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By the light... Chapter 4 Of sex and stupidity, and social mobility...

Note: Chapter 4 of By the light, written by RuthofPern. Usual warnings from previous chapters apply, with the addition that this chapter contains an M/M scene that transitions to an M/M/F scene. If such content isn't your thing, as soon as it starts heating up, scroll down to 'Three days later' to skip it.

Cassius groaned, his head spinning from the effects of the drugs in his system, the dull aching pain from his leg eating at him until consciousness was regained in an extremely discomforting fashion. His eyes cracked open as a fly landed on his flank and he went to swat it with his tail... only for nothing to happen as it dug it's proboscis into his flesh, adding another pain to his collective ones.

He was in an unfamiliar hut, the dampness in the dawn air that assailed his nose indicating it was close to the falls as, for that matter, did the muted sounds of falling water. Twin columns of smoke spiralled out from the remaining log ends in the central fire-pit to coil and writhe in the humid atmosphere as they fought for altitude and the drawing presence of the smoke hole in the roof. He grunted, shifting on the fresh pad under him as he tried to swat the fly again, muscles not responding for some reason as he eventually turned his head to glance at his nether end...

The howling growl echoed out around the sheer walled vale...Were ears all turned on heads in the direction of the distressed call, but most just ignored it, a smirk on their faces as they realised the source and reasons behind it. The story of the demoted Alpha and his now tailless state had been spread around the village by Robin and his returning 'pack' of old timers, and had been a source of amusement around the fire-pits of most of the huts the previous evening.

Helewys grunted and stood, stretching herself from nose to tail as Balthazar chuckled on the pad next to her, "Someone is not happy..." he commented.

She grinned back, "Figured he wouldn't be... I had better go and see to him before Simeon runs over and girds him in his new lair... He is likely to bite first, and thank later."

"Go then Ledrene, I thank you for your warmth last night..." Balthazar replied formally.

"Helewys please... let us try and make this work eh...?" Helewys replied, her head canted to one side.

Balthazar nodded with a smile as he rose with his own stretch, "Helewys it is then...now I will just go an rustle up a snack from the rabbit warren for him before I go and spend the day with Ysmay again...I think another twelve marks should cool her heat enough for the first time."

"From watching Robin and then Cassius with the other virgins, I would say so too. You will not escape so easily with me...I last three days at least!" Helewys joked and left the chuckling Balthazar in the shadows again.

She trotted towards the falls, a slight up-step in her lope as things were not going to be as bad they could have been...Balthazar had proved himself to be a caring lover...for the moment, and he was not an acerbic personality like the one that had vacated the hut before him. She grinned as a lesser groan followed by a feminine giggle came from one of the cliff-side huts which still had the privacy door in place. A rather shaky nose emerged, only for Simeon's whole form to be tumbled out into the morning by an avalanche of juveniles as they galloped off to play hunt until their Dam was ready to catch breakfast for them. "Fun evening?" Helewys queried as Simeon picked himself up and shook thoroughly.

"Oh it was a very fun... Night," Fel replied for him, appearing from the hut with a grin on her muzzle. She groomed his ruff flat, "Catch you later healer," she commented, planting a lick across his nose before running off in the direction in which her offspring had just departed.

"Remind me to heed your wisdom in the future... Helewys," Simeon commented, his smiling lips letting her know that no damage had been done.

Helewys burst out laughing, "She didn't break you then?"

"I will tell you later... when I know myself!" Simeon joked as he tried to walk towards where the growing moaning that had alerted him to his patient's wakefulness was emanating from, but only managing sway hipped limp instead.

"So go on then... tell me if the rumours are true about her... I know that Cassius only fathered two litters by her loins, Robin one before that... and then they gave her as boon to whoever she wanted. He never told me why..."

"Not for a gentleman to tell, you know..." Simeon grinned, "Only I bet that only the Alpha wolf males could handle her..."

Helewys burst out laughing again, "She plays with the Betas to... but you are right that she is only for Alpha's during heat. Had some good strong Alpha pups from her too."

"Just do me a favour please Ledrene..." Simeon asked, looking up at her formally.

"What's that Simeon?" she asked, equally formally.

"Make sure I am not around when she does go into cycle!"

They both ended up actually leaning on each other in mirth...

"What are you two laughing at..." Cassius growled as they came into view.

"Simeon traded for a favour with Fel, and ended up in her hut last night," Helewys replied.

"And I thought I was the poor bastard!" Cassius grunted, "You would have been better off if I had taken your throat yesterday healer."

"Oh I survived... just," Simeon replied, "I guess you are feeling a bit rough at the moment."

Cassius grunted, "They teach asking stupid questions when learning to be a healer?"

"No... They teach to ask those who can reply before prescribing relief," Simeon replied flatly.

Cassius just grunted in response, "My head is spinning, I feel sick, my leg wants to fall off and I appear to be missing my tail... so Yes, I am feeling Fucking Rough!" he snarled, "I thought you were going to heal me!"

