My ears swivelled to each of the wolves as they spoke. Conrad, Josh, Michael, and Amber were doing most of the talking, although the rest were listening intently as we sat in a circle.

"It wouldn't surprise me if other ferals approach us as we travel," Amber said. "You remember how we felt drawn to Julie once we had felt her aura."

"I'm more concerned about lawless rogues trying to take her," Conrad replied.

The dark brown wolf beside me bared her teeth in a silent snarl. "I'll tear them to shreds if they try."

"No one doubts that, Vera," the dappled silver wolf said as he shook out his fur. "Although, I'm in favor of seeing if we can help more ferals if we do cross paths. We just need to take some precautions since some are more unstable than others."

"Good point, Josh," Amber replied. "Even when we were feral, I remember there were a few ferals who were hyper aggressive and attacked us. We might end up in a fight."

"How many ferals are there?" I tentatively asked. Vera and Conrad's injuries had fully healed from their scuffle several days ago, but I still didn't want them to get hurt.

"Not as many as you might think," Conrad replied. "It actually takes a lot to go insane. Some ferals are heavily affected by bloodlust and go from pack border to pack border, so the packs assume there are more of them than there really are."

"Some of us were never affected by bloodlust," Amber quietly countered, "and some were only affected once the scent of blood was in the air."

Conrad nodded in agreement. "Yes, and the reason they lost control has a heavy bearing on how a feral will behave as well."

Josh winced – he had been one of the more aggressive wolves in our group, having gone feral from betrayal rather than from grief, although he had also lost his mate just weeks prior to that event. With the similar circumstances, I hoped that the Luna hadn't gone feral. The only way to find out was to find my pack.

"I'm willing to try as long as you can keep them from attacking me," I said, perking my ears up. "If we find some rogues, I'm hoping we can stop and see if they've heard any news about the Woodhurst Pack or if they know where it's located."

They knew I was anxious to find out about my old pack, although they had no idea where it was. I also wanted to see if I could help more ferals as well. Every part of my being longed to help people, so knowing that there were people in pain out there – even if they were ferals – made me want to find them and comfort them.

"I think that settles it then," Conrad said, getting to his paws. "Let's go track down some ferals and see if we can find Julie's pack!"

Our group howled in anticipation and determination. Vera grabbed my scruff, and the pack took off at a run with their noses in the air as they checked every scent on the wind.

I wagged my tail at the light cream-colored wolf and tilted my head cutely. She bobbed her head, curious, but didn't come any closer. As far as I could tell, she wasn't aware that the other wolves weren't feral. Then again, their behavior was still more feral than rogue, even if they were in control.

After a while, she shook her fur out and laid down in the grass, remaining along the fringes of where the pack was lazing.

Amber yawned and rested her head on her paws. "Well, it took Conrad three days before he was ready, so we can't expect much the first few hours."

I considered the new wolf, surprised at how mellow she was. If it hadn't been for her red eyes, I would have doubted she was a feral at all. Even with my new pack's keen noses, it had taken us three days to locate another wolf in no man's land – and it just happened to be this feral.

Since my aura was already targeting the negative effects of memories, I extended my senses to check how cloudy her mind was. Just like the others on the first day, it was like trying to see through mud.

"What are the odds of me getting close to her?" I asked. "I'm curious to see if that new trick I learned will help speed things up."

"I don't like that idea," Vera immediately murmured, against the idea of me approaching the strange wolf since ferals could be quite unpredictable.

Conrad thought for a moment. "Let me see if I can get close to her. If I can, then you can try touching her tail." When Vera glared at him, he reassured her, "I'll be right there and can block any possible threat. I doubt it will even come to a nip, let alone a fight, and if it does, there is a lot of me to get through."

The massive black wolf leisurely stretched as he got to his feet and moseyed over to the newcomer. She put her ears back uneasily, halfway rolling over in submission.

"That is the strangest feral I have ever seen," Daryl muttered, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

The others sent their agreement back over the mindlink. At least I wasn't the only one surprised by her behavior. Conrad gave her feet a cursory sniff before laying down off to the side, not far from her hind legs. She relaxed a bit but still kept her head low and her tail tucked.

I got to my feet and trotted over to Conrad, bumping noses with him. Tossing my head playfully, I bumbled and bounced around him before flopping down between his front paws. Vera was in luck – there was no way I was going to be able to touch the feral's tail or back legs with how she was curled up. I was going to have to rely on my aura this time.

Closing my eyes, I contracted my aura's range, keeping the feral just inside of it. The reduced space acted like a magnifying glass and intensified my aura even though it was already at full strength. It was a trick I had learned when helping the others, and I hoped it would help her as well.

