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Chapter 8...Of Hubris or Humility?

"You're going to get fucked, you're going to get fucked!" Cassius taunted as Simeon stepped into the ex-Alpha's hut later that evening.

Simeon growled, "Shut up Cassius, or I will shut you up! I am in no bloody mood for your attitude issues!"

"OOOOHHHH, the 'soon to be fag' is testy over his fate..." Cassius yelped as Simeon turned on him and nipped him just above the raw stump of his tail.

"I am not a fag, and I agreed to the price asked of me before I left for the city because you neglected to educate your own offspring. Where Gregor learnt to be the fighter he is I have no idea, as you are nothing but a bully and a coward."

"I'll call foul! You attacked me outside the circle!" Cassius protested as his rump smarted.

Simeon chuckled, "Try it...See who believes a disgraced Were like you. I shall pay my dues publically to your son as my punishment for breaking the rules when I was under stress over the situation in the forest. Lucinda is expecting my litter so I am anything but a fag, the waif is not conscious yet, but also not dead, so should live, and I lie with your daughter tonight in the side hut of the Alpha's, while you have nothing but the limited comfort of a flickering fire and your own pain to reflect upon. What I would greatly like to know is how you know what is about to happen in the morning's new light?"

Cassius turned his head away from Simeon's steely gaze, "I have informants...I know everything...I will always know everything that goes on in the pack as long as I live..."

"Mmm...'As long as you live'...Unfortunate phrasing if you carry on the way you are going Cassius. I would guess that only one as stupid as Lomas still panders to you in the hope that one day you may reward him..."

Cassius glanced up sharply, "Leave Lomas out of this, you..."

Simeon snapped at his nose, silencing him, "Thought so, did your sneaky little, dirty under-pawed, little shitty spy tell you that he is also on the entertainment schedule for the circle in the morning?"

"What? No! What do you mean?" Cassius stuttered as he realised he might lose his last key supporter.

Simeon chuckled and changed human, fetching the last couple of painkiller pills from the pouch he had left with fresh bandages in the corner of Cassius' hut, "He has spied his last for you...Tomorrow he dies a pack Were by my teeth, or is outcast for his crimes by Balthazar."

Cassius' eyes went wide, "You can't...!" he started as Simeon fell on him from behind, strong arms locking around his neck, choking off his words as he struggled in the iron grip. Fingers more flexible than any paw pried his jaws apart and the pills were forced in as he choked on his anger and fear, his throat being massaged until he swallowed the bitter taste of his failures. "You...you..." he cursed, jumping to his feet as Simeon rolled clear of his snapping jaws.

Simeon kicked out with a foot, snapping Cassius' head back and knocking the weakened Were back onto his pad.

"You are a healer...you cannot kill...!" Cassius protested, his head swimming from the blow and the effects of the drugs in his stomach. He stumbled to his feet again, staggering towards the closed privacy curtain of the door, "Must warn Lomas...must tell..." he collapsed.

Simeon knelt in front his adversary as his eyes flickered, "A healer kills all the time Cassius...we kill those we cannot help. I killed my first human in the forest...But a healer never kills without reason or recourse. If I did not kill Lomas, Tashir would, or Balthazar, or Helewys, or any of the others he has wronged at your bidding. I say to you again coward, think on your own conscience as his corpse is carried away by the river or his tail disappears into the woods never to be seen again. If I were you I would concentrate on getting better, as the minute you step out of this hut unaided you are free game for a circle challenge, and I am sure that more than one would like to put you back in here again, or the river."

Cassius opened his mouth to protest...but the drugs sent him into a realm he could not fight back from.