Helewys darted forward and nipped him on the nose, "Manners, or I will order him to leave you to suffer," she barked forcefully.

"Don't you bite me bitch!" he spat at her.

"Alpha...and I will drag you to the ring myself now if you don't apologise!"

Cassius growled, but lowered his hackles, "Yes Alpha," he conceded, "Sorry healer..." he muttered.

Helewys stepped back from him then and settled in the doorway, "Good," she replied.

"You going to have a bitch chaperone at your side all the time healer?" Cassius taunted.

"If they volunteer...and only until I have been taught how to defend myself. I could in human form, as most patients in pain, could turn and attack us as we helped them... pain does that to a sane mind. I now have to learn to do so as a wolf. Your leg should heal straight and strong unless infection gets in, so I am afraid that the garlic is something you will have to live with for half a moon. I couldn't save your tail... it was dead when the fight was over and would have just rotted, killing you, so I amputated. You will have to make sure you keep the flap clean after taking a shit, but I left one so flies will not gather in the summer months, and to provide some dignity. If you want the flap off, say so now and I will call for Robin's steady hands again." Simeon stated, glancing at Helewys as she bridled at the insult again.

"Robin?" Cassius queried, "Why not yourself?"

"No hands yet... He was a leatherworker, so I knew he was competent. Best choice in the limited time I had to try and save your life."

Cassius grunted, "So who is caring for me while I am like this?"

"I will be looking in on you, even helping you out to the woods when you need relief if you want," Simeon replied, "Or you can crap in here and I will clean you up. It is part of my duties."

"The day I need attending to like a pup again, is the day I throw myself off the cliffs above. Someone to lean on would be useful though I suppose," he growled.

"Very well then, I will pit and cover for you. I have never asked before, but why no privies in the village anyway?" Simeon queried as he rebuilt the fire carefully, rolling more logs on with his nose while careful to keep his fur from catching.

Helewys grunted, "It was suggested by a few of us changelings, but the pack voted against them... Wolf noses are sensitive enough, even if a privy is properly used, they still stink. And Cassius didn't use his veto to let one be built."

"I will have to insist upon one at the healer's house... If the pack is now going to allow me to heal those disabled though injury or illness, not all will be able to walk to the woods. A basic pit would be fine, as there is no need for a human drop seat really now." Simeon replied, "You want to go now, or do you want to sleep again?" he asked.

"My insides are alright for the moment, healer," Cassius replied.

"Then swallow two of these pills, no more," he instructed, looking to Helewys who changed human in order to fish a couple of the painkillers from the leather pouch he proffered, placing them in Cassius' mouth. He swallowed convulsively. "Want some water to replace the lost blood before you pass out again?"

Cassius shook his head, vision spinning as he laid it down on the ferns again, "No... I would just be sick..."

"Well I will bring you some later along with some food hunted by the Alpha. Got to keep your strength up or my efforts will have been wasted."

Cassius just snored in return, fetching a grin from Helewys and Simeon combined.

"What now?" Helewys asked.

"Robin and his pills, and then hunting lessons with Gregor. I need to feed myself and my patients if I am not going to be a burden."

"The patient's pad-warmers will feed them if they have them; but until you can, Balthazar did offer. Go train, I will deal with Robin. What is the dose?" she asked as they left the hut.

"Two... four times a day with food, or he will sick them up. Keep warm and rested by a fire, and drink plenty of water even if he ends up drowning the trees!!"

Helewys laughed, "I will... he will listen to me. Thank you again."

"It is my duty... Ledrene."

"I am glad I bit you Simeon... but sorry too."

"I... I am not sorry now Helewys... I think that I will do well here."

"You will healer, you will." With that she trotted off to the old-timer huts to hunt her mentor down.

Simeon smiled, turning for the hut that he guessed Gregor would be found in... time for another day rolling in the woods!

****

"The art of hunting Simeon is silence. You still crash around like an un-weaned pup. The prey can all hear you coming before you yourself even smell them," Gregor admonished as Simeon walked straight through a briar patch again with a rustling that could wake the dead.

Simeon looked up sheepishly, "I will admit that my new coat protecting me from the things I previously avoided means I tend not to notice them."

"Then think human... go around or under the briars. Don't splash through water, jump it. When stalking not even your ears should betray your position... If hunting with a wing wolf or two, one should ambush, the others should drive. You will go hungry if you don't learn soon..."

"I could always snare and trap when I turn human again..." Simeon started.

"Don't even think about it healer... you smell like a wolf now. You will end up trapping the other Weres as they will ignore your scents as having just passed by... do that and you will lose your throat!" Gregor warned.

"Then what do you suggest?" Simeon asked.

"You could always trade favours with the bitches..."

"No!" Simeon protested as Gregor laughed.

"If you survived Fel, you can survive anyone in the pack..."

