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Chapter 11...Looming shadows...

Six months on...

Thhhhhhwock!

"Getting better... You need to stiffen your shoulders slightly as when you release the string, your arrow shaft is catching it as you waver." Furrn instructed from where she was standing on a block behind Herald.

"I am struggling with the recoil," Herald replied, looking over his shoulder at his instructor as he reached into the quiver that hung between his shoulder blades for a fresh shaft.

There was a light mist rising from the mossy meadow that formed a gentle V shape above the falls, the stream that fed them emerging from a steep, rock strewn slope three hundred yards up the hill. It had been designated as the clan's and pack's practice range as it could only really be accessed from the falls end, and bits of broken arrows and bolts pinging all over the place could turn careless wanderers into pincushions all too easily. Various woven wicker and straw targets seemed to float in the heavy air, suspended on near invisible tripods and poles that were hidden by the mist. Furrn shook her head, hopping down off her block and stepping up to her pupil before he had chance to draw again. They were the only two out at this time of the dawn, but as the most promising youngster so far, Herald had asked for additional instruction, and Furrn had been assigned as she was the second best longbow shot in the clan.

The wolf looked down onto the top of her head, eyes drawn inevitably down further onto the dew that was glistening on her downily furred breasts. Unlike the wolves when they were in human form, the cats retained almost all of their coats, it only becoming shorter when they chose to stand on two legs, not four. His Sire and Furdinand had come to the conclusion together, that as the mountain plateaus where the cats usually lived were cooler, they had adapted by not losing their protection against that cold. They also tended to use their human forms more often, as using a weapon on four legs was nigh on impossible. Herald and his siblings were only just getting used to their human changes, but he found he could draw the 110 pound yew bows the cats had manufactured without much issue, so had begun training a couple of weeks earlier.

"Easy for you to say...that bow of yours doesn't kick like a cornered stag," he commented as she unwrapped her smaller, eighty pounder from it's oilcloth.

She grinned back at him, "It does if I release it like you do...Maybe if you watched my action instead of my teats, you would learn more."

Herald flushed, "Sorry...I kinda can't help it..." he muttered, turning his head away.

Furrn chuckled, "True...I prefer to stay on all fours, but needs must, and it is nigh on impossible to hide ourselves when we are human. Clothing gets tangled so easily if you are forced to change back quickly, so better to ignore embarrassment and stay naked." She squinted slightly at the target one hundred and twenty yards down the range, where Herald had placed three arrows in the second ring, and one in the first. "Now hunch down behind me and rest your right hand on my shoulder so you can feel my muscle action."

Herald did as instructed, his hot breath caressing her ear as her shoulder sinews tensed under his touch. The target he was working on was at the extreme range of her shorter bow, but no Werecat could handle or draw the seventy-two inch one he now dangled in his left hand loosely. Her breathing stilled slightly, her whole body tensing as the fibres in her bow's stave popped and crackled as she drew it almost to breaking point. Until, with a final long drawn in breath, her chest stilled and her calloused bow finger slipped the hemp string off it, as all her muscles locked tight...

TWANG!

The shoulder under his touch didn't so much as move a sixteenth as the arrow was loosed in its graceful arc. Her bow swing loose as she let it take all the recoil for the couple of seconds of flight, until with a quieter Thwock, the shaft buried it's head into the wicker at the centre of the foot wide bulls-eye.

"Fuck!" Furrn cursed, a bead of blood forming on her bow-finger where a sharp edged feather had nicked at the upper knuckle as it passed.

Herald darted around without thinking and took her hand into his, bringing it up to his lips and licking at the blood before she tugged it out of his grip.

"What are you doing!?" she shouted.

"I...Err...I was just trying to help," he stammered, not averting his gaze from her death stare, "We lick our wounds to stem minor cuts."

"I am aware of that...us cats do too...But we don't lick each other accept for mutual grooming..." Furrn retorted, her ire dropping slightly.

"Need the grooming not be mutual?" Herald asked, dropping to his knees so she had to look down at him for once, his bow forgotten as it fell into the long wet moss.

