"Just how did you manage that?" Vera slowly asked, staring at her scarf hanging from the chandelier in perplexity. It was high enough that she wasn't even able to touch the dangling ends with her fingertips.

"Magic," I proudly proclaimed. The hardest part had been convincing Conrad to let one of the teenagers climb onto his shoulders to get it up there. He didn't want to have any part of a plan that involved the first object Vera had bought at this pack.

"Uh huh." She wasn't buying my story.

"Is our trip tonight still on?"

"Yes, but you had better unmagic that thing back down before then."

"Alas, it doesn't work that way. Just like my aura can't affect me, I can't undo most of my mischiefs."

She continued gazing at the beautifully woven silk scarf above us. "If it had just been draped on, I could probably jump and tug it off, but some thoughtful person tied it into a bow."

"It kind of looks that way, doesn't it?" I turned and trotted away. "I believe there is a ladder in the shed by the apple tree."

When she didn't reply, I decided to make myself scarce. It was rare for Vera to take her time and think things through instead of immediately reacting. Normally, the temperamental wolf retaliated like a lightning bolt of fur and teeth.

I didn't want to be around when she decided how to react to my latest prank.

I wrinkled my nose as Anabel rubbed a handful of sharp-smelling leaves through my fur.

"There. They won't be able to pick up our pack scent or our personal scent. We'll just have to take care that they don't track us back." Anabel sat back on her heels and shifted into her wolf form.

"Did you roll in a patch of mint?" I asked her. The smell was practically rolling off of her in waves.

"Yes, and a few other plants to tone it down."

"Are we ready?" Vera asked through our grouplink, sitting nearby with several other wolves.

"The rogues are at the place we told them to meet us," Josh informed us from his hiding spot, sending us an image of four humans standing around a hand-drawn cart with a red-eyed wolf in a cage.

"Are you ready?" Conrad asked me.

"Yes."

Vera picked me up as Conrad took the lead. Anabel and three other wolves followed us while the others disappeared into the underbrush like shadows.

Amber passed Conrad as she loped ahead to meet the rogues first. People sometimes got a bit rattled when someone the size of Conrad emerged from the forest.

When we entered the clearing, Vera slowed down to let two of the other wolves pass while the third trailed behind. I could sense my other five friends, and from the sharp focus of their minds, I was pretty sure they were close enough to see us even if I couldn't spot them.

Amber was talking with one of the rogues quietly while the others watched our group warily. Conrad stood to the side in his wolf form, like a foreboding guardian in black fur. The rogues focused on me the moment Vera came into the clearing.

She gently set me down on the grass and lifted her head to examine the four strangers. I had half-expected her fur to be bristling, but her mind was completely still. Calm, but with an almost deadly focus and intent underneath. Like a still pond whose pristine reflection could be broken by any rock or leaf that disturbed its surface. I wasn't entirely sure where she had acquired this sudden composure, but it wasn't completely due to my aura.

Shaking my fur out, I turned my attention to the caged feral and the four rogues who had brought him here.

"Can you ask them how long he's been like this?" I asked Amber, ensuring I only mindlinked my group, which had been one of the conditions of this trip.

"How long has he been a feral?"

"About seven months ago, when he lost his mate in a miscarriage."

Amber nodded and gestured towards me. "Can we approach?"

"Yes." The rogues moved to the sides to give us plenty of room to approach. They understood that my companions didn't want strangers near their Comforter.

I walked forward as I strengthened my aura and tightened the focus around the snarling chestnut wolf. Its snarls faded to a faint growl as its eyes began to glaze over under the force of my abilities. Every time I did this, I got better at it.

I sat on the grass in front of the cart and waited. The rogues had been told it could take hours, and they patiently waited. Three had backed up to the edges of the clearing, although one was almost close enough to touch the cage. This was probably the feral's sibling; her eyes were also somewhat vacant from my aura's focus on this small area.

Slowly, the growls faded, and the feral stared at me in perplexity, as if he had never seen anything like me before. He was still tense and ready to lash out – a typical feral in that regard – but he had passed the point where he would attack me.

"Can you put me on the edge of the cart?" I asked Vera. "He's calmed down enough for that."