"How the fuck did you hear about last night already?" Simeon asked aghast.

"You are here, limping. Your favour was negotiated in public and in the circle... So the pack all know about it. Plus Fel is currently gossiping with the other bitches as they oversee the juveniles!"

"Oh great!" Simeon cursed.

Gregor chuckled, "Don't worry, she was impressed..."

"No, no and no again...Don't even think about it!" Simeon stated.

"About what?" Gregor asked innocently, a grin on his muzzle.

"I know your mind already you dirty bastard! I have had enough training in pleasing females thank you... And I am not taking her as my pad-warmer yet... that much I agreed with Fel."

Gregor chuckled again, "Don't blame you there... I spent a night with her once... never again!"

"She dislikes you for some reason..."

"The feeling is mutually returned... Anyhow, if you won't be her pad-warmer you must learn how to feed yourself."

Simeon grunted, "Better try again then."

Gregor shook his head before lifting it and sniffing at the light breeze, "Deer about a furlong upwind..." he glanced around the nearby trails, spotting what he was after, "Crouch and conceal yourself under that bole... Go for the throat of one of the does... they will be surplus now as the stags are not around at the moment. Do not miss!" With that, he ran off silently to circle around the back of what he knew was ahead... And a grin on his face over the prank he was about to play.

Simeon shook his head and did as bid, all senses heightened as he carefully covered his tracks before settling into the hollow. It would not be his first kill, he had struck it lucky with a rabbit at the warren when the others panicked... he had not got used to the taste of fresh blood yet though. A doe was far bigger than anything he had considered tackling up till now, though he knew that he should be able to hunt and handle one solo with ease... With Gregor driving a panicked herd, it would just be a case of timing and opening his jaws at the right moment while avoiding being trampled. His ears swivelled as the sound of many heavy hooves pounding the leaf matter into the dirt and he tensed on his sore haunches, every muscle strung like a finely tuned gittern's strings...

The undergrowth burst apart and he launched...his jaws locking around the throat of a very surprised... Wild boar! 'OH SHIT!!!!!' Simeon thought as the beast went even more wild, the sow and half grown piglets thundering bye as their Mate and sire's legs crumpled sideways under his weight and the force of his strike. Tusks were thrashing here and there, flashes of the deadly ivory glinting in Simeon's eyes as he tried to rip through the tough hairs and hide to reach the artery that would save his life and end that of his prey's, before one of those deadly skewers scored upon him. He could not let go... if he did, he was dead and he knew it!

Scrambling to avoid the pin wheeling hooves, he kicked out hard with his hind legs at the boar's belly, claws just grazing the sheath of the beast as it squealed in pain. Simeon was outweighed by at least three hundred and fifty pounds, and about ten years of experience. The boar's hide was scarred with tales of old battles won and lost.

A flash of black fur caught Simeon's eyes as Gregor appeared on the scene, tongue lolling slightly as a worried look passed across his face. "What the fuck did you go for the boar for?" the young wolf shouted.

Simeon glared daggers at him as he successfully avoided another swing of the boar's head... the beast was weakening slightly, its throat finally being constricted by the strangle hold. What was meant to have been a clean kill was developing into a contest of stamina... one which Simeon didn't think he was going to win.

"Well I can't help you... no openings..." Gregor commented as he looked at the possibilities of getting hold of the porcine neck.

Simeon kicked out at the sheath again, getting another huge squeal from the victim. Gregor suddenly nodded in understanding, "Ah... distract him for you?" Simeon forced his head to nod up and down, as he was thrown around like a rag doll by the panicked pig's thrashings.

Gregor circled the struggling pair, avoiding the hooves himself as hoved in to between the beast's rear legs. His own jaws lunged forward and grabbed a hold of the roiling ball sack and ripped it clear of the body, tubes of bloody virility spilling out onto the fallen leaf matter as the skin parted and the five hundred pounds of muscle connected to it arched in agony...

It was the break Simeon needed, he let the throat go as the boar thrashed, pausing for just a second before going for the missed jugular, his lupine teeth slipping in under the tusks and ripping a gash four inches long though the tough neck, the blood fountaining and soaking his fur through as he let go and jumped clear, panting.

Gregor grinned with a bloodied muzzle as the boar kicked its life away with death throws. "Good kill Simeon..." Simeon turned and snarled angrily at Gregor, who backed off at the look of pure hatred in his pupil's eyes, "What's up?" he asked, glancing to the side as a few other Weres appeared, drawn by the sounds of battle and commotion.

"Challenge... I challenge you, you total and utterly sadistic bastard! Where were the fucking does! I was nearly fucking killed!" Simeon growled, lunging forward as Gregor backed off a little.

"You should have gone for a piglet... It was just a joke..." Gregor protested as Simeon began circling him.

"My life is not a fucking joke!!! Accept the challenge in front of these witnesses or concede now and I will just scar you!" Simeon pressed as the other Weres backed off a little, forming an informal circle right there amongst the trees.

