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Tiva pauses as if deep in thought. She stops scratching, and her lips pull up in a wry grin. "Damn right, Holstein, damn right. None of us asked for this. Ahote can blame Haken for this war until his hair falls out, but the truth will always be that the humans forced this on themselves. I never even thought of killing a human before they came to our home and attacked me first."

She lowers her voice and you can barely hear it. "They almost killed me. Right there in the street like a dog for something I didn't even know happened…." She looks up at you, and her eyes are steel. "Let's kill those motherfuckers."

Next

A small eternity (or several minutes at least, as a clock would tell it) comes and goes without sign of attack, the sun turning cool air into an afternoon sticky with sweat and hungry rumbling bellies. The wolves around you are fidgeting, full of nervous energy as they wait impatiently for the inevitable attack. Your werewolf forms may be advantageous for fighting, but they require significantly more fuel to keep going than a human, and you're beginning to worry that hunger will drive your allies to make poor decisions. Maybe that was the humans' idea after all.

Filtered masks and goggles are passed around, and each wolf straps them over the ridge of their muzzle. "The humans may try to use gas canisters to incapacitate us," the wolf handing you your mask states, his eyes twitching nervously. "These aren't exactly state of the art, but between them filtering out a portion of the gas and our healing and immune systems, we should be able to withstand most common incapacitating agents."

You take advantage of the lull in the fighting to take stock of your allies and the offensive and defensive materials available to you. Toward the back of the defensive perimeter, you can pick out Jolon, kneeling in one of the small patches of shade cast by a squat structure at the rear of the barriers. He seems withdrawn, pensive, as though he would rather be anywhere else than here.

Razor and the wolves in the metal shop have crafted a set of pit spikes from the metal rods you salvaged at the scrapyard a few weeks ago. A few more industrious wolves have been digging pits between and behind some of the defensive barriers where the humans won't be able to see them until it's too late once they breach the perimeter.

Lapu also managed to pass the word on and requisition the use of Yale lab resources. The wolves in the lab quickly developed some prototype offensive weapons, as you requested after the election. The devices appear to be large tubes, but when fired, each one can launch an explosive over a hundred feet. You almost feel bad for the humans at the head of the charge once they start coming, assuming that the weapons function the way you've been told.

Next

A mountainous shadow falls over you midway through your nervous patrol route. "Walk with me. We need to talk." It's Razor. You can count the number of times the towering wolf has spoken to you on one paw. That she would desire your confidence now seems almost blasphemous…for reasons you can barely put a finger on.

You stop short by an isolated barrier and turn to face her. Razor's face is grim, and she speaks hesitantly, as though unused to opening herself up to anyone, much less a wolf as young as yourself.

"There was a time before you were born when wolves took traditional tribal names," she rasps uncomfortably, as though the words are being dragged out of her. "As our packs grew and we took in blood from outside our borders, the origins of our names also grew. I was not born Razor—I forsook my birthname when we were brought here, to this Haven. I took to the work. Relished it. It empowered me to create items of worth and grasp the cutting edge of technology. So I chose a new name and moved on. I don't cling to the past.

"Wolves like Haken, they follow the old ways. The myths of their Great Spirit guide them. I made him my foreman to show him the satisfaction that I'd found in sweat and creation. But I failed him. And when he moved to fight, I had to join his cause. I've known these wolves too long to let them march off and die without protecting them.

"They're getting scared, Holstein. I can smell it on them. I don't know if you've seen it, but they're looking to you as you walk past. Haken may have lost their trust, but if there's anything you can do to help build morale, I think this is the best time to get the pack back on your side."

Now that it's been pointed out to you, you realize that Razor is right. You're so exhausted and sleep-deprived from your night in the detainment building and Haken's war that you forgot how many wolves in the pack look up to you as Ahote's choice of successor, elevated as a leader of wolves. An alpha. In a way it still seems absurd to you, but the elder's belief that the youth of the pack must lead the way into the future makes even more sense after Haken's rash and calamitous actions.

I speak to the pack, a call for victory in glorious battle.

I speak to the pack, a reminder of our heritage and the need to keep our species from extinction.

I talk to the defenders individually, providing advice and encouragement one on one.

Next

You gather the attention of the pack, particularly the weary and crestfallen, and deliver a speech reminding them of the glory days of werewolf heritage. Many of the stories you've only heard from tales passed down to you by elders, stories of great leaders and victorious tribal battles, times of freedom in the vast wilderness outside the walls of Haven, but you do your best to relate them as though you were there, witnessing the spectacle with your own eyes. By the conclusion of your speech, several members of the pack appear reenergized. While some still cower behind the concrete barriers, others have renewed their preparations as clouds of worry temporarily lift their burdens from weary shoulders. Haken mumbles an almost embarrassed thanks as he passes you, clearly relieved to see morale trending in the right direction.

The wolves of the pack clearly see you as a leader, even those who followed Haken after he manipulated them by leveraging their fear and feral aspects. Not a one of them so much as casts doubt on your leadership, and they seem all the stronger for their solidarity behind a war commander they can trust.

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