Furrn flushed for a second, as she realised his meaning. Her eyes darted around the mini-vale, looking for others in the vicinity before she bent her head forward a little and planted a gentle tongue kiss on Herald's forehead. "It cannot be...it is unnatural, forbidden...not cat. Friends yes, but nothing more," she whispered.

Herald was finding it hard to concentrate, as her actions had buried his human face between her dew covered mounds, "If it is unnatural and forbidden, then you had better speak to your healer about it. He has been sought for solace and training by Amalie, and doesn't seem to turn her away when her nose quests between his legs," he muttered back, his voice muffled slightly, before his tongue rolled out and licked at the combination of sweat and condensation which was clinging to the rounded forms where his nose currently resided.

"Faugh!" Furrn declared, pushing him away from her, "You wolves are disgusting, and you lie. Furdinand would not stoop so low!"

Herald jumped to his feet, grabbing her arms in a vice like grip as she spat and tried to claw herself free, "I do not lie cat...and it is your kind that sneak about in the night doing whatever you do!"

He applied more pressure on her wrists, forcing her elbows to bend as he drew her snarling face closer to him, her eyes widening and teeth bared as she realised what she thought he was going to do next. "You cannot! It would be your death!" she cried.

Herald just smiled, "Not if it is consensual...You are not a virgin bitch, and I know that you queens are not virgins when you decide to start breeding. I think from reading your scent that you want me almost as much as I want you..." he breathed quietly, his lips meeting and locking with hers as the fight left her, and her sandpapery tongue slipped out to greet his longer, smoother one as they each invaded new territory. "Just tell me no, and I will stop," he whispered as they broke the kiss for a second.

She tensed in his arms as he released her wrists, but then relaxed, "It is not possible, and it is forbidden...We will be ostracized, cut off...thrown out...exiled... It cannot be!" she protested again as he ran his hands through her fur and down her neck, a stuttering purr starting in her chest, despite her best efforts to supress it.

"Talk to Furdinand...See what he believes will happen. Much as I have ambition, I do not want to become Alpha leader...I see the stress it has put upon my Sire and Balthazar." Herald sighed, "I will not approach you this way again until you have sought advice, but I need your expertise to make me the best archer in the pack. They will not throw me out for following my heart if I become that."

"Follow your heart?" Furrn asked, looking up at him.

He dropped his head again, kissing her nose tip gently, "That is what I said...I am not doing this for sex...that I can and have got from the older bitches, including my Sire's mate, Ysmay...You know we wolves have a more practical way of teaching sex, so I do not lack for it..."

Furrn flushed, "You could say that...I cannot go anywhere down in the vale without catching two or more of you tied together at times. It must be terrible for your virgin bitches though, to have to wait until the Alpha calls them, when their male sibs are plugging every hole around them, so to speak."

Herald chuckled deeply, "Oh they are plugging themselves with tongues...as long as the seal is not broken, the neck of the vessel may be sampled for taste as much as they wish..."

"Cats do not do oral..." Furrn stipulated firmly.

"Ask Furdinand and Amalie about that...she is still a virgin, or he would be dead. I like the taste of bitch, both for before and after play...I have no issue in returning my bow lessons, with oral ones if you come to me."

"Did you really mean you were following your heart?" Furrn asked, worried a little.

"Wolves do not lie..." Herald whispered back again.

Furrn shook her head. "Pack up the bows and collect the arrows. Bring them to me in the Salle for storage. I am going to wash up."

"Yes teacher," Herald replied formally as she slipped from his embrace and changed cat before stalking off towards the camp grounds.

"And Herald..." she called over her shoulder.

"Yes teacher?"

"I will give this some thought..." she finished, picking up her speed into a lope, her tail switching from side to side in agitation as she vanished.

