Happy Friday, everyone! Channel Solora is back with your favorite werewolf story. Enjoy!

Ren folded his arms, deciding to cut straight to the chase. "A friend of ours was bitten during your last raid on our village and taken to your pack. We want to know where she is."

"What do you care?" the Faunus werewolf, Perry, spat. His brown eyes were shining with combined fear and anger. "She's a monster to you, now. You probably want to kill her, right?"

"We want to save her," Nora said, narrowing her eyes. "Your leader doesn't have a good reputation."

Perry let out a laugh. "Yeah, I heard you guys talking about how you supposedly got those Cinder dogs on your side. You can't fool me. No self-respecting werewolf would help a Huntsman, and you'd never help a werewolf. You think we're all immoral murderers, right?"

"What do you call that raid on Vale?!" Nora snapped, clenching her fists. "You just ran through, killed people, and left."

"It's no less than what you Huntsmen do!" Perry shot back.

"If you hate Huntsmen so much, why did you bite Blake and Ruby?" Ren asked. "Wouldn't you rather just kill them, like the wild beasts you are?" He watched the werewolf carefully. He's angry. I might be able to get him to reveal a few things if I get him riled up.

The fur on Perry's rabbit ears bristled and he lunged forward, snapping at Ren. The rope attaching his bound wrists to the tree stopped him from getting too far, though. "You're the beasts! You leave the Faunus in your town unguarded and treat them like dirt. They'd might as well be werewolves already!"

"Blake certainly didn't share your views. She knew you were all monsters," Ren replied, keeping his voice neutral.

"Hmph. She'll come around eventually," Perry said with a shrug.

"Aha!" Nora pointed at him triumphantly. "So, you have seen her!"

Perry froze. His ears stiffened and his face quickly took on a closed, reserved look.

"Nora…" Ren groaned quietly, giving his friend an exasperated look. He had hoped to get more information, but it looked like he'd have to try a different tactic now.

Nora blinked, glancing between Ren and Perry before realizing her mistake. Her face flushed and she backed away a bit. "Um… I'll just let you talk to him…" she muttered.

"Thank you," Ren said before turning back to Perry. Since using the werewolf's anger wasn't going to work anymore, maybe a bit of honesty would be better. "Look, we were not told good things about your pack. We need to know that she's okay. Can you at least tell me how she is?"

Perry stared at the ground and said nothing else. A few more minutes confirmed that he was done talking.

Ren sighed and went to stand next to Nora. He looked up at the sky, trying to discern the time. The others would have to come back soon and take Perry to Pyrrha and Ruby. If a Huntsman patrol came through here…

A sniffle beside him caused him to look down. Nora was wiping her eyes, looking to the side. "What's wrong?" he asked, immediately looping an arm around her shoulders.

"Sorry I messed up," she muttered. "You could've found out more if I hadn't said anything."

Ren squeezed her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up, okay? We still have more of an edge, now that we've captured him. We'll get Blake, don't worry."

Nora wiped her eyes and leaned into Ren, smiling a little. Any of the others, except maybe Jaune or Ruby, would have scolded or lectured her for her slip-up. Ren never did anything like that, though. She couldn't remember a time when he wasn't consistently understanding and kind. She didn't even think he had ever yelled at her, not even once.

"The act won't work," Perry called over.

"It's not an act!" Nora shouted, glaring at their prisoner. "We're friends, and we want to know our friend is okay."

Perry snorted. "By that, you mean you want to kill her to 'cleanse her soul,' or some shit like that. Am I right?"

"That's not-! No!" Nora replied, though her cheeks flushed shamefully as she thought back to a few nights ago, when they had been ready to kill Ruby for that very reason.

"Yeah, I thought so." Perry leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, his breathing became slower.

"Is he seriously sleeping?" Nora wondered, half wanting to poke him with a stick to be sure.

"Well, last night was pretty stressful for him." Ren walked over and draped the coat he had been holding over Perry's nude form. "All we can do now is wait for the others." He sat down by a nearby tree, keeping a keen eye on the werewolf.

Nora curled up next to Ren, snuggling instinctively into his side. She stared at the prisoner in silence for a few seconds. "Hey, Ren?"

"Yes, Nora?"

"What would you have done if I'd been bitten?"

Ren looked down at her, raising an eyebrow. "What brought this on?"

"I dunno." Nora shrugged. "I just remember what you said before our hunt for Ruby. You said we should keep an open mind, almost as if you weren't sure about the Church's teachings even then." She looked up at him. "Am I right?"

Ren nodded slowly. "I've had my doubts. Werewolves aren't like Grimm. I've always known that. The idea that all the humanity in a person can vanish just by getting scratched or bitten by a Beowolf never sat right with me. I fought because they attacked our village, but I never thought they were like the Grimm." He squeezed her shoulder. "If you had been bitten, I would have done everything in my power to keep you safe."

Nora's whole body felt warm all of a sudden. She couldn't keep the wide smile from her face, nor could she keep from tightly hugging her best friend. He made a strained noise, but still returned the hug, albeit much more gently.

When she looked up, he was smiling down at her, magenta eyes shimmering. Her face flushed. "Ren, I…"

The sound of approaching footsteps caused both Huntsmen to freeze. They jumped up, looking desperately at each other. Was a hunting party coming through? How on Remnant would they explain-?

Yang burst through the trees, followed closely by Weiss. "Hey. Let's get our friend over to the meeting place. You two can go back and get some sleep, kay?"

"Actually," Ren said. "Maybe we should come with you. Escorting a prisoner could be tricky. Besides, I still have yet to meet Pyrrha or really talk with Ruby."

Yang shrugged. "Okay. If you want." She walked over to the prisoner and nudged him with her foot. "Wakey, wakey."

Perry opened his eyes. His body tensed as he realized yet again where he was and the fact that his wrists were bound. He glared. "So, what now?" He looked at the coat Ren had put on him, wrinkled his nose, and shook it off.

"Now, we're gonna take you to some friends of ours," Yang growled. "We'll see if they can get you to talk." She waited for Ren to put the cloth bandages back into the prisoner's mouth before looking to him and Nora. "So, did you find anything out?"

"Blake's definitely in Adam's pack," Ren said. "That's all we know, though."

"That so?" Yang pulled Perry to his feet and looked him in the eye. "Listen, pal. If I find out that your leader did anything to my friend, I'm not going to be happy. Neither will Weiss, and she has a tendency to carry little vials of Dust with her wherever she goes…"

A brief flash of fear went across Perry's eyes.

Yang nodded. "Good. Glad we understand each other. Let's go."

They started toward the trees. As they walked, Ren turned to Nora. "What were you about to tell me before?" he asked.

Nora's cheeks turned pink again. She opened her mouth, glanced at Weiss and Yang, and closed it. After a moment, she jumped up to tap Ren's nose with her finger. "Boop!" she chirped.

Ren blinked at her before shaking his head and chuckling softly. She really was too cute sometimes.

…..

"We cannot take him!" Pyrrha said, staring in horror at the bound werewolf in front of her. "There is simply no way to do this!"

Her spirits had already been low since last night's hunt, where Ruby had been kept everywhere but at her side throughout the chase, the kill, and the following feast. She hadn't even seen her friend until the following morning, when Ruby had snuck into her den. Apparently, Cinder had spent the night socializing her with the rest of the pack.

"It was weird," Ruby had said. "She hasn't paid any attention to me before. I hope we can get to the meeting today."

Thankfully, they had been able to sneak away for the meeting, though it had required much more stealth than before. Now, they were sitting in front of a werewolf from Adam's pack, who bore several healed slash wounds and was witness to their alliance with the humans.

"But, won't Cinder be happy to have one of Adam's wolves?" Ren asked.

"It's not that simple!" Pyrrha said, groaning loudly. "First of all, she'll want to know where we found him. You took him all the way from the northern end of the border, likely leaving a blood trail. Cinder will smell that, and smell your scents. That will raise too many questions. Second, he has seen us together and knows what we're planning. I don't want to give Cinder a reason to suspect me of anything. Finally, there's no way we'd learn anything from him anyway, because Cinder would kill him at the first sign of disrespect."

There was a tense silence, during which the humans looked at each other.

"So, what? We kill him now, then?" Yang asked, looking down at Perry.

Perry made a muffled sound and desperately shook his head. Tears shined in the corners of his eyes.

Ruby stepped forward and took the bandages out of his mouth. "Have anything to say?"

"Please don't kill me!" Perry gasped, looking around. "I…I can't believe it. You really are allies." He swallowed loudly. "I didn't think Cinder would… But I guess she didn't, huh?" He stared at Pyrrha and Ruby, shaking his head numbly. "What are these humans holding over you two? Whatever it is, it's not worth betraying your species!"

"We're not betraying anything," Pyrrha said calmly. "We simply wish to help a friend, and maybe make things easier for all of our people."

"Impossible!" Perry snarled. "These humans are tricking you!"

Ruby knelt in front of him. "Do you recognize me at all?" When Perry shook his head, she sighed. "I was the other one who got bitten. Pyrrha saved me, but Blake got carried off."

Perry was silent.

"Look, these are my friends. They came after me to free my soul, but I was able to convince them that werewolves aren't evil," Ruby explained. "Now, we want to get Blake back. It's the mating season, so we're really worried. Tell me the truth: Does Adam want to mate with Blake?"

Perry continued to stare at Ruby, narrowing his eyes as they locked on hers. He glanced at the others before looking back at her again. "There was no way for you to know about the other girl…" he muttered before sighing. "Okay, fine. Yes. Adam's been watching Vale for a while. He saw Blake and fell for her. He wanted to save her. That's what the raid was for. You were there, so he bit you too. I guess he thought that bringing a friend with us would make her more comfortable."

"Save her?!" Weiss all but shrieked, her eyes turning to ice. "She didn't need saving! She had a life in Vale! She had friends! She had us!"

"She was living in a part of town that wasn't protected," Perry shot back. "Your town didn't care about her. Adam can appreciate her. He'll be good to her."

"I don't care how good you think he'll be to her!" Yang cut in, eyes turning red as she glared down at Perry. "People died in that raid, okay? Good people were killed, houses were burned down, and we went for days thinking that our friends were dead! Blake will never fall for a person who did that!"

"She will! Adam's very persuasive." As Perry spoke, his eyes took on a troubled look. He blinked, frowning a little, before shaking himself. "What I mean is, he'll get her to like him and they'll be happy. Then, they can both lead the pack and have strong pups. It'll be great."

"You can't persuade someone to love someone!" Ruby gasped. "That's…That's sick! Don't you see that?" She leaned closer. "Tell me the truth: Has she tried to escape?"

The troubled shine in Perry's eyes grew and he quickly looked at the ground.

Pyrrha nudged Ruby to the side and took Perry's chin, tilting his face toward hers. "I'd rather not do this, but it will make things go by much quicker." She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, allowing her alpha stare to activate. She delved into his mind, piercing at the very core, meeting surprisingly little resistance. Hm. He feels like an omega. "You will answer my questions honestly."

"Yes, alpha," Perry replied in a numb voice.

"Is Blake being held against her will by Adam?"

"Yes."

The others made various strained, troubled noises, which Pyrrha ignored. "Has he mated with her yet?"

"No."

There was a loud sigh of relief from Yang.

"Is he going to try, even though she's a whelp and will also be unwilling?"

Perry blinked. "Yes."

Weiss made a sound that was like a muffled sob.

"Where is he keeping her?"

"In his den. At the center of the territory."

Pyrrha smiled a little at his quick, easy obedience, before shaking herself. Careful, Pyrrha. It's easy to get drunk with power when using the alpha stare. Don't get carried away. "What part of the western border is the least guarded?"

Perry gritted his teeth, trying weakly to resist, before relenting. "The mid-northern end, where the pine trees are."

"Oh! You showed me that area!" Ruby said eagerly.

Pyrrha waved at Ruby to be quiet. "What time of night is best to go in and sneak her out without meeting any patrols?"

More feeble resistance. "Just after midnight. The patrols pass from north to south and won't circle back for several hours."

"Good. Thank you." Pyrrha stepped back, releasing Perry from the stare. She noticed the others giving her wary looks. "I only use that when I must," she assured them.

Perry shuddered, blinking rapidly as he recovered. Then, he looked at the others in turn, new wonder in his eyes. "You…You really want to just get her out, don't you?"

Yang nodded. "She's my best friend. If she were to be…hurt like that…" She shook her head. "I'd kill whoever was responsible."

"Adam wouldn't hurt her!" Perry protested. "He just needs to make her understand." Even as he spoke, his voice shook, as if he was trying very hard to believe his words.

"He shouldn't be 'making' her do anything! Love isn't something you force!" Weiss snapped, glaring down at the werewolf. Her blood had been boiling throughout their meeting, but this talk of making Blake fall in love finally pushed her over the edge. "It's something that just happens, completely randomly. You don't expect it to happen, but when it does, you know. You just know. You become willing to sacrifice for that person. You want nothing more than to see that person happy." She shook her head. "Killing people, forcing yourself on someone… That's not love!"

Perry tilted his head. His gaze met Weiss's for a moment. Then, he smiled. "Ah." He glanced at Ruby for a split second, too quickly for the smaller girl to notice, before looking back at Weiss. "I understand now." For the first time, his shoulders relaxed.

