Rin could feel the tense atmosphere and felt that it was because the monster wasn't happy with her presence. She wanted to quickly do as she was ordered to and leave, however looking at the mother that she had missed, she wanted to spend a bit more time with her. She managed to gather up the courage to stay for the night. Only hoping the monster doesn't treat her harshly for her actions.
Far from the valley and forests of the wolf tribe lay a vast expanse that continued on as far as what seemed like the horizon. The Territory of the lions was a plain their tribe reigned over. However this plain was not only home to the lions, many vassal tribes coexisted in this place. The lions would demand some tribute to keep these tribes in their territory. In this way opposing tribes would have to question whether they wanted to offend the lions before attacking them, but today some shocking news passed through the various tribes of the plain.
"All dead?" sounded a deep and gruff voice.
The leader of the lions scouting group could only lower his head trembling at the voice of the lion king.
"The only survivors we found were the hyenas that had left their tribes for various reasons". He said hesitantly raising his eyes.
The lion king rested lazily in his animal form. His huge scarred body proving his prowess in combat. A majestic mane not able to take attention away from the deep scar that had clearly penetrated through his left eye, making the lion king look even more barbaric.
The lion king enjoyed the grooming of the various female concubines that he had taken from the tribes of the plain. He swept his only good eye towards his trembling little scout leader.
"Who has the courage to attack the tribe under my rule?" his gaze sharpened slightly.
The scout leader wished he was anywhere except here. However he could only answer truthfully, "It seems to be a lone wolf. The tracks show that this wolf is much larger than anyone we've seen before".
The lion King's face finally showed a bit of interest.
"A wolf that powerful hasn't been seen for a long time. It seems that the old chieftain has been keeping it a secret".
The lion king thought that the old wolf didn't have much cunning, but he managed to keep such a powerful warrior hidden. Why did he send it out now? A warning? Or to show that the wolves weren't as destitute as everyone thought? Either way, the lion king wanted to tread carefully. He hadn't gotten to the point where he wanted to tear his face with the wolves. His tribe still needed to maintain superiority over the tribes on the plain, and if they were killed in battle, it was only his position as king that would be at stake.
After making a decision he sent the scout leader out and said to his personal advisor "Send an envoy to the wolf clan. Ask them as to why they attacked one of my vassal tribes".
The lion king knew that the hyenas were killed because they overstepped their territory. He didn't feel any sadness for the loss of those reckless scavengers, but doing so was pretty much a slap to his face. Even if he didn't want to go to war with the wolves, he would still ask for their guilt. He believed the old chieftain would compromise, and he could at least get some benefits from them.
The personal advisor nodded his head and walked out.
The chieftain of the wolves may not have been the most thoughtful and sly of people, but he still had the ability of a ruler. After hearing that the monster massacred the hyena tribe, he felt that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. The hyena tribe was constantly pushing into their territory causing them to have to move a certain amount of manpower to guard against the thieving scavengers. Although he expected the lion king would not let this go, he knew that it wouldn't be too serious.
This time the monster did them a favour, but the chieftain didn't believe it was for the good of the tribe. The only reason she participated is to advance her own interests. The chieftain couldn't guess her attitude. She seems to hate the wolf tribe that abandoned her, yet does things to aid the tribe. The chieftain could only guess that even if they had a feud, they were still the same kin. It's better to have your own kin around, rather than enemy species.
He hoped that the little girl could bring back the opinion of the monster, just so he didn't have to keep having headaches trying to understand her motive.
Arzhen who was the talk of the heads of the two tribes was originally only going to pretend to sleep, but the sound of gentle speaking voices in the den was like a lullaby that put the black wolf to sleep.
The three little wolves looked at the hulking mass that let out long rhythmic breaths and felt that it was almost time to rest.
Rin was a little out of her depths. Although she wanted to stay, there didn't seem to be any other place to sleep, besides with the monster.
Lida saw Rin's worry and carefully coaxed her to come sleep with them. Her daughter was still young and she felt a little melancholy knowing that she had to take over her duties since her disappearance. She pulled her daughter towards the sleeping black wolf, and like a tacit understanding with Sedraa, they all laid against the huge warm body.
Rin's body was extremely stiff. She didn't even want to move a hair on her body, just in case she awakened the monster that had shown her such a bloodthirsty aura.
She tossed and turned in her sleep that night. It was one of the most uncomfortable times she had ever spent and she didn't know how she was going to continue coming over from now on. She just hoped the monster could tell her what she needed to know, though she'd only ask if her mother was there to help her.