When I peeked over, I saw that her eyes were glazed over, almost as if she was in a trance, which she probably was. My aura was overwhelming her mind and sinking past the haze as it sought out the areas of greatest damage while bringing comfort.

The wolf remained where she was, possibly too dazed to attempt moving when no one else was getting up. I bobbed my head, but her eyes didn't even focus on me. She had really zoned out, much more than the four in my current group had when I had used this ability on them.

I yawned and rested my head on my paws while keeping tabs on my aura. Conrad yawned as well, appearing half-asleep, although my senses knew his act for what it was – his mind was sharp and clear, ready to react at a moment's notice.

After a few hours, my stomach growled so loudly that even the feral blinked in my direction. I flattened my ears in embarrassment. How could something so small make such a big noise?

Josh snickered as he stood up and stretched. "What do you want to eat?"

"Anything will work," I replied sheepishly. I already knew I would be eating it raw since the feral would probably attack or run if someone shifted to start a fire. Given her reactions so far, she would probably run off like banshees were after her.

Josh trotted out of the clearing, and the feral watched him leave with cautious eyes. I rolled upside down, wondering why she was so skittish. The haze over her mind was already thinning, so vague hints of emotions were beginning to leak out where I could sense them, although they weren't strong enough for me to identify them.

It wasn't long before Josh returned, with both a rabbit and squirrel in his jaws. As he came over, the feral scuttled farther away to avoid him, even though her eyes lingered on the food.

Josh set the animals down in front of me before picking up the rabbit. Whipping his head to the side, he sent it flying between us and the feral. The dead rabbit rolled across the grass, making the feral back up rapidly as her gaze darted between it and Josh.

"Wow..." Josh said. "Any other feral would have pounced on it, not ran away."

Shaking his head, he went back to where he had previously been and laid down. The feral took a half-step forward, her eyes constantly flitting between the wolves present as if expecting someone to contest the food.

I shifted my aura to comfort a bit more while Conrad pulled the skin off the squirrel for me. The feral leaned down and snatched the rabbit before scurrying behind some bushes.

I had eaten half of the squirrel before the wolf returned. She laid down against a nearby tree, licking her muzzle and cleaning it in the grass. Dropping her head to her paws, she dozed in the sunlight.

Once I had eaten my fill, I also cleaned my muzzle and paws. To my amusement, Conrad finished the leftovers in two rather crunchy bites.

I stood up, and my tail started wagging as I trotted halfway between Conrad and the feral. The feral lifted her head slightly, watching me somewhat nervously.

Vera also raised her head. "Julie, what are you doing?"

"Since she ran away from a dead rabbit, I don't think she'll harm me. You guys didn't, and I have a better idea of what I'm doing this time."

Crouching down in a play bow, I yipped happily at the feral, then bounded to the side, twisting and bucking with an extravagant show of energy. Her ears perked forward in interest, although she made no move to come closer.

I tripped over a branch in the grass, causing Vera to sit up so she could watch more closely. Sometimes opportunity strikes – and sometimes you actually trip over it. In this case, opportunity was a small stick that I grabbed in my jaws and held high like a trophy as I pranced across the grass.

With a head toss, I flung the stick to the side, and coincidentally, a bit closer to the feral. I scampered after the stick and tossed it again and again, each pass bringing me nearer to my real target.

I flopped down on my stomach while trying to catch my breath. Stretching out, I rolled over a few times until my paws touched the tip of her tail. She flicked it away from me and almost got up before my aura managed to calm her enough to remain where she was.

As I focused my aura on her with the same concentrated intensity as before, her eyes glazed over. I waited where I was for a few minutes, letting my abilities sink in. Then, I reached deep inside me, to the core of my powers, and gingerly stretched my paws out to touch her tail.

Like a wave washing up on the beach, the ability pushed everything ahead of it and bared her mind of the murkiness covering it. Even though I had braced myself, the anguish that was exposed was overwhelming. I quickly shifted my aura to provide more comfort, sensing that it was what was needed most at this second.

The wolf was too stunned to move and whimpered as her muscles trembled, coming face to face with the emotions and memories she had been hiding from. Seconds seemed like hours as I waited for some sort of physical reaction to the swirling feelings racing through her mind.

Suddenly, she threw her head back as a cry left her lips in a wailing howl, echoing the misery and denial she felt as sharply as a knife wound to the chest.

With a huff of effort, I threw more of my energy into my abilities, trying to stem the flow of pain that poured through her mind. To my alarm, it was having almost no effect. I could feel the pain winding tighter around her like chains, holding her captive while leaving more deep scars in its wake.

The scars were unusual, as was how the pain resisted my abilities. It was almost like some powerful energy had harmed her. Intuition flashed through my thoughts, and I twisted my abilities to actually distance a tiny sliver of her memory from her mind – something that I had only done once before.

