Thawing of the Ice

Chapter 6 - Help!

The eldest of the pack came up to Zane with a shocked look on her face. "Alpha, I just got a call from the Eldest of Forest Depths. They have severed their bonds with Midnight Forest, and are asking for help. They are also willing to discuss terms for peace between us. It seems they didn't agree with Midnight Forest, and would prefer peace with us. How did you want me to respond?" She didn't know if he could do anything, or if he needed to take it to Adam and Brook first.

Zane had been reviewing the records since his last visit when the Elder walked in. When she did he moved around from his desk and gave her a good hug and held her as she talked. He frowned since he hadn't thought about either of the other two packs since Adam had told Harrison to go hang on his own petard, "Pass the call over me and I'll talk to them. It might need to go to Adam and Brook but I am the Alpha." He wasn't going to pass it to them until he knew what they were calling for.

"Alpha Zane and how may I help you." As he was talking he was fiddling with a mug of coffee.

"We are needing help." The Elder said shortly, "As you are surely aware, Harrison had us turn out most of our fighting force. We suffered massive losses, and our pack is barely hanging on. We need help. Before you say anything, we didn't agree with the fight, and especially with the bringing in of the Rogue Cats to attack the Pride they broke away from. Right now, we are barely able to afford food, and most of the best hunters are gone, and those that are left can't keep up. Medical supplies, we are down to using rags for bandages and few are healing well. When we were started, Harrison kept control of the bank accounts and sent us the food deliveries he felt we needed. We have broken our bond with Midnight Forest and need help, as we expect to have him not go quietly on us separating." They were in such a bad place that they were reduced to begging for help from the former enemy. "Our Female Alpha had word from her sister that you have accepted her, her mate Roger, and their pups into Wild Valley. We are hoping you will help."

Well crap, that wasn't what he had expected at all. A call for a peace treaty maybe but this? It wasn't what he had expected at all, "I will need to talk to Adam for some of what you are asking. What I can do as the Alpha of Ice Lake is offer my personal support separate from Wild Valley. I will talk to the pack who broke off to see what they can do as well." He took a sip of the coffee, "I'll organize food, might be basic but it will keep you fed. How many wolves do you need to beef up your defenses? I'm also going to send you a copy of the inter-pack treaty in place with a number of packs. Read it, if you agree, sign it and send the signed copy to Adam. Once you become a treaty member if you are attacked you can call on the treaty for support. I'll also contact Silver Peak Pride and see if he can provide you some support along the lines of food or what else you might need. Is there anything else you need? I am talking urgent or critical supplies."

The elder sighed loud enough for Zane to hear. "We, right now, are very much still grieving the loss of our packmates, and those that we lost that joined them." They said, sorrow filling their voice. "Whatever you can spare, we will accept in the way of supplies. For guards, we are running a skeleton of patrols and most are running alone, so not sure how many you can spare. Urgently, we need medical supplies and food. Everything else is on hold right now. Send the document, I have heard of it, but haven't seen it in a few decades, so don't know the current form." If they could get into it, it would solve many of their problems, as it would gain them strong allies, and contacts to help them get back on their feet. Harrison had scoffed and rejected it right away, not thinking he needed any help. "Mostly, what we need right now is time to grieve. Eventually, we would pay back for all the help given. I'll let you go, so you can make your calls."

He didn't realize he was muttering, "Not going to kill Harrison, not going to go and shoot him. If I did, Brook would leave me broken and bleeding in the circle. Not taking another pack as their Alpha." He finally was able to talk, "I'll gather my medical staff, all the supplies we can spare and send them up. I'll send twenty of my Enforcers and I'm sure the other pack can send the same. It might take a bit of time for them but I'll have my support sent shortly. They should be there late afternoon. I'm going to let you go since I have some work to do." He couldn't do much about their grieving but he could support them as much as possible.