Penn woke unexpectedly from a deep, restful sleep and spent a moment staring into the darkness above her head. Her senses were on high alert. Something had woken her but she couldn't pin point just what. She sniffed the air and strained to hear anything unusual or suspicious. It was the dead of night though and everything appeared perfectly normal.

Not satisfied, she sat up and looked around the unlit Common Room. She could see nothing out of the ordinary. But then, she heard it - the soft sound of sniffling. Someone was crying.

Penn rose to her feet and breathed in deeply through her sensitive nostrils. The fresh scent of apples was in the air. It was a familiar fragrance. It was Aria's scent.

Aria was one of two ten year old pups in the group. She was quiet, obedient and practically invisible. Penn wasn't sure if the girl had always been this way or if the trauma of losing her parents and her pack had altered her personality. It was something Penn might have asked Cassidy about if she were sticking around long-term but, since it wasn't likely, well, she let it slide. The lack of personality didn't stop Penn from having tender feelings for the girl and wanting to protect her.

Penn called out quietly, "Aria?" into the darkened hallway where the bedrooms were. She heard a little whimper and followed the sound. The girl was sitting, alone, in the dark hallway, crying softly into her pillow. Penn crouched down and brushed her tight dark brown curls from her damp cheeks. The little thing looked up at her and seemed unsure about what to do.

Penn smiled at her while reaching for her saying, "Come here sweet-pea."

Sweet-pea was the name her mother use to call her when she was Aria's age. It rolled right off Penn's tongue without her even thinking about it. Penn remembered that she use to love being called that particular nickname by her mother. It was something special. And, in this moment, when Aria was clearly distraught, Penn mimicked her mother's tone and behaviour, trusting that what had comforted her as a ten year old would also do the same for Aria.

In an instant Aria had discarded the pillow for Penn's open arms and wrapped her little limbs around Penn's neck hugging her with all her might. Penn stood, bringing Aria up with her, and walked back into the Common Room where Aria cried hard but quietly on Penn's shoulder for the better part of twenty minutes.

Penn never asked Aria what the matter was. She just held the girl and petted her back softly as the young one cried her little heart out. Penn was at a loss as to what else to do and was relieved to see Cassidy walk into the still dark Common Room with a cold, damp cloth in her hand. Cassidy wasted no time pressing the cool cloth to Aria's hot, damp cheeks when the girl's sobbing finally subsided. Penn gave the teenager a grateful smile as the two of them fussed over Aria.

"Sorry we woke you," Penn apologized to Cassidy as Aria began to drift off to sleep there on the couch with Penn's lap for a pillow.

"No, no, you hadn't," Cassidy assured her in a whisper.

It was true. Cassidy had awoken by chance and on seeing Aria's bunk empty had gone in search for the younger girl. She was alarmed to find her crying but relieved to see Penn was rocking her back and forth gently and rubbing her back in a comforting motion. She looked down at Aria now, who was nearly asleep, and frowned.

"Why was she crying?" she asked Penn quietly.

Cassidy could not think of anything that might have set the girl off. After the events of the previous morning everything had gone so well. It had been a good day for everyone. At least, Cassidy thought it had been and it worried her that she might have missed something.

Penn sighed in response as she sank back comfortably into the couch. "It's the mourning, I suppose," Penn offered Cassidy as way of explanation.

Reagan, the same pack doctor they had met in the woods along with Beta Lucas and his team, had been in to see the children and check up on them every few days since they arrived. She had told Penn that the pups had not had a chance to grieve over their losses yet. So, she could expect some tears, tantrums and generally uncharacteristic behaviour from the pups at any time now that the worst of their struggle was over.

Feeling it would be helpful to explain this to Cassidy, Penn continued. "Doctor Reagan said that the grieving could start any time now that you aren't in survival mode anymore."

