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By the light...

Chapter 6

The trials of temptation

Note:Chapter 6 of By the Light, written by RuthofPern.

"Simeon... the Alpha wants a word..." Benedict said as he approached Simeon where he was sunning on a rock while watching the continued construction of his new home. The Weres working on it were all in human form, and knocking the crude frame together with surprising efficiency. He would have helped, but for the fact changing human again so soon was ill advised.

Simeon nodded, "Thank you Benedict... I will be there in two ticks." He stood, stretching to ease his back muscles. As he had predicted, his pad had remained cooler the previous night, though Lucinda had greeted him with some signs of their growing friendship when he had checked her wounds over carefully that morning, and dosed her to torpor with more painkillers.

"Erm healer... A question if I may?" Benedict asked after a seconds pause.

"Yes Benedict... I will always answer if I can, so you need not fear asking me anything," Simeon replied as he jumped down from the rock.

"You are a journeyman healer, yes?"

"I am..."

"I was wondering... when will you become a master if you have no one to further your education?" The young wolf asked as they began to walk back towards the central hut.

Simeon smiled, "The difference between a journeyman and a master is only a matter of experience. I am as trained and qualified as master Merek. The pack here is certainly testing my knowledge, and giving me that experience. I would say that I would be judged a master healer by my peers within a year if you lot keep fighting each other, or falling afoul of whatever you are hunting. You have enough scar tissue spread amongst you all to fascinate a whole team of healers."

Benedict lifted a lip in amusement, "Though I am an Alpha wolf... I know that I will never make Alpha leader... I do not have the drive of my elder brother, nor my siblings."

"Never say never Benedict... Things happen all the time. Look at me... Here for next to no time, weak and meek when I arrived, and now I have defeated your brother in fair combat... guaranteed I was not myself when I did it, but..."

"But he provoked you until you snapped... Yes I know. But to be Alpha leader, a Were would have to be able to answer any challenge presented fairly or not, and I know could not hope to do that... I don't think you could either," Benedict replied, forlorn.

"Care to find out?" Simeon teased, nodding towards the circle as they paused outside the central hut.

Benedict smiled, "I think I will pass... I have had enough of getting roughed up."

"Have you considered asking your brother for lessons?" Simeon asked.

"Gregor likes to play with those he beats... even when he is teaching them. I have no interest in the tails of any, other than bitches..."

"If you had asked me a moon ago that question, I would have said the same... I will mention to Gregor that you want more lessons, without conditions..."

Benedict shook his head, "No... I absolutely know that I am a bitch only Were... It is a shame there are so few around for me and MY peers to explore my youth with...And I thank you for approaching him for me."

Simeon glanced at the hut from which a pair of violet eyes were now catching the light within, but nothing else was forthcoming. "For that I am sorry... you may have to wait another year until you are judged to be an adult. Your brother Gregor doesn't seem to suffer from a lack of tail... But aside from that, may I ask what you really wanted to ask me, as I fear that you have become a little side-tracked."

Benedict looked away for a second, "Healer... Simeon... As I will never be Alpha leader... If I am not selected by the lot to leave the pack... I would like to be your apprentice."

Simeon sat down in the dust with a thump, "Benedict... I cannot take an apprentice until I am judged to be a master..."

"But you will never be judged by your peers..." the juvenile protested.

"This request will not save you from the lot... It must be absolutely fair as outlined in yesterday's circle..." Simeon argued, trying to draw out the real reason for the request.

Benedict shook his head in protest, "I am an Alpha... I would not be so under-pawed as that healer. If my name comes up, I will go. If it does not, I want a trade to my name so I am a useful member of the pack. If I were a bitch, I would be a breeding mother to do my duty... I watch the other males, the Betas go out on the range each day, most with no intention but to fill their own stomachs and do nothing for the pack... unless they are ordered to by the Alpha. You need an apprentice... and I want to be it," he reiterated.

"Even if I were to agree, and the Alpha grant his permission...Why do you think I need an apprentice? I have only just begun my work here..."

"My father could turn and rip your throat out any day... I and the others have heard you arguing with him over his attitude, even though you have done nothing but help him since you got here...Though what you did with my sister was not wise..." Simeon nodded at that jibe, "You did not break any pack laws. You could have an accident and need help yourself... hell you could lose in a challenge...they are bound to come after you have alienated damned near every bitch in the pack... All of which leaves the pack with no recourse for healing other than an elderly human who can no longer easily travel to us. Lucinda would have died and my mother would not be whole without the quick attention you have been able to give..." Benedict ground to a halt as he ran out of arguments.

"I was trained for years Benedict..."

"Some training is better than none... If you die tomorrow, well then we are stuck... but even say six moons under your tutelage... I would be of some help to the pack..."

"I think that the pup argues well healer..." Balthazar's voice sounded eventually in the pause, the Alpha finally interjecting and stepping out of the shadows in his hut.

Benedict immediately dropped from his argumentative stance and lowered his ears in submission, "Sorry Alpha... I prevented the healer from answering your summons straight away."

