Wolves and Men

Charles asked, “So what did happen between you two?”

Nicholas said, “We had a gentleman’s wager and contest Chuck, other than that you don’t need to know.”

Charles looked over at William with a wry smile. He shrugged, “It’s just like he said man, a ‘gentleman’s wager’.”

The black man smiled. Without saying anything he turned and left with Katherine to go find Lethe.

William looked over at Nicholas. “How’s the arm?”

The Scout rotated his wrist again. “It’s good now. I don’t feel any pain at all.”

“So, we’re good then?” William asked.

Nicholas turned toward him and there was no mirth there. “Look, Setford I may have come to terms with working with you, but don’t ever assume we’re ‘good’, got it.”

William nodded in understanding but held out his hand anyway. Nicholas looked down at the offered hand with a sneer. He raised his eyes to meet William’s, and quietly turned away. Well, what did he expect from Nicholas anyway? He dropped his hand and started off for his room to get some clean clothes of his own.

By the time William got back to where they had broken up, the three other Scouts were already there with Nicholas. The group was in close and talking amongst themselves. Aceso stood apart and Katherine and Charles were even farther from her.

“What’s up guys?” he asked.

“It’s hard to tell,” replied Katherine. “They’ve been like that for a few minutes. I don’t know what the problem is but I don’t think Lethe was with the original group of Scouts. He seems to be rejecting whatever they suggest.”

William looked over at the group of Scouts. Every once in a while, he could see Lethe’s head shake back and forth. He was not arguing but he was definitely the one who was holding up the conversation.

“What do you think the problem is? Is it just hard for him to believe that what we are attempting can even be done?” William asked to no one in particular.

“Lethe is wolf born. It will be hard for him to accept change in how we perceive our world,” Aceso said quietly as she joined them. “Wolves do not understand why things change. For us Nature is a balance of cycles that are ever turning but ever repeating as well. The game herds we hunt follow the age-old paths of migration and feeding areas. The snow falls when the moon is in a certain place in the sky and the rains come after the snow thaws, these are things that have happened since wolves were born into this world. Telling him that the way things are may be changed will be difficult for him to understand.”

William nodded, “Yes, I understand that but he has to know that these things have to change for our survival and the survival of the city.” Aceso did not respond but only turned her head back toward the Scouts with her ears pointed toward the group.

“We don’t have time for this,” William said. He strode up to the group of Scouts. “Uh guys? Hi.” The group stopped talking and turned toward the sudden intrusion. It didn’t seem like anyone was happy to see him, especially Nicholas. But he had already started might as well finish it. “Look, Lethe? We need your help so Nicholas can do what he did a few weeks back. You weren’t there but Nicholas led us to a girl named Chelsea who we were able to bring back to the Mountain. We need for him to do it again, and again, and again, if he can so we can bring back more Shape shifters so this city can regain some of its fighting strength for this war that we are obviously losing.” He felt very proud of himself for that little speech, it sounded very powerful and full of urgency which they needed.

Lethe did not share his enthusiasm. “William, I know you think you know what you are talking about. I am a bit older and have been a Scout for a time. No Scout has ever boasted of the abilities you speak of Nicholas exhibiting.” He looked over the small group around him. “However, I understand the need for hope. What will happen, will happen, but on Nature’s terms. I have business to attend to. I won’t try to stop you from trying but I will not be involved.” With that he silently walked away and disappeared around a building corner.

“Well, that’s great! That’s just great. Way to go, Setford!” Nicholas fumed. “Now what? We try with what we have? I still don’t even know what it was that I did. It felt to me like it was more Ansuya than anything else, and she’s not here. How in the hell are we going to do this when we don’t really know what the hell we’re doing in the first place. Maybe Lethe was right and this is a waste of everyone’s time?”

Aceso stepped up to them. “Nicholas, we need for you to remember what it was you did and get us to where we need to be. There are Shape shifters out there that we haven’t been finding. Because of our ineptitude, the vampires must be finding them. Throughout our history we have never had such a downfall in new Shape shifters to the city. You are the key to helping us get some of it back.”

Billy said, “Hell, I may be a little older but I can still learn a new trick or two. What do we have to lose?”

Nicholas looked over at Hermes. He sighed, “Ok. Let’s go to the top of the Tower and see what we can do.”

The Scouts headed off to the Tower to execute their plans. William still didn’t understand exactly what it was they were going to do but last time it took them a day or two and Nicholas had come out exhausted from the ordeal. Maybe the second time wouldn’t be so taxing, but without the Elders and Ansuya there? Maybe Nicholas had a point and this was all just a giant waste of time.