The First Wolves

4. PLANS AND PROTESTS

“We must consider what will be in the best interest of the pups and un-shifted wolves, as winter approaches,” Iselda contributed to the discussion.

Conri had called for a meeting with the ranked members of the pack to decide on the best and safest location to lead the pack to later that afternoon. Ewan was studying the map, analysing the best geographical points that had maximum coverage, and proximity to water. Andre, the lead hunter, was also studying the map, calculating the practicalities of hunting parties, the likelihood of prey being in the area, and how the food would be gathered and stored.

“If we were to camp in Perusia, we would be near the lake, but that would be the first thing our enemies would cut us off from. We would have to make one stop, fill as many jars, pots and containers as possible and then ration them out. When it rains we can refill what was empty, and this might sustain us. If it freezes we won’t be able to light a fire without revealing our location, that is where we will come unstuck, and if the rain never falls making us run out of water,” Ewan played out each scenario, sharing it with the group.

“There will be very little meat to hunt in the mountains, maybe some birds, dormice or hares. A better plan would be to hunt a deer on the way, and then salt it to preserve it. We should ask Winnie for the best solution. We will have to butcher it too, so that it is small enough to carry. It will be too heavy to carry over the challenging terrain in some places,” Andre concluded, and the other members nodded in agreement.

Fidella’s eyes clouded over as she called for Winnifred. Timidly, she approached their gathering, reluctant to interrupt their planning. As always, her eyes searched for Ewan first, and once she saw him, her shoulders relaxed a little.

“Good morning, Alpha and Luna. I’ve completed a count of all the resources we have. With the provisions available for the pack size as it is now, we will have enough food for a month, but this will change when more pack members are rescued. I had a wooden shed built, and started smoking some of the meat at the start of the week so it would be preserved. We are packing that now. The new meat left over is being salted. It’s the best I could manage in a short timeframe. All the grain and lentils are stored and ready for transport,” Winnifred recited her report as if she had been practising all morning. It was everything the group had asked for.

“Thank-you Winnifred, we will need your expertise when we camp in Perusia, it is in the mountains so we will have to store, preserve and ration food as much as we can,” Conri explained, watching as the woman who had mothered him as a child blushed from his praise.

“Yes alpha, why are we heading to the mountains rather than towards the sea? I thought we would find our escape in another country, away from here.” Winnifred asked, curiously.

Ewan ushered her closer to the map, which still contained the counters on there from the previous night. He pointed to the location of their next camp.

“This is where we will stay for the autumn and early winter,” Ewan pointed out, and then moved his finger over to the town of Sabini, “This is where Otto’s wife is, and other pack members’ people. We will rescue them, and save as many other wolves as we can,” Winnifred smiled, and nodded in response, supporting the danger they would face for the joy of a reunion.

Ewan dragged his finger towards the coast, where the mines were.

“This is where my father was taken to. We will find and rescue him, his imprisonment will be at an end.” Ewan smiled, expecting to see a mirrored response from Winnie.

He was wrong.

Clenching her jaw and shrinking her fingers into tight fists, she glared at the ranked members unaffected by their status. The silence was uncomfortable, creating a glass barrier between them that they were too nervous to shatter.

“NO!” Winnifred growled in fury.

“What do you mean ‘no’? If my father is alive, I have a duty to find and free him as his son!” Ewan yelled back, defensively.

“Your mother and father sacrificed everything to keep you safe. The planning it took to keep you safe, to get you out of that hell house was as dangerous as it was devastating. Did you know it was me who carried you out? Hidden in a wicker basket. Terrified you might cry, and we would both be killed? I was seventeen years old, younger than you are now. I could have escaped at the same time. I saw my opportunity. If I had run they would have sent out their guards, and although they might not have found me, they would certainly have found you. I turned my back on my chance, and returned to slavery. Your mother, father, and I, knew what the price was for your safety and we paid it gladly, but to put yourself in danger to free Pepin, who isn’t likely to have survived the death of your mother, his fated mate, is disrespectful to the forfeits we all made.” Winnifred shouted, panting at the end of her tirade.

The quiet that followed was juxtaposed to the incensed atmosphere that screamed with disappointment, rage and grief. Ewan looked at Winnifred, but all the emotions she had just scattered across the hopes for their plans were gone from her expression. She had resumed her cold mask that they were used to the matriarch wearing.

“I didn’t know you smuggled me out of the house, or that you returned to the House of Heaton so that I would be safe. I am grateful to you, but you can’t blame me for not knowing the details that you and Caius won’t tell me,” Ewan patiently, but assertively told her.

“Caius? You were raised by…Caius?” Winnifred clarified, her shock scarcely hidden.

