Ascendant Moon

Chapter Four: Plans

She watched as the two wolf men wandered away from her cell, the Alpha (as she had heard him be addressed), had new purpose in his step. The sound of the door banged shut and she heard the unmistakeable noise of a key turning in the lock. Now that she was alone again, Marwen’s lips stretched into a grin.

    It was almost too easy. The Alpha would no doubt accept her proposition. It was clear he cared for his wolves, or what was the term they used? Ah yes, pack. He had obviously seen that she could decimate them if she wanted. No doubt he would be contemplating that prospect more than anything else.

     She would train them like they had never been trained before. By the time she was through with them, they would be elite warriors, both as wolves and mortals. There was at least a foundation of skill there she could build on; unlike fae she had dealt with who had had no knowledge of combat. She was also dying to see how the Alpha himself fared against her. She had deduced that the flame headed one was second in command, so that meant the Alpha had to better than him.

     And once she had trained them up to a respectable standard, Marwen would unleash them on Ronric and maybe Erylis. Oh would that not be fitting? Exiling her, only for her to return with a dozen lethal wolves in tow. She could almost picture their looks of horror. For the first time, she was glad the fey road had chosen to dump her in those woods. After all, the chances of stumbling across wolf men had to be slim.

     Though there was the smallest possibility of the Alpha refusing her offer. In that case, it would be more complicated to make her way out of here. She had not been lying when she had said she would be out of the cage either way, after all, it was impossible for her kind to lie. Twisting and bending the truth however, was another matter. She had already assessed that this cell was weaker than the ones back in the fae realm. The difficult part would be getting through an increased guard in a location unknown to her. Well, she would consider that more if the Alpha refused her.

     Marwen had to admit, the Alpha seemed a capable man. From their conversation, it was clear he considered all options and did not dive into a situation without thinking it through. From his insinuation, already he did not doubt her word. He was an intelligent warrior, much like herself. She was very much looking forward to his return in a day’s time.

     She wondered whether he would be able to figure out what she was, without resorting to asking her. It was clear the Alpha and second in command had never seen or interacted with a fae before, from the reactions they had tried to mask and the blank stares she received regarding her terminology. Well, if he could figure it out, he would earn a little of her respect for ingenuity. The rest of it, he could earn in battle against her.

      Now she had a whole day to occupy herself with. She could run through some combat drills, she supposed, or flesh out her plans a little more. But more importantly, Marwen hoped they remembered to feed her. Yes, she was a strange, unknown being to them. That did not mean she did not eat.

     Well, if they forgot, she would just have to break out sooner than expected.

                                                                                   ***

Gideon’s stride was confident as he headed back to his study, Dex in tow. He was going to find out everything he could about the woman in the cells. Then he would decide if her training was warranted. He sat down at his desk, the blade from earlier secured in a locked box underneath it. Gideon found his eyes wandering over it automatically.

    “We don’t need her help Alpha.” Dex ground out, anger coating his words.

“She beat our best wolves, without breaking a sweat.” Gideon reminded the Beta. “She has a point. We may be more than a match for other wolves, but what if another of her kind came along? Or something else equally unknown to us? I thought our only enemies were other wolves and perhaps human hunters. But today has proven there is more out there than we know of. And we need to be ready for it.”

“So we increase the training schedule, we pull in some wolves who have come of age. We don’t need her instructing wolves. We don’t even know if she can be trusted.”

     Gideon sighed. “Whoever she is Dex, she has more knowledge of the world than we do. That’s obvious. And can you honestly sit there and tell me she isn’t a force to be reckoned with? I’d rather have that level of power fighting for us, then against us.”

Dex’s rage was still plastered over his face, but Gideon saw the moment he conceded. “That’s a good point.”

“I understand your concern Dex. I know she’s not telling us everything.” Gideon uttered, in an attempt to console the Beta. “But in order to protect the pack to the best of our ability, I don’t think we have a choice but to seriously consider her offer.”

The Beta sighed. “Just, don’t give her that blade back straight away, ok, Gideon? I’d prefer to be on a level playing field when you let her out.”

“Of course.” Gideon promised. In order to get her blade back, the woman was going to have to earn a lot of trust. Not just from him, but his wolves too. “Go get some rest Dex. It’s been a long day.” He added, seeing the weariness come over the Beta.

“Yeah, sleeping on this whole thing sounds like a pretty good idea right now.” Dex agreed.

        “Say hi to Romina for me.” Gideon called as Dex moved towards the door, getting an acknowledging hand wave in response to his words. Fenris knew he didn’t need the Beta’s wife moaning at him for keeping her husband after hours again. Though if anyone could convince Dex to see things from a new perspective, it was Romina. Maybe he should introduce the strange woman to Romina. After all, they were both warriors. Gideon had this odd feeling that they’d get on like a house on fire.

     Shaking the thought away, he turned on his office computer. It may have been late, but sleep wasn’t calling his name just yet. Hopefully Google would be able to point him in the right direction and reveal some of the secrets she was keeping.