Wolves of War

The Royal Army

I knew the royal army was large and held many moving parts and elements, but the view from where I stood showed me just how grand and magnificent the wolves of the grey empire are. I sat atop a lookout point observing the many wolf soldiers marching along. There are 12 sections in all with 12 generals commanding one each. There are 12 captains under each general, and 12 lieutenants under each captain. Asai is the Wolf General of the army and if the king was here he would be the Alpha general.

I scanned the many soldiers looking for Asai’s black and gold flag and found it marching along next to Sanna’s private caravan. A sting of jealousy gripped my heart. In hind sight of everything that has happened between the three of us, I really cannot find fault with Sanna. In the end, the shewolf is making plans for her future and benefit, something she didn’t really need to do when she was the only woman in Asai’s presence.

Thea purred from underneath me.

Sanna somehow weaseled her way onto this campaign, deeming her presence necessary for the soldiers moral. We have been traveling for a while now and the woman has yet to leave her carriage. The thing could be empty for all we know. Actually, I would prefer it if Sanna just stayed in her carriage the entire campaign. It would be easier for both me and Asai to not have to wonder what she is doing or planning. Her interference in mine and Asai’s short time together is starting to grind on both of our nerves.

During the planning, Sanna interjected her two senses in almost everything. She had a rebuttal to everything I had to say. Soldiers don’t need protein, just feed them potatoes, she says. Soldiers don’t need expensive materials to make weapons, save money and get the lesser quality stuff. Soldiers don’t need shelter, they can sleep exposed to the elements because they are wolfmen, not humans. She even complained about my carriage, saying that there was no need for me to have one. Her reasoning? I am a soldier and should act like one… for the moral of the soldiers, of course. I rolled my eyes. These hips were not meant to rough it. While I commend soldiers for being able to sleep darn near anywhere, they have a layer of fat and thick fur to protect them from the elements. I don’t have that. Even though I’m half wolf, my dominant side is human while the recessive side is wolf.

It’s a good thing I have my own title(s). Mihira came through and had my tiny house sent for me to use during the campaign. She also sent a small brigade of day-walkers and bat shifters to guard my stuff and my wraith. Sanna, not to be defeated, wanted me as far away from the head of the army. Her reasoning was she didn’t trust the bat shifters to be so close to the Prince. She even eyed my wraith with disgust and had a very onside animated discussion with Asai. To which he put his foot down and told her to back off, in not so nice words. That immature display is probably why she is hiding in her carriage.

The deployment order kept Asai very busy. Asai has been spending many nights at the palace planning for the war with the Ursa. Whenever Asai returned to the manor, Sanna would wave the court order in our faces and pull Asai away from me. According to the boundaries set by Sanna, the Official Consort Asai no longer has permission to be alone with me, except for the approved ‘mating’ twice per week. All outings must be approved by her and she must be in attendance. Asai can no longer show me any kind of affection and any unsupervised interaction between us is only allowed if it's state business, like a war campaign.

I cannot believe that she contacted a lawyer and drafted court orders in an attempt to get Asai to have s*x with her. Does this world not have any concept of r**e? This stupid order is giving her legal permission to force herself onto Asai.

I sighed. It’s been a long time since Asai and I spent time together. I am really looking forward to mine and Asai's lunch date. Now that we are outside the city, Sanna and her court order won’t be able to be enforced.

“Isn’t it almost time for lunch? You have a date with Prince Asai, correct?” Galga said, jumping on top of Thea. She sat sideways behind me with a large smile on her face.

Thea buckled and pitched Galga off her back.

I laughed “You tried.”

“You can run on your own.” Thea huffed at Galga, then took off down the hill, me still laughing my head off.

Thea managed to get me back to my caravan just as Asai arrived with Sanna in tow. I sighed. I thought that since Sanna refused to leave her carriage. Sanna shot me a sideways glance and frowned. Her hatred for me is obvious.

