Rise.

The guards accompanied them to an adjacent quarter and up a few levels, keeping always twenty yards behind, at the nurse's instruct. On the way, Róan and the nurse (who introduced himself as Ayo) talked about everything that had happened, and was going to happen. Ayo, Róan discovered, had been found as part of a rescue expedition in the Atlantic Rim six years back. The underwater flip that his family had been traveling on had collapsed, forcing them to abandon ship. They'd been picked up by wolfish S.O.S., who'd noticed the unusual surface activity.
"Wolfish S.O.S.?" Róan interrupted.
"Yeah. Wolfes use their attuned senses and advanced technology to run regular scan-and-rescue missions to assist humans in trouble. They consider their abilities and technologies a gift, and feel they have a responsibility to use them wisely. Bet you didn't know that, huh?" Ayo looked expectantly at Róan, who shrugged.
"Why do they rescue humans? Add more breeding stock to their stables?"
Ayo looked at him.
"To save lives. Keep men out of Lout hands, mostly. You know how treacherous the road can be, and the seas are even worse. Humans who get captured by the Louts are..." Ayo trailed off and shuddered. "It's not good."
Róan felt confused - he'd always heard that Louts were imposing but innocuous, and only rarely interested in humans, but he masked his uncertainty and continued to listen to Ayo's story.
"I was twenty-one when I got here, which is just one year from the birthing age...by twenty-two, I'd gotten a lot of offers, but I hadn't chosen a mate yet, which already put me back. Most betas are mated by twenty, birthing by twenty-three. But I hadn't undergone any of the ceremonies or education I needed beforehand, so they told me I had to wait and do everything, which would take at least six months. Then I decided I wanted noetics training, so that would take almost another year, which meant I was 23 before I even really got presented. So I felt pretty behind."
Ayo suddenly seemed to realize what he was saying and glanced surreptitiously at Róan to be sure he wasn't offended.
"Of course, that's more than common now, and they've got all kinds of ways you can bargain to get mated earlier if you're behind. It's not really something anyone notices anymore."
Róan didn't really seem to care one way or the other, so Ayo went on.
"So then when I was 23 I got presented and was mated at 24. His name's Priton."
For a minute, Ayo just beamed, and Róan quietly watched him bask.
"Anyway, he's a border guard, so he's away a lot of the time, but I think he's going to receive a new position soon, so maybe he'll be closer to home. Which means he can see me and the litter more before they go away to school."
"Litter?"
Ayo glanced at Róan again.
"Uh huh, litter, I had my first litter last year. If you're bonded before 25, then you have to wait two years after you're mated before you can birth, or else everyone thinks you're impatient and childish. So I had my first litter pretty late, but there were six, so I think we're both happy."
"Litter?" Róan repeated, only now he'd stopped in the hallway.
"Are you ok, Róan? Are you feeling sick again?"
"What the hell do you mean by litter?"
"Babies, Ro. Six babies. Four wolfe, two human."
Ayo paused and turned to Róan.
"I know this is a lot to take in at once, but please try to remember that it's all for the good of the species. You would be doing your people a disservice to try to avoid that which sustains us."
With that, Ayo opened the door.

The place was spectacular.
"This is your home now. You and Marik's, as soon as your mating is finalized."
Róan should have been off-put by this statement, but he was too entranced by his surroundings. There were high ceilings - well, high for him at least. They reached up at least fifteen feet, plus vaults, and were painted wood. The walls were a light cream color, and the hallways were lined with thick soft rugs. Ayo kicked off his shoes at the door, and Róan followed his lead. After passing through the entrance room, separated from the main room by two massive stone columns, there were living areas to the left and entertaining rooms to the right. Ayo led Róan into the primary sitting area, in which large soft couches in cream and maroon littered the floor in all shapes. The thing that captured his attention most, though, was the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that let in the light of the day. Róan stared in mute adoration.
"What's wrong?" Ayo looked, concerned, at him.
"Nothing...I've just never seen this much daylight before."
Ayo smiled broadly.
"Just one of the benefits of the Wolfish life. The food will be here shortly. Would you like to bathe? I'll wash your hair." he offered. "Oh! And I think your brother may be in there."
