Red Is for Traitor

I was talking to a woman in her third month of pregnancy when the door to the house swung open. I stood up annoyed at the intrusion. I was about to scold the young man when he gasped out, "Miss Macha, you must come see! Wolves are coming!" He looked distressed.
Quite startled at the news I looked at the woman who was equally shocked as I. Regaining some composure, she nodded for me to leave; we would pick up later. I smiled down at her and turned to the man. "Show me." Nodding his head, he rushed out of the house like a bat out of the entrance to Hades. Cursing my layered skirt, I ran after the young man and nearly collided with him when he suddenly stopped. Where we stood on top of a small hill, he pointed East. Following his finger my eyes widened. A pond of humanoids and wolves slowly made their way towards our small village. Letting out a sigh, I turned to the man next to me. "Go into the woods and inform the pack we have more guests. Be swift, I do not want this pack to wait long. I fear they have traveled a great ways to find us. Go!" The man darted off and disappeared into the woods. Knowing they were still at least a mile off, I turned and went in search of the Elders and Constable.
"Elders. Constable." I curtsied. "We have guests coming our way from the East.... Many guests."
For a moment none of the men or women knew how to respond. Finally Elder Hawthorn spoke, "Then we shall greet them. Only a few of us so as not to make them feel threatened. Myself, the Constable, and Macha shall meet them when they arrive." The Elders nodded and the three of us went to the outskirts of the village.
When they finally arrived, three wolves moved towards us while the rest stayed back. It was then that I realized we were not dealing with one pack but perhaps three. I was designated greeter since I worked so closely with the Moonshadow pack. "Greetings." I curtsied and kept my sight line below theirs eyes but still on their face. "Welcome to the Moonshadow Territory. I am Macha Lightwood local medical woman, behind me are Elder Mary Hawthorn and The Constable."
The three wolves looked at us and then each other before introducing themselves. The tallest and more experienced looking werewolf went first. "I'm Alpha David Nightwood of the Nightwood pack." He was dark skinned with cropped black hair and hard olive green eyes. His skin was marred with silver scars that gave him a no nonsense attitude about him. His voice was deep and seemed to vibrate through your being.
The next to speak was a woman in her late thirties. "I am Alpha Leena of the Long Horn Valley Pack." She had shoulder length caramel hair with skin that was a shade darker with light hazel eyes. While David held an obvious power about him, her power of authority was more like a cat. It may seem harmless, but never test her for her claws will sharpen and tear you apart. Her voice was deep for a woman and rolled over you like the gentle waves of the sea.
Last the youngest of the three spoke, "I am Be-Alpha Nyro Herb of the Grassland pack." He looked the worse for wear out of the three Alphas. He was the same height as Leena, with skin between hers and David's. His hair was wavy, went to the middle of the neck, and within it held a dark feather from either a crow or raven. A long scar from above his eyebrow to an inch below his eye showed for all to see on his right side and accentuated his ice blue eyes.
"Again welcome to the territory." I began, but David interrupted me.
"Where is the Alpha of this territory?" Leena glared at the older man's rudeness, but did not comment.
I nodded unoffended. "Alpha Corbin Moonshadow should be here soon. Someone was sent to inform him of your arrival." I looked behind them to see many weary wolves. "While we wait would you like any water or do wounds need to be attended to?"
"We are fine." David snapped.
"Alpha David!" Leena growled. "They are being kind, don't be rude." Nyro looked a little lost and unsure how to act. Although he technically learned how to be Alpha since he was once a Beta, that does not mean he was ready for the title.
The Alphas bickered until they felt another Alpha approaching them. They quickly stopped and watched Corbin and Sindri running towards the group. They came to a stop to my left. "Hello, I'm sorry for my late arrival. I am Alpha Corbin Moonshadow, the Alpha of this territory. To my right is Beta Sindri Moonshadow." The other Alphas reintroduced themselves and their packs. "Welcome to the territory. How may we be of service?"
The three Alphas looked at each other and this time Leena spoke. "We have all lost our territory to hunter." She spat the words. "Our numbers have dropped and we have nowhere to go. We were hoping to seek refuge with the village and pack that drove hunters away."
Still surprised about the small village being known, Corbin asked, "Are we really that well known?"
This time David looked surprised, "Yes. Among the hunters you are the place that made them look shameful, to packs you brought hope. Showed that it's possible to run hunters off your territory."
"I see." Corbin retreated into deep thought. He could not leave territory-less packs on their own, but could the woods and villagers handle five packs living together? "You may regroup here, but remember the humans are our friends. They defended this land just as much as we did. Will you be able to exist with them in harmony?"
"Yes. We shall try." The three Alphas said together.
"Good, I will hold you to it. If you mainly remain in the woods you will see very few humans. Miss Macha is the only human who is a constant presence in the woods. She tends to work as the liaison between my pack and the village. I mean no disrespect to the villagers, "He turned to nod at the Elder and Constable, "But my pack is the most protective of her. Thus be warned, if anyone hurts her there will most likely be a fight. Please be careful around her." I wanted to roll my eyes but with unknown Alphas I refrained from doing so.
"Understood."
"Also, we have another pack with us until the Wolf's Moon. You will meet the Triton pack when we enter the woods."
"We will respect them as long as they respect us." David nodded and the two Alphas mimicked him.
"Excellent. Welcome to the territory and if you would follow me, we shall head to the Den." Corbin turned to the two other humans. "Elder Hawthorn and Constable." They nodded to him and then the pond of werewolves headed to the woods.
"Are you coming?" Sindri asked before following the rest.
I shook my head. "I have a pregnant woman to see, but I will return to the woods when I am done."
"Alright." He took two steps before pausing. "Would Zane be able to stay at the cottage tonight?"
I cocked my head, "If you want him to he is welcome."
