Alaric shifted into his wolf form, bounding off and leaving Blue and Eivind alone. Blue's eyes followed after the wolf, watching as his large canine body flew across the grass and disappeared into a tight gathering of trees. Although Blue had seen men shift into wolves enough times to find the transformation mundane at this point, he was still utterly mesmerized by the process. During his time with Lofgren's pack, no one had ever wanted to answer Blue's questions, instead preferring to shove some piece of themselves in Blue's mouth to shut him up until eventually Blue said nothing at all. He didn't understand how werewolves could be a thing that existed, how had they gone so long without any of the humans discovering them and outing them, especially in the modern world with the Internet, cell phones, and anyone's ability to go viral. Blue still didn't even really understand what those knots were, the ones wolves seemed to have whenever they ejaculated, and no one had offered any insight. Some wolves, like Lofgren, had very large ones that filled Blue up completely and took a long time to go away, while others were much smaller and lasted only a few minutes. Blue briefly wondered what Eivind's knot was like, if it was substantial and filling, and what he looked like in his wolf form. Eivind had thick, dark hair that looked silky to the touch. Was his fur the same? If Blue ever asked to see Eivind's wolf form and to stroke the hair along his back, would the larger man let him? Blue had never had the opportunity to pet one of the wolves before. Would that have been considered offensive, petting a werewolf like one would pet a domesticated dog?<br/><br/><i>Blue, you're fucking stupid. There are more important things to think about right now.</i><br/><br/>He was snapped back into their present predicament when Eivind mentioned the river, and Blue nodded slowly in response. He allowed the wolf to help him up from the ground and once again they were wrapped around one another, slowly making their way across the grass and through the trees to where the water rushed and tumbled over itself down the smooth rock bed. Blue managed to push through the pain, with Eivind's assistance, to make it the relatively short way to the river. They seemed to have gone further moving away from the cabin, and Blue was grateful when they stopped at the water's edge. There was absolutely no way that they could cross it without having Blue enter the river as well. Besides, Eivind was right; Blue was also covered in Alden's blood. They both needed to clean themselves somewhat or all of their running was for naught.<br/><br/>The moment Blue's skin touched the water he hissed. It was cold and sent shivers running up and down his spine, but it was tolerable enough once Eivind had pulled his entire body in. Blue clung to Eivind, knowing that he didn't have the strength to make the swim himself, hoping that his companion's innate werewolf strength would be able to carry them across to the far banks. Blue had never been a particularly strong swimmer, but if he were healthy he could have handled the river well enough as long as he focused on his movements. He didn't have that option, however, and relying on Eivind was his only choice.<br/><br/>Despite the chilliness, the water was refreshing. The blood instantly washed off, leaving both men sitting in a small cloud of diluted red before the river pulled all remnants of Alden away from their bodies. Blue's arms were wrapped around Eivind's body, their faces close as the wolf gently moved them through the current. It was then that Eivind spoke, unprompted, and Blue didn't understand why he was bringing up Alden's murder. Blue was still conflicted on the entire episode, still both happy and traumatized, still in awe of Eivind and fearful of whatever quiet temper the wolf possessed that encouraged him to slice Alden open without a second thought.<br/><br/>After a long moment of nothing but the sound of rushing water and Eivind's deep breaths, Blue responded. "I don't regret it either," Blue said into Eivind's ear. "But I want to know why. Why did you kill him? He was wounded and no threat to you. You didn't even know who he was until I said anything . . . Why kill a wolf you had never met?"