no sign of him, except his blood staining the snow. There were these strange tracks all around him too, leading away from the scene."

"Oh, I'm sorry for what happened to your friend," Mias replied solemnly. "If it was the humans, then they probably got him quickly. At least he didn't suffer much."

"Do you think the humans would do that to all of us?" Salin asked with concern.

"Don't be ridiculous, there's no way anything could overpower all of us at once," Atka shot back. "We're wolves, the masters of our own design!"

"But… Old Treg…"

"Don't worry, the humans have only been seen a few times and they were far from the core of our territory," Faro assured.

"Although, Mayak's never mentioned them… then again, he never was much of a talker. I'd like to know if he has something in mind to help us," Atka suggested.

"I guess this is where I come in," Mias continued. "Alright, I can tell him your concerns and see what he thinks about it." This seemed to please all present, so Mias set off to find his brother.

---

While Mias' thoughts were concerned with the humans, Mayak had something much different on his mind. He was behind some bushes, trying to think of the right thing to say to the snow-white female a short distance away. She was taking a drink from a stream, and after collecting himself, he walked out into the open to approach her.

"Ah, Sami, there you are. I was hoping to find you here."

Sami looked up at his call. "Mayak… what did you want to find me for?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk with me tonight. After all, we're both alphas, so we should spend some time to get to know each other. We can't lead properly if we don't know anything about each other."

"I… I'm not sure," she replied. She didn't want to say it to his face, but she was never comfortable around Mayak. She always preferred the previous alpha male in the pack; he always told the best jokes, while Mayak had as much personality as a bull moose. The fact that he chased off the previous alpha didn't help her opinion of him much either.

"Why not? Don't you think it would be best for our pack if we were…together?" he suggested.

That was another thing she didn't like about him - he had no concept of subtlety. He was always business, and it was obvious what business he was trying to get at. "Look, I'm feeling very tired from our hunts over the past few days and I have a bit of a headache. I'm sorry, but I'm going to be turning in early tonight," she replied. She was fibbing, but she really wanted to get away from him.

"… Alright, never mind then," he finished and let her go, despite his disappointment. Sami trotted away to go somewhere Mayak-free, and as she did, she crossed paths with Mias.

"Sami, I haven't seen you for the past couple of days, how are you?" he asked cheerfully.

"I'm doing great, thanks for asking," she replied, while thinking, 'At least one of the brothers has a sense of the social graces.' Just having Mias around always had a cheering effect on her, thanks to his warm, outgoing personality.

"If it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if you'd seen Mayak anywhere. I need to talk to him for a moment."

"Oh, he just back there near the stream," she replied. "What's it about?"

"Some of the pack are getting a little antsy about the humans they've seen. I wanted to let him know about it," he explained.

"Yes, I've heard a few things about them too," she said. "Some are worried that they may come and attack us."

"I've heard some of that too. I tried to reassure them, but my thoughts got a mixed reception," he replied.

"Well, at least we have someone like you who can sit and listen to everyone... I don't know if Mayak would do the same."

"Hey, Mayak may not be the most social wolf, but that's where I come in. He listens to me and I listen to everyone. No matter what, everything will reach him eventually."

"I'm glad you have that worked out. Well… it was nice seeing you again," she said, a bit reluctant to let him go so soon. She wanted to be able to talk with Mias some more, but following him would require being near Mayak again. As they parted ways, she thought, 'He's such a good soul, willing to listen or talk when the time is right… and he's handsome too… such a nice smile…'

As Sami entertained herself with her fantasies, Mias found his brother pondering by the stream. "Mias, what brings you here?" he asked when he heard his brother approach.

"Something I've heard from the rest of the pack," Mias replied. "A few of them have started to see humans around and it's making them nervous."

"Nervous? What for? These humans have done nothing to us, so I don't see why there should be anything to worry about," he replied.

"You might not, but I've heard and seen what they are capable of. They shouldn't be taken lightly," Mias urged. "I think you should do something."

"Something? Like what?" the alpha asked.

"I don't know… at the very least you have to reassure them. Tell them to avoid the humans, or make up a plan for if they come closer," Mias suggested, earning a quizzical look from his brother. "Long story short, they're nervous because they don't know if their alpha is prepared for this."

"Are they starting to question me?" Mayak asked sharply.

"No, but you could tell them what to do just so they know their leader is thinking about this," he replied. "It'd mean a lot to them if it came from you because you're their alpha. They look up to you… just like you used to look up to me."

"Yeah, that's true… at least until I started knocking you over," Mayak replied, causing both to laugh heartily.

"Yeah, I didn't know what hit me that time," Mias said. He noticed his brother had gone back to staring at the stream, deep in thought. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, it's just… I wanted to have a walk with Sami, but she turned me down," he replied. "She claimed she had a headache.-" he heard a sharp smirk from Mias. "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh, the old 'headache' excuse. That's female code for 'not interested'," Mias replied, trying not to smile too much.

"Not interested? How can she not be interested? I'm the alpha male!" Mayak exclaimed.

"There's more to that than just having status," Mias replied. "Trust me, I've traveled enough to know that if you want to impress someone, you have to take the time to let them warm up to you."

Mayak sighed. "Once again, your travels have given you knowledge that I don't have. Everyone likes you, everyone talks with you, while I don't know where to start with any of them."

"Aw, is somebody jealous of their big brother?" Mias asked coyly.

"No… I'm still one rank above you, so I have something else that you don't," Mayak replied. "However, the pack seems more willing to talk with you and… maybe Sami would let you talk to her as well?" he thought.

"I think I know what you're getting on to," Mias continued. "You want me to talk with her and tell her more about you, right?" Mayak nodded. "I'd be happy to. You've done much for me, and now it's time that I helped you out."

"Thank you, you don't know how much this means to me," Mayak said.

"Hey, that's what brothers do for each other," Mias replied.

---

Mayak took Mias' advice and told the pack what he thought about the human presence. It started well, with him reassuring them that they would be okay as long as they stayed vigilant and kept a watch out for them. Like any alpha, Mayak could project and impose his power physically, but there was something Mias thought he was lacking in some points. His address was very stiff and he didn't bother to address any specific cases, such as the fate of one of their previous packmates. That would have made the address much more personal, but as Mias thought back, he remembered that Mayak always had troubles relating with others.

Everything was always for some official business with his brother, such as hunting or keeping the hierarchy intact. Mias knew it would be a bit of a challenge to get Sami to warm up to him, but he still forged ahead. He figured he could bridge the gap Mayak had left by telling her about their puppyhood. He hoped to make Mayak seem more relatable, and less of a faceless authority. These stories attracted not only her interest, but the interest of the pack as well, as they all wanted to know what their alpha was like when he was only knee-high. Mias loved spicing up his stories with extra description or inflection, which only made them more entertaining to his listeners.

Sami seemed captivated the most by his storytelling and would often come to him after their gathering to talk with him one on one. It was in these chats that the topic of conversation would always shift from Mayak to Mias' own travels abroad.

"You have so many stories of the land, meeting so many wonderful creatures, but for so long you remained on the