"That is all I ask..." Herald muttered quietly to himself as he carefully dried the bows and wrapped them, before trotting out to the target, and returning the salvageable arrows to his quiver.

~~~~

Meanwhile...

Henry watched silently, holding his breath as he watched Gussalen hitch her skirt up and collapse into a squat onto the plank over the drop pit twenty feet out of the back of the Healer's hut. A screen of woven willow wands had been planted around the canted, rough sawn rain-shelter as walls, in deference to privacy for the human and the visiting cats, as the wolves didn't care who saw them take a shit or a piss, and did so quite publically...but the leaves did not form a perfect screen, and it was through one of these gaps his eyes now peered from the deepest of shadows.

The look of relief that washed over her face as the pain in her stump was lessened by the lack of her weight upon it. A slight gust of wind parted her cheeks and whiffled out into the heavy air of dawn, tickling at his nose as it blew across it, he breathing in her scents as the steady stream of urine sprayed forward of the plank, and the splutting of her more solid offerings as they fell into the composting mess six feet below her, broke the silence. She sighed then, his gaze never wavering she reached across and grabbed a few of the waterlilly leaves that were kept in a flat crock of water in order to keep them fresh, which resided on the floor. Only she used them of course, the Weres tail ends being so much flatter, and the natural squat position they took, stopped any sort of soiling that a single tongue swipe couldn't sort out...but the rounded cheeks of a human asked for disease to set in if proper hygiene was not observed.

Hitching her skirt a little higher without getting up, Gussalen let some of the light highlight what her unobserved voyeur wanted to see, the lilly leaves passing across both exits cleanly, before fluttering down her latest offerings to the pit. Her nose wrinkled slightly from the odour, and she quickly grabbed the wooden paddle from the domed container next to her, and shovelled some of the feverfew and lemongrass impregnated sawdust and chippings from the carvers shops into the pit, to mask the all too fresh smell of her own waste.

Henry shook his head, unable to fathom how he and all the Weres with their far more sensitive noses could just dismiss the scents of a waste drop, but humans found it so vile. To him, it just told him who had been there before. Gussalen's eyes darted in his direction, squinting against the light as she tried to discern if his head movement had been nothing more than a rat or something, he cursing silently his stupidity as he willed her to turn her eyes away again...But she didn't. She grunted, never averting her gaze as she gathered her crutch under her arm and levered herself upright again, clicking towards where he lay frozen, considering bolting, so she wouldn't have time to recognise his departing tail... Too late...she was upon him now, the crutch that supported her being used to part the willow leaves and her frowning countenance glowering down upon his rigid back.

"Explain yourself Henry...Or I will call for your Dam immediately!" Gussalen barked out.

He winced, almost expecting the nip of his Dam's jaws upon him as her voice sounded just like Ysmay's when she was angry, "Sorry Gussalen," was all he managed, sitting up now his cover was blown, "I was just...I mean..." he stammered.

"You were watching me take a shit and invading my privacy...Are you some sort of depraved pervert? You know I am to be allowed my space when I need it!" she continued.

Henry glanced towards the healer's hut, hoping her raised voice did not bring an audience. He had slipped from his pad silently without waking anyone when he had heard Gussalen's early morning curses, exiting through the main entrance and circling to the pit to await her arrival... "I am not depraved, and keep your voice down if you are not going to follow through on your threat," he growled.

"Don't you growl at me! You are the one that is in the wrong..." she froze as he changed human quickly, his frame elongating until he stood over her by a head, his hands clamping across her mouth and behind her neck to silence her.

"You wanted an explanation, then let me give it you bitch!" he muttered. Her eyes nodded, and he released her, ready in an instant to silence her again if she started shouting.

"Well go on then..." she said, her heart calming again from the momentary fright at the reminder that though they permitted her presence, there wasn't a single Were from the pups and kittens upwards that couldn't kill her in an instant if they wished.

He backed off, turning his back to her, the fine hairs running down his spinal ridge that thickened out as they met his butt cheeks, betraying his lack of humanity to all in his nakedness. "I...I..." he stuttered.

"You what?" she pressed.

He turned to face her then, the whole reason for his embarrassment and hesitation becoming obvious in an instant as her eyes dropped to the pointed and damp tip that stood proud just above his navel, before they followed the supporting shaft down the eight inches to where it disappeared into the thicket around his bulging sheath.

"This..." he said flatly.

Gussalen swallowed hard, a slight yearning overcoming her momentarily. Her reasons for becoming a tavern whore originally, were not just through necessity...She had quite enjoyed...no...she had more than enjoyed what followed the dispensing and collection of the beer jacks. What she was presented openly with in front of her now, was a far better example of a male appendage, than she had ever laid her hands upon before... "So you get aroused by the sight and smell of females taking a piss and a shit...Go hide by the river and watch the bitches drop their haunches on one of the flood pits...they are more than likely to let you solve your obsession afterwards by lifting their tails to you!"

Henry shook his head, "The bitches do nothing for me that way..."

