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Chapter 9...The Ebbs and Flows of Time...

The next morning dawned fresh...Helewys was by now becoming highly agitated despite a successful hunt and the good knotting that followed it. Neither Ysmay nor Simeon had come back to the hut after vanishing, and it lay cold and bare... "But what if they are injured?" She asked again, turning to where Balthazar was grooming himself.

"Then he is the best Were for her to be with..." he answered her.

"But if he is injured?" Helewys asked, "Ysmay has never done anything like this before."

Balthazar stood and gently rubbed her cheek in comfort, "The others don't always come back to the village at night...I myself was sometimes away for over a week when I needed time out on my own or I visited the Werecats. Simeon is shocked, he may just need time like I did on occasions. Ysmay proved yesterday that she isn't just living a dream, she really does care for him, so is likely by his side now as he comes to terms with his current situation..." He turned his head suddenly as the sound of paws came racing up to the hut's doorway. "Enter..." he called as panting was heard.

Benedict slipped past the privacy curtain, "Alpha, Dam, I need Simeon now. Alice is convulsing and I don't know what to do. Her fever got worse in the night but I thought it was just the full moon, but now she is arching on her pad. She is still human, but I cannot hold her down even if I apply all my weight!" he gasped, panicking.

Balthazar glanced at Helewys, "Go set Gregor on their tails...he is the closest friend to both of them. Reflection or not, his duty to the pack must come first."

Helewys nodded and bolted from the hut, "But what do I do until he gets here?" Benedict asked.

Balthazar closed his eyes for a second, "We must keep her cool...stop her burning up if we can. Can't risk medication as neither of us know what will kill or cure her... I will come and help hold her down until Simeon is found. Though it is improper, more than one rule has been broken already in the last moon's period; another isn't going to harm, I suppose."

"Thank you, Alpha," Benedict replied, turning and running for the hut where Alice was lying, Balthazar on his tail.

~~~~

Ysmay looked up from where she was still dozing, her head raising from Simeon's slumbering shoulders. There was sniffing coming from above, and a few seconds later Gregor dropped onto the ledge, a grin on his face. "Should have known he would have come here...hardly needed to track the pair of you," he greeted.

"Sod off Gregor," Simeon growled, "Leave us be...I will return when I am ready."

"Afraid not healer, I am following the Alpha's instructions. You are to return to your duties at once, you are needed," Gregor answered flatly.

"Pack can manage without me for another day...Tell the Alpha that!" Simeon barked, Ysmay staying silent but running her chin across his shoulders in comfort and to try and still his agitation.

"The pack can, maybe...but not your ward Alice. She is in a bad way and Benedict can't handle it. The Alpha himself is trying to hold her down. The full moon last night has turned her for the worse."

Simeon's head shot up, "In what way?" he queried.

Gregor shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know, I was just sent to find you with the message to return. Both Alphas are seriously concerned..."

"Surprised Helewys is, after all if Alice pulls through she could be a threat..." Simeon muttered to himself as Ysmay suddenly stood up without warning.

"What do you mean...a threat?" she asked.

Gregor dropped his jaw in laughter, "She will be a changeling Alpha bitch...She could be a prime candidate for Ledrene sister...You should watch your tail too..."

Ysmay turned to face Simeon, "True?" she asked.

"Tashir did mention that, but so could any of the bitches in the pack exchange if they are Alphas and return safely. The pack needs new blood Ysmay, or it will die. The strongest will lead..." Simeon started, halting as she glared at him.

"I will be Ledrene after my Dam..." she stated.

Gregor laughed again, "Will you? We will just have to wait and see...I am the only male capable of taking Balthazar's place at the moment...Will you lie with me sister, in the Alpha hut?" he teased.

"Simeon could be Alpha! He is stronger than you!" She snapped out, her hackles raised, "I will never lie with you brother!"

Simeon shook his head, "It would be stupid for me to be Alpha and Healer in the upcoming war. I could kill Balthazar now and he knows it, but I have come to an arrangement with him and Helewys that neither of you are privy too."

"So are you coming to save your changeling? Or do I tell Balthazar, whom you obviously do not respect that she is to be left to die?" Gregor snapped back, losing his patience.

"I have the greatest respect for the Alpha Gregor. That is why I submitted to you in the ring this morning...that is why he is still Alpha...that is why I am still Healer and not outcast and dead like Lomas. I know my weaknesses, and my temper is one of them, as Alice and this morning proved. I would make a terrible leader, and would probably spell the end of the pack instead of a new beginning for it. Go...Tell Balthazar I will be on your tail, but I need some fresh feverfew to mix with some of my dried herbs. Do you know where there is any mistletoe that still has berries on it around here?" Simeon asked.

"No...Every bunch I know is bare of them now, it was a harsh winter," Gregor replied over his shoulder as he jumped up onto the rocks above.

"Fuck it...I will have to risk henbane or digitalis then," Simeon muttered, getting up and stretching.

"And what of me?" Ysmay asked, pausing him, "Let Alice die so I have an unopposed way to be Ledrene...Fight for the Alpha position when that happens and I will guide you from making mistakes...that is, if you love me..."

Simeon turned to face her, "If I let Alice die without trying to save her, I may as well throw myself over the cliff now as I will be denying my oaths as a Healer. You will be Ledrene when your Dam weakens...if you fight off the other bitches that may come before then, including Alice. Gregor will be Alpha...again, if and only if he does the same." Simeon turned away from her bared teeth for a minute, "I do love you, but I also love my duties... Don't force me to choose between you and them. My agreement between the current Alphas was meant to be a secret, but you need to know too I think... I will lie with you in the Alpha hut when you are Ledrene, even if Gregor is Alpha...just as I will lie with your Dam in her next heat, if she has not come to accept Balthazar's race..."

Ysmay gasped, "You mean?"

"Yes...Balthazar, Helewys and I are of the opinion that it is for the best and are in agreement. He will not force your Dam to mate with him...even though it is her duty, and if Gregor tries to force you, well then my teeth will stop his. My pups will be declared as the Alpha's if that happens though, so as to ensure that pack harmony remains intact. You will be my padwarmer for as long as you wish, but as you overheard, I cannot father only your pups unless more strong Alpha males come over that mountain."

Ysmay shook her head, "First you change on a moon day, then you run off, then you tell me you have talked with Lupinius...or something anyway...Now you tell me that the Alpha male will allow you to cuckold the Ledrene...and my Dam at that. Do you have any more things you wish to tell me?"

"I have things I wish I could tell you love...but I cannot. The wind or whatever it was told me things that I must carry myself in my heart until the time is right. Now speaking of time, I must go and grab that feverfew. I will be at the hut Alice is in as soon as is possible...could you fetch me my knapsack to save me a few extra moments and meet me there?" Simeon asked, licking her face, wincing a little as she shied away from his tongues tender touch.

"To be my padwarmer Simeon, you will have to trust my word if I give it. A vision from Lupinius is too much for one Were to bear alone. I will do as you ask for now, but only because I love you. I will say this now though, I trust you...return that trust wholly or I will break off this relationship before it goes too far. Think on that before you join me in my hut tonight." She turned and left, following in her brother's footsteps without saying another word as Simeon just looked up at her retreating tail.

"Damn!" he cursed to himself, "I trusted her with the information about what might happen between her Dam and I...why do females always want more!" He scrambled up the rocks to the top of the cliff and loped off to where he knew there was a feverfew patch he could harvest...

