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By the light...

Chapter 7

The Proclivities of Power

Note: Chapter 7 of By the light, written by RuthofPern.

"It is time," Simeon said turning to Alice, "Last chance now to back out. We will not eat you if you change your mind, I promise to bury you cleanly."

Alice yawned on the top of the ox-cart as the sun splashed through the trees...Even after only twenty four marks of decent food portions, she looked healthier and brighter to his healer's eyes. Though she walked with a splay-legged gait and was in obvious pain whenever she used the pits he dug for her. She showed no shyness though as he watched her pass waste, though he told himself it was only to check for fresh blood.

"I have not changed my mind Simeon," she stated, sliding down off the pile of supplies into his catching arms, "A chance is better than no chance, after all."

Tashir nodded, "Then do it now Simeon, I smell others are watching us, though not showing themselves. Lomas must have been spreading rumours and dissent in the time since you last spoke to him. None of those watching are Alphas."

"Stupid bastard has no balls of his own and will be chastised accordingly when I am free," Simeon commented before turning to face Alice, "Strip down please Alice, it will make things easier when you break into fever. I know that you are nowhere near as fit and healthy as I was, you will be unconscious within a mark of my bite."

"You want me naked?" Alice queried as she slipped her torn dress over her head and allowed it to drop on the floor. The thieves had allowed her an underskirt which she had not yet shed in Tashir's presence. When answering nature's calls, she had only lifted them both.

"I do. You will remember little past the point you drop unconscious, but I will need to keep you cool and hydrated. The weather is warm enough for your fever not to become a chill, so naked is the best way," Simeon answered her before changing to wolf form.

Alice shrugged and cast her underdress over her shoulders as Tashir hissed in shock at the sight, "Fuck me healer... what the hell?" he exclaimed.

Simeon turned to Tashir, "Three broken but healed ribs, fractured arm and leg, deep tissue bruises all over... plus what I cannot determine internally. I have nothing with me prepared that could of helped her earlier, including painkillers. I examined her when you went hunting. She has suffered more abuse in the last moons than any I have seen before."

"But I survived," the semi cheerful voice of Alice replied as Tashir's eyes were still playing over her painfully thin, but far from pale body. Every square inch of skin appeared to be a different shade of puce and brown. The area between her legs was particularly swollen, especially when her age was taken into account.

"What are her chances?" Tashir asked, "With that much damage, that is?"

Simeon shrugged, "No idea. I don't know how the serum works. I was healthy... you were exhausted, but not injured. Robin tells me that Helewys was mentally disturbed, but whole of body. No one has told me of failures, as there have been so few changelings in recent times. I would say from how I lost such a lot of weight during the fever, she has far less chance than me."

"It is still better than none," Alice replied, forcing a smile, "Come on healer, let's do this. If I wake up, well I will thank you... If I don't..." she shrugged her shoulders.

Simeon walked over to her and stared into her green eyes, "Brace yourself, it burns like hell for a minute." She nodded and closed her eyes as he took her flesh in his teeth and bit hard. She hissed in pain as he let his saliva infiltrate her bloodstream for half a minute before he released her. He carefully licked at the four teeth wounds until they stopped bleeding as she leant into his chest. "There, it is over with one way or another," he said quietly.

"T... T... Thank you," she stuttered, a few tears spilling from her eyes.

Simeon transferred his tongue to her face, "Your welcome dear," he replied, "Now go and drink your fill at the stream and we will get on."