Cassidy looked up at her and she saw that the teen's eyes were filled with unshed tears. The sight tore something awful at Penn's heart. In response she smiled kindly at the younger woman as she encouraged her gently, "You're free to mourn whenever it happens to you Cassidy. Forget about being strong for the pups," she encouraged. "Mourning is good. If you mourn, they'll mourn. And if you mourn together you'll heal together."

Penn was no expert on mourning, but she did remember some lessons from her youth. Her pack had believed strongly in the importance of communal grieving. They preached it to every wolf from a very young age and it was one of those teachings that stuck with her always.

There had been a few unexpected deaths in her pack when she was young and Penn remembered how the pack came together to mourn. It had been wonderfully freeing to grieve with everyone and not to have to hide her sorrow. Consequently, Penn felt strongly that it was a sound philosophy and one that Cassidy and the pups should definitely practice.

Cassidy gave a thoughtful nod as she brushed some tears from her lashes. She marvelled at how intuitive and gentle Penn could be despite all her years in isolation and her rather cool mien. She also thought, not for the first time as she struggled there by the couch to get her emotions under control, that her mother could not have picked a better wolf to lead them over the mountain range to Orthos territory. Her heart swelled with gratitude for the quiet and often stone-faced she-wolf. She gave the older woman a half smile, which she returned easily.

Aria's nighttime cry was just the beginning of the wave of mourning that Doctor Reagan had eluded to. The following week was full of strange and peculiar incidents with the children, which Penn could only chalk up to delayed grieving. The pups, who up until this point had been obedient, compliant, helpful and very good to each other, were now fighting, bickering, complaining and bursting into tears at all hours of the day and night for no apparent reason.

It was as if and internal switch had been flipped inside each of the pups and now they were conduits for discontent and aggression - mostly toward each other. Penn repeatedly heard things like, 'Don't touch me', 'I had it first', 'Give it back', 'That's mine', 'I hate you' , 'You're not my Dad', 'I want my Mom' and a hundred other little impassioned cries that led the children to pushing, shoving, and calling each other names. All of these childish disputes, which normally might have settled themselves naturally and dissipated easily, became enormous disagreements ending in either fist fights or hysterical tears.

Penn was at a loss as to how to deal with the new dynamics. She'd never had to settle fights between pups before - certainly not ones where everyone's feelings were so raw and exposed. She'd also never had to comfort little ones who could not be consoled and cried repeatedly for their mothers. It was a bit of an emotional nightmare for her and for the pups, who didn't seem to comprehend what was happening to them and why they felt so out of control.

With each passing day, as their grief deepened and they found new ways to express their hurt, confusion, fear and loss, Penn was grateful for the help and assistance of Cassidy, her brother Jackson, Fancy and Doctor Reagan. The five of them worked together as a team to take on the daunting task of addressing the children's emotional needs. Penn knew, if it were not for Cassidy's readiness to help despite her own terrible loss, Jackson's big heart, Fancy's understanding demeanour, and Doctor Reagan's cool head, she would have made a real mess of things.

It was a comfort not to be alone in this, and, for the first time in a very long time, Penn openly relied on other wolves for help. In those first few days after Aria broke down in the middle of the night, Penn came to find great solace and support in having the other three she-wolves and Jackson to lean on as the children's behaviour deteriorated. And, if she was being honest with herself, she really enjoyed working as a team with them to help address each problem as it arose. Nothing was too hard for the the five of them to tackle no matter how wayward or distraught the child.

Of course, she and the pups had worked as a team escaping from Codax and making the dangerous trek through Mourning Cross, but it wasn't the same as cooperating with adult wolves who all had the same goal in mind. The children needed to cooperate in order to survive but these Orthos adults did not. They could easily ignore Penn or shut her out of the recovery process for the pups entirely. Yet, Fancy and Reagan worked actively with Penn, Cassidy and Jackson to make sure the pups would survive this unconstrained stage in their grieving process.