Simeon sighed, "Idiot!" He cursed and picked the limp Were up and arranged him on the pad, checking his healing wounds over as if nothing had passed between them apart from kind words.

~~~~

"It's time love," Ysmay whispered in his ear, the first light of false dawn creeping around the privacy curtain as Balthazar's heavy paws shifted in the main hut next door.

Simeon yawned, raising his head to lick her nose, "I know...I know...What is about to happen goes against everything I have ever believed in...the last vestige of my human life is about to be wiped from my conscience. For me to take another male in the heat of my anger is so different for me, than for me to allow anther male to take me. Does it hurt the first time?" he asked quietly.

Ysmay smiled, "No more than it does for a bitch to lose her hymen supposedly. Go take a shit, clean yourself thoroughly, and then sit with your arse in the coldest eddy you can find until my father's howl calls the circle, as it will numb you slightly. Don't fight Gregor, his tip will penetrate you easily and the rest will follow under his guidance. When his knot hits, don't fight it, just relax and he will do the rest. I spoke to him yesterday and he will not mount you like an experienced sub, he will treat you like the virgin you are."

"But he has got to rough me up a little or it will look like a pantomime to the pack...They know it is but a token punishment for me already..." Simeon protested.

Ysmay closed his jaws as her own her warm breath stilled his words with a kiss, "He will...but after his knot is lodged. Once your ring has closed around his shaft he will give you a good seeing to, trust me that once tied it does not hurt as much or so the bitches say... most actually get more satisfaction from doing it roughly before the tie...remember that when I give you my tail. Don't forget to clean him when he pulls free."

Simeon smiled, "Your tail is Balthazar's if he chooses to..."

"My pups are Balthazar's, nothing else of me is. He will not lie with me again." Ysmay stated firmly, "Now go before it is too late for you to prepare."

Simeon stood and stretched, rubbing his cheek down her prone neck, "Thanks..." he said and turned, nosing past the curtain.

"Simeon..." Ysmay called, stopping him.

"Yes?" he queried.

"Clean kill on Lomas even if he deserves to die slowly...make the others respect, not fear you...Don't become my father..." she warned.

Simeon nodded once, leaving the hut to its shadows as Ysmay lowered her head to her own haunches and licked at the leaking fluids from the evening before.

~~~~

Simeon looked up and shivered as the howl echoed off the rock faces of the vale to where he was sitting, crouching in the plunge pool of the waterfall. He closed his eyes, trying to forget the stern doctrines of the village priest as he preached fire and brimstone over the sins of a couple of travelling peddler men who had been caught en-flagrante in their caravan by a housewife looking to buy some pots one morning. He remembered their screams as the caravan was put to the torch with them hogtied inside for the crime of buggery, while the village people watched on.

Yes he had already taken Gregor...yes he had already taken bitches in that way...but he had never given himself. He would never have dreamed of going back on his word as that in its self would have been a crime of the soul...but he couldn't help but wonder if the very fires that sent those peddlers to their deaths would be waiting for him in the afterlife after this morning had passed. He stood and shook himself dry, his haunches aching briefly from the cold.

Hell, he was a creature from Hell himself now, or so that same priest would declare if he walked back into Garddetownne unclothed...But was he? Apart from a few small differences and the odd troublemaker, the pack was the tightest, most loving society he had ever heard of. Everyone worked for each other for the greater good in general. Yes the villagers would cringe at the amount of lewdness that was traded out in the open, but he also thought that secretly most of the human men would trade places with him to have as much variety as he was now having. What was better, misery and hardship or the condemnation of the church which forced worship of a being no person could prove had ever existed? On reflection, being a Were was the better option... He turned and trotted towards the central circle, the bitter doubts of his conscience slightly sweetened by his reflections on what was about to come.

Balthazar nodded to him, his lips curling up slightly in a smile at the sight of his water wet haunches as Simeon stepped straight through the circle of gathered Weres. "We gather here this morning to watch the public taking of our Healer's tail as punishment for his transgressions in the forest towards our revered Ledrene. Though some would like to see him floating throat-less in the river..." Balthazar let that sink in for a moment, "The Ledrene and I have judged that he is more useful to us alive than dead in these changing and uncertain times. Circle rules still apply, and therefore any who wish to challenge him or us after this morning may do so if you consider our decision wrong."

Gregor stepped into the circle then, his member less than half erect, though swelling. "Good morning Healer," he greeted, a little nervous after hearing what had happened to Portia.

Simeon sighed, walking up to his nervous tutor, nipping him on his nose before he could react and then butting his head from side to side in a semblance of a fight before exposing his throat in submission, "Do it Gregor, I am no threat to you, you are my friend still and always will be," he reassured the younger Were before turning and lying on all fours in the circle's dust, his tail to one side as he presented like an eager bitch in heat.

Gregor nodded, his tongue rolling out of his mouth to lap at the bead of blood Simeon had drawn from his black nose before he brushed Simeon's hanging hairs to one side and began lapping at his virgin target. He was certainly producing enough saliva and as the slightly spicy, but overly familiar tastes of the new taint were infecting his brain, his shaft began to drop free of his sheath as his nerves were quieted and Simeon responded to the stimulation with a quiet whimper. The one thing that did concern him though was every time his tongue caressed the healer's balls they pulled away from him reflexively. He knew that what he was about to do was essentially sanctioned rape...and in public at that. "Think of me as a bitch applying paw-play Simeon," he whispered, "If you tense up when I mount you in a few minutes it is going to hurt like hell and possibly damage you."

