MEN SHOULD KEEP THEIR WORD . . .

Time…time was what the male had needed to come back to himself. He knew that the alpha of his pack was different and could be unpredictable. There had been plenty of times where he had been surprised by Kershov, but he had never felt shock like this before. But that was what had happened, Grey Wind had truly been shocked by what he had seen. And he needed time to himself to try and figure out what was happening. It had been many, many years since he first met the white male. Back in Abendrot, a pack name he barely remembered now. Now it was Uyaraut and life was so very different now. Back then he understood how the world worked. There was good and there was evil. There was life and there was death. It was black and white. Now there were so many layers to his life. Noone was truly good or evil. While he had tried to remain true to who he was and how he was raised to be, he had done truly evil things. No good wolf would kidnap another and keep them imprisoned, but that was how he had come to find his mate. Many years ago he never would have thought it possible to find real love from that sort of situation. But the female he had taken all those years ago was so different, just as he was. And the two were truly meant for each other despite their beginnings. And now he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

Not only did Grey Wind find a mate, he had a family now. He never thought the two of them would have pups, but he was so happy that they did. He couldn’t imagine his life without them. They had become his world and made him see thigs in a better light again. There had been so much darkness, both figuratively and literally as he tried to be around at night as much as possible to be with Macaria. And now he had another thing…or things…to live for. And he would do everything he could to raise them as he had been raised, but better. And so trying to be a good parent and pack member he had led his young to the pack meeting, Macaria following along underground to keep herself alive in the daylight hours. The brute had expected a normal pack meeting, updates on what was going on and what needed to be done in the pack. But none of what he expected had happened. Kershov was rumored to be different, and he was, as was all of his followers. It was something that brought them together as a pack, not something that was bad. But this…this was a new level of different. Grey Wind did not want to coddle his pups, but he also didn’t want them to watch their alpha, a wolf they were told was their guardian and leader, physically mutate and tear himself apart. He didn’t want to see it himself. Bloodshed was not something that was foreign or scary to him, in fact it exhilarated him. But this…this was different. This was someone he had a relationship with and cared about. And then it was taken a step further when Kershov asked them to do the same. To make him bleed and hurt. To tear into muscle and tissue and punish him for some deed he claimed he did. But this just didn’t feel right, even to one with a troubled and muddied conscious.

And so Grey Wind had to speak his mind, had to say how he was against such acts. And then he left. He left with his family, not able to stomach what was happening. Was this the same alpha and pack that he joined all those years ago? Or had this all changed like the rest of his life? Would anything ever stay consistent? It was overwhelming and he just needed to get away from it all, to feel like a normal unchanged wolf. Not one that had been physically changed by magic and emotionally changed by the others in his world. Grey Wind took the time he needed alone to compose himself, finally snapping under all the change and pressure of the world. But he would not let others see him like that…not Macaria and not Kershov. But after some time he had come back, still himself but no longer on the edge of a breakdown. He had responsibilities here, both to his family and to his pack. He had left at a bad time, getting a new rank, but there could be no changing what had happened in the past. In the end he would always return, to his family and to his pack. These wolves would always be home, no matter where they were.

And so the scaled brute let his reptilian covered stilts carry him back into familiar territory, feeling more like himself the further in that he walked. Ready for the next stage of his life. The male searched for an area that could be used as training grounds, knowing that he was already ready to start training those that wanted to be soldiers and defenders of this pack. When he found and area that had good ground, where they could start at the basics with what to do, he lifted his muzzle to the sky and let loose a howl. He was calling not only to let his family and Kershov know that he was back, but to all in the pack, letting them know to come if they wished to train under him. Settling into the middle of the clearing, the brute sat down, his albino scaled face reflected off the setting sun. Grey Wind didn’t want it to be completely dark, but he also didn’t want to wait much longer to see his mate again. And he knew that they would need the cover of darkness to see each other once more. But for now, he was ready to work.