บท 105: Chapter 103

After thinking and deciding that a demonstration of strength and competence was all I could realistically come up with, I spoke again. "You can see what we did today, what our hunters were able to bring to the den. We have enough to eat, and we eat until we are full every day. These… thunderfangs are a plague in our territory, though they also are an acceptable source of food. We have found their home, and will exterminate them all. However, there are more of them than we can eat in due time, and in exchange for some assistance in the hunt, we will give you a due portion of the spoils."

I paused and attempted to evaluate my audience's reaction. My pack was about the same as always–happy, excited, and hanging on my every word. Mrat and Criit were paying close attention, and I thought I could even see a string of saliva drip from the corner of Mrat's mouth. Shalla wasn't even looking at me, instead glancing around at the den, while Khaa's eyes flicked from me to Shalla and back. With her reaction, I was more sure of the true dynamic of their pack, though I had no idea how it had become like that.

"If you and your pack will want to participate in the hunt with us, you will need to be a productive part of the hunt. If you only come along and watch, you'll eat as much as you help."

"Can we keep everything we hunt?" Mrat's voice cut through, and I could almost taste the desperation in his tone. The small, charitable part of me wondered what had happened to him and his pack to get to this point, but the rest of me immediately set on his reckless need.

"There will be a certain amount of tribute required, since we are the largest, strongest pack with the information, but the offerings you must make will be negligible compared to the amount that you are able to take down. As a sign of my goodwill, take this." I stepped to the side, grabbed a whole wolfstag and tossed it to Mrat's feet. Though he tried to master himself, I could see the twitch, the immediate desire to dive onto the corpse. I turned to Criit. "Will your pack march with us to prosperity? Or will they continue to waste away in weakness?"

Though he'd been cowed by my presence and attack, Criit bristled at my suggestion that his pack was weak. "We do not need your charity!"

"Nor did I offer it. I offered an opportunity to work together and be benefitted by it. Are you unwilling to accept an opportunity that will help your pack simply because that opportunity did not come from yourself? Would you deprive your pack of good meals for so petty a reason?" Criit clenched his jaw, his tail flicking with his rage as I continued my words. "I'd think you were a better leader than that." Then, just as with Mrat, I turned to a nearby wolfstag body, lifted it with one arm, and tossed it in front of him. "Take that to your pack, let them see that there is more that they can experience than mere survival and scavenging for scraps."

Then, there was Shalla. Or, perhaps more correctly, Khaa. "Shalla, here is your gift." I grabbed the third wolfstag and laid it much more gently at her feet. She seemed to take some measure of pride in that, puffing up her chest as she attempted to look down her nose at me as I began to say to Khaa through Shalla, "Your struggling hunters will find companionship, support, and strength with us, and, beyond that, they can find plenty to hunt."

"Well, I'm sure they will appreciate your guidance, Ash–Khaa, what was his name?" Shalla turned away in the middle of her sentence, and I fought hard to keep myself from lashing out at Shalla's idiocy and disrespect. I could barely maintain my frustration to mere lashes of my tail, swinging it back and forth wildly.

"Ashlani, my Alpha."

"Yes, yes. I'm sure they will appreciate you Ashlani. You seem a good boy. Smarter than the rest, at least." Shallan whirled around, her tail whipping through the air as she strode away. "Khaa, don't forget my gift."

"Of course, my Alpha."

As Khaa began to gather up the wolfstag's body, I was struck by how small and insignificant she seemed, even next to the generally unremarkable Criit and Mrat. She struggled to lift the carcass for a moment, then decided to simply drag it along.

"We can help you with that, if you'd like." I didn't hide the double entendre from my tone or stance, looking straight at Shalla. To my surprise, for the first time, Khaa showed an emotion except for vapid obedience and submission–anger.

"We are happy with our ways, Alpha Ashlani. Our hunters will, no doubt, welcome your assistance, but make no mistake–we remain happy and faithful members of Shalla's pack." Then, without further elaboration or engagement, Khaa turned and continued to drag the body out of my den. The scraping of her claws on the dirt and the body on the ground began to fade into echoes as Criit stood.

"I will bring this to my pack. You may hear back from us on the possibility of our participation in your hunt." Then, just like Kree, Criit began to stride out of the den, the heavy body of the wolfstag dragging along as he walked. Finally, Mrat stepped close to me.

"My pack will join in your hunt. Tell us when, and we will be there, so long as your required tributes are fair. We are not so prideful or foolish as others, and we remember and know the feeling of hunger when it begins to eat you." With a nod of gratitude, Mrat followed the movements of the other two Alphas and stalked away and out of my den. As the last of the sounds of those I'd invited faded, Sybil stepped up next to me. Too far away for me to easily flick her with my tail again, I noticed.

"How large are each of their packs?" I asked.

"Mrat's pack numbers fifteen, Criit's, ten, and Shalla's twenty two."

Nearly fifty, then. Not enough to bring me to 15% of the pack, but a step in the right direction. And, beyond that, I couldn't guarantee that they would willingly follow me anyway. Regardless, it was a step, and so began every journey, with but a single step.