Simeon looked over his shoulder at the whispered words, nodding slightly before closing his eyes and trying to shut out the noise of the mass shuffling and heavy breathing of the watching circle of his peers. He let his mind drift to his nights with Lucinda and Fel, not willing quite to admit to the fact that he had even stopped Fel from applying the said paw-play while they had been together that night he spent with her. He shuddered slightly as Gregor's tongue passed his barrier, slipping warmly into his interior...that much he had allowed with Fel. Slowly he came to accept the intrusion, and his balls no longer withdrew as they were kissed and he slowly became erect from the attention. He still wasn't sure why he was so hesitant, as the bitches and Gregor obviously enjoyed it...was it so wrong that he was about to become one with them?

Gregor felt Simeon's balls drop and rub his chin, a slight smile turning his lips up as he withdrew his tongue. It was time, he could delay no longer. Both his own eagerness over the fact that he was about to take his first virgin...everyone else he had had were experienced, though he was not about to admit that to Simeon...and the fact that he was about to master undisputedly the strongest male in the pack was bringing his knot up...and that just would not do.

Simeon whimpered as he felt the two heavy paws of Gregor land on his shoulders, his hot breath stirring the hairs on his ears before teeth closed on and pierced his ruff...There was no pain of course for the time being, he was just aware of skin being punctured. The dampness that was now edging carefully under his tail however almost caused him to tense up again as he knew what that would bring. His shoulder muscles tightened up, one quick twist in this position and Gregor would be kicking his life away with is throat missing...he knew he could do it...he was stronger...he whimpered again as the slightly pointed tip eased where nothing but a tongue had been before...claws flexed on the dust as a whine escaped his throat... should he...? He knew that he would die immediately afterwards if he did...and he would be killing a friend... "For God's sake Gregor fuck me before I lose control of my conscious and kill you!" He snarled out of the corner of his mouth, "I am fighting my instincts here and I am not sure if I can win for much longer..."

Gregor froze at the words. He had been letting his own mind wander to prevent himself from not being able to knot...and had missed Simeon's body language. He considered for just a second... Flee and he would be subject to punishment...stay and he could be killed...or comply... It only took one switch of his hips, his tip already being past the barrier. His teeth were nearly wrenched from his jaws as Simeon arched, howling and bucking under him as his half inflated knot rammed through in one single movement.

Simeon howled and began bucking, the burning pain was intense but he couldn't throw Gregor from his back. He was held tail and neck and was as helpless as a newborn pup. His shaft bounced against his belly, the sticky pre-cum that was now pouring from it nearly gluing him to himself. Tongue lolling, his back legs collapsed as he belly dived into the dust, whines and whimpers spilling from his lips as for a second he considered changing human, but knowing his neck would snap under the grip he was being held in at the moment. The burning in his hindquarters stopped after a few minutes as his breathing settled, he could feel Gregor parting him further as his knot swelled, but the young wolf was still... "Finish it Gregor...finish it!" he growled.

Gregor panted for a few minutes as Simeon settled again, "You are bloody tight, to bloody tight!" he commented, "You didn't relax..."

"Of course I couldn't relax! I was too busy trying not to kill you! Now please...show me why you and the others like this or I may forget my life and kill you still when you disengage!" Simeon snarled back.

Gregor swallowed hard, "I will do my best...Okay."

He started switching his hips again slowly, willing himself not to burst as he so wanted to do as the new ring of muscles around his knot pulsed and contracted from the unfamiliar feelings on being filled and not voided. Simeon's body was desperately trying to force him out even though he was now lying limp and quiescent. Gregor knew he had to start hitting the spot or his life was likely forfeit. His knot began grinding on the little lump that he knew did the trick, and he pulled back slightly so that as it came into full diameter, the maximum amount of force was applied to it,

Simeon gritted his teeth as Gregor began to move, each tug and push igniting more pain, but then something fired in his brain and his jaw dropped as his own knot began to swell. With each movement of his rider, more warmth spread from his tail-hole towards his nuts which were clenching reflexively. He still felt like he needed to take a monumental shit...but his heart rate increased as the pressure applied to whatever was being manipulated within him felt fit to burst. His rear legs jerked upwards, his front legs remaining supine.

