Thank you for all of the reviews, they gave me the motivation to rewrite another chapter for anyone who is still reading this.

CH. 18 Answers and A Challenge

Anra looked around the small clearing, drinking in the details as she pressed her hand against the old willow. The feeling of the rough bark on her palm awoke memories from when she was a young pup and used to spend the afternoon climbing the tree with Isla and Eron. Even when they had gotten older this clearing was where they would always meet to spend time together, she missed those carefree days. She turned to face Eron with a smile.

Eron was still dressed in his formal linens, the same as Anra. One of his bare feet was scuffing the ground anxiously, causing a small cloud of dirty to form around it.

"You'll get your pant-cuff dirty if you keep doing that," Anra warned in a soft voice. He

shrugged, not saying anything, but stopped anyways. Anra felt her heart constrict as she took in

his downcast face. She ached for the simple camaraderie they used to share before she left to join the Fellowship.

The silence grew uncomfortable as neither Nightstalker spoke and Eron continued to avoid Anra's gaze. Anra rubbed her arms as the night cooled, making her wish that she'd changed before leaving the camp.

"Eron?" she prompted in a quiet voice.

"Anra, what are you doing?" he whispered, repeating Isla earlier question verbatim.

Annoyance crashed through her; the hostile looks she had been getting since coming home, the hushed whispers from her packmates, the pups repeating their parents' words and calling her a no-shift breeder. She was done, done with explaining herself, done with feeling ashamed of her and Aragorn's relationship. For Valar's sake, they had never even kissed!

"You'll have to be more specific," she growled, unwilling to make it easy for him.

Eron finally looked up, eyes blazing with anger, "Oh, I don't know, maybe you betraying the pack for a quick tumble in the hay! With a human none the less," he spat the last part in disgust.

"Excuse me?" she snarled, her fangs slipping into view. "Do not presume to know anything about mine and Aragorn's relationship, you know nothing about what we have gone through. Aragorn is a good man."

Eron huffed in disbelief, "He's a filthy human and you've become no better. Come on Anra, I thought you had higher standards than that," he taunted.

"Why did you ask me out here?" she asked, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. Even if he disagreed with her choices, she was having trouble wrapping her mind around this attack. They used to be best friends.

"I hoped to make you see sense, but I can tell it would be pointless, you're too far gone. You've dishonored the pack, you have no place here, no claim to the title of Alpha."

Her canines slipped into view, "Are you challenging me?"

"Well someone ought to, we can hardly be expected to follow a no-shift breeder, who'd rather be tramping around Middle Earth with humans and elves as company over leading her own pack!"

A growl rose from deep in her chest, "Are you sure you want to do this Eron?" He showed his canines in response, his eyes not leaving hers he shifted.

"We'll need witnesses."

Eron tipped his head back and howled.

After Anra left with Eron, Aragorn and the others changed back into their own clothes. He paced back and forth restlessly, he didn't like that Anra had gone off on her own. He knew that he was probably over reacting and that this was her pack, making this probably one of the safest places she could be, but still. She had been getting hostile looks all night from her packmates and while he was fairly certain he knew why, it still did not really make sense to him.

"Aragorn sit down, she will be fine," Legolas said in a calm voice.

He nodded stiffly and sat on his cot. For some reason he couldn't force himself to relax, Aragorn felt deep in his bones that something was wrong.

"Excuse me, Aragorn? Can I speak with you?" Aragorn jumped slightly when he heard his name. Isla was standing in the doorway wringing her hands out nervously.

Nodding Aragorn rose from the bed and walked over to her, following her as she gestured for him to step outside. Once they were out of earshot from Legolas and Gimli, Isla turned and faced him, a look of determination overtaking her face.

"What are your intentions with Anra," she said, cutting straight to the point.

Aragorn was taken aback, he hesitated before answering, wanting to consider his response carefully. "I care for her very much, but we are in the middle of a war right now and even if we weren't I am not sure she feels the same way about me."

His mind involuntarily went back to their last night in Lothlorien when she had stopped him from kissing her. So much had happened since then, he really was not sure where they currently stood. Sure, she had turned away from him then, but then she had turned to him for comfort by the river and slept curled into his side the night before they had entered Fangorn; not to mention they had spent this whole past night dancing together. However, after what happened with Boromir when he was possessed by the Ring, Aragorn didn't want to push her and make her feel pressured into accepting his advances.

"Trust me, she cares for you," Isla pinch the bridge of her nose as if this stressed her.

Aragorn felt his heart leap at her reassurance, but he still felt like now was hardly an appropriate time to begin a courtship, not to mention she was the future alpha of her pack and therefore would probably have to marry another Nightstalker. His mood started to worsen the longer he thought about it. He supposed he had always known this on some level, he had just ignored it and allowed his feeling for her to grow.

