Conan

"Conan"
-Hound, wolf; high potential

His father had said that he had a lot of potential. And the said potential was wasted on him. Conan was born in a prosperous land, somewhere around the coniferous forest or so. Food was abundant, plenty of protection and cooperative neighbors. But because the lives of the wolves were so well off, there was nothing else to worry about. That is except for the fight for the throne, the fight to become the next leader of the pack. There were no strict rules on who could try to become the next leader, as long as they were the last one to stand in the bloody battle. Conan's father had failed to get the spot, so it was natural that he would send his son after it. After all, it would be the greatest thing a father can offer to his son. But Conan did not want that. He enjoyed staying in the den, playing with his siblings and watching butterflies.

Both of his parents were disappointed when Conan failed to show the necessary drive to kill and dominate. He had been born with extraordinary strength, and it was wasted on him because of his personality.

He was too kind, too amiable.

His father attempted to get Conan to become something that he was not. But it was a failure in the end. And because it was a failure, Conan's father did not see it fit to waste anymore resources on him. Gradually, Conan became separated from the rest of the pack and his family. Soon enough, he realized that he was no longer needed in the already abundant pack. So before his father could ruthlessly kick him out, Conan left.

"Conan!" The wolf in question snapped back to reality and looked over to who called him. His leader, his family, and his beloved.

"Aife, ah! Be careful!" He said as she stumbled in her bounding. She had just returned from exploring the nearby territories and was eager to show her findings. It never failed to amaze him how vibrant a single wolf could be. His previous family was always fake smiles and gestures to get on the good sides of those that are superior to them. There was not a single trace of pretense in her features, never was.

"Look! I found an ibis feather! Those guys are hard to come by in our area, but you saw it in the swamps. So I wanted to see them, and..." And she was off. Conan smiled gently, and helped Aife settle down with all her new trinkets around her, so she could rest and tell her tale at the same time. By the end of it, she was nodding off and Conan could not help but laugh as her eyes drooped. Then she was asleep.

"Is she finally out?" Conan's eyes snapped to the wolf at the entrance of the den. His smile falling away, he huffed at the intruder.

"Yes." Was his curt reply. Although Conan had been in the pack for quite a while now, he still did not attempt to get closer to anyone but Aife. He was nice enough to others, but when he had these quiet moments with his beloved, he did not wish to see anyone.

"Calm your fleas down. I'm just doing my patrol." Conan growled.

"A patrol within the dens, never heard of it Aiden." Perhaps it was his underlying inability to be what the others wanted him to be, but he was very protective of Aife. Always has been, ever since she helped nurse Conan back to health. However, when it came to Aiden, it was always hard to gauge what the black wolf was looking for. Someone reliable? Someone that does not butt into other's issues? So while Conan was trying to decipher the other male, he became jealous of the close and natural connection Aiden had with Aife. He knew the two were close friends, and that there was nothing more between the two. Hell, Aiden was pair bonded with another wolf from their pack! Conan's instincts still failed to settle.

"Will you always be this aggressive with me?" Aiden asked, as he sat down a little ways away from the two of them. Conan turned his head, choosing to ignore the question.

"I did catch a rumor while I was wandering. A male was kicked out of a forest pack simply because he could not kill." The grey wolf continued to ignore the other. There were very few connections between Conan and the place he came from. He opted to not make any contact with any other packs and simply chose to wander forever.

That was, of course, until Aife caught his eye. And Aiden caught his neck between his teeth.

"No wolf can live a life like that, so I choose to see such rumors as no more than that, rumors. Every being has a certain level of thirst for blood. Be it either to protect or to simply kill." Conan finally met Aiden's eye. He was suspicious of the gray wolf's nature. It was natural to be, since Conan never showed his fangs. He was always out and scouting the areas that Aife requests or simply watching over their territory when Aife is not there.

"I hope I will not regret putting my trust in you." Although Conan could not figure out Aiden for the life of him, he did agree on this point. Conan will never do anything that will bring harm to Aife or anyone she deems as her family.

The seasons continued to change. New wolves joined their family, amongst them an herbalist. Aife could not contain her excitement and rattled on about their findings for a whole week. Conan was also glad that there was now someone that could treat sick and wounded wolves- Aife had too many scars as is.

But Conan struggled to accept the wolf into their family. The previous members that had joined were easy going, and could clearly see that Conan and Aife were incredibly close. Kaneki seemed to either refuse to accept that, or were straight up far denser than a rock. The white wolf would often get far too excited when they were discussing herbs and get too close to Aife- to Conan's liking at least, everyone else said that was normal distance for friends. Conan was not having it. While wandering around, he had seen a couple of white wolves. The arctic wolves were often cunning and waited for their prey to tire themselves out before going in for the kill. He was not about to have Aife get hurt.

"Kaneki, a minute? Blaze said he got hurt on the last hunt again." Conan called out to the white wolf that was animatedly chatting with Aife. The male's ears perked up and soon was trotting over to join Conan. When the two were finally alone and far away from the others, Conan twisted around and snapped at the white male.

"Now spill you winter ferret, what is your goal?" The other quickly shrunk into his form, seeing as he was in no position to fight back- not like he could, he was a twig.

"I don't understand," He stuttered out as he tried to reel far enough away from Conan.

"What is it that you're trying to do with Aife? You can clearly see that her and I are bonded, there is no room for you." He growled out, getting ready to snap again at the other wolf.

"Conan! There you are." The grey male flicked his eyes over to the side to see it was Blu that was calling him. The white wolf quickly escaped from Conan as the other turned to fully face the older male. Blu stared after Kaneki for a moment before looking at Conan with an exasperated look.

