“Is he alive?”
“Yes, still breathing.”
“Get him out of here. Take him to Sely,” Vaikor ordered.
“An Alpha… an Alpha wanting to kill himself over a human,” one of the female canids muttered. She kept her head lowered, but her voice carried clearly enough to reach him.
“Who wants to be an Alpha? Tell me! I’ll step down and leave all of this to you!” Vaikor shouted, yanking his claws away from the man’s neck. “You can kill him, burn him, poison him, beat him to death, or sell him off as a slave. Who wants to be Alpha?!”
Silence swallowed the crowd. No one spoke a word.
“Who do you expect to help you? Have you seen the people from the Ravari village?” Vaikor pressed, turning back toward them. “We made a deal with other Alphas, and we need him alive. Ask Mikok. He’s seen how good they have it over there—they have food, water, and protection. He did this for them. We need him to help us, too. We tried talking to them on our own, but they refused to help because of our past. If he dies, I will kill every last one of you, and then I will leave. Good luck finding another Alpha who can actually help you.”
Without another word, Vaikor turned on his heel and walked away.
Just as he left, Mikok pulled up beside the group.
“The man you tried to kill saved me when the Alphas couldn’t,” Mikok said, his eyes scanning the crowd cold and hard. “So sleep with both eyes open. If he dies, it’s between me and the Alpha—and don’t mistake my patience for weakness.” He turned and left them standing in the quiet dirt.
“Sely! Sely!” Lycan called out, hauling the body over.
Sely snapped awake on the first call, but the sight waiting for her made her stomach drop. It forced her to relive everything she’d done that day, only now with a heavy, sickening weight in her chest.
“Do you have a magician? Healing magic in your group?” Sely asked immediately. She drew a knife, sliced open his shirt, and pressed the fabric hard against his wounds to slow the heavy bleeding. “If you don’t have a magician, he’s going to die.”
“Vaikor! Do we have a magician?!” Lycan barked toward Vaikor, who was already heading their way.
“No…” Vaikor started to say, but he paused, leaning in to listen to something one of the canids whispered to him before turning away. “They know someone who can do it,” Vaikor corrected as he reached the carriage.
“Can you get Cil? She’s too young for this,” Sely said, glancing down at little Rhys’s limp, unconscious body.
It took a solid five minutes before the canid healer arrived.
“Heal him,” Lycan commanded.
The canid got to work without a word. Just a meter away from the carriage, Vaikor stood holding Cil close, keeping her sheltered.
“Can you use the…?” Lycan gestured vaguely.
“It won’t work,” Sely cut in. “I used it earlier. It needs time before it can be used again.”
“So?”
“So we wait,” Sely said softly, tightly binding his bandages.
Once the healing magic took hold, Cil was brought back into the carriage. She didn’t cry or throw a scene; she just sat there looking thoroughly puzzled and terrified.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The entire group took a much-needed rest. When everyone was ready—just after midnight—they packed up and set off into the dark.
For the next two days, Sely fed Rhys strictly liquids—a specialized potion laced with light healing magic and strength regeneration.
“He’s getting better,” Sely murmured to Cil. The little girl hadn’t said much since the incident, mostly quiet except when trying to imitate Sely’s voice, carefully attempting Sely’s name before stumbling through her own.
“We’re arriving,” Vaikor announced, pacing behind the carriage. “He’ll have a proper bed to rest in soon.”
He only stayed around for a few minutes at a time, keeping his visits brief before vanishing back to the front. Mikok, on the other hand, took things a step further—he climbed straight up to the front seat of the carriage and made himself the main driver.
“He’s been grunting a bit lately,” Sely remarked to Vaikor during one of his brief stops. “That’s good, though. It means he’s coming to, and his breathing is much steadier.” Vaikor nodded once and left again.
It took a few more hours of travel before they finally crossed the threshold into the territory.
“This is called the United Village,” Mikok called back from the driver's seat.
Sely looked out through the frame. You’ve got a lot of work waiting for you, Rhys. You better wake up soon, she thought to herself. Outside, a poorly constructed fence loosely guarded the perimeter. Now that it was broad daylight, it was impossible to miss just how many major issues this place really had.
They hauled Rhys off the carriage and carried him to a house right next to the Alpha’s hut. Calling the Alpha's residence a house felt generous—it was more like a large hut, bigger than the rest of the dwellings in the village, but humble compared to what Rhys was used to.
When Sely stepped inside, she was surprised by the space. It was open, clean, and featured a slight depression in the center of the floor. The bed sat in the far corner, raised just above the dip. It was constructed of straw with a clean sheet stretched over the top—surprisingly comfortable-looking and easily big enough to fit three people. Why it was set up so conveniently, she didn't know, and she certainly wasn't in the position to ask.
“If you need anything, we’ll be in the houses right next door,” Lycan said. “Both Alphas will be ruling here together now. We’ll provide you with food, and the water is right over there. Tomorrow, our wives will show you where to wash.”
“If anything happens, we’re right next door,” Vaikor added before stepping out.
“What about you?” Sely asked, looking at Mikok.
“Me? I’ll be passing through plenty,” Mikok replied with a small shrug before taking his leave as well.
The rest of the day drifted by in a blur. Rather than waiting until the following morning, the two Alphas' wives came by in the late evening to guide Sely and Cil to the bathing area.
The next day didn't bring much change. Mikok dropped by, and the Alphas passed through periodically. Since Rhys was still out cold, they tried striking up conversations with Sely instead.
“Well, I haven’t really been on the human side for that long, so…” Sely offered as her standard deflection.
Vaikor and Lycan both picked up on what she was holding back, but they didn't push. The looming fear of messing up horribly and endangering their people kept them from digging too deep.
Cil, meanwhile, grew much more comfortable around Sely. Since Rhys had been lying motionless on his back for so long, the little girl had started using his side as a cozy prop to sleep against.
When evening rolled around again, Sely went out to bathe with Cil and the two female Alphas once more. They politely asked her about her missing tail, but Sely just offered a soft, sad smile, telling them it was a long story.
When they returned to the hut, Rhys was still lying faceup, exactly as she had left him. Cil, still in her damp clothes, bounded toward the bed to play with a small token the female Alphas had given her. Sely walked in calmly behind her, stripped off her wet clothes, and dried and dressed Cil first. Once the little girl was settled, Sely dried her own hair, pulled on fresh clothes, and turned around—only to see Rhys lying there with an undeniable morning wood erect under the sheets and the opened eyes open.
Her knees instantly went weak, and she sank to the floor. Cil, caught off guard by the sudden drop, let out a tiny, frightened shiver, not understanding what was happening.
“Do not do that again…” Sely whispered, her voice cracking as she stared at him. “I know why you did it, but… fuck, Rhys. I have no plans to raise Cil alone. I can’t lose someone important to me again…”
A few stray tears slipped down her face, matched only by the sound of his sharp, shallow breaths—the kind filled with ragged gaps.
“S…” his throat rasped out.
“Don’t speak,” Sely interrupted gently, wiping her cheeks. “You took too many head injuries. Magic will do its part, but even if you’re strong, you aren't a summoned hero. You need time.”
She stood up slowly, her voice softening as she moved toward the other side of the room.
“It’s frustrating, Rhys, but not everyone is going to like you. Even I didn’t like you at first—I just wanted someone else to die with.” She paused, looking back over her shoulder at his still form. “In case you were wondering… you’re in the United Village of the Canids.”