\n I Can’t See The Forest For The Trees.
\n Written by, Wolfie Steel.
\n Part Three.

\n Here come the usual rules, all characters used in this story belong to their owners and are used with their kind permission. There will be references to homosexual acts and violence, you have been warned!!!!

\n This one is for us Rion.

\n I awake again after what I guess to be an hour, I stretch out and then look to the back of the cave, there he sits, the guy that taught me that love for another male is not something to be ashamed of, Rion, he walks over to me and kisses me softly on my forehead, I no longer feel the need to blush, I just look deep into his eyes and I instantly know that gay love is just as natural as straight love. He smiles and greets me.

\n “My friend, I’m glad that I was able to show you the path that seems to be right for you and I know that you need to go hunting and I need to go and collect water, but when we get back there is something that I have been thinking about whilst you were sound asleep and I think we should talk about it”

\n I place a soft paw on his shoulder, smile and nod my head in confirmation.

\n “Don’t worry; we will talk upon our return, for now though I will be out for about six hours hunting, there are canisters for water in the water storage area. Now listen to me and listen well, the freshwater lake is just beyond the tree line behind the caves, a round trip should take no more than ten minutes and will take you nowhere near the Andersons borders, but if at any time you feel threatened or afraid, head back to the cave and stay here, at the end of the day we have plenty of water to last for a couple of days, so it’s not worth getting yourself injured or killed for it”

\n Rion dutifully nods his acknowledgement and heads to the water storage to collect the water canister carrier and some canisters, while I head out from the cave and towards the rich hunting grounds, which would take me deep into the Andersons territory. I am about to cut down my third deer when I hear a sound that tells me I’m not alone, I turn toward the sound and find that I am face to face with Jason Anderson.

\n “Well well well, Wolfie Steel trespassing on Anderson territory, I have got a score to settle with you and that weak link you took back to your cave after you caused me to split my head open on that tree, now I can add trespass to the list too”

\n I look at Jason’s head and sure enough there is a herb wrap wrapped around his head, whoever has applied the wrap though does not know their medicine from their poison. The wrap is mildly poisonous and if not removed soon and a medicine wrap applied, it would be too late.

\n “Jason, I know that me and your pack have been mortal enemies for twelve summers now and I know that you will think that I’m leading you astray, but I have to tell you this, whoever applied your wrap has no experience with medicine, they have put a poisonous larch wrap on your wound”

\n The look on Jason’s face says it all; he just smiles and mocks me.

\n “Yeah yeah, you’re just trying to get me to let my guard down so that you can hurt me again, well let me tell you, I’m not fucking stupid, now, you have hunted for long enough in our territory and by rights I should rip you limb from limb, but if you take your catch and leave now, I will forget that I saw you”

\n I’m about to argue my case but I see by Jason’s look that he is in no mood to give me another warning. I pull the two deer bodies onto my back and head slowly back towards the cave.

\n <W><o><l><f><i><e><><><><S><t><e><e><l>

\n I arrive back to an empty cave and head back into the storage rooms to deliver my catch, as I drop the deer in the storage area my ears perk up at the sound of someone entering the cave. I walk out of the storage room and am greeted by Rion who has returned from his eighth water trip.

\n “Well Rion it seems that you have done better than me, I only managed to catch two deer, I was caught by Jason Anderson, fortunately he just told me to leave, so that is just what I did”

\n Rion replies to me.

\n “I seem to remember a certain wolf saying that it wasn’t worth getting ourselves hurt or killed just to get food and water and yet here you are mixing it up with the Andersons”

\n I let out a giggle, Rion has been here for just a pawful of days and he is already putting me in my place.

\n “Touché Rion, this is indeed a case of practice what you preach, anyway we have enough for the next few days, and I can always catch some more deer later but I will need to find another good hunting ground”

\n <W><o><l><f><i><e><><><><S><t><e><e><l>

\n It has now been a couple of hours since I returned home from my hunt, the sun is just setting behind the tree line and Rion and I are just getting ready to turn in for the night, suddenly I’m made aware of the fact that Rion and I are not alone, there is a shadowy figure standing at the mouth of the cave, the figure is that of a wolf. I slowly approach the entrance baring my teeth as I walk, once at the entrance I can see that it is Lana Anderson, a diminutive female wolf.

\n “Lana, what the hell are you doing here, you know this is my territory”

\n Lana begins to cry, sure I know that the Andersons are good at emotional blackmail, but this was different, Lana was truly upset and in need of my help.