"Forgiven, especially as you have a good reasoning. My permission is granted under the conditions that Simeon thinks you apt enough, and that your name does not come up in the lot. It is a shame that you do not wish to be leader one day... It takes more than muscle to be a good one, as I think your father's reign has proven. Now go... leave me and the healer in privacy."

"Yes Alpha," Benedict replied, turning tail and starting to leave.

"Benedict..." Simeon interjected.

"Yes Healer?" the young Were asked, pausing.

"I will give my answer after the lot."

Benedict nodded, and continued on his way.

"An intelligent youngster there Healer," Balthazar stated, turning and leading the way back into the hut.

"It would seem so, Alpha," Simeon replied.

"You would do worse... and he does have merit. If you die or are injured badly, what we are doing would be to waste. He has the youth to follow in your footsteps without treading on them...I wish the rest of the juvenile males would think his way and look to taking a trade."

"Are you ordering me to take an apprentice, though it is not conventional with my inexperience?" Simeon asked quietly.

"No... I am suggesting that it may be beneficial to the pack..." Balthazar replied, staring at him as he settled on his pad.

Simeon dropped his eyes, knowing he didn't have much choice, "Then I will do so..."

"Good... Now that that is settled, the reason I called you here. In two marks Tashir will report here and you will be leaving the pack for a few days with him... until the lot has been drawn and the juveniles departed. I order it."

"B... but..." Simeon protested.

"No buts... you are going before what our young oracle Benedict says becomes a reality and someone attacks you."

"So you want me to run from my responsibilities? What of Lucinda? What of Cassius? They both need my attentions on a daily business." Simeon retorted angrily.

"Already discussed that with Helewys... She will tend Lucinda, and feed her. Cassius, I will deal with. And as for your responsibilities... that is why you must go. Your healing house is almost ready for its roof...and for that we need brackets. We have no metal worker, and therefore someone must buy from a blacksmith. I am also fairly sure that you need certain things such as pots, pans, jars, bags, needles, glasses, pestles etc. etc., in order for you to prepare your medicines that the village just does not have. And I know that healers also need herbs from outside of this land for certain things, so a trader will have to be contacted too..."

Simeon closed his mouth, thinking for a second, "You are right, but where will I get those things from? The folks of Garddetownne will recognise me, and I am meant to be dead."

"Who said anything about Garddetownne? You will be travelling to Port Geresby. It is ten times the size of Garddetownne, and is still within our territory technically. That is where Helewys comes from after all."

"Why Tashir? I have not even met him. And for that matter Alpha, how the hell are we meant to carry everything back all the way from the coast?" Simeon argued.

"Because Tashir is the only other changeling in the pack, and therefore knows how to behave in human society and not give himself away as a Were. You have seen him around, trust me on this...as he has a similar appearance problem that I do. He also does not qualify to lead the pups over the mountains for that reason too... it would insult the other packs for a changeling to be the one to approach them. As for how you get it all back... buy an ox and a narrow sled that can thread through the trees. The pack will kill any that follow your tracks close to here... You are going to be strangers spending gold, so you are likely to have thieves follow you. The ox will feed the pack for a week as well when you arrive. There is enough gold behind the falls to buy Garddetownne, so the pack will not be short if you go on a provisioning spree... and it gets you out of sight and mind until the fuss is over."

Simeon shook his head, "If that is your order, I will comply. I do not like running though."

"It is my order, and Helewys' too. Now go and check you patients and make sure you are back here for when Tashir arrives. You are not running." Balthazar stated.

Simeon nodded, "Very well... Alpha." He stood and left, not at all happy, though knowing that it was a required trip at some point... he just would have preferred it to not be when it would appear he was hiding.

Balthazar tilted his head to one side as his keen hearing picked up a summons for Simeon from the lean-to next door. He smiled, "Took her long enough," he muttered to himself, and resolved himself to the fact that he would have to deal with a rather grumpy Cassius, as his care would be very hit and run by the time the healer was finished!

****

"Simeon!"

Simeon turned his head as he left the hut, the forceful whisper coming from the lean-to on the Alpha hut. "Yes Ysmay?" he queried, approaching the door.

"Get your arse in here..." Ysmay ordered, "Or should I say your cock. And draw the privacy curtain."

Simeon entered the hut for the first time since the day Balthazar had overthrown Cassius, "Are you not out of bounds?" he asked as he pulled the cord.

"No you daft bastard... I am now carrying, and therefore I can do whatever and whoever I want. You have been doing whoever you want after that bloody public display with my mother! Now it is time to pay your other teacher... get over here!"

"Are you sure that Balthazar won't mind?" Simeon asked as Ysmay presented on her pad.

"For fuck's sake Simeon... I am your teacher, you think I don't know the rules? You have already shagged my twin... though the little shit deserved it for that prank...Thanks for bathing him as well...you did the pack a favour! You are about to become a father yourself... and you are also going to be vanishing off for at least a week until the plan you cooked up with mother and Balthazar has been enacted and things have calmed down... There is a bloody good chance you won't make it back from that too... the idea of going into a huge human settlement makes me shiver. One slip of your hood, and you will be full of arrows. What is your objection to me? Do you not think I am attractive now, or as I am spoiled goods you are not interested anymore?" Ysmay taunted, switching her tail back down and turning to face him in the subdued light.

