Cleanup

My heart breaks looking over the grounds. Blood everywhere. So much pain. Who would attack my family? For what? Territory? Power? Don't these others understand that political agendas have no place in a family? If you take care of your own, and they take care of you, you can share with outsiders. There is no need to fight.

I see two familiar cat shapes in a tree over my head. "Rrrrrrroooowr." Even his tone has changed. Wolfgang and Puck are also covered with blood. Their paws spread out like hands. I nuzzle one and then the other. I feel like crying that even the pets had to join in the fighting.

'They alerted us to the rogues, Luna,' Derek Cross bows his wolf's head to me. 'They cried and cried until someone noticed them. They clawed the faces of the two lead wolves, blinding them.'

'Not the actions of ordinary cats.' I link back.

'Little Defenders of the Pack,' agrees Edward, walking up to me, still in wolf form.

The rain starts to fall softly. It matches my mood. It also cleans our pelts and the ground of all the gore that had covered us. There are some prisoners rounded up for the dungeons, others taken with our wounded for treatment.

The men and women will be separated, but we will accommodate them with cots and whatever clothes we can collect for them. Sinks and toilets are in each cell, no more than four to a cell. We're not barbarians, after all. Edward assures me that they will be questioned, and some will be released. Many cases of this type of attack comes from hunger and desperation. Some, however, are instigated.

I make my way to the bedroom I now share with Edward. I shift once I reach the bathroom. I need a nice, hot shower, complete with soft music in the background. I wash my hair three times and condition it. I scrub my skin with my loofa until it feels a little raw. And I cry.

Edward enters the shower and holds me from behind. The warmth of the shower surrounds us. This is my first time hurting anyone intentionally. I know that it is justified, but I am shaken to my core. "Thank you for helping me protect our pack, my beautiful, strong, dedicated Luna." He kisses my shoulder. "I am so very proud of you."

I turn in his arms and kiss him deeply. "Thank you. I needed that." My tears have ended, for now. There is work to be done. "I'm going to get dressed and head for the medical center."

"There's my wonderful, kind-hearted Luna." His eyes warm me. I leave him to finish his shower.

I decide on sports wear - spandex stretches. Besides, training has left me looking athletic, and I don't mind showing off a bit. I make my way over to the hospital and greet Carol. With her long auburn hair and soft brown eyes, you can't help but feel at ease. She stepped into her father's practice when he retired and Clyde was never tired of singing her praises.

"The prisoners' ward is separated to the left, but most of them are in there crying. It's as if they didn't expect us to defend ourselves." Carol shakes her head. "One girl is in there screaming that humans should not mate with werewolves?"

I walk into the room and I hear an ear-splitting shriek. "YOU BITCH! How DARE you walk in here like you belong!"

"Amber?" I'm shocked. "What the hell are you doing here?" I feel myself shifting. I decide to go with a small lycan stature. Edward and I have been working on my shifting skills in private. "Why did you attack my family?" In this state I can still speak like a human, if a little growl-like.

Her face changes. She pales and her eyes grow wide. I can smell the nervous sweat break out on her skin.

I press on. I let the runes glow faintly. "I am Lycan and I am Druid. I belong with my mate, Edward, Alpha of the Adhara Hill Pack. Whomever told you that I do not belong here was mistaken."

Silence falls over the ward. Carol smiles. The nurses do their duties silently, with slight smiles on their lips. The prisoners' eyes are glued to me, not knowing what to do. They are all young, the oldest in his mid-twenties at best.

"But I spoke with a Councillor! He told me that you were human! He asked my mother to watch you and report to him! I called when Leo Canis came in and claimed Natalie was his mate! A Council Member doesn't lie to his subjects!" Amber was spouting objections like a fountain newly unplugged.

"A Councillor? A male Council member? A werewolf?" This poor child was another victim to Mark's charm. "I'm so sorry, honey. Councillor Mark Wurtz is dead." I shift to human, thankful again for spandex. I sit on her bed and pull her into my arms.

Amber's tears begin to flow silently. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "I didn't know. You're wolf is beautiful. What are those glowing things?"

"I have been marked with protective runes. It is my understanding that there are not many true Lycans left. I may be only half, but Natalie and Madison have Lycan blood, too."

"Who's Madison?" Amber can't look confused, since her face still holds an awed expression.

"I hope you can meet her, and Danielle, too." I can't help but smile at the poor, gullible creature before me. "How about we call your Mom?"

....

Most of the kids that attacked us were not rogues. They had heard stories about Brianna and Natalie, and true to form, the rumors grew. Untrained, these children were no match for us. I could tell from the stench of fear that these children would answer our questions almost as soon as we ask them.

Beside me, Keith sighs heavily. "Goddess, forgive them, they know not what they've done."

"True," I answer, "but these pups need to deal with more consequences than just the death of their comrades." I have formed a plan. It includes integrated training with other packs, physical labor in recompense to the offended party, and explanations to the parents in front of Brianna and myself. "We need to call the parents. Find out where all these pups came from. Most of them are too well fed to be rogues. Clean the fallen as well as possible. We need to inform their families as well."

"It's going to be a long week," Keith sighs again.