Page 33 of Shifted Existence

Talon laughed. “Bardulf overplayed his hand. He rode all this way, dragging Council members who were intimidated by him along with him, only to get nothing that he wanted. He has skulked back to his pack, but I doubt we’ve seen the last of him. I’ve doubled our patrols, so you don’t need to worry.”

“I’m not worried. You forget I’ve seen those assholes he calls warriors. They were easy to evade unless they got you cornered and even then, it took three or four of them to take down a feral. But I know what could even the odds, and Dani said you were worried about the ferals.”

“I am. My only real concern about what you did after I knew you were safe was that those in power in the Conquered Realm might consider the ferals a threat. I worry about retaliation.”

“You never cared about us before,” she accused softly, then looked away. “I’m sorry. That’s not fair.”

“Perhaps not fair, but legitimate. I have never been comfortable with the ferals. I felt they were in harm’s way and at too much risk, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Dani and the other ferals we have here got comfortable enough to begin to share what your lives were like. We began sharing those tales with other like-minded packs.”

Bailey drew away, somewhat surprised he let her do it. She turned to face him in the tub and studied his face. “You want to bring them through.”

“Yes, but I can’t just turn them loose on our world. They would need to be integrated into packs. My fear now is that those who made the initial treaty will simply dispose of them or round them up and auction them off.”

“But they promised that those like you…”

“Like us,” he corrected quietly.

“They promised ferals…”

“Not technically. They promised women we could hunt and claim. They could keep them locked up and dump them into the hunting grounds the day before.”

“That wasn’t the intent of the treaty.”

“No, but there are those here that would like to see the hunt eradicated. They would like to turn us into those in the New Moon Expanse or like Bardulf.”

“So, either you bring them here and divvy them up amongst those who might treat them well or they get rounded up and auctioned off.”

“Neither is a good choice,” he said.

“But one is better than the other. If you take all the ferals out of the Conquered Realm and no more are released, won’t you be in the same fix as you were before?”

“We,” he said tolerantly. “And no. Those packs who have truly hunted have been able to acquire enough outside blood that wasn’t tainted with the plague that diminished the number of females born that we can sustain our populations. One of the reasons packs like mine have highly valued the ferals is because in comparison to those from the domed capitol or from either of the invading realities, the ferals produce almost as many females as they do males.”

“Do you have any kind of plan?”

“I’ve sent word to our allies that I believe the ferals’ plight is becoming more dire. But trying to find them and get them safely back to the Eclipse Province would be difficult if not impossible.”

“Not if you had someone who could persuade them that you mean them no harm.”

Talon shook his head. “But we do. At least from your point of view. They would need to be taken to mate and might not have a lot of say in the matter. Humans have lost their ability to recognize a fated mate. Wolf-shifters haven’t.”

“I understand that. Dani is convinced that if the ferals had time to get to know the warriors, they would make the choice to come.”

“I’m listening.”

“If we could set up some kind of dormitory in each village—like you did here—and give them that time. Maybe allow them to move to a different village if that’s their desire.”

“And I suppose you would propose to go back through the Void.”

“I’m the best one to do it. My feelings about wolf-shifters are well known and I am the one who blew up the portal. Besides, Dani says you have no explosives here…I know where there’s a couple of old mines and my guess is there might be some there. If I speak for the wolf-shifters, they’ll believe me.”

“I understand why you did what you did. The odds were stacked against you, but it is not an honorable way to fight.”

“No, but what if you could make sure that each of your allies had a supply. A supply that could be divided and turned into a liquid that could coat the arrowheads to make them count for more.” Bailey held up her hand. “To be used only in defense of a village. And once the Council and this Bardulf creep know that attacking the villages is far more dangerous than they thought, it will make all of you… us,” she corrected, “less vulnerable to attack…” She let the sentence dangle.

“Go on.”

“Your she-wolves used to fight alongside you. I know that has changed and you wish to keep us safe, but if she-wolves were taught to use the bows from high up on the walls…”

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