Gregor cursed as he was tugged painfully as Simeon half stood and broke into a howl that near dislodged loose rocks from the vale's cliffs. The tug was enough and he lost control, erupting with force within the howling healer as he joined in the exaltation himself, drool dripping from his jaws as they released their hold. His rear paws were wet as he came down and he looked under Simeon at the huge pool of stickiness that lapped at his claws in the dust directly underneath his mount's dripping shaft.

"Now do you get what we get out of it?" He asked as he cocked a leg and turned the tie, Simeon whimpering at the new sensation.

Simeon glared at Gregor for a minute as out of the corner of his eye he spotted both Balthazar and Helewys tensing, just in case he chose to use his partial freedom to tear the throat from Gregor even as he was pumping more and more fluids into his bowels. He let his jaw drop into a grin, "I believe so...though trust me when I say that it is not something that I will seek on a regular basis..." he replied.

Gregor laughed, "You may come to like it Healer, I know that I did. Bitches are still better though..."

"Too bloody right," A chorus of the watching bitches replied.

"We have wider hips for birthing for starters..." Helewys continued.

Gregor grinned, "Males are certainly tighter...Now I probably shouldn't, but we are friends, so fuck it!" He curled around and began cleaning Simeon's still half erect shaft of all the dust and cum that was coating it.

Helewys began to open her mouth, but Balthazar shook his shaggy head, "Leave it Ledrene, he has taken his punishment. Now he must clean his mount when Gregor is spent."

Helewys nodded, glancing around the circle to see that several of the Weres watching were showing obvious signs of arousal at the display in front of them. A few were glancing towards their huts, eyes and body language mentally summoning partners for what she knew would likely to be a satisfying morning for those lucky enough to find them...

Polly, one of the younger Betas stood, cocking her tail to one side as an invite and started to leave. "Stay still bitch or face me in the circle!" Helewys warned with a low growl, "This morning is not over and none of you are dismissed yet!"

Polly immediately turned and planted herself back in the dust, head turned submissively, "Yes Ledrene, sorry Ledrene," she said.

Helewys nodded, "Good."

There was a loud slurp from the middle of the circle as Gregor slipped free finally, he had only tied for a quartermark, but then again, as pent up and scared as he had been at first, it was hardly a surprise he was not up to his usual performance. Simeon stood and turned and began cleaning Gregor just like he would a bitch after coitus, still wincing a little as Gregor's tongue started to sort out the mess under his tail too. That took a further quartermark until shaking his fur to settle it, Gregor stood, licked Simeon's nose once, and then walked out of the circle as the Healer turned to face Helewys and Balthazar.

"Lomas, step into the circle. Simeon has a grievance with you, as do a lot of the pack," Balthazar ordered.

"What!?!" Lomas shouted, jumping to his feet.

"I said step into the circle...or do you wish to be declared outcast? You are guilty of spying, underhanded behaviour, and general undermining of the leadership of the pack. Normally I would be standing where the Healer is standing now, but as your latest crime was committed against him and Tashir, he has the right to fight you." Balthazar declared.

Lomas looked at Simeon who just smiled back at him, teeth glinting in the light. He glanced over his shoulder at the woods, weighing his chances up, "Outcast or exile?" he asked carefully.

"Outcast...you will get a half-mark's head start and then you are free game to the boundary of our lands. Or you may die with some honour left here in your pack's circle in front of witnesses."

"And if I win against the Healer?" Lomas asked, some bravado returning.

"You are pardoned until you next step over the line," Balthazar replied flatly.

"I will give you a chance as my haunches are now a little sore for my own transgressions, sneak," Simeon declared, stretching and turning to face the frightened Were. He closed his eyes and concentrated, changing with the by now familiar snapping of bones before standing naked as a human once again, "I will not change again during the fight."

Balthazar's and Helewys' jaws dropped, along with those of the rest of the pack. Ysmay almost stepped forward in her fear, but a quick sideways glance from Helewys stopped her. Lomas just stared at him, "Do you want to die now you have become a bitch?" he queried.

"Let us see...Eh?" Simeon replied quietly.

Lomas hesitated at the tone of his voice, there was something he was missing here, but he couldn't place a paw upon it, "And I can stay wolf and not be in breach circle rules?" he asked.

