"Sorry about that," a deep male voice said across the packlink. "We had no way to mindlink you, and our ability to shift still hasn't returned." The words were stilted and awkward, as if he hadn't spoken in a very long time.

I stared at the black wolf as he pulled his paw back. The new packlink was different than my old one, and most of what I was picking up was emotions and vague concepts of ideas. Only the black wolf's mind was clear enough for actual words.

"My name is Conrad. What is yours?"

It took me a moment to respond across the packlink. "I'm Julie." My confusion echoed behind my words.

With her hackles now down, Brunette came forward and nuzzled me. She projected protectiveness and a handful of images over the packlink, most of which were of me, although some were of the other ferals gathered around us, and one was of a woman I had never seen before.

Conrad gazed at her for a moment before saying, "Vera hasn't recovered enough to use words yet, but she knows your abilities will help her find herself again."

"Find herself?" At least now I knew her name.

"The memories are still too painful for her, so her mind hides in her subconscious. She's basically running on instinct. She is a bit more aware now than before."

I gazed at the seven ferals whose minds were dim in my senses. It was almost as if they were in a very deep sleep, yet, they were clearly awake.

"My Comforter abilities are helping?" That was my best guess.

"Yes, very much so, but I think it's a slow process. The past is really blurry, but I don't believe you have been with us long, right?"

"Almost two full days."

"Huh. I thought it was at least a week. Time flows strangely in such a dream-like state..." he trailed off, lost in thought. The difference between his mindvoice mere minutes ago and now was remarkable. His words flowed more naturally and even his mindspark was brighter. He still seemed a bit scattered and disoriented, but he was doing better than a lot of distracted people I had tried talking to in the past.

Tentatively, I said, "I think we are still running in the same direction. Can I ask where we're going?"

"I don't know. If we run long enough, we can sometimes get a decent sleep before the nightmares begin."

My aura must be less effective on ferals if they had nightmares while it was at top strength. Normally, anyone in the immediate vicinity was unable to experience a bad dream.

I looked at Vera and kept my words clear as I slowly asked, "Did you have nightmares while I was with you?"

She blinked and tilted her head, and even though I couldn't sense her emotions with my abilities, she sent confusion and lack of understanding across the mindlink. Looking up, she tilted her head at Conrad.

After several seconds, he said, "She isn't sure, but she doesn't think so."

Apparently, he was better at translating than I was. The next time they slept, it might be worth shifting my aura to see if helped.

"Okay. What are we going to do now?" I asked, wondering if any of my old packmates would believe me if I told them I had been adopted by a pack of mostly-ferals in the middle of no man's land. I also wished I knew how they were doing.

Conrad stared at the other wolves for some time, although I didn't sense anything noticeable on the packlink. Perhaps he was using a private mindlink. Vera snorted and shook her fur out, likely unhappy with whatever he had suggested.

"Amber, Daryl, and Bouncer – we don't know his name – think they are ready to try and remember. The others aren't at that point yet. Do you think you can help them?"

I hesitated. "I can try, although I'm not sure if my skills will be strong enough. They don't seem to work well on ferals."

"Can you use whatever you did with me? It was stronger than your aura."

"I can. Do you know if they'll be going through something like you did?"

"The trigger was some type of loss or life-altering event, but they have shunned the memory of the event for so long that they aren't entirely sure what happened – just that it's too painful to remember."

In that case, it was likely to be just as bad or worse than what Conrad had just gone through. "What do they prefer? For me to ease their memories or comfort them? If they go through what you just did, my abilities won't be able to do more than assist." I continued using the packlink, just in case the wolves watching us were able to understand what was being said.

Conrad gazed at the three who had edged closer, and a tawny wolf stepped forward. Flickers of blood-splattered grass and black smoke appeared in my mind as echoes of agony weaved behind them.

"As best I can tell, Daryl wants the pain dimmed," Conrad said.

