Raud expected to wake if she turned, but he didn't. There was no malice in her change of shape, and his sleeping arms drew her closer, and played with the soft fur until it was familiar to him. When he woke up for the first lights, and the coals were dead beside them, he thought her fur smelled like her hair. It was a pleasant detail to the animal he'd been taught to hunt and slaughter for their valuable parts. Raud sat up and smiled, stroking the wolf that had provided him good entertainment.<br/><br/>He found his clothes soon, and made due with what was left of yesterday's supper. He was expected to have better things that his subordinates, but he would be a sorry excuse for a leader if he couldn't subsist on less than wilderness luxury. He yawned when he'd taken what he thought he needed, and didn't place the stale bread or the cold meat and sauce in any state that would forbid her from having her fill too. Surely her wolf tongue could handle it. He didn't imagine she'd had cooked food too often in her forest life.<br/><br/>It might seem trusting that he left through the slit without containing her, but he was not some lover petitioning for her trust, or hoped she'd have happiness in her freedom. While he'd taught her her midnight lessons, about herself and what her nights might be from now on, the others of his clans had raised the fence. Being of wolf hunting ilk, they knew what height the formidable beasts could jump, and littered the ground beyond the barrier with debris that would either tangle or cut up running paws.<br/><br/>The few that were still eating raised their glasses to their proven leader, and Raud promptly kicked the closest one, ordering them back to work. There was already people in this forest, and they had lived in peace with the wolves. They were a clan worth noting, and were large enough that their loyalty would matter. Their shamans were not as successful as the Cindermen's, but they knew the land well. That would be their next war.<br/><br/>"How did she do?" Enil asked. Raud shrugged. The men were eager for some gossip, and that was exactly as unproductive as it seemed.<br/><br/>"Better than us if we don't start preparing for the Wolvers." Raud answered, and the dismissive words made Enil lower his head. Truth be told, Raud was curious to see what he could do with Varga, she'd be a fun project and eventually a trump card, but bullying her into lust and making her bark didn't mean he'd be able to control her in battle. First, he'd just<br/>enjoy seeing her react to the fence in his peripherals.<br/><br/>The men put their dishes away when the scouts came back. Raud sat at the head of the table, sharpening his pair of knives to each other while they divulged what they knew.