"You are currently outcast Lomas...no rules apply to you as your life is forfeit. I am the one bending the rules again by facing you in human form, though I am unarmed which means I think that I can get away with this..." he glanced at Balthazar and Helewys who nodded acquiescence, "So what do you say? Are you going to fight me here, or will I have to hunt you down in the woods and let you rot for the scavengers? I have no teeth and no claws bar those on my feet at the moment...Are you Were enough to fight an unarmed human face to face rather than from behind like the coward you are?"

Lomas snarled and stepped into the circle, "You will die for those words Healer...You are but a human pup. I have way more experience of life and fighting than you, even though I am but a Beta."

"Ah...So be it...maybe this is folly, maybe not. First move is yours, I will give you that much..." Simeon responded going on guard as Lomas began to circle him.

Fully committed now, he had no choice and he knew it...if he fled the circle he wouldn't even be given the half mark and would be dead before he reached the forest. But he was facing a human now, no natural weapons. Surely it would not be that difficult to kill Simeon who was standing before him now with such a self-conscious air of disdain for him? Oh he knew he hadn't had a chance if the healer had stayed wolf...but...but...He fainted left, right and then launched head on, not at Simeon's feet or legs, but at his throat nearly six foot above him in attempt to take him by surprise.

Simeon snatched the flying wolf out of the air with a grin on his face, dancing backwards to avoid the flailing back legs that could disembowel him with the momentum of the strike, "You forgot that I still have Were strength and reflexes as a human," he snarled into Lomas' muzzle as his teeth snapped futilely inches from his face and his hands tightened around his neck.

Lomas was gasping for breath, his feet battering at air and the ground as he danced helpless in the grip of Simeon's iron hands. He knew he had forgotten something, and he was now paying the price. Spots began to form in front of his eyes as he tried to plead in vain for mercy, but nothing could escape his lungs, nor enter them through his throat... He managed to hook his front paws over Simeon's arms, claws drawing long scratches in his skin and the blood began to flow freely.

Simeon growled, "That hurts outcast..." he said before dropping Lomas sprawling and gasping to the dust, "Good play though..." He dropped upon the wolf before he had a chance to get on his feet again, hooking his right arm under his throat and hugging him to his chest as he tipped backwards into a kneeling position. "You know, I took Lucinda this way in her heat," he commented as he began to squeeze again, "She was pretty helpless too, but begged for more not less...Mind you, I wasn't gripping her quite as tightly..." He increased the pressure again as Lomas' eyes began bugging, "I was of course also inside her at the time..."

Ysmay watched as her Mate demonstrated just how dangerous he had become. She glanced at Helewys and Balthazar who were talking quietly to each other before turning back to the scene in front of her and all the watching pack...Fuck it! "Simeon...Cassius...Enough!" she shouted, immediately getting an angry glance from Helewys, but she met her mother by the eyes, not wavering from the stare until the Ledrene turned back to the circle.

Simeon heard the shout though his diatribe, the words piercing his brain like knives as he realised exactly what he was doing...doing exactly what he shouldn't be as a Healer, making another suffer needlessly. He shook his head, "The words won't save you Lomas, but I offer two more as the last ones you will hear...I'm Sorry." With that he stood effortlessly and with a single bone snapping twist, cracked the Were's neck. He held him tight to his belly as his lungs faltered from lack of input from the brain and his bladder and bowels voided, marring the circle with their mess. Eyes glazing finally, Lomas' limp body issued its death rattle and all became still in the total silence that followed.

Gently, Simeon carried Lomas from the circle himself, the Weres parting without a sound as he strode down to the river and placed his body in the shallows, standing, watching as the current took it to bounce along the rocky bed and into the distance over the rapids. He looked down at his arms, wincing at the sight of the blood that still wept from them in places before turning and changing back to wolf and limping, sway hipped back into the still silent circle. "Anyone else?" he asked quietly, "I did not want that to happen...I should have..." Tears began to appear in the corners of his eyes, "I should not have lost my control..." he finished.

Balthazar stood then, "Understood...circle dismissed!" he commanded.

The other Weres started dispersing, most, tail down as the mood had rather been ruined. Ysmay stepped across the line and came up to nuzzle against Simeon's forlorn form, "It's okay love...it's okay...at least you stopped when I called. My Sire wouldn't have..."

"It's not bloody okay Ysmay...I was bloody torturing him! It goes against every vow I have ever taken! I should take myself to the top of the cliff and throw myself off for what I have just done! I used my anger and discomfort at being humiliated publically and turned it on another being!" Simeon cried out, shying away from her.