Weiss's face flushed and she glanced at the others. Ren, Nora, and Yang were looking at her sympathetically. Pyrrha had an intrigued smile on her face. Ruby just looked stunned. She cleared her throat hastily. "In any case, do you understand now why this is important to us?"

Perry nodded, glancing at the others. "Yes. I can see it now." He met each of their eyes in turn, his bemused smile widening with each second. "I just can't believe it… Omegas can sense emotion, you know. Before, I didn't get to really look at any of your eyes. Now though, I can see how much you care about Blake. And each other." He shook his head. "This is starting to feel like a dream."

"You can…" Weiss's cheeks turned an even darker shade. "You can sense emotions?"

"And manipulate them," Perry added. "Last night, when you hesitated to kill me, I influenced you a bit. Made you feel nice and peaceful."

"So, that's what that was." Weiss frowned. Before, the idea of an "alpha stare" had disturbed her. Now, however, she found herself wondering if these low-ranking omega wolves had much more of a potential to violate someone. At least Pyrrha and Ruby couldn't read minds.

If they could… Weiss hated to imagine how they would react. She looked at the two once again. Pyrrha's hand was on Ruby's shoulder and Ruby was leaning back against the taller girl for support. It looked like such a natural position for them. Maybe she really is better for Ruby, she thought sadly.

"So…what now?" Nora asked, looking at Perry with a slight frown. "We can't let him go, we can't send him back with Pyrrha, and we definitely can't take him to Vale." She looked at the others. "I don't want to kill him!"

"Well, I have good news. I don't want to die," Perry said dryly, though with a small hint of panic returning to his voice.

Pyrrha tapped her chin thoughtfully. "There's an area near our western border that rarely gets patrols. It's in the wastelands. If we tie him up there and leave him with food and water, we can release him after we rescue Blake." She looked at the others. "He won't be able to harm our plans then."

"What about the Grimm?" Ren asked, his brows furrowing. "Won't he just be bait for them?"

"No. Werewolves smell like Grimm. As long as he keeps his emotions under control, they won't bother him," Pyrrha replied.

Weiss frowned. "The Grimm…see werewolves as fellow Grimm?" She hated herself for the sideways glance she gave Ruby. When she saw that her friend was already looking at her, she lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, Ruby. This is still…"

"I know," Ruby cut in. "I reacted pretty badly when I found out that part." She shared a glance with Pyrrha, thinking back to the Grimm stampede she had caused. "I understand."

"Thank you," Weiss muttered, though her shoulders slumped even further. I'm still judging her, even now. She's definitely better off with Pyrrha.

Perry let out a resigned sigh. "Tied up in the wastelands, huh? Well, I guess it's better than being killed." He grinned weakly. "I'm almost looking forward to seeing how things turn out with you crazy humans."

"You're calling us crazy?" Yang asked, eyes flashing.

"Well, yeah. Any other human would've skinned me by now. You're almost acting like decent people," Perry laughed. "No humans are like that normally, so you've gotta all be crazy!" He paused. "I have an idea. What if I bit all of you right now? You can come back with me and we can all live happily in Adam's pack. You won't have to take Blake away then."

Almost everyone said "No!" at the exact same time.

A few hours later, Perry was bound to a firm dead tree in the wastelands. An open flask bearing a mix of wine and water sat nearby, and a bit of the kill Pyrrha had made for her human friends sat next to it. Once everyone was positive that his bonds were secure, they left.

Ren and Nora paused, falling a bit behind the others, and glanced back at Perry. "Will…Will you be okay?" Nora called over.

Perry grinned wryly. "I might be rapidly losing my sanity, but I'll be fine."

"Don't worry, " Pyrrha assured them as they caught up. "I'll come back in the evening, so he won't escape when he transforms. And in the morning again." Her eyes flickered nervously. "I hope we can rescue Blake soon, now that we have this information. I won't be able to keep him a secret for long."

"We'll need to make a plan," Weiss said. "And get some sleep. We won't be able to save her tonight, but we should try tomorrow night."

Yang nodded. "Yeah. The sooner we get this done, the better." She shuddered as she thought of what Blake was likely going through. Perry's brainwashed descriptions of Adam didn't do much to ease anyone's nerves concerning him or Blake. "I just hope we aren't too late."

A light sprinkling of Team Sloth will spruce up any chapter, don't you agree? We're getting close to the actual rescue now. Then, the story's really gonna get going. Stay tuned for more action, drama, and romance! (I promise that the romance will get much more apparent as time goes on.)

Peace out!