Alice nodded, stumbling to her feet before doing as he instructed.

~~~~

She dropped unconsciousness less than a mark later, draped across Simeon's back and neck. He had agreed to acting as horse for her as she was obviously scared and didn't actually want to lose tactile contact with him until it no longer mattered. He felt her bladder relax and the rather unpleasant feeling of warm fluids dampening his haunches as Tashir snorted in amusement. "Very funny I'm sure," Simeon commented as the odour penetrated his nostrils.

"Yes my horsey healer... it is!" Tashir remarked, laughing as they broke out into a rough clearing.

"Fuck off!" Simeon retorted grumbling, only to receive an even bigger howl of laughter from the white wolf.

The bushes ahead parted then and Portia stepped through the gap along with a Beta bitch he didn't recognize, "So the healer returns and he brings some carrion with him for the pack," Portia sneered. She sniffed over Alice's limp body before curling her nose up as it crossed across his haunches, "Carrion that stinks as well."

"Back off Portia," Tashir warned as Simeon growled warningly, the white wolf holding the ox's traces harder with his teeth as the overwhelming scent of four wolves in close proximity began to override the blindfold.

"No... Ghost!" Portia snapped back at him.

"Portia, the ox... If he panics," Tashir grunted, holding on as the beast began to shift.

Portia chuckled, "Then I will just kill it..."

"Portia... Alpha..." the younger Beta bitch said, moving over to help Tashir, "We are still half a day out from the village..."

"Shut it Gris..." Portia snapped, "Or face my teeth!"

"Kill the ox, and you will be pulling the sled back home," Simeon threatened.

"Shut the fuck up you sniveling little mother-fucking, pup stealing, bitch molesting, carrion carrying, law breaking, changeling!" Portia snarled back.

"I fit two only of those accusations Portia... And I believe that your mother wants me to grace her loins with pups when we get back!" He slipped Alice off his back to land in a heap of tangled limbs on a mossy patch, sweat was just beginning to form on her brow. "I am guessing the lot did not go well for you..."

"You won't be getting back!" Portia snarled, "Neither will the fucking carrion...!"

"You calling circle on me?" Simeon asked, "Here, now, in the forest?"

"Yes... I lost four pups... four you bastard!"

"For that I am sorry." He turned to where Tashir and Gris were still fighting the ox. "Get him downwind a bit. I will call for more witnesses. I am guessing Gris that you are also a child of Portia's loins?"

Gris nodded, "Mother forced me to come out here with her..."

"I said shut it Bitch!" Portia snapped.

Simeon sat on his haunches as the two wolves tugged the ox away, and howled out an all points call.

"What the fuck did you do that for you useless little shit!?" Portia snapped.

"So that the challenge is legal... Portia... I do not break the pack laws. Gris is not impartial, and Tashir is unranked despite being an Alpha. Your challenge would have no standing if I kill you..."

Portia sneered, laughing mockingly as she scuffed out a rough circle in the grass and dirt, "I am a senior bitch... I would be believed when I returned alone with Gris. I was going to execute the useless neuter when finished with you..."

Tashir growled behind her as he returned, "Would have liked to see you try, Bitch! Gris wants out, and is tending the ox."

A few other Weres appeared, including to Simeon's relief, Helewys, "What's this all about?" the Ledrene asked.

"Portia there has challenged me, though she wished to fight with no unbiased witnesses. I accept the challenge if you see it fit now there is a circle, Ledrene." Simeon stated, bowing his head in submission.

Helewys glared at Portia, "You stupid, stupid bitch..."

"I will kill you in this very circle Ledrene... after I have finished with him!" Portia snarled.

"I do not like to see a bitch and male fight... it is a bad example. Defer his acceptance and step into the circle with me now if you want to persist in this grief addled stupidity," Helewys replied calmly.

"NO! HE IS THE ONE... HE IS THE ONE THAT HAS TAKEN MY PUPS FROM ME!" Portia screamed.

"No he isn't... and you know that in your heart Portia," Helewys replied with a calm and controlled voice, "Blame Cassius if you want to blame anyone... You wish to still go ahead?"

"I DO!"

Helewys glanced at Simeon, who just nodded, "Then so be it. Witness the terms..." she barked, and the other wolves howled in response as Simeon stepped into the circle with Portia.

"Terms are?" Simeon asked.

"Your death!" Portia snarled.

"And his if he wins?" Helewys prompted.

Portia spat on the floor, "My throat..."

"Make it your tail..." Simeon countered, "The pack needs more, not less bitches. I will not kill you."

Portia stared at him, "You dare presume to..."

"I think that fair," Helewys interjected.

"He gets my tail only if I can fight no longer, and not before!" Portia snarled.

"Agreed," Helewys replied, "Witness... no rape if committed in this circle today, Portia just suspended that law!"

"Yes Alpha!" the surrounding wolves chorused.

Portia looked a little uneasy, realizing she had just declared open season upon herself, before she began to circle Simeon. The clearing was anything but really. There were several saplings a few inches thick growing in the center, a couple of big old lightening blasted stumps indicating how the area had formed so deep in the forest... And moss covered rocks dotted it intermittently... Nothing like the easy, flat circle of the village. She knew she outweighed Simeon, and her experience was far greater, the match would be short and bloody. She closed rapidly, going for a flank strike...

Simeon skittered sideways out of her reach, knowing that he would have to end this soon. Alice needed attention rapidly, and if she didn't get it, she would have no chance. Portia had made a mistake in granting him a no law fight... all he had to do was catch her now without losing fur himself. He darted away rapidly, putting the saplings between her and himself as he watched her muscles move within her superb body... Any other circumstances, and this would be a pleasure.

"Stop running you Fucking Coward!" Portia snarled.

Simeon just stood there silently, not responding to the goad as he let the anger and grief build in the bitch facing him until it robbed her of common sense. She charged again, straight between the trunks separating them. Simeon leapt for one of the stumps, hitting it with all four paws and using the momentum to bounce himself back off it to plough into Portia's moving flank, knocking her off her feet as they tumbled over and over in a snarling, entwined mass of teeth and claws until he slammed her into a large rock, all wind fleeing her body.

Before she could recover, he sunk his teeth through the skin and nerves above her haunches, careful not to sever her spine and with a twist of his body picked her up howling in pain and threw her over his head to tumble back into the center of the circle, rolling to smash into the saplings she had launched her attack through.

She shook her head as she stared at him closing on her rapidly, blood dripping from his mouth as her muscles spasmed where his teeth had bruised them... her back legs were not working properly, but nothing was broken. She spat out a couple of teeth that had been snapped by the impact with a rock. "Concede!" he growled at her.

"Never!" Portia snarled back, gathering herself up again, her rear legs nearly folding under her.

Simeon shook his head, "I take no pleasure in this then..." He turned tail on her, planting his forepaws deep in the moss as she charged at what she saw as his undefended spine. He kicked out backwards using both hind paws with a strike that caught her completely unawares on either side of her breastbone. The snapping of two upper ribs made several cringe as Portia was thrown over her own tail to land in a heap, her head going limp as consciousness was almost lost in the blast of pain that ripped through her. Simeon approached her limp body, blood spilling from her mouth as she gasped for breath with partially opened eyes. He rolled her onto her stomach as if a piece of carrion before straddling her, his teeth taking her ruff in his mouth. Kicking her limp tail to one side he allowed himself to become partially erect and switched his hips once, penetrating her as she managed a single grunt.

