A new face

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Vech once again wandered around the boundaries of the territory, it was once of the very few days she really had nothing to do at the den with the elders or with trying to learn more about becoming the next pack leader. It felt wonderful to just get out and stretch and feel obligated, free, even if just for a short time. She loved her pack, and would do all she could to help them, but sometimes the stress others and herself did start to weigh on her. She took off, using her powerful legs to carry her faster, feeling the rush of wind on her face, the smell of the wild forest in all its majesty. The snow crunched softly beneath her as she continued, making a good pace around the perimeter of the packs boundaries. Only when she came to the frozen river did she slow and that was only briefly to make sure it did not crack beneath her weight. Upon crossing the ice she noticed a new scent upon the air, another werewolf, not one from her own pack but a strange new male. Was he lost perhaps? Or was another pack trying to make contact for some reason? With whatever reason she would find out soon she supposed.

Groaning, he shook his head. "Amos will tease me so much over this. It'll be relentless," he complained lowly, still concerned about how he was going to be teased about having a "girlfriend". He was so absorbed in his thoughts and concerns about how Amos was going to treat him when he got back home, he hadn't noticed Vech run off into the falling snow. But when he did realize it, he looked for her in the place they were to be sleeping, only to realize that she wasn't anywhere inside. Rather, her scent lead outside into the snow, which was increasingly becoming denser and harder to see through.

He paced the floor at first, debating if he should go try to find her. She might be from here, but she wasn't a hunting type. She hadn't been trained to track or scent mark. She had been trained to become the brown clan's next dire alpha. With the snow getting worse, he groaned and changed, shifting to his wolf form and looked at the clothes on the floor. He decided against sniffing the clothes, and sniffed the bed where she slept instead. When he had her scent, he moved, tracking her as quickly as he could.

The visibility was getting worse and worse, if he didn't find her, what would her parents think he did to her? How would he explain that she had ran off on her own? With the worry turning into panic, he began to call out into the falling snow, "Vechnaya! Where are you?!" He bounded through the snow, following her scent. "Vech! Answer me!"

Damn, even for her this storm was bad, she hadn't meant to come out this far but she had been turned around. She knew she was still in her territory, she just had to be careful, Her clan wasn't the only ones out here. Hunters often came out in hopes of catching the elusive wolves of these woods setting trapps and using guns for their own amusement. Vampires also roamed these parts, and not the ones from the castle but rouge vampires that were still after were blood. Upon hearing her name called she swung her head in the direction of the voice... Sterk? what the hell was he doing out here, he was supposed to be asleep in the den?

"Sterk?!" She made to move towards his voice when a sudden shot of pain ran up her leg. Upon looking down she saw fresh blood coating the white snow and a baerly visible bear trap. Just her luck, if she transformed now she would lose most of her body heat to the snow, but she needed her thumbs to open the damn thing. "Hold on, I'll be there in a minute. She'd never hear the end of this if he found her like this, so with her decision made she shifted and pried open the damn thing, but it was much harder to to do than she thought, even as a wolf she had been losing body heat but this was ridiculous. She just managed to slip out and shift back before she heard him come her way.

She stood and limped in the direction of his voice, with any luck they would meet in the middle, she called out to him again after spotting a shadow to her far right, it smelled like him... Why could she remember his sent already, it rook her days to remember new hunters scents from her own clan, why would she know his so soon? what the hell was going on with her? Sterk, is that you?"

He moved, rushing towards her voice when he heard his name called. He smelled fresh blood. If she was hurt..."Vech!" he called out again, getting closer to her voice. His panic became worry once more when she came into his sight. She was limping and he could smell the blood. She really had gotten herself hurt! Despite her being hurt, he could feel the relief washing over him as he came up to her, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"I was so worried," he said as he looked her over, making sure nothing else was injured. "When you didn't come back in a few minutes, I got worried because the snow was getting heavier and visibility was fading fast..." he explained, still a little out of breath as he moved closer to her. "This snow isn't easy to find your way in for someone who isn't trained to track or hunt....I'm so glad you're alright," he told her, finally able to catch his breath and moved to give her a relief filled hug.

She sighed as he came closer, glad it was him and not something that would take advantage of her weakness... How could she be so sure that he wouldn't? Why the hell did she feel so relieved? She shivered and welcomed the hug with a content sigh, he was warm and smelled good, shse nuzzled back glad for the affection. She knew they needed to either get back or find the cave that was near the den to get them out of the weather."Thank you for coming after me, I only wanted to go around the dens perimeter and think. Yet here I am causing you even more trouble. There is a cave maybe two minutes from here, even with the den so close we would be better off getting there yeah?I'm sorry for the trouble but I guess that can be discussed later, but could you help me get there?" She moved her head in the direction of the cave and looked back at him sheepishly.

He realizied he had hugged her so easily and backed away. His gaze immediately fell to the ground and he shifted. "No really, this isn't any trouble...I'm just...really, really glad to see that you're not seriously hurt..." he said sheepishly as he looked from the ground to her. Women were one of his weaknesses. Why oh why did the gods have to curse him with this problem?!