"Remember Simeon, I was once on the top of a cliff," Helewys said quietly from behind him, "And taking those final few steps are far harder than you think. I have no idea if I would have done it, but I know that I had been stood there for over a mark before Robin showed himself."

"When you become a Were Healer, you get infected by the bloodlust and instincts of a wolf as well. You were suffering from bloodlust fever when you took Lomas on, especially as tonight is your first full moon after change. I am amazed that you could even become human today, as we are frozen in wolf form for the next thirty hours or more. The others will not judge you on it as you broke free of its pull and did not run rampage. It is what divides us from our wild cousins with whom we share our appearances," Balthazar added from where he had also joined them.

Ysmay tried to nuzzle him again, but he backed off, nipping at her, "How can you love a beast like me?!?" he shouted, the words of wisdom not seeming to have been heard.

"Because you are not the beast that showed itself in the circle today!" Ysmay shouted back at him, "Because I wish it was your pups and not the Alpha's I carry now for my first and every litter!"

Simeon growled at her, "Leave me! Leave me alone! I need some time to think!" He cried and darted from their presence, running for the vale's entrance as fast as his still shaky legs could carry him, leaving behind only a trail of tears in the dust.

Ysmay started to follow, but had her way blocked by Helewys, "Leave him daughter, he will come back...he is not the suicidal type..." she commanded, "Why did you break etiquette? You of all Weres as the aspiring law teacher should not have done that...Especially as you challenged me as your Ledrene while doing it?"

"Take me to the fucking circle then Dam...! Take a pregnant bitch to the circle Ledrene and see what the others think of that if it bothers you so much!!" Ysmay spat, "I did it because I love him as you damned well know!" She turned her head away for a second, "And I almost lost him at that moment...I will not risk losing him again!" With that, she hurdled the startled Ledrene and ran full tilt herself after the dissipating dust cloud that was all she could see of her Mate.

Helewys just stood there in silence, watching as the dust settled. "Are you going to deal with her when she returns?" Balthazar asked quietly after the last particles vanished from the sunlight.

"Would you if she were your daughter?" Helewys asked after a second.

"It is not a case of being your daughter and you know it Ledrene..." Balthazar replied, "I almost have reason enough to bypass you for her declaration about my pups, which the whole vale will have heard."

"We cannot take a pregnant bitch to the circle, in that she has a point. From what I know of Were law, that amendment was brought in as digressions could be blamed on the changes a bitch goes through during pregnancy...their moods are unpredictable."

"Something I know all too well," Lucinda said behind them, nearly causing both of the Alphas to jump out of their skins!

"Bugger me Lucinda...this conversation is private!" Helewys snapped turning to face the older bitch.

"Doesn't look private to me with you both sitting out here in the middle of the circle and not in your hut," Lucinda replied sitting with a grin on her face, "And I have a claim on Simeon's hide for revealing part of what happened during my heat too...not that I will call it in. Don't forget that I am pregnant too."

Balthazar dropped his jaw in amusement, "She has you there Ledrene, may I ask what you want Lucinda?" he directed at her.

"I want to add my opinion as the oldest breeding Alpha in the pack. I have been here longer than either of you, I am Were born, and I am an old fart. I do not hold any respect or love for you Ledrene or your decisions as you well know, but I do happen to hold some for the changeling you bit," Lucinda declared firmly.

Helewys glanced at Balthazar who nodded, "Speak then," she said.

"I have seen many cases of love amongst our kind. Most it turns out are cases of lust driven by pheromones and hormones as you know. I have seen many cases of hubris in both bitches and males, like Cassius and the late but not lamented Millicent. I have seen sneaks like Lomas amongst the Betas, thinking that the only way they can better themselves is to suck the cocks or pussys of their betters in the futile hope of advancement. He was not a father by the way...he was never granted rights; though I believe he did tarry with some of Millicent's circle, so he was not a virgin." She sighed taking a break for a second.

"I may be old, but I am not blind. Young Ysmay is not in lust with Simeon, she is in love, and I think that when he settles, Simeon loves her too...he muttered out her name a few times in his post coital sleep as we lay tied in the hut together. Simeon is no Cassius, but he has been thrown into a situation he is only just learning to deal with. Unlike you other changelings, he had everything to lose, and you Helewys took it from him. Until bitches march back into the vale from the other packs, he has found himself both hated and feared by this pack. We are coming possibly to a time of war, and he knows he will end up standing if not as the leader then, but one at the front of the charges. Making him take Gregor publically was almost as bad a punishment as taking his throat, as he has just broken the last taboo of his human upbringing. If I were you Ledrene, Alpha I would back off now and let this settle and see what comes of the pack exchange. Simeon will not harm Ysmay for following him. Do not dish out any more punishments, and Ysmay will soon sort him out when she realises what a threat young Alice is to her if she survives!"

