Red Is for Traitor

Life had finally settled down... well as much as it could with a two and half year old pup, a ten year old, a newly turned teenager, and twin one year olds (not mine). The world had settled down is what I mean. Hunters, humans, and werewolves had come to an agreement where peace was possible. It took over two years to finally negotiate everything, but after much determination and compromises wars and skirmishes had diminished to nearly none. Wolf packs were given back the territories they had lost at the beginning of the war and humans were able to live without fear of being randomly attacked or accosted.
Hunters still roamed around, but it was more to keep the peace between humans and wolf packs. With Phillip leading the hunters, he managed to return them to the Old Code. The Code where werewolves were able to live in peace so long as they do not harm any humans or on occasion other werewolves. The latter only applied if wolf packs sought them out.
Stories were made of the events that lead up to the final meeting. They told of heroes and villains. Of romance and devastation. Mia always brought back new stories to tell whenever she visited the cities and towns as a diplomat between the Moonshadow Pack and whoever she was meeting. She loved it. Although pack is everything to her, being able to go out and see the world without a tainted view suited her well. She was usually accompanied by Sage who managed to calm any environment he was in. The pups loved when she returned and would beg her to tell stories at night. Sometimes managing to stay up later than usual, but we pretended never to notice. On rare occasions she would bring someone back who wished to see the infamous Lobiera Village for themselves. They always looked in awe at the place that once held so many packs, that was the center of the werewolf movement, that had started it all. More importantly, they came to see the pack and villagers that stood up and joined together to prevent an extinction of a beautiful race. Whenever they ran into the pack their eyes would widen and all thoughts or questions they would have disappeared. It made many of us laugh at the sight.
It was especially funny whenever Sindri was nearby because even four years as Alpha he still never knew how to interact with his adoring fans. Sionnach and I often stared with grins to see who would break eye contact first. Usually it was the new comer because poor Sindri still had a hard time keeping his eyes from slowly bleeding silver. He was able to handle the increased power that came with his higher position, but small things such as keeping his iris color turquoise still proved to be something he could not control fully. Whenever a staring contest lasted too long and I watched as my mate became more tense, I would wander over and greet the person while looping my arm around Sindri's waist. At least for the time being the person's attention was on me and not him.
Trista sadly never fully recovered from Corbin's death. She had more bad days than good where she could spend almost a week in her wolf form rarely moving from her chosen spot. At night she would let out a heartbreaking howl before trotting off to her bed to fitfully sleep. We tried to help her at first, but over time we stopped pushing and gave her a constant presence instead of trying to force her to move on. We all understood that she was pushed to her limit. She had lost so much and was not able to recover from it. On rare days she would visit me in the cottage where she would lay by the fireplace as still as stone. If a villager came by while she was there, they would leave her a little food in a bowl before wishing me a good day and leaving. Everyone understood for everyone had lost someone close to them and I think that understanding bound us together for the rest of our lives. We were friends, comrades, and now to a degree family. No one outside the war or this village would understand the strong bonds that united us. Even if the villagers were not technically pack, everyone of the Moonshadow wolves would defend the villagers even if it meant death. A sad beauty came from this war and was shown everyday by how they treated Trista. Nothing could break us apart.
Arawn became Sindri's Beta soon after the meetings started going well. We were weary at first that the other pack members would feel slighted at his sudden rise in rank, but they approved the choice. Mia, Ivy, and Sage all seemed as if it was natural that Arawn would assume Beta if Sindri ever became Alpha. The transition was near seamless and he was great at the job. He and Sionnach were a formidable pair. Where he excelled at politics, she was a Huntress unlike any other. If someone was not afraid of Sindri and Arawn leading the pack, they thought twice about having to face our Beta's mate. A few times during meetings (or from what I hear since I was removed for a while) the other wolves or hunters would argue and make a few threats, while Arawn and Sindri always kept their cool Sionnach would give them one look and they would be silenced. Our Alpha and Beta rarely had to raise their voices or make threats for the Huntress said enough with her eyes. She only stepped down as guard when she became pregnant much like I had. She grumbled a lot, wanting to go to the meetings to make sure our mates were not pushed around. I always laughed, knowing I had sounded like her when Sindri had me step down as primary liaison for the pack. We understood why we needed to step away from the negotiations, but neither of us liked it. We wanted to know how everything was going and make sure everything went alright. It did in the end, but that did not make waiting around any better.

Today marked the four year anniversary of the final battle. The village was decorated top to bottom in decor while villagers, packs, and hunters came from all over to celebrate the day. It was to honor the peace we had finally managed to acquire and to remember those who had given their lives for us to live. I had just finished getting ready when I walked into the kitchen to find my youngest son covered in flour looking utterly confused. "Corbin Grey Moonshadow, what are you doing?" I tried to keep a straight face, but knew a smile was trying to crack through.
He looked up at me with Warm caramel eyes and replied, "I no know. Flour came nowhere."