She walked up behind me and set me on the corner furthest from the cage. "Stay close to those corner bars. The gaps aren't wide enough for his paws to get through."

"Okay." I had no problem erring on the side of caution and walked closer to the corner.

The wolf growled at her proximity, to which Vera snarled back as if she were still feral, making him pin his ears back before turning his unfocused eyes back to me. He ignored Vera and once more stood still as my aura settled deeper into his mind.

Things like this took time, and since my aura was doing something, I sat down and waited for some additional signs of progress.

As time passed, this began to feel a lot like the day I had actually watched paint dry. I yawned and curled up into a fluffy ball to continue waiting with as much patience as I could muster.

I felt the faint stirrings of emotions from a mind I was just beginning to sense. Tilting my head cutely, I yapped at the feral and eased up on my aura a tiny bit so it didn't make him space out so much. Most of the ferals I had encountered so far seemed to take an interest in me if I ramped up my puppy quirks.

He took a step forward, lowering his head as he sniffed in my direction. I yapped again and jumped to my feet, wagging my tail like a pup greeting a packmate. Standing on my back legs, I pressed my oversized front paws against the bars even as my tail threatened to throw me off balance.

The cage wasn't that big, so it only took him one last step to reach me. When he leaned farther down, I reached deep within me for my strongest ability and held it as it rose up. Right as his nose touched mine, I released it, letting it flow through me and into the feral who was in contact with me.

Like every time before, the power flowed like a wave that lifted the haze from the mind. And just like every time so far, the feral's pain and anguish were so strong they practically stunned me. I had expected it though, and managed to shake off the effects and shift my aura to provide the best possible combination of comfort and easing of painful memories for this particular person. Thankfully, my abilities let me sense the greatest need and react accordingly.

The feral was practically frozen in the unexpected tidal wave of emotions from his last ordeal. Such stillness wouldn't last much longer...

As if on cue, he pulled back with a mournful howl of loss and heartache. I wasn't able to follow to maintain contact and whined at the brown wolf, trying to do as much with my aura as I could.

The haze came back over his mind even as his emotions faded from my ability to sense them, but it wasn't as thick as before. Several minutes later, he grew quiet and watched me with mostly unfocused eyes. Then, he took a step forward and hesitated before leaning down to touch my nose again.

I let the essence of my power roll over him again, lifting the haze once more. His muscles trembled, but this time, he didn't pull back or cry out. I leaned a paw on the top of his muzzle while keeping my aura at its most powerful level.

Tears ran down his face, and I felt his pain and loss. In a poor attempt at comfort, I licked the side of his muzzle with tiny kisses. He closed his eyes, but I could feel his mind grappling with the loss of his mate. Such grief wouldn't heal immediately, but my abilities were enough to keep the madness at bay and bring some comfort at this moment.

The feral tilted his head and opened his eyes as the rogue woman jumped onto the cart and began fighting with the door lock.

Tears also ran freely down her face. "I'm here. I'm here. Just let me get this damn door unlocked."

I realized I was only hearing one side of a conversation. Even if the wolf had lost his grouplink when going feral, the family link with his sister would have resurfaced.

The woman yanked the door open and threw herself onto the wolf's side, hugging his neck tightly. The feral stumbled with the reuniting tackle and struggled to keep in contact with me.

I didn't hear his words to his sister, but she looked over at me. "Milo is asking if he can come out of the cage without scaring you or vexing your packmates."

I quickly sent a mental question to them.

Amber replied aloud, "He can come out, but we would still prefer if your three friends can keep their distance for now."

The woman nodded and stood up. The former feral reluctantly pulled his head away from me, promptly turning around and darting out of the cage before coming back to me. I rubbed against his forelegs, more like a cat than a puppy, and he nuzzled my fur as he relaxed with the contact.

His sister trailed behind more slowly, relief clear on her face and in her mind. "He says he can't shift yet, but he also thinks he will need the support of a Comforter for the next week or so. Will your pack allow the two of us to join? At least until he's better?"

Amber glanced around our group, unsure of how to answer. I asked Conrad, "Well, how do we reply to this one?"

"That is a very good question, and you had better think fast so we can compare ideas before replying."