Balthazar chuckled at that last comment, "We will be showing weak leadership if we ignore the transgressions though..."

"Better to show a slight weakness that could be taken for compassion, than be spoken of as heartless," Lucinda replied standing stiffly and heading away without another word in the direction of her hut.

The two Alphas looked at each other in silence, "Sometimes the wisdom of age and experience is needed," Helewys commented.

"I fear that she is right too...Come, let us hunt together. I feel that I have just swallowed something unpleasant and need fresh blood to wash it from my system," Balthazar replied.

Helewys grinned, "I may even let you have some dessert if you are nice to me..." she responded, flagging her splinted tail and trotting off towards the woods with him following.

~~~~

Simeon dropped down onto the lookout rock he had used when awaiting the result of the bitch circle, and tucked himself back against the overhanging cliff so he was not visible from above or below. His mind was being torn apart by his conscience and the tears ran from his eyes. 'Would it be so difficult to just close them and take those few steps that Helewys had claimed were so difficult? Would the pack really lose something precious to them if he landed broken and bleeding in the middle of the cursed circle below?'

He tucked his nose under his tail nosing at his swollen ring, wincing a little as his breath wafted over the still sensitive flesh, and then nearly bust out laughing through his tears at absurdity of the position that there was no way he could have been in as a human. He sighed, eyes open again though clouded as they scanned the wounds on his forelegs. They were hardly serious, though a cleaning and bandaging would be required to prevent infection...If he didn't take those steps...His eyes flicked out towards the cliff edge again. 'What would the pack have to lose if he did?'

"'The strongest male...'" The words seem to come from nowhere and everywhere at once, his ears perking up as the wind, whispering through the rocks answered his unspoken thoughts.

"Balthazar or Gregor are equal in power...I am not needed for my strength!" He whimpered back...

"'Not so...'" Came the reply, "'It would lose its Healer..."'" It continued.

"The pack never had a Healer before, it could do without one again!"

"'Not so...Four who lie below and one who leads would be dead without you...'"

"Lucinda, Portia and Cassius would not be injured if I had never existed!" Simeon snapped back.

"'Not so...Cassius' time was coming, Portia would have died confronting Lucinda over the position of Ledrene when Helewys died from her broken leg...'"

"How do you know this? Who are you? Where are you?" Simeon cried.

A soft laughter whispered past him, "'Questions that do not ever need answering; and ones that you can answer yourself Healer...'"

"Merek could still heal them!" Simeon snapped.

"'Merek will die before this year's fall is out...'"

"What? No!" Simeon shouted.

"'Yes...the villagers will be left with a quarter trained cripple who he will direct with his last breath to come to you, and they will have to seek help elsewhere,'"

"I must return and help him..."

"'You cannot save him from his own heart stopping Healer...At least not now...In a few centuries maybe...but not now...'"

"What? How do you know?" Simeon whimpered again, "You cannot know the future..."

"'Who says I cannot? Who determines what I can or cannot know...? Not you mortal; Not you Simeon of the pure heart and unsullied soul...I know every future and in turn none of them at all...You must not change Gussalen though, you must persuade the pack to allow you to train her as a human...'"

Simeon choked on a laugh, "That is where you are wrong voice. Whisper around my hindquarters and know the truth...I am guilty of lying with another male, I am a Were, I am a murderer, I enjoy buggery...My soul is as dark in the light of balance, than that of Cassius', but in a different way... And there is no way that I can persuade the pack into such a huge breach of their own laws over Gussalen."

The ethereal laughter whispered past again, "'That is where I am right...I am the one that should know, not some that pretend to serve me for their own gain...You are a bringer of life like I, though not a creator...that is the lot of the females, though I do both. Take those steps over the cliff and the balance will shift, as that is one of the things my followers have got right...to take your own gift of life is a cardinal Sin from which you may not be saved...'" The voice seemed to sigh to itself, but it may only have been another shift in the wind.