~~~~

Alice was in a bad way when he arrived. Both Gregor and Ysmay were waiting outside, and his ears picked up the groans and screams from the tortured girl within. It was not long before his nose also picked up the stench of her uncontrolled voiding that her heightened fever her brought on. He darted within, taking in the sight of Benedict huddled at the head of the pad, dowsing Alice constantly with cold cloths from a bucket that he kept dipping into with his mouth. Balthazar lay heavily across her chest while Helewys tried to control her flailing feet...none of them were in human form.

He dropped the feverfew from his mouth and glanced at the buckled pack, cursing internally. He closed his eyes and concentrated, the change taking him more slowly than usual, and with almost as much pain as his first, his choked cries of agony turning the three Were heads to stare at him. "Yeah I know...I have been told it shouldn't be possible, but needs must," Simeon gasped in human form as he began unbuckling the knap with his fingers, quickly pulling out his mortar and pestle.

He ground the feverfew into a smooth paste quickly, before adding a light sprinkling of digitalis and a few poppy seeds to try and halt the spasming. Dipping his hand into the water bucket Benedict was using, he stirred in some water before nudging the concerned apprentice to one side, "I will take it from here...watch carefully," he reassured him.

Locking Alice's head between his knees, he ignored her rolling eyes and tilted her neck back. Gently prising her clenched jaws apart with his fingers, he poured the potent smelling liquid into her dry mouth, massaging her throat gently to encourage swallowing as she coughed and spluttered in her unconsciousness. When the bowl was empty he dipped it for more water, swilling it around to fetch the last dregs of the drug from the sides, and then fed her that too.

"All we can do is wait now...I cannot do anything more for her," he said as the girl let out a huge sigh, and her body dropped limp to the pad, "You can get off her now Alpha, Ledrene."

Balthazar stood gently and backed off warily, Helewys unpinning her legs and stretching, "What are her chances, Healer?" she asked formally.

Simeon shrugged, "Bear in mind that she is the first case of changing I have come across, bar my own, I have no idea. If we can keep her hydrated...and if we can keep her body from spasming again...then good. The danger is that this attack has addled her brains...and well if that is the case, I will do my duty as I declared I would...That is if she ever wakes up. For now, she is settled. I think I will use my time today to start my instruction of Benedict while watching over her, just in case her renewed fever burns the drugs out of her system quicker than expected."

Helewys glanced at Balthazar who just nodded, "We will leave you to it then and go and wash up...I want to talk to you about this changing you have managed, but it can wait," he said and turned, leaving the hut with Helewys.

