The children waited all winter for Penn to return. They gave up their skin for their furs and sat like stone statues in the backyard of the pack house watching the woods for Penn. Even the littlest, Mia, who was going to turn three shortly, would not be dissuaded from sitting outside in the freezing cold temperatures, for hours at a time, hoping for a glimpse of Penn's white coat and black streaked nose.
Fancy, their den mother, watched over them every day and prayed to the Moon goddess to bring Penn back safely. She could see, as the days and weeks passed, that the children, though determined to keep watch, were becoming less and less spirited, restless, and losing their appetites. They needed Penn. She prayed earnestly that Penn would survive her winter alone, and return in the spring after the snow melt. The children would not waste away this winter but if Penn did not return by spring, Fancy was convinced the children would never recover from the loss of her.
Someone cleared their voice and Fancy gave a little jump. She was so deep in thought that she hadn't heard anyone enter the cafeteria where she kept her daily vigil. Turning quickly from the window she saw Beta Lucas and his mate Jules had arrived. Usually they came during the supper hour to keep the children company but it was still early afternoon. The break with habit made her nervous.
"Is something wrong?" Fancy asked the two of them. She glanced nervously outside and then directed her attention back to the lovely pair.
"No, nothing's wrong Fan," Jules responded with a comforting smile. "We have some big news though."
Fancy's face brightened. "Have you heard from Penn? Has someone spotted her?" she asked excitedly only to watch Jules' and Lucas' faces fall a bit. "Oh," she said with a little laugh, "not that kind of big news."
Her heart ached for the children, but she put on a smile and asked Lucas and Jules to have a seat. Fancy kept her back to the cafeteria and her eyes on the children who were huddled together in the wind and snow and watching the woods despite the poor visibility. She was going to have to call them in soon, she thought to herself. The weather was just too miserable to leave them out there for long, even if they were in wolf form.
Sighing to herself she turned her eyes back to her guests and asked, "Have you found homes for everyone?"
Jules face broke out in a huge grin and she nodded her head eagerly as she unfolded some paperwork she happened to have in her hand and slid it across the table to Fancy.
"Everyone has a place now," she said happily, "and, we've managed to keep the siblings all together, which I think will help with the transition." She leaned over the table and pointed to a few names on the list. "See, here, here and here."
Jules scanned the list and frowned. "When?" was all she asked.
Beta Lucas exchanged a worried look with Jules. He cleared his throat and said, "They are all going to their new homes by the end of the week."
"Three days, then?" Fancy asked.
"Yes," Lucas confirmed as he watched her face pale a little and her shoulders sag somewhat. "You've grown attached to them," he said as the thought suddenly dawned on him.
Fancy was a young professional, unmated, and had no pups of her own. He had initially thought she might find being den-mother to eighteen children exhausting and overwhelming, but it seemed she took to the situation like a bird to the sky. It never occurred to him that she would mourn the loss of these children, which she had been almost exclusively responsible for these past five months. Moving the children into their new adopted families would be as much a trial for her as it would be for the children. Lucas reached out and gave Fancy's hand, which was resting on the paperwork, a little comforting squeeze.
Fancy gave a little laugh that quickly became a sob and Jules was quick to get out of her seat and come around to comfort the other she-wolf. Guilt washed over her. She had not even thought for a moment about Jules' feelings.
After a moment Fancy got a hold of herself and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She laughed lightly, genuinely, and looked at the concerned faces before her. "I never thought," she confessed with pink cheeks, "that I would love them this much."
"It's understandable," Jules remarked with a warm smile. "They are quite extraordinary. And I'm not just saying that cause Cassidy and Jackson are our niece and nephew!" Jules laughed.
Fancy smiled brightly and the sad tension in the room dissipated. "Honestly, I don't know why I'm crying," she confessed. "I know it's high time the children got settled into their new homes - their new lives. I'm ... I'm happy for them all. Really I am," she stressed as Jules gave her shoulder a squeeze before taking up her seat beside Lucas. "I just don't understand what took you so long to decide on these homes," she questioned as she glanced over the list.
Lucas and Jules shared a look. "There were some security concerns," Lucas admitted.
Fancy looked shocked. "Surely you don't mean the children posed a risk to the pack?"
"No, no," Lucas said with a laugh before sobering a bit. "There were some internal threats. Second Beta Arn wasn't the only one after the children," Lucas growled out.
"Wait a minute," Fancy protested, "I thought Beta Arn was after Penn because she was a rogue."
Jules and Lucas shared another look. Lucas realized belatedly that he shouldn't have said a thing about Arn. Talking about anything related to Arn, Codax and their potential relationship was strictly prohibited during the pack-wide investigation to route out any Codax supporters among Orthos. The investigation had only finished up recently, which was why the children were now free to be placed in their new permanent homes.
Lucas could have kicked himself for opening up his big mouth. He was the worst First Beta in pack history, he thought with a good dose of self-loathing. But now that the danger was over, now that Codax's followers had been found, rounded up and dealt with quickly and quietly, it couldn't hurt to let Fancy in on it. He knew she was not the type to go blabbing her mouth off to others if he told her not too. He looked at Jules for a moment. She gave him a little nod of approval. Clearly she thought it couldn't hurt now to let Fancy in on what was going on.