He looked in the direction she had motioned towards, but shook his head. "It'll be ok. We can make it back to the den where we can get warm and keep warm...the snow and wind would just make it harder to keep a fire burning without a door," he said as he moved closer, but this time he moved to look at her injured leg. "This isn't really that big of a deal...I've fixed worse..." he said as he began to concentrate and whisper seemingly to himself.

The healing took only a few minutes and it stung at first but felt much better afterwards. She put her full weight on her paw and tested it, no pain or even a twinge from it. It surprised her at first, that he could use white magic so readily, most wolves could use a little elemental magic but this was something else, a pleasant surprise but a surprise none the less. "Thank you very much, and even if it isn't any trouble I still appreciate you caring enough to come find me... even as alpha the pack would normally let me go, but, even I need help sometimes. How's about we go get warm before something unpleasant decides to show up?" Vech was glad for her fur other wise she would be a mess, blushing from the embarrassment of admitting that she needed the help and being found injured in a blizzard. She had known better, her father had said there was going to be a storm and yet she ran off like some teenage fool, just to be found by the guest she didn't want to cause more trouble. Though why she cared so much still confused her, they had just met after all, why would she care what he thought of her? Why would she get so embarrassed when he found her? Whatever the answer may be she followed Sterk back to the beds where they were staying head lowered in thought.

He moved away, back to a comfortable distance for both of them and shook his head. "Everyone needs help every now and then. It's not a bad thing to admit when you're in trouble or need help. According to Amos, it makes you a stronger, better person to admit when you need help," he told her as he moved to help her get back to the den where they were to be sleeping through the storm. "You really don't need to thank me though...I didn't do it because I wanted thanks or praise. I just did it because you were hurt..." he said as he walked through the snow.

"Are you worried about something?" he asked lowly as he looked back at her, noticing she had her head down. An alpha with their head down was an odd thing to see for him, so it had him curious. "Whatever your problem is, I'm sure it will resolve itself in one way or another..."

When they got back to the warmth, he moved inside and grabbed his clothes off the floor and slipped behind the screen and shifted back to his human form and put his clothes back on. When he emerged from behind the screen, he moved to stand in front of the fire to warm his numb and red hands, feet and face. Everything was numb and he felt the chill pretty bad, but he wouldn't worry Vech. She had been through enough. He would just warm himself slowly so that he wouldn't go into shock.

Vech shook her head and smiled a bit, she figured he was right and whatever was meant to happen would, she really needed to learn to bend or she just might break. " It's nothing really, just a little embarrassed, but your right I guess I need to learn to go with what happens a bit more and not worry to awful much, what happens will. I've just come down from a meeting with The Council so it's been quiet odd for the past couple of weeks. You may not have done it for praise but I still appreciate it, not many would go out of their way to help someone they just met...." Vech went behind the screen and changed, looking at her previously injured leg you wouldn't be able to tell she had even be hurt except for the very faint scar left behind. Changing into some warm night cloths she slid down beside Sterk near the fire to warm up. She looked to her right and found the small bag of marshmallows and other assorted roasting things kept by the fire she had managed to bring in from some of the human towns, she had a notorious sweet tooth among the clan which they all picked at. She offered thte bag to Sterk while working on her own S'mores. "... So whats your life like in the pack? Got any close friends, parents, significant others or anything?" she blew the flaming puffed sugar till it was out and squished the treat together and bit into it waiting to hear his answer.

He took an offered marshmallow and roasted it until it was almost completely black and then blew it to cool it down and ate it. After he ate one, he didn't really take another, instead he sat there staring at the fire silently. "I don't have any friends in the pack. I don't have any real parents or any siblings...Amos and Ilona took me in as their pup when they found me abandoned by my own pack..." he told her lowly as he turned and finally took another marshmallow and stuck it on the stick and placed it in the fire to roast it.

"In my pack, the only people who really care about me deeply are Amos and Ilona. The pups there like me, but most of their parents won't let them play with me because of how I am...because of what they think I am..." he explained as he pulled the blackened marshmallow from the fire and blew on it to cool it.

She nodded, saddened by the fact that others would judge him for what they thought (when they didn't even know if it was true) instead of who he was and how he acted it was ridiculous.... what did they think he was anyway? She proceeded to fix herself another, this would probably be the last one, she didn't need a sugar rush right now. "I don't know how they could judge you based on looks or what they 'THINK' you are, if they have no proof. You've been absolutely nothing but kind to a strangers pack, to me. Even if its because you were alone you could have been very different. I have heard a very good saying from some humans: "There is good and bad in all of us, but which we choose to act on makes us who we are, not who we could be." and even if you have done some bad things that's not who you are completely, you've proven that time and again I am sure...What do they think you are, to give someone so sweet such a bad wrap?" She leaned back on her hands and stared at the ceiling then over to him with a warm smile.