Simeon rattled her in his jaws and then let her go, pulling out and stepping off her, "I win..." he said flatly and walked over to where Alice lay in silence, "I have no time nor will to knot you..." he declared over his shoulder. He nosed under Alice's limp body between her legs and squirmed up flat on his belly until her head once again rested on his shoulders, and her crotch his haunches before standing.

The circle was silent, staring at him, "Well?" he snapped.

Helewys broke the silence, "Witness!" she called.

"Witnessed!" the watchers responded in shock.

Simeon nodded, "She will live. Two need turn human and carry her back to the village. Make sure she is prone, all paws skywards on her back in case I punctured anything when I snapped her ribs. It will ease the pressure on her heart and lungs until I can attend her. When Alice is settled, I will show up." He turned his back on them and limped off in the direction of the sled tracks, some of Portia's claws having found a new home in his foreleg as Tashir hurried up to his side.

"That was cold Simeon..." he commented.

"Just leave it Tashir... just leave it. It sickens me in my gut that I had to do that. She will never be able to challenge for Ledrene now, the nerve damage I did to her haunches will leave a permanent weakness... but she can still bear pups."

"Would have been kinder to kill her..." Tashir commented after a moment's thought.

"I don't give a fuck about kindness in this case Tashir. If she wants to be a selfish bitch and jump off the cliff when she can walk properly again... Well that is her fucking choice. My concern is not for her, it is for the pack, and like it or not the pack needs bitches like her. She is grieving, and she let that grief override her sensibilities... It is not like her pups are dead... Which they could well be if they stayed here. With luck and help from Gris or her other pups, she will come through it. Though of course she has now destroyed her own 'glorious' future... I couldn't let her off injury free, or she could have killed me."

"Speaking of that..." Tashir started, looking up as Helewys shouldered her way through the bushes and blocked the path in front, forcing them to stop.

"Of what?" she asked.

"So you noticed exactly what Simeon did in the circle too?" Tashir responded.

"All the witnesses did, that is why the circle remained silent until he prompted them to respond."

"What are you fucking talking about now!" Simeon growled.

Helewys glared at him, "I am still your Ledrene Simeon..."

"And I am the healer with a patient that needs immediate attention..." Simeon interrupted angrily, "You want to tell me what I did wrong? Or do you want a possible new bitch to die in front of you? Take my rudeness up with me in the circle Helewys, or let me pass. But I will defer your decision until I have done my damned hardest to give a girl who has suffered far more than you ever did a second chance at life!" He shouldered past her, tugging at her splinted tail with his teeth cruelly to make her wince as he disappeared alone into the trees.

Helewys stood in stunned silence for a moment, her jaws half open as Tashir tried not to stare at her, "Did he just...?" she started.

Tashir nodded, "You want me to stop him... Ledrene?"

"What...? No. But what the hell happened to him in the last few days that has changed him so much?" She shuddered, "What he has done to Portia..."

"I think Ledrene, he has grown up. Did you see the waif on his back... see the condition she is in? He has killed his first human with his jaws over her, and was nearly sick when he did it. The city enlightened him to the worst of human depravities that back country residents are never likely to experience. And as for what has been done to Alice... if I had known beforehand I would have hamstrung the two bastards and left them next to a fire ant nest, rather than clean killing them." Tashir replied gravely. "As for Portia... be glad she wasn't a male as the pack would be less another member... She was just a trigger for his bottled anger."

Helewys glanced into the shadowed trees where Simeon had vanished, "Lomas isn't exactly uninjured either," she mused.

Tashir snorted, "That little shit deserved far more than he got."

"I won't take him to the circle, unless I hear rumors about what he just did..." she stared at Tashir, indicating that if she did, she would know where they came from, "And I have to save face, though if he fights like he just did... I would have no chance. I just hope that Simeon can control some of that anger of his. His circle wins have only been when he is furious, and that could be dangerous as you know as well as I do, that anger blinds."

"Speaking of his circle technique, and of course the reason everyone was silent... Did he really do what he did?" Tashir queried.

"Pick up a bitch by the skin and haunch muscles that outweighed him by at least fifty pounds before tossing her over his head as if he was playing with a rabbit? Yes he did. And before you say anything, I doubt Balthazar is strong enough to do that. Same goes for killing that bloody boar solo... By rights he should be dead twice over by now."

"Any guesses as to why he is so strong in comparison to you or I?" Tashir asked as they approached where Gris was holding the ox.

"He was the fittest, healthiest human changed amongst all us changelings. Probably even fitter than Balthazar as he was a slave and undernourished. That is the only possibility I can think of. I hope he uses it wisely though. I have never seen any Were take another apart in the circle in such a clinical and cruel fashion... and then not even claim his prize. Hell... he shouldn't know how to fight like that... that back kick was very unwolflike."

Tashir shook his head, "I suggest that you warn Balthazar as to what transpired today. The next male to step into the circle with Simeon, is likely to be carried out. Are you going to speak to Simeon about it... when things have calmed?"

Helewys stared at Gris, who had remained silent throughout what she had just overheard, "Gris... your throat is sacrifice if any of this is discussed... you understand?"

Gris nodded, "Yes Ledrene... Of course Ledrene... Is my Dam okay?"

"No she is not... nor will she ever be again according to Simeon..." Helewys grimaced as she turned back to Tashir, "I will talk to him... but I am not likely to be welcome for a few days at least. He has Alice to nurse, Portia to tend... and Lucinda is in the first stage of heat and will demand his presence tonight and for the next day or two. You will hear soon enough, but he agreed to take Ysmay as his padwarmer too... She asked him."

Gris gasped, getting a glare from Helewys, "Sorry Ledrene," she said, dropping her ears.

"Yes... you know what that means Gris. Though as Gregor was not taken by the lot, Simeon is likely to stay as healer only when Ysmay challenges for my place... Your Dam is no longer able to fight for it... and there is no bitch else... Unless of course some of the new bitches from the exchange arrive strong enough..."

"Or Alice survives..." Tashir interjected, "Ysmay is going to very pissed off with Simeon if she comes through..."

Helewys barked out a laugh, "That she is... didn't think of that!"

"Come, let us get this sled back to the pack, I for one am weary," Tashir said, taking the traces in his mouth.

"Go tend your Dam, Gris... Simeon wanted her to be on her back and supported until he could get to her, as he broke her ribs..."

"Yes Ledrene!" Gris lowered her head and backed away, as Helewys took the other set of traces in her jaws.

"Let's see if we can make it before all hell has broken loose..."

Tashir grinned, "If Lomas stays out of Simeon's way... he may just get on with his normal duties on his return."

Helewys dropped her jaw in amusement as they began tugging the reluctant beast behind them.