"'Your main reason to live is quartering the rocks above you, so when I leave she will pick up the trail I am masking for the moment...You are young my child, but you are wise as the path that you have forced the pack upon is the correct one...I know the future, and you are worth saving from your own snap decisions as my creations will need your wisdom for their salvations...Take those steps you were considering, and you will destroy the one that loves you, and in turn destroy the pack, as her body will land in the dust next to your body not a quartermark later...Believe me...Believe in me...or ignore me completely. You are not a creature of my fallen disciple, only your soul determines if you belong to him...I created Weres as I created everything that lives and breathes...You are not a murderer, in the same way that when you kill another of my creatures to eat, you are just completing my cycles. Love may be taken when and how it happens without guilt, even between those of the same sex, unless it is forced upon another though rape. War is coming again, that much I cannot change though it pains me greatly... but I will be there to welcome those that come to me still pure...Now I must leave...I have spent both too much time, and not enough time with you Simeon...I do not want to talk with you again for at least a decade, though I will see you all the time. So I will say one more thing...Canines and Felines must get on together if all are to prevail...'"

"Wait!" Simeon cried...but the wind dropped and his ears were filled with the sounds of snuffling and paws from above...before a loud yip of joy and a scrabbling and Ysmay dropped over the rocks and landed between him and the cliff edge.

"Wait for what?" she asked, approaching his huddled form carefully.

"Not you..." Simeon muttered quietly.

"There is no one else...I have been quartering for a mark when your trail vanished, and there is no one else up here with us..." Ysmay replied, "You knocked your head when you jumped down here?"

"What...A mark!?! But I have only been here for..." Simeon shook his head for a minute, "Well maybe I haven't..."

"You want me to fetch Merek? I will love..." Ysmay started.

"No, no...though I will visit him myself before long to say my goodbyes..."

"'No you will not...Do not play with fate Simeon...or the threads will tangle and may strangle you...'"

Simeon shuddered from nose to tail, "I didn't ask for this!" he shouted, causing Ysmay to step back from him.

"'You did, though you did not know you did...Goodbye again my child...'"

"Ask for what? You are worrying me...I am going for Merek now...stay exactly where you..." Ysmay started, only to be stopped dead by him jumping up and blocking her path snarling.

"Merek is to be left alone...I am fine...The stress of the morning has muddled my brain love...I was hearing a voice, though you did not...time has paused for me, though not for you...I do not know..." he said, settling again into a foetal position, "Change human and hug me please...I need arms around me...I need comfort while I digest what my conscience has fed me..."

Ysmay shook her head, "I cannot love, though I would if I could. It is full moon tonight and you should not have been able to change in the circle, all Weres should be frozen in their animal forms for the day before and after. I will hug you though and snuggle you how I can." With that she approached him and wrapped herself around his back, her belly cupping his spine as her paws slipped over and under his flanks while tears began to run from his eyes again.

"Do Weres believe in a God?" Simeon whimpered quietly.

Ysmay paused for a second, flicking her tongue out to collect the tears running from her pad-warmers cheeks, "Some do...some don't. You were probably just hearing your own thoughts..."

"I was not...I know I was not...I know now what I must do...and yet I still don't," Simeon cried.

"Those that do, call him Lupinius, not God...He takes a form in the early mists so they say, or the evening fogs. Some even say that when the hunts have failed and brought a Were to the point of starvation, He has appeared and flushed a rabbit or deer into their jaws. I myself do not know...until I have seen proof of something I do not commit to believing in anything other than things which I love," Ysmay whispered, "In that I believe in you and my brothers, my Dam, the pack and my life style as a whole..."

"But the wind was talking to me! It stopped me from taking the steps over the edge...It told me things that I should not know, do not know, would never have known..." Simeon protested, "And I know I have been here for less than a fifth of a mark, and yet you tell me otherwise..."

"Look at the sun...It is two marks from when you left the circle Simeon...and this place is half a mark's run as you know."

Simeon glanced up, acknowledging that she was right with a nod, "Then what happened to me then?"

"I do not know...All I know is that I am here now, and I will always be here for you when you need me. And if you believe that you have spoken with Lupinius...then I will believe you have too..."

"Thank you love...I thought that I was going insane for a moment, but as it stands I cannot find any rational explanation, so I will have to settle for the irrational."

"Well my love for you is not irrational, and I 'Believe' that your love for me isn't either," Ysmay confirmed, kissing his drying eyes free of the salt.

"I have never known love before Ysmay, but I believe in that too..." he turned his head meld her lips to his in the kisses, 'I just hope that I can persuade Balthazar to do what I have been instructed must happen next...' he thought silently as her compassion and love filled him with a new energy.