Róan raised an eyebrow, but agreed, and Ayo led him off into the living area, down a short hallway and through several doors into the largest "bathroom" that Róan had ever seen. The ceilings were vaulted over several pools of water, (each of varying temperature, Ayo explained) painted and decorated in blue and gold relief. The pools were tiled and smooth wood benches sat between the massive oak columns of the room. In the very center of the room, the roof was glass, revealing a blue sky and bright sunlight. Róan couldn't do anything more than stare.
"Communal bathrooms. Wolfes are big on this; they use baths as a fraternizing, bonding type of place. You share with the wing. If you want, I can introduce you to some of the other humans."
There was a smell of pine needles in the air, and when Róan turned round again, he saw that Ayo had already stripped to the nude and was wrapping himself in one of two large towels he'd produced from somewhere. Off towards the pool, there was the low chatter of conversation and Róan realized that he didn't feel quite ready to face anyone else just yet, much as he wanted to see Euan.
Ayo sensed his hesitation and smiled gently as he handed him a towel.
"Don't worry. Introductions can come later. You don't have to talk to anyone else just yet. We'll find your brother and sit in a corner, OK?"
Róan nodded and shyly took the towel, furtively looking for someplace private where he could undress. Ayo grinned at him.
"You'll have to shed that shyness, friend. There's no room for that here."
Róan glowered, but Ayo just kept grinning as he led the way between columns and benches towards the back of the bathing room, where steamy-looking rooms and showers were lined along a wall. Suddenly he was hit from behind by a shouting, sweating mass of human who Róan knew immediately was his brother.
"Ro!" he squeezed him tightly, but it couldn't have been tight enough for Euan.
"Jeez, am I glad to see you. I thought you were dead. I thought they lied. I was fucking terrified for you!" Euan squeezed a now-smiling Róan again and Ayo stepped back to give them privacy, but didn't go far. "Are you OK?"
Róan shrugged.
"Are you OK?"
Euan smiled broadly.
"Fine now that you're here. Where have they been keeping you? Are you hungry? Have they fed you? Has anyone hurt you?" Euan was touching his hair, his face, his arms and sides, checking for injuries in the same way he had since Róan was a child.
Róan shook his head, still smiling.
"I'm fine, Eu." he glanced at Ayo. "Let's get in the water."
They stripped, Róan trying furtively to examine his brother. There was a bruise on his right hip which he noted, but Euan kept a suspiciously close hold on his towel.

In the pool, as Róan had predicted, Ayo was distracted by the arrival of three people he knew, a fact which afforded Euan and Róan far greater privacy as they huddled together in one corner of the warm water.
"We have to get out of here."
Róan was anxious. Euan looked concerned for a moment before answering.
"We need to slow down and think, Ro."
Euan moved to a submerged bench near to one of the pool walls, leaning back against the edge. Róan sat next to him, balancing mostly on the edge of the perch.
"Euan, please, there's this wolfe. They said that he's my mate and they want me to -"
"I know."
"Euan, I can't do that." Róan's voice was lowered.
Euan looked pensive for a moment before responding, looking directly at his brother.
"Ro, I know that you remember Stephen. It wasn't good, when we were with him. You've seen some things that you never should have. It was my fault, that part - I should have kept us both better."
"Euan, you were doing the best you could. You didn't know - "
"But it's not always like that, Róan. What was between Stephen and I was not right. It's meant to be different. And it will be different, for you."
Róan regarded his brother carefully.
"Euan? You're scaring me here."
Euan smiled a little at his brother, then reached out one hand to smooth back a few loose strands of the thick dark hair that Róan had pulled back out of his face.
"You're a lot older than you once were, Ro, but I think sometimes I still forget. You're not fourteen anymore. You're old enough now to see things differently."
"Euan, what's going on?"
Euan traced a line between some of the dark freckles on Róan's face. His voice was dreamy, distant.
"You were always so lucky, Ro. You're so pretty - it keeps you out of trouble."
Róan tensed. The way his brother was talking...
"Euan, what's going on?" Róan's voice was fearful now, bleating. Euan didn't respond, just began braiding the loose bits of hair between his fingers.
"Euan!" Róan was panicking again. "What's going on?"
Euan stopped braiding and looked his brother square in the eyes.
"I think you already know."
The words hit Róan like an anchor and now he felt the dropping feeling like he was sinking, falling, and his world was collapsing around him.
"Euan, no..."
There were tears in Euan's eyes.
"Please don't, please don't make me do this, please Euan."
