Chapter 555: CHPT 555: What Are We?
An hour passed by in something as close to seamlessly as he'd felt in a while. It reminded him of his time back at the University of the Phoenix with Ursula. To talk to someone so easily. But Helena had her own edge. Her own worldly knowledge and experience that rode her words and reminded him they were of two different upbringings. Two different worlds really….
That didn't matter anymore. He had no prophetic abilities, but he felt that in the coming days many worlds would collide. He needed them too. He needed it like he needed to breathe. To feast.
Claude and Helena wrapped up their meals. Then spent another few minutes running and marking the perimeter before returning. He didn't want to stay out any longer than he had to.
Helena was right. The Amazon was….. off. It wasn't as inviting as the forests he knew and loved.
When they returned to the caves, everyone smelled them coming a mile away.
Li was the first to protest at the sight of them.
Claude came in with two River Rhino's slung over each shoulder. Behind him, Helena held her own and the Phantom Wolves dragged two on a wooden sled by vine.
The sun— almost completely set, left them all appearing as massive shadows and silhouettes.
"Hey what the hell! If you were going to—"
"Shut up." Claude threw a River Rhino carcass at him. Speaking of collision.
Helena— with the help of the Phantom Wolves, handed another to every Alpha.
Claude wiped the old blood off on his longcoat as he watched them all eat silently. Everyone ripped off and hesitated— stopping themselves from handing it to their "racial alpha" halfway stuck between conflicting urges.
"For you, DragonSlayer." Don tossed him a piece of meat.
The Lion's moral— rank, debate was interrupted by Marcel breaking an entire leg off and digging in on his own. Despite Tara's dismay.
To his surprise, the only other group to fall in line was….
The Tigers.
"You worked with Li. I didn't know that was possible. You must wrangle animals as a side hustle." One of Li's fellow Tigers approached him with a beautifully cut slab of meat. He was taller and darker than Li. Clearly relating to the people from the Isle's of Indus.
Arne laughed in his mind at the ironic accuracy of the comment.
"Thanks." Claude took the pieces of meat and scarfed them down before waving for everyone else to continue eating.
"Alright everyone listen up." He tried not to fidget and tried harder to focus on them all. "I'm sixteen."
Li continued eating. Others did not.
"I was attending the University of the Phoenix before The General interfered. I was in a tournament actually."
"Cool." Don whispered.
He could feel the respect some members had for him waning if only slightly. That was terrible.
"That's why we're going to The Sunlands. I still have people there…. And it's important we get there fast because the tournament should be over already."
Tara grumbled to her Lions.
"What's the issue, Tara?" Claude pressed.
Tara stood up from her food, "So what…. You became Alpha of this pack just to make us take a backseat to your… school life?"
There were no movements in body or voice, but in mind…..
"No. I became Alpha of this pack because none of you could kill the previous one but me. And none of you can kill me all the same." His chest rose at the challenge…. The simple idea of it.
"We're going to the school to get the rest of my pack. My family."
"Pack is family." Tara spat.
"Not when it's trying to fucking turn against me at the slightest disagreement!" Claude snarled and forced a partial shift out of the weaker willed Silver Cursed members.
Tara didn't object.
"Who are you kidding right now? We're not a family. Not right now. Why do you think I started this talk stating my age? Did you think I was just looking for some new attention? I want to see who jumps at the idea of me being unfit still. And what do you know, it wasn't Li."
Claude walked across the encampments of Shifters until he stood face to chest with her.
She didn't meet his eyes. Even as he moved around to try and force it. Eventually he settled with burning holes in her scalp. He may have picked that up somewhere in a dream. Then he squatted until his snout brushed against her furry ear.
"Sit down, Tara."
She sat. Marcel ate. He stayed. Awaiting a possible loss of control from the obviously trauma filled shifter. Was that malicious? Tempting someone who felt something so similar to him? Had he grown to be that way?
Nothing.
Claude walked back to his previous position.
"I don't want to repeat myself. But I also don't want to be misunderstood. We're fighting a very real enemy here. We're working on something beyond ourselves. The Lupines of Remus don't give a fuck WHO is in school. Or WHO leads what. They want bodies. They want us. And I want to get even. Don't you?"
He felt the agreements.
"I mean…. The Lupines of Remus have to be like a boogeyman for some of you, right? I've heard stories. You had to all the same…"
Tom nodded, "They gutted an entire pack a region across from ours in a single night when I was still barely an adult Wolf. We couldn't do anything but relocate. They marked the land…. They made it caustic. Bastards."
A couple of the longer lived Crocs agreed.
"And if that's not you, then we all still have The General to worry about. Honestly I can keep going here for the entire night about who we need to scalp." He stopped, "But I won't. Talking makes me tired."
The River Rhino's were close to being piles of Skeleton.
"The other reason I bring all this up is because we need a cover story."
Tara looked up again but this time Tom spoke.
"You want us interacting with humans!?"
"If push comes to shove, yea I do."
Tom laughed, "Listen, ki—"
"Don't." Claude interrupted, "I'm not a WereWolf. Our dynamics aren't the same. Did I not give you focus on a full moon?"
"To a degree yes, but human society is different."
"Then we'll have to make some changes." Claude replied.
There was silence. A strained silence. Heightened nerves and lust at the thought of humans.
"I'm not asking you to become the life of some party." Claude started, "But we're infiltrating Guild Halls tonight. And when they ask questions, I want to be able to tell them you're all apart of something. Something official and human that will be better than whatever lie we come up with here."
"And what would that be?"
"Let's make an Order. To the rest of us we're a pack. But to the humans, let's be The Order of the Wolf."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
_Avatar0FFury_
_Avatar0FFury_ yo! Order of the Wolf finally made? this is about as dysfunctional as it gets. but I’m sure Fenrir would prefer it over a bunch of humans. anyway thanks for reading and lmk what ya think! also thanks so much for the powerstones Bop, Sonuis, Shazac, alex99, Demosura, MAESTRO, Alex_Walk, SK33Z3R, Train_master, krissch_, and everyone else!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone