Will Hawkins

he peaked out of the tree — he peeked out of the tree Peak: a high elevation — Peek: a secretive gance. OKAY, the old troll who lives under the grammar bridge, got his kicks in today. Mr Will

The native American bracelet contained silver, Am I to assume that werebears do not react to silver the way a lycan would?

I am a little concerned — If I were in charge of security for the Wolf Pack house, suddenly having a dance troupe performing nearby would raise my alert level to 'Condition Red', making any approach to the house very dangerous. That is very obviously a diversion tactic, something designed to get everyone's attention away from the house where there is currently an item of value stored.

I am sure that the number of comments your writing has received is an expression of the love and respect, both as a person and as an author your readers have for you. Yes, I will miss my WolfM fix, and obviously some of your audience who have read through this work five times, will also. I am sure you are exhausted, but you leave behind you a parade of happy readers, Congratulations and I am going to tick the 'follow' box so I am made aware of when you add to your repertoir. The Old Troll (Mr Will)

Well, this is not the first time I have been wrong

The Trumpet Voluntary is my absolute favorite piece of music. I have always thought it would be appropriate for the recessional at a wedding. There is one version of the piece on the Internet played on the town organ of some city of which I have forgotten the name , that starts out with several bars of snare drum ruffles that is absolutely perfect for 'The Processional of the Prince of Denmark'.

Standing on the glass floor reminds me of the time my BF and I visited the Native American Museum on the north rim of the Grand Canyon – I do not have any great fear of heights as long as I know I am protected by railings, etc. Jose is brave, but just a little more cautious than am I. At the NA museum, I walked out onto the glass floored viewing balcony without even thinking about it (we had to take off our shoes so as not to scratch the glass floors). Jose came out too, but I kidded him a little about sticking to the side of the bridge, not walking out onto the glass floored part. He later moved over to the glass and looked down into the canyon, but he was very nervous aout it, so I held him with an arm around his waist, and with just that little added security, he was okay. Nope, not even a little pee mark on his pants, after we got back in the car. I have been very reticent about that event ever since and have not even kidded him about it.

As a youngster I lived in Kenmore, NY, a suburban division of Buffalo (ugh!), my family took me to view the falls in both summer and winter. We even walked beneath the falls (no longer allowed) and rode the Maid of the Mist, a boat on the lower Niagra River that made tourist trips up to the base of the falls, (close enough that you as a passenger had to wear raingear to protect your clothing from the mist of the falling water). The falls are indeed dramatic (and loud) in the summertime and a beautiful ice sculpture in the winter, and true to your statement in this chapter, while the American Falls will freeze solid in the winter, the Canadian Falls has never in its history been known to do so (per Google). There was an interval when the falls was actually shut off at night in order to direct the flow of falling water through electrical generation turbines. I do not know whether ths is done any more, but at any rate it was done only during the zero tourist hours.

'your best man loosing the rings' – your best man losing the rings Finally, the old Troll strikes! I am personally overwhelmed – hey, you had me with the romp in the snow, but the nobel fir was the final touch. Many people look upon a nobel fir as being too formal for a Chrtistmas tree, but to me there is no form of tree more Christmassy especially after it is decorated. Because I now live in Bahia, a formal wedding here would be when both husbands wore shorts and zorries and only the audience came barefoot. I have not had on shoes (even zorries, called flip-flops here) more than two or three times since I came south in 2008. I just celebrated the boy's wedding by getting my hair cut and shaving. That is a big deal for me! The guy who cuts my hair is one of our hands, he is about two meters tall and is all muscle, with the biggest feet I have ever seen. As an old (88) gay man, I love it!

Sorry about the slip – you are NOT Mann, Wolfie. I follow your reasoning about Jackie being the one to behave as she did with her son. No, she is NOT the alpha of the pack, but she IS the mother if the miscrant and has a right to be his killer. This is one of the faults with human jurisprudence….the person who is hurt the most by a criminal act, is not the one who is given the privilege of extracting revenge. But, in another sense, the public, by means of a trial and sentence by a jury of non-involved persons, is the better means of extracting justice, because a crime, while being directed against one person is a crime against all as well. Or is that too far fetched and 'goody-two-shoes' to be realistic?

I wonder if Michael can be in the process of reducing his sentence by bargaining to finger those members of the Lycan Council who are involved in sucking off assets, money or priviledge. He probably is one who knows which are the rotten apples in the bunch. Surely there must be SOME members of the Council who are honest and not participating in the illegal operations of the others. It would be good to weed out the most evil of them to encourage the honest members to stand up and be counted. Otherwise there would be a lengthy process of investigation, and one with uncertain results, to find these members who infect the more honest members of the Council. Somehow I think that a sudden death for Michael would not really be a punishment that fits the crime. He has shown that his hate for anyone and anything good runs very deep, polluting his entire personality.

