Chapter 28

As I stepped out of my room, I looked across my pack and was pleased to see that they were all stirring and beginning to rise. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Sybil was stood waiting by the entrance to my personal quarters before I exited. She nodded, then looked up at me.

"Did you… rest well?"

"Yes, thanks. I'm ready to keep moving on growing the pack." I paused before continuing to speak. My manner of speech was slower than I'd like, but talking was no longer difficult for me. I sighed, welcoming the change. I wondered when the rest of the pack, and by extension, the brood, would be able to speak more coherently, and how that would affect our "politics". If you could call it that.

"You have… grown stronger… once again. Congratulations, Alpha."

"You don't need to call me Alpha all the time. My name is Ashlani."

"Yet you… are still… the Alpha… of the pack… Ashlani. This is… something that… I can do… to help you."

I sighed, the breath hissing through my fangs. "Ok. Anything I need to know?"

A click of her teeth. "No, Alpha. We have… plenty to eat. None have… approached yet… to ask for… leftovers. I think… they fear you… too much… to ask."

A flare of my frills, and then I was in the midst of the pack. I'd noticed it a little as I'd spoken with Sybil, but this evolution had come with a bolstering of my physical strength, but not in the densely packed muscle like when I'd evolved to a Bloodletter. Instead, the growth I'd experienced was almost entirely in bulk, in weight packed onto my frame and height. Before, I'd estimated my height at maybe 18 inches, and I'd been among the largest of the keelish before Tieran and the other Alphas had evolved. Now, I figured I was probably nearly two feet tall, and about three long, nose to tail. 

I definitely was more densely packed than the usual keelish, given that I was still about a foot shorter than the typical adult yet had greater Stats, but I was now too large for a Martanimis of the same size as our prey to easily take me in its mouth. One would definitely be able to constrict, kill, and devour me, but at least they wouldn't be able to easily keep me in their mouth so quickly.

Took and Oncli stirred and stood as I approached, apparently already having woken, but just waiting for me.

"You… got… big." Oncli's voice greeted me, a slight hint of his humor from before poking through. "How… me… do?"

"Keep hunting, and kill stronger things. After all, you're my Beta, you need to be stronger than the rest."

Oncli started then cocked his head at me. "I… am… Beta?"

I nodded, "You were the first to follow. My greatest support."

"I… will… always… follow."

I patted his shoulder and nodded a greeting at Took as I walked past. She had apparently gained something similar to what I had with the hunt of the Martanimis Python, and had grown more thickly muscled and a bit taller, maybe 20 inches or so. Took opened her mouth, struggling to speak, and I paused to see what she was trying to say. After a moment of struggle, finally she spoke.

"Vic…tory."

After, Took looked up at me, pride apparent in her bearing and eyes. A touch of a grin reached the corner of my mouth as I echoed her.

"Victory…."

I couldn't help but notice that the python's corpse wasn't within our den, so I stepped out into the communal area of the brood's den, and couldn't help but stop stock-still upon seeing the results of my near death. My pack had all set to devouring until they were full, yet still remained at least three quarters of the massive serpent. I noted that the head had been left entirely alone, the blood, brains, and viscera clotted and coating where I had burst out of its skull. Shattered bone had been caught within the coagulated fluids, and the sight resembled some disturbing monument to slaughter.

It incited no small amount of pride within me to see the truly gargantuan creature I'd felled. I was under no misunderstanding: my slaughtering of this beast had been entirely due to my own luck, and hadn't anything to do with my own prowess. Still, it wasn't like the rest of the brood needed to know that.

With a hard click of my teeth, I called out to all the spawnlings that were in the space. Then again. And again.

The sound echoed throughout the space, seeming to give no respite or escape. The shuffling of scales and claws could be barely heard in the intervals between the crashes of my fangs. Head popped out of various individual dens, and before long, I had an audience of most of the remaining members of the brood. After continuing for a moment longer, I began to speak.

"You have seen what I can do. You have seen who I am. You may not yet know my name–I am Ashlani. You have seen what happens when another dares to try to take from me." I paused, letting the thought linger before continuing. "You have seen that none of my pack have been killed. You have seen that we eat until we are full multiple times a day, and yet we still have surplus." I gestured at the corpse of the serpent. "Those who follow me are protected and fed. I have seen all of you go hungry, and I know all of your packs have suffered deaths on your hunts.

"If you choose to follow me, I can offer safety and full bellies. I have the food all ready for you."

I started to walk away, leaving them to ponder what I had said. As far as speeches went, I thought it was acceptable, but that didn't really matter to me, so long as I got the rest of the brood thinking about it. I was interrupted by Oncli, Sybil, and Took beginning to chant, the chatters of their voices carrying just as strongly as the clicks of my teeth had. 

"Victory… Victory… Victory… by fang… and blood."

I, satisfied by the support of my pack, was again surprised by an interruption. It was the male leader of the smallest pack in the brood–when the pack had been formed, it was made of two smaller packs forced together by Wisterl on the day of the first hunt. This male had come out on top of a little fight for leadership that day, and I hadn't thought about them since.

This male had apparently evolved to Alpha, or something similar, and was somewhat large. Nowhere near me, or even Tieran, but larger than Took was currently by maybe an inch. He spoke up, "I.. am Percral. I would… like to… join your… pack."

Looking behind him, he was joined by what I could only assume to be the rest of his pack, and I grinned.