"Oh so you are more like Gregor then...wanting the males...You are enough of a reject of God I suppose..." her voice was strangled again mid-sentence as his hands closed around her throat.

"Shut it...I say SHUT IT!" he threatened. "I am not like Gregor, though I will not deny that tail play is more fun than your Master says it is, nor is it wrong in the eyes of Lupinius..." he averted his gaze again for a second. "I have seen you when you thought no one was around. I saw you when my Sire and Dam were teaching us the basics of sex...I saw you with your cloth clenched between your teeth and your fingers under your skirt. I have seen you with one of the wooden pestles from the preparation room on the nights Furdinand is away in the clan's camp...I...I like your scent...I like your appearance...and if you were a Were, I would be courting you to be my Padwarmer..." he choked out.

His hands dropped from her throat as her jaw almost hit her chest. She stumbled backwards towards the drop-pit, allowing her single leg to fold around the plank and crutch to drop to the floor with a clatter. "You cannot be serious...I mean...It would mean my death..."

"And coming here to the pack was not almost certain death for you?" Henry asked quietly.

"Staying in the Townne was...I mean...I had nothing to lose. Now I have...I am half a year off being fully trained...or so Simeon says. I can go back with my scrolls..."

"And you would still not get the relief that you are so obviously in need of...No man...or should I say human will look past the crutch and wooden leg..." he was stilled by the slap she dealt out.

"You have a lot to learn pup! We humans do not deal with sex the way you do..."

"What? You were a whore! They paid you for it! I can do that as well if you don't want to return my love freely. Want a rabbit...hare? Fresh salad...? I will range for it, for your favours if that is what you still think of yourself as?"

"Now you stop it! I am not a whore anymore! I am a Healer, and I outrank you, an unproven Alpha male!"

"You don't even outrank a pup at the teat! You are a human, and therefore a nobody in the pack's stature. You are meat to most of them..." Henry countered, getting angry, "Do not try my patience..."

"And you are not trying mine, by perving on me while I take a shit?" Gussalen countered.

"No bitch would disapprove...and you were not meant to see me!"

Gussalen chuckled, "You need to work on your hunting skills then. I spotted you when you moved."

"Fly..." Henry lied, not wanting to admit any more ignorance.

"Did I catch what you said earlier? I am still not too sure of the Were terminologies?" she asked, her tone changing again, catching him off guard.

"Catch what?"

"That you would be courting me as your Padwarmer if I were a Were?"

Henry flushed, averting his gaze, "I meant exactly that."

"So you would be courting me for sex openly? Why?"

"No! You stupid, stupid human! To be a Padwarmer, you dedicate yourself to another only, unless duty calls. That means...If you were my Padwarmer, which you can't be...I would only ever have sex with you, unless ordered otherwise by the Alpha leader. Think of your Master and my Dam... or Benedict and Alice..."

"Simeon sleeps around...and Ysmay has been pup diving and training...Hardly a commitment..."

"Not in heat she won't...And Simeon has been directed as boon by the Alpha...That is duty. Sex for training your own offspring doesn't count...Ysmay will never bear another male's pups now she has born her first litter by Balthazar...unless they break up the partnership."

Gussalen turned her head away, "So what you are saying is...you would want me to be...well effectively married to you? Me an ex-whore? A nobody?"

"Y...Yes..." Henry stammered, "I t...t...think I l...l..."

"Love me?"

"Y...Y...yes..."

"I have never been loved before..." Gussalen whispered quietly, "But it is forbidden. Your Dam would kill me, or Simeon himself...And I must return to the Townne soon."

"I can see no reason why it is forbidden...You know as well as I do Amalie and Furdinand are forming a relationship of sorts...And well...Simeon and my Dam are allowing it. But you cannot be my Padwarmer unchanged, so I am but tormenting myself. I was willing to just watch, dream of what could not be...and then close my eyes when I screwed a bitch and believe it was you calling out my name as my knot swells...But you had to go and see me watching, ruining me..." His words were stilled as her hand landed on his shoulder, his face turning into her gaze as his lips brushed against hers.

"Promise me you will stand in your ring against those that try and stop us if we are discovered...Promise me that you will protect me on the field of battles to come, even if it means you disobeying a direct order...Promise me now...And I will give you those real memories for when I leave. My conscience tells me not to, as you are but a child in my eyes, though I know you not to be in the eyes of the Weres. My mind tells me that this could have us both executed...But..." she paused for a second, "But I was even considering seducing that bloody cat...as you were right, my own needs have been sorely neglected here. Make those promises, and I will give you something that even your most experienced bitches can't."

"I promise..." Henry breathed though their mixing breaths.

Gussalen smiled, the hardened, stubbornness of her pain and heartache infused face melting away to reveal the faintest shadows of her original and unsullied beauty, before it was washed away as the corners of her mouth dropped... "Turn wolf then and carry me somewhere we will not be found for a couple of marks. I will tell Simeon we went on an unsuccessful gathering expedition when we return."

Henry grinned, dropping to his knees and changing as instructed, slipping beneath her canted stump to allow her to mount, it bumping against his withers as she lay prostate, her cheek resting between his haunches as her arms encircled his muscular chest. He set off at a gentle walk, breaking out into a lope as he headed up the trail into the trees.

