elle shifted her weight from her right to left leg. She had been leaning against a brick wall, surveying the small community she was temporarily joining. She wouldn't approach them, not yet. She kept her distance and waited to be seen. She wondered for the millionth time if she were truly in her right mind. There were others she could have sent, but once the pack had accepted her as alpha, she promised she wouldn't ask of them, what she herself would not do. This particular mission was more personal than most - it was also more dangerous - and Belle needed to see it through first hand.
It wasn't long before she was approached by a mid-rank and she pulled herself off of the wall to greet the man. Her arms were still crossed over her chest, as they took in one another.
Belle had a lot to learn when she first became a wolf, years of deportment classes had truly been a detriment to the type of greetings required between pack mates. A few years ago Belle would have dipped into a deep curtsy and lowered her eyes demurely - if he were a gentleman he would bow slightly to return the polite greeting.
As a wolf her senses were heightened, and a deeper intuition developed. It was as though she could measure the soul of another by body language alone. That is what they did now - internally assessing one another's worth and threat level. Belle was careful to appear neutral, but confident.
For all the politics of modern high society, it was nothing compared to actual dominance hierarchy within a wolf pack. As an Alpha, Belle was always first - first to eat, first to walk, first to speak, and when she spoke the pack listened. But here amongst enemies she was an unknown. They could have made her wait longer, hours even, before deigning to speak to her and understand her purpose there, but luckily the greeting ritual was done rather quickly.
If the rumors were true, Alek was recruiting pack members, which might have explained the hasty greeting rather than the show of dominance in ignoring her. Whatever the reason Belle was glad the wait hadn't been too long - the longer she had to think about what she was doing the less comfortable she became.
He asked the customary questions: purpose for being there, duration of stay, pack affiliations, bartering goods or skills etc.
She gave him rehearsed answers: just passing through, a couple of weeks, none, magic/a little money/regular camp skills.
After the customary inspection, he gave her his name - Bartholomew (Thol for short) - she was to check in with Leda, the beta female, for quarters and duties. And that was it.
It had been two weeks and still no sight of Alek. They were coming up on the full moon and Belle didn't intend to do more than one transition away from her pack. She had two fierce betas whom she trusted implicitly to lead in her absence, but the longer she was away the higher the odds of being found out and she would not put her pack at risk. She had nearly made up her mind anyway.
She had learned much just by being in the community. Alek's pack was led in much the same way as other traditional packs were led - by iron fist. Perhaps it was the fact that Belle didn't grow up with the pack that her way of leading had been different. She wasn't afraid to be soft, and she knew that softness could lead to strength - Kota was proof of that.
When she had first come to the Deveraux Clan, things were run in much the same way as the Eiriksen Pack, the same practices that were traditional seemed cruel to Belle. Kota - the omega - was often bullied, pushed, shoved, and always last. Kota played the jester and was beloved by the pack, but also abused and faced very real dangers, had very real fears, and very real scars from play that had become too rough.
She didn't understand the politics or the hierarchy, but she couldn't live in a place with such cruelty. This had changed under her rule - she believed for the better.
Alek's pack seemed more like a military organization than a wolf pack, perhaps it was for recruitment, perhaps the Eiriksen leader intended to expand - it wouldn't surprise Belle. But there were positive qualities - strength, bravery, loyalty. It was hard to tell whether that loyalty came from love or fear - Belle imagined it was the latter.
She needed only to meet the man herself to confirm her decision. At the end of this journey she would know whether to prepare for a wedding or a war.