do? You know better than any that I refuse to make myself thrall to another alpha, but that is what I and the rest of my seers will become if the other packs do not respect our power."
"So," Khelt murmured, "you would rather them think you a conjurer of dark spirits? They already know you are powerful. It is foolish."
"Then tell me how else I am to win my status among the other alphas? I must have their respect, Khelt, as must you. If you say nothing of what happened they will begin to spin their own tales, and if you speak the truth..." She allowed herself to trail off. Khelt did not need reminding of how an alpha who willingly allowed his den mother to leave with such a sizeable part of his pack would be viewed.