"I will hurt you... you are only in the early stages of training Simeon... Drop the challenge and concede to me... I will apologise..." Gregor countered, his guard up.

"No! You must answer for this one way or another... Do the witnesses agree?" he asked, turning to those that watched.

"Yes healer..." they answered back, "No less than four should tackle a veteran boar..."

"Then at least rest first..." Gregor started.

Simeon growled, cutting his sentence off as he launched into a full frontal attack. There was no pussy footing around like in the cut and run tactics used in the village circle...Gregor barely managed to avoid his muzzle being torn open as he dropped and rolled under Simeon's attack. Gregor's belly was left open but instead of going for a wound that would have killed him, Simeon just dropped like a stone, folding his legs as he landed with all his weight just under his tutor's ribcage, knocking every last breath of wind from the Were's body. Despite his blood fuelled anger he had no intention of killing Gregor, so he avoided cracking any ribs deliberately. A warning dash at Gregor's flanks plucked a few stands of black fur, before Simeon launched himself clear again.

Before the more experienced wolf could recover, Simeon turned and rolled him onto his belly, dropping all his weight onto the stunned Gregor's back as he closed his jaws around the black ruff and spine in a grip every bit as powerful as the one that had killed the boar, "Submit!" he growled through his mouthful.

Gregor tried to struggle, but knew he was defeated. His ribs ached as he fought to regain his breath, before he fell limp, "I submit healer..." he answered, his ears falling flat to his head.

"Witnessed..." the observers barked.

Simeon grinned internally, shifting his hips and letting his grip ease off, but not lifting his weight, "You are unmarked, which displeases me. You escape a little easily for your 'prank'..." he growled.

The witnesses turned to look at the pair of them in interest, smelling that something different was about to happen...

"W...W...What do you mean healer? The rules... The law... I submitted... You cannot harm me..." Gregor protested, suddenly realising that he may have just overstepped the mark too much with his pupil.

Simeon grinned, his visage still dripping with the boar's blood... he looked terrifying and he knew it... "Who said anything about breaking the laws?" he teased as he lowered his muzzle and licked the crotch blood from Gregor's muzzle in a passing swipe of his tongue.

"Then what?" Gregor asked, just a little scared of what he had created.

"A certain bitch suggested something last night when she was under me like you are just now..." he lowered his haunches and pressed his growing arousal along Gregor's spine as the black furred wolf shivered under him, "She suggested that I make you my bitch if the situation arose..."

A few of the witnessing Weres sniggered, no few of them Beta males...They had submitted willingly to Gregor in the past, and even taken him on rare occasions, but only because they wished to curry favour with him for the future.

"B... B... But... I have been trying to get you to submit to me in the hut... You have always refused..." Gregor stuttered as Simeon ground against him again.

Simeon chuckled, "I am not the one submitting now..."

Gregor considered for a second and then switched his tail to one side, "I submit again... take me healer..." he begged.

The witnesses grinned, "About bloody time you met your match," one of them said, sitting back on his haunches with the others to watch.

"He was lucky..." Gregor snarled as Simeon lifted his weight slightly to adjust for what he was about to do.

"Next time you defeat me in the circle, I will submit to you Gregor..." Simeon countered, switching his hips forward and impaling his tutor on his shaft.

Gregor howled, none of the Beta wolves being anything like comparable in size to Simeon as he felt himself split asunder as their balls met in a lewd slapping. He instantly became aroused, his own shaft dripping pre as the pain died back to a tolerable level. He had never been taken by another Alpha, and he was not sure that he wanted to be taken again in the future...

"Anyone want to join?" Simeon asked, "I will not reward him by sucking him off too," he stated before gripping Gregor's ruff and beginning to switch his hips back and forth, pistoning in and out of the male's grasping passage with an increasing quick rhythm.

A couple of the Beta wolves looked at each other, daring the point before an Alpha bitch Simeon vaguely recognised strolled forward from behind them... They parted respectfully for her, "Come on then... we can't have this a total gay fest can we?" she taunted, as she came up behind Simeon and Gregor. She ran her tongue along Simeon's muzzle, clearing some of the boar's blood and getting a smile out of him.

Gregor grunted, "I am the one that needs relief... Lucinda!"

Lucinda dropped her nose and nipped at Gregor's, drawing his blood, "You are the bitch at the moment Gregor, you want to try me in the circle to see who is the better Alpha Bitch?" she taunted.

"I'll have you..." Gregor growled, snarling as a particularly strong thrust from Simeon drove all the wind from him again.

"You never have before... nor will you ever in the future," Lucinda teased and dropped to her belly, "I suck cock better than you anyway," she commented, gripping Gregor's straining shaft between her teeth, nipping at the point as he gasped and thrust into her muzzle.

Simeon felt his knot beginning to swell, "All the way or not?" he asked as he held off a little.

