Searching for a Cause

Brandr was pleased that she found his ideas intriguing but he shifted a bit uncomfortably as she spoke of the lack of protection outside of a pack. He knew how complicated their situation was and wasn't sure if he could succinctly summarize all that had happened to lead him and Corentine to where they were now. Instead he opted to remain silent as Gwen worked out what she wanted to say.  His ears perked up as she mentioned that they were in need of a hunter. That was excellent news for Brandr for that was the one area he felt he could really excel in and should Gwen put him to the test he was fairly confident he could succeed. She mentioned Aurielle and he nodded in understanding, he was just pleased to be accepted at all.

"Thank you, Gwen, I will do my best to prove myself worthy of your consideration. As for my mate…" he hesitated. He didn't want to pressure Corentine into anything but Gwen seemed nice enough he couldn't see what harm would come from them having a talk. "I will ask if she would like to meet with you but I can't guarantee that she'll say yes. We do have young that I think could benefit from lessons within a pack but you see it is for safety's sake that we have hesitated joining one. That and our own history. You see we were both raised within nomadic groups and we see wisdom in this lifestyle. It is just our group right now consists only of us. It is… complicated." Brandr glanced apologetically towards Gwen. He knew he could explain himself better if he'd given it more thought.

However, when she asked him to tell her about the Abraxas he realized that Gwen was addressing him without the full picture of his situation. This troubled him. If she was the secondary alphess then why hadn't Regulus or Aurielle told her of this threat to the free packs of Boreas? Were they wanting to keep it secret for now so as not to alarm their members? Whatever the reason Brandr was not going to hesitate to inform the alphess.

"The Abraxas are a violent family of wolves who believe themselves to be gods. As such they see the rest of us are lowly insects they seek to dominate. The attacked a pack in the south called Dragoste. Their leader, Amon, challenged the alpha for the pack and then killed him while the rest of the Abraxas raided the pack, taking some prisoners, maiming others. Three of their members fled and joined Abaven. That was my original pack until…"

He took a deep breath and sighed, still feeling the sting of shame at having left but he did not regret leaving in order to give his children a childhood unmarred by the looming shadow of violence. "Another of the Abraxas showed, a man called Malleus. He threatened the same to Abaven unless we willingly accepted an Abraxas overseer. There was talk of fighting back but the Abraxas, last I checked, had two sizeable packs in Auster. We wouldn't stand a chance. Our alphess felt she could not win a one on one battle either. They've accepted the overseer but I believe some of the members intend to push back from within the pack. My mate and I were starting a family and I could not in good conscience risk my pups or our lives engaging in subterfuge so my mate and I fled that we might get the word out to another pack."

He took another deep breath and continued. "That is why my mate and I chose to live as nomads. It is packs that are being targeted. Yes a pack might offer protection from predators, starvation and a number of other things but to these conquerors a pack is a target. My forbears lived as nomads for this reason as well as the practicality of following prey. They defined a pack by those that were in it not from ties to a land or territory, though I can understand the connection to home and land that others feel. It is… I don't know what to say, Gwen. It is complicated. It is all so complicated…" He felt old, far older than he was.