~~~~

Simeon glanced around the glen as he entered, the place seemingly very quiet in comparison to normal, hardly a tail in sight. He grumbled to himself, he could have done with a helpful paw or hand to get everything done that needed to be done. Even Balthazar was noticeably absent... He wondered if he had maybe been a little too harsh on Portia...

His back fur was soaked, Alice having developed a full fever now and was sweating profusely as he headed for his temporary hut. It was not empty when he arrived, and he paused in surprise as a fresh pad was laid out on one side of a blazing fire in the pit. On the other, the grinning visage of Benedict sat in human form, carefully shredding pieces of clean cotton that he must have dug up from somewhere else.

"Benedict!" Simeon exclaimed, unable to say anything else.

"Yes Healer? I wasn't taken by the lot, and thought you might need a hand when I heard you were bringing another changeling in. Everyone else has scattered under Alpha's orders, after what you did out there to Portia. I snuck back in..." Benedict replied, grinning.

"Well... Err... Thank you," he paused as the adolescent stood and gently lifted Alice from his back without prompting and lay her down on the fresh pad, "I am guessing that you are trying to sway my decision?"

"Who me?" Benedict queried, looking all innocent as Simeon gritted his teeth and changed human again.

Simeon chuckled as he knelt next to Alice's frail form and placed the back of his hand on her forehead, "Then the answer is yes. Balthazar has already approved, so as long as you do everything I tell you, and don't overstep the line... consider yourself apprenticed."

Benedict grinned, "Thank you Master..." Simeon glanced up sharply at that, "Well you are now, aren't you?"

"Mmm... I suppose I am to you... But that is certainly going to take some getting used to," Simeon mused.

Benedict glanced up at the door, the sound of footfalls, two sets human, one wolf penetrating the hut as the moaning form of Portia was carried past, blood dripping steadily into the dust, "Would it be presumptuous to suggest that you are needed elsewhere more urgently... Master."

Simeon watched the procession, "Alice is more important than that bitch," he spat, "She has had her chances."

"I know I cannot help Portia Master, but I think I can help here. Is there anything that can be done for Alice here other than the bathing of her forehead and the cleaning of her body for the moment? I could do both..."

Simeon considered for a second, torn between his vows and his feelings... "Fuck it!" He turned and delved into his dwindling pack in the corner, "Alright... Bathe her carefully from head to foot... everywhere... Including between her legs. She has been soiling herself, and will continue to do so throughout her fever." He pulled out several herbs including woundwort, mashing them together quickly and adding water before rolling the steeping messes in hessian. "Do not let these get near yours, or her mouth, they are very poisonous. Wash your hands after each use. When she is as clean as you can make her, place them on the darkest of her bruises and then cover her with blankets while keeping the fire high. When your nose tells you she has soiled again, clean her again." He grabbed the water bucket, sniffing at it for freshness before pouring some salt into it and giving it a good stir, "Tilt her head forward and dribble some of this between her lips every quartermark until she gags. The salts will replace some of those lost by sweating. Is everything clear?"

"Yes Master," Benedict replied, standing to go and fetch another bucket for the bathing.

"Benedict..." Simeon called.

"Yes Master?"

"Sorry to give you such an unpleasant task for your first one... but as you said... Portia needs me more."

Benedict shrugged, "I guessed that if I was going to be a healer I'd have to deal with the piss and shit of the job too... I will do the best I can for her. Oh and Master, Lucinda is in need of you to for a different reason." He turned and ran off to his own shared hut before Simeon could answer... though it was no longer shared. His littermates had both gone with the lot...

Simeon shook his head and glanced up at the sun... he had maybe two marks before light was lost... And from Benedict's last comment, he was probably going to find himself hunted... He gathered up his knap and headed out the door, casting a final glance over Alice's body. He had not torn Portia in any places, just punctured her, so no catgut would be required.