He ate the marshmallow and stared into the fire for a while in silence, as if trying to think of the right way to respond to her words. "This is different than enforcing rules or settling arguments in my own pack though. I'm different there. I'm not even a gray wolf, even though they have black fur sometimes...I'm from the Black clan originally, but my birth mother abandoned me when I was still nursing..." he explained lowly and looked from the fire to Vech. "I'm called a Bloed Wolf in my pack...and among many other packs...and I won't deny my place among them in a way. I'm not as gentle as I seem to you, it's not a lie or an act. I'm just gentle with females and children...males are a different story..." he admitted and turned to look back at the fire.

"In every wolf lives a hunter, and in every wolf lives a killer..." he quoted lowly as he sat there staring at the fire. His red eyes made him feared by many among the wolves from the beginning. The albino wolves who were born mad had red eyes and made the color have a bad reputation. To make matters worse, Sterk was a fighter, a scrapper and would do anything to enforce the rules and laws Amos sat for the pack to follow.

"But that brutal side of you isn't the only side of you, you might be aggressive and in force the rules but that isn't the ONLY part of you. You're right with the saying, but again that isn't the only part of us, even I can be dangerous and I have been in the past I'm not all sunshine and rainbows but that's just one side of me. Even if your other side raises, you aren't just that. As far as being of the black clan, I couldn't care less, just because you have black fur and red eyes means nothing, if there's any truth to the rumors about them than you shouldn't be able to hold white magic so easily. It's awful to stigmatize someone just because there from one pack or the fur color, yes there are some truths, that's where we get stigmas from, but that doesn't mean they are always true for everyone one hundred percent of the time. I'm proof of that, you know what kind of wolf I am, most would think I would be extremely aggressive, but I'm not. Just because you look one way or are born from a certain pack isn't a reason to dislike somebody or distrust them, I am a firm believer of that.By the way, you definitely have a friend in me I care about you, wired as it is since we just met, but true." Damn did that fire her up, he was so nice and yet just because of his fur and birth pack they did that! This is one reason why she wanted to work with the packs, yes there would always be stigmas and in fighting, but this was just ridiculous! Her hands curled into fist and her nose snarled up.

He looked at her when she started ranting about the way he was treated at his own pack. He smiled sadly and shook his head. She was so kind and trusting. He had been through a much rougher life than she had, and that much was obvious. He had been adopted when his birth mother abandoned him, likely due to his eye color, and left to starve and freeze to death in the Alaskan wilderness. He had been bullied and teased since he was a young pup, forced to become a hunter because he was a fighter among them, forced to be alone without any friends or love interests inside of the pack. Vech on the other hand had been lucky.

"You're so sweet. Getting so upset over something that's been my entire life for twenty four years," he told her as he looked at her. "You're right that not everything is as it seems, but that doesn't change who I am- who I can be. I'm not sure when Amos will ask me to leave the pack...but I know that he will one day. He may have raised me, but I know that my time as a beta there is coming closer and closer to an end. I'm the kind of guy who will stop at nothing to enforce the rules, to get my point across...even if it means killing," he told her and looked back at the fire. "My eye color may not define everything about me, and neither does my fur...but these eyes...there's a reason they're feared. A wolf born with red eyes is said to be cursed to go mad...maybe its true."

"I know it sounds naive, like it doesn't matter sometimes, but I have to see the good in you and others. I just can't force myself to not if I can help it, it's who I am. I don't care if no one else wan't to be there or talk, I care to much to just leave it alone. I am positive your not lying, your aggressive, you kill, but I still want to be there. I have no idea why, we only just met really, but somehow I know your important, what happens will. But until then please remember you will always have my support and a place in this pack. I don't care if I have to drag your ass back from the brink of insanity!" Her face was hot and she knew he could see it, but oh well, one of them had to say something about the odd connection they had. She had turned and gotten closer in her rant, he really did seem to be out of place in a sort of odd way, but that really didn't matter now did it?

When he had turned to look at her again, he realized how close she had gotten and it threw him off quite a bit. He couldn't help but get flustered and look away in embarrassment. "I won't lie. You're right, it does sound naive, but I still appreciate it," he told her and finally managed to look at her, to make eye contact once more. "I'm glad you're such a kind person. It's nice to have someone to talk to who is so gentle and accepting...the only other person who is as accepting of me and how I am is Ilona..." he told her as he instinctually moved closer to her. He wasn't sure if it was because he was still cold or if it was because he really wanted to be close to her to smell her scent. She smelled of snow and winter berries. It was a scent he had grew up around his entire life.

He moved and laid down close to her in front of the fire and just stared into the fire. He was comfortable with her, and he felt safe and welcome. Something he had never had outside of his adoptive parents before. "You're such a good person..."

She smiled warmly and nodded, sure she knew she could be naive, but she had to see the good in everyone, after all, everyone deserved a chance to have the good be recognized over what has transpired. "I think everyone deserves a chance and should be treated kindly...I'm so glad I met you." As he moved closer she got a whiff of his sent, pine needles and forest floor. A deep earthy tone, strong and grounding, comforting and protective. She new she could rely on him, not have to carry the weight of responsibility alone. She laid down in front of the fire as well and drifted off, he would be there when she woke up, but right now they were both exhausted both mentally and from running around all day. Sleep swiftly over took her, dreams coming and going but not an image stayed, just the feeling of warmth and safety and home.