A feeling of hopelessness started to curl in his gut, when he had been with Arwen it had been simple; he loved her, and she had loved him. Neither had had higher obligations they had to fulfill at the time and little had seemed more important than their feelings for each other. But times changed and when the threat of Mordor returned to Middle Earth they had been unable to make their relationship work any longer. Aragorn wondered if his relationship with Anra was doomed to fail too, before it had even started. With Arwen though, they hadn't really even tried to work it out, when things had gotten difficult they just let each other go. He did not want to do that with Anra, he wanted to try to work it out, he just didn't know how.

Isla shifted restlessly, "Has Anra ever told you about Wren?" Aragorn's eyebrows drew together in confusion as he shook his head in negative.

She sighed, "Wren was a Nightstalker who fell in love with a girl from Rohan. Anra and I were only eight years old when it happened, and our packmates who were older don't like to talk about it much, but it's not something you forget."

Aragorn got a bad feeling in his stomach as he thought about all the angry looks Anra had been getting when she was with him, something told him Wren's story didn't have a happy ending.

"We could tell there was something going on between you and Anra, you know, even without you confirming it. She has been away from the pack for a while now, so it's not unexpected that her scent would change a bit, but your scent, it clings to her stronger than anyone else's, and her's to you."

Aragorn thought about how the Nightstalkers' eyes had seemed to linger upon him more than the rest of his companions, how Reigh had seemed to be sizing him up, trying to form an opinion on him.

"What happened to Wren?"

"The rest of the pack couldn't accept his choice, he was eventually driven out. My guess is he went to live with that girl, or at least that's what I like to believe happened. Nightstalkers are not well accepted out side of our own territory, so in truth I am not sure if the girl's village would have welcomed him and a wolf wouldn't survive long without a pack."

"Why are you telling me this?" he whispered.

Isla looked at him with pitying eyes, "Because Anra is my best friend, and you need to understand just what she is risking for you."

Though Aragorn was a warrior, he did not consider himself to be violent man, but right now he felt the urge to hit something or maybe just scream. It wasn't fair, they had done nothing wrong and yet she was being punished. He wished she had told him this herself, but then again, they hadn't really talk about their relationship at all had they? And although he hadn't known the extent of the possible consequences of their relationship that didn't mean that he wasn't just as responsible for starting the conversation as she was, so it wasn't fair of him to just push the blame onto her.

Aragorn took a deep breath and opened his mouth to say something when a low howl cut through the night air.

Isla's eyes went wide, and she grabbed his arm, "Where is Anra?"

"I don't know, someone—Eron, came to talk with her and they left the camp together. Why, what is going on?" Nightstalkers began coming out of the building and heading towards the tunnel that lead out of the camp, all of them were shifted into their wolf forms.

She shook her head, "You need to get your other companions and go to the throne room and stay there until either me or Reigh tells you it's okay."

"Tell me what's going on, is Anra okay?" Aragorn demanded, unwilling to do anything until she explain what was happening.

Patia came running out of the building towards them, "Isla, you need to get over there now!"

"I know, can you make sure that they all get to the throne room and stay there until we can get everything situated?" Patia nodded, a fearful expression marring her features as she started trying to shoo Aragorn away.

Isla shifted and ran towards the tunnel without another word. Fighting everyone one of his instincts that told him to run after her, he allowed Patia to herd him towards the room they were staying in. Ignoring Legolas's and Gimli's attempts to ask him what was going on he hurried towards his cot, grabbed his sword, and ran back out past a protesting Patia.

Aragorn followed the Nightstalkers that were leaving the camp, none of them even sparing him a glance. They led him to a small clearing at the base of an old willow tree where a ring of about thirty Nightstalkers stood forming a tight circle. In the center two wolves were fighting, one black one white. Anra.

This was not a playful tussle like when Isla had tackled Anra their first day there. Both wolves were bleeding from various wounds; he could see Anra was bleeding from her right shoulder and left hip, and whenever they broke apart, the black wolf would stand with its front right leg raised as if it couldn't put any weight on it.

Aragorn tried to push his way through the throng of wolves, but several of them turned around and started to snarl and snap at him. He looked through the group desperately trying to find Isla, hoping she could stop what was happening. It took a minute, but eventually he found her, she was pinned to the ground by two other Nightstalkers, preventing her from entering the center.

Anra let out a sharp yelp as the black wolf pinned her and sank his teeth into the scruff on the back of her neck. Aragorn yelled in anger and drew his sword, ready to fight his way to Anra if necessary.

