Failure

[Zander Smith]

After the failed attempt to rescue Ashura, Zander had taken his small group of pack members back to the house, with Karl carrying the injured Chloe. Although it seemed she would be OK, Zander was still angry and upset that it had come down to this. They had not been adequately prepared for this mission, and they were not prepared to face Gretchen's pack, if a pack war was to break out.

Feeling frustrated and defeated, Zander brushed aside the others and retreated to the bedroom he shared with Pearl. There he began to pace, trying to figure out where they had gone wrong, and how they would do better the next time.

[Pearl Nacreous]

Pearl didn't have to smell what was coming from Zander, it was pouring off of him like water. She felt a little apprehensive about going to him, but she'd have to do it. It wasn't like she wanted anyone else to do it. She walked into the room and sat down and took a deep breath, holding it a moment she let it out and asked "Do you think we can come together for this?" It was a terrifying question, if they would and could save their pack.

[Zander Smith]

Zander sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair. "I failed us, Pearl," he said. "I did. This was my fault, I charged in there without a decent plan, without enough backup, and without any expectations of what was going to happen. I'm supposed to be the leader, and sometimes I don't know what the hell I'm doing!"

He sat down and buried his face in his hands. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy... I knew we couldn't expect to just walk in there and take Ashura back with us, but I should have been more prepared for what could have happened! Dean... Dean should have stayed with you at all times.... or maybe he should have stayed home this time. Maybe it was a mistake bringing him at all. I don't know..."

[Pearl Nacreous]

Pearl felt sorrow at hearing his over critical analysis of what happened " It wasn't a mistake... He should of been with me...As Alpha I have more control over him than Chloe would...He's not a human child...He's not an adult wolf, he's in a hard place right now and we need to give him some room to grow." she swallowed a lump in her throat. "I'm also sorry Zander...I didn't even think of using magic the way you do... We only meant to see who had our pack member, we didn't go to fight, so we weren't prepared to fight." she tried to sound reasonable. she hoped she did anyway.

[Zander Smith]

Zander shook his head and turned to face her. "No, it's OK. I'll admit, I was a little... surprised... by the way you attacked that boy back there, but... well, you have to use what you've got. I can do magic, but the fact is, not all of us can. And I know I rely on it too much sometimes..."

He sighed and began rubbing at his head. "I brought Chloe and Dean with me because they both could do magic. But I should have brought David instead of Dean, I see that now. Dean wasn't ready for this, and you're right... he should have stayed with you to observe and learn."

He stood up and began to pace again. "The thing is, I think we all are going to need training. Everyone should be able to fight, if the need arises, and we all need to learn how to trust our instincts. Every one of us needs to be ready to fight, using whatever methods we have."

[Pearl Nacreous]

Pearl nodded. "Yes, we agree on that then." she smiled and stood up and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. "We defeated Greyback remember? We can pull together again and get rid of this woman's pack." she nuzzled his neck, finding comfort in his arms.

[Zander Smith]

Zander relaxed in her embrace. "I wish there was a way to train the rest of you in using magic, but I don't even know if some of you ever had magical powers. You were taken too young for anything to develop. So we'll all just have to learn to work with what we have. Maybe we can set it up so we work in pairs, one person with magic and one without. You'd be with me, Chloe with Karl, David with Skye... That way we'd learn to work together using all skills. You and Karl and Skye have been werewolves far longer than the rest of us... you can teach us how to use our instincts..."

He sighed. "I really wish it hadn't come to this. But there's no way around it now... Gretchen has seen us, and knows of our defeat... she's going to push even harder now, I'm sure of it."

[Pearl Nacreous]

"What if she doesn't see it as defeat, and more of a child batting a next of wasps? isn't that at least more positive than defeat?" she asked still holding him. She had liked to think of their pack as established and in no great need of proving themselves, but it seems the fates had other plans.

[Zander Smith]

Zander leaned his head against her shoulder. "I hope that's closer to what she thinks," he said. "I tried to make it sound that way, anyway. But even still, I think we most likely made her even more angry with us than she was before. I just hope she's not angry enough to go back on her promise not to hurt Ashura. I think she knows that there's no way we're going to hurt Dawn, so we don't really have any edge over her right now." He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. "Our pack is strong, but I can't help but worry if we're strong enough. In wolf form, we can probably put up a good fight, but what if they attack as humans? Skye can't fight, and I won't have Kris and Remus put in harm's way."

[Pearl Nacreous]

"I don't think so...That woman that trying tempting your pup is a weak link, She's an upstart, It pours off of her. As wolves, we do tend to be more attentive to our leaders." she said trying to sooth her agitated alpha.

[Zander Smith]

Zander sighed and kissed her lips gently. "You're probably right," he agreed. "You're usually right about everything." Leaning his face into her fiery red hair, he breathed in her scent deeply. He could feel the strength and serenity she exuded filling his own lungs.

"You scared me back there," he admitted quietly. "I've never seen you like that... so fierce. I mean, it's a good thing, because if we ever end up in that situation again, you'll be able to fight back, but... well, it took my be surprise, is all. If he'd been seriously hurt, we could have had a real problem on our hands."