Razo had called for her to search for Ferdie while he pinned down the materials he needed and he hadn’t given her the impression that he’d had the time to explain the situation. She hadn’t bothered to ask, as she was an individual who understood even the most subtle of cues, and he’d only given the very simple instruction that all she would need to do was follow the trail and scent of blood. Her ordinarily sprightly features took on a dark look, but she nodded and took off to hunt for the husky grey male she’d met just two days before.

He wasn’t difficult to find. She bounded along his trail the moment she picked it up, and despite having very little connection to him her uneasiness began to spread until it became a clenching mass in the pit of her stomach. When she came upon him and witnessed the grisly sight he presented, she ground abruptly to a halt several metres away. The male’s throat and shoulder were agape and the raw stench of blood hung stagnantly in the air around him.

She howled lowly for Razo to alert him to their location, keeping her eyes firmly on the male in front of her should he turn on her out of surprise or wild hunger. She took one tentative step forward then, but stopped herself a second time before she opened her mouth. What happened, Ferdie? she asked, quite concerned but also thoroughly unwilling to close the distance at the moment when he sat hunched over the old ram carcass, tearing at it ravenously.

He didn’t answer the full extent of her question, but he did readily admit to his fault in whatever had happened and she both sensed his profound regret and saw it in his eyes. She respected his wish and didn’t pry further, although in part this was due to believing it was not in his best interest to be exerting himself more than necessary at that moment. He’d experienced enough mental and physical stress and she had no aspiration to heap it on thicker. Suddenly he lay his head down, however, and she came to the conclusion that a little extra exertion was absolutely necessary.

No, she barked at him firmly, trotting to his side and lowering her head closer to his, Listen to me: I need you to stay awake, Ferdie. A medic is on his way. Until Razo arrived she was intent on doing everything in her limited range of power under the circumstances to keep the burly male from slipping out of consciousness. Very slowly she moved to begin cleaning the dried blood away from the outer edges of his older and newly torn shoulder wound, fastidious so as not to disturb the clotting process. She stopped only once and briefly to speak.

Now, talk, she commanded. She didn’t care what the content was; he could babble like a baby if only it would keep his focus.

As she listened and kept a close eye on him for further signs of his consciousness slipping away, she thought of her conversation with Jace in which he’d described Ferdie as troubled, and why. She was coming to realise that her assessment had not been quite right; the conditions of emotion and instinct did not only rival each other in Ferdie—he thought himself above his lupine nature. At this point, she stopped cleaning his wound. Any further physical tending would wait until Razo arrived.

It seems to me you’re not in the presence of those who appreciate you, she offered delicately. In which case: why stay here? But she was not finished, and doubted he even had the energy to interrupt, so she continued with barely a pause, firm in her conviction. When you find balance in yourself, no one and nothing else will rule you. Your emotions and your instincts are blind, so you need to take charge with your mind. It comes easier for some of us than for others, but it isn’t beyond your control, she said, assuring him in her way that she did not equate her own experiences with his. Her phrasing was vague, but she sincerely doubted she’d have the chance to offer counselling of real substance.

Immediately after she finished speaking she let forth another low howl, should the tawny medic need further direction or urge. She’d known him to take his time. Glancing down at the great grey male from her sitting position right next to him, she allowed him any words he cared to add.

For the second time in one day Razo loped through the territory carrying two roughly torn pieces of supple birch bark with a layer of medicinal supplies stuck between. He was going to Ferdie for his own very selfish reasons, and not in fact because of the case Jace had pled or because he cared at all. Ferdie, for the moment, was still part of Swiftcurrent Creek; on the off-chance that Fox didn’t chase him from the pack he would need to be back in peak physical condition sooner than later.

Serengeti’s second howl had just ended on the breeze when he approached them at a brisk trot, slowed smoothly and stopped entirely not a metre in front of them, placing his neat little birch-wrapped package at his feet before he levelled his gaze.

I heard you the first time, he said gruffly, directing his words towards Ren although he looked only at the sorry sight of Ferdie while his hackles bristled in warning. If Ferdie made a move he didn’t like, he would lose no sleep over ending him then and there. And that’s enough navel-gazing. Doctor’s orders, you know, he said, giving a very slight and wolfish shrug as if it was out of his hands and he wouldn’t be able to pull any strings. His keen ears had picked up a few words as he’d gotten close and he didn’t at all care for the touchy-feely, here.

She listened with compassion but didn’t respond, imagining that he would dwell on what had snapped inside him for some time and he wouldn’t need any spurring jabs from even her most gentle efforts. Instead, Serengeti dipped her slender muzzle and touched it to his cheek to provide whatever comfort she could, a gesture that would have carried more weight had she met him more than once and perhaps have been able to lend her ear sooner. Nevertheless, she felt he would understand the empathy behind it and her sincere wish to do what she could even after the fact.

An instant later she turned her head at the sound of agile footfalls and saw Razo trotting towards them. She narrowed her eyes at his comment, said nothing in retort and flicked one side of her lip up to reveal a shining fang when he bristled in Ferdie’s presence. She knew him well enough and knew also that there was no reason to expect anything else, but there was no reason not to attempt to balance the scales and threaten, at the least, to keep him in check.