Gregor half heard the question as his own dire needs were answered by the ministrations of the bitch below him, "All the way!" he panted, grimacing as Simeon began to pound him harder. His knot slipped within and began expanding quickly, something being compressed hard and milked as his passage was forced open wider than it had even been before...

He howled, the sound echoing around amongst the trees, scaring all the game within hearing distance as he erupted forcefully in Lucinda's mouth, his balls spasming as his seed spilled upon the ground as it splashed out in weakening spurts, the bitch refusing to swallow as she backed out from under him.

Simeon redoubled his efforts before releasing the ruff in his mouth and howling himself as he flooded Gregor with his own seed, "You know... Fel told me not to do this, but I feel that Lucinda deserves a treat for her favour..." he panted before cocking a leg and turning the tie, drawing a whimpering screech out of Gregor as he settled tail to tail with his tutor, "That is of course if you wish for a favour yourself Lucinda?" Simeon asked.

Lucinda grinned, "Don't mind if I do!" And with that she settled on her side in front of Simeon and he dove between her haunches with his muzzle to relieve the bitches tension with his tongue while his cock still spasmed within Gregor. The watching Weres were all erect or aroused by now and sought suitable partners from amongst themselves to perform the same services for each other.

Four of Lucinda's orgasms, and nearly a mark later Simeon finally slipped free of Gregor, "Enough!" the bitch declared panting.

Simeon chuckled, "All even?" he asked as he stood stretching. He would have to thank Fel later... her idea though repulsive at the time to him had proven to be a sound one... he still liked bitches better though!

Lucinda looked up at him, "I would say that I owe you... I come into season in about a moon... Ask the Alpha for my boon... I will ask the Ledrene. That is if you are ready to become a father? I will raise the pups, they will be my 24th litter, and possibly my last...you are too young to be my pad-warmer, so I ask nothing else of you."

Simeon blushed, "I... I..." he stuttered.

"Think about it... I will be around. Now I suggest that you get your bitch to clean you! I will go and round up a few more pack members... We will all eat well for a few days after your kill, but there is no way he can be dragged back without at least ten of us!" With that she turned and left as Gregor nosed up against his side.

"That was a little unfair of you," the black furred wolf said.

"What was?" Simeon asked.

"Turning her down... I would love to get between her haunches when she is in heat..."

"I didn't turn her down... I was not sure if Balthazar would even think about granting boon, so I would not have committed anything..." Simeon protested.

"With that kill, you will be granted boon. You will be a father before I am!" Gregor commented as he nosed under Simeon's flank, "Now let me do my duty to you..."

"There is no need... I can bathe in the river..." Simeon protested.

"I enjoy it... And what you just did was a little unfair to me too... I will not walk straight for a moon!"

Simeon laughed and rolled onto his flank, relaxing as Gregor did as good a job as any of the bitches that had joined him for his training, as he was spotlessly cleaned up...

****

Three days later...

"Simeon... Are you free to join us for that chat?" Balthazar called out as he walked past the main hut on the way to see how his new one was progressing. The central fire-pit was still smoking as the skeleton of the boar hung loosely above it on it's spit; in the morning sun, the bones glistened in the light from where every scrap of pork had been stripped.

"Yes Alpha... I was doing nothing important," Simeon replied and changed direction to join the black wolf in the shadows of the Alpha dwelling. Helewys looked up and yawned as he entered, "Good morning Ledrene," he said respectfully.

"I have told you before, Helewys. Thank you for the kill again, though how you pulled it off, I have no idea!" she commented as Simeon flushed.

"And I thank you to... and for knocking some sense into that young snapper Gregor before I had to!" Balthazar added with a chuckle, "Could you close the privacy canvas please."

"He still isn't walking straight," Helewys pointed out chuckling.

"I was just so angry!" Simeon commented as he let the heavy fabric down by grabbing the slip cord with his teeth.

"If you can hold your own with Fel, kill a five hundred pound boar, defeat the best young fighter in the pack, and satisfy both him and a brood bitch immediately after when you are angry, remind me not to cross you in the future then!" Balthazar joked, a grin on his muzzle.

"I am still ruing doing it... every muscle in my body is aching!" Simeon replied as he flopped on the spare pad.

"The boar you didn't have much choice with once you engaged, Gregor deserved what he got and would be missing at least an ear if he had tried that stunt with me! Bloodlust does strange things to you... just remember to control it and you will be a force to reckoned with in the future. Lucinda is granted as boon if you want her by the way... She approached Helewys earlier," Balthazar said as he settled down on the pad next to Helewys.

Simeon looked up surprised, "You consider me worthy of that honour?"

"I consider you able and fit, yes. She informed Helewys that she was not expecting you to hunt for your offspring... and we need more Alpha pups to raise."

"What makes you think that I will sire Alphas?"

"That is what I want to share thoughts over... But to get you to understand fully you need to know something about the way I was raised before I was abducted into slavery..."

