The waiting was killing me. The worry of not knowing what was happening was almost as bad as the pain and rage that swamped my senses when I unshielded them. I couldn't figure out which was worse. Both made my head hurt.

"And now?" I asked Kyle for the hundredth time.

He was silent as he mindlinked one of those watching out the window. "All of ours are still alive. Four are badly injured, though. More than half of the assassins are dead, and the rest don't stand a chance of escaping."

"Some are still feral?"

"Yes, but they haven't attacked our people yet. They've bared their fangs if someone comes too close, but they are mostly focused on the assassins."

The metallic scent of blood oozed through the gap and filled the room. How much blood needed to be shed for such a strong smell?

"And now?"

"Not much has changed. Can you try increasing your aura to help calm those in the other rooms? Drew says one of the pregnant women is getting really stressed."

While trying to keep my sensing ability shielded, I extended my aura. It was really hard to do it this way, but I still didn't want to feel what was going on down below. I began to wonder if Kyle had requested this to keep me occupied.

"Vera?"

Still no reply.

"And now?"

He sighed, and after a few seconds, he said, "The fighting is mostly over. Those who went feral keep sniffing the air and restlessly circling the area. They aren't attacking their packmates."

"That's a relief."

I cracked open my senses, but more than half of the mindsparks were still absent. Pain, worry, anger, and shock from the survivors was clearly felt.

Suddenly, mindsparks began reappearing in my senses, one by one.

"Oh, their eyes are changing back!" Kyle exclaimed aloud.

I wagged my tail hopefully. "I'm starting to pick them up in my senses as well."

"We've managed to corner the first scout in one of the caves by the mine," a patroller said across the packlink. "Do we want him for questioning?"

"Yes," the Alpha replied, sounding tired. "See if you can tie him up. If not, just block him in until we can get up there."

"He's got a bow, so we'll just stand a cart on end to block the entrance."

I tried mindlinking Vera. "Are you okay?"

"I think so?" Her voice shook slightly and had a dazed quality to it.

"Did you know that you went feral?"

"Are you sure? I remember attacking the assassins; things are just a bit hazy. Oh... Now I remember seeing that a few others had red eyes too."

"I was so worried about you. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Other than a few small bites, I don't see or feel any injuries. How is everyone else?"

"Let me ask Kyle." I relayed the message to him.

"Six will be healing for a long time, but they should live. They're not sure about Seema, though. Her stomach was ripped open," he replied across a private mindlink, which was probably wise with the children in the room.

I cringed at the news, but still told Vera what he had said.

"But no one died yet?" she asked, wanting confirmation.

I did a quick tally of the mindsparks in my senses, as well as checking for any I didn't know.

"Everyone is present and accounted for. Someone managed to trap the first intruder in a cave. He has a bow, so I'm not sure how they'll get him out."

"They'll probably smoke him out with balls of burning grass dropped down the air shafts. Or talk him into giving himself up. I'm going to help clean this up. No peeking out the windows. This isn't something you want to see."

I sent confirmation down the link. I already knew I didn't want to look on that side of the house for a long time. It would take a lot of water or rain to wash away that much blood. They might just cut the grass really short and let the pieces dry before burning the ground to get rid of the smell.

I yawned from where I was curled up against Vera, and she nuzzled my fur while we listened to the crackle of the wood in the fireplace. The dim fire provided most of the light since the sun hadn't risen yet.

"How are your injuries doing?" I asked her.

"I don't feel them right now, so I hope they mostly healed overnight."

Half a dozen people walked quietly down the hallway. Conrad split apart from the group and entered the room while the rest kept going. He tiptoed around a dozen sleeping wolves before sitting on a chair stiffly.

"You got the guy to talk?" Vera asked Conrad.

He gazed at her tiredly. "Yeah. Turns out that Carson guy that kidnapped Julie had a lot of family members in one pack. They knew he had been killed by ferals because he had mindlinked them as he died. When they heard the rumor of a pack accepting former ferals and rogues, they actually came to sniff around our borders – that was the first group several weeks ago. They must have matched our personal scent to one of the ones Carson had shared with his family, and they spent a lot of money to hire the entire shadow assassin group on this side of the ocean to avenge his death."

"What is going to be done about that pack?"

"Alpha Kiel is going to send a message there. We doubt the pack is aware of what that family did, and they'll likely get exiled for their actions and have an Alpha Command slapped on them to not take revenge or ask others to harm us in any way."

"I still don't trust them."

"Neither do I, but rumors will travel among the rogues and the local ones know their scent from their first trip. Only the lawless rogues will have anything to do with a group that tried to hire the shadow assassins, and those types can't be trusted either. They'll have their hands full with just trying to survive in no man's land."

"Even with an Alpha Command, they won't give up on revenge," Vera countered. "There are usually ways around most Commands unless they are worded very, very well."

"I think Anabel already has plans to contact her friends among the rogues and ask them to double-check just how hard they are trying to bypass the Command."

"Hmmm..." Vera seemed lost in thought with that tidbit of information, leaving me to wonder just what sort of people Anabel had previously met if the mention of them 'visiting' this family had Vera finally relaxing.

"You look tired," I told Conrad. "You should get some sleep."

"I plan to." He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

"Good, good. As soon as you start snoring, I'll know it's safe to decorate your hair."

"What?" He blinked at me.

"Nothing. Go to sleep. I'm just an innocent, little ball of fur."

Vera rolled her eyes at my claim. "I'll keep her away from you until you wake up."

"Thanks," he told Vera, letting his eyes close again.

"Gee, thanks..." I muttered.