It seems that many of the problems are cleared up, except what to do about JP and Michael as persons and the Lycan Council as a political body. These remaining problems look to me much like contemporary US political problems. There is a political body, the Republican Party, and individual persons, that significant percentage of voters in America who are still hypnotised by Trumpian lies. It will be interesting to see what solutions are applied against the problems the Lycan Packs are facing and wonder if those solutions might not work against the Trump/Republican forces in contemporary America! The biggest dictators of our time; Hitler, Mussoline, Stalin and a passel of Asiatics too numerous to list, have operated during MY lifetime in the basis of 'tell a lie', and that does not accomplish your desired end, 'tell a BIGGER lie'. Someone said to me recently a method of knowing whether Trump was lyng was to watch a speech of his on TV, If his lips are moving, you can be sure he is lying. Some readers may think that JP is worthy of being saved as all he is trying to do is make a profit. I am not on that team as I believe deep inside, he is just as evil as anyone else in the northeast New York pack. He is just smoother in covering up his evil than most of his contemporaries, and does have greater goals than rapine and murder.

I hope our two heroes remember to turn off their powers before they embrace, otherwise Niagra Falls, which is located on the border between New York state and Canada and is very much in the location where this epic battle is taking place, will turn to steam (or maybe ice, it has frozen up in years past!). The combination of powers between these two is epic – at least as great as Hiroshima. Now the question becomes, what is JP going to do….it seems his "business" is a little upset after Aiden and Ethan got fininshed with it, and what will happen to the sniveling little rat who had visions of grandure as far as being the next alpha of the pack was concerned?

I have a feeling that Ethan is going to be challanged in his attempt to get his fiance back from the rogues. If he kills their alpha that will turn a whole mess of thieves and brigands loose on the other groups, unless there is a 'second in command' who is able to step in. But we cannot at this time be sure what retribution Ethan will employ.

With Aikin taken the rogues essentially have control of Ethan as well even though he is not in their physical possesion. Excelent shift, Wolfie, from the party atmosphere of the pumpkin festuval to the attack mode in the last half. The Rogues may think they have something when they discover Aiden is a prisioner, but hell hath no fury like Ethan's when he discovers that his lover is in danger. They won't know what hit them when all four elements turn on them at once.

I feel that introducing a dragon changer at this point of the story would be a little too much like a deus ex machina and with the excellent writing we have been seeing, would not be appropriate. The characters and characteristics that the author has alredy placed into the story will be sufficient, if applied with his usual discression, to resolve all the problems that we are facing. Ethan, for example has not found all his abilities as yet, though he is learning rapidly and certainly strengthening himself to be able to control all four of the classical elements.

That the newest feral has the ability to turn on the tracker implies that he has the ability to turn it off also, plus the fact that he is attempting to integrate into John's pack as an employee bodes a lot of danger. He might be able to send a lot of information back to the rogue alpha before he is detected and Ethan gets to work on him. That Aiden and Ethan are mutually marked as spouses certainly adds an exciting level of love to John's pack. I wonder if jealousy is going to raise its head with any other member of the pack? Ethan's abilities are certainly on an upswing – beginning the curative process with nine ferals at the same time and not being totally exhausted thereby is certainly indicative of his strengthening process. It is much like lifting weights, the more you exercise, the stronger you get! And the addition of the remaining elemental attributes during the changing process – WOW! That should get everyone's attention. Having command of all four elements is approaching a god-like status. You have created a wonderful story here Wolfie and by that I mean a story 'full of wonder'. Congratulations on you creativity, and I am very pleased with myself for being able to read successive chapters in rapid sequence – the benefits of patient waiting!

So, it seems that Ethan is a wolf/human avatar, a combination of an Elemental with the personification of something more, perhaps not a god, but at least an alpha. That would mean that in his wolf form he could create his own pack by gathering friends and companions about himself. Because of his peaceful personality, however, I feel that 'Ethan's pack can be a suppliment to that of his present alpha, John; not in any way a competitor or replacement. But that ranking does hold out the opportunity for Ethan to, even more than he does now, as he strengthens his curative personage (the avatar), become more and more valuable as a medical person in the curing of ferals, even those who have been kept captive for long periods and tortured during their captivity. He almost takes on the personality of a divinity in the wolf world, as he strengthens his curative powers by learning to control water easier and easier. The blooming of the flowers around Ethan during his change and the leaping of the flames of the campfires is a strong indication that he has added other abilities to his control of water, that is of fire, earth and air. As he learns to control all four of these elements, he will become a great asset to either his present pack, or to the one he will be creating. It makes for hypnotic reading, WolfM, and shows that you have studied many different methods of Elementalism. No, I do not believe that Mathiew (sp?) will ever be able to attack Ethan directly, he is a weak willed imitation of his father and is in the process if getting exactly what he deserves, being the sex toy and punching bag for his present rogue alpha. The one person for whom I feel sorry in that family is John, the present alpha of the pack, and Mathiew's father. He is now or will be seeing his eldest son destroyed because of the boy's lack of understanding of the obligations of an alpha.