"Ro - "
"Why do you want to stay here?!"
"I don't think I can leave for a while."
Róan exploded.
"Leave? You mean escape! What are you talking about? You're insane. You've lost it - of course we have to get out of here! This is a wolfish compound. We are in the enemy's stronghold. Anything could happen to us. You were the one who was always telling me how dangerous and violent wolfes were, and now you want to shack up with one! You want me to whore myself out? What's wrong with you? Have you lost all your loyalty? You don't care about me; you don't care about the clan!"
Now it was Euan's turn to be angry.
"Forget about the clan, Róan."
Róan was horrified.
"How can you say that?!"
"Twenty years we served that clan, Róan. You and me. It took our childhood, and our dreams, and our family, and then it came for our father, and he saved them all, but they didn't care. The clan took him anyway. And then it came for me, and it took my freedom and my happiness and my safety and twice, almost my life, and then -"
Euan inhaled deeply.
"And then it came for you. I would not - WILL NOT let them take any more from us."
Euan seized his brother by the shoulders.
"Do you understand? Do you understand that, Róan? I loved that clan more than my own life and I became a slave to them. I will not let that happen to you. They were never good to us, our caretakers. They beat us, Róan, they left Father to die, they tried to starve you, and when that was not torture enough, they gave us to Stephen." Euan spoke the name with a conviction of disgust that Róan had not heard him use before.
"And now our leaders have left. Left! Gone again, abandoned their own sons and subs and soldiers! Well, good riddance. We don't need them now, and we never will again."
Euan finally released him, and Róan sat back, shocked into silence. Across the pool, Ayo glanced over at them but continued his conversation.
"I love you, Róan. That's why I want the best for you. And I want the best for my babies, too."
Euan looked up to meet his brother's eyes meaningfully. Róan's own eyes went wide.
"No."
The sick feeling was back again, but Ro worked to suppress it. Euan was crying.
"How?"
"I got changed as soon as I got here. Then he took me. Just five days back, right after my change. The nurses told me in the center two mornings ago. Five days, but I swear I can feel them, Ro. I feel different. Please try to understand. I can't take them away yet. I can't leave. They'll die with us, you know they will. If we happened to be unlucky enough to find our clan again, they might try to protect them, but we have no doctors or hospitals, or operating tables or medicines. We don't know anything about this kind of pregnancy. If there were a complication with the delivery, we'd be lost. We have no homes and few weapons to defend ourselves. And with another human group? Then what? A life of fear and being constantly hunted, constantly running? We can't even leave the underground. What life would that be for them? They can go to school here, Róan, and read books and eat good food and play in the sunlight and have a doctor if they are sick." Euan seized his brother's hand in a pleading grip. "Please, Róan, don't try to leave me now. Not when I need you so much. Please stay with me."
Róan took his hand back and turned away.
"Who is he?"
"Who?"
"Your wolfe."
"His name is Loban."
Róan swirled the water.
"Is he kind to you?"
Euan nodded vigorously.
"Very. He brings me fresh fruit and new foods to try, everyday. We go to all the meals together, and for walks in the morning. He's been teaching me about the pack and he asks for my opinion on things. He's kind of sweet, actually; patient, and gentle, and really slow to anger."
Róan played with the water in his hands.
"I told him about you." Euan went on, gently. "He's very excited to meet you."
Róan shrugged in an off-hand sort of way.
"I have a wolfe, too."
"Oh?" Euan didn't press, sensing that there was more his brother wanted to say.
"His name is Marik."
"Oh."
"He breached me."
"Oh!" there was a pause, then: "Are you OK?"
"Yes. It hurt a little before, but it's gone now." Anxious eyes turned to his brother. "You'll bear witness, right? That it's done?"
Euan nodded, but his face held concern.
"Is he the one they want to be your mate?"
Róan nodded.
"Do you like him?"
"I don't really know him. I've only been awake since this morning."
"He did it this morning?"
"Last night."
Róan seemed disinclined to elaborate, and so Euan let that pass. A few moments of awkward silence passed between them, then Róan spoke.
"It wouldn't have been any different in the clan, would it have?"
Euan hesitated. Now that his tirade was over, he seemed reluctant to talk about the clan.
"You know what it was like, Róan. You remember the way they were, the soldiers. They took whatever and whoever they felt they needed."
Róan seemed to be thinking hard.
