Greykin Valley

| 14 | Kingslake Pass

"Every wolf walker knows that," Damon grumbled from up ahead.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Evidently, Jackson doesn't. Or are you forgetting that he was bitten by one of your dis—"

Damon snarled and abruptly turned to face him—

"Hey!" Jackson interjected, swiftly putting himself between them as the pack came to a halt. Then, he frowned at Wilson. "What the hell?"

"What?" his friend exclaimed.

"Don't 'what' me," he said with a scoff. "Stop being rude."

Wilson frowned irritably and glanced at Damon.

Jackson looked at the Alpha, who appeared just as aggravated.

"Whatever," Wilson muttered, and backed off.

Then, Jackson turned to face Damon. He didn't know what he wanted to say; he wanted to ask him to stop letting Wilson get to him, but a part of him felt as though that wasn't something he should say in front of the pack. So, he just stared expectantly at him.

After a few moments, Damon sighed and started leading the way again.

Jackson wasn't sure how to explain what he felt. A part of him was upset that this was probably how things were going to be for the entire journey. Damon and Wilson were going to constantly be at one another's throats, waiting for the chance to snap at one another. Why couldn't they just get along? Was it really the ancient feud between wolves and muto making them act this way? No one else seemed incredibly bothered about Wilson's presence...unless they were hiding it.

He sighed and followed behind Damon with Tokala on his left and Julian on his right.

"So, uh...muto," Julian said awkwardly. "Yeah...."

"Shifting on the new moon for muto is compulsory, yes," Tokala said with a nod, glancing over at Wilson, who was walking beside Julian again. "They use the night of the new moon to discover new skills through the increased strength they receive during that time."

"The new moon gives us a sort of boost," Wilson confirmed. "That was why I was always busy every new moon."

Jackson frowned at him. "I don't...remember." He looked ahead at Damon. "Will I eventually remember everything?"

Damon glanced back at him. "I'm not sure," he answered with a concerned tone in his voice.

"It depends how strong Eric's ethos was," Wilson said. "It took me a while to figure out how to mess with it just to get you to remember wolf walkers. It was in pretty deep."

"Could take years, could take months," Sebastien called from the very back of the pack. "You'll remember everything eventually. The next Herald might help."

"Really?" Jackson asked excitedly. Would he actually get to recover his entire memory someday?

The kludde nodded. "It's probably gonna take more than one Herald, though, if what Wilson is saying is true."

Wilson nodded. "Eric was a first-class asshole, but he knew what he was doing when he put those filters on people. It was his biggest asset."

Jackson frowned and nodded slowly. "Right, I remember. Eric used perception filters and messed with the memories of clients and targets."

"Clients and targets?" Julian questioned.

"My stepdad worked for a mercenary business—well, I say worked for, but what I really mean is that he owned it. He was super proud. Maybe he was under the impression that I'd ask for a job someday. I bet my stepbrother's loving it."