Stavanger Bay while I pondered, weak and weary

Adding an ending to this :D

She explained and Atreyu listened, his ears awkwardly splaying out to either side as he felt guilt bubble in his chest. Even if he hadn't told Charon about this whole captive thing, Ragnar (or even Thistle) would have eventually. But this fact didn't make him feel any better. Keeping warm under some trees? Was this during the storm? The fact that apparently the girl owed the Beta something now was enough to cause Atreyu's lip to fall into a solid, unimpressed line. He needed to have a word with the kid.

"Yeah, but captives have usually done something wrong." And yet were still sometimes used as slaves. Ragnar hadn't explained the entire concept to Atreyu, only the basics. Were the terms interchangeable? "But if Charon said you were a slave, then you have to obey him." He was Beta, after all, and his mother, their Alpha. "Or you can just tell him to get lost," he added with a shrug and a laugh, knowing he wouldn't stop the girl if she wanted to escape.

He offered to give her a bit more of a tour of the forest, as ruined as it was, to show that there was still some worth to the Bay. After some time, they parted ways, and Atreyu left to confront Charon about how exactly he had acquired this slave.