Birth of a pack
#4 of Radich
Ch3
Rad thought over the night before as he moved about the smithy. Everyone but Finid had left to do their day's work. He kept hearing Ambra's words in his head; echoing the idea of biting Finid. Rad had always been protective of his littlest brother. Finid had been born a healthy babe, the last of Rad's siblings, but had taken sick at the age of three. Finid fought his sickness with a wild abandon that Rad had always admired. The Idea of hurting him to save him seemed to risky to Rad, but he knew this was the opportune time to do it. Finid was fast asleep after struggling to breathe the night before. Rad didn't know exactly how he could make himself transform, but he had been feeling the beast inside him since it reared its head last night. Despite his reservations he decided to try to change. Rad began by striping down to the nude and concentrating on the unnatural urge he had to "mark" his "territory". It seemed this was plenty of incentive for his beastly side. He felt the change first in his hands and feet. They seemed to grow and twist in to paws with wicked black claws as if his body were a sack of skin filled with changing bones. His scull elongated and his muzzle grew out in front of his eyes. He felt a warm coat of fur spring from his skin and cover his entire body. Even the palms of his hands and bottoms of his feet had a thick growth of fur covering them. His body seemed to grow even bigger and the room seemed to shrink. Rad was shocked to find that he could still stand, but his growing body forced him to all fours. Lastly a sense of power flowed from deep inside him. Rad had to suppress a rising howl of joy as he felt his body stop changing.
It didn't take Rad much to open Finid's door with his hand/paws, but getting inside was a different story. Rad finally settled on simply sticking his front through the narrow doorway and lightly biting his brother's arm. Finid awoke with a start, but was gripped by a weak fever, so he was unable to do much more than try to hide under the covers. Rad released his ginger hold and reached in with a rag to wipe the small spots of blood from his brother's tiny arm. As he wiped Finid's arm the Finid seemed to stir, "Rad?" he said uneasily.
"Yes?" Rad tried to say, but the sound was more like a deep growl.
"Will you close the door? It's awfully cold" Finid said.
Rad backed out of the tiny bedroom and padded back into the kitchen. After relaxing for a while Rad began to revert back to his human form, but something felt wrong when the changes stopped. Rad had his tail of course, but now he had wicked black claws on his hands. Granted they weren't very long, but they were very noticeable. After dressing Rad continued his day's work. Now that he'd bitten Finid he felt an odd compulsion to induct Tarn into his pack as well, but that would have to wait until another time. For now Rad was happy he could help his younger brother take his first step in overcoming the Frost Burn.
...
Roy couldn't complain about the barracks, but it had its draw backs. On the positive side the whole place was like a training ground for young and old alike. In the first day he'd found at least three men who were willing to spar with him to test his and their skills. He was served breakfast and lunch and even given a tiny amount of gold for standing around and guarding the entrance to the royal gardens. While he was there he had the opportunity to arrest a young thief that had stolen a noble lady's coin purse. He had caught the urchin and forced him to return the purse and apologize. As a reward for his gallantry the lady gave him a whole gold piece. The urchin had groveled not to be arrested and Roy was forced to remember a similar encounter he'd had not too many years back. "I'll let you go, but you must promise not to let another guard catch you stealing again. "If ya are so desperate for coin come to me and I'll see if I can help you" Roy had said.
"Oh thank you Mister Guard! I'll never steal again I... I'll be good you'll see!" and the lad had vanished into the crowds of people walking into the gardens.
On the down side Roy had to sleep in a bunk below a huge guard named Gurderon who snored like a bear. It was all Roy could do to sleep at night, but it beat the ally's he'd used before. All in all Roy was excited. He felt like he was actually going somewhere in life. He'd sworn to save every copper he could so that he could buy something nice for Mira. He felt guilty that he was mooching off her family, but every time he came she seemed so happy to see him. Roy was pretty young, but he figured Miria was only two years younger than him. She was perfectly innocent and seemed to possess an accepting quality that made Roy feel a bit protective of her. He resolved to train even harder tomorrow so that one day he could be a man worthy of Miria, a man like Radich.
...
Finid had a funny dream that night as he felt his fever slip away for the first time in weeks. He dreamt that he was running through the empty streets of Lucavan with a big red and brown wolf and a smaller red one. He felt so energized, so alive. He'd never felt this way in his entire life. Even as a child when he'd play with Mira he'd never felt like this. He noticed that he was different now. He was a wolf and had winter white fur that was dimmed here and there by light streaks of dark red tufts. Not only was he a wolf, but he was a big one. He had black claws and long pointy teeth. He playfully attacked the two other wolfs and found that they were receptive to his advances. Soon the trio was rolling around it the open snow fields outside town and having a great time. Suddenly there were three other wolves there and they were dragging a huge monster of an elk that they had hunted that night. The huge black/red wolf and another slightly smaller red wolf ate first. The big black/red wolf picked Finid up by the scruff of the neck and carried him to the corpse. He helped Finid find some of the juiciest meat and let him eat it too. There was so much to eat that everyone got a good portion and the whole pack was stuffed with wholesome substance. Finid was carried by the female red wolf to a cozy den where the whole pack snuggled together and slept off their meal. Finid had never felt so happy and accepted in his entire life. He fell asleep between the huge black/red wolf and the female red one. It was like he had died and left his frail human body behind in his bedroom.
...
After Rad had snuck back into town with Ambra and his pup brother he took them home and cleaned the blood off Finid and himself with his tongue. He then changed back to his human form and placed Finid back in his bed. Finid looked peaceful as he laid there with his body curled into a ball and his snow white tail standing out starkly against the dark light of the room. Ambra had said that white wolfs are called snow brothers and grow to be powerful masters of the ice. Radich had asked how it was that Finid was a snow brother, but Ambra had had no answer. she had said in the old tongue before padding into Miria's room to sleep beside her favorite of Rad's siblings. It had seemed too good to be true to Rad to see his brother actually running with his pack. The three elders had been delighted to see that Rad had found such a fine cub that favored his mother's bloodline. They had even brought their kill to share with Rad as payment for joining his pack. They were all elders to Rad, but they were pack less and none had been born with the gift of alpha as Rad had. In the morning Rad would have to rise and help Finid get dressed. The boy would finally begin his apprenticeship as his father would have wanted.