Greykin Mountain

| 27 | Strangers

          "How does that work?" Jackson asked curiously.

          Wesley chuckled and shook his head. "You're asking the wrong guys. We don't know anything about the how and why side of things."

          Alastor added, "You should talk to Tokala or Elias; they're both Alpha Damon's Betas—well, Tokala is a Zeta, too—"

          "Y-yeah, I know," Jackson interjected. "They're teachers, right?"

          Wesley nodded. "Or I suppose you could just ask Alpha Damon. He probably knows more than the whole pack combined. He comes from a long line of powerful wolf walkers. All that history and stuff...I'm surprised The Herald doesn't make his head explode."

          While Alastor and Wesley laughed, Jackson's curious frown intensified. "Powerful how?"

          "Ancient blood and all that. The longer the bloodline, the stronger the wolf walker. So, if you had a kid, that kid would be stronger than you are. If your kid had a kid, that kid would be stronger than your kid, and much stronger than you. Our wolves' power grows stronger with our bloodlines' age," Alastor explained.

          Fascinated, Jackson nodded. "So, how old is Alpha Damon's line?"

          "We don't know—none of us does," Wesley answered. "Old enough for him to know the history of wolf walkers without needing cave paintings and campfire stories."

          Jackson had witnessed Damon explaining the story of Fenrisúlfr to him without falter, almost as if it were a fond memory. And now, he wondered just how much Damon knew about this world—a whole other world Jackson hadn't long learned was more than fairy tales and folklore.

          However, before he could ask any more questions, the howling wind carried commotion upon it. Jackson, Alastor and Wesley turned their heads and stared over at the door; they all listened for a moment, and when Elias' voice yelled something which sounded like 'move it', Jackson felt a gush of both angst and excitement race through him.

          Damon was back.

          He didn't want to look like an eager child desperate to get to his mother when she got home from work, so he waited as patiently as he could for Alastor to tell Wesley to stay put, and once the man headed for the door, Jackson followed.

          They headed through the halls, outside and into the courtyard, where most of the pack were watching from the doors and windows as Elias dragged a man Jackson had never seen before along the ground while he struggled and tried to pull free. Tokala left Damon's side and hurried after Elias, and as the pair disappeared down into the cellar with the man, Jackson looked over at the Alpha and watched while he headed over to Aysel and their sons.

          "What was all that about?" Alastor mumbled.

          Jackson shrugged, watching as Aysel shot an evil glare at Damon while he patted Remus and Romulus' heads and assured them everything was fine. He heard the Alpha tell them Brando would be okay; Jackson looked over at Bly and her Thetas, who were carrying the blonde-haired man through the courtyard and into the door he and Alastor had just come out from.

          "I don't know," Jackson drawled. "Who was that guy they took into the cellar?"

          "Your guess is as good as mine, and we probably won't know until Alpha Damon's talked to the council."

          He looked over at Damon again and watched as the council joined him. Elias and Tokala came back out of the cellar, and once they closed its doors, they made their way over to the Alpha, too.