Rind.

Outside, the wind was crisp, but warmer than it had been the day before. That was good, Kellan decided; it could help the scent seem stronger. Kellan ducked his head down, letting the hood of his outer shirt shelter his face. As he walked, seeking out the trader, he kept an eye on the wolfes around him. Most stepped out of his way as he walked; a few just watched him cautiously. None approached. Kellan wanted to yip in congratulations - the plan was working! Wolfes had a natural avoidance of disease; the inclination grew even stronger in the Irion and the Snowy North, where sickness could so quickly mean death. The caravan and the wolfes of IceWind appeared to be repulsed enough to leave him alone. For good measure, Kellan threw in a few hacking coughs. Most of the wolfes stepped farther back.

As he approached the trader, even he, who had seen Kellan hale and hearty just an hour before, was sure to put space between them.
"Wolfe."
Kellan grunted.
"7 bars of iron, 4 of copper, 3 crates of medical supplies, 12 blankets. To the vehicle on the far right."
Kellan grunted, then coughed theatrically and lumbered off to move cargo.

At the vehicle, three wolfes were waiting; two larger ones, most likely warriors, and a smaller. Kellan, arms full with a crate, lifted his head slightly to greet them. As he did, his hood fell back, and he was surprised beyond measure to find himself looking directly into the eyes of an equally-surprised Ideste. They gaped at each other for a minute, before one of the larger wolfes stepped forward, with a roll of his eyes, and grasped Ideste by the arm.
"Hammani." the wolfe growled, and Ideste looked up, then down, abashedly. The larger wolfe shook Ideste's arm slightly, jostling him, and old instincts rose up in Kellan; he wanted to snarl. The wolfe narrowed his eyes at Ideste, who was no longer looking at Kellan.
"Perhaps you should go and find your mate and occupy your time with staring at him instead."
The wolfe turned Ideste's elbow, forcing him to go with it, and pushed him off in the direction of the other vehicles. Ideste went, but not without a backwards glance at Kellan. The two larger wolfes stared at him.
"And you," the one who had pushed Ideste said, "Load the cargo."

+++++

The wolfe looked skeptically at Adotre.
"So you're a spy."
Adotre grinned boyishly.
"I like to think of myself more as a liaison."
The wolfe raised one eyebrow and nodded.
"Uh-huh."
Adotre shrugged and went back to tearing meat from the bone that the wolfe had given him as a breakfast.
"I just came to meet you! And see what's what. It is the Irion, after all. We like to know who's friend and who's foe."
The wolfe looked as if he were trying really hard to believe this.
"And the alpha - your mate - he sent you to do this."
Adotre paused, then went back to eating.
"Yup."
"He sent his pregnant mate on a potentially dangerous reconnaissance mission in the Irion winter."
Adotre paused.
"Not sent, per se."
"So you came without permission."
Adotre bit another piece of meat off of the bone. He didn't like the direction this was taking.
"I came under my own authority! I am the Alpha's mate, after all. That makes me First Alpha Mate. I can make plans, too."
The wolfe stared at Adotre for a second, then shook his head and got up.
"OK. Finish your meal, then get your things. I'm taking you back home."
Adotre looked stricken.
"No!"
"Yes."
Adotre jumped to his feet.
"No, I mean, no! I don't know anything about you yet." he looked, pleadingly, into the wolfe's eyes. "I came for information, and I can't go back empty-handed." he finished, sadly, doing his best impression of a young and wide-eyed Layer. The wolfe narrowed his eyes, and for one moment, Adotre thought he was unmoved. Then he sighed, and sat back down.
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
Adotre dropped down to sit across the fire from him, his tail thumping happily.
"Everything! Where do you come from? Why were you exiled? How long have you been in the Irion? Are you mated? Do you have a pack?"
The wolfe sighed and poked at the fire.
"No mate. No pack. Exiled 3 years, for subversion of the Alpha. I come from a pack in the far, far South. Being here in the cold is punishment enough; the isolation is just garnish to that dish of revenge."
The wolfe was just settling in to feel sorry for himself about the whole thing, but the Layer looked across the fire at him with such an expression of kind sympathy that it lifted his spirits a little. Adotre set the now-bare bone to the side, and wagged his tail a little.
"Well. You don't have to be isolated any more. You can come home with me, and then you can be in our pack!"
The wolfe looked skeptical again.
"Are you sure your Alpha would allow - "
"Trust me," Adotre cut him off, "I'm sure."

