Chapter 107 - Reunion (2)

A small, yellow flash ran through the tunnels that ran through the insides of the mountain where the Zelan pack was first founded.

Flare was currently hunting for a small squirrel that had managed to evade his senses for days on end, and he was finally about to corner it after almost a week of chasing it.

'Finally. After all this time.' The small Werecat thought to himself as he turned a corner. A vicious grin crept over his face as he looked at the squirrel that had trapped itself at a dead-end.

"Thought you could keep running forever, huh?" Flare asked as he took a step closer to the animal, his hands outstretched, and ready to catch the animal the moment it got within range.

"Squeak squeak!" The squirrel cried out in distress. It's teeth chattered and it's fluffy tail shook with fear as it gazed up at the young demi-human that had it cornered.

"I've got you now!" Flare roared as he lunged at the cornered creature. His body hit the rough floor with a thump, but his hands were empty.

"Squeak squeak!" The squirrel expressed its disdain at Flare as it threw down a few small rocks on his head from it's spot high up on the wall. It then leveraged the uneven surface of the wall to run out of the dead-end while Flare just sighed in defeat.

"Mian really did set the bar high... It's been so long and I still can't catch that damn thing." The Werecat mumbled to himself as he stood up from the floor.

"Flare, is that you?" A small Werewolf that was just about the same size as Flare, but a little smaller, came around the corner.

"Yeah, Arc. It's me." Flare replied as he dusted off his fur.

Arc tilted his head as he studied the feisty Werecat that he had somehow managed to befriend. He blinked his bottle green eyes and his ears twitched slightly. The timid Werewolf frowned after a dozen seconds of studying Flare.

"What were you doing here?" He asked.

"Nothing." Flare grumbled.

"Don't tell me you were chasing Darren around again." Arc sighed and shook his head. The boy was rather timid most times, but he never held back when it came to scolding Flare.

One of the reasons Flare chose to befriend him was because of Arc's uncanny resemblance to Mian. They both had dark fur, with white markings over it. The only differences between them were that Arc had dark blue fur, with white markings, and was a dominant. He had white markings around his left eye, on his tail, chest, and on the inside of one of his ears.

"He keeps on making fun of me." Flare grumbled and folded his arms.

"Come on, the patriarch was looking for you." Arc laughed and took a hold of Flare's hand to drag him away. "Darren, you too!" He called out, and the Dark Wood Squirrel that Mian had helped evolve once came running. It jumped and climbed onto Arc's body, before settling on the tuft of fur atop his head.

"Haha, you were messing with Flare again, weren't you?" Arc laughed and handed the squirrel a nut, which it happily took and began nibbling on.

The two boys walked out of that corner of the cave, and headed out of the tunnel network, and towards the town in the distance. Ever since the Zelan pack had began expanding, most of the members of the pack had been relocated to the town that was being built. Even now, new buildings were still being constructed.

Likewise, the quarters of the patriarch had also been relocated to the center of the town that was well on its way to becoming a proper city. The large, castle-like mansion stood in the center of a large compound that was decorated with a variety of beautiful flowers that Kira had made sure to care for over the past months.

When the two boys stepped into the compound that held the patriarch's mansion, they encountered Daven's mate, Kira, watering a bush of roses.

"Flare, Arc, how are you two today?" Kira smiled as she set aside the watering can that she had been using.

"We're doing okay, ma'am. Flare's just being his usual reckless self." Arc replied on both their behalf as he awkwardly scratched his cheek.

"That's good to know." Kira smiled at them. "You two are looking for Daven, yes? He should be in his study." She told them, and the two continued on their way after thanking her.

"Why do you have to be so awkward all the time?" Flare smirked as he threw an arm over Arc's shoulders.

"She's basically your mom. How can I not be?" Arc replied with a smile. Flare had told him about the relationship between Daven, Kira, and himself, and explained how his parents had died when he was born, so he knew that Flare was not the patriarch's actual son. Besides, how would that even work out? Flare was a Werecat, while both Daven and Kira were Werewolves. There was no logic behind Daven and Kira being his birth parents.

When the boys got to the mansion at the center of the compound they immediately rushed inside, eager to know what it was that Daven had called Flare for. He usually left the boy to do his own thing most of the time, and only asked for him when it had to do with something important.

Flare knocked on the door that led to Daven's study, but instead of hearing a reply, the door simply clicked open from the inside.

"What?" Flare took a step back and looked up at the person who had opened up the door, before a wide smile nearly split his face in two. "Mian!" He lunged forward and wrapped his small, muscular arms around the older Werecat's middle.

"Ah! Haha, easy, easy. You don't want to kill me when I just got back.." Mian grinned widely as he returned the hug.