Serengeti might have been in his peripheral vision, but he kept his eyes firmly fixed on Ferdie who appeared to be unwilling or simply unable to do anything but comply, both verbally and physically. And you’re going to have to stop eating that. It’s old and it’s too heavy for your stressed digestive system, he said. It was evident from the way the large grey male had averted his eyes from the old carcass that he knew this already, but voicing it put the idea that he might keep eating it out of the picture entirely. If he tried, Razo was prepared to put a stop to it even at the risk of injury.

He’s likely got something wrong with his adrenal function, he said to Serengeti in fairly apt wolfish terms without looking at her. Raged out, did you? he said coolly to Ferdie, reiterating what he’d only heard had happened in his own succinct words and looking him straight in his weary eyes. I promise it has nothing to do with whatever you think you were feeling at the time. It wasn’t your fault, but if Fox doesn’t throw you out you remain a risk, he added bluntly. It was bound to happen again. Lucky for you I don’t care, and since she isn’t here to chase you off right now you get access to me and some lovely herbs. It was as though he’d won a prize, wasn’t it?

He considered him for a moment, then gingerly picked up the pieces of birch to move them closer to Ferdie’s head, then nosed the upper piece out of the way to reveal the contents which spilled to one side with the motion. Chewing on these— he said, indicating the chunks of Willow bark, will relieve the pain and reduce swelling. I’m going to apply a bergamot poultice to your major wounds to prevent infection. After today simply clean them as you would any other wound. Your body will take care of it, he said, then turned to Serengeti.

Do me a favour? he asked, but he didn’t bother to wait for her answer and he continued regardless, There should be a cache that way, he said, indicating a southeast direction with his muzzle. It’s beneath a gigantic fallen Oak you can’t miss. I stored a pheasant there the other day that will be easier on his stomach. When I’ve finished here he needs to eat something. If he waited until after he met the fist of the fiery leader he would be reduced to a vulture scavenging scraps. Razo then turned and set to work on chewing the bergamot he’d brought with him and applying it to Ferdie’s gaping neck and shoulder.

He’d changed the treatment he’d initially given to Jace because he had no interest in unintentionally poisoning himself without the river at hand to rinse his mouth. This time he would have no need to be so delicate and he got straight to work on the neck wound he deemed priority.

Razo snorted at the words he was hearing, then twitched his lip at the taste left in his mouth between poultice applications when he’d finished with the fresh neck laceration. You can’t possibly be trying to convince me that you aren’t a threat and at the same time that what happened was beyond your control. If it happens again and it’s beyond your control you’re still a threat, he assured the bloody mess of wolf. I gave you a perfectly good explanation for what happened. Either take it and lean on it as a legitimate medical cause or find someone else’s shoulder to sob on.

Severe yellow eyes lingered on him for a moment longer before setting to work on his re-opened shoulder, which he observed had already been meticulously cleaned. His jaws worked efficiently as mortar and pestle and he sloppily slathered the wound when he was finished, pressing on it with his nose for good measure. Wait a few minutes for these to dry out, he instructed. After something like this it’s good practice to bathe in cold water, bask in the sun and repeat as you like. Your sore muscles will thank you.

Not a moment later Razo stepped out of the way and was watching as Serengeti returned with the dishevelled, dead pheasant he’d asked her to retrieve. She approached and dropped the bird at her own feet, then gripped the carcass between the ground and her dextrous paws and proceeded to begin ripping a large section of its plumage away. Ferdie didn’t need to be spoon-fed, but he didn’t need to spend his energy on something so menial that she could do effortlessly. When a significant number of feathers lay scattered and blowing faintly in the breeze, she nosed the meat towards him.

She watched him eat without responding to his words with the slightest of smiles. The kindness he thanked them for could hardly be attributed to the tawny knave at her side, but Ferdie was thoroughly polite regardless and she accepted personally with a deep nod. She followed him only with her eyes as he took his leave and she couldn't bury the twinge of trepidation she felt for him as he surely made his way to find Fox.

For a very brief moment she considered Razo and the possible reasons he would have had for going out of his way to tend to the wounds and health of a wolf who seemed to only grate on his prickly personality. Anyone else wouldn’t need any further reason than preservation of pack, but Razo did. She narrowed her eyes by a nearly unnoticable degree only to decide an instant later that she couldn’t read him, then disappeared silently into the trees.

His eyes were stern and predatory in equal measure as he watched the massive grey wolf scarf down the poultry with relative ease in comparison with the mess he’d made of the dated ram carcass. He continued to watch after him with a sharp, trained gaze as Ferdie made his way away, presumably to accept whatever fate their rusty-coloured leader would deal him.

When he finally did look away it was a redirection of his focused attention towards the northern-furred female who was already gone, a feat that only she could accomplish in his presence. He thought nothing of it, at the time, and with a complete lack of suprise he simply took off at a languid lope to track down what he felt he needed most just then: prime napping grounds.