"Will she live?" Ysmay asked, lowering her head to Helewys in submission.

"Simeon doesn't know...now go feed and groom yourself," Helewys replied shaking her head, "I am going to let your antics from yesterday pass for once...but act like that again, and not even your swelling belly will protect you from my teeth."

"Yes Ledrene, thank you Ledrene," Ysmay answered, chastised.

"And Ysmay...daughter...Make sure you are very sure of your choice before you continue to tread the path you are on now..." She turned and loped off towards the river where Balthazar was already awaiting her.

Ysmay glanced at the dark entrance to the hut, considering entering it for a minute, but she turned at the last moment, darting off into the woods to find herself a snack...It was up to him to come to her now...she had done enough last night.

~~~~

Two months later...

"Simeon...It's time," Ysmay said as she lifted her weary head from the pad, "Fetch the Ledrene."

Simeon stood, brushing her tail to one side and sniffing at the swollen vulva below. Fluids from her burst embryonic sack assaulted his nose and he nodded, watching the muscles on her rounded flanks ripple with the first contractions, "I will love...You sure you don't want me to be..."

"No!" Ysmay gasped, "Keep this tradition at least! Bitches are only attended at birth by bitches...unless there are complications," she panted heavily, "Then you can come in and try and do what you can..."

Simeon nodded, "Love you," he whispered, kissing her nose briefly, "See you afterwards..."

Helewys was waiting outside the door along with Paulie, "I smelt them as soon as they spilled," she commented, "Go hunt or something, but stay within hearing distance."

"Yes Ledrene," Simeon replied, taking one last look over his shoulder as Paulie pulled the privacy cord and the hide dropped into place.

"Nervous?"

Simeon near jumped out of his skin and turned to face Lucinda who had crept up behind him, "You have a nasty habit of doing that! And yes!" he replied as she chuckled.

"I like to keep my stalking techniques up...Not even your pups either, being granted life in there," she said, running her head across his flank, "What are you going to be like when my waters burst and your offspring arrive in a few days?"

Simeon swallowed hard as Ysmay's first deep birthing groans assailed his ears through the curtain, "Better if you would consent to giving birth in my healer's house."

Lucinda grinned, "Want the first blood to stain the floor to be placental still, eh...?"

"Better that, than that of a dying Were. I know Ysmay couldn't as she bears the Alpha's pups, but the minute their eyes are open and they can walk out of the hut, she is coming to live with me. Balthazar has agreed to that." Simeon stated.

"That I have," the black wolf said, slipping out of the shadows and approaching the pair, "I will still feed and provide of course, but I see no point in the charade being kept up any longer. Besides, Grenta will need the side hut soon, and Mia will take Gregor's when I turn him out. It was both fortunate and unfortunate that two of the virgin exchange bitches came into heat at the same time on the week of their arrival. There has been no time to build new huts for them." Balthazar glanced at the closed curtain, wincing a little as Ysmay howled in pain, "You still getting crap from the pack over the exchange?" he asked Simeon.

"A little, but nothing more than talk behind my back...I know that Fel seems to have fallen head over tail for Leonard and he is settling her somehow...though he must have some bloody stamina for a Beta!" Simeon chuckled, as the others laughed. "Also that a few of the other Betas are tail sniffing with the newcomers. It is only the mothers that still grumble at me. They will soon realise as their bellies swell again with new Alpha pups, it is better gone than dead."

"To bloody right they will," Lucinda said, dipping her head under her swollen belly and nipping at one of her swelling teats that was itching, "I have four teats filling here Alpha, better than your Ysmay's three. In sixteen litters I have never had more than triplets...my back is bloody killing me from carrying quads. New blood is good for something, even if in my case it comes from Simeon here."

"We have no way of knowing if you are carrying Alphas, Lucinda," Simeon said, nosing under her flank and licking at the beading milk on her itching teat.

"Want to place bets on what will slip from under my tail soon, Alpha?" Lucinda directed at Balthazar, grinning.

"I am hardly going to cast a bet on something like that," Balthazar replied with a laugh, "I just hope that they are suitable future mates for whatever my first litter is," he glanced at the hut where Ysmay was still straining away.

"Mmm, I do too. By the pack's new rules, they will be the only litter of Ysmay's that can mate with my offspring by other bitches as you are not genetically linked to Cassius or Helewys, Alpha," Simeon mused seriously.

"That is of course if I do not rescind my permission for you two to be permanent pad-warmers..." Balthazar replied with a grin, "We will have to draw up a chart as to who is fathering who's pups I think, and not just rely on the bitches memories."

There was a particularly loud moan from the hut in front of them, followed by a mewling yip, "Well at least we know Ysmay's hips can take birthing now," Lucinda said with a smile.

"Speaking of hips..." Simeon started, "Portia has been avoiding me totally since I gave her the all clear. Gris mentioned that she has hooked up with Franklyn from the exchange...Is she handling males okay?"

Lucinda snorted, "She doesn't bother talking to me either...but he is only a Beta, so I imagine so. Certainly not hearing any pain groans coming from her hut at night. If she can take his cock, she can cast a litter. Which of you are going to take her next heat? I would not grant her as boon...she needs more punishment for her idiocy."

"We need to let the blood pool spread more evenly and tie the newcomers to the pack as soon as possible," Balthazar stated, "Or there is no purpose in going on. She is hardly a virgin, so I was going to let Franklyn have her if she wants him."