There are several grammatical errors in this chapter, Wolfie, but the old troll is going to hold off on mentioning them until you or your editor has a chance to go over the text again. I am sure one or the other of you two will spot them. The progress Ethan is making with the newest feral is spot on. The wolf in that feral has been in charge so long that it will take several sessions with Ethan as a water Elemental to get all the damage corrected. The wonderful thing is the realization that the human body is composed of such a high percentage of water means that a water Elemental can cure what evil has been done over many years of imprisionment. Elementals, in my opinion, are many steps above the level at which they have been portrayed in other author's stories, I am glad to see them shown as the miracle workers they can be. The fact of Ethan is strengthening up in his own abilities by exercising his talents as he learns how to correct the many years of problems that have been imposed on a feral is excellent writing as well. I remember reading a story where a teen-ager was learning how to midwife a difficult birth under the direction of an experienced doctor and found the training to be exhausting, so other authors have seen the same problems with the learning process.

Well, we get another believer in Ethan being an 'elemental'. One problem that I see, Ethan faints from the effort of using his power. He must either get stronger, possible with practice, or find out how to apply his powers without their use draining him so much. Remember, practice makes perfect. I think the contrasting conclusions of the other changlings will fall by the wayside as Ethan learns to control his powers.

Sorry about the slip, Wolfie, you are not Mann. May I blame it on old age? Nobody seems to be aware of Ethan's control over water/ice, not even himself. His defense/counter attack on the bridge went unnoticed by either Ethan or the victims of the ice shards. The feral uprising is an interesting new development, if it was somehow brought about by Ethan's foes. However it may be just to lead the reader off the track. We shall see as the chapters progress.

Hmmm. Ethan is continuing to develop powers of control over water ir temperature: Blue glow from eyes Condensation of moisture from the air Ability to freeze water Development of ice shards from explosion of frozen water Ability to direct ice shards in self-defense Strong attraction to wolf as mate to the point of debility if separated A series of developments in Ethan's life that point to some form of 'Elemental', water or perhaps air temperature. You do such a good job of disguising hints, WolfM. It is a bit frustrating, but certainly adds interest to the story.

"With one question answered about the pair’s ability to complete the mating with Ethan chose to" – Should this be expressed as when Ethan chooses to? "till they neared the bench they started at." -- The rule of grammar that this sentence violates, "Never end a sentence with a preposition." is considered 'old fashioned and too restrictive' by contemporary standards. It is a remanent of ancient Latin where there is a 'verb form' that includes the preposition and cannot be separated. At one time, Winston Churchill is reputed to have made a joke of the rule while speaking in Parliament, "A preposition is something that one should never end a sentence with." Ethan is demonstrating atributes that indicate he is different from the human 'tin can dog' as he has been portrayed. The swiftness and strength of his physical reactions as well as the glow of his eyes when amgry. I detect a pattern here which may be leading to Ethan being somewhat more than human. WolfM, you have created a creature here who is beginning to show more than human characteristics – very interesting! It is a second level of suspense, over and above, 'when are he and Aiden going to mate?' A mystery above a mystery – the sign of an excellent author! I think the reluctance of a lycan to be a dog who chases a ball, when they really would love to play catch, even though it is below their dignity, is another quirk you have added to the tale, and something I, as a reader, enjoy as well. Mt Will

"follow directions good" – This is a statement exprssed in a colloquial or slang fashion. The grammatically correct English version would use the word 'well', however, it is a writer's privilege to express the educational or social standing of a character by using statements of this sort, they should not be corrected in the editing process as they are essential to the author's purpose of delineating characterization. There are many similar examples in English grammar. One reason might be the extensive reach of the ancestors of contemporary English. While the language is said to be a child of the mid-Germanic tongue, there are words, commonly used in spoken and written English, which are derived from many , if not most, of the contemporary and ancient languages of the world including even the orient (as a result of British and American soldiers picking up expressions from the countries in which they fought, Korea, Japan. and Viet Nam, being prime examples).

I am totally involved in your story WolfM, but I have two questions. One: When I am commenting on you story like I am doing now, by selecting a font, a size, and the symbol for an A , from the line of letters at the top of the screen, I am able to see what I type in, but when I 'enter' my comment, all that shows up is a white bar (I use 'dark mode' for anything I enter into the computer), What can I do to be able to read my comment anytime I enter it? Two: Is the name of the boyfriend pronounced 'AID-EN' or AYE-DEN'? It does not make any differ-ence to my enjoyment of the story, but it is a small detail that "inquiring minds want to know".