#moved threads.

[wolfhealed]

vincent was starting to… well, somewhat feel at home in athos. it wasn’t quite what he hoped it would be, but he knew that that hope was feeble to begin with. it would never be like egrain - it would never be like he wanted it to. home is where the heart is, they say. but how, when his heart was shattered into pieces & scattered in all directions?

that said though, he was .. settling alright. the others were nice, those he met anyway & he felt like he achieved something by being here & helping where it was needed. the hunters & guards would often get hurt, but others occasionally got sick as well - so he was never really not working. well, he was off work, but as a healer, he never quite felt like he could be off work. if someone needed help & he was there, how could he not?

as if on cue, one of the other healers came to find him in his room, practically dragging him outside to an emergency, which didn’t really make sense, because he’d hear commotion if it was, wouldn’t he? what he saw though, when his arm was finally let go after he’d been dragged through half the village was… it was out of this world. it was.. he couldn’t… how was this possible?

“h-how… how did you find me?” it was not a difficult guess, they still looked exactly the same - two peas in a pot, two pups kissed by mother wolf. part of him thought he might be dreaming, but the scent - oh, the scent. it was unmistakable, one of a kind - two of a kind, actually. words could never do justice to how he felt that moment, so he didn’t bother trying. in what felt like forever, but in reality it was less than five seconds, vincent had set off, leapt & landed in his brother’s arms, his own slung so tightly around his neck he must be having trouble breathing.

[lionguarded]

He was just arriving into Athos when he saw him. The omega was standing guard by the gates and he knew he wouldn't be recognized because Silas had never seen his face but he must have heard of him. The packmasters had met with him, assigned him a job, a pack, and a cabin to share wirh other alphas.

He had returned to the gates then, to meet with Silas. Bothering him during work ours didn't seem like the wisest thing to do but he couldn't wait. He wanted to know how this town was, if he needed another escape, or if all was well. He didn't ask anyone about the guard, he would get the information from the horses mouth.

"Silas." His way of greeting was still too formal so he tried relaxing a bit into it. "I'm Armand Orion. I helped Taj and your other kids get you out of Egrain and, yes, they're fine. I took the fall for it." He let the info sink into the other's mind before speaking further. "Are you okay here? Do they treat you right?" He got the most important question out first, wanting to know how should he proceed.

He was wearing a loose shirt, his mating mark visible but he had arrived alone. Orion felt awkward, vivid and horrible visions of what they had done to Silas still at the back of his head. "I...I'm sorry I didn't get you out sooner. I didn't know."

the whispers were always fast when new arrivals made their way into athos - this time he could hear them clearly, someone from egrain. like silas hadn’t seen enough of those in athos yet. every new person from the city bore a risk. he didn’t get out of the house, but there had been festivities & other celebrations or meetings at the house quite often & he’d only missed few of them. if word got back to egrain about his whereabouts.. he wouldn’t be safe anymore.

but he couldn’t dwell on that while at work, he did take his position as a guard seriously, even if he wanted some of athos inhabitants dead rather than alive & breathing down his neck. today’s shift was calm though, so he was stood with his spear on his back by the gate, just .. watching the outside when someone approached him.

someone who knew his name. he spun around almost instantly, reaching behind him to wrap a hand loosely around the shaft of his spear - ready to strike should he feel the need to. athos was supposedly safe, but who could tell, really? he was about to ask how he knew, but the explanation followed swiftly & while his shoulders lost some of the tension drawing them upwards, he was still watching, waiting.

orion. of course he knew orion. his pups rambled about the alpha who trained them every single minute of every single day. they’d worshipped the man & promised he could be trusted. silas would have to see for himself, but … hearing his kids were okay.. did calm him. hand returning to rest against his side, he eyed the other closely. “why? what was in it for you?” nobody went out of their way to help someone they didn’t know. so why? without the assistance of a high ranked knight, silas would most likely still be in egrain, but it still didn’t make sense to him.

he was grateful, even if he sucked at showing it. or expressing it. “it was none of your business. you couldn’t know.” shouldn’t know. silas hadn’t wanted more people to know the horrors he saw every day. he’d felt guilty enough putting his pups through it, but strangers? no. “it’s .. good here. it’s safe, i guess. for now.” deep breath, feet shuffled, he was struggling to find the words he wanted. “thank you.”

[lionguarded]

"i mean... you might as well try. who knows, maybe you'll succeed - maybe you get punched. it's a mystery." gale wasn't like the other alphas - he was kind & gentle, silas felt .. drawn to him, somehow. he'd never have acted on it himself, he already had an alpha chasing his tail, but .. gale was sweet, he couldn't deny it.

[lionguarded]

Gale was a recent arrival in town, he had arrived with a man he called his road brother. They were very close friends, family, and he wouldn't let anyone take his family away from him ever again. He planned on settling down now and having pups of his own, maybe a mate to go with them, and settle down. Just like him.

A man approached the forge, he was the one attending to the clients today and placing the orders but he also was forging stuff of his own. Still, clients were the first priority so he cleaned his hands from the soot with a small hand towel and approached the front where the other man was. Omega. He was handsome, so he decided to be charming or try to be anyways. He wasn't an expert in that kind of thing still, it couldn't be that hard.

So, he smiled and placed the hand towel on the side and picked up a notebook. "What can I get you? And the name for the order."

silas was off guard duty early today, determined to finally visit the forge to order a few things for his ..well, private use. only few people (the pack masters for obvious reasons) knew of silas’ trips outside the village to hunt & he’d like to keep it that way. he wasn’t a hunter, he just enjoyed the peace when he was out & distracting his mind from reality by focusing on tracks & chasing prey was quiet relaxing.

stepping inside the shop, he stopped dead in his tracks at first. new scent. alpha. soft growl formed in the back of his throat, not a rare occurence, really. he couldn’t help it. alphas made the hairs at the back of his head stand, especially if he didn’t know them yet. “i uh, need arrows. metal head. a dozen or two if possible. a new buckle for my boots… uhh, yeah. please. name’s silas.” while speaking, he’d taken a few steps into the shop, letting his eyes roam, but making sure to never turn his back on the other. “you’re new. what’s your name?”