He approached Portia's hut with trepidation, semi afraid that he would discover that the ribs he had broken had indeed punctured her lungs... and in that case he would find a corpse and not the bitch. Gris looked up from one flank of Portia, and another beta bitch that he vaguely recognized supported the other. Portia was upside-down as he had instructed, her breathing even, if a little labored. "Evening Healer," Gris greeted, "She was unconscious by the time we got her back here. That's Paulie, one of my older half-siblings. How is Alice?"

Simeon nodded a greeting towards Paulie who grinned at him, "In the first stages of her fever... I can give no real prognosis for at least a few days. I would guess that if she survives the next three sunrises, she will pull through. Benedict is now officially my apprentice... even though I didn't want one this early into my journeymanship. He is in charge of nursing her while I do my other duties..."

Paulie chuckled, "You don't remember me do you, healer?" she asked.

"Erm... should I?"

"Well I was one of the ones helping Gregor with your education... so I would have hoped you would have!" She chuckled again, "Mind you we were all queuing up for you then... I am not sure I even gave you my name!"

Simeon flushed, getting a chuckle out of Gris too, "So will our Dam survive?" she asked seriously after a minute.

Simeon turned all serious again and indicated that Gris should move to one side as he knelt next to Portia, placing his ear against her chest and listening intently before sitting up again and running his hands gently over the two broken ribs, getting a whimper from the unconscious bitch. "Her lungs are okay... and as long as she doesn't do anything stupid for half a moon she should live." He reached behind and brought out a few of his flexible willow splints and dumped them into the water bucket next to the smouldering fire-pit to soften up. "Would one of you change human and give me a hand to roll her. I need to see if I can do anything at all for the damage I did to her haunches."

Gris nodded and changed without further prompting, revealing herself to actually be an adult Were and not the immature one she appeared to be in wolf form. "Not mated yet healer, I am due my third heat in around a moon as I was whelped later than your Ysmay. I will never be anything but the smallest of Beta's though," she said answering his eyes' unspoken query.

Simeon nodded, "Won't stop you from whelping Alphas though if everything works as we think. Balthazar will be your first, so there is a good chance as he has had no relations with your Dam, or a blood link with your Sire, you could have Alphas amongst your first litter."

Gris grinned, "That is good news... might give me better status amongst my peers. Now what do you need me to do?"

"We are going to turn her very carefully. It is essential that no pressure is put on her ribs or they may shift and puncture her lungs. Place your hands on her shoulders as I do and roll towards you on the count of three.... One... Two... Three!" They rolled Portia away from Paulie until she was lying supine on her belly again. Simeon immediately bent and checked her breathing, nodding as it was still showing clear. "Thank you Gris. Paulie, you can go and get something to eat, though I imagine my supplies will be arriving soon with an ox towing them for everyone to feast upon."

"I think I will wait for it then... I happen to know that you will not be able to do much for my Dam for the next couple of days... you will be a little tied, so I'm guessing that maybe you will not be able to feed and water our Dam as you have done Cassius and my Grand-Dam."

"Thank you... Alice is certainly going to take up my time..." Simeon started.

"I was referring to my Grand-Dam Simeon... Once you enter her hut, you will have to fight to leave it. She is a bitch with much experience, and takes a great deal of satisfying when in heat!" Paulie chuckled, "I will go for a shit though!" And with that she left the hut, Simeon's face as red as the puncture marks around Portia's haunches.

Gris, having turned wolf again nudged between Simeon's human legs, damp nose tickling his balls, "You want a warm up before you go and face my Grand-Dam?" she asked, "After all, from what the others said you didn't take my Dam here. You must be full from your trip into the city..."

Simeon reached down and ran a hand over Gris' head, "As everyone seems to know what is about to happen to me, do you not think I will need all my sexual energies with Lucinda?"

Gris chuckled, "Was worth me trying though, wasn't it? I am nowhere near my heat like Ysmay was when my sire got overthrown by Balthazar. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate a skilled tongue between my haunches! You have already gained a wonderful reputation for that..." she mused, backing off.

"Tell you what... ask Ysmay in a few days. If she grants permission for a good licking session, I will be only too glad to return the favour of you staying out of your Dam's business earlier and tending the ox. Okay?"

Gris grinned, "That sounds more than fair to me! So much fun, this currency of the tail... Shame humans don't have it. There would be far less wars if no-one was ever sexually frustrated!"

Simeon looked at her funnily, "Currency of the tail?" he queried as Gris started giggling... A most unusual noise when coming from a lupine throat.

"Don't tell me Gregor of all wolves omitted that from your education!" she started laughing. "Favours and trades amongst the pack are almost always repaid with non-conceptional, procreational activities, as you have probably noticed! I believe you have an appointment for one of those trades with Gregor as well... as I happen to know he has been fight training your apprentice as you asked before you left!" She dissolved into laughter again. "So much better than trading gold and silver, don't you agree?!"

Simeon had to laugh, "I will admit it is rather a pleasurable way of discharging debt," he replied.

"Well of discharging something anyway!" Gris retorted.

"Would you pair of jokers just kill me so I can rest in peace," Portia growled groggily from at their feet, "I feel like shit!"

"You are going to for a while to come Portia. I broke your ribs, and you will never walk as a human again... though you should be able to hunt as a wolf as long as you remember your rear legs have little strength in them now," Simeon responded, kneeling in front of her, "I am going to put you in a chest cast to stop you puncturing your lungs, I can do nothing but add salve to my teeth punctures in your haunches."