"No...Give her to Gregor as his first litter. He needs to prove himself, and Alpha on Alpha will make more Alphas, if what you think is true, is true. He is still technically unproven as a male. I have no blood tie to Helewys or Cassius, but Robin sired Portia...Is two generations enough?" Lucinda asked.

"Closer than I like, but I really don't know...Not exactly something that happens in human society with the church being in control..." Simeon started.

"Doesn't help with Franklyn though..." Balthazar interrupted.

"Give one of the new bitches as boon to Gregor when they come into heat. Yes they are Betas, but he should sire at least one Alpha with them with luck if the theory works," Helewys stated, emerging from the hut, her muzzle and front paws slightly bloody, "Simeon should punish Portia more, but only for one litter, there will be enough for them to mate with. That bitch deserves the humiliation. You, Balthazar have sired two healthy Alpha males and one Beta bitch, by the way...you should go and greet your first Were offspring now...they await you on my daughter's teats."

"But what if she objects...? I am bloody sure she will," Simeon asked.

"If the Ledrene orders her too, and the Alpha grants her, the law states that she has no choice Healer. Supress and rape her...You are more than capable of it. My daughter has half my strength now." Lucinda stated.

"Rape her!?!" Simeon exclaimed.

"If she doesn't consent, then yes." Balthazar stated, "I don't like it any more than you do, but she is yours on boon when her cycle comes around..." He turned and entered the hut to greet his pups without another word.

"And if you walk out of her hut with more than love bites, she will answer to me in the circle for disobedience." Helewys said. "Now I am going to wash up with Paulie in the river. You go and hunt like I told you too for a mark or two, and then bring Benedict in so he can see new-borns for the first time...and his shadow too," she grinned at that, "That is if Ysmay doesn't rip her face off."

Simeon shivered, "Don't bloody remind me...Can you not have a word with Ysmay over that? I am getting a little worried about the malice she is generating towards her."

Helewys chuckled, "Not my problem Simeon, unless they challenge me or it develops into a feud. You changed Alice, so you can deal with your padwarmer's jealousy. As soon as those pups open their eyes, she can take Alice to the ring for supremacy if she wants to. Now off with you, I am sure Ysmay heard everything we just said, as I am also sure she is mature enough as a mother now to think things over." She turned and trotted off towards the river with Paulie in tow, a grin on the younger Were's face as well.

"The question you have to ask yourself Healer, is can you handle a hut full of pre-weaned pups, and a bitch that will start grouching every time your apprentice shows up with his shadow in tow?" Lucinda asked from behind him, "There is of course a solution that is obvious to one as long on the tooth as I, but you seem to be overlooking it."

Simeon turned to face her, "And what solution is that?" he asked her.

Lucinda chuckled, "Point out the reason that Benedict has acquired a shadow...and that there is a very, very good chance that with my belly full, and the three other bitches you have knocked up, and the five that carry Balthazar's offspring...plus all the others who are going to hit season before long, including Portia, Paulie and Gris...Alice is going to be the least of Ysmay's worries when Helewys steps down. The pack is going to become Alpha heavy, just like you planned, and she is going to have younger bitches snapping at her heals every step of the way to the top. Hell, it is just pure bad luck that she has born a Beta bitch, or it could be her daughter in there that was after her future position. Just because there is only one mature Alpha bitch capable of challenging her now, doesn't mean the younger ones will not be coming after her."

"I am pretty sure she realises that, but it still doesn't explain the underlying issue as to why Alice is not a problem..." Simeon began, only to be interrupted again by Lucinda.

"Oh pup...sometimes I wonder about you. Benedict has been under Alice's tail every time you have had your back turned since she healed, and she has been playing the little whore to him. She is infatuated with him. Infatuation that is likely to become love. Love kills ambition, and as Benedict is never ever likely to challenge for Alpha, she would have to leave him to become Ledrene, as he has no convenient female sibling left, like Ysmay has with Gregor." Lucinda chuckled, "I will drop your litter in the healer's house, if only to see how this pans out. But I will move out when they can all open their eyes to make way for the other bitches who carry the products of your loins. Now if you will excuse me, I am busting for a piss and the pups are kicking!" With that she turned and loped slowly off in the direction of the patch by the river used for that purpose.

Balthazar re-emerged from the hut a grin on his face, "She did hear most of that..." he said, "Good luck later!"

Simeon shook his head, "What exactly have I got myself into here Alpha?" he asked.

Balthazar chuckled, "Who knows? Tell you what though, I will give Alice to Benedict as boon when and if she comes into season; cement their relationship so to speak. She is hardly a virgin, which is why he is not in the circle for tallying with her now. He is old enough to be a father. If she doesn't come into season within the next four months though...you will have to do as you committed yourself to doing."

Simeon shivered again, "Don't remind me, I just hope that I don't have to fight Benedict off if that issue is forced upon me."

Balthazar shook his head, "The responsibilities of leadership and father-ship hang heavy on shoulders Simeon...you have the extra one of being the healer as well. Good hunting." He turned and slipped into his hut, leaving Simeon just standing there in the late morning light.