“Yes, did you know him?”

“I…He…It doesn’t matter, in raising you he did more than he was expected to…as far as I knew, he was supposed to help you disappear,” She snorted cynically. “Caius and I, were children saving a child,” She retreated into the mysteries of her memories once more.

“We will be trying to unite Otto with his family first. They have children who might be alive. Even if Pepin has died, we have a duty to save as many wolves from the mines as we can. It is barely an existence, and I couldn’t leave these lands without trying. We may find Pepin there, his need for revenge could have saved him, like it did with Titan.” Conri mediated.

“Georgina’s death was quick, the loss prolonged. Aoife’s death was excruciatingly slow. Every scratch, gouge, and wound would have been felt by Pepin. There’s no doubt in my mind that when she died, he would have died too,” Winnifred protested once more.

“How do you know the details of her end?” Ewan asked, and Winnifred took a step back, trying not to get caught in the net of her previous lie.

“I didn’t just turn up at the end of the execution. Antonia made me what the entire thing, it was a warning for me as much as it was to gain information for her. I watched her fight for two hours, and I could hardly recognise the woman I had called my sister by the end. They are both dead, and you shouldn’t get your hopes up.” She turned away from Ewan’s judgemental gaze, knowing the thoughts that were running through his mind.

He blamed her.

“I will help prepare for travel,” Winnifred excused herself with a slight bow to her Alpha and Luna.

They sighed a heavy breath of relief at her departure. She was no longer the matriarch, but her influence could still be felt by all, and on occasions like this it was hard to detach who she had been from who she was now.

Jerrick, who had been promoted to Delta after successfully completing numerous rescue missions, scratched the back of his neck before voicing the biggest question of all.

“Where will we find a home? Winnifred was right when she said by sea would be the most sensible way.”

“The trouble is we have no idea how to operate a galley, so even if we manage to convince the crew to kindly step aside we would still be stuck at the port with no way to move it,” Ewan answered sarcastically.

It was the residual aftertaste of frustration from the conversation with Winnifred that caused the Beta to be acerbic with Jerrick, but the sting was felt by the younger wolf nonetheless.

“I have Jenny, and a pup on the way. I would be a poor Delta, and a worse mate if I didn’t think of how we will all find a home at the end of this. You are searching for your family from the past, and I am planning for my family in the future. I don’t ridicule you. I never declared I wouldn’t go to the mines, so don’t be close-minded when I broach the subject of a possible escape. We didn’t rescue all the wolves we have, to only offer them death at the conclusion of an endless journey.” Jerrick argued back, ending all replies.

Ewan nodded and patted his arm by way of apology.

“This is a subject we will return to, but let us head to the north. That is where the armies are few, and the ports are busier. We will make our next camp in the mountains where we can send rescue groups out to the towns until the snow comes. It would seem the most opportune direction for any outcome we decide on later.” Fidella smoothed over, before the group went to help with the packing.

Ewan offered to tell Otto that they would be saving his wife first when they arrived at the mountains, and he should start to think of a plan.

Fidella watched as their Delta dashed over to his love, holding no grudge against the Beta who had handled him unfairly.

“Jenny has matured Jerrick, when he was at the House of Heaton, he seemed so young and rash, never thinking before speaking.” Fidella mentioned.

Conri nodded, yet suppressed a growl when he thought of the lewd comment Jerrick had nearly made about Fidella one time, before she became the Luna. He had matured greatly since then. They watched him in the distance as he fussed over his mate, refusing to let her lift their basic supplies. Each time he would take a break, he was sure to kiss Jenny’s cheek and then her bump, like a ritual of devotion. Across the camp, Otto slapped his hand on Ewan’s upper arm in gratitude before turning to Rufus who was always nearby. Rufus took him in a friendly embrace, whispering words of encouragement, and making a plan in his ear. At first, Conri had been suspicious of Rufus’ quiet nature, and his unwillingness to share his experiences, but it was clear to see that he was a quiet man with kind intentions. If the scar on his face was anything to judge his past by, then all they knew was that it had wounded deeply, healed poorly, and would stay with him permanently.

While the pack moved peacefully towards Perusia, the ranked members, warriors and scouts created a defensive outer circle, knowing that danger would soon be following them. Those who could shift were carrying younger pups who would easily tire. The older ones, like Bruno, insisted that they marched like warriors, and Iselda encouraged them. The elders were slower at the back of the group, but with good company, except for Daizus who was riding atop of Brodie. Ewan was too livid to speak to Winnifred, unable to understand her unwillingness to try, and her commitment to abject hopelessness. The argument had only made him more determined to prove her wrong.