"Then treat me as you will treat your carrion if she pulls through and is sterile... take my throat in an honorable Were fashion. You have taken my children... you took my honour in the ring by not shagging me when you won, and now you tell me you have taken my mobility too? Just kill me!" Portia snapped, blood still weeping from her gums where her teeth had broken off.

"No... There is nothing stopping you from living a perfectly healthy life and bearing many more litters for the pack. Now is the time for you to think of others before yourself and become a truly useful Were instead of one who resides on the edge of the pack like Millicent did, existing only to jibe and dig at your betters. Helewys will accept your injuries and limitations, as will the others. If any bitch should try and take advantage of your condition, I am sure that they will answer to her... or me if I am nearest."

"Fuck off!!"

"No..." Simeon turned and reached into his pack, pulling out his dwindling painkillers... More were in the supplies on the Ox-sled, a good herbalist in Geresby having had some pre-prepared for those healers that didn't have the time to do their own medicines, "Swallow two of these now, or I will dose you to like a disobedient pup. Things will look better when you wake from a good sleep." He placed the two tablets in her mouth, watching her carefully in case she decided to spit them out.

Portia swallowed the pills reluctantly to avoid further humiliation, the taste almost as bitter as the verbal medicine Simeon had been dishing out... Her head began to swim almost immediately and she cursed in her subconscious as even that faded into black.

Simeon nodded as her labored breathing settled again, "Right...!" he exclaimed, quickly making up a salve patch for her haunches, tying it on firmly over the puncture wounds to help them heal, and relieve the pain as well. He reached into the water bucket and began deftly weaving a curved willow chest shield to fit Portia, stripping the bark and using it to tie the withies off as deftly as a professional basket maker as Gris watched with interest. He quickly tore some strips of hessian and tied them to each corner. Dipping into his pack again, he made up another Woundwort cushion with the last of that herb and slipped it inside the shield before fixing it firmly to Portia's chest, looping the straps around her neck and under her forelegs before tying it off firmly in a four point knot between her shoulder blades. "You going to keep an eye on her for me?" he asked, turning to Gris.

"Paulie and I are, Healer. She is not a bad mother, you know," Gris replied nodding.

"Don't let her lick that poultice in her chest harness... She will die a horrible death if she does, one that I won't be able to save her from." He checked the painkiller bag, shaking his head. "When she wakes in the morning, get her to swallow another couple of these after she has eaten a haunch from the ox. I will check for infection when I get the chance."

Gris grinned, "Off to grand-dam now... before you find yourself hunted?"

Simeon chuckled, "Going to check in on Cassius and then Ysmay first... let her know I am in one piece."

Gris nosed at the red raw scratches on one of his arms, "Don't forget your own health either healer," she said and turned to settle down beside her somnolent mother.

"Oh these will be fine... I will clean them though, before I gird Lucinda's lair!"