~~~~

Three months later...

"'The time has come Healer, Merek is no more...'"

Simeon jumped upright, almost banging his head on one of herb strings that were stretched across the workroom of his healers house. "What? Who's there?" he asked.

Benedict glanced sideways at him from where he was mixing up another batch of poultice herbs in a pestle on the other end of the bench. "I didn't hear anyone, Master," he said.

"'Only you can hear me, and you know who I am...Gussalen will arrive on the pack's Southern border in five days. She is not to be killed or changed as I dictated. You will have a visitor from the North in seven days as well on the night of the full moon. You knew this, you just chose to forget it...Remember me this time...For I am now gone again...'"

"Wait!" Simeon cried, but only silence answered him.

"You alright master?" Benedict asked, concerned.

"What yes...I just..." Simeon looked down at the pile of herbs he had selected, "Trouble is afoot, trouble I wanted to forget about. I must go and see Ysmay...and then the Alphas. You are going to have another apprentice next to you unfortunately, though she out ranks you as she is more trained...sorry."

"What? Pardon? Who?" Benedict asked shocked.

"Tell you later...must go now. Patch up the three pups who are waiting would you, I will check the bandages out later. Sometimes I wish that the pack had not suddenly exploded with youngsters...we are working flat out stitching them together again from their escapades!" Simeon turned and left the room, heading for his shared living quarters.

"Well you created this chaos...And at least all but the few who have not returned from their explorations have been saved to, unlike before..." Benedict muttered, thinking of Alice's swelling belly before going back to his grinding, "And who the fuck is going to outrank me in this pack anyhow?"

**

"Ysmay love...we need to talk," Simeon said, changing wolf quickly as he was buried under the rapidly growing pups she was instructing.

"Sire...Sire...Amalie bit me!" Polly protested.

"Well you are an Alpha, bite her back, just not too hard!" Simeon declared as he tried to extract himself. "Now sit up and behave, this is serious!" he barked.

Polly turned and stuck her tongue out at Amalie, "Get you later...just you watch me!" she taunted as all seven of them pulled back off him.

The three Alpha bitches and one Alpha male whom Lucinda had born for him all sat looking up at him expectantly; the three slightly older pups Ysmay had born, lined up behind them, "Why are you not patching Julis up out there Sire?" Herald, his son asked.

"Because something else more urgent has come up...now I need to talk to Ysmay alone...Go play and lessons will resume later..." He vanished under a pile of fur as twenty eight whirling legs ran him over again.

"Gonna bite you! Gonna bite you!" Polly's voice shouted.

"Gotta catch me first!" Amalie taunted back.

Ysmay shook her head, getting up and stretching, "You should not interrupt lessons love, you should know that."

"It is important...trust me," he glanced over his shoulder and into the main hut where Benedict was working on Julis, "Walk with me, this should not be overheard... 'It' just spoke to me again..."

Ysmay's jaw dropped, and she rubbed up against his shoulder, "You mean...?"

"Yes." Simeon replied flatly, turning and trotting out of the healers house, "We can always hunt a rabbit or two down on the way back for a snack...I suggest we head up to the lookout rock."

"What is going on?" Ysmay asked as he broke into a lope.

"I told you only some of what I was told the last time, I have been chastised a little for not acting on the other information the voice passed me. I need your advice on how to do what must be done."

"What advice could I possibly give?" she asked as they climbed to the path towards the top of the cliff.

"You know the laws better than I ever could...and I am going to have to break just about the biggest one in five days' time...but I must do it with the pack's blessing."

"What!?" Ysmay exclaimed, stumbling.

"And I need you to tell me how to get away with it, if I can." Simeon stated, turning and dropping off the path and onto the ledge that led to the lookout rock.

Ysmay followed shaking her head, "If I break the law to help you Simeon, I am not pregnant. There is nothing to save me from the circle or being declared outcast. My pups could be raised by one of the other bitches now they are weaned..."

"Then you will have to decide if you stand with me or against me then, and if I have just been hallucinating, or actually talking to something other than myself. Need I remind you that my throat is also forfeit, so I am not going to do this thing lightly."

"You ask a lot love...what is it that you are about to do anyhow? Nothing is bad enough to get you killed on the spot, short of murder."

Simeon chuckled, "How about bringing another female human into the pack for completion of her training as a healer?"

"But that is not a breach of the law...what is the problem?" Ysmay asked.

