The pack hadn’t expected smooth sailing, but they weren’t ready for this either. From the very moment they began sailing the ocean, the storm had gotten significantly worse, the wind straining against the mast as if trying to bring them back to their home. The lightning occasionally struck the water a few miles away from them, but the impact was still terrifying. Despite all of this, the chief was determined to bring his son back home, and no amount of rain could stop him.

Even if he was soaked to the bone, his dark hair sticking to his ears and tail in a wet, furiously twitching mess. He wasn’t the only one; the ship was filled with dozens of werewolves working to keep it afloat. The chief stood underneath the rain near the helmsman, who was struggling to keep the ship on course.

“Chief, that’s all she’s got! The ship'll break!” A werewolf with wet brown hair shouted over the gale.

“I don’t care what she’s got! Give her more! Do you understand me?” The chief’s voice carried across the ship, cutting through the storm, the threatening tone silencing any further protest.

The werewolf nodded feverishly before climbing a rope ladder to man the sails. The chief left the upper floor and opened a large metal door down to the deck. He finally made it to a large room with a long wooden table, where the cartographer appeared distressed.

“What’s the problem?” the chief asked as soon as he noticed the man’s face.

“The map,” the werewolf said, adjusting his glasses nervously. “We left the map at home.”

“Goddammit! You must be joking?” the chief growled, moving his face closer to the werewolf.

“N-no, Chief, it’s not here.” The man stuttered out, avoiding eye contact.

“Marcus, why wasn’t it the first thing the crew grabbed? What are we going to do now?”

Marcus looked ready to flee the situation. And the chief exhaled, moving away from the man.

“What are our options?”

“W-well… we can return back home to grab it.”

The chief slammed his hand on the table.

“My son’s life is at stake and you suggest going back home?”

“There isn’t much we can do at the time!”

“What we can do, is make it past the border,” the older werewolf said, rubbing his forehead. “I want you to go upstairs and tell the crew the news.”

The werewolf nodded and sprinted out of the room in panic.

The chief covered his face with his hand and repeated a mantra in his head.

Micah, my son, I’m coming for you.

Meanwhile, in the cramped cabin below the chief’s room, Nico huddled in a corner behind two barrels, feeling miserable. He was definitely not supposed to be here. Yet here he was, betraying his mother’s wishes. His mother begged him to be careful and not even think of stowing away. She’d said she had already lost one son to the sea, and that she couldn’t bear to do it again.

Nico tried to listen, tried to be the best seven-year-old and obey his mother. He did not last ten minutes before the thrill of adventure, the call of the sea, had made him sneak into a barrel. At least that’s what he was going to blame it on if he ever got discovered. Being small did give him an advantage too. He crawled past the crew members without a trace, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

As amazing as that had been, he was regretting every choice that led him to his current predicament. He only wanted to help find his brother, whom he missed so dearly. And he was going to prove to his mom that there was hope, and Micah’s baby brother was coming to save him.

He tried to imagine himself kicking the evil human’s butt with one kick, a pile of humans begging for mercy, which could’ve been more fun if his stomach wasn’t churning. He’d thrown up five times already, which meant he was famished. How was he ever going to be a fisherman if he got seasick? It was quite stupid, in his opinion. But most importantly, how was he ever going to be a man in this condition?

He leaned back against the wall, his eyes scanning the room for any sign of food, and at that same moment a door burst open and a wolf stepped in. Nico froze completely, hoping that he would be spotted, but the werewolf walked directly where he’d been hiding and stopped.

Nico stared at him, his mouth agape, and the werewolf was looking at him with utter horror.

“Nico? What are you doing here?” the wolf said, his eyes widening with concern. “Didn’t your mother tell you to stay home?”

“I…” Nico decided to play the I’m-proud-of-this-disaster card. “Nope. I’m stowing away.”

“You can’t do that! Oh no, oh no, no, no. The chief is going to kill me,” the man said, running his hand messily through his dark hair.

“Exactly. Which is why I will give you a million cookies to stay quiet.”

The older wolf stared flatly at Nico. “You can’t possibly be serious. You don’t even have one cookie.”

Nico dug through his pocket. “Do you take crayons as payment?”

“Why? Why couldn’t someone but me come to find you? I think I’m going to throw myself overboard now.”

Nico finally stood up from the ground, holding his little chin.

“What if you don’t tell my dad? You keep me a secret!”

“And why would I do that?”

“You won’t get in trouble!” Nico said proudly, smiling like he’d won the lottery.

The wolf considered this. The last thing he wanted was to get involved with this child. Especially the chief’s.

“Fine,” he said, his voice exasperated. “But one condition. You have to stay here. No sneaking around or anything.”

“Okay!” Nico looked around the room. “Can you bring me some food though? I’m hungry.”

“I can’t do that!”

“Why?”

“We have limited amounts of food. If I take even a little, the chief will know.”

“So you share your food with me!”

“Excuse me?”

Nico ran up and hugged him. “Yay! You’re the best!”

“That’s not what I…” He groaned, awkwardly patting Nico's back.

“So what’s your name, new babysitter?”

“What the… I am not your babysitter!”

“Well, you’re feeding and taking care of me! I am a man. So you are a man-sitter.”

“Ah…” The child is delusional. “Whatever. My name’s Kael, if you must know. Besides if you're such a man why do you need a babysitter."

“Man-sitter Kael.” Nico corrected stubbornly.

“You know… Man-sitter was already weird, but adding my name to it makes it worse.”

“It’s cute!” Nico exclaimed.

“It’s not.”

“It is.”

“No.”

Above deck, the winds finally slowed, and the ship steadied. The storm faded into the first cracks of dawn. They’d successfully crossed the border.

Next stop: find Micah.

But the real question was whether or not Micah wanted to be found.