+++++

Gus woke up in a sauna. Or at least, it felt like a sauna. He was hotter than he'd ever been ever in his life, except one time when he had fallen asleep in a sweat tent. He staggered to his feet and the room spun a little bit. Settle down, room! he commanded. It didn't obey, but that was fine; he could make his way to the door of the tent without it. Where was Kellan? He'd probably left because it was so hot. And left his mate here. Gus panted as he opened the door; the cool air blew inside and took away some of the stifling heat. Gus looked around the empty campsite. He could hear noise and voices in the distance, but none nearby. Where was he? Nothing looked familiar. They must have moved in the night? Where was Kellan? Everything seemed so confusing; the only thing Gus could coherently understand was the oppressive heat inside and the stabbing hunger in his belly. His belly fluttered. Settle down, stomach! he commanded it. It, too, disregarded him. Gus looked around for a fire pit, hoping to see some stew. None was in immediate view. Where was that other wolfe, too? The trader? Had the trader and Kellan both left him? Gus panted, sucking in breaths of cold air that made his chest hurt. His head began to spin a little again. Water, Gus suddenly realized. He needed water.

+++++

Kellan's mind was moving so fast he could barely keep up. So he had scented Ideste in the forest! The wolfe was here, on Erim now - why? And had they called him Hammani? And said he was mated. Mated to who? Was Gustin OK in the tent? When would they leave the Glen - the scent might wear off soon, and then -
"Hey!"
Kellan jumped with surprise as he rounded a corner and walked straight into Ideste. Ideste froze, and his eyes widened.
"Kuskellanar!"
In that moment, in the brief second where Ideste was speaking his name, Kellan was transported. For a moment, he was no longer the exile, the killer, the wolfe marked for death; he was himself again, young and in love and so happy on Arem'mir that he thought his heart would burst in every second; he was running in the field behind his father's house, with Ideste at his heels, yipping and chasing and calling his name: Kuskellanar.
Then the moment was over; Kellan was back on Erim with the cold air and the weak food and a mate who was sick with fever. And in front of him, the cause. Gus's accusations replayed themselves in his head. It was Ideste, Gus had said. He used you. He planned it. He manipulated you.
"Ideste."
Ideste's eyes widened and he shook his head, stepping forward to be closer to Kellan.
"Kellan, I thought it was you!" tears welled up in the smaller wolfe's eyes. "I never thought I would see you again, even when I came to Erim, I thought you were - " he cut himself off abruptly, looking away.
"Dead." Kellan finished for him. "You thought I was dead."
Ideste nodded, the tears spilling over onto his cheeks now.
"I'm sorry, Kellan. I'm so sorry."
Kellan kept his expression guarded; Ideste was making a scene in a place were one was not allowed. They were not meant to know each other here. Whoever Hammani was, he was a stranger to Kellan. And Kellan was meant to be a stranger as well.
"Sorry for what?"
Ideste looked up, briefly, at the sky, and Kellan recognized his lover's old tell. Coldness filled his heart. Ideste had always looked at the sky when he was lying.
"For everything...that happened. For the mistake."
"The mistake."
Ideste nodded.
"I never meant for you - I never wanted you to get sent away. I never thought it would get blamed - "
This was the trigger that ignited the welling explosion in Kellan. He lunged forward suddenly, pushing both their bodies between two of the vehicles, blocked by stacked cargo, temporarily out of sight of the mostly-empty campground. The others had gone off hunting or washing or fucking in the woods. No one would see them there. In the cranny, he pushed his face into Ideste's, his words snarled with rage.
"You never thought it would be blamed on me?! My knife, Ideste! My knife!"