"O... Of course you are attractive Ysmay..." Simeon stuttered, "I have no choice but to leave, I have been ordered to..."

"I heard... but that does not excuse you not saying goodbye to me..."

"I was going to tend to your father and Lucinda..."

"Ha!" Ysmay spat, "Lucinda! That fucking bitch... I'll bet you were going to tend to her alright!"

"No no..." Simeon protested.

"No? You know all she wants is a healthy white Alpha to fill her womb for her last time? She will dump you like a bit of too hot meat once she has what she wants..."

"We have not yet had sex..."

"Oh so she is just teasing you then? What is up with you?"

"She is not teasing Ysmay... She is totally unable to do anything at the moment without extreme pain from the injuries caused by your mother..."

"Caused by her own stupidity!"

"Caused by her duty as a mother first, overriding her common sense for the moment Ysmay!" Simeon snarled in response, cutting her off short, "I did not come here to sow discord amongst the Weres... I have ended up a pawn in much bigger game than I would ever have been involved with as a simple healer..."

"I would offer you more than she ever would... and you are anything but a simple healer Simeon. I saw with my own eyes what was done to Lucinda and my father. They would both be dead now without you."

Simeon turned his head from her gaze for a moment, "I only did what any healer could..."

"No you fucking didn't! You did something for other Weres that only your Master did before you...you treated my mother as a person rather than an animal. That singles you out from any other healers... they would have cut her throat while she was trapped."

"How could you know that?" Simeon protested, "I tended and practiced on the townne livestock and pets before I ever touched another human."

"They do it for pay... you did it from compassion for a creature that could have killed you in less than a heartbeat. Why do you show no compassion now?!?"

"What the hell do you mean Ysmay? I am as compassionate with my patients as I need to be..."

"Because I fucking want you Simeon! I wanted you the minute I laid my eyes upon you when you walked into the village trailing the heels of Merek like a juvenile after his parent. The one time I forced the issue, you turned me down...though it saved our lives as my heat was talking to my brain at the time...Now you deny me again!"

"I... I... I..." Simeon stuttered as she got increasingly louder in her building anger.

"Shut the fuck up you... you... you... fucking... fucking...!" she screamed as she continued to drool spittle, grinding to a halt, the last invective hanging unspoken in the now silent air of the hut.

Simeon pounced in the silence and wrapped his lips around hers as he threw her over backwards and flattened her onto her back on her pad, locking them tightly, muzzle to muzzle as the verbal tussle became one of the tongues and her breathing slowed as his quickened. He broke after a long minute, staring down at her face.

"I love you, you fucking idiot... You exasperate me, you ignore me for other bitches, but I love you..." she paused, not averting her gaze, "I want to be your padwarmer... your permanent padwarmer. To be yours and no one else's..."

"I didn't know wolves could cry," Simeon replied after a few seconds as crystalline orbs began to form in the corners of her eyes, "I... don't know what to say... I mean... I..."

Ysmay smiled, "Say yes then... And before you say anything more, I know what Balthazar wishes you to do. As long as you come back to me... as long as you never fail to answer my needs, you can take any bitches your duty requires you to. As I said when I first taught you...the pack comes before any individual."

"What will your mother say... hell what will Balthazar say...?"

"They know... What else do you think Helewys wants to talk to you about at some point? I let slip when Balthazar took me that day... I screamed your name when he peaked me."

"Oh..." Simeon bent down and kissed her again before licking her tears away.

"So?" Ysmay pressed.

"If the union is granted by them... then yes!"

Ysmay beamed, "Get off me then you heavy lump so I can position properly, and I will at least get to consummate this with you before you go and possibly get killed in Geresby."

Simeon grinned evilly, "You know Ysmay...I may have been an innocent when I arrived, but I was not ignorant of the ways of the human race in bed..." he placed his weight more firmly on her chest, pinning her deeper, squirming into the reeds as his shaft traced a line of pre up her inner thighs, "If you are going to padwarm with a changeling... then things will not always be done as a wolf does!" With that he thrust his hips forward, taking her fully as she opened her mouth in shock, the belly to belly position stretching her passage in a way that a conventional mount could never as his tip pressed against her sealed cervix.

"Ahhh!" she gasped before her lips were taken by his again.

"I cannot tie you as you are not deep enough at the moment... but I think consummation is quite possible..." he slipped out between their conjoined muzzles, and then proved his own statement to her as only two who have found love could...

****

"You stink of pregnant bitch!" Lucinda exclaimed as he walked into her hut, a grin plastered on his face.

"What?" Simeon queried.

"I said you stink of a pregnant bitch... which horny one did you roll this time? Couldn't wait for my injuries to heal could you?" Lucinda spat, turning her head from him.

"I was the one rolled, and I was as surprised as anyone by who..." Simeon replied as he began to check her bandages.

Lucinda turned back to face him, "Few are carrying at the moment..." she bent and sniffed at his sheath, "Ysmay!" she exclaimed.

Simeon nodded... "Ah ha..."

"Well bugger me sideways... You like to court danger don't you? She is carrying the Alpha's pups and you cuckold her while she lies in his side hut..."