~~~~

Furdinand emerged, dropping silently down from off the drop pit's roof, shaking himself free the dew that had condensed on his fur. His eyes followed the vanishing pair, before they turned towards the Healer's hut. "Do I or don't I?" he mused to himself, "If I do, there is likely to be at least one corpse on my paws...and the possible wrath of Felinius/Lupinius upon me when Gussalen does not return to her kind...No...I cannot risk that. I will cover for them this time, but I will talk to her later and try and change her mind..."

****

"Hssssst!"

Amalie looked up sharply from where she was sunning herself on the rocks by the river. The other pups were all on the archery field, but no matter how she tried, she was more of a hindrance with a bow than a help, so had been given a bye. She had a good eye though, so the cats had sized up a version of the little crossbows they carried on their backs for her, and she could hit almost as many bullseyes as their best shot could now. Hand to hand, physical fighting lessons were next, but she was a little bruised from rolling in the ring in bitch form already. War may be coming, but if you couldn't rip a bitch to pieces in the ring, you would still be a nobody in pack standings, though she knew in her heart she wouldn't stand a chance against her Dam in a real fight, and not a teaching one.

"Hssssst!"

"Who's there?" she asked, scanning the foliage on the opposite bank with her eyes.

"It's me...Furrn. I don't want to be seen with you, but I need to ask you something..." the disembodied voice said from the densest thicket.

Amalie tilted her head on one side, "Shouldn't you be up on the archery field...Instructing?"

"Something more important came up this morning...Look you know my voice, and you can no doubt catch my scent at this distance, so you know it is me...So can you please just come over as if you were going to take a swim or something?"

Amalie grinned, stretching herself from nose to tail, "You going to join me in the water?" she teased.

"Ha ha..." Furrn replied sarcastically as Amalie strolled over to the river and paddled in, before plunging chest deep and swimming across the swirl pool to the thicket.

"This had better be good," the wet bitch commented as she hauled herself out and shook, "That water is bloody cold after a sun bathe."

Furrn nodded at her from between the leaves, before withdrawing, leaving Amalie to find a way into the centre of the big old Rhododendron, where it had formed a green cave through dieback.

"So...What do you want? You know I can't handle a bow properly."

"Before I go on, I need you promise that this goes no further than this thicket...understand?" Furrn asked seriously.

"If that is what it has to be..." Amalie replied, "What's got your tail in a twist? I can smell anxiety and just a little fear on you...and something else. You coming into heat, but you don't want to mate?"

Furrn shook her head vehemently, "No...It is not like I haven't mated before, I am nigh on eight years old. Never born kittens though, we have herbs that stop the kittens taking even when we couple on heat...so it is the female's choice if we wish to become breeding queens."

