easy to find what's wrong

Bjorn might not know it now, but he was similar to Pump in more ways than he recognized. Bilberry hills - her birth pack - had consisted of tough wolves, to whom the survival had been the ultimate goal. Weaklings weren't banished, but received no special treatment either. All of them were given equal chances at the beginning of life and it depended on the person itself, whether they took them, when opportunity arised. Death was very common among their ranks, therefore little emotional attachment was formed.

They worked, they fought, they weren't above attacking other packs and stealing from them, if there was a necessity to do so, they showed no mercy to trespassers and children, who were born to anyone else but alphas. During the harshest of winters, when there had been no food around, they had fed on the corpses of their fallen mates. Friendship could go as far as, when you came to a point that your survival depended on the others demise. The life there had formed Pump the way she was - independent, tough, not very social and trusting no one but herself.

The leaders there had been among the best - seen by some as cold-hearted, calculating and rational - but they had known, how to do their job. They were respected not because of fear, rather because they had proven their worth to others and they expected no less than great from them. The logic behind this had been very simple - if you were a bad leader, the whole pack would stand against you and find a new one. Pump had sought strong leadership here and had not found it, therefore she was determined to become the best. Those, who had worked hard, had been privileged to earn a name in her pack. She had done it then and she would do it here again.

"I trust that you are a man of your word," Pump sealed the deal and then shook her coat, once again setting the serious business aside and preparing herself for an easier conversation. "How are you feeling?" she asked, casting a curious glance at Bjorn's wound on his shoulder. "Because if you can walk, then I have a bit a business in mind," she was ready for action.