"You did not listen love...I said human. In five days' time a one legged human will arrive on the Southern border of the pack lands. She is Merek's apprentice, my replacement. Merek died this morning or in the night, I do not know which. All I know is that Gussalen is not to be changed into a Were...according to that voice, and that she is to be taught and trained to take Merek's place."

"But...but...I mean...how long will that take?" Ysmay asked, shocked.

"Two years, minimum. She should be further on than Benedict, but it took me four years to get to my stage...I am rushing his training as, if the war happens, he will be needed sooner."

"So essentially you want to bring an unchanged human into the pack to live and eat with us for a period of two years in breach of the laws, and a disabled one at that? Oh this is just great! The pack is going to go nuts!"

"Not if the Alphas order it okay..." Simeon stated, turning to face her.

"But Helewys and Balthazar won't sanction it..." Ysmay started, her jaw dropping as he didn't break his gaze, "You don't mean...I mean...I am not ready. My Dam would kill me in the circle, and Balthazar would eat Gregor alive!"

"Then we just have to persuade them then to allow it. Balthazar is not a worry, if I have to take him out myself, I will, before losing to Gregor. Helewys is not carrying, though her season is due any day. There is another possible problem. On the night of the full moon a representative from the Werecat clan will arrive on the Northern border. For what purpose, I do not know, but I do know that if the voice is correct, this pack must work alongside the cats in order to win the upcoming conflict."

"You take Balthazar to the circle and you are in breach of your own oath!" Ysmay stated, pacing in a circle.

"Personal oath, one not bound by law. And for fuck's sake love, I do not want to do that. I want everything to stay as it is now. The pack is growing, the hunting is good, the weather clement...and hell, apart from cuts and scrapes, my services are barely needed. I want things to stay as they are, but I fear that fate is pushing me onto a path I don't wish to tread."

Ysmay shook her head, "Then we will have to try and make them believe you are some sort of oracle of Lupinius..."

"Oh no...For fuck's sake no! I wish that blasted voice had never stopped me from jumping off the cliff sometimes. My death would have been a lot cleaner! No...I am no oracle. Why Lupinius has chosen to complicate my existence, that is of course if he has...Well who knows? He is most certainly not around to ask if I need to." Simeon growled.

"Then they will dismiss you as addled."

"I think they will too...but there is only one way to find out. Are you coming or not...I will not judge you if I am to face them alone...and possibly die."

Ysmay paused for a second, and then broke from her paces and walked over to him, licking his cheek, "Of course I am with you, I am the only other Were who knows what happened that morning after the circle. You need me."

"Thank you love..." Simeon replied, licking her back, "No time like the present then eh!?"

Ysmay laughed, "Well at least it is a nice day to die!" she joked, turning and scrabbling up the ledge and onto the cliff top again.