"It may not be soon if you lose a lot through the war...but you certainly smell aroused...I hope you are not propositioning me, cause I am not interested I am afraid...I prefer a male's taste any day..."

Furrn flushed, "Erm...actually. It was about that I wanted to ask..."

Amalie laughed, "It is not my position to teach you about oral sex! I am a pup still almost... You want me have a word with my Dam for you? I am sure she could be persuaded to give you lessons with my Sire as the model..."

Furrn shook her head again, "I would rather die..."

"Then what is it?" Amalie asked again.

"Are you and Furdinand in a relationship? I mean...I know you...you...well...you...practice upon him. Would you allow him to mount you if you were allowed to?"

Amalie's face dropped into a frown, "That is not a question I should freely answer..." she growled, hackles slightly raised.

"Nor one I should have freely asked of you...But I cannot find Furdinand anywhere, or I would have asked him what was between the two of you, as he is my peer...And I really need to know the answer before it eats me away inside!" Furrn countered, hissing. "Do you think this is easy for me? I would likely have shot you a couple of years ago, not asked you something as personal as this!"

"Something tells me that this is not really about Furdinand and I...Is it?" Amalie asked, her hackles dropping again.

"No..." Furrn whispered back.

"Well I will answer the question then. Yes if I were not a virgin. But that is because we as Werewolves are that way, and give our tails freely. If you are asking if I love Furdinand...If I would be his Padwarmer? Then no. My duty as a bitch of breeding age tells me that I need to produce a litter with each heat. No hybrids are possible...I have discussed that with him. We currently share a mutual need, and nothing more."

Furrn's jaw had dropped, "So you must have thought of the possibility, if you discussed it...And he didn't flay you alive or report your aberration to your parents?"

"No. He brought it up actually...to stop me from falling for him in that way and doing something stupid...not that I would have done. But I think he noticed I was approaching him rather more often than I did other pups, so calmed the relationship...so to speak." Amalie grinned at Furrn, "You have not said yet why you have asked... Spit it out."

"I...I...Well..." Furrn turned away again, "Herald propositioned me on the archery field this morning...we kissed...and...well...I almost accepted."

It was Amalie's turn to be shocked, "And from your scent, the idea aroused you?" she asked.

"I had to relieve myself...yes. If you want to put it that crudely."

"But you stopped because of what?" Amalie pressed.

"Reprisal...It is not wolf or cat, and is therefore forbidden. We would be shunned or worse..."

Amalie shook her head, "I am no lore teacher, but Ysmay is, and she is fully aware of the fact that I relieve Furdinand's stress while learning. Neither her, nor my Sire have told us to stop...so I seriously doubt there would be any reprisal if you took him to pad on occasion...Though he is not a small Alpha, you know. It is likely to hurt..."

"I can hardly fail to notice the anatomical differences Amalie...But you are listening, but not hearing me..."

"Of course I am hearing you...There should be no difficulties if you and Herald muck around a bit..."

Furrn just shook her head, "I knew I should have talked to Furdinand first..."

"Why?" Amalie pressed, "Why am I not answering you well enough? What am I missing?"

"Herald bloody propositioned me! He did not ask me for a swing...a muck around...a liaison...a Fuck! Hell, he even boasted he could have all of that he wanted, any time he wanted...He propositioned me!" Furrn shouted, not caring anymore if she they were overheard, "He declared that he has fallen in love with me!"

"Oh..." Was all Amalie could respond for a few minutes as Furrn's breathing calmed down, "And you have a mutual feeling?" she asked after a second.

"I fear that I do...I fear that I would wish to bear his kittens," she whispered back.

"Then I see your fear...But I also say that you should do it. There are more than enough Alpha males around now, that his seed will not be needed. Your skills are sacrosanct, and therefore the worse that could happen, is that you are sent back to the mountains in disgrace. Herald would probably never get to sire a pup, but...call it a hunch. With us working so closely together, I can see it being accepted by most...if it were to be discovered. Of course...I would keep it hidden for as long as possible. I will cover for him in the hut when he is missing...that I promise."

"You would do that?" Furrn asked.