"Not cuckold Lucinda... She insisted that it was not a breach of the rules as she is not Ledrene, nor warmer to him. I had little choice anyhow... she would not stop screaming at me."

"Screaming at you? For what exactly?"

"For ignoring her amongst other things... I will never understand females..."

"No male ever does..." Lucinda replied with a grin, "I am guessing the trouble started by her and you before Alpha change was not just her heat talking then..."

"It would appear not... she has asked for my paw as padwarmer. I have taken it on the condition that it is approved by both Alphas..."

Lucinda dropped her jaw in a silent laugh, "Well I know I was not offering you that position, but you could have at least taken your boon with me first... I will have to find another..." She was cut off by his lips sealing tight to her still torn ones.

"Ysmay knows of our arrangement, and unless you withdraw your boon, I will be happy to father your pups. If our agreement is granted, then the earliest Ysmay will be in heat again is a year from now. Besides I am new blood, and Balthazar has no intentions of making the same mistake that Cassius made."

"You mean..."

"Yes..."

Lucinda shook her head, "The Beta males will be at your throat to if you are not careful..."

"No laws will be broken... no couples split. You have never had a warmer, having had every litter with a different Were from what I hear, with the exception of Cassius' enforced two. Other bitches are like you as well. Unless I am ordered to... I will not approach them." He moved towards her haunches.

"What are you doing?" Lucinda queried hesitantly as his nose whuffled her tail.

"Giving you my assurances... if you want them before I go away...I was not sure if you were even willing to grant me boon after the developments since the day with the boar. I have been ordered by Balthazar to go and get what I need to finish my house, and to stock it for proper healing from Geresby with Tashir as my partner." His tongue slipped to caress her lower lips as he spoke.

She considered for only a few seconds, before switching her tail to one side, "I will take them as I rate your chances of return less than half. Plus you have already proved how good you are with your tongue! You get to sample the real me if you come back, my heat will not wait for my injuries to heal completely, and my cycle will have started within seven days at a guess."

Simeon grinned as she moaned from his attentions, "Then I shall endeavour to come back... Mate!"

Lucinda smiled as her peak neared, "Make sure you do!" she howled.

****

"You are late," Balthazar declared, a slight grin on his muzzle.

"I erm, got waylaid..." Simeon replied, his head and ears down. "Sorry."

"I know... I nearly stepped in as I thought she was going to tear you limb from limb for a minute!"

Simeon flushed, "Erm..."

"Yes...though you will have to go over the details with me and Helewys when you return. It does rather complicate things, but I will not veto her decision. Now... Cassius and Lucinda okay?"

"Cassius was sleeping, so I left him. Lucinda... well..."

"The village heard..."

Simeon shook his head, turning even redder, "She will be fine as long as her chest pad is changed in a couple of days. I left a fresh one in the hut... someone will need to change human and replace it."

"Helewys or I will do that..." Balthazar turned towards the hut behind him, "Tashir... come out please."

Simeon stared, eyes not quite believing what he was seeing as a pure white form stepped out into the sun. Even his claws were transparent... and when he opened his pink eyes, Simeon took a step back... "Oh bugger..." he exclaimed involuntarily.

Tashir grinned a half grin, lower jaw lolling a little, "We meet at last healer... you of all people should know what I am."

"Albino... though you should be dead. Albinos don't survive according to the texts I read. You are normally murdered at birth as devil's spawn..." Simeon replied, moving a step closer again, "How?"

"Long story, and one you need not know about. Only know this, I was changed fifteen years ago back when I was twelve. I was caught out begging by a church gang and my feet were tied to a rock before I was thrown into a river. They did not know I was a strong swimmer, and I made the shore a league downstream. Jacques found and changed me. My condition makes me sterile, but I am a good night hunter... that is the only reason I was kept alive by the pack. I know Geresby, and I know how to conceal myself. That is why I will act as your guide."

Simeon nodded as Balthazar dropped a heavy bag at their feet, "Go...and remember Simeon, no prejudice in the pack."

Tashir grinned, "Tell that to the bitches Alpha... I have had no tail since I was proven sterile."

"You want some?" Balthazar asked, "I could lay hints around for you..."

Tashir shook his head, "Nah... I have my own ways. Thank you. Just ensure I am not killed when I miss my first kills in a couple of years."

Balthazar nodded, "Agreed. There are two travelling cloaks and two twelve inch daggers in that pack with the gold. Now go, and return as soon as you are able." With that he turned back into the darkness of the hut.

Simeon looked at Tashir, "So what now?" he asked.

"You pick up that pack... I am your guide not your packbeast," he chuckled to himself, "Just do as I do, and take this is a lesson in far-ranging healer. We travel as wolves until we reach the edge of the forest. I am solitary, I do not make conversation, so don't try. I know of your position, and I know you outrank me in the pack... but as long as you are with me, you follow my lead and we have a chance. If we are attacked, and trust me, we will be... Do not hesitate. We are stronger and faster than humans now...any humans. Break their skulls or necks and leave them in a heap. Do not turn wolf and shred them, or the whole Port will turn out on our tails when the corpses are discovered. Normally dead thieves are ignored with no recourse, but only if killed by another human." With that, he turned and headed out of the village.