"I just hope it doesn't come to that..." Simeon muttered behind her.

~~~~

"You want to do what!?" Balthazar shouted, "Absolutely not!"

"Then step out into the circle," Simeon shouted back, "I cannot back down on this Alpha. I wish I could, but I cannot. I have a gut feeling that this is not just the addled imaginings of a mind that is stressed."

"This is insanity!" Helewys butted in, "It goes against everything!"

"Then step into the circle with me as well Ledrene, I will stand by Simeon's side Dam!" Ysmay replied, shaking at her own words, "I believe in him...you two have so far, as well."

"Over the matter of the pack's health, yes...but not over anything like this!" Balthazar growled.

"Then step out of that door...call circle. I will not kill you..." Simeon bluffed.

"But what of our agreement?" Helewys asked.

"Gregor still gets to be Alpha, I will submit to him. But he cannot stand against Balthazar, and you know it." Simeon replied.

"As Ysmay has no hope against me..." Helewys stated.

"Then we have a situation, don't we?" Simeon returned flatly.

They all stood and stared at each other, waiting for the next move.

"Can I make a suggestion then?" Simeon asked.

"Go ahead," Balthazar replied gruffly.

"You know that I have not left the pack for days...And therefore could not possibly know if Merek has died, Yes?"

"Agreed, you have been too busy patching pups," Helewys commented with a slight grin.

"Then post a double patrol on the Southern border. If Gussalen shows up, you must believe me and give the order for her to be escorted in, and not killed. If she doesn't show, then I will believe that I am going mad, as you do now. One other thing I must also tell you though is...On the night of the full moon, a Werecat is going to seek an audience with you. We must work with them if we are going to prevail in the upcoming war. That is of course if Gussalen shows. If she doesn't, well I must have been ingesting too many poppy seeds."

"Oh that's just perfect! The Werecats as well?" Helewys exclaimed.

Balthazar turned and growled at her, "Don't grumble about them love...without them we would have none of the new pack members...remember that. There is nothing bad to be said about Purrsimon and Purrdita. It puzzles me though why the cats would want to see us though...that is, if they do of course."

"Werewolves do not mix with Werecats...it is in our natures to fight, not befriend each other!" Helewys stated.

"That must change," Simeon stated, "If I am not insane, that is."

"Stop saying you are insane love!" Ysmay begged, "It upsets me!"

"Well if no one shows up, what else could I be?" Simeon asked.

"Under the influence of the drugs you work with on a daily basis, just like you suggested." Ysmay moaned. "For the love of the pack Balthazar, Ledrene...Dam...Give him a chance. Wait five days. If this Gussalen shows up, you will have to believe he has been given an insight into the future. I still cannot work out why she has to train with him, nor does he... but that is what he has been told to do."

Balthazar looked at Helewys, who just stared back silently, "Well?" he asked.

"Do it...If and only if this Gussalen shows up will I believe you Simeon. If she doesn't, then healer or not, I will kill you in the ring somehow...and claim your throat as is my right as the one that changed you." Helewys stated steelily, "Your throat will follow...daughter."

Ysmay swallowed hard, "Yes Ledrene," she replied.

"I will happily end the madness if I am proved wrong, Ledrene," Simeon stated, "But you will not kill Ysmay for supporting me. I will make sure the other bitches stop you from doing that."

"You have no control over the bitches, Simeon," Helewys growled.

"Mmm...Tell the mothers whose pups I have patched up that statement...But no more arguments. Do we have an agreement? Gussalen stays human if she shows, and you order the pack to leave her be. My responsibility alone."

"Agreed," Balthazar said quietly.

Helewys glared at him, shaking her head, "On your throat be it then," she growled. "Now scoot before I cut you up!"

"Yes Alpha, Ledrene...and thank you." Simeon replied, nodding and backing out of the hut with Ysmay.

"You are an idiot," Helewys said, turning on Balthazar.

"Maybe, maybe not. What if it is a God that is speaking to Simeon...what if we chose not to believe him and what he was saying is true? The whole pack would be sacrifice. I am not willing to take that risk Ledrene. We will know in five days one way or another." Balthazar replied, "My peoples believed in soothsayers and the possessed you know...elders, women, kids, anyone could come out with something about the future. Most were stoned to death if their prophesies were proven false. But some, the ones that did get it right...well...Let's just say that some did. Simeon is right, there is no way he could know what is still going on in the human settlement...so if Gussalen shows, we do not have much choice."

"The pack may rift over this," Helewys stated, "The old schoolers won't like it one bit."

"They will have to listen if it is foretold. I will go and spread the word with them in the morning. Cassius is likely to create trouble for the sake of it, but he can be dealt with. I will assure them that if he is wrong, Simeon will pay with his life. That should silence the dissenters."

"I hope it does Alpha, for if you are wrong, our population boom will all be for naught."

"Speaking of population booms...you smell like you are coming into heat," Balthazar stated, "Have you made your decision yet?"

Helewys turned her head away, "I will lie with you Balthazar, though Simeon has produced more Alphas than you...he is beginning to make me uneasy. You have also proved to be a good lay!"

Balthazar laughed, "You will be the last then this year...unless any more virgins go into season. No point in creating rules if you are going to break them yourself!"

Helewys nodded, "All to true I suppose...Well you are likely to be tied to me if this cripple shows up, as I will not last five days before my cycle strikes."

"As long as we are not tied together when the Werecat shows up...that I believe would be undiplomatic..."

Helewys huffed in laughter, "You could say that!"

~~~~

"What are we out here for again Herald?" Amalie asked, jumping as something snapped a twig in the deep forest ahead of them.

"Border patrol training...watching for intruders. Very important...you never know when a human might come along and we will have to kill them..." Herald replied, "Now shush!"

Paulie grinned as she followed them. Watching the four gangly sibling pups jump and squirm at every unfamiliar noise was a source of amusement to her. Herald was already following in the footsteps of his sire, and was gaining some control over his female siblings with his wit, even though all three were bigger than him already in body. Her ears swivelled forward on her head as the sound of a click and thudding came from in front of them on the game trail they were following.

"Pups...wood melt!" she whispered.

Immediately the four in front of her vanished into the undergrowth silently, the forest seemingly deserted as she sat in the centre of the path, the uneven gait of whatever was coming, getting steadily closer. Paulie was well aware that there was maybe a human expected, and where the rumour had come from...she was a little suspect of the story: But her Dam had insisted that if Simeon had said it, there must be a certain amount of information behind it...

Gussalen stumbled around a large oak tree, leaning against it heavily as she manoeuvred herself over the roots on her wooden leg, her crutch supporting her and her pack. Three bloody tortuous days it had taken her to get this far...Merek had claimed it was only half a night's walk away when his heart had seized...With two legs maybe. She didn't even know why she was trying...hell her life had been nothing but misery from her first conscious memories. She might as well have thrown herself in the river, just as the villagers threw her out of the healer's house as soon as he was buried...

But...But Merek had claimed that Simeon still lived with his last breath, but not as a human up here in the North; and that he would complete her barely begun training. So off she had set, following the moss on the trees, stumping along game trail after game trail, thinking all along that maybe she would have a clean death at the teeth of a wild beast at least, and not the drowning in the cold river. She glanced up and met the eyes of her ending now, and she dropped her crutch in defeat...the she wolf that sat silently waiting for her, was bigger than her, and she really didn't want to prolong her death with even a token fight.

