Greykin Valley

| 18 | Onwards

⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐

| Damon |

Relief filled Damon when he saw Sebastien come out of the woods with Lalo, Alastor, and Wesley. And almost at the same time, Tokala, Leon, Brando, and Enola returned from their perimeter search.

"What happened?" the Alpha asked as both groups stopped in front of him.

Sebastien and Tokala glanced at one another.

"You go first, man," Sebastien said.

Tokala set his eyes on Damon. "We didn't find any wolves—we didn't find anything living—but we spotted a couple of cadejo. One of them had its leg stuck in a silver bear trap, and the other two were just walking around like they do when they're lurking."

Damon frowned. "Silver traps?"

"We found those too, Alpha," Wesley said. "We don't know how many of them were there, but we saw one and didn't wanna take our chances."

Sebastien nodded and said, "I couldn't sense any life force for miles, so there's a chance that the hunters who left them there won't be coming back. However, there's also the possibility that they will, and since it's my job to keep you guys from doing shit that might get you killed and fuck up the mission, I'm advising you that we leave this glade and move on."

Damon scowled at the black hound. He didn't like being told what to do, but his recent lack of self-confidence prevented him from feeling the need to assert his dominance. Right now, his main priority was keeping Remus safe while he recovered, and if there was a risk that hunters might turn up, then he wasn't going to hang around.

Remus wasn't ready to move, though. His wounds might be healing, but he was still weak, and if he was going to get his strength back, he needed to eat something. Evidently, they weren't going to find anything to hunt around here. So, what should he do: give Remus a little more time to recover or get two of his wolves to carry his son?

He looked down at Remus.

"I can carry him, it's no problem," Sebastien said, moving closer—

Damon sharply turned his head and snarled at him. This guy needed to learn his place.

Sebastien backed off. "All right, damn."

"What should we do, chief?" Tokala asked.

That was when Remus opened his eyes and looked up at him. "Dad?"

"I'm here," he told him.

"W-we...we shouldn't stay here if hunters could come, right?"

"We don't know if they'll come or not, but we can't leave until you're able to—"

"I'm fine, Dad. I promise," Remus said as he started getting up.

Damon shook his head and tried to make him stay down. "You—"

"I'm fine," he insisted, nudging his paw off him as he climbed to his feet. "We...we can go."

He stared at his son in worry. His legs were shaking, and his breaths were a little heavy. He clearly needed more time to rest, but...what if he chose to stay here and the hunters who placed those traps came back? He didn't want to make another choice that would get anyone hurt. But there was also the risk of leaving the glade and getting into danger out there, too. Tokala had seen cadejo; what if there were more?

"Uh, chief?" Tokala asked.

Damon glanced at him. "What?"

"Should we put it to a vote?"