Simeon followed in his wake, twisting himself into the pack until it settled around his spine... It was rather heavy, but then he knew it would be. They passed Gregor as they left and Simeon paused for a minute, getting a frown from Tashir.

"Gregor," Simeon called, getting his attention.

"Yes?"

"Going to be gone for a few days... I want you to teach your brother Benedict how to fight better without any conditions please..."

"Who are you to order me to...?" Gregor started, bridling a little.

"I asked, not ordered. Do me that favour, and if your lot has not come up in the draw, you get what you want when I return."

"And what is it that I want that will stop me from dragging you into the circle now for trying to order me about?" Gregor growled.

Simeon dropped his jaw in a laugh and switched his tail to one side in display before turning away to follow Tashir again, "This..." he called over his shoulder.

Gregor just stood there, stunned as his ire drained from him... "Ah..." he muttered quietly before going to try and track down Benedict, wondering what exactly had prompted the promise of that, in an act of charity for a juvenile.

Tashir laughed silently to himself, not saying anything as they both vanished into the dappled gloom of the forest.

****

"Change, but do it silently..." Tashir urged.

They were about quarter of a league back from the forest edge, just off one of the trade roads which wended its way down the coast. No road had been cut through the forest directly yet to Garddetownne thank goodness, just the odd woodcutters track off the road. They were well concealed in the thick undergrowth.

Simeon nodded, and thought human again... grinding his teeth to stifle his cries as only his second change back to human took hold and the agony enveloped his body. He just stood there, wobbling a little as he hugged a tree for support until his head cleared enough. The strangest looking human he had ever seen stood in front of him with a smirk on his face.

"Yes, I prefer to have a fur coat myself now," Tashir joked as he rummaged through the pack for one of the thick, monks style habits and cloaks to cover his patched and blotched skin. He was totally bald as well, with the exception of whisps of white hair around his still pointed ear tips, sheath area and upper legs, "This is hardly a becoming look, and one that you will never see unless duty calls me to change back to it."

"It is fascinating to me as a healer, you know," Simeon suggested politely as one of the cloaks was thrown towards him.

"Hmmmph! Don't even ask the next question on your lips...you are not studying me," Tashir grumbled.

"I was not going to suggest it," Simeon replied, donning his cloak and pulling it tight around his neck, cowling the hood around his face, "So how do we go about this?"

"You need an ironmonger, a blacksmith, a leathersmith, and an herbalist or apothecary, yes?" Tashir queried.

"I do..."

"Then the port market will do for all that. Belt the dagger around your waist under your cloak, but don't draw it unless attacked. Go for belly or chest, you are not trained in street fighting. Or just do as I said before, get the attackers in your hands and break every bone you come across until they stop screaming."

"You had a hard life didn't you?" Simeon replied as they stepped out onto the road, getting a few glances from the cart drovers at their sudden appearance.

"Between the ages of eight and twelve yes, after the church burned my parent's house down with them inside it for nurturing me... I escaped to the street and ran until I could no more," Tashir replied in a low voice, shielding his sensitive eyes more from the harsh sunlight that leached under his hood as it lowered in the West, "We will be in Geresby by nightfall. I will secure us a room at a tavern as a base."

"And of the wenches that will force themselves upon us?" Simeon queried.

"We pay them twice their fees, and tell them to go and fuck each other for a mark. They will not be unhappy." Tashir replied with a smile on his face.

Simeon chuckled in response.

****

Two marks later Tashir was as good as his word. They had attracted nothing but a cursory glance from the guards on the gate, and they were now hunched over a jack of ale each near the fireplace of a mid-range tavern, while spooning a warm stew into their mouths.

"Like it?" Tashir asked.

"The cook has worked wonders with whatever is in this..." Simeon replied, a slight smile creeping out from under his hood.

Tashir snorted, "Damned if I know... my taste buds never sampled anything like this while I was human, and as I wolf I eat my meat raw. Personally I wouldn't ask... we are still a little too far down the block. It is certainly passable though."

"The taste of fresh blood spilling into my mouth is something that I am getting used to as my prey kicks their lives away in my jaws... but the taste when cooked is what I will always prefer," Simeon countered.

Tashir grinned, "Stay here... hole up... take the gold. You can live your life comfortably... and hell, even buy a mute slave for company at night... one who can't scream when torn asunder by your knot or bloodlust at full moon..."

Simeon pushed his jack away from him in shock and stared under the hood opposite at the blotchy white chin, two dots of pink meeting him in the flickering shadows cast, "I should report you..." he started with a growl.

Pointed teeth glittered as a gust of ale breath hit his sensitive nose as it preceded the laughter, "I had to know healer... I had to know," Tashir held his hands up, "I considered it when Jacques sent me back to the city the first time, me a lad who knew all the places he could hide for life with the gold I was sent with. I was weaker than you... I did stay... but only till the first moon. That broke me, and sent me scurrying back to the pack with everything that I had been sent to purchase. Jacques knew of course, but nothing was ever said of it. It was a test Simeon, my test of you. Alpha knew I would do it, but he told me what your response would be... and he was right. You are a better Were than I am Simeon." Tashir dumped another couple of long swallows of stale ale down his throat.