So, he took a deep breath and plunged into the topic a bit haltingly at first as he said, "I ... I shouldn't be telling you this Fancy, so you can't share a word of this with another living soul. You understand, right?"
"Of course," she assured him confidently.
She was the pack house assistant and had been privy to many confidential situations and information since coming to work for Alpha Troy right out of high school. She was as trustworthy as they came and couldn't help but be a little hurt to know that there was something big going on in the pack and she was entirely out of the loop.
Lucas and Jules both leaned across the table and Fancy followed suit as she kept an eye on the children and the worsening weather conditions.
"Arn wasn't just after Penn. There is evidence on his phone and elsewhere that he'd planned to attack and kill the pups the moment they entered our territory. Only, Anex had come across them first. So, he took the first opportunity that presented itself and that just happened to be in front of the pack house."
"Why?" Fancy whispered with horror written all over her face.
"He was working for Codax, the alpha who is after the pups. The two of them came from the same small nomadic pack south of here and they have pretty deep ties - blood ties."
Fancy sat back in her seat feeling too stunned for words.
"There's more," Jules offered. "From what intel we gathered, it was clear that Codax had contacted his former pack members here in Orthos long before he'd decimated Lara's pack. In the event that he wasn't able to kill or capture her, he was determined to set a trap for her here. He knew she'd come looking for help from Lucas and her birth-pack.
"So, Codax called on his former pack mates here in Orthos to help him out. Beta Arn was the man he entrusted with his plan to kill off the entire Griffin pack. Our intel shows that these plans were set in motion well before the pups even came to us."
Fancy shuddered with disgust. She felt sick to think that there were traitors among the pack - wolves who would murder pups. It was shocking beyond words.
"If it hadn't been for Penn," she half whispered to herself realizing that the she-wolf had saved the Griffin orphans in more ways than one when she killed Arn with a single blow.
"Yes, that's right," Lucas confirmed quietly. "The children would all be dead by now if not for her. When Penn killed Arn she threw Codax's people into a panic. They had been taking their orders directly from Arn and when he died so unexpectedly at her hands, they didn't dare make a move. I guess they realized that if Arn wasn't a match for her, then none of them could take her on given that his military training was top notch and theirs mediocre by comparison."
"Does Codax know?" Fancy asked with a terrible sinking feeling. "Does he know about Penn?"
"Yes," was all Lucas said.
Fancy, feeling agitated beyond measure, got up from her seat and began pacing back and forth. She glanced out the window several times as the high heals of her pointed shoes went click, click, click on the tile floor. Penn was out there all alone and Codax could easily be coming for her.
"Does Penn know?" she asked all of a sudden. Perhaps she did. Perhaps she took off that night nearly four months ago because she wanted to draw him away from the children and kill him out in the open.
"No," came Lucas' soft reply. "We hadn't finished out investigation at that time. We didn't know then half of what we came to discover this winter."
"By all the stars!" Fancy exclaimed with mounting fear. "What if he finds her? What if he's already found her?"
"He hasn't," Jules interjected quite quickly as she got to her feet and came to rest a reassuring hand on Fancy's arm. "We've been keeping tabs on him. He wintered on the east side of the mountain range and by all accounts Penn is still roaming the mountains north of us."
"What accounts?" Fancy asked with a start. She'd thought that Penn had disappeared entirely, that no one knew where she was.
Jules looked to Lucas and he gave a nod. They'd already told her this much. They might as well tell her everything they knew.
Jules turned her face back to Fancy and explained, "Alpha Troy sent Vipers to track her a few days after she left, when we all became sure that she was not coming back anytime soon."
Jules thought back to those first few days. Troy had been in a panic to find her but not because of Codax. When she first took off that November night, Troy and the elders expected her to show back up the following morning. She didn't though. So, they simply assured themselves she just needed a couple days to think. When a couple days passed and there was no sign or scent of her Troy became very nervous. He was afraid he'd lost her to the wilds, which was the last thing he wanted given his deepening feeling for her and the unusually deep bond he felt for her.
Secretly, because no one outside himself, the elders, the pups, Fancy, Lucas and herself, even knew Penn was gone, he organized his most trusted military hunters and trackers, the Viper's Core, to track her down. He hand picked several men and women for the job, making sure to pick those who were loyal to him and the pack and not to their deceased leader Arn.
On the morning of the fourth day after Penn's departure from pack-land, he instructed the Vipers he chose to find her and report back directly. They were explicitly told not to engage her and, if possible, they were to observe her unnoticed. Though, Anex, once he heard the plan, was quick to tell these Vipers that it would be next to impossible for them to come up on her unawares.
He related to them that upon first discovering Penn and the pups when they arrived in Orthos territory, Penn didn't have the least bit trouble sniffing out Raine despite the fact that she was renowned for her stealth. It had thrown himself and Raine for a loop. No one but the Moon goddess herself was going to sneak up on Penn. Jules smiled to herself just thinking about his story, which had sounded more like a grand tale than truth.