The ring of the sword caused the black wolf to look up suddenly, surprised by the sound. That was all Anra needed to knock him off of her and grab his uninjured front leg. She gave it a vicious yank, causing him to collapse. As soon as he was on the ground she lunged forward and bit the side of his head.

A loud howl drowned out the sound of the two snarling wolves. All the Nightstalkers in the surrounding circle dropped low, barring their necks. A large red wolf stepped into the clearing, his head held high, lips drawn back angrily. The Nightstalkers parted, letting Reigh into the inner circle where Anra was still holding the black wolf, both had gone still.

Reigh gave a low growl and Anra released the other wolf, while most of the watching Nightstalkers slunk away back towards the camp. Three remained, Isla, who was bleeding a bit from where one of the Nightstalkers had been holding her, Galorin, and one other he did not recognize.

Galorin and the Nightstalker he didn't know helped the black Nightstalker to his feet and helped support him as they slowly started towards the camp. Aragorn kept a firm grip on his sword as they passed him, the black wolf growled deep in his throat. Isla approach Anra as if to support her, but Anra walked past her and started to walk back on her own with her head held high. She brushed against Aragorn as she passed.

Reigh made a noise as if exasperated, before following his daughter.

Aragorn walked beside Anra, his sword still drawn as they crossed the camp and went to the throne room. He could feel the hostile stares from Anra's packmates following them until the doors closed behind them.

Anra slumped once they were out of view and shifted. She looked bad. Her hair was tangled, and her fair skin was streaked with dirt and blood. Her once pristine white dress was filthy and torn in several areas and her wounds were steadily dripping blood. Aragorn sheathed his sword and quickly wrapped his arm around her waist to support her, trying to be mindful of her injuries.

He heard several noises of anger and confusion as the rest of the Fellowship saw her and started demanding to know what had happened. Anra, who was leaning heavily against his side, said nothing. Isla stepped forward and gestured for Aragorn to follow her into another room away from everyone else.

Patia and another Nightstalker woman were waiting from them by a cot. Aragorn helped Anra lower herself onto it before he was shooed out of the room, so they could get her out of her dress and tend to her wounds.

As he reentered the throne room Reigh was trying to explain what had happened.

"It appears that Eron felt that Anra was no longer fit for fulfill her duty as future alpha and decided to challenge her for the title. Usually that would mean a fight to the death, but since she is not actually the rightful alpha yet, I was able to intervene before any permanent damage was done."

"Why would he challenge her? Is it because she has been gone for so long?" Legolas asked, confusion lacing his voice.

Reigh let out a deep sigh, he sank into his throne and rubbed his eyes, looking older than Aragorn had ever seen him. "Eron, along with several others, does not agree with some choices she has made, besides joining the Fellowship. It would probably be best if you all left early tomorrow morning. I will have a patrol bring you to the edge of our territory."

Gimli opened his mouth as if to objected, but Gandalf gave a small shake of his head, warning them not to say anything else.

"Excuse me, I must speak with my daughter. Please stay here for the night, I know it is not as comfortable as the room you were in, but it will make things easier." With that he stood up and left the room, heading in the direction of where Anra was.

Gandalf sat down at one of the tables and gestured for the rest of them to do the same. Aragorn wanted to go check on Anra, but he figured Reigh would want to talk with her alone for a bit.

They all gathered at one table and talked quietly amongst themselves, discussing whether they thought this turn of events would affect the Nightstalkers' willingness to fight with Rohan. Gandalf seemed confident that Reigh would still honor their agreement, but Aragorn could see worry in his eyes.

They asked Aragorn what he had seen and knew about the challenge. Aragorn gave them an abridged version of events, confirming what Reigh had said, but leaving out what Anra's exact choice was that made the rest of her pack so angry. It was his and Anra's business and besides, he was sure they had already been able to deduce it.

An hour or so later a Nightstalker brought them some food and drink for breakfast, along with any of their possessions they had left in their original room. He told them they would be departing in an hour.

Aragorn felt a deep weariness in his bones as he thought about getting back to their journey. He hoped Anra had been able to get a bit if sleep.

Just before dawn, two Nightstalkers came and ushered them out a back entrance of the building. Anra, Isla, Reigh, and Galorin were already waiting for them in their wolf forms in the forest. They set off at a brisk pace with Anra leaning against Isla as they went. Aragorn knew they wanted to get them out of their territory quick, but he wished they would slow down for Anra's sake.

They reached the edge of the forest just before the sun reached its highest point in the sky. Anra touched noses with her packmates in farewell before they turned and headed back into the forest without a word to the rest of the Fellowship.