Chapter 49: A deal between man of culture

Ciaran and Ariadne were surrounded by around a hundred ravens, the time of the Pack's arrival was near and the tension was high.

Ciaran still didn't know what he would offer these apex predators but he showed up anyway, if nothing else he could at least run away.

They had set multiple traps, and dozens of escape paths had been prepared as well. If things went south, their path to survival would be open at least.

'Get ready Ari, we might lose a few pieces of ourselves again. Be ready to fight if they get all aggressive on us.' The boy warned her.

Soon they saw the Pack. Forty-six wolves came. Since the last time, they saw them the wolves had gotten a few new members. Some of the weaker and older members had died as well. The Pack looked stronger than ever, which was both a good and a bad thing.

Good, because their new strength would help the duo shorten the preparation time, and bad because if the Pack were to turn hostile things were going to get even uglier than the boy planned.

They came less than ten meters (33 feet) away from the boy and stopped. They were waiting for something, but Ciaran didn't know what.

"This is how you should apply stealth boy." He heard a voice and felt a paw touch the top of his head.

He didn't even dare to move, he was frozen in fear. Whatever this thing was it was strong enough to change its vocal cords to match those of humans.

He was scared, and his body was shivering, but he couldn't allow himself to stay frozen. He was now responsible for two lives and as he was reminded by that stupid hawk, their lives could be taken quite easily.

"T-Thanks for the t-tip sir. Might I ask you t-to lower your paw, your giving me anxiety?" He asked, his voice shivering.

Next thing he knew the thing removed his paw right off his head and walked forward. It was a regular-sized wolf. Unlike the Rest of the pack, it was just a simple wolf. Smaller, not even Rank Zero, and seemingly defenseless.

"You can hide your Rank? How? Any tips for me sir? It would in handy on our journey to the top of this mountain." Ciaran lost his fear when he saw something interesting.

The wolf eyed him up and growled something to his Pack.

The boy got scared and was preparing to dash for the webs when the wolf laid down the rest of the Pack followed.

"Calm down kid, I just reminded them why they shouldn't go for Air if at all possible. Even when faced with something that can kill you before you can even blink, you guys can still get distracted. Fucking airheads." The wolf cursed out.

"Whatever, as you can tell I am Rank Two and the Alpha of the Pack. What do you want, and what do you offer?" The wolf asked.

The kid didn't think lying was an option so he did the only thing he could think of, he told the truth. He said he and his girl got messed up by a hawk, and that he wanted revenge. He told them he would make weapons that could help them achieve what they wanted, a roasted and seasoned bird.

The way he had phrased that sentence got the wolf interested.

"You don't mind interspecies relationships?" It asked.

"Oh, not here two. In my home, they hate when humans mingle with other sentient creatures, don't tell me you are one of those purists too. If you are then there is nothing to discuss." Ciaran flared out, he didn't like to think about it but the fact he was a half-breed was still fresh in his mind.

The wolf eyed him up. He got up and before Ciaran could react it touched its forehead to his. Then, because the boy had just been thinking about it the wolf came to learn of his origins.

"You are a Half as well?" It asked, and before the boy could curse it out, he noticed the wolf was pleased.

It returned to its resting place and laid down again.

"You should have started with that, it would have made negotiation much simpler. I would have even come alone, well I would have brought one more with me."

"You are a curious kid, no doubt you are wondering where I was for the last month. Well, I was raising my cub, and yes singular. Past Rank One getting a kid is not that easy as you will come to learn."

The wolf when on a rant about how he wanted his own kid for years and it finally got one, but then it turned out sickly and the Pack rejected it. The wolf gave the rest of the wolves the stink eye and then turned back to the boy.

"I want my daughter to leave with you. Raise her as a pet if you must, but she goes with you when you leave. I know your kind, well half of your kind I guess. Humans tend to live in large groups and have our lesser cousins as pets. Take her and raise her there until she is at least Rank Three, no Four. Rank Four. Do that, and you will have our help."

Ciaran was speechless. 'Hey here is a puppy, raise it and we will help you kill some snakes. This man has either lost it or is under a lot of stress.' The boy thought in pity.

"My own damn pack wants to eat my daughter, kid, what do you think? Yes, I can read your mind, and no it is not teachable."

A mind-reading wolf was, frankly the least of his worries, and hardly enough to even give him pause.

"Can your daughter?" He asked. And jumped for joy when he got a positive answer.

And just like that the boy agreed to be a babysitter for a wolf cub and the wolves got a new mission, the extermination of every snake in the forest.

The Ravens agreed that they apparently only made allies with the strongest and the maddest of creatures and the spider, once again stating that Ciaran's soul had room for only one familiar.

The next few days the Pack experienced what it was like to be led by a cowardly monster. They didn't so much hunt as they set the poor serpents' living spaces on fire, and hunt down the survivors. If they were living in burrows the boy blew them up with self-made methane bombs. If they lived on trees, he set the tree on fire and waited for them to be caught in webs. If they slept under rocks he heated the rocks and cooked them alive. By the end of the hunt the wolves were glad they didn't pick a fight with this prick or who knows what he would have done to them.

The Alpha on the other hand was pleased. The boy was ruthless to his enemies, but not a single raven or wolf was even slightly harmed. It was gambling with his daughter's life, but what else could he do, kill his whole pack? Make his kid live in isolation? No, wolves were social animals and he knew the kid would take care of her. Not because he was a good person, but because Roxy would be useful to him. And the kid also made an oath, which also worked well to calm its nerves.

It took the Pack eleven days to wipe clean the forests of all snake presence. The other inhabitance didn't know what the snakes did to piss the wolves so much, but they sure as hell didn't want to pry into the Mad Pack's business.

Ciaran decided to wait for his sister here. His preparations were not complete yet, and he still hadn't met his new puppy.

He only had two days left, so he went to the pack and asked to see their Alpha. He was directed to a cave that smelled, worse than the others. Before he could ask a small ball-sized animal tackled him.

He fell to the ground, but before he could even defend himself the smelly beast attacked his face. Lick after lick it was very thorough with its offensive. It took the boy a full minute to get it off him.

The thing had a compact body like a fox with a bushy tail like a wolf. Its legs were strong and agile like a wolf's, allowing it to run and jump easily all around the boy. It had a pointed snout like a fox, but larger and broader like a wolf. Its ears were large and erect like a wolf's, but with a slight curve at the tip like a fox's. Its coat was thick and dense like a wolf's, with a grey coloration.

The fur around its neck was longer and thicker, resembling a wolf's mane. Its eyes were almond-shaped and slightly slanted like a fox, but larger and more expressive like a wolf's. The little thing was bursting with energy, and to his surprise was very friendly towards him, but didn't even get close to the other wolves who served as the boy's guides.

The Alpha appeared next to the boy and they looked at each other.

"What's with the look you brat? Sue me, I fancy foxes over wolves when it comes to mates. At least I don't get it on with spiders."