Only, the Vipers found out quite quickly that Anex had been right. The Vipers did find Penn but not before she got whiff of them first. As a result, they were never able to get close to her to observe her. However, she also didn't go far or lead them on wild chases either. She remained, for the most part, just outside of Orthos territory and wintered high above the treeline.
Jules looked at Fancy's bewildered face. She didn't know any of this. Most didn't. Troy and the elders thought it would only invite trouble if they told the pups she was north of the woods. All were sure the pups would strike off by themselves to go and find her. Jules wasn't sure now, as she looked at Fancy's worried expression, if they should have kept this from her. Maybe it would have been alright to let her know.
Jules felt a little guilty as she confessed, "The Vipers found her trail within twenty-four hours of setting out. They have been keeping tabs on her ever since."
Fancy didn't know whether to feel relieved or angry. It burned a little knowing that the pack leadership knew her whereabouts all this time but left Fancy, and the pups to some degree, to worry every day about her.
"Where is she?" Fancy demanded to know.
Wincing with guilt, Jules informed her, "She's north. Above the tree line."
Fancy felt relieved when she heard it. The anger dissipated with the knowledge that she was not too far away. Feeling a little more at ease suddenly, Fancy came back to the table to sit down. Jules followed and took up her seat beside Lucas. He reached over and gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. He could see the guilt on her face and sympathized with her. He felt it too.
Picking up where Jules left off, Lucas continued saying, "She's safe. And now that we know she's on Codax hit list, Alpha Troy has beefed up patrols and added more Vipers to secure her current location."
"Wont all those extra wolves send her further up the mountain side?" Fancy asked with concern. "She can't know they are there to protect her. What .. what if she thinks they are there to keep her out?"
Fancy's eyes filled with tears but she blinked them back as quickly as she could. She did not want to become overcome with emotion just yet. She had too many questions for Jules and Lucas.
"Of course," Lucas began slowly, thoughtfully, "we can't know for sure how she'll respond to the extra security. However, she's got the best instincts of any wolf I've ever met, and a sharp mind too. I'm certain that she'll understand they aren't there to keep her out.
"She can't have forgotten that the elders and Troy asked her to be a part of the pack. I'm sure, even if she can't pinpoint why they are around, she'll understand they don't mean her any harm.
"In fact," he continued more cheerfully, "she might think the heightened security is an indication that Codax is on the move. Though, that's hard to say too. Still ..." Lucas stopped talking when he realized he was just babbling now. It was all speculation on his part anyway.
He leaned into the back of his chair, crossed his arms leisurely over his chest and extended his long legs under the table. Lara had told him that Penn lived on the cusp of Griffin territory for years and didn't leave even after she'd been discovered. Lucas was hopeful that she might do something similar now. Maybe she would take up residence on the north mountain and live close to Orthos the rest of her life.
If she did, once the Codax threat was neutralized, the pups would be free to go and visit her there. And, she would be free to come and go from the pack. Both Troy and the elders agreed that unusual arrangements needed to be made where she was concerned given her peculiar history with pack life and those years of isolation.
She might be the first wolf in pack history to be part of a pack but not live on pack-lands. It would certainly be unusual, but, if it made everyone happy, Lucas was all for it no matter how unconventional it was.
Fancy leaned her elbows on the table and fell silent as she contemplated everything Jules and Lucas shared. Her eyes naturally rested on the window, where she could still see the children waiting and watching despite the snow that was coming down and the blowing winds.
It was time to bring them in, she thought. They would freeze to death out there at this rate. She stood from her seat once again but didn't move toward the door just yet.
Without looking at Jules and Lucas she asked, though already knowing the answer, "Can I tell them?"
"No," Lucas said softly. "The elders are afraid the pups will try to find her."
"So, you are going to settle them into their new homes, and then keep them so busy that they don't have time to think about her until you can work on a plan to get her back?"
Lucas smiled a little. "Yes, something like that."
Fancy sighed heavily as she moved toward the door. Her mind could see that this was the safest arrangement, yet her heart ached for herself and for the children as she pushed open the door and called them all to come in. She consoled herself with the knowledge that Penn was not far considering she could have run off anywhere she pleased, and she was, for the time being, safe.
"Come children," she called a second time when they did not respond to her first attempt. "Beta Lucas and Jules are here. They have some news they want to share with you about your new homes."
That last bit brought the children around. They moved from their fixed positions and shook the snow from their fur coats as the began to trot, one by one, over to the door. Fancy pushed the door wide, letting in the cold, blowing snow, and eighteen half frozen pups.
"Go on," she instructed them as she closed the door behind them. "Get cleaned up and be back here in five minutes. Lets not keep Beta Lucas and Jules waiting."
The doors to the corridor, which lead to the rec room and eventually their bedrooms, was propped wide open and the children dashed off down the hallway leaving a trail of snow and ice in their wake. Fancy was sure she'd miss the children when they left for their new homes in three days. However, she also realized with a little chuckle that she was not going miss cleaning up after them - not one bit.