Chapter 166: What The Alpha Decides
Greymaw stood at the front of the elders, his scarred face set in hard lines. And asides from the elderly males present, there were two younger ones, Girruk, and Hiro, who was another elder’s son.
Girruk stood with his arms crossed and his jaw set in a way that was clearly meant to look imposing. Beside him was Hiro, a lean wolf with sharp features and cold, pale eyes who rarely spoke but watched everything with an unsettling focus.
He felt bored and wanted to be anywhere but here.
"Alpha," Greymaw started, "We are truly grateful for what the shiftless—" At Calis’s displeased look, the old wolf disgruntledly corrected himself. "—for what that clan leader has done with the water. No one is against that."
He paused, letting the concession settle before driving forward.
"But she has come back, why? And with two males of different beast types. They should not be among us, and we thought you were only heading there to see what their clan was like."
Another elder gruffly chimed in. "They don’t look like they are leaving soon, and be fair to the Alpha, the fe—leader followed him here with some strange thing. That fe—leader has strange things she does. She is dangerous. Her presence is already affecting the pack in ways that concern us."
Calis said nothing.
Another elder added, "Alpha, the cubs are curious about the outsiders. It is not right that they influence our wolves like this. If this continues, they will form bonds with different beast types before they even understand what that means."
"And the females," Greymaw added, his tone sharpening. "They are already flocking to her and laughing as if she is one of us."
Calis looked at each of them in turn.
"Are you finished?"
The question was quiet, but it cut through the murmuring like a blade. Several of the elders shifted on their feet.
"You call yourselves the wise ones," Calis said, his voice low and even. "Yet you speak as though a female helping our pack is a threat."
He took a step forward.
"Had any of you come with me to her clan, you would have seen what I saw. There were so many wonderful things, and they had so much flowing water. Their cubs too looked well fed and healthy. Even more than ours."
Calis frowned. While he didn’t necessarily like the loud sounds the cubs created, they didn’t seem as exposed to corrupted monsters as his pack had been.
The shelters they had could not hold back or protect them from the monsters, but he could see how they would keep out the weather.
His crimson eyes swept across the elders.
"There are things we can learn from them. From Tera especially. She solved our water problem in a single night. A problem that we have lived with for years. Something none of us, none of you could fix. We need her whether you like it or not."
The silence that followed was uncomfortable, and a few elders shifted on their feet while they avoided Calis’s eyes.
He looked a lot like his father.
Greymaw’s jaw worked. "We do not dispute her usefulness, Alpha. But the males she brought. They are weak, and I am sure the rest..."
Greymaw paused, remembering the massive bear that had come for the shiftless female. Even the panther had looked threatening, along with the beasts they had come with.
Maybe not all of them were weak, but they had more capable wolves.
The old man continued, "Their manner is too carefree. If our wolves spend too much time around them, that softness will spread. We cannot afford—"
"Softness?" Calis’ brow twitched.
"They laugh too much, and they are not even hyenas. It is not normal. They do not even carry themselves like warriors. Our wolves need discipline, and you know that."
The others nodded in agreement.
Calis was confused, and he did not at all like what he was seeing. The longer he stood there, the more he wanted to walk away. He usually held the elders in high esteem. Had they always been this stupid?
What did all that complaint have to do with the fact that Tera was there to help?
Calis could feel his annoyance rising as they were using silly reasons to combat him.
Rather than discussing how to curb their concerns and do things their way while having the other clan members around, it felt like they just wanted her to take her help and go away.
"And what about the cubs?" another one pressed. "The longer the outsiders stay, the more our young ones will grow attached. They do not know any better. They will start wanting to play with the others, form friendships, and before we know it, they are mating with those other—other—"
The elder’s face grew red, already fuming as he could barely even get the words out.
"And what exactly is wrong with that?"
The question landed like a stone dropped into still water.
Every elder went rigid.
Calis frowned. "And why does that make you so angry?"
He understood their reasoning, however...
"I have been paying attention to the cubs of the Dow clan. They are in good condition. They are well-fed, active, and they look as whole and healthy as any normal beast. The older cubs are in no way weak either. Even her—"
Calis stopped himself.
He had just been about to mention Tera’s cubs.
An unnerving feeling came over him as he remembered how bright and chubby the twin females looked. They were very healthy, strong cubs who had been born to someone like Tera.
If she had his cubs...
Calis stopped himself immediately, alarmed by the thought. What was he even thinking?
The elders noticed the pause. Several of them exchanged glances, and the air in the circle shifted.
Calis saw the look forming on Greymaw’s face and cut it off before it could take shape.
"Do not read meaning into my words," he gritted out, his voice carrying a warning edge that made Girruk’s ears flatten. "I am stating an observation. Nothing more. I am not on board with mating and siring cubs with other beast types," Calis continued firmly. "I have never said otherwise, and my position has not changed."
The elders relaxed slightly, though the tension hadn’t fully left the air.
"But you make it far more severe than it actually is. And you need to stop this foolishness of pretending we do not need help." Calis’ voice hardened. "I listened to you when you advised me to cut off ties with passing tribes and clans that wanted to trade with us. I understood your reasons, and I respected them.
"But Tera’s clan is different. I have seen what they are capable of, and you have seen what she has done for us with the water. I have made the decision to work with her to improve this pack, and that decision is final."
His sharp gaze moved across every face in the circle.
"Put aside your complaints and accept it. We can discuss how to go about your concerns, but the clan members are not going anywhere yet. Whether you like it or not, I am doing what is best for this pack. You should understand that!"
Some of the elders lowered their eyes, chastened. Two of them, the ones who had been quietly supportive of Tera from the start, exchanged a look of visible relief.
Greymaw’s face was a mask. Whatever he was feeling, he had buried it deep enough that even Calis couldn’t read it.
The silence stretched.
Then Girruk opened his mouth.
"The alpha seems to have lost his way."