"Well I guess this is it then," she muttered under her breath, "Come and get me Satan, for I have most definitely sinned."

Paulie turned her head on one side, taking in the words and smelling the fear on the cripple fifty feet in front of her, "I don't know about Satan, human; but I am not he..." she said, growling out the human words from her lupine mouth, before changing human in the dappled light of the undergrowth.

"Oh lord preserve me! A Werewolf!" Gussalen exclaimed, dropping to her knee, "Please Miss wolf, just kill me cleanly!" she pleaded.

Paulie just grinned, "Pups, you can come out now. She is no threat to you."

Gussalen's eyes widened more as the four pups melted from the shrubbery and onto the game trail, "You want us to kill her?" Amalie asked.

"No...she is the one we are patrolling for. Much as I would like to kill her, it would be in direct breach of your Sire's and the Alpha's orders. She is to be brought in alive." Paulie stated.

"How do we know she is the one, teacher?" Herald asked, glancing at the quivering human.

"I have serious doubts that another human female with one leg would come into our lands from the South today...No she is the one." Paulie turned to face Gussalen again, "You are Gussalen, and you come to seek a Healer called Simeon?" she asked.

"Y...Y...Yes..." Gussalen stuttered, "How do you know my name?"

"Ask these pups' sire when you see him. It is not for me to explain. You are exhausted, and still a long walk from the village...Come...The pups are unable to change human yet, but they can support you and take your knap. I will call in and we will hopefully get back before nightfall. You are not to die, though I think that a little odd myself." Paulie changed back into a wolf and sat up on her haunches, howling out the news of the recovery so that it carried on the wind, back to the pack's home.

The pups swarmed up to Gussalen and relieved her of everything they could with their teeth, before Polly gently slipped her back under Gussalen's crutch hand and eased the petrified women upright again, taking her weight as they began to limp forward towards home.

"What is your name?" Gussalen asked, her fingers gripping Polly's ruff.

Paulie looked over her shoulder, "I am Paulie. The pup you have a hold of is Polly...her sibs are Amalie, Lauren and Herald."

"Are they yours?" Gussalen asked, her nerve coming back slightly.

Paulie huffed, "No...I can only hope I have as good a litter as them though. They are my Dam's and Simeon's."

Gussalen looked up sharply, "Simeon lies with an older woman?" she asked.

Paulie just huffed in amusement again, "You will find the ways of the pack interesting human. Simeon lies with many bitches, though loves only one. I hope to lie with him when my heat comes, but until that time I do not know who will be chosen for me. Now enough idle chatter, I find it difficult to talk in the human tongue while as a wolf. All will be explained to you when we reach the village. I will warn you of one thing though...do not annoy any Were you encounter, or foretelling or not, your throat will be missing before you can utter an apology!"

Gussalen swallowed hard, "A cleaner death still than starvation or drowning...I shall do my best to stay out of everyone's way."

"Good...do so, and you may just live to leave us." Paulie stated, turning her head away again.

**

Simeon looked up as the howl echoed up the vale from the South, darting out of the healers house to listen to its message. Ysmay joined him, standing just back from his shoulder, "It appears you are vindicated love," she whispered quietly.

"I almost wish I were not...but I am glad also that we do not have to fight accusations of treachery anymore..." Simeon replied.

"The pack will treat you as an oracle now, you know," Ysmay said, running her head across his shoulders and Balthazar and Helewys approached.

Simeon closed his eyes, "You know that is the last thing I want. I just want to live my life with you, producing fine pups until my eyes close for the final time. If the voice does not come back, will I be left alone?" he asked.

"In time, in time...maybe..." She fell silent as Helewys came to a stop in front of them.

"It appears that I am proved wrong, daughter, Healer. I still do not like this, and foretelling or not, the human will die at my teeth if she so much as takes a piss in the wrong place." Helewys announced, her loins swollen in her heat as her scent suffused the air around them with its tantalising odour.

Simeon shifted on his feet slightly, "We will teach her the rules as fast as we possibly can, Ledrene," he said.

Balthazar was panting slightly, his semi aroused member dripping with coital fluids, "Do so...my power over the pack is only so great. Now...the howl interrupted something as you can probably guess. Go greet your human pet at the entrance to the vale, I must continue with my more immediate duty now."

Simeon grinned, "Good knotting, Alpha," he said, dropping his head in acquiescence.

"Good tying, Ledrene," Ysmay added, watching as both Alphas loped back off to their hut, before she turned to face her padwarmer and the arousal her Dam's scent had caused. She grinned, "I think we have time to take care of that before they get here, don't you?"

Simeon grinned, "I hope so!" and he followed her back into their sleeping quarters.

~~~~

Two days later Tashir on the Northern patrol howled in his alert, announcing that a single Werecat was seeking audience...