"I am willing to listen to whatever you wish to share Alpha," Simeon replied respectfully, "Though what use I may be, I have no idea."

"Your healer's training may be the key to the riddle that has been puzzling me," he sighed, "I was raised by my father and stepmothers in a land far to the south of here, as my mother died during childbirth. I was never a weak child, and as soon as it became apparent that I would grow as strong and true as he, I started work as my father's apprentice. He was a renowned boat-wright, not wealthy, but comfortable... Building the village's fishing fleet, and that of all the surrounding ones too. He loved my mother, but as our religion allows, he had more than one wife... Though I may add that he never ever abused the privileges that that gave him.

"When I was thirteen I was told I was to marry the butcher's daughter who was two years younger than me as my first wife... she was not unlovely, so I consented to the betrothment... She of course had no choice. On the day that my father handed me my own set of tools on my fourteenth birthday, we were married in the village square and I took her to bed that night with one of my stepmothers watching to assure the rest of the village she was pure... If she had not been, she would have been stoned to death. That is why I took Ysmay in front of the others, to stop the stigmata of shame from sticking to you or her."

Simeon nodded, a little unsettled at what he was hearing, though he knew from reading some histories that the Moors had differing standards, so he was not ignorant.

"I moved into my own house which I built with the help of some of the poorer villagers, paying them to erect it with monies earned while still working for my father. In the first six months of my marriage, I came to love my sweet Ekundayo, and as her belly swelled with our child, I am sure that she loved me too. Though against our religion, she sneaked into my room at night to lie with me while pregnant. I was encouraged to take a second wife, being offered Ekundayo's younger sister to lie with me... but I considered that at the age of ten, I would accept a betrothal only to her. This was enough to pacify her father, though he thought me an idiot for not using my power as a man to make a woman of her.

"Ekundayo was one month from birth and had moved in with my father's wives to prepare for her moment when a ship larger than anything I thought possible to build sailed up the river our village was on. It was manned by people of light skin who spoke a language foreign to ours, though I later learned it was French. Though we rushed to arms, all the village men were out fishing or in the fields, bar those that worked a trade like myself and my father. We were quickly over whelmed by sword and arrow. The women and children were all dragged out into the sun, their veils stripped with their virtues as the heathens gazed upon their faces. The captain of the ship walked down the line of females, defiling them with his hands as if they were cattle. Those who were pregnant and showing, those not pleasing to the eye, those who were older than perhaps twenty five, he marked with his blade... before turning away and shouting a single word...

"The crewmen holding them drove their swords though each and every marked woman from behind, and I watched my dear Ekundayo's legs run with the blood of my unborn child before she collapsed and died in the hot sun. My father broke free of his bonds in his anger, and without a single thought, the Captain drew the dagger he had used to mark the women, and threw it to plunge straight into his chest... and he died too in front of me." Balthazar paused, sniffing heavily as Helewys rubbed her head against him for a minute as Simeon stayed silent, his brain trying to process exactly what he was hearing.

"The children under ten were left alive in the blood of their mothers as the remaining women, myself, the butchers son, and two other men of my age were tied up and marched onto the ship. Another command was issued, and arrows rained down from the bulwarks to murder the remaining older men where they were bound to the sides of the buildings they had previously lived in. It was the last sight I saw before I was shoved below decks into the stinking holds, rife with the scents of fear and filth from the others who were already there. That was eleven years ago Simeon, and not a day goes by that I wish I could hunt down and kill those crew, but that is something that will never be granted to me."

"May I say I am sorry for your loss, but what does this have to do with the pack?" Simeon asked after a moment's silence.

"The village butcher was my father's brother, my wife, my first cousin as I believe you call them. It is common practice for families in the Moor religion to strengthen themselves by marrying off unwanted daughters to the sons of their relatives. When the blood tie was too close, the children of such marriages were often weak or born with deformity. My thoughts healer, are that the Beta class of Were here in the pack, is born of too close a blood tie as well..."

"Mmm... I know the church forbids you to lie with your parents or your siblings... But it never occurred to me there was a reason other than decency..." Simeon mused for a minute, "I have not observed the birth of a weak child in the Townne, though some have succumbed to fever..." He glanced briefly at Helewys, who nodded, "So I cannot offer a conclusion without more information."

"What information would you require?" Balthazar asked.

"Some that Helewys is likely to be able to supply, rather than you, Alpha," Simeon stated quietly.

"Why me?" Helewys asked surprised.

"As Ledrene, you keep a mental record as to who sires pups amongst your bitches yes?"

"Well yes..."

"And do you also note which pairings produce Alphas and which Betas?"

"I do... it is part of my duties..."

"Have any Alpha on Alpha pairings ever produced a Beta pup?" Simeon asked carefully.

"Never in my knowledge," Helewys replied after a minute.

"What of Beta on Beta pairings... have they ever produced an Alpha pup?"

"Yes on occasions."