Ideste trembled, and his eyes widened. His tail, skinny as it had ever been, twitched between his legs. It occurred to Kellan suddenly, and with a small amount of pride, that Ideste had never seen him like this. Ideste had known him only as a shapely, refined young warrior; he had not yet seen what years of isolation, of grueling work, of vicious battles for survival could create. Kellan had been a foolish, naive young cub when he had left; the Kellan who now held his ex-lover here, his hands inches from Ideste's throat, was an experienced and worldly wolfe.
Ideste shook his head again.
"I'm sorry!"
"You're not! If you were sorry, you'd have spoken. You'd have confessed to the elders! Told them the truth!!" Kellan exhaled, his breath close and hot on Ideste's face; still, the smaller wolfe did not dare to move. Kellan snarled again. "They took my whole life away from me, Ideste! They took my family and my friends and my training and my happiness and my planet!! You thought I'd died in the Irion - did you worry at all that you'd be responsible for another death?! That you would have killed another wolfe??"
Ideste looked away again.
"I told you, I never meant for you to get sent away. I never wanted things to go that way. I never - " he bit his lip, tears pouring now. Sudden understanding washed into Kellan. His breath caught in his throat.
"You planned it."
Ideste jerked his eyes up to Kellan's face.
"No. No, I didn't - "
Kellan shook his head.
"Yes. You planned it. You wanted to kill him. Sparo. But why?" Kellan stepped back, tilted his head as if to get a good look at a new face. "Because he attacked you?"
Ideste looked away, and Kellan saw the change as if a mask had been pulled away from Ideste's face. His jaw set, and his lip curled, and his eyes went hard.
"Because he cheated on me."
Kellan staggered a moment under the weight of his shock.
"But you were mine."
Ideste stared at him.
"We were lovers, Kellan, and barely that. We only laid together - twice? Maybe three times. We were not mates. You never asked to mate me. Sparo did."
Kellan shook his head in confusion.
"You refused him."
Ideste growled.
"No, my father refused him. The silly old man was too busy being in love with you - you and your medals, your awards, your commendations. You, who he was so sure would be the next Alpha." Ideste looked away. "He never spared a second thought to my beloved."
Kellan stared at the wolfe who had become a stranger before his very eyes.
"By the time he asked my father, Sparo and I had already been mated in secret. We only wanted his approval to finalize the bond."
Kellan's feeling at that moment surpassed shock; it went beyond the normal realms of confusion and into some sort of surreality, where nothing was as it seemed.
"Ideste...you killed your mate?"
Ideste growled, then snapped at Kellan.
"My mate betrayed me!"
Kellan took a step back so that he was pressed against the rear of the opposite vehicle, regarding Ideste much as one might regard a rabid wolfe.
"Ideste..."
Suddenly, the smaller wolfe collapsed; he broke down into a pitiful sob that wrenched Kellan's heart, even as it disturbed him.
"I'm sorry." he panted between wails, "I'm so sorry."
Kellan went to him, crouched on the ground beside him, and held him, tightly in his arms.
"What's done is done now, Ideste. None of us can go back."

+++++

Gus heard it before he saw it - water. Moving water. He wove his way across the scrub towards the sound, his mouth feeling dry and hot. His skin was cool now, almost cold, but his insides still felt so hot. He needed water. Where was Kellan? Where was the trader? Water, now. Kellan later. Where was he?

Gus reached the shore with no problem; there was no one else in sight, even. Kellan left him? Think about it after water. Water first. In front of him, the river gurgled and popped as it rushed along over the rocks and crags of its bed. No cup. How would he drink? Gus giggled. Drink like a wolfe. He knelt down by the riverbed, then bent over to put his face to the water. The first touch of ice to skin shocked him, confused him further, and then unexpectedly, the riverbed buckled, skewing itself inwards and upwards and Gustin felt the shock of cold water soaking his clothes, his hair, his body and his face went into the water, too far, but the riverbed was still waving and he couldn't get a hold to pull himself out and then suddenly he was under, under, and going forward, spinning, hitting his leg against a rock, then his head, then everything was quiet and black.

