After two weeks of hard training, every day, all of wolf camp was happy for a break when it came time for the first Leidulf council meeting. For the others, there was the knowledge that camp would slow down after Connor and his pack were gone.

For Connor, the respite would be short lived. He would have two days after the council for him and his team, Aaron and Arthur, to make their final preparations. Then they would head to Missouri to set up camp for Fenrir's treaty council. No one would quite knew how long it would take, possibly the rest of the summer.

Connor simultaneous dreaded having it dragged out, and hoped it would. Both Aaron and Arthur agreed on one point, the longer it took for Fenrir to convince the other tribes to bow down before him, the better their chances of preventing it altogether. "If it's decided quickly, it won't go in our favor," Arthur said more than once.

"You ready?" Amanda prompted, bring Connor back to the present. He nodded. They left their cabin as a pack. As they headed up towards where the elders and the rest of the tribe waited, Tricia and her pack fell in with them. And then Justin Bierman and his pack. When they arrived at the main council, about half of the youth would be walking close with them, a clear show of solidarity from the tribe's youth. Connor wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve it, and he knew he didn't really need it, since Jameson had made it clear that they would not remove him as ambassador for the tribe, but it still felt damn good.

The group split when they reached the camp, but enough of the adults had noticed, particularly the elders. Human society might rely on words, Connor thought, but wolves understood the power of actions.

"Interesting display," Dad commented as Connor approached his dad's cabin. They were not camping this time but had been assigned a cabin for the summer. That was in part because Aaron and his pack would be playing runner for Connor and in part an indication of their new status.

Aaron, Mitch and Vince were outside. Mitch was lighting a grill and had a plate of burgers next to it. Vince had a beer and was talking to a Skollsen visitor, a pretty younger woman who was clearly flirting with him.

"They chose, not me," Connor replied.

Amanda gave the two of them a mystified look, looking behind her. Connor gave a wry smile at his father. He loved Amanda more than anything, but she often failed to understand the unspoken side of pack life. She spoke her mind, bluntly and expected others to do the same to her. There was good in that, too, he had come to learn.

"Where's mom?" Connor asked looking around.

"Trying to talk to the elder," Dad replied with a grimace.

Connor shared his dad's grimace. They spied Karen making her way towards them, her face grim. "He wouldn't talk to me," she growled. "Said if I had concerns I should raise them at the council."

"So? Raise them at the council then," Aaron replied.

Karen gave him a sharp, suspicious look. "And you?"

"I won't stand in your way," Aaron replied, evasive.

"You won't stand with me either!"

Aaron shrugged. "I won't."

"You realize how dangerous this is?"

"I do. I also realize how hard Connor's worked for this. And he's not going alone. We'll be there. And Arthur."

"We'll be there as runners. Be easy to send us back with some message, get us out of the way."

"We won't let that happen," Aaron countered. "And Arthur won't be so easy to move aside."

"I don't trust him. Not after last summer."

"I don't either, mom," Connor put in. "But these last two weeks, I think I'm starting to understand him."

Karen gave him another sharp look.

"Look, I may not trust him, but I know what he'll do. He needs to rebuild his face, with the tribe and with Fleischer's too. He can only do that by proving himself competent and loyal this summer."

"I wish the elders would at least listen to me," Karen muttered, turning away. "And don't tell me, 'at the council.' I know," she snapped.

Karen continued to watch Connor and his dad out of the corner of her eye all the way through the supper meal. She knew she was getting played, she just couldn't figure out how, or why. Connor sighed. He'd hate it, too. But Jameson was right. Force her to bring her concerns to the council and let the elder answer them in front of the whole tribe.

A mother's concern for the safety of her son. That was the angle they wanted. They didn't want others trying to hijack this issue and make it about the future of the tribe. It would only create needless division.

As they began to gather to make their way up for the council hall, they saw a group of late arrivals coming up into the camp. The men were unfamiliar to Connor, the traveling clothes fade and worn. When they came within scent range he picked it up immediately, the Ritters had arrived.

Arthur and his pack had been assigned the cabin across the lane from Aaron. The two packs, Aaron and Arthur's met in the middle and watched the approaching Ritters. The Ritters paused, nervous and unsure.

Robbie broke ranks and went forward. So did one of the Ritters. Must be Greg, Connor thought as the two men half hugged and shook hands. Tanner went forward next and hugged Greg as well.

Tanner had told him and Amanda about his mission. Nothing in their greeting would have made Connor think that either man was gay or they had more than a casual relationship, but he knew better than to think you could always tell. That was an old stereotype. And men Robbie's age from conservative areas had learned to hide who they were. It made Connor sad that they had to.

Neither Connor or Amanda thought Jonathan would be shocked or upset by the revelation that his favorite uncle was gay, but they weren't going to tell him either, out of respect for Robbie. They'd told Tanner to keep that quiet and Amanda had said she'd approach Robbie, tell him she thought Jonathan would be accepting if Robbie choose to come out to him.

For now, Greg was introducing his current pack mates. Being a broken tribe, Robbie had told them, they didn't keep formal packs like the other tribes. They couldn't always afford to, traveling the neutral lands made it harder for the groups to find resources to support a pack of five or more. So they often traded wolves, if a pack was poor and struggling to feed everyone, they sent a couple members off to a more stable pack.

Indeed as they introduced people around, Connor realised he did know at least one of them. "Sharon," he said when she was brought forward. "Good to see you again. How did it go with your niece?"

She smiled, pleased that he recalled their last meeting. "Good. Well, not at first. She tore the halfway house apart with her first transformation and nearly started a riot. But the skinwalkers got it covered up and we got her out."

"Glad to hear it. You guys can use any wolf you can get, right?"

"We'll talk more after the council," Arthur interrupted. "Can't be late."

Connor nodded and the entire group started up towards the council hall again, the Ritters falling in with them.