"Damn, that stung, even I felt it!"

  Tracer looked back at where Sean had collapsed to the floor, and now a large lion was standing there on all fours, shaking his head.

  "Shoot the doorknob," the First growled to Tracer as he took over from Sean, who was still quite befuddled, mentally.

  Tracer didn't have to be told twice; he put three rounds through the doorknob, then watched as the lion head-butted the door hard enough to smash it to pieces.

  "Let's go!" the First said with a growl and leapt into the room, as Tracer and his squad members followed.

  The room they had entered was the main office for the council; it contained all the controls for the magical defenses, and was where all fighting was coordinated from. Currently it had a dozen men inside, many of whom Tracer recognized as council members. All of whom were pointing either their fingers or wands at the huge fucking lion bounding around the room like a demented superball, bouncing off the walls and plowing through chairs, tables, and desks. The First took them out one by one, knocking them around and bouncing them off the walls like empty soda bottles.

  The First grunted as he slapped another mage with one of his big paws, making sure to keep his claws retracted as he sent the man flying across the room. Next he swatted a chair, sending it flying at a different mage on the other side of the room, causing him to duck as the chair shattered against the wall.

  Sean might not be helping, his own lion was still dazed, but the defense network was up and working like a charm. Not that many of the spells being cast at him were hitting. He was moving too fast, too erratically, and knocking too much shit over and sending it flying at them. By the time Tracer followed him into the room with his squad, half the magic users were already stunned or unconscious.

  The First almost laughed as one of the magic users still on his feet started to shout trigger words for the squad's pellets, then looked perplexed as he got butt-stroked in the face by Tracer himself.

  "We don't work for you anymore!" Tracer yelled. "Now surrender before you all get hurt!"

  They didn't surrender, of course, not that it mattered, because the last of them got hit by a table he couldn't