That matched what I had guessed. I walked forward and sat down, letting the light brown wolf approach on his own terms. He twitched his tail nervously as he came closer, with frequent glances at Conrad and Vera.

After a quick nose bump, he gingerly moved his forelegs on either side of me, much like Conrad had done. I leaned against his leg and took a deep breath as I once more reached into the core of my abilities.

I knew what to expect this time and had already shifted my powers to deal with any negative emotions tied to his memories. Even so, my aura almost buckled under the flood of pain from Daryl's mind. He had spent so long in madness that he wasn't used to feeling emotions, and this wasn't something that anyone would ever want to go through.

His cry split the silence, almost choking on the following sob. Still, he kept going, letting the memories wash over him as he struggled to remain afloat through the grief and despair.

Daryl staggered backward, shaking his head hard, his voice a mere whisper. "No... They are gone. Madeline – my Madeline. Rob, Tracey. No, no. This can't be."

Without the contact, my aura wasn't strong enough to do more than take the edge off. I could actually feel his mind begin spiralling back down into madness. I lurched to my feet – I had to help him through this. He continued backing up as his eyes flickered between red and brown, staying red longer and longer each time.

"Do you really want to forget about them?" Conrad asked, his voice distant as he likely remembered his own recent experience. "Or do you want to be able to picture their faces in your mind, even if it comes at the cost of grief?"

Daryl stopped, torn and conflicted, his skin twitching as if hundreds of fleas were biting him. I caught up and leaned against his leg, lending my aid once more. He closed his eyes for a long time as I dimmed the worst of the grief.

"I want to remember." The words were so quiet that they were nearly impossible to hear, even over the mindlink. He took a deep breath and plunged back into the lake of fire within his mind, seeking the memories of the loved ones he had lost.

Conrad came over and leaned against him on one side, offering his own support. I was too busy controlling my powers to watch what the other wolves were doing. Daryl's emotions rolled over the barriers my abilities erected to try and shield him, even as I eroded the root of the pain.

Slowly, but surely, Daryl got the upper hand as we gained ground on the battlefield in his mind. I had no idea how much time had passed, but it was taking much longer than I had anticipated. I refused to give up since Daryl was still trying to work through the tsunami of grief. We just had to get him to the other side so he wasn't drowning.

"I think I'm okay for now," Daryl finally said, fatigue lacing his voice.

I was also emotionally drained and let my contact power fade. "Let me know if you need it again."

Grief wasn't something that simply disappeared. It would linger for years as an echo of his love for something that was gone. But he had come to terms with it enough that it couldn't drag him back into the darkness of madness.

He sent understanding and thanks down the mindlink, and I responded by amplifying my comforting aura momentarily, before returning it to something that would continue helping the other wolves around us.

"I'm exhausted," I admitted. "Can the other two wait until tomorrow? I'll do better once I've rested." As much as I wanted to help them, something like this really needed to be tackled with a fresh mind.

"That is probably a wise plan," Conrad said. "It will give your aura more time to work, so it should be easier for them as well. I forgot to account for my past training and willpower."

"I don't understand what you mean by that last part."

After a moment, he replied, "I was an Enforcer. There is a lot of training we have to go through as our abilities develop." His eyes closed as his voice grew quieter. "Not that it helped when my family and most of my pack was killed by lawless rogues."

I walked over and rubbed against his legs as I shifted my aura to comfort.

"Thank you."

"I've never met an Enforcer before. Is that why your mind seems to ring slightly?" It wasn't like an Alpha's power or a Beta's influence, but the faint traces pointed to some sort of ability.

He gave me a strange look. "You can sense it?"

"Not until today, and only if I'm in contact with you."

"Huh. I knew some Omegas could pick it up, although they usually couldn't sense it unless I used the abilities. How many other tricks do you have up your sleeves?"

"For my Comforter skills? That's about the extent of it. If you're referring to acts of mischief, that depends on where I am and how many witnesses are around."

He snickered, and even Daryl wolf-grinned.