\n “Look Wolfie, for once I’m not here as your rival, I have been authorized by Jacob who is Jason’s second in command, to call a temporary cease fire, you see Jason is incredibly sick. He ate with us earlier then just collapsed, before he passed out completely he uttered two words “Get Wolfie”, Jacob was ready to call an all out war against you because he thought that you had done something to Jason, but I knew that wasn’t the way that you worked, what Jason was actually asking was for us to bring you to our den, he knows as do I that you are good with medicines and things, I managed to make Jacob see this and he agreed to a temporary cease fire with the possibility of a complete cease fire if you can make Jason well again”

\n I quickly wake Rion up again and collect my bundle of healing medicines and we head out towards the Anderson pack, Lana runs by my side.

\n “You know what has caused this don’t you?”

\n I sigh and give a slight nod.

\n “Jason caught me hunting in your territory I noticed that he had a larch wrap around his head wound. Larch wrap is poisonous and if not caught in time, deadly”

\n Within minutes we are entering the Anderson den, lay on a soft bed of leaves and brush is Jason, guarded by two mean looking wolves. They begin to growl and bare their teeth as I approach Jason, Lana silences them and tells them to let me approach. As I approach Jason wakes up and weakly turns his head to look at me, and then with a hoarse voice speaks.

\n “Wolfie, I should’ve listened to you earlier, I fear that I’m not going to pull through this”

\n I kneel at his side and silence the wolf. I gently remove the poisonous wrap from his head and can see that the infection has started to take hold, Rion hands me my medical bundle and I begin to treat the infected area. As I rub my some ointment over the infected area with my paw, I feel the rough edge of a larch thorn embedded into his head, I try to remove it with my claws but it is no good, I look to Lana and speak.

\n “Lana, you are going to have to keep these two wolves calm for a while, Jason has a larch thorn in his head, the only way that I can remove it is with my teeth, I don’t want these to muscle brains getting the wrong idea”

\n Lana dismisses the two wolves, with the guards gone, I set to work. I gently and slowly lean down over Jason’s head and position my muzzle over the tip of the thorn, I control my breathing and slowly close my muzzle around the thorn knowing full well that if I breathe in through my mouth at the wrong time I will ingest the thorn and it will then be all over for me. My jaw clamps onto the thorn and I slowly pull up removing the thorn. Once the thorn is removed, Rion holds a wooden dish under my muzzle and allows me to release the thorn into it.

\n “When we get back to the cave Rion, we will build a fire and burn the wrap and thorn, that way they won’t be any danger to anyone else. Now Rion, you know what the healing wrap looks like having been wrapped in it yourself, I need you to get me some more. There is a crop of mead wrap just to the left of our caves entrance, bring me as much as you can find from that crop”

\n Rion darts off to get the supplies whilst using the mead wrap that I have left I begin to wrap Jason’s wound. A little while later Rion runs in with the new supply of mead wrap, he hands it to me and then speaks.

\n “Is Jason going to be ok hun?”

\n The look on my muzzle speaks volumes, but I give him my answer.

\n “If he makes it through the night that will mean that I have caught it in time, and then his chances of a full recovery will be good, it really is only a matter of time”

\n I hear a voice behind me; I turn to see a sleek black furred wolf.

\n “It’s been a long time Wolfie”

\n I make my reply.

\n “Nearly eleven summers Jacob, I see the time has been good to you, but I’m curious about something, why did you not stop whoever it was from wrapping larch wrap around Jason’s head? Surely with the time you spent with me you should have picked up some of my medical knowledge?”

\n Jacob hangs his head in shame and replies.

\n “Truth be told Wolfie, I wasn’t watching your prowess with the medical stuff, I was watching your butt and wishing that I had the balls to take you as my mate, but now I see it’s too late, you have a canine lover, a cute one at that, and besides I am Jason’s second in command now though I guess for now I’m acting Alpha, so I am happy”

\n Rion looks at me with surprise on his face.

\n “Yes Rion, this is Jacob, the companion I lost ten summers ago”

\n Jacob sighs.

\n “Wolfie, if I had stayed with you there is every chance that I would have mated you, and I didn’t want to do that without you consenting to it, so that day when I offered myself to the Anderson clan to stop them from attacking you, it served two purposes, it got them off your back, it also ended my torture. Now it is late and you have both worked long and hard to try and save our Alpha, so for tonight you may sleep next to Jason”

\n Rion and I headed back to where Jason was still out cold and curled up together and finally allowing sleep to overtake us.

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