"We each have our own strengths," Simeon replied, taking another cautious sip from his, knowing he had almost fallen into a trap. The thought of staying had not crossed his mind, but now it had been planted, it flickered hot on the hearth rug of his mind like a jumped coal until the images of Ysmay, Lucinda and Helewys all walked across the inside of his eyeballs and pissed on it until the flame puttered out.

"The temptation is still there Simeon, I can see it in your eyes..." Tashir stated.

"It has passed now... I have too much to lose, and little to gain..."

"Good... That is how it should be. Now though I usually hunt at night, I think we should retire as I want to get all your buying done tomorrow. I would guess that it will take at least a couple of days for the blacksmith to make what is needed for the healing house, so we visit him first."

Tashir pushed his bench back as Simeon drained his jack. A serving wench appeared from nowhere at his elbow, her assets all too clearly on display, as they fought to tear free from her dresses bosom. "Would you both like a warmer for your bed? I can warm you both at the same time for a silver kind Sirs..."

Simeon flushed at the suggestion as Tashir brushed her hand free, "I travel under vows, and my apprentice shall remain chaste until he takes his," he grumbled, "Take this for your troubles, and ensure only that we are not disturbed." He placed four fresh coppers in her hand, which was all she could have really expected after bargaining.

Her eyes glowed as the coins vanished somewhere never to be seen again, "That I will master, that I will. Thankee." She turned and homed in on another possible target who was stepping free of his table.

"She thinks we are clergy now!" Simeon hissed as they ascended the stairs to their room.

"And...? The cloaks lend ourselves to it, and it means that we will not be bothered for the next couple of nights either as she will spread it around. If any ask, we are provisioning for a new chapel in the woods. And we are of a denomination frowned upon by the local church, hence our stay in an inn, not with them."

"But you hate the church... what if they hear of us?"

"Then I get a little cold revenge..."

Simeon closed the door of the room behind them firmly, "The guard will ask questions if priests turn up dead."

"Then any foolish enough will not turn up... There are ways if you know the ways of the street healer. Now strip and sleep in the bed, I will turn wolf and lie across the door. I do not trust the locks." Without another word, he dropped his cloak and did just that.

Simeon crawled into the bed, the straw lined mattress prickling at his bare skin, various things moving within it as testament to the fact that they indeed were not staying in a high class establishment. He jumped out, taking a roll of his cloak in his mouth to stifle him as he turned wolf again before arranging his gag on the floor himself. Tashir chuckled in the dark near the door as sleep took him into its arms.

****

"We are being followed," Tashir said quietly as they approached the forest three days later with the heavily laden ox and sled in tow.

"How many?" Simeon asked.

"Two threats, one innocent. We will be staying human until more of the pack joins us to control the ox. It will spook if we become wolf."

Simeon glanced behind them, scanning the rest of the travellers, "I don't see anyone."

"Two thieves, prosperous ones as they have an underage girl with them that is far from a virgin. Probably a slave. About half a league back," Tashir said as the first trees graced them with their shade.

"Leave the road now?" Simeon asked.

"Next cutters track. Let them follow us for a day and then we will deal with them in the night. I am surprised that they are the first to try and attack us."

"They may pass by..."

"They won't. They have been shadowing us for two days in the markets. That is how I know what is on their minds. Trust me on this." Tashir took the reins from the ox and turned it protesting down one of the narrow tracks into the forest.

"What of the girl?" Simeon asked as another couple of marks past.

"What of her? Collateral damage," Tashir replied coldly.

"Should we give her the option?" Simeon pressed.

"Hmmmph, her womb is probably ripped and torn by those animals."

"Does she not deserve a second chance...as you did?"

Tashir stared at him, folding his hood back as he revolved his ears to the back-trail. "Are you going to be the one to kill her if she has been rendered sterile?"

"I will take that risk. Another possible bitch is in the pack's interest."

"They are following, and have closed the gap. Tonight you will get the chance to interview her and give the option, and rip her throat out if she declines."

Simeon nodded, and Tashir grunted, picking up the pace a little, "So be it healer."

****

Carlos checked the fresh runner trail in the moss at his feet, "Where the fuck are they going?" he grumbled as Morley cursed and tripped over another root, nearly snapping the girls neck as he led her.

"How the fuck should I know... we should have just rolled them in the city."

"The guard would have been onto us in minutes with a couple of dead clergy in their hands, you idiot," Carlos retorted.

"Hmmph... better than dying out here in the forest. You even know how to get back out?"

"Same way we got in, following the tracks," He jumped as something heavy moved in the shadows off to the side, "The sooner we do this, the better."

"First dark... tie the whore to a tree and jog forward until we catch them. Come back for her when they are food for the scavengers."

Carlos glanced up at the sky as they entered a clearing, "A mark then. Want to make camp here?"

"I want to make camp in the perfectly good inn we left in the city," Morley grumbled.

"Well tough shit...we can drink and carouse all we want for a year with the loot from these two. Scared of the dark are you?"

"I am scared of what is in the dark. I am not a woodsman, I am a city boy."