Penn was indebted for the support and developed a tremendous respect for Fancy and Doctor Reagan in the process, which she was at a loss as to how to communicate to them given that she was a wolf of few words - and fewer facial expressions.

Truly, besides the cooking staff, who still treated Penn with disdain, and the Second Beta, who had tried to kill her that first day, the members of the Orthos pack that she had met so far had treated her with respect and were very willing to work with her for the benefit of the pups. It was all so contrary to what she had expected - what she had prepared her heart and mind for.

She'd been so sure, before she and the pups met up with the pack two weeks prior, that every day was going to be a fight for her, but that wasn't the case at all. The pack's willingness to accept her into their ranks and cooperate with her for the sake of the children was hard to comprehend but heart-warming too.

But, Penn had to continually remind herself not to get carried away and start expecting invitations to dine with other wolves in the pack. Fancy, Reagan, Beta Lucas, Jules, and even the Alpha, as uncharacteristically kind, considerate and respectful as they all had been, were not doing this for Penn but for the pups. That was the reality here.

Penn knew she'd do well to remember that the moment the pups were settled the Orthos pack wouldn't need her anymore. The well of generosity and good will she'd been drinking from since she arrived had a time limit on it. If she was smart, she told herself again and again, she would keep this truth at the forefront of her mind. Otherwise, she risked raising her hopes and having them crushed unmercifully when the time came for her to really part with the pups.

Penn's melancholy thoughts were interrupted on this wet and cold mid-November afternoon, by a sudden shriek of pain and a corresponding growl coming from one of the bedrooms. She knew another fight had broken out between the pups and looked around the Common Room to see who was not accounted for. It looked like it was the older boys this time around. She didn't have long to wait to find out who. The two soon brought their fight out into the hallway.

She recognized Ace, the oldest of the fourteen year old twins, and Jacob, one of the three twelve year olds in the group. It was impossible to tell what the fight was about because the boys had traded their skin for their furs and their voices for unintelligible barks and growls. Neither boy seemed willing to back down at that point either, and their fight soon found it's way into the Common Room.

Jackson tried to approach Ace and Jacob but both boys growled deeply at him in warning. So, he backed up and threw Penn a concerned look. She waved him over.

"Look after the little ones Jackson and be sure to keep them out of the way no matter what," she instructed as she handed Mia, the littlest, over to him.

Fights between adolescent wolves were dangerous. They had more power than they knew and often the fights went too far in their heightened emotional states. Penn didn't want this fight to turn bloody. If it did, the boys would be devastated that they let it get that far when they were back in their skins.

Jackson, with the help of Cassidy, quickly ushered all the pups back towards the doors that lead up to the first floor and they watched anxiously as Ace and Jacob circled each other snapping their fangs close to one another's faces. The two seemed intent on hurting each other - on drawing blood. It worried the pups because they recognized that none of them were themselves these days and they were all afraid Ace and Jacob would end up hurting each other badly.

Archer, Ace's twin, came forward and tried to reason with Ace but he only received a low growl from his twin for the trouble. He frowned and looked at Penn for help.

She gave him a quick nod of her head and instructed him to go back and help Jackson with the younger pups, who were becoming visibly distressed by the wolf on wolf fight. It was one thing to see two juveniles wrestling and struggling with one another in a dispute. But, it was quite another to see two adolescent wolves with powerful fangs and destructive claws going at it. Penn was aware that it was imperative for her to stop the fight before either boy drew blood.

She knew all too well, no matter what had happened in the bunk room, nothing they argued about was worth bleeding over. And she also knew the boys well enough to know that they would both live to regret drawing each other's blood.

But, could she settle this without bloodshed? They were so riled up that it looked highly unlikely. So, she prayed to the Moon goddess for a good outcome as she advanced on the two snarling wolves. While the goddess had never listened to any of her prayers prior to meeting the pups, she begrudgingly admitted that the Moon goddess had come through for her a few times since she and the pups arrived in Orthos territory. So, it couldn't hurt to reach out to her again.