Pack Meeting

[Zander Smith]

Zander stopped pacing and turned to look at the rest of the pack members, who were all gathered around, some sitting in the chairs, and others sitting on the floor. He gave a smile at Pearl as he mentally counted the members and checked for the missing.

Obviously, Ashura was missing. So was Coda--but Zander didn't think she needed to be here for this. She was better off with Athena. Dragos was missing, which didn't surprise him too much. Dragos really preferred to be on his own. But he noticed that, although Remus was there, his sister, Kris, was not. "Remus, where is Kris? Is she coming?"

[Skye]

Skye smiled and whispered to David, "I am used to sitting on the floor. Chairs feel unnatural to me. If you wish, I can teach you stretching exercises to help you be more comfortable."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus shook his head. "I don't know where she is," he said. "I can go look for her if you want."

[Kris Lupin]

Kris entered the room then went and sat beside Remus. She hoped she hadn't missed anything, she hadn't ment to be late she had been deep in thought about her father.

[David Harmon]

"Sure, why not? I'll take you up on that offer," said David, "It may do me some good to do something, other than just doing nothing. I'm probably going to end up better in shape than I am now. Thanks Skye."

[Skye]

"OK," Skye said, smiling. "We can talk about it after the meeting." She blushed slightly, then turned to face Zander, who looked like he was reading to begin the meeting.

[Zander Smith]

Zander cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Now that Kris was here, he could begin the meeting. "OK, well, we have a few issues to discuss, and even though most of you are probably aware of them, I wanted to update everyone on what's been going on." He sighed and began to walk around the room slowly. "First of all, most of you know that I... I made a new pup this week. It wasn't planned, but... well, he's one of us now, and I'm sure you'll all make him feel welcome." He pointed to Dean. "Everyone, this is Dean. Dean, this is Pearl, Karl, Chloe, Skye, David, and you know Kris and Remus. You're a part of our family now."

He came to stand back in the middle of the room. "OK, and the other issue is a bigger problem. One of our own, Ashura, has been kidnapped by a rival pack. The pack leader is a woman named Gretchen and she took Ashura to get to her brother, the former werewolf hunter, Sully. I've been in contact with Sully... since he fell in love with a werewolf, he has quit hunting. But he killed Gretchen's mate, Buck, and Gretchen wants to kill him for it. But in taking Ashura, she's risking a war with our pack. Now, it so happens that we found a member of Gretchen's pack in the forest, and she's sick... so we're taking care of her for now. I tried to arrange a trade, but Gretchen refuses to let Ashura go until she has a chance to kill Sully. That means only one thing... we're going to have to try and rescue her ourselves. This could mean a pack war... but we're left with no choice. Ashura is one of us, and we have to keep her protected." He stopped for a moment. "Any questions so far?"

[David Harmon]

David listened carefully to everything Zander said, and he pretty much agreed with him. "How do you suppose we get there and try to take Ashura back? When would we go?"

[Zander Smith]

"I would like to go very soon. In fact, I am thinking we should try to go tonight. We'll go towards the river, close to the spot where the girl from Gretchen's pack was found. Karl will lead us. From there, we'll just try to sniff out the direction of their camp. Most likely, they will have had a few people walking around looking for Dawn, so we should be able to find their scent. We're going to sneak into the camp under cover of darkness, and hope that we can get her out of there with only a minimal amount of fighting." He looked around the room and added, "Because we need to be subtle, but we also need strength, in case of a fight, we're not bringing everyone. I think that Remus and Kris should stay behind with Skye." He turned to look at Skye. "I'm sorry to leave you behind, but someone needs to stay here with Remus, Kris, and Dawn. You're the best person for that job. Are you OK with that?"

[Skye]

Skye nodded slowly. Her feelings were a bit mixed up. In one way, she was glad that she wouldn't be expected to go and be involved in a possible fight. On the other hand, she felt a bit hurt, realizing that, in such an important situation, she was essentially useless. However, she understood why the children were being left behind, and surely someone needed to stay with them. She was the best choice, but somehow it didn't take away the sting. "It's fine," she said quietly. "I do not like to fight, anyway."

[Dawn Meade]

Just then, Dawn wandered into the room. She had heard voices, as well as the mention of her name and Gretchen's name, and she was curious about what was happening. "What is going on?" she asked softly. "Where am I? I want to go home."

[Karl]

Karl stood up as Dawn walked in, looking confused and lost. He walked over to her. "You remember me, right? I'm the one who helped you earlier. I promise, you're safe here, OK? No one's going to hurt you. But you can't go back just yet. Not until we're sure you're OK."

[Dawn Meade]

Dawn looked at him, her eyes still confused and misty in appearance. "I... I know your face," she said vaguely. "I remember you were kind to me. But I do not remember your name. Where am I again? How did I get here?"

[Karl]

"We met you in the forest," Karl said. "You walked up to us, and you were talking and you collapsed. We brought you back to our house, and we're taking care of you for a while, until we're sure you're OK to go back." He smiled at her. "Come on, you should be resting. I'll take you back to bed, OK?" He took her by the arm and began to lead her out of the room.

[Dawn Meade]

"O.... OK," Dawn replied, still confused. "My head does hurt, I should lie down." She smiled at Karl. "You are very kind. What is your name again?" She wasn't sure she would remember it, but she wanted to try.

[Karl]

"I'm Karl," he replied. "Now, come on, let's get you back into bed, OK?" He brushed a hair out of her face. He led her out of the room slowly. "I'll be right back, OK?" he added over his shoulder to Zander.

[Dean Hallowell]

Dean sat quietly, taking all of this in. When a beautiful but fragile-looking girl came in, he sat up slightly. And when Karl, Chloe's boyfriend, got up to help the girl, he found himself smiling a little. He looked toward Chloe, wondering how she felt about this new development.

[Chloe Owen]

Chloe glanced up when Dawn entered the room. Karl got up and went over to her, but she didn't really mind that.... at first. She started to feel something that she never had when he smiled at Dawn and when he moved a strand of hair from her face. Chloe tried to swallow away the feeling, but there was something in the pit of her stomach. She glanced back across the room, and noticed Dean glancing that way. She gave him a smile and then turned her attention back in Zander's direction, waiting to see if he had anything else to say.

[Dean Hallowell]

Dean could see by the look on Chloe's face that she wasn't very happy about the way Karl had talked to the other girl. When she looked in his direction, he gave her a slight smile. Hmmm... maybe he had a chance after all. But then she turned away quickly, and looked back toward Zander. He kept watching her for another minute before finally looking away.

[Zander Smith]

Zander watched as Karl led Dawn out of the room, then waited patiently for him to return. It was the first time he'd seen the girl, and he was struck by how fragile the girl seemed. He would definitely have to call for Madam Pomfrey to see if she could do anything to help her.