Carlos chuckled, "Wuss!" he said as he started scraping an area clear to lay a fire.

****

"They are making camp," Tashir stated, tying the ox to a tree, "And we have a visitor."

"Who?" Simeon queried as a strange wolf materialized downwind in the lowering gloom.

"Lomas unless I misjudge my nose," he responded as he muzzled and looped a blindfold over the tethered beasts eyes.

"You are right... Ghost," Lomas responded, "Healer," the beta greeted, changing back human for politeness sake.

"Don't call me that," Tashir threatened.

"I will stop when you best me in the circle... Ghost. Only I forget, you don't step into the circle do you?"

"Don't push me Lomas... I am the Alpha here," Tashir threatened, his hackles rising.

"You are a weakling who should not be breathing."

"And I outrank you both! Now shut it!" Simeon growled, stepping between them, "Sort it at the village and not before, or need I report you to the Alpha leader Lomas!"

Lomas stared at him for a second before dropping his stance, "Sorry healer," he muttered.

"And to him?" Simeon pushed.

"You ask much healer..."

Simeon closed his eyes and shed his cloak, shifting to wolf with a mournful howl of pain that caused the ox to shift in his traces. He leapt without warning and pinned Lomas to the moss before he got a chance to react, jaws hovering over his throat, "I said apologise..."

Lomas froze, and then tilted his head to one side, "Sorry Tashir," he muttered.

"Accept," Simeon said, turning to face Tashir who had changed wolf in the scuffle.

"Accepted until the next time, healer," he growled.

"Good. Now Tashir, do we wait for them, or do we surprise them in their camp?" Simeon asked, letting Lomas roll free and change wolf again with a shake of his ruff to settle it.

"Go to them... take them as they prepare to come after us. My appearance will make them shit themselves before you and Lomas come up behind them."

"Clean kill, or messy?" Lomas queried.

"Clean, but leave the girl. The healer wants a project bitch. Follow in a half a mark, and not before." Tashir slipped away, vanishing in the woods like a wisp of mist over damp ground.

****

Morley glanced up from the fire as something cracked loudly in the woods, "What was that?"

"Deer or something," Carlos responded, before a low ethereal warble seemed to envelop them all as they scrambled for their knives.

"T... T... That ain't no deer..." Morley stammered.

Two pink eyes appeared in the deep darkness on the other side of the fire, before Tashir stepped into the light, "You gentlemen have made your last mistake following me and my partner."

Carlos placed a hand on Morley's arm as he tensed, "Look at his waist... he is not human," he whispered quietly.

"Then what the fuck is he? Shall we jump him?"

"I think I shall answer that for you now," Tashir stated and switched to his wolf form.

"Oh crap... A Were... Let's get out of here!" Morley shouted, urine staining his legs.

"I think not..." Tashir said as Simeon and Lomas leapt on them from behind.

Carlos screamed as Lomas snapped Morley's neck like a stick of candy, as jaws closed around his skull and applied a crushing pressure. He bucked and shook, trying to reverse the grip on his knife so he could drive it up behind him. He wasn't quick enough, and as the blood filmed across his eyes, the last thing he heard was his own skull splintering and cracking as Simeon smashed it under the pressure, and he dropped, twitching on the floor.

Simeon spat out the bone and blood, nearly being sick at the thought of ingesting human matter. "Sorry, he ducked the last minute. Missed his neck," he spluttered.

Tashir grinned, "Still did the job though. There was no-one else on the back-trail so his screams will not have been heard." He glanced over at the bound girl as she whimpered, "Give her the option then, and let us get back to the village. These two can be left to rot as a warning for any that follow."

Simeon turned human again, groaning as the pain ate at his soul, "I really hope that gets better with time," he panted as both Lomas and Tashir lolled their jaws in humour at his discomfort.

"It does," Tashir commented as he changed and started going through the clothing and packs belonging to the two ex-thieves.

Simeon knelt in front of the terrified waif as she squirmed and tried to back through the trunk she was bound to. He held his hand out flat to show her he was unarmed, before gently stroking her filthy hair back to expose her deep green eyes. A flick of one of his nail claws, and the gag she was wearing dropped free. "My name is Simeon, the white wolf behind me is Tashir, and the grumpy smaller one is Lomas..." Lomas snorted, "You my dear have a decision to make. Your captors are dead, as you can see...and now you must choose if you wish to follow them. What is your name?"

"A... A... Alice..." she stuttered as he gently unbound her hands and feet until she slumped to the ground in front of him.

"And how old are you Alice?"

"T... T... Ten... I think."

"Now I am a healer as well as a Werewolf, and my nose is telling me that you are injured, and also just what those two corpses have done to you. How long have you been travelling with them?" he prompted.

"F... F... F... Five moons... my mother died of fever, and my uncle sold me..." She sniffled, tears running down her cheeks, "A... A... Are you going to kill me?"

"Only if you want me to..." Simeon replied gravely. Five moons...if neither of the two behind him were well endowed, there would be a good chance that she was whole inside.

Alice stared up at him, "I... I don't want to die!" she wailed.