"What if Alpha on Beta, or visa-versa?"

"More Betas than Alphas...What are you thinking?" Helewys asked.

"I am thinking that what Balthazar suggests may be true... How long was Cassius Alpha?" Simeon pressed.

"Four years..."

"And he took all the bitches to pad when in heat at first?" Simeon asked.

"Yes..."

"Are all his pups Alphas?"

"No..."

"Who was Cassius' father?"

"Erm...Jacques I think... he died before I was changed by Robin..." Helewys replied.

"Were the Beta pups born to Cassius, sired with bitches born of Jacques or his mother's matings?"

"Erm... Yes, now I come to think of it, I think they were..." A look of shock appearing on Helewys' face.

"Then blood is a likely cause then," Simeon finished as Balthazar nodded.

"So what is there that we can do about it?" the black wolf asked.

"Stop Weres breeding with others that are connected by at least one blood relation..."

"There are at least four pad-warming pairs in the pack that are blood related..." Helewys started.

"Then let us say... new pairings," Balthazar stated.

"Then who is Gregor, or for that matter the rest of my and Cassius' pups going to mate with? Nearly all in their age groups were sired by him..." Helewys protested.

"As Ledrene, you will have to persuade the bitches to take younger wolves to pad, and the young males, the older bitches. In fact I will order all the pack males to do just that, and I will not grant boon for an 'in heat' pairing to happen between close relations from now on." Balthazar stated.

"But that may cut our birth-rates further as we do not have anywhere near enough bitches...I thought you wanted to build the pack numbers up?" Helewys queried.

"What would you say if I told you that I know the nominal leaders of the Werecat community in the mountains?" Balthazar asked quietly.

Helewys looked at him funnily, "What do you mean?"

"I would say that felines and canines can't interbreed..." Simeon said with a grin on his muzzle, which started Balthazar huffing with laughter.

"No, no... But through discussions with them, I know of at least two packs of Werewolves living north still of their community. You must also understand that the Cats do not have packs, nor do they have Alpha's as such. They are all independent entities that live together purely for the protection of the many. All are equal, though some wield more power than others, such as Purrdita and Purrsimon."

"What difference does that make, we know of several packs in the south too..." Helewys replied.

"I travelled from the south Ledrene with my mate who died... the packs to the far south are at war, I would imagine that that war may have reached the neutral ones that rejected me in the time that has passed since our journey. What I propose is, that we send maybe half of our pups and juveniles, including Alphas, with a single mature Alpha lead over the mountains to the other packs, and exchange wolf for wolf with their young, to be led back by our Alpha to here... That way, no blood ties and stronger wolves for all. The Werecats have granted passage and hunting rights through their territory in return for this pack's aid if they need it. Purrsimon tells me that the packs are stable and exchange members between themselves regularly."

"What if the northern packs kill our mature Alpha, and take the juveniles?" Helewys asked quietly.

"It is a risk I think worth taking... the other alternative is to abduct more young women from the human villages and townnes to change, with a fifty percent chance of survival... but that would risk bringing a war to us sooner, and the pack would die quicker if that happened. Better to risk an exchange, than the pack be slaughtered in a war. Within a generation, there would be very few Betas born amongst us if this is done carefully... think what power that would give us..."

"So you just want power?" Helewys asked turning away in disgust.

"No Ledrene, did you not listen to my words? You and I, the healer, every wolf but maybe our youngest pups will be dead from old age by then...But our pups would be leading a pack like no other, and the humans would think twice about attacking us. I would die happy knowing that legacy was in place."

"You know that I cannot decide this alone... I will have to call an all bitch circle over this. The bitches will not be happy about the idea of letting their pups go... And I will not order it, as I know that mine will be amongst them," Helewys stated after a minute or two of silence.

"I will call a meeting to the males to..."

"You are likely to be challenged over this Alpha," Simeon interrupted quietly, "I know that in human society if a leader declared that children were to be taken from their parents, there would be revolt. I support you, but I do not know how many others will. I fear for the Wereborn to be honest, as they will lay the blame at us changelings."

"I will face down any challenges...and if I lose, well I will be dead. I would hope that my argument will be of firm enough conviction that the others will listen to me and follow if they have mind to," Balthazar countered.

"When do you plan to do this?" Helewys asked quietly.

"Next moon... I would suggest leaving on the night of the next moon."

"Which pups?" Helewys pressed.

"Draw lots... Every juvenile past weaning but under the age of three years must take one. Every parent must be left at least one pup from every prior litter so they do not loose everyone. I have no intention of creating resentment, or it will all be to waste."

"So Gregor or Ysmay could end up going?" Simeon asked.

"Gregor, yes... Ysmay is now carrying, and therefore an adult..."

"That would defeat any chance of what we discussed the other evening," Helewys interrupted abruptly.

"If the lots are not drawn fairly, then what is the point? If Gregor pulls a short lot, well then he must go as Ysmay will be staying here. What we discussed would have to have another solution sought if that happened."