"They gave that kid away before. When we needed passage through Lout territory. Do you remember that? To be a wife to a Lout commander. The Louts said they would raise him. He looked so scared when they put him in the car."
Euan kept his silence.
"His name was Liam. He was my friend." Róan thought some more. "He was so young. Would they have given me away, too, when it was convenient?"
"Probably not." Euan looked shifty. "There were...plans for you."
Róan listened attentively to his brother. Here was a story he'd never heard before. "You were favored for your looks among the clan elders. It was the one good thing about Stephen, that he kept them from you."
Róan looked down at his hands.
"I would rather have had you safe."
Euan shook his brother's shoulders.
"Hey. Look, I'm here now, aren't I? I'm fine, ok? Fine. And I'm not going anywhere."
Róan bit his lip.
"What were the plans?"
"After Stephen - they came to me. They said we'd been ducking the law long enough. You were older now, not a child anymore. They thought you should be a gift."
"To who?"
"Carrilan."
Róan's head swam.
"They were going to separate us?"
Euan nodded.
"The last four days, I was so worried; terrified that I wouldn't be able to get us out of there, wouldn't be able to figure out a solution until it was too late. We needed a way out. And then this happened. It was like a godsend."
Róan sat back in the water, quietly digesting this new piece of information.
"So if we were to go back -"
"There is no going back. I won't lose you."
Róan laughed mirthlessly.
"So there's not really much of a choice for us, is there?" there was a pause, then: "We are disloyal."
"No, Róan, we're not. The clan was disloyal to us, from the beginning. With all our father did for them, they still allowed us to be treated the way we were."
Róan bit his lip and Euan could tell he was trying to keep from crying.
"It's not fair."
"I know, little brother."
"This is not fair."
Euan moved closer to him and put an arm around his shoulders.
"I know."
"I wanted to lead the clan."
"I know." Euan hadn't the heart to tell him it was a completely unattainable goal for a designated sub. But here, things might be different.
"It's not fair." Róan repeated, almost whining now.
"I know." Euan turned his brother bodily to face him. "But this is what it is. Now, please, Róan, listen to me - you'll be good, won't you? I know I didn't raise you entirely in the clan ways, but haven't I brought you up well? I taught you how to behave. You know what to do. You'll be a good sub, won't you? You won't get into trouble or make your husband angry, will you? If you - " Euan cut himself off and bit his lip, but his eyes were still pleading when they met Róan's, and Ro realized that no matter what situation they were in, his brother's concern, first and foremost, always fell to keeping Róan safe, in the only way he knew how.
"Yes, I'll be good." Euan looked relieved, and Ayo chose that moment to reappear.
He looked back and forth, curious, between the two brothers.
"Is everything OK?"
Róan nodded.
"I have a question."
"Go on."
"If I...mate Marik..."
"Yes?" Ayo prodded gently.
"Will I still get to see my brother?"
"Of course. Anytime you like. I swear it."
Róan processed this.
"Then I'll have him."
Ayo looked pleased.

After their bath, Ayo, Euan, and Róan went for lunch in Róan's new home. Euan was given supplements, which he turned his nose up at until Róan ground them into his food. Ayo chattered on about everything that would need to be done for both of them in the next few weeks, and appointed himself their new best friend and social guide.

"You'll have to learn Russian."
"Russian?" Róan made a face as he tasted something purple. "What for?"
"The largest wolfe territory is in what was once Russia, so it's become quite a commonly used language among us. But don't worry, you'll pick it up quickly."
"How large is BlackForest?" Euan asked between small bites of meat. Ayo watched him pick over his food sympathetically.
"Hey." he said gently, covering Euan's hand with his own. "I bet you probably feel kind of nauseated right now, huh?"
Euan looked slightly embarassed and shrugged noncommittally. Ayo smiled a little at him.
"Well, I know you don't feel in the mood for it, but you have to eat." Euan looked up at him and glanced sideways at Róan. Ayo touched his hand, refocusing his attention. "You need at least six hundred etoks a day for them to be healthy. You want them to be healthy, don't you?"
Róan watched his brother as Euan cautiously picked the fork up and took a few more reluctant bites. Ayo seemed satisfied.
"BlackForest is actually one of the smaller wolfe territories. It stretches from Carolina to the Georgia coast, and has a population of about 300,000, increasing every day." He winked at Róan. "And every night."