Ch161 What To Do Next
“I don’t want to sound rude, but is this how all wolves act?” Leo asked quietly one evening as he helped Sköll wash the dishes for Drakon’s mate, Heather. Sköll had told him as guests it was expected to help so they didn’t become a burden.
Sköll hummed and nodded, “The good ones. Most of the Pack wolves are close knit communities and families just trying to keep to the old ways and avoid troubles. Humans are pests, but we spend our pup-hoods as human and can only have offspring with human mates. As a general rule, as long as humans leave us be we leave them be. It is the vampires we kill on sight. In all the years werewolves had fought, only vampires threatened our existence. However, my opinion on the bloodsuckers have changed since having the little one live with them for so long. I also found out I have vampire blood. Lady Eirwyn and Sir Sebastian are my ancestors. Lady Eirwyn is special like your mother is,”
“Is that why everyone seems to worship the Lady of the Ice?” Leo asked.
“No, not entirely,” Sköll said as he ruffled the boy’s hair. “Lady Eirwyn led our people in to the longest age of peace. She is an honored singer, a star reader, and a great healer. All things she-wolves strive for. They are strong, but not like us. Our females are gauged not with how many kills and battles, but on those three things. Your mother is favored because she is a strong singer without learning a single song from our elders, and can read the stars. She even showed her ability to heal by saving the Ash Alpha from a heart wound, curing her of a heart disease at the same time. The fact that they are both terrifying when angered just makes them even more adored. Males want them, even if they know it is impossible, and females want to be them,”
“Sköll, you said all werewolves start out as humans?”
“Yes. We do not like to bite our children until they are at least sixteen. It is a big choice and we want to ensure they understand it. A wolf can live as a human for almost half a century and it be a good honorable life. They will still be burned and sang up to Luna so they can join their ancestors,”
“Why only half a century?” Leo asked.
“We are not sure. Some believe it is the trade to not suffer from the binding, and the rage of Luna. Others think it is because our hunger still burns in our human bodies and the fire is too hot for a human to bare. Either way, human lives are short,” Sköll answered. “I feel you had a different question when this conversation began, little cub,”
“Is this what a normal human family is like?” Leo asked as he scrubbed his plate harder so he didn’t have to look at the wolf.
“Yes. Sir Drakon and his mate are a good example of normal human life as well. A clean, warm, sturdy home structured with rules and chores. Three or four good meals, fresh water, warm smiles, and hearty laughter. You had none of this growing up, did you?”
Leo shifted awkwardly, “I had the food, the warm, the clean, but it was too clean if that makes any sense. Everyone kept an arm’s length away. I only got touched if it was for medical reasons, training, or reprimands. Every once and a while Dr. White would pat me on the head if I did something extraordinary, but that wasn’t often. I would hear the others laugh, but they stopped when I walked in. I tried to make them laugh, it worked sometimes. Now however everyone wants to talk to me, touch me and show me their emotions. It’s strange,”
Sköll stood in thought for a second as he mindlessly kept drying a plate. “I had not realized how you had been raised. Your mother teases all the time that it took a rabid dog and a group of murdering bloodsuckers to teach her about trust and family. Her humans were not the best fit for her either. Are we talking too much, touching too much?”
Leo shook his head, “No. It’s nice to know this is what it’s like to be human. I never knew,”
“Why not go play, I’ll finish up here. If you sense it will be alright, say hello to your mother. She is as fragile as she is strong,”
Leo nodded as he put his plates down and left the house. Doing as he was told he wandered over to the tree Sasa and Eirwen were at. He brought over some left-over food he had saved. Eirwen took it and thanked him kindly.
“Is Sasa sleeping?” Leo asked. He felt awkward and nervous around the old she-wolf and her mate. Truth be told he felt nervous around the old orange-haired Vampire as well. Looking over his shoulder he saw the man still standing a distance away just watching as he had done since Sasa began seeking comfort from Eirwen.
Eirwen nodded, “She is stronger than she needs to be for one so young, the rest is good. You look like that beast your mother is mated to,”
“Is Fenris really that bad? Everyone keeps calling him a beast or pest,”
Sebastian chuckled, “No, Fenris Dragonheart is a good man and a fine mate. It takes a special kind of man to care for a she-wolf, one of these two is twice as hard. A lot of what he is mocked for is past mistakes. Since his mating with Sasa he has shown exemplary character. Don’t get the wrong idea, he’s still pesky, but his devotion to his wife makes the brute lovable,”
“I wish I could have gotten to know him better before,” Leo said as he sat next to them,
“Before when?” Eirwen asked almost knowingly.
