You decline Bly's offer as politely as you can while making it clear that you don't believe force of claw alone will allow so few wolves to defeat the human military. "With proper learning, we can use the humans' own rules against them and create a better future for all of us," you say.
Bly scoffs, but Jolon purses his lips in thought. "He does have a point, Bly. With the advantage of numbers the humans have over us, we'll need wolves who can plan and strategize. Keeping Klel on our side could still be helpful in the long run."
He waves you off. "You'd better get to your meeting then. But please stop by the dojo in the future. It can't hurt you to train with us, even if you're determined to prioritize book learning."
Elder Ahote's office is a block away from the school in one of the only buildings left undamaged during the Purge. The old wolf isn't the only adult to keep his offices here; most of the instructors and all of the elders have their own space within the squat gray-walled structure. The heavy concentration of adults has long lent the entire block a repellent effect on the werewolf youth, who take every opportunity to keep as far away from the nagging elders as possible.
You raise your hand to give a timid knock on the office door. Of all the elders, Ahote has always been the easiest to approach, but the adults work to instill a mystique about the elders in their pups' minds from birth, and as a result you often feel uneasy when you know you have something to hide from a wolf wizened by age.
"Come in," the old wolf says from the other side of the door. "I promise not to bite."
You push the door open and enter Ahote's office. In truth, the long rectangular room is more a library than an office; bookshelves line every wall, stuffed with musty tomes regarding every topic imaginable. When the pack was first brought to Haven, Ahote spent months scouring the refuge for every undamaged book he could find, eventually bringing the choicest volumes here to his quarters for study.
The wolf himself sits behind an intricately carved mahogany desk, poring over a thick volume through a pair of delicate reading glasses. In human form, Ahote seems frail and delicate, his skin stretched like thin parchment over brittle old bones, but his appearance belies a strength you know all too well. When he changes into his wolf form, Ahote is still a force to be reckoned with. While he might not be able to take down a well-trained adult in battle, many have underestimated him to their peril.
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