Unable to be mad at him I bent down and kept my laughter down. "Were you trying to sneak a pastry?" He looked down and blushed. "Normally I would tell you no dessert tonight for trying to sneak some before dinner, but," I saw his face light up at not being scolded. "Today is a special day. However," I leveled him with a serious look, "Do not do it again. Understood?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, but we need to clean you up. To your room." He nodded again and dashed towards the room he shared with Zane and Shen. I chuckled to myself at the energy the pup had. By the time I arrived he was already stripped out of his clothes and trying to put on the ones I had laid out moments earlier. "Do you need help?" I asked by the door.
"No. Got it." He managed to say as he struggled with his shirt. After a moment of him still struggling, I walked over and righted it enough so his head would easily slip through the right hole. "Thank you mommy!" He grinned with eyes lighting up happily.
"Put on your pants and we can go see Papa, Zane, and Shanendowa." He quickly struggled through putting on pants and then made grabby hands. "Words please."
"Up." He thought a second before adding, "Please." I easily picked him up and began the walk to the village. As we strolled through the woods I asked him different questions about plants and animals we passed. Unsurprisingly he knew most of them and only had to be reminded of a few.
"SHEN!" He cried gleefully, spotting his sister in the crowd. The young girl turned and waited patiently as I placed Corbin down and he ran over to her. His attachment to his sister was strong, making it nearly impossible to sometimes separate the two.
"Where is everyone else, Shen?" I asked once I was close to the pair.
"Zane went to see Papa while everyone else is already in the square waiting for the annual speech. Papa looks like he's ready to bolt." Sindri still hated speaking in front of large crowds.
"We better make sure he does not." I smiled down at my adopted daughter.
She nodded, "Uncle Arawn will have to make it if Papa doesn't and we could be here all night." We found the rest of the pack near the front and 0ff to the side, with the exception of Trista who was probably at the cottage.
"You may want to go stop your mate from running." Sionnach whispered with laughter in her voice. "Arawn has had to wrangle him twice already and although I do love my mate I don't want to hear him talk for four hours."
"Agreed." I smirked. "Zane, Shen, Corbin. Be good. I have to go make sure Papa does not flee."
"Good luck, Mak!" Zane grinned.
I easily made my way to where all the Alphas, village leaders, and hunters were. I smiled a greeting to them, but otherwise bypassed them to where Sindri stood pacing off to the side. In his own little world I easily snuck up on him before wrapping my arms around his waist. "Hello Wolf, what has you ready to bolt?"
His tense body relaxed under my embrace. "Hello Red." He bent his head down and kissed me. "I have fought battles and been captures and tortured yet I can't make a speech in front of family and friends. What kind of Alpha does that make me?"
"One of action over words."
"You know me so well." He rubbed his cheek against mine.
"I do." I saw Constable looking at us as though he wanted to butt in but was not comfortable doing so. "I believe your audience awaits, my love."
He groaned. "Can't I slip away and not do this."
"Do we want Arawn to speak instead?"
He was quiet for a mere second before straightening up. "Speech time. I'll be right back."
Later that night I sat off to the side watching Zane trying to teach Corbin how to dance and Shen laughing at how terrible of a teach he was. Shen and Zane got into a little tiff but quickly it was resolved by laughter and Corbin falling on his butt looking once again startled as to how he ended up there.
"How are you doing this evening Miss Red?" Sindri sat behind me with his legs on either side and his arms enveloping me.
As I leaned back I replied, "Wonderful. You?"
"Better now that the speech is over and people have stopped trying to talk to me." Instead of talk I heard grovel.
"Your speech was beautiful like it is every year." We watched our pups quietly before I whispered, "Who do you have in mind as your successor?"
"Thinking I'm stepping down anytime soon?" I shook my head even though I knew it was rhetorical. Growing serious he rested his chin on my head. "Possibly Shen. She's quiet but has the demeanor of someone with authority and knows how to be patient with others. As we can easily see now." Having grown frustrated with his little brother's inability to learn the dance moves, Zane pawned Corbin off to Shen who easily took up the task. "Zane would make an excellent Beta for her. He's good at what he knows and can hold authority when he wants to, but has no patients for politics. Sometimes he's a bit too opinionated and blunt for situations."
"Do you think he'll be mad if you tell them our plans?"
"Maybe a little annoyed at first, but he'll end up liking being a Beta better. What do you think?"
"I agree with you. Corbin sadly is not in the running, he is a bit too... spacey to hold either position. I know he is only two, but he always looks so startled when something happens." Sindri snorted at the accuracy of his son's description. "I found him covered in flour today."
"Oh?"
"I asked him how it happened and he looked like he honestly had no idea. I do not know if it is a ploy, but he sat there looking so confused and helpless. I laughed."
"Why was he covered in flour?"
"He tried to sneak a treat."
"Punishment enough?" Sindri laughed into my hair.
"I thought so, although I warned him not to do it again."
"Good, although I wish I could have seen it."
"Knowing him, you probably will."
He chuckled again before sighing. "Want to go for a walk?"
"I would love to." Sindri whispered for Shen and Zane to watch Corbin before standing up and offering me his hand. We did not wandering far, but separated our selves enough that we did not run into many people.
We stopped my the tree that once and still on occasion haunted my dreams. There he pulled me into a hug and whispered, "I'm glad you came back and stayed."
"I am glad I returned too. I am glad I returned home." He let out a pleased rumbled as his lips lightly touched mine. It took a while to find, but the journey back home, to family, and love was worth it.