*The day after the events of the previous chapter*

*5/14/90*

“I'm sorry," Ellora murmured for probably the hundredth time that morning. She paused, pulling porcupine quills out of Coraline’s hand. "That didn't hurt too much, did it?"

"No," Coraline replied. "I'm fine. Just ignore me if I flinch."

After the hunt ended, Coraline blamed Bandit for failing to rescue Emma. She yelled hurtful things at him before storming into the woods. She didn't return to Ellora’s den until the following morning with quills jabbed in her hand.

Now, Ellora was trying to properly clean the many holes in Coraline’s hand before they got infected. She took more soap from the nearby rock, carefully rubbing it into Coraline's skin. "There you go. Doesn't that feel better?"

"Mm-hm." Coraline closed her eyes, letting out a sigh as Ellora's fingertips pressed gently against her skin and rubbed it clean. Despite the pain in her hand, she felt better than she thought possible a few hours ago. After being lectured by both Scarlet and Ellora, Coraline agreed to apologize to Bandit later. “I miss my mom,” she said.

Once Coraline’s hand was properly taken care of, she realized she was hungry. Having run off after the hunt, Coraline had yet to eat her share of the hunt's spoils. She bit into the raw meat, grimacing at the metallic taste of blood. She cringed as she tried to focus on anything but the feeling of wetness trickling between her fingers.

"So, how did you get porcupine quills in your hand?" Ellora asked.

Coraline chewed her meat, shrugging her shoulders. “I got mad, and I started punching and kicking bushes. Then suddenly, I felt a stinging in my hand.”

“Well, your hand should be back to normal in a day or two,” Ellora said with a smile.

“Do you think Scar brainwashed my mom? Does she still hate being a werewolf as I did?” Coraline's face flushed, but only slightly. At this point, the shame she would have felt a few days ago was nearly gone.

“I am sure she stayed behind for a very good reason,” Ellora said assumingly. “You managed to get your clan to break basically every law they were taught to follow. That proves that anything is possible."

"Do you…think she wanted to stay behind so she could kill herself?" Coraline asked, her voice breaking. With what she knew now, she couldn't believe that just a little while ago, she had been the one to want death in the face of a werewolf bite.

"I honestly don’t know, Coraline," Ellora replied, her voice low and sad. “But I do know how you feel. I’ll do my best to help you through your grief.”

Coraline chanced a questioning glance toward Ellora. “How can you possibly understand how I fell, Ellora?”

“I never told you this, Coraline, but I had a little sister stolen from me the night before I first met Hunter.”

Coraline’s eyes widened. “Well, how come you’ve never told me about this?”

“I don’t like talking about it very much,” Ellora continued. “We were attacked by Scar’s pack, which attracted a horde of Shadows. My parents died that night, and the pack was driven from our original denning area. My baby sister, Isabelle, was an orphan human adopted into the family. She was supposed to become a whelp when she grew strong enough to where the transformation wouldn’t kill her.

Coraline put a comforting hand on her mentor's shoulder. “I am sorry for making you bring this up. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Ellora sniffed and shook her head. “No. I might as well finish. We fled and eventually found an abandoned barn. But then a Shadow Creature came out of it. It was one that I had never seen before. It looked like a human knight but also didn't. It stole Isabelle and left its Hounds to finish me off.” She looked at Coraline with a small smile. “That’s why I saved you from Scar during the raid. Inside I guess I wanted to be a big sister again. Every day you remind me more and more of Isabelle. I must have made the correct choice, huh?”

Coraline immediately leaned over and hugged Ellora. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that!” A thought came to Coraline’s mind. “Why did Ember choose to resettle next to Scar’s territory?”

“This territory is safer. Scar hasn't mounted a full-scale attack because he knows it’ll be too costly. Even though his pack is bigger, our territory has more strategic points. If he attacks, we can retreat into the mountains. A few miles in, a narrow pass lets one or two people through at a time.”

“Well, at least you can talk to the others tomorrow,” Coraline said. "Well…you are going, anyway."

Ellora tilted her head. "Don't you want to come and ask these new wolves what happened?"

Coraline nodded quickly. "I do! I really, really do. But… Ember has been asking me to do more around here lately. She really wants me to be on her side."