+++++

Ideste had pulled himself together enough for Kellan to release his hold and let the wolfe stand up.
"Ideste - "
"Hammani," Ideste corrected, still wiping his face on his sleeve. "These wolfes know me as Hammani."
Kellan inclined his head.
"Hammani. Why did you come here, to Erim? Why did you leave Arem'mir?"
Ideste looked away again, but not up at the sky this time.
"My father died. I had nothing left."
Kellan closed his eyes. Alpha Saanduk had been so close to him; a mentor. He had been the one who had convinced the council to exile Kellan instead of kill him. To him, Kellan owed his life. And now the elder wolfe was gone.
"I'm sorry. How long ago was it?"
Ideste shrugged.
"Two years. I came the springtime after."
"Who rules the Pack now, if Saanduk is gone?"
Ideste looked up, meeting Kellan's eyes.
"Your father."
Kellan felt a surge of hope rise up in his heart. He turned to face Ideste, putting both hands on the wolfe's shoulders.
"Ideste. Hammani."
Ideste looked at him, but it was a miserable non-presence of a look. Kellan shook him.
"Hammani! Listen to me."
Ideste looked a little more alert now, but still as if he were haunted by the occupations of the past. Kellan growled in impatience and took Ideste's chin in his hand, forcing the wolfe to look at him. "If you ever want to set right what is wrong now, you will tell the council what you did." Ideste tried to look away, but Kellan held his chin firm. "You will make a full confession and you will clear my name."
Ideste hesitated.
"IDESTE!" Kellan shouted, them remembered himself and lowered his voice. "If you do this, your crimes against me will be forgiven. I will forgive you. If you do this...it can be over."
Ideste looked up at him, met his eyes. Kellan sighed, preparing to confess things he was not ready to confess.
"I have a mate now. A human. He is pregnant. I cannot -" he looked away, feeling weak suddenly. "I cannot raise my cub in the Irion. Ideste, if you ever loved me, if you ever loved our Pack, and if you ever loved the moon, then please, please. Let me take my family home."
Ideste stared at him, then slowly, he nodded.
"OK. OK. I'll send a confession, if you promise to forgive me."
Kellan stepped forward and pulled Ideste into a hug.
"I have already forgiven you."
Ideste squeezed his arms tight around Kellan's back - the back that had grown so broad with age and work - and took in his scent, just one last time.
An unfamiliar voice broke them apart, and they both jumped back, looking guilty.
"Wolfe!"
It was the trader, who had appeared at the head of their crevice and was looking at Kellan with a suspicious expression. Then he shook it off, and Kellan took note of the lines of tension and worry in his face.
"You must come quick. Both come quick." he turned to Kellan. "Your mate was in the river."
Kellan bolted immediately, shifting to make it faster, not caring if he got there naked. The other two followed suit, and soon they were three wolfes, pounding madly in their animal forms, racing to get to the river.
There was a group gathered around a lump on the ground - three wolfes of the caravan, that Kellan could see, all looking worried and pale and somewhat angry. Kellan skidded to a stop between them, almost crashing into Gus as he did.
"HEALER!" he shouted, frantic at the sight of his mate's blue skin, his still body. "BRING YOUR HEALER!!"
The wolfes looked uneasily between them, and Ideste appeared, out of breath, at Kellan's shoulder.
"I'm here." he said, trying to calm Kellan and move him to the side. "I'm here."
Kellan whipped around to look at him, and something passed between them unbidden.
"Save him," Kellan begged, quietly. "Save him, and that will pay your debt."
Ideste was already working, already turning Gustin onto his back and checking for a heartbeat, for his breath, for anything, but he paused and glanced over at Kellan.
"No confession?"
Kellan swallowed.
"No confession. Just save my mate."

+++++