Hammers in the Shadows

Part Two: Hammers in the Night - Chapter Sixteen

"Vera just so you understand, Adam and Brook are Friends of Silver Peak and Adam has been a personal friend of mine since we were both human." I told her, "I've sparred with both of them on many separate occasions, since they were capable of giving my cat and I a reasonable challenge."

Anna spoke up, "I also learned a lot from them, and Brook taught me more than a few tricks on how to fight, though for the most part I leave the fighting to my mate, his level of ability is something to behold."

There was a slight chuckle from Vera, "Just don't forget, young Anna, that there are times when you will have to fight for the good of the Pride."

"I know that Vera, anyways, back to the matter at hand, yes we would willingly have your grandson come here on his semester breaks." Anna redirected the flow of the conversation back on topic.

"Yes, anyways, I've sent the roster of those who are heading your way to your secure email inbox. As soon as the flight has been chartered I will be sure to send you that information as well so that you can be there to pick them up when they arrive." Vera said softly.

"Thank you Vera, If you need help dealing with those damned Hammers, please don't hesitate to give us a shout, I know that we can't do a whole lot, but we will provide what assistance that we can." Anna said before Vera hung up.

I glanced at my mate and nodded before my computer made a noise and the icon appeared on the screen for a secured email appeared on my notification bar. "Okay Anna, I've got the message here. Let's have a look and see who my cat's sister is sending to us, and how they will fit into our Pride."

Anna nodded grabbing her tablet before walking over to one of the couches sitting down before I joined her with a smile. When we could we liked taking care of work like this, though not everybody agreed with this approach.

Several hours later, Anna and I had just finished reading through the roster on the tablet, and discussing all of the people on it when the door opened and Shawn and Kat walked into the room. Tanya, who had been resting beside me sat up with a smile. "Kat? Mommy an' daddy been boring!"

For her part Kat laughed and walked over to the couch and hugged her sister, "You should have come with me and Shawn, we'd have been much more fun than our parents."

Tanya returned the hug happily. "I know, but like being around daddy, makes my cat feel safe." She replied while Shawn watched the two.

"Dad, it's lunch time." He said as I stood up and took the tablet and placed it on the charging pad that was installed on Anna's desk.

"Yes, it is, and after lunch we can all go up to the hot spring and relax for a bit." I replied stretching slightly. Anna and I preferred not to spend our afternoons in the office, preferring to spend it doing something more active than sitting around reading.

At that pronouncement both Tanya and Kat smiled, since they loved spending time at the springs, though there were times when it was a challenge to get both of them to climb from the warm water.

After lunch, we all shifted and headed up the trail, it was a popular trail among cats of the Pride, and I suspected that there would be more than one cat up in the springs this afternoon lounging in the warm water. Indeed, there were half a dozen in the various pools of the spring enjoying the warm water and when we joined them we soon found ourselves mingling and spending time with them. Most of them were Blackwater cats, though two of them were former Shadow Valley cats and they very much enjoyed spending time with Anna and myself.

We'd only just arrived at the springs and dipped ourselves into the pools when the heavy dark grey clouds over our heads began to disappear into the white as they began to dump their loads of heavy snow into the mountains.