"Damn right!" the wolf echoes back to you before he's shushed by the crowd. Ahote glares daggers at you. Haken just smiles, lowering his head in an almost imperceptible nod toward you.
Ahote grimaces but continues speaking. "As I was saying. Five years ago, we uncovered Yale's science labs. Since that time the elders have facilitated a secret project geared to a singular purpose—disrupting the humans' ability to detect our presence along the wall."
A hush falls over the crowd, and Ahote allows himself the smallest twitch of a self-satisfied smile.
"Now, we already know that their remote technology is imprecise. They can identify us when we pass through one of their checkpoints, but they don't know our exact location within Haven at any given time. We should consider ourselves lucky that we were never tagged with subdermal GPS trackers after the Supreme Court held up a ruling considering us sentient beings with natural rights. Officially, we're quarantined persons of interest, not prisoners. Of course I don't need to tell any of you that the reality of the situation finds us in a tighter bind than any official documents care to admit to the public.
"To get to the point," Ahote clears his throat. "We've developed…"
A sharp metallic crash from below perks twenty pairs of ears to attention. To an outsider, such a display of canine behavior in a group that appears so human might almost seem comical, but to each of you the matter is gravely serious.
"Someone's in the warehouse," Haken growls under his breath.
Ten Minutes Later
"We can't just turn him over to the military!" Ahote says. "Even if you don't care whether or not they treat him fairly, you need to consider what would happen if he talks to them about stumbling onto our meeting. What then?"
Haken exhales in a huff. "So what you're saying is that he knows too much? Maybe he should just disappear. A casualty of war."
Ahote flings his hands in the air, exasperated. "You know damn well that's not what I'm saying!" He points at a window in a corner of the warehouse mezzanine. Through it, you can see a young boy with shoulder-length dusty brown hair sitting quietly, isolated in a small office.
The boy smiles back at Ahote, a genuine look of hopeful positivity despite the manhandling he experienced upon discovery. All three of you are in your wolf forms, but somehow the kid remains unflappable, even after being confined.
"Can you imagine what would happen if word got out that we'd killed a human child?" Ahote says. "Even if I was so inclined, which I am most absolutely not, there are too many witnesses here. Do you think the Assembly would look kindly on our leadership if the pack found out? Try to think things through for once in your life, you inveterate brute! The boy claimed that he was here to help us when we grabbed him. Does he look like a threat to you?"
"He's scrawny, but hardly a child," Haken protests. "Gotta be at least eighteen. Old enough to know what he was getting into when he sneaked in here."
Ahote turns to you. "You represent the pack's youth in this meeting, Decaarr. How do you think we should deal with the matter?"
It's a hard call to make. You're unsure about the idea of killing an unarmed human, especially one of similar age to you, but Haken is right about a few things. The boy knows more than you're comfortable with, and he surely knew what he was getting into when he sneaked past the wall.
"It lacks the simplicity and…finality of my plan, but it just may work," Haken says, palming his chin in thought.
"And just where do you plan on housing our young interloper?" Ahote asks, brow furled in irritation. "Certainly not in any of our houses or in our official chambers. And if we stash him somewhere out in the Snarl, how do you intend to keep him guarded? Perhaps some chains or other medieval implements to keep him in place? I'm sure his sympathy for the pack will run deep after such treatment."
"There's got to be someplace nearby where we could keep him under watch and out from under the eyes of the soldiers," you say.
Haken grins. "I have the perfect place, but we'll have to get a few of my workers in on the game. And Razor, too."
Ahote issues a long-suffering sigh. "Dare I ask?"
"He can stay in the supply rooms back behind the forges. Maybe not the most comfortable home, but it will give us time. The humans are only interested in what comes out of the shop. When was the last time they did an inspection? I can talk to Razor and sneak the boy in tonight. Tell the kid that we need to keep him safe. For his own protection." Haken grins, apparently thinking himself very clever.
"Nothing indefinite," you say warily. "And we don't hurt him, just keep him out of the way for now."
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