Chapter 175: Sit Down, Leader

The following morning, Tera made the mistake of announcing her plans.

"I am going to scout for more suitable things we can use to build."

Her portal limit had reset since this was a new week, so moving around while also scanning for nearby corrupted beasts would not be a problem.

Tera had been surrounded by the females and a few other wolves when she had said this. And the elders, who were not too far from where she was seated, suddenly perked up at Tera’s words.

A handful of the old wolves’ eyes brightened with the barely concealed hope of wolves who had been waiting for exactly this.

But they were fewer than before.

Something had shifted among the elder circle over the past several days, and Greymaw had noticed it with growing fury. More of them were coming around. Not all of them, and not openly, but the quiet resistance that had once been unanimous was fracturing.

The female’s barking commands had done something none of them expected. It had terrified them into obedience, and obedience had led to results, and results were difficult to argue against.

Some of them who had been firmly opposed to Tera’s presence a week ago were now reluctant about her leaving.

It was becoming harder to dislike someone who was making their lives tangibly better.

Greymaw, and a select few, did not share this softening.

The last few days had been a relentless assault on his dignity. Tera had commanded him to wash animals. She had screamed at him in front of the entire pack. She had assigned him to guard duty over livestock like a common yearling.

And his body had listened. Every single time, his body had listened before his pride could stop it. That was the part that kept him awake at night, turning over the memory of his own hands picking up that pan and filling it with water because a creature with no claws and no fangs had told him to.

To make matters worse, he had not been able to speak to Girruk in days. Calis had restricted his son to scout rotations without rest shifts, running the perimeter in endless loops as punishment for his outburst.

Even worse was how the female had kept him too occupied to go talk to his son.

But Greymaw saw Tera’s announcement as an opportunity.

The shiftless female wanted to venture out alone into the dangerous territory. This was the perfect opportunity for the pack to be rid of her. That way, everything else would return to how it was meant to be.

Out of everyone, Calis, Besseir, and Olaf had been the most alarmed.

"I don’t understand," Calis started, staring at Tera the way one might stare at someone who had just volunteered to wrestle a corrupted beast for fun. "What are you building? This has already been done?"

"You want to go into unexplored territory?!" Bessier and Olaf nearly screeched.

Tera groaned. "It will be safe. I know what to do, and you shouldn’t doubt my skills and magic you have seen so far." She smirked. "I will know if there are any—"

"No. You can’t do that." Calis stopped in front of Tera, while the rest of the pack watched, confused as to why the female wanted to venture out so far just for some things. "It’s dangerous."

Greymaw’s excitement dampened.

Why not just let her go?!

As much as he wanted to walk over there and speak up, it would be suspicious if he did anything like that.

The older wolf gritted his teeth while listening intently, hoping the female would get her wish.

But before Tera could say anything, she was suddenly alerted to Bessier and Olaf standing directly behind her.

She hadn’t even heard them move.

"What are you two—"

Bessier dropped to his knees and wrapped both arms around Tera’s left leg.

Olaf did the same, grabbing her right.

Tera stared down at two grown beast males clinging to her ankles like oversized cubs.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"We are not letting go," Bessier declared, pressing his face against her knee with the dramatic conviction of a male making his final stand. "If Leader insists on going, she will have to drag us along."

"What the hell?! You are too old for this!"

"We do not care," Olaf wailed.

The wolves were watching this unfold with expressions ranging from bewildered to deeply entertained. Several cubs had stopped playing to stare. One wolf female had her hand over her mouth.

Tera tried to take a step, but she could not even budge due to the heavy males literally holding her down.

"Get OFF me!"

"No."

"Bessier, I swear—"

"Do you not remember what happened the last time, Leader?" Bessier looked up at her with big, watery eyes that had absolutely no right being on a face that size.

[Host is being held hostage by her own subordinates]

[Leadership at its finest]

’SHUT UP AND HELP ME!’

[This system is on their side]

[Should Host not be resting?]

[(ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ)]

[You promised not to overwork yourself]

[And there is still plenty time to carry out the rest of the task]

’OMG!’

This suddenly felt like a repeat of when she was in the Dow clan. Especially with how Xavi and Ermin would demand she sit still and not do anything.

’I have already rested well, and I had a good night’s sleep! I am not overworking! I am SCOUTING!’

[Host’s cortisol levels are elevated]

[Host’s muscle fatigue indicators are in the yellow zone]

[This system strongly recommends Host sit down somewhere and do nothing for at least a few more days]

’Traitor!’

[This system prefers "concerned ally"]

[(ᵕ—ᴗ—)]

Tera looked at Calis blocking her path ahead, then at the two shameless males at her feet.

She had been outmanoeuvred on three fronts by a wolf, two clingy males, and a floating rectangle.

"FINE!" she threw her hands up. "I won’t go anywhere. Are you all happy now?"

Bessier and Olaf released her legs and beamed. "Very happy."

Tera privately decided she would sneak off another time when her personal bodyguards weren’t watching. It was risky going alone, but the portal made things different now. She could be in and out before anyone noticed.