"And what were you going to do?" Conan's ears flicked back in irritation.

"Nothing serious. He simply needed to get it through his head that Aife is mine." Blu sighed and sat down, Conan mirrored his action.

"Kaneki means nothing serious, he's simply excited to finally have a place to call home. You know his kind is not very welcome around these areas, especially with how far he's strayed from the northern area. It's a miracle that he even made it this far." Conan could care less about the nomad wolf. He ought to have some basic understanding of bonded pairs. If not, then he ought to have some sense of understanding by simply smelling Aife. Since Conan and her have been together from nearly the beginning of the pack, they had plenty of time to imprint each other's scents. Blu merely rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Don't take your anger out on your family. He's simply new and is getting his bearings. Aife is kind, you know that. She's simply looking after the new wolf and he's probably viewing her as an older sister." The other male explained as he left Conan to brew in his own anger. Conan was not going to give in.

Turned out Blu was right. A couple days later, Kaneki came up to him and apologized in private. The white wolf explained that he had been feeling home sick and Aife was helping him by distracting him and chatting about herbs. He stated that he realizes that Conan is her bonded pair and stated that he will stay clear and out of Conan's way regarding the matter. Although Conan felt a little childish for getting so upset, he forgave the white wolf and stated that he had also over reacted. Kaneki merely smiled at him.

"You didn't. It's natural to want to protect your loved ones. My papa used to get antsy when mama didn't come back home on time. Or if she spoke too long to neighboring packs." Conan merely smiled. He does not take interest in the lives of others in their pack. All that mattered was Aife.

"Conan, the first hunting group will be going out." The wolf turned to face the party, smiling as he paced over to his daughter. His little pup came over as well, bumping her head against her father's shoulder.

"My little one, isn't so little anymore." He said and gave her a bump back, pushing her back towards the group.

"Go on. Blu, watch over her."

"Dad, I've been on multiple hunts now- more than half of them were successful." She whined slightly but was smiling at his teasing.

"You're the one that causes trouble. You need to be more careful, only then will I start taking you on my scoutings, alright little rascal?" She yipped in agreement before bounding off with the group.

"Which area are you being sent to?" The grey wolf asked Dravite. Another younger wolf that joined their pack. She was only a couple months older than his own pups, but was far more mature in every possible way. Perhaps it was because she was separated from her family so early on, but Dravite often made many good calls just as Asher did.

"Leader has sent us to go to the norther forest. A lot of the prey has been migrating there for the fall." The purple hued wolf relayed and Conan nodded.

"Stay out of trouble as well. Safe travels." The younger wolf nodded and the group gathered to leave. Conan watched them leave, before beginning to get ready to leave himself. Aife had asked him to scout out the area up higher in north of the forest that she had just sent the hunting party to. The winter finally broke and it was much easier to traverse through.

The area was beautiful, filled with forests and brooks. But the winters were unforgivable up here, so Conan had made sure to put in a word with Aife regarding this matter. She enjoyed exploring each and every area, but he had to keep her safe somehow. So he went on scoutings, before she began to search every nook and cranny of the unknown territories, and brought back information that would be useful to her.

Conan spent a good while walking through many paths that previous animals have left, before calling it a day. The sun was slowly setting, and he suspected that he would be able to catch the hunting group on their way back. He wanted to hear how his daughter was doing. Fiadh had an uncanny ability of chasing the prey as if she was made out of wind. Of course, that also meant she got into a lot of trouble. She had an awful habit of straying from the team and just ending up walking around the area. Conan supposed she got that from his nature. Although he saw it as duty, Conan also enjoyed the scouting missions that he was sent on. He enjoyed being able to see how different areas change over the course of seasons. Seems like Fiadh had inherited that free spirit of his. Maeve on the other hand, Conan chuckled just thinking about his younger daughter. She was a trouble maker by nature. Everywhere she went, a prank would surely be lying in wait once she leaves. He did not know what to do about that personality of hers. She was quick to pick up sarcasm from Kaneki, to Conan's dismay.

Just then, Conan's ears perked at a scent.

Blood.

Blood he was familiar with.

Making his way down into the norther forest at a quicker pace, he ran into the hunting group just as he had predicted earlier.

"Dad,"

"Sir,"

"Conan,"

"I know, I smell it as well. Follow me. Blu, you go ahead of us, check on the number of opponents she's against. If it seems too much, only then will we interfere." Conan quickly hushed the rest of the hunters with his loud voice. At once, the wolves nodded and set out to do as he bid them. Although Aife was their leader, Conan was as good as one. He was often in charge of the pack when Aife was gone for many days at a time- be it exploring or visiting neighboring territories.

Blu sprinted ahead of them, but Conan and the group was keeping quick on his heels. Conan had learned a long time ago that Aife often took on battles to gain more strength, or to simply rid of unwanted animals that were in the area. And more often than not, Aife always came out victorious. But it still scared him. It scared him when she came back home with new scars and scrapes.

Conan and the group slowed to a trot when they got closer. Just then, Blu was making a beeline back towards them.

"Conan, you have to stop them! There's too many!" But Conan was already gone. The smells told him more than enough. Timber wolves, a lot of them. Not bothering to check whether the group was following him, the grey wolf barreled out of the forest line and into an open area. Growling he snapped at one of the wolf's necks, making it a clean kill. Dancing backwards, he came flank to flank with his beloved.

"Aife," He said under his breath.

"Conan," Seemed that she was happy to see him. Taking a quick glance back at her, Conan felt his blood boil. An entire wolf pack against a single creature. New scars littered her body.

Conan could not forgive this. He would not forgive this.

TBC