I wasn't entirely sure which memory I was laying siege to, but I strongly suspected that she had been rejected by her soulmate. Such a thing was rare since a shattering matebond caused both people intense pain and loss, but it wasn't unheard of.

I also ramped up the comforting as high as I could, supporting her while my abilities attacked the crippling emotions tied to her memory as well as pushing the memory itself into the recesses of her mind. It wouldn't disappear, although she would actually have to concentrate to remember it clearly. With luck, my abilities would also create a buffer so the emotions tied to it would be mere wisps of their strength unless she intentionally tried to relive the memory.

Destroying memories wasn't actually possible – nor would I attempt it even if it was – but distancing them so the person could dimly remember them and recall them clearly if they really tried was a trick reserved for only the most dire of cases.

I didn't like dabbling with memories in this fashion – it was like putting a frosted glass door between the person and that memory. They could vaguely see through it and knew what it was, although it did leave them the option to open the door for a full view.

My usual trick of dimming negative emotions was a lot like what the passage of time did to the mind, letting it naturally process and become more objective. This door wasn't natural, and it interrupted the normal thought processes. It would always feel like a bump as thoughts skirted the edges of the memory. It was possible for me to remove it, although from what I heard, people rarely wanted that barrier removed since their memories were still there and no longer causing them direct pain.

I kept careful tabs on her mind as I pushed the memory down bit by bit, trying to distance it as little as I had to for her to recover. Once my comforting finally began to be able to take the edge off her pain, I quit distancing the memory.

Her emotions slowed as she realized that the pain she had been avoiding was now mostly shielded, like a sliver removed from a wound. The very absence of the extreme pain confused her more than anything else.

Her reddish eyes were already fading into a murky blue color as she blinked at us in bewilderment.

Conrad got to his feet. "Can you relay my words for me?"

I nodded and used my Comforter abilities to mindlink the stranger, ready to send Conrad's words.

"Not too long ago, we were feral as well. You can join our group if you wish to travel with us while you decide what you want to do. I'm willing to open the mindlink to you if you want."

She hesitated, looking around the clearing, possibly trying to figure out what had happened, where she was, and how long she had buried herself in her mind. Finally, still looking disoriented and confused, she nodded and sat up.

Conrad walked over and sat down before nipping his pad hard enough that it bled. The cream-colored wolf winced and glanced down at her own foot before holding it out to him, still unharmed.

Through me, Conrad asked, "Do you want Josh to make a shallow cut with a knife? It will hurt less."

After another hesitation, she nodded. Josh shifted into his human form and pulled a small knife out of his backpack. He turned her massive paw upside down as she closed her eyes tightly. She didn't seem to notice when he gently ran the sharp blade along one of her toes, possibly due to the thick calluses she had built up while running so much.

As a few drops of blood beaded to the surface, he twisted her foot to the side a bit, allowing Conrad to reach out and touch his paw to hers. Her eyes popped open as I felt her presence enter the packlink.

She exhaled in relief. "Thank you." Behind her words, I could feel she was still struggling to manage her emotions, even with my aura.

Conrad touched his nose to her shoulder in a supportive gesture. "You're welcome. You can travel with us or stop at any pack we pass. It's your choice."

She closed her eyes tightly, and her voice was a mere whisper as hopelessness accented every word. "I don't know what to do. My mate rejected me, and I knew I only had one potential mate left out there when we met. I can't even open my senses after what the matebond did to them."

I sat up while keeping my paw on her tail. "Oh, you're an Omega!" That faint aura around her mindspark had confused me – but if her Omega abilities were heavily shielded, that explained why I hadn't been able to identify it. If she had strong emotion sensing abilities, a shattering matebond would have hit her much harder than a regular wolf. It was probably why she had gone feral.

Conrad sent a glance in my direction for my lack of tact, and I lowered my head sheepishly.

"Well," Conrad said, "you're alive, and you're no longer feral, so you have time to make that decision."

"Okay... What now? I don't really remember anything. Just lots of trees and running."

"If you don't mind Julie helping you, we'll rest here for a while."

The Omega turned her head to look at me, and her eyes went wider. "A Comforter..."

I wolf-grinned at her. "Yep."

"There was one in our pack. I didn't know there were any in no man's land."

"It's a long story," I replied with a wince.

"Sorry."

I shook out my fur. "It's not your fault. All of us have a story. I can tell you about mine later if you want."

"Did your abilities pull me back?"

"I think they started the process, but once people regain consciousness, my aura mainly assists their own efforts."

She was silent for a long time. "Thank you."

I walked closer to her head, ensuring my fur brushed hers to maintain contact, and rubbed my head against her foreleg. "Anytime."