Gris dropped her jaws in amusement, "Good tying healer... good tying. I look forward to playing with relatives from your loins..."

~~~~

Simeon swallowed hard, knowing, and yet not knowing what was about to come as he approached Lucinda's hut. Her smell was ripe for all to inhale, the lust of need filling his loins as his nose transmitted instructions from his brain. Cassius had been sleeping as usual, but no scent of infection had suffused his hut, so he had let the sleeping wolf lie... not wanting another bloody confrontation. Ysmay had greeted him enthusiastically, licking and grooming him as he had changed back to wolf before entering the side hut... not yet perceiving the threat that Alice could pose to her in the future, just pleased that he had walked out of the human port without injury to return to her. "'Portia deserved it... At least now I have no challengers when my mother slows...'" she had said after asking about her condition, "'Now... go and prove yourself a whole male...'" He shook his head, looking up at the nearly full moon and hoping beyond hope that he didn't have to take Ysmay herself to the ring over the 'green eyed' little waif that was currently sweating her life away with Benedict in attendance.

"Well are you going to come in, or I am going to have to drag you in?" Lucinda's acidic tones sounded from the hut, "I can smell you out there gathering up your mettle."

Simeon edged into the hut, watching his boon-mate as she lay there on the pad, the silvery light from the moon just highlighting her fur, "How is your chest?" Simeon asked after a second of awkward silence.

"How is my daughter?" Lucinda retorted in response.

Simeon sighed, "If she is not stupid, she will live... Sorry I had to do that to her... I will call Balthazar if you want to change your mind and select another male to sire your litter."

Lucinda grinned, "I think not Healer. She always was impetuous, and probably deserved what she got... It is just a shame it was you that dealt it out and not Helewys, as she has lost not just her mobility, but her status as an Alpha by being defeated by a male."

"So you are not angry?" Simeon asked.

"No... I have seen too many of my offspring go out hunting and not return over the years. She at least has returned, and is still a useful pack member if she wants to be. I have taken the lives of three of my own who returned too injured to heal... they may have been saved had you been around then." She stood smoothly and approached Simeon, pulling the privacy cord to let the canvas drop before running her head across his cheeks and neck and then lowering it and licking at the pre on his all to engorged member, "I think it is now time for you to claim your right..." she said, turning and presenting on her pad, tail to one side, spade like vulva swollen and flushed with blood as her rich scent washed over him.

Simeon stepped forward without another word and dipped his tongue under her tail to begin his part of the courtship, only for her to take a step forward with a growl, "First lesson for when a bitch is in heat Healer. Fuck their brains out! Foreplay is for after the event... I have been waiting for you too long as it is!"

Simeon chuckled as she presented again, and with an efficient hop forward mounted her and filled her as she demanded, "Bugger you are hot! Are you running a fever?" he asked as his shaft was swallowed right up to the balls on his first stroke by the most experienced bitch he had taken to date.

Lucinda groaned, "Fuck no! I am in heat! Where did you think that bloody phrase came from you pup! Lupinius I wish I had not held off and had you do this before I was as slick with need as I am now! Now fuck me... fuck me until I am screaming for mercy... and only then you can cum!"

Simeon bent forward and gripped her ruff, careful not to gather too much of it and pull the healing skin on her chest to tight, before he complied with her instructions. He pistoned in and out relentlessly as Lucinda's howls and screams grew louder as quickly as her breathing grew hoarser. His knot was slipping in and out, tugging painfully on him as her passage spasmed around him, trying to draw him ever deeper as his pointed tip popped in and out of her wide open cervix.

"YES!!!!" she screamed, and he felt himself drawn to her in a massive convulsion of muscles.

He held back, riding out the orgasm as his knot was pummeled by her clasping vulva, waiting for her to settle before he started again, her whimpering almost pathetic with breathless panting as her now hyper sensitive areas almost protested his renewed vigor. She tipped over the edge again, this time he escaped her as her lips almost gurgled and slapped together as they tried to capture what was no longer within her. Her howling becoming a growling of frustration as her red mist descended.

Simeon shifted position slightly, driving home above her needier passage as her ring gave under the pressure and he stopped just before his knot became stuck. She bucked under him, trying to tear herself free as her mouth opened in protest, "Simeon! No!"

"Yes!" he breathed, "I will pull out before I let loose... You will have your wish from me!" He redoubled his efforts as she squirmed under him, his jaws reaching forward to grip hers and silence her as he continued to pound her. He released them as he felt her tense around him, and she emitted another earthshattering howl as her heat soaked passage sprayed his balls with its nectar as he slipped from her suckling ass. "I think three is enough for you to start!" He wiped off quickly by humping a roll in her pad to ensure cleanliness, as she was too exhausted to protest any more at his intrusion. Mounting her again, his tip ramming through into her womb on the first thrust, he gritted his teeth against the pain as he changed human while engaged.

She felt his arms encircle her sore chest, squirming and yipping as she found that in her exhaustion she couldn't get out of his grip as he broke the one law of Were lovemaking and took her ruff in his blunted human teeth this time, rocking her back so she was impaled upright with her buttocks resting on his hairy thighs in his kneeling position. His shaft penetrating her to a depth she had never been taken before, the tip not even slipping from her inner ring as he began a staccato beat of micro thrusts which was all her weight pressing down on him would allow. Her breathing deepened again as the stimulation over-rode her momentary anger and she rolled over into orgasm for the fourth and final time, reveling in the bliss that enveloped her being as she took him with her this time, her womb filling with his pup makers as they swarmed to greet her eager eggs and his knot sealed them together as tightly as a freshwater limpet to a rock in the river.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fucking Fuck!" she panted as he continued to spasm within her, "You Fucking Bastard! You Absolute Fucking Bastard!"

He didn't let her go, just turning them both and collapsing onto his back, her considerable weight pressing him into the femme-cum soaked pad, "Can't turn the tie like this..." he panted into her ears.

"I should kill you! I should tear your throat out now!" Lucinda growled, her midriff swelling as nearly a week's worth of Simeon's seed filled her tightly.

"Second time you have said that," Simeon chuckled in response, "First time was when I kissed you as a human in the river. Done the job though hasn't it?" he queried.

"Lupinius yes! But why? Why break the law and screw me as a human?"

"I spoke to Ysmay about that after my night with Fel...It seems that that particular law is not written, it is taught by prudish Dams as tradition. Fel taught me that pleasures are often greater if the forms of the Weres entwined are different... After all, our sex organs do not change, just the way we can use them. It certainly worked for Fel and I, and it certainly worked for you too... Especially after I took your tail as well. My relationship was consummated with Ysmay in the belly to belly position humans normally take... though we were both in wolf form."

"Fuck yes it worked...but I am still fighting the urge to tear you from chin to crotch..." she groaned as he shifted within her, moving his hips slightly, "That fourth one..." she shuddered at the thought.

"The fourth was a dual one unless I am mistaken... Tell you what... You dictate what we do for the remainder of your heat... You wanted your brains screwing out tonight, and I did what I thought was best in the 'heat' of the moment." His knot released with a horrifying slurp and he felt her discard some of their combined fluids across the inside of his thighs. Gently he rolled over so they were lying in the spooning position, his cock tip still nestled in her folds.

She yawned mightily and he followed, a chuckle escaping both of them as her eyes closed, "Deal..." she whispered before she started snoring gently.

"Deal... Mate..." Simeon whispered back.

~~~~

They didn't make it to dawn, Simeon learning just what it was like to be enclosed in a hut with a heat addled bitch. He staggered out at first light, cursing the brightness as he quickly relieved himself of... well, what Lucinda firmly put her feet down about. She too limped off towards the patch by the river as her Boon checked first on Alice and Benedict, and then her daughter who Gris assured him was still sleeping in the drug dosed oblivion of ignorance.

He did wonder briefly as he headed towards the fire-pit in order to collect a sustaining meal from the remains of the ox for both himself and Lucinda's flagging stamina, exactly why no one else was around. It was only when he observed the glinting shapes of white teeth in Balthazar's grinning visage peeking from the shadows within the Alpha hut, did he realize that maybe he was not actually being shunned for... well bending the law and disrespecting the Ledrene... If he had been, a lot more than teeth would have made themselves known to him, and he was certainly in no physical shape to contest at the moment.