"Of course...he is my littermate, and Wolves are loyal to a fault. Be sure you are certain though, as honour would bind me to come after you if you hurt his heart in any way..." Amalie stated flatly.

Furrn stepped forward and hugged her, "Thank you, and I understand. Tell him tonight that I want the mutually offered lessons to commence at tomorrow's false dawn. He will understand."

Amalie grinned, "I will...and I will not tease him to much about it either!"

Furrn giggled, "Please don't...this will be difficult enough as is."

"I promise...Wolf's honour. Now go...I will swim again, and then dry off before Clawd and your other males beat the shit out of me in the Salle in close combat!"

Furrn laughed as she slipped out of the green cave without seeming to move a single leaf...

****

Tashir stopped outside the Alpha hut, sniffing to ensure occupancy before clearing his throat, "Permission to enter and make a report, Alphas?" he asked.

"Come in Tashir," Balthazar called, granting him entrance.

"Are the clan leaders around Alphas? They need to hear this report as well," Tashir stated.

Helewys' ears perked up, and she raised her head from the pad, "They left a few minutes back...but they were going to stop in on Furdinand for something on the way back. We could catch them...Why?"

"I would rather not repeat my report...with respect Ledrene."

Balthazar snorted, "I will go and intercept...though you should report to us. I am guessing that this involves the humans...and therefore the clan should know as well?"

"You suppose correctly...I have news from the coast."

