Chapter Eleven

    I woke up dreamy and happy, relieved with a long bout of sleep and refreshed for the day to come. Then, I remembered what had happened. I had seen the Lord Protector and his guards at a campfire, only a day's walk from the wolf den! I had to tell Roobyn and the pack! I raced over to the door, grabbed my coat slung over the chair, and rushed out the door, sprinting for the den. 

    On my way to the wolves, I ran into Mebh, hunting a deer. As soon as the deer heard me crashing through the forest, it took off, sprinting towards the river. Mebh looked at me, annoyed. She barked as if to say What did you do that for? Then, she saw the panic in my eyes and understood something had happened. She bounded off, running to the den to inform them of my arrival.

    As I leaped over the last bush, Robyn came out, supposedly in her wolf form. She approached me and looked at me quizzically. "The Lord Protector." I gasped. "He's here. With guards. Lots of them." Robyn looked alarmed, that suspicious. "It's true," I said, my breath now about me. "You can go and see the tracks if you want." Robyn walked into the den and came out a little later with Mebh and two other wolves. I noticed that one of them was red, just like Mebh. They all looked alarmed and confused but followed Robyn and me to the site of the tracks. They then sniffed all around the tracks to confirm that the tracks were really the Lord Protector. Then, the bigger red wolf barked, and everyone strode off to the den. Robyn tugged on my sleeve, and I started towards the den with the others.

    When we got to the den, Robyn and the others transformed into their human forms. There were two adults, whom I had seen earlier. "I don't think we've introduced ourselves yet," the red-haired woman said. "I'm Moll, and this is Bill. I'm Mebh's mother, and Bill is Robyn's father. We're apprehensive about the Lord Protector in our forest."

    Robyn called the pack together at the center of the den. "Wolves, friends, family. We have confirmed the worst. The Lord Protector is alive. We don't know how, but Sean saw the Lord Protector with his own eyes, and I've smelled the tracks. There is no doubt. The Lord Protector is here, and my guess is, he's here to finish what he started, and wipe us all out. It's probably personal to him now, so be on the lookout for any guards or the Lord Protector himself." Robyn turned to Sean. "Could you keep an eye on the Lord Protector for us? It would really help if we knew where the Lord Protector was." 

    "Sure," Sean replied. "I hate him as much as you guys do, so I could check up on him every once in a while."

    "Don't kill him."

     "Darn."

     "At least, not yet."

    "OK. I guess that'll work. Just don't wait too long." I joked.

    Robyn smiled. Then she turned to the wolves and Mebh, Bill, and Moll. "OK. We've beat the Lord Protector once, who says we can't do it again, yeah? We'll need a strategy, but we have the advantage. This is our home. The Lord Protector has walked into our forest. We know it better. We can win!" She gathered the wolves around in a circle to discuss what to do. This didn't seem like aa me problem, so I tried to inch my way slowly toward the den opening. Then, Robyn turned to look at me.

    "Hey, Sean!" Robyn called. "Come here and strategize with us!" I turned around.

    "Really? I mean, I'm not a wolf or a wolfwalker, even!"

    Robyn smiled again. "You're our friend, Sean. That's enough. Come on and join us." I jogged over to the wolves. I finally had company in the forest. I had friends. I huddled into the circle and began to talk.