Helping Terra

The next morning found Morgana in the bathroom vomiting, Tearnyn with a minor headache, and Yurik lounging on the bed with a grin. He did a finger wave to his friend as she stumbled back into the room. She returned his gesture with her middle finger. "Shouldn't have drank so much."
"I was doing it for Tearnyn. She betrayed me and didn't drink anything." The red head with shocking blonde roots glared.
"I agreed to drink. I drank. Now I have a headache. It's not my fault you drank enough to get two large muscular men drunk. I am impressed though." The youngest of the trio smiled. "What are you going to do about Mr. Calvin?"
"Who the hell is Calvin?"
Tearnyn and Yurik exchanged looks. "The young man that you flirted with, banged, and then continued to drink with." Yurik replied.
"Oh, him. I thought he was a figment of my imagination." She shrugged and then regretted the act. "Shit. Makes sense why I no longer have the urge to fuck the first male in sight. Other than you, dearest Yurik. No offense but it'd feel incestuous."
"None taken. I'd turn you down."
"I'm going for a walk. I need to clear my head." Tearnyn stood up and waved to her friends. Once outside she breathed in the spring air with a smile. It felt good to be out of the inn. Her mind wandered to her conversation with Sin. She groaned while walking down the street. She was trying not to think about it. What was she going to do? As she walked she ran into a few wolves and ended up talking with them. By noon she made it to the tavern for something to eat.
Cora greeted her with a knowing grin. "How's your friend?"
"Severely hungover. She won't be functioning today. Why?"
"Quite a few wolves were here last night and saw how drunk she was. Also saw her disappear with a young man for a while."
"I don't like to gossip about my friends, Cora."
"I respect that, it's just different around here. Yes, we have sex out of season but it's rare to see a wolf randomly hookup."
"Well, alcohol tends to do that to people."
"Personal experience?"
"I've seen it. I'm relationship before bed kind of girl."
"Smart. Why did you three get drunk last night? It's a rare sight."
"Yurik didn't actually drink, but I had a crappy day and Morgana wanted an excuse."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"I'm good. Thanks, Cora. I'll see you later, I need to go for a run." The bartender nodded and waved as the young she-wolf left. Unlike Morgana, Tearnyn tended to get too much energy when she was close to her time of the month. It was like she had ADHD and needed to run all the time. Usually she burned it off by training, going on missions, or running with her pack. Now however she's had too much down time that's caused the energy to build up. Once she was on the outskirts of the village, she stripped off her clothes and started running. Normally Tearnyn would see if she could visit the pack again, but today she didn't feel like dealing with Sin.
To be honest, she didn't know how long she ran for, but like the day before she only stopped when she was tired. Her four paws trotted to a nearby tree with shade under it. She panted from the run and collapsed enjoying the rest. She only closed her eyes for a few moments when she felt someone walking close to her. Her breathing became deeper as Tearnyn tried to catch the person's scent. Perking up her ears. She opened her eyes to see Elrry almost in front of her. Shifting back, she smiled, "Hi, Elder Elrry."
"Good afternoon, Miss Tearnyn. How is your day going?" He sat down next to me and offered his deer skin cloak.
Tearnyn gratefully took it feeling the slight chill without clothes or fur. "Okay, I just have too much energy today. How have you been?"
"Quite well although the Silver Back wolves tell me you and Sin had a fight."
"They told you?"
"Communicated. Especially your dear friend Soft Whimper. Is everything alright?"
Great this again. "I hope so. It wasn't anything big. I annoyed Sin yesterday and I think he was getting me back."
"Dear, I do not believe Sin knows how to do that."
"Not intentionally maybe." She groans and notes how often she's been doing that lately. "I don't know. He's complicated!"
Elrry couldn't help but laugh. "I do not believe he sees it that way. He lives among wolves, creatures that have no hidden agenda. They are straight forward in everything. You dear, are something he has never come across before."
"He knows you. We're both werewolves."
"We are, but I am a simple old man who has no reason to be anything but honest and simple. You are young and so very different. And might I add female."
"What does my gender have to do with anything?"
"The opposite sex always confuses a person. Can we ever really know what our gender counter part feels or acts. He has never interacted with a female werewolf other than Alpha Roik and that was always in a professional setting. You are anything but profession, young, not from this world which makes you already different in acting, and someone close to his age. He does not interact with anyone his age. He may not know how to act around you."