"Then you must understand something now... something serious. You cannot be allowed to go free. I can give you half a chance to live... but as one of us. If you survive the change, you will have the protection of the pack, unless you prove to be no asset. It is a hard life, I myself was human, as was Tashir over there... but it is a good one. Do you understand me?" Simeon probed.

"A... A... Asset?" She queried.

Simeon looked away for a minute embarrassed, "You are a female. Bitches have one duty over all others in the pack, and you will be a bitch when changed... That duty is to breed pups for the pack..."

Alice looked up at him for a second, and then down at his waist and what resided there. Her painfully thin hand reached out as if to caress him as her other raised her skirt...

Simeon backed off rapidly, "No!" he protested. "You are not to be chattel or a child whore as you have found yourself now. When you are changed, you will be a middle aged bitch, capable of bearing pups if no damage has been done to you. You may share your tail with whoever you choose, except when you are in heat... but you will never have to do so unless you want to. Or you can choose to be pad-warmer with only one. Rape is punishable by death to the perpetrator. Bitches are sacrosanct to the pack as bringers of life. The only male you cannot say no to is the Alpha male, and he is currently benevolent. When you are in heat though, you will be after every cock you can get between your haunches, trust me."

"And if I am damaged?" Alice asked, her hands dropping to her sides.

"Then it would be my duty as the one who changed you, to rip your throat out. I am sorry."

"And if I say no?"

"Then you will not live past the breath that issues that statement," Tashir growled from behind them.

"It is the way of the Were... sorry," Simeon added, "No one who sees us, lives."

"Then change me... Give the chance now you have rescued me from those animals..." Alice pleaded.

Simeon turned to Tashir and Lomas who both nodded, "She has chosen then, we stand as witnesses," Tashir said.

"Agreed, but how?" Simeon asked, changing wolf again to do the deed.

Lomas burst out laughing, "Oh dear, our reverent healer doesn't know how he was cha..." he was choked off as Simeon pounded him into the dirt with a side-strike that sent him rolling until he was pinned with jaws around the back of his neck.

"You were saying?" Simeon growled through the fur as his teeth drew blood.

"Aaaaaaarrrrccccccchhhhhh!" Lomas choked out.

"Let him up Simeon, Betas have mouths but no brains!" Tashir mocked as Simeon released the shaken wolf.

Simeon glanced over at Alice who had not moved, but was watching with interest, "You said Betas... what is a Beta?"

"A Beta is a smaller wolf who can never become Alpha due to size and status... Always Wereborn..." Tashir replied as Lomas staggered to his feet shakily.

"So you and Simeon are Alphas?" Alice queried.

"We are," Tashir replied.

"But not The Alpha you mentioned earlier?"

Tashir chuckled, "We have a quick one here healer," he commented, "And yes you are right, neither of us are The Alpha male of the pack... though Simeon out ranks me as he is more important to the welfare of the others."

"Would I be an Alpha or a Beta if I survive?" Alice pressed.

"You would be an Alpha... all changelings are," Tashir replied.

Alice smiled, her dirt smeared face lighting up for the first time to show lost beauty that promised to be found again in the future, "Then let's do this then."

"Bite her shoulder, between her neck and the joint, but let your saliva run down your teeth into her blood stream. It will do the rest," Tashir instructed.

"How far out from the village are we with the ox?" Simeon asked.

"Two days with luck, why?"

"Then I will bite her on the morning of the day before we arrive. I cannot deal with her fever while we are travelling. Did they have journey rations on them?" Simeon nodded towards the corpses.

"You are going to allow an unchanged human to travel into the pack lands?" Lomas exclaimed.

"On my throat be it... She has a far better chance of survival if I can tend her for the seven days it will take to pass in the security of a hut, as Merek tended me," Simeon growled, "I will answer to Balthazar if needs be."

Lomas shook his head, "It is not I that breaks the law..."

"They have booze, dried meats and cheese, healer," Tashir replied to the prior query.

"Good. Alice, collect all the food and eat as much as your stomach will take. You will need every ounce of energy you can get to pull through. Leave the booze, you can drink from streams. You can ride on the sled so we make the best possible time." He turned to Lomas, "You range ahead and tell Alpha what I plan to do. How did the lot go anyhow?"

Lomas dropped his jaw, "That, I am instructed not to tell you healer... I will do as asked and then gather a circle to watch the Alpha rip a hole in your hide for breaking the law."

Simeon pounced again, ripping a strip of flesh from Lomas' ear before leaving it limp to drip blood freely across his cheek, "Sass me again, and that will be your throat... Now go!"

Lomas whined and tilted his head on one side in submission before running off into the woods in silence.

"Is there an Alpha bitch too?" Alice's quiet voice asked between mouthfuls.

"There is... or should I say Ledrene. You must do everything she says, or you will suffer as Lomas just did..." Simeon replied as the three of them headed towards the Ox cart, Tashir falling behind Alice as guard against her bolting.

"Mmm... I think I may enjoy myself then..." she muttered, a quiet belch slipping from her lips as her empty stomach rebelled at the sudden intake.

Tashir chuckled behind her, "Your pad-warmer is not going to be happy in a couple of years healer..." he muttered.

Simeon just snorted in response...