Asai smiled down at me. His eyes bore holes into my body as he stared at me unashamedly. I smiled at Asai and gave him a little twirl, showing off the suite. He is in his Lycan form, basically a large mulled black wolf standing 8ft tall on hocks and large clawed paws.

Asai approached me fully wolfed out. I blinked, recalling the memory of what he looked like pre-battle with Rahjah. While Asai has always been a very large wolf, he looks even larger now. His fur, if possible, looks pure black. His head is the size of my torso and he grew several feet. While not quite as tall as a bear shifter, but really close. He lifted me off my feet so that I could be eye level with him. I dared not look down.

Because we are going to war, Mihira insisted that I wear a suite made by the clan's master tailor. The Sitaar also wanted the honor of making me a suite of armor out of star iron. Not wanting to cause division, I tasked the Bat clan's master tailor to make me two military dress wear, on for casual every day and the other for formal occasions. The Sitaar was tasked with creating my armor for the battle field.

Since we are expected to travel for some time, I decided that my causal military dress was suitable for the first hours of travel. The master tailor made a one-piece form-fitting attire in my official colors. Silver to represent me and my family and Black to represent my commitment to Asai. Silver thread revealed the slender shape of my body and even gave my ass a slight lift. The true black material is made from a special worm only found in the darkest, deepest recesses of the earth. An ancient inscription was written into the weaving which protects the wearer from harm and even changes colors when poison is present. It’s light weight and flexible even though it covers my body. The tailors for the clan bred these worms back at Blackstone castle. Thanks to the sanctuary provided by New Lumina. The tailors were able to continue breeding these worms.

“What do you think of my suite,” I asked the Wolf Prince,

“I think the master tailors are trying to keep your beauty a secret from me.” Prince Asai responded.

I chuckled behind my hand. The Bat clan is a little more conservative than the wolves. I’ve heard Atman argue a few times with Galga about the linen dresses she wore showing off too much of her chest.

“Did you get taller?” I teased.

Asai’s chest rumbled. He nuzzled his nose into my neck. “The doctor asked the same question.

Apparently, I was shy of 7ft in my wolf form, but I’ve grown to just under 9 feet. I’m the size of a bear shifter now”, Asai beamed proud of himself.

My mouth fell open. Normal wolves grow to be on average about 6 feet 7 feet in height, which is the end of the spectrum.

“You are a special kind of wolf aren’t you” I said, kissing him on the nose.

“Excuse me, you do not have my permission” Sanna said, standing with her arms folded.

“The Desmona does not need permission from the likes of you.” Said one of the day-walkers in my company. He sounded really offended too.

Sanna balked at the soldier. She took a step towards Asai and was promptly stopped by the same day-walker. “You do not have Desmona’s permission to enter her company.”

Sanna's eyes widened and tried to get Asai’s attention. He ignored her.

The lunch is going to take place inside my tiny home, but with Asai’s new growth, he will take up most, if not all, of the space in my tiny home.

“Galga and Thea, you can trust me to serve the Prince. You are dismissed for the remainder of the afternoon. I will see you at dinner time.” The girls nodded in understanding and trotted off in a random direction.

Now all that’s left to get rid of is Sanna. There is a crowd and I want to enjoy my meal without being subject to snarky comments.

Asai, not slow to pick up on the situation, turned to Sanna. “There will not be enough room for the three of us to go back to your carriage.”

Sanna, armed with the court order, stood her ground. “Then we will just not have lunch with her’

Asai narrowed his eyes at the she-wolf. “Are you giving the general wolf an order?”

The tone of his voice was so cold it gave me chills.

Sanna faltered at the change in events and took a step back.

“Do not make me repeat myself” Asai said, challenging Sanna.

With a hiccup of defeat, Sanna turned and stalked off.

“Wasn’t that too harsh?” I asked Asai — I turned to look up at him. “We will probably have to face repercussions once we are back in the capitol.”

The prince licked my cheek. “Should I call her back?”

“No!” I said a little too quickly.

He chuckled. “We should make this time count then.”