I lay on top of a branch, high up in a tree, watching the border on one side of me and the pack grounds on the other. Every once in a while, a patrol passes, more frequent now the sun has started to rise. I knew each of the werewolves by scent and recognized them all as they came by. A handful looked up and flicked an ear at me.

From the pack's town, two smaller wolves raced up to my perch. Their size and unsteady footsteps were clear signs of their status; Omegas. My brows furrowed in confusion as I watched the pair of mates approach. Omegas rarely came so close to the borders, preferring to stay within the safety of the town.

When they were below me, they shifted to their normal form. Maflar and Askio stood beneath me. The former called out, "Thoysal? I'm sorry to bother you, but we need your help."

I leapt down in a fluid movement, landing on my feet despite the high drop. My eyes took in every move they made as I tugged at the hem of my jacket, straightening it. "What is it?"

"Do you remember the illusion in a bottle that the Alpha bought?" his mate, Askio, inquired.

Remembering, I nodded. Four days ago, he'd taken up the invite of two Vesmai mages to come look at the collection of a recently deceased member of theirs. Because of his extreme need to fit in and prove his worthiness to the potential enemy, he had bought one of their items, a bottle with an image of a firefox inside. The price he paid for it enraged many a pack member.

"It's not an illusion. There is a small fox kit inside there, alive. We have no idea how to speak to her, and figured you may have a better chance." Askio shifted in place uneasily. Maflar rubbed her arm to calm her down, though he was uneasy as well. It had taken them guts to come to me.

After eyeing them up for a few seconds, I nodded. My shift had long since ended anyway. "Alright. Show me it."

The pair quickly returned to their wolf form and started running back to town. I buttoned up my jacket and followed them, using my vampiric speed to keep up with them.

It wasn't long before we had entered the massive building that was the pack house and travelled down the stairs to the Omega room. They knew it as the place where they could lounge together in peace and quiet, safely away from all the higher ranking members.

A voice drifted through the open doorway."... Can whisper commands in your head, or cast illusions, or control your emotions, or teleport from place to place. They can even perfectly mimic people's voices! Nasty, they are - and they never die."

If I had still been breathing, I'd have sighed in heavy irritation. I was tempted to break the habit of silence except for breathing just for that. Instead, I settled for barging in and demanding, "What did I say about spreading rumours, pup?"

The child whined and huddled in the corner of the room, quaking in my presence. "I-I'm sorry, sir."

I gave him an annoyed huff that made him pale even more and moved closer to the bottle. The firefox kit stared back at me, trembling almost as much as the pup had as she backed up against the glass.

"Look at what you've done," I told the child. Even for an Omega, he was a nuisance. "She fears me now."

After a glance at the clean floor, I settled down in front of the enchanted bottle. I shoved backwards slightly a moment later. The blazing hearth was a little bit too close for comfort.

"Is there anyone she does trust?" I aimed my question at Askio and Maflar, though my gaze never strayed from the terrified fox kit and her container. From what I could sense, the enchantment was quite complex.

Askio answered, "Not yet, Thoysal. Esna only brought her in less than an hour ago, and communication has been difficult so far."

I nodded absentmindedly, noting how the fox was staring at my eyes. My annoyance bubbled up once more when I turned to Dubren. "You, go. You only scare her, pup."

With a pitiful whine, the child fled the room. Askio and Maflar huffed disapprovingly as he passed them. The former asked, "Can we do anything to help?"

With a shake of my head, I said, "There is nothing you can do now. That said, as long as you do not push me in the fire, you are free to stay. However, if you feel the need to cling to each other as mates often do, please vacate the room."

The last thing I needed was two werewolves poisoning the air with their hormones. I had gotten used to their rather prominent scent, but when they got distracted by each other's body parts, I wanted to be nowhere near.

"That we can do," Askio replied before settling down with her mate, quieting down. They'd never be fully quiet to me, with their breathing and powerful heartbeat.

I pushed their noise to the background and focused on the fox kit again, unleashing a little mana. It went through the bottle and into the fox without much issue, making me nod to myself. That'd make things a lot easier.

The little firefox was already easing up, affected by my magic. I listened closely to her thoughts and altered my control over her emotions in such a way it'd feel natural to her, using the sensation of being close to fire that she loved so much to melt the fear away.

When she seemed adequately comfortable, I quietly said, "There you go. That's better, isn't it?"

The fox kit only purred in reply. Good. My magic was working excellently. When it was apparent she'd say nothing more, I contacted her telepathically. 'Can you hear me?'

Her shock was almost tangible as it rippled through our telepathic connection. Ears perked up, eyes widened, body stunned in place. I could already sense the shock changing into pure excitement.

Now I just had to find a way past the excitement to get answers out of her.