"So he snaps and tells me I'm the reason trouble find his pack?" Tearnyn deadpanned.
"He said that?" Elrry's voice rose in surprise.
"Close to. He said trouble follows me."
"That silly young man."
"Maybe he's right. A lot of the time I'm there we end up defending the territory. Hell, the first time I met the pack they had to protect me from fáviti."
"Miss Tearnyn, they defend their territory even when you aren't there. You do not need to worry about bringing trouble when it is a way of life for those who have territory."
"It's kind of a new concept for me. My family's territory was a ship and we were ambassadors. Never really had to fight to keep Myrra."
"That is strange to think of a ship as your territory."
"Well, when you are constantly traveling the stars, a ship becomes your home, your territory. My móðir once told me of a time when they had to share Myrra with another pack. This was back when the pack was still a military unit. She said it was interesting and there was nearly a fight." The young woman chuckled sadly. "One of the wolves had a brain tumor that caused her to be paranoid especially of móðir. The wolf chased her through the ship and into the built in forest. Everything turned out okay though. The wolf was saved and no one died."
"Amazing. How long was the other pack on board for?"
"Couple weeks I believe, maybe a month. I don't remember."
"That is impressive. Alphas barely meet unless they have to and even then everyone is walking on eggshells."
"I've noticed. The military is trained to deal with close quarters with other packs. An alpha has to be able to handle their pack and being in close quarters with other packs and Alphas before they are allowed to be one of a unit. It's quite complicated actually."
"I am glad to live here where it is far more simpler."
"It is nice." Tearnyn closes her eyes and tilts her head back.
"I do not want to upset you further Miss Tearnyn, but will you be happy here if you are unable to return to your home?"
She didn't answer right away. "I don't know. I've thought of it from time to time and I do enjoy being here, but... I don't know if I can call it home without letting my family know I am okay. My móðir has lost so much already, I do not know if she could cope with me gone."
"What do you mean?"
"Her parents, my afi and amma, disowned her when she was about seventeen. She went to live with my Uncle Jayce but he was in the military. He was turned and part of a werewolf unit. His Alpha ended up being killed on a mission and... He was taken from the unit and not given an Alpha." Elrry inhaled sharply. "It takes about a year or so for a turned werewolf to go completely feral. My móðir was the one that shot him, put him out of his misery. She lost everything and couldn't tell anyone what happened. The government wouldn't let her. Later she was tortured during a war between our government and some rebels. When she was saved, she ended up killing her pack mate after he was infected with a virus that causes a wolf to become mindless and feral. So imagine all that and then losing your daughter. Everyone has a breaking point and my uncle was almost her's. I don't know if she'll recover from me disappearing. I have to get home."
"Would you come back if you could?"
"Hmm." She opened her eyes looking up the tree. "I think I would. It is lovely here and I'd love to travel. This is where everything started and I couldn't abandon my friends here. I'd miss them almost as much as I miss my family."
"I hope you are able to go home, but visit. I know quite a few wolves that would miss you."
"I'd miss them. I didn't want to make friends here." Elrry looked down at Tearnyn in surprise. "I knew it'd be hard to let them go if I was able to go home. I wanted a clean cut. No one would really get hurt... but I'm social and I didn't really have anything else to do. I've had months to interact with other werewolves and packs so naturally I would become friends with some. That's the part that's going to be the hardest. Leaving everyone I've come to know and see as friends."
"You could return."
Tearnyn shook her head. "Not necessarily. I've seen how this place lives, I don't want my society coming in and fu-screwing things up. If they don't agree to what this world wants, I won't tell them. Neither would Morgana or Yurik."
"Would you get in trouble for not telling where you have been?"
"We may, but we would never betray this world's trust. Terra and her wolves have been through enough, they don't need my society interfering." With a sigh, she took off the cloak and handed it to Elrry. "I should be heading back. Thank you for sitting with me."
"It is always a pleasure. Until next time, Miss Tearnyn." The elder stood with a smile. He watched her shift to her wolf and bound back towards the village. He smiled to himself at how kinds she was. Draping the cloak over his shoulders, he started towards the Silver Back territory to check up on his friends. He knew how stressful this time of year was on the wolves thus wanting to make sure everyone was fine. Clearly one of the wolves wasn't and needed to be talked to about how he was feeling.