"I understand," Ellora said, her voice sounding more tired than her body felt.

"Did everyone get to the wastelands, okay?" Coraline questioned.

"Yes. According to the others, these new wolves were happy to see Steven. None of them want to return to Scar’s territory.”

"Not even Steven?" Coraline tilted her head. "He acted like a huge supporter of Scar when talking to him."

"Perhaps seeing these two wolves made him rethink a few things.”

Coraline hugged Emma again. "Why don't you go to sleep? You must have waited up all night for me?"

"Thank you," Ellora returned Coraline's hug. "And I want you to do the same."

The two held each other silently for a moment before Coraline hesitantly spoke up again. "Hey, Ellora? Do you really think that my mom wants to kill herself….?"

Ellora closed her eyes, savoring the familiar warmth of her young ward. "No," she murmured. "I don’t think so."

~o0o~

It took a better part of the morning for Brianna to discreetly burn her clothes from the previous night and wash the disgusting brown residue from her skin. By the time she was sufficiently clean, she decided there was no point in going to bed. She yawned as she walked into the kitchen, where Garrett stood over the stove, cooking pancakes for breakfast. She poured herself a cup of tea before sitting down at the table. She started scribbling down notes.

Over by the stove, Garrett kept a jar of maple syrup close to him, shooting Jade a warning glare whenever she came too close. As soon as spring began and maple syrup season started, Garrett and the others made sure to purchase several bottles whenever a merchant dropped by. Despite always getting a huge amount, supplies in the house dwindled very quickly. He wondered if William carried syrup. He made a mental note to ask him once he got a chance. Then, quicker than a werewolf's claw strike, he turned around and smacked Jade's wrist with his spatula, stopping her from taking the maple syrup.

Jade yelped, grabbing her wrist and pouting. "Aw, I just wanted to ensure it was still good."

"Maple syrup lasts for a long time, Jade," Garrett said patiently. "Or it would in a house you weren't living in.” He softened his words with a small smile as he turned back to the stove. "The pancakes and syrup always taste better together, anyway. If you were more patient and let me get to the point of serving them, you'd know that."

"Mmph!"

"Jade, away from the plate!"

Jade jumped back with a muffled squeak, leaving two uneaten pancakes. The stack had held eight a second ago. She swallowed hurriedly, trying to look repentant.

Garrett shook his head, unable to keep from chuckling. "At least let us have the rest, okay?”

"Okay," Jade chirped, grinning brightly. She watched as Garrett measured more batter and made another stack of pancakes. She glanced at the calm, focused look on Brianna's tired face before pouring her friend another cup of tea.

Once Garrett finished the last batch of pancakes, he put them on the plate and took the syrup to the table. There, everyone sat down together and ate their meal in calm silence. Unlike Jade or Mason, the others only needed three pancakes to fill their stomachs. Brianna managed to fall asleep on top of her notebook. Rose had to move the book so the albino girl wouldn't drool on it and ruin the pages.

Jade sat close to Garrett, watching the others. She waited till all the pancakes were finished before speaking. "Why so quiet? Shouldn't we be talking about our next move?”

Hunter stared down at the table. "I have been…thinking about last night. I'm happy everyone’s okay, but I am calling off any further rescue attempts.”

Mason placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I agree. We really are lucky that things have worked as well as they did. We shouldn't push our luck."

"I hope mom is okay," Rose added.

Jade grimaced. "Werewolves might not be all evil, but I'll gladly bash Scar’s skull in if I ever see his ugly face!"

"You'll have to get in line," Rose said. " I get the first punch.”

“So, what do we do with those books for Emma?” Jade questioned.

“Just give them to Brianna,” Mason continued. “Maidens know that she already read them.”

Hunter frowned. "What will we do now?” He questioned before thinking: “What will happen next? Will we ever see Mom again? Can we stay allies with Ellora and Coraline? How much longer can we keep this secret to ourselves? Is keeping this secret even worth it? I mean, our secret required us to cut too many corners!"

"I can't give any of you an answer, but I can tell you we've been through so much worse. We've lost, struggled, mourned, and bled, yet we keep pressing forward. Maybe things will go well for us again,” Garrett said, touching Hunter's shoulder. "Why don't we go into town and have a day of fun? Maidens know we could use a day just to unwind.”