After waking up from one of his memories—a bittersweet one—Fenris joined the rest of Lycan’s pack for breakfast. He hadn’t gotten the chance to meet them all the previous day, but now he could.

  There were a few dozen of them, all seated around the long table in the ruined castle. The table couldn’t fit everyone, so some sat on the floor and ate. They didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest. After all, they had all been hunted before and had endured far worse conditions.

  They seemed—not happy, but not sad either. They were chatting, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company.

  Fenris sat close to Lycan, Buck, Gwendolyn, and the twins. He had forgotten the twins’ names and didn’t plan on asking.

  Fenris was hungry, yet he didn’t touch the piece of meat in front of him. Something wasn’t right. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but his heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

  He glanced around at everyone in the eating hall. So many werewolves in one place. That was the problem.

  “What the hell was I thinking?” Fenris thought, panicking.

  A barrier that can stop the hunters from finding us. How stupid could I be to believe that? His eyes darted left and right repeatedly.

  He started panting, his breaths shallow and quick. “I have to get out of here. I have to—”

  Fenris felt a hand on his shoulder. Instinctively, he smacked it away, and the impact echoed through the hall.

  The werewolves stopped eating for a moment, all turning to look at him. Apparently, Buck had placed his hand on Fenris’s shoulder after noticing his behavior. The rest of the pack, after a brief pause, continued with their meal.

  “It’s okay, Fenris. It’s okay,” Buck said, trying to calm him down. “I get it. They get it too. It was hard for a lot of them to accept that this was a safe place at first. But they did, eventually—and you will too.”

  Buck’s words calmed Fenris, though only slightly. His heart still raced. Slowly, he picked up the meat and began to chew. But he didn’t let down his guard.

  He kept looking left, right, and behind him, searching for the nearest exit in case the hunters came. There were dozens of werewolves, so maybe—just maybe—he could slip away while the rest were being slaughtered.

  It might’ve been cruel, but that was just the way it was. He hadn’t found Luna yet, and he wasn’t going to die for a bunch of strangers, even if they were werewolves like him.

  “Would you relax?” Gwendolyn said, her voice slightly raised. “Lycan showed you the barrier. No one’s going to find us.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “That’s not very nice, Gwen,” Lycan said gently. “Like Buck said, it took a while for the rest of them to feel comfortable here. Remember how Buck had to chase some of them just to stop them from running away?”

  “Yeah, that was fun,” Buck said with a chuckle.

  Gwendolyn didn’t respond. She returned to her food, eating with a fork and avoiding eye contact with the rest of the table.

  “She’s still mad at you… for, you know—choking her,” Buck whispered into Fenris’s ear.

  “Well, too bad for her. I have nothing to apologize for,” Fenris replied coldly, continuing to eat his food.

  He still looked around the hall, alert. Buck sighed.

  “Oh, come on, buddy. That’s not right,” Buck said. “I don’t take sides, but if I did—and remember, I’m not—I’d be on Team Gwen.”

  This didn’t bother Fenris in the slightest. He didn’t see Buck as a friend, or anything close to it. He was an annoyance. Fenris was grateful to Buck for bringing him here, but that didn’t change the fact.

  “Besides…” Buck rolled up his sleeve, revealing glowing symbols on his well-muscled forearms.

  “Right… those,” Fenris muttered. “I can manage without them.”

  Buck chuckled.

  “Something funny?” Fenris raised an eyebrow.

  “Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean to laugh at you. You know, for such a serious guy, you say a lot of stupid things without realizing it,” Buck said.

  Now Fenris was truly annoyed. His teeth clenched, and his eyes narrowed into a frown.

  “Hold up—hold up,” Buck said quickly, raising his hands. He didn’t want to fight Fenris or hurt him more than he already had.

  “Look, Gwen did a lot for you. Fenris, you were in pretty bad shape. She burned the wolfsbane out of your system.”

  “The wolfsbane you put in my system,” Fenris said, his voice low and cold.

  “Mostly it was the hunters’, but that’s not important,” Buck replied.

  “Oh, I think it is,” Fenris said.

  “The point is—she just might have saved your life. If you’re not going to apologize, the least you could do is say thank you,” Buck said.

  Fenris contemplated Buck’s words. Maybe the annoying mage did deserve some gratitude.

  “Also… she does a lot for us. And I mean a lot. She hardly sleeps. Tell me, what mage goes through such labor and risk for werewolves in this world?”

  Fenris’s mind immediately conjured images of Luna. But that wasn’t quite the same. Luna had helped him—and yes, she had a fondness for werewolves—but she hadn’t done anything like what Gwendolyn was doing for an entire pack.

  Fenris had no doubt Luna would do the same, but she hadn’t. Or, at least, not that he was aware of.

  He chewed his meat thoughtfully. “How would I go about it… thanking her?” he asked at last.

  Buck grinned. “I knew you’d come around.” He reached for Fenris’s shoulder, but a sharp death stare warned him not to.

  “Next time,” Buck thought.

  “She’s usually super busy, but she mostly stays in her work chambers. You’ve been in there before—it shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

  Buck took a big bite of his food, clearly finished with the conversation.

  So were the other werewolves. Many embraced one another and began to leave the hall.

  “What was that about?” Fenris asked, confused.

  “Today’s the day they depart,” Lycan answered.

  “You mean…?”

  “That’s right. They go into the other worlds today—in search of the ritual.”