“Before Sasa changed him back. I was one of his guards. Dr. White wanted to see if I triggered any memory relapse. Sasa did a good job, if he did recognize me, he kept it to himself,” Leo explained.
“Sasa believes her mate is safe and free of the man in white. Is this not true?” Eirwen asked worried.
“He isn’t on base anymore, but he had to spend a few months there so he could learn English and be caught up on current events and technology. Dr. White said he came from somewhere around the tenth century. They talked about getting him posted at a collage to teach history since he was so familiar with the time. The cover story was that Fenris already was a history professor, so when he fell ill with a rare disease that put him in a coma, the delusional dreams he experienced only made him think he grew up in Norway all those years ago. In truth he was a rich man who inherited quite a lot when his parents passed away in a plane crash. They never told me where they were relocating him, Sasa wanted him to have a home overseas, close to what he’d remember,”
“Makes sense, she’s been there. She wanted a place she could find him in later,” Dagrim said. For the first time Leo noticed he had walked closer as Leo talked. “Sasa swore she wouldn’t intentionally kill herself again, so she knew one way or another she’d get free eventually. Even I can’t ground her for too long. She gets restless and sneaks away. You have nothing to fear, Leo. Sasa is as much my daughter as she is Sköll’s. I will not harm my grandson,”
“I never,”
“Vampires can sense fear,” Dagrim pointed out with a warm smile. “Most humans can’t sense our strength like you are now,”
“It is because he is a puppy first and a human second,” Eirwen explained. “You’ve always felt out of place, trapped, like there was so much more out there for you, haven’t you?”
Leo nodded, “It also knew I’d meet my parents one day so I could ask why they abandoned me. I never could have dreamed they were not human or I was taken from them. My mother looks almost as old as I am, it’s still a lot to soak in,”
“We’re also not the monsters you were warned of night and day, are we?” Sebastian asked almost teasingly.
Leo shook his head, “No. You’re more human than some of the humans I’ve known,”
Dagrim laughed. When Leo looked at him curiously, he answered, “Sasa has said that since the first night we met. We have treated her better than humans ever had, so she sees humans as the monsters,”
“After what happened to her, I can’t blame her for that. Seeing all this it wouldn’t be surprising if every non-human saw humans that way,” Leo admitted sheepishly.
Sasa reached up a hand and caressed his face comfortingly. “I don’t think all humans are bad. I judge everyone as an individual despite what I say about the collective. I’ve suffered my fair share at the fangs of vampires and the claws of werewolves. However, the fact remains, the deepest injuries have been caused by man,”
“Which is why she is a timid around strange men like a beaten dog,” Dagrim teased.
“Thanks daddy, that’s really supportive,” Sasa grouse sarcastically.
Eirwen pet her head, “Onisagira is feeling better tonight? No tears?”
Sasa shook her head, “At least not right now. I need to start figuring out what I’m going to do next,”
Eirwen looked up at Leo, “Leo, perhaps you’d better find your grandfather, or some of the boys to go play with. I will need to heal Sasa, and I think it might be best if you were elsewhere,”
Leo hesitated as he saw his mother look up at the old wolf curiously, but obeyed none the less.
“Why send Leo away?”
“You’re still not in balance. I was going to ask permission of your sire to see if I can’t fix it,” Eirwen said as she looked up at Dagrim.
“Only if Sasa and Sebastian are fine with it. I’ve wondered if she’s needed werewolf blood since she sacrificed werewolf blood,”
Sebastian nodded, “Just be careful Eir. She hurts you and I’ll have to retaliate, then he’ll have to retaliate, then you’ll retaliate, and Sasa if she is fit enough to,”
“Or you could just be a good sire and just trust me and let me do this. It’s no different than healing anyone else, and you know I’m more immortal than you are,” Eirwen balked.
“We’re going to exchange blood, aren’t we?” Sasa asked. She wasn’t really hungry. She hadn’t been since Dagrim rescued her.
“Yes, dear heart. I’m going to trust the men to keep the wolves at bay. The smell of my blood will agitate them. They’ll fear I’m in danger,”
Sasa nodded.