"Thank you."
"Like having him sleep over is a bother." I watched him grin as he walked away. After a moment I headed back to the village to see my patient.
Four days later the village filled with both villagers and werewolves to celebrate the Wolf Moon. There was a feast, music, games, treats, decorations, and dancing. For one night everyone could forget about the terror the future held and live in the moment. For the first time in a while you could hear most of the wolves laughing and enjoying themselves. For the first time since the last three packs arrived, werewolves and villagers mingles with each other not caring about the difference. I weaved through the crowds smiling at the atmosphere.
When the music changed to a slower song that I recognized, Dr. Pent walked up to me. "Miss Lightwood would you care to dance? I need someone who knows the steps." He smiled with laughter in his eyes.
"It is because I am city raised is it not?" I raised a brow as I accepted his hand.
"Of course." I snorted and entered the dancing area. While others were already dancing, Dr. Pent bowed and then I curtsied. Our formal dance began with a twirl and fell into a waltz. To my right I heard Arawn whistle and cheer for me. I sent a playful glare his way as I stuck out my tongue. With a laugh I was gently pushed out, spun in so the doctor and I faced the same way, spun out, and finally pulled in.
While I danced, Arawn watched with a smile on his face. "Sometimes I forget Max knows how to dance and be an actually lady."
"I didn't know she could." Sindri watched with Zane in his arms so the latter could watch the dancing.
"We were raised in the city, of course dancing was drilled into her head. Along with everything else she learned at etiquette school."
"Both of you were?" Alpha Leena David, and Triton all walked up beside the Beta and two Thetas.
"Yes. We did not return to the village until our Grandmother was ill." Arawn replied.
"You two are siblings?" Leena asked in surprise.
"Twins. I think I am going to cut in." He excused himself and smiled at the doctor. I was passed from the Doctor to my brother and continued to dance. While dancing with Dr. Pent was formal and stayed to the waltz, dancing with Arawn was a bit more free. We did the same steps as before but made them our own at the same time. None of the steps were perfect, but rather flowed with an energy all their own.
When the dance ended and a new one began, Zane demanded to be put down. "Poppa down, I wana dance with Mak!" Once on the ground he ran other to me. "Me turn!"
"Look what the doctor started." I chuckled and let Zane pull me back to the dance floor.
"I'm surprised you let a human who is not pack near your son." David commented as he watched me spin Zane.
"She's known him for over a year, they're thick as thieves. Even if I told her no, Zane would find her and demand their play dates." Sindri replied easily with a shrug.
"Miss Lightwood is Zane's best friend." Alpha Triton added.
"She is a unique woman." Leena observed. The other wolves nodded and watched the rest of the dance before breaking apart. The festival ended with all the wolves howling to the moon. I stood in awe as they synchronized.
The days, weeks, and months after the celebration brought more packs and talk of organized war. The hunters were not stopping as they strategically attacked packs, making them run from their territories. Almost every other day displaced packs found their way to us to the point that we had a greeting and running committee. War had arrived at the small village and it was apparently up to the Moonshadow pack to govern over the scattered wolf packs and try to form an army.
I sat in on meetings between Alphas and Betas while the other members practiced fighting as wolves, humans, and with ranged weapons. The wolves grumbled at first about learning to use a bow, but eventually most learned to like it. As the spring came to rule over the world, wolf packs came to regroups and strategize and then left to fight.
During a meeting at the end of March, I finally spoke up. "I do not agree with where this war is heading." The meeting attendees went silent and looked at me confused. I leaned back and stroked my lips. "We are talking as if we want to wipe out hunters and humans. Is that our goal?" The Alphas eyes shifted around but I continued on without notice. "Humans are misinformed or too afraid to try and challenge society thus they are only the minority of the problem and should not be killed just because they are what they are. Like any species some humans are not meant to fight and should not be forced to join a side. Hunters on the other hand-"
"Should be taken out." A younger Alpha snarled. "They killed thousands of wolves and are running us off our territories!"
My eyes slid to his. "Hunters were not always such a radical group and as such should be given a chance to return to their code."
"Why should we allow it!"
"Because not all want to fight wolves. Yes, many who still follow the code still do not like werewolves, but if we do not harm them or humans then they are willing to leave us alone. Their purpose is to deal with ferals and out of control packs, not the everyday peaceful pack."
"And how do you knows this? How can we trust your information?"
Corbin flashed his eyes at the young Alpha, "Respect one of your hosts, Alpha Birdwatcher."
Unperturbed, I continued, "I have reliable sources. " I was in contact with Phillip, but only Corbin knew to protect the Hunter that did not like the war at all. "We cannot turn this into a genocide or we will never break through the label that werewolves are all mindless killing machines. We need to start thinking through our actions. Try to convince hunters that we are not the 'monsters' they believe us to be. Is our purpose in this fight revenge or protecting our freedom, our land, our pack?" When I saw Trista motion for me, I stood, "I believe we need to think what our end goal is before we continue this fight. Excuse me." I bowed my head and headed out to where the older wolf was. "Yes?"
Trista sighed, "You have a letter from a friend." She placed a small square envelope in my hands. It was ordinary with my name written on the front and a blob of wax to seal it.
Confused I thanked her and walked to be alone. Tearing the seal, I slipped out the paper, and read over the eight words written on it. Inhaling sharply, I looked up and tried to find a certain wolf. I began walking around until I found him. "Arawn!" I called after he let go of the bow string. I bit my lip and waited from him to drop his bow and run over to me.
"Max, what is wrong?" His voice was laced with worry. I silently passed him the note that read: You're mother is gravely ill. I am sorry. It took him a little to finally look away from the paper. "What do we do?"
"I do not know..." I trailed off. A whine escaped his lips as he pulled me into a hug.