He returned to the hut where Lucinda was awaiting his arrival again, a quick nuzzling between her hindquarters enough to sate her before they devoured the rack of ribs together, each starting at one end until nothing was left, including the bones. Lucinda insisting that the marrow and calcium would help her pups grow, and that it would also give him a further energy boost. He certainly needed it, though variety in their coupling was not evident as she insisted upon staying traditional.

~~~~

The sun dropped again, allowing the moon to bathe the village with its now near full light as Simeon emerged for his second run of rounds. There was nothing different between them and the morning ones, other than the fact that Portia had awoken and torn a strip out of Gris' ear in her anger before Paulie had subdued her and two more of the precious tablets had been forced down her throat. It would be ragged for a while, but Gris just grinned and declared it a sign she was becoming an adult finally!

"Well, you are a whole male..." Lucinda declared as he re-entered her hut.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he dropped a piece of ox leg in front of her.

She grinned at him, "Must have been doing something right... I am coming off heat early, and that means you are going to be a father. In fact... with it only being barely twenty-four marks since you first took me... I would say that you are the most apt male I have been taken by... It normally takes at least forty-eight for seed to sate my body."

"Oh..." was all Simeon could respond.

Lucinda chuckled, "Doesn't mean I am going to let you go just yet though! I will not tell the other bitches that your balls are as quick as your sprint!"

Simeon laughed, "So... can I persuade you to try something different then before your cervix seals my pups in?"

Lucinda tilted her head on one side, a string of gristle hanging from her jaws, "Nothing human... absolutely nothing human. Once was enough for an old girl like me. Train Ysmay as much as you like to your ways and kinks... but pups or no pups... I will rip you apart if you pull a stunt like last night."

Simeon nodded, "Then go belly to belly as wolves with me, like I did her... I will be bottom not top as your chest skin is still too weak to hold out against me straddling you. That way you control the pace as well."

"You would be helpless against a throat strike..."

"As would you..."

Lucinda considered for a second before nodding, "As you extend your trust, I shall extend mine, though it is against my instincts. Lie back then... and we will see if a human position has the merits you give it."

Simeon smiled, and proved that though tired, his stamina was just as good as before as she mounted him, forepaws pummeling his chest as she rode herself to three final peaks before he locked with her and tried to increase his yield of pups for the last time.

~~~~

Balthazar and Helewys were awaiting his nose as he pushed through the hut's curtain the next morning, "Come... It is now time to pay the price you owe for your actions." Helewys said gravely as she nodded towards the Alpha hut.

"Lucinda is obviously off heat and sated as her scent no longer permeates and drives any nearby males mad as they pass," Balthazar continued as they both turned, leading the way while expecting him to follow.

Simeon swallowed hard. "I'm sorry..." he started.

"Not now... Hut or circle... your choice!" Helewys growled.

"Hut," Simeon muttered, following their tails.

They remained in silence until Balthazar pulled the string on the privacy curtain and only the central fire glowed within their abode. "What I am going to do with you?" he asked finally as he settled.

"Whatever you think is necessary," Simeon replied, his head bowed and tilted to one side.

Helewys sighed, "Anyone else, and by rights you should be floating down the river on your back with your throat missing for doing to me what you did. However upon discussion with Balthazar, and as it was following the rather tense situation you found yourself presented with... and the fact that like it or not, you are at current a vital pack member... a token punishment is all we can give. That and the fact that after what you did in the forest to Portia... every damned Were is afraid to challenge you."

Simeon looked up sharply, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"What she means is... If Helewys or I were to take you to the circle and you fought as cruelly and as clinically as you did with Portia... We would not be the ones walking clear," Balthazar replied darkly.

"But I would never challenge you... We have an agreement..." Simeon stuttered.

"Ah... but if I or Helewys were to challenge you and you submitted without really fighting us... status would be lost unless we killed you. So we have a conundrum... You must be punished, but not through the medium of fighting... That leaves one other option."

"And that is?" Simeon asked, worried despite the reassurance it was not his life at stake.

Helewys grinned, "Benedict's littermates were taken by the lot... but Gregor was not. Do your rounds today, feed up, rest. For tomorrow morning you will present in the circle in front of the whole pack... and pay the price you agreed with Gregor before you left for their amusement. It will show them all that though you may be the strongest male, you still have the humility to be dominated when the need is there."

"I had hoped that that would be private," Simeon replied, grimacing.

"That is the punishment we have agreed upon..." Balthazar stated, growling.

"Then I will take it under one condition..."

"You are in no position to make demands, Healer..." Helewys threatened.

"You may force us to declare you criminal and outcast, therefore both could execute you together... that is not a breach of the law..."

"The condition is that Lomas is allowed to step into the circle when Gregor steps out... he has wronged me and I am in no mood to let it slip. I have killed a human now... I think it fair that to regain some status after my coitus with Gregor... I am allowed to regain it by ridding the pack of a sneaky pest..."

Balthazar looked at Helewys, who stared at Simeon, who never broke his gaze with them both until they nodded assent... "Done! He is of no value to the pack, and more than one have been wronged by him. He can die like a Were, or be declared exile," they replied together.

"I shall see the pack tomorrow morning then," Simeon replied and stepped out of the hut without another word to resume his duties...