"Should I ask what you were discussing?" Simeon asked.

"I will speak to you about it at a later time..." Helewys replied.

"Ah ha," Simeon replied, "So which Alpha male would be the one to lead them across the range?"

"I would ask for a volunteer, I cannot order one to do so, as it could mean their life. An Alpha bitch is out of the question as we need them all."

"How many do you propose to send?" Helewys asked.

"Of the pack's total members, I think we have about twenty three that fit the group I suggest, so eleven or twelve..." Balthazar replied quietly.

"Would you balance the sexes?" Helewys asked.

"Yes... I know we need the bitches for pups, but so will the other packs. They are not likely to exchange bitches for males. What matters is the change of blood. Cassius' exercising of his mating rights has left the pack with a legacy that will only harm it with time, if the blood theory is right."

"If I were a betting man, I would say that it is. The medical indications certainly suggest it," Simeon stepped in again.

"Were," Helewys corrected with a grin.

"Okay, Were!" Simeon replied, a smile on his muzzle, "I see now why you are so keen to get me to mate with Lucinda... I am totally new blood to the pack."

Balthazar laughed, "You I will grant boon to, to mate with any in heat bitch who wants you. If this idea doesn't work, we will need a new raft of pups, and I have no intention of all of them being mine. There are only five other Alpha males in prime, including Cassius if he survives, and he will never be granted boon again by me."

Simeon blushed as Helewys looked at Balthazar with interest, "You mean you will share Alpha duties with an unproven like Simeon?" she asked quietly.

"For the good of the pack, and I think he is more than proven in every aspect other than his actual virility. Lucinda will prove if he is all action, and no reaction," Balthazar replied honestly, "The virgins are still mine though!" he mock growled.

Simeon looked uncertain, a slight grin forming before his jaw dropped at the next words to spill from Helewys' jaws, "And what of me?" she asked.

Balthazar looked at her, his head on one side, "What do you mean Ledrene?" he asked.

"What of me? What if I were to ask boon to lie with him or even Robin again, and not you when in heat?" Helewys asked, tensing in case his reaction was violent.

Balthazar remained silent for a minute, "You love Robin?"

"Yes,"

"And you think he is young enough for his seed to take still?"

"I... I... I don't know..."

"And you wish to steal Simeon from the 'someone' he may be destined to be with...?"

"NO!" Helewys growled.

"Then why not me?" Balthazar asked quietly, as Simeon remained silent, watching the two of them.

"I would lie with you from duty..."

"But not through love..."

"I... I don't think I ever could love one of your..."

"Race..." Balthazar finished for her. She looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes... expecting a strike at her throat... "Prejudice is something I have faced all my life Helewys, it is not a new obstacle I face, and I would be a foolish leader if I were to think that bitches would fawn at my feet just because I am now the Alpha leader. I would hope to have a mutual relationship with you, though I have already stated that I will not ever 'love' you. When your next heat comes upon you, I hereby swear in front of Simeon as witness that if you do not ask me to cool your loins, I will not... And I will also grant boon to you to take either Robin or him to your pad in privacy. I cannot have an apparent discord visible to the others between us, so this remains between the three of us only. Pups from my loins by white bitches will not necessarily bear my skin colour. The females of my race who were raped as pleasure slaves did not always give birth to black or dark skinned children. So none need know."

"I don't know what to say..." Helewys started.

"Then don't say anything... think about it, and make your decision when your loins grant you the choice of motherhood again." Balthazar stood and stretched, his back an inverted arch as he yawned, "I am going to sound out the old-timers... see what they think of my plan. I will join you later Ledrene." With that he turned and left the hut, leaving the privacy canvas in place.

Simeon and Helewys just lay there in silence for a few minutes before the healer cleared his throat, "Erm..."

Helewys stood and walked over to him, licking his muzzle gently before settling side by side to his body, "I would like to think that my dead son would have grown up to be someone like you Simeon... Someone with your compassion and innocence... Someone not tainted by the life I lived. I know that he never would have, and would most likely have ended up sweeping the floors, or providing the same services to the sailors I did myself until he died. I face a dilemma now that I would never want any other to face... I must think long and hard about what I do next... If I were to ask you, would you accept my advances?"

"I would be honoured to..." Simeon replied.

"Then let us leave it at that for the moment then. Go... make sure your house is progressing as you desire. I will go on a solo hunt I think, clear my mind so to speak. I will kill for Cassius tonight. The bitches will not be happy, but I will call full circle at dawn's first light." Helewys stood, licking Simeon again before leaving the Alpha hut herself.

Simeon stood, many thoughts running through his mind as he slipped out under the heavy canvas... If he had been told what was to happen to him just half a year ago, he would have recommended the teller be restrained medically for insanity. He wandered off towards the falls and the rough frame that was being pieced together... he was not sure now if he was entirely happy with his new lot...