Balthazar nodded, and left the hut at a lope.

~~~~

"Purrsimon, Purrdita...meet Tashir. He is one of the best border patrollers we have, despite his appearance," Balthazar introduced, as the two cats settled on a spare pad.

"Good afternoon...we have seen him around on our borders...but as he never crossed them, he was not aware of our presence." Purrdita said, "I believe you have some information that you wish us to impart to the clan as well?"

"I do..." Tashir settled on his haunches, "I have been on the forest edge patrol, nearest Geresby for the last few nights. As you are no doubt aware, we have come to the agreement that no humans are to be intercepted and killed unless in direct invasion of our mutual territories." The others nodded, "Well about a moon back, several leading villagers and a couple of strangers from Garddetownne carted into Geresby by the long road, stayed one night and then returned with no discernible purchases. We do not venture South of the village, but we have noticed the Inn is always busy now, and more strange men are around...and the blacksmith has suddenly started working at nights as well."

"You suspect troop movements from the South?" Purrsimon asked.

"I do..."

"Then we will send long scouts out past our borders by tree top to confirm one way or the other. We were aware of the cart, as that was noted at the last meeting. There must be a new development though, or you would not have interrupted our afternoons." Purrdita noted.

"I fear so. Three troop galleons docked in Geresby last night." Tashir stated. "I assume that they are here because the humans have called for, and been granted back up from the crown."

Balthazar grumbled in his chest, "So war is coming quicker than we anticipated...we are not ready..."

Purrsimon shook his head, "Not necessarily...The new troops will have to train with and integrate with the battle hardened ones from the South. As far as we know, the ones on the ships have no experience of fighting Were kind. I predict they will leave the port shortly and probably camp in the village fields...or stay on the coastal fields, where the Southern troops will join them. This will give us an idea of numbers."

"So you are suggesting that we should not be expecting an attack yet?" Helewys asked.

"I would say that from the histories...we should have a few more moons before we are tested. That will give us enough time to get all who are able to pull a bow, or aim a crossbow adequately on target. We are not going to be going to them on open ground, they are going to be coming to us, on our ground, in our territories...There are few deep forests to the South..." Purrdita answered.

"That is true. The packs to the South either held wooded heathland, or small evergreen forests. Nothing like this area is," Balthazar confirmed.

"So what next?" Helewys asked, at a loss, "I never wanted war..."

"Neither did we," Purrsimon replied with a sigh, "We will take the news to the clan for a vote...but I would hazard a guess that as neither the clan, nor the pack can hope to win an all-out battle, we will have to run a snipe and ambush campaign for as long as possible. I would expect to find their scouts within our borders soon as well."

"Do we agree now then that any human, be it man, woman or child that enters our territory does not leave?" Balthazar asked.

Purrsimon looked across at Purrdita, who nodded, "Execute without prejudice, and then dump the bodies on the tracks or roads as warnings. Try where possible to kill without weapons... We do not want them to know we are armed. We cats will cover bolt and arrow wounds with tooth and claw ones on those we catch. Between your noses, and our aerial stealth...they will not gauge our numbers accurately."

"What of Gussalen?" Helewys asked quietly.

"Nothing...We eject her from here as soon as the combat begins. I would kill her...but both Furdinand, and your dreamer, Simeon have confirmed that it is the will of our Gods that she lives. There is a risk she will betray our strengths...But well...I suggest that she rides one of you wolves in a loop around to the South...and then rejoins the humans from there with her Healer's scrolls. They will accept her that way, and not put her to torture. It will be her choice then if she opens her mouth. I vow though that if she does, it will be filled by a bolt in the night." Purrsimon stated flatly.

"I shall notify Simeon later of that...and seek a volunteer for when the time comes, as the likelihood of it being a suicide run is high...and you know it. I will not order anyone to take that risk." Balthazar pointed out.

Purrsimon shrugged, "Then I hope one steps forward...as none of us cats have the strength to carry her."

"Right...we will head up and call a clan meeting. We will appraise you of the certain course of action in the morning." Purrdita said, rising and stretching, "The long scouts will be out tonight, so reports will be forthcoming as soon as we know anything."

"Tashir will continue patrolling the Geresby border as well. He will let us know when they begin to move out..." Balthazar started.

"And their numbers, or if any more arrive. Do you want me go in disguised to catch the gossip and plans?" Tashir asked, gruffly.

"Too risky...You are our best scout, and the inns will be heaving. One slip of your cloak, and bang, you are gone. Like Gussalen, you would not die a clean death either, if an officer got a hold of you," Balthazar pointed out.

Tashir nodded, "Good...but I had to ask anyhow. I would have, if you had ordered me to. I will go catch some shut-eye, and then head out again." He turned to the cats, "Some company would be nice..." he commented.

Purrdita nodded, "We will send Clawd to rendezvous with you at your hut at sun down. He can assess if we cats can get closer to the walls without exposure."

Tashir nodded, "Thank you." He turned and left the hut then, loping away without another word.

"We will see you on the morrow then...When you tell Simeon and Gussalen, inform Furdinand as well for us, will you?" Purrsimon asked.

"We will...See you at first light," Helewys replied as they left the hut.

Balthazar walked over to her, settling on the pad and running his chin over her still taut shoulders, "So it is happening then..." he whispered quietly.

"I would appear so..." Helewys murmured back.

"Are you scared?" he asked.

"I would have to be crazy not to be...You and I know better than anyone how cruel humans can be..."

Balthazar nodded, "Then let us hope that what is coming, will not be too hard on us all..."

****

Henry had been watching from where he was mucking around near the forest edge...Half-heartedly play pouncing on things with his peer group. He had been ribbed a bit when he had come back smelling of fresh sex, but refusing to answer which bitch had let him at her, protecting privacy etc. He had slipped away, protesting a call of nature, when the Werecats had left the Alpha hut, having been ensconced in there for nearly a mark with The Ghost...and had trotted back to the Healers hut he called home for the time being.

Crawling behind the split log-pile without being noticed, he pressed himself up tight against the hut wall that separated him now from the living quarters as both Balthazar and Helewys crossed the circle together and entered to building. Pressing his ear against the timbers, he listened carefully, getting more and more worried as the news imparted to those within reached his aural canal. 'He had only just got Gussalen...he was not about to let her go, probably to be killed by the heathens who were persecuting his kind...Lupinius be damned... at dawn tomorrow when he had agreed to meet her again, he would take her far away if she would come...away from everything. Give her a chance to be a Were if she wished... They could found a new pack...'

His mind continued to race, spinning rapidly as he heard his love agree to the plan, and Simeon muttering that he would get the scrolls ready and teach her the final things that would allow her to pass as a fully trained Healer if she were quizzed by her peers on re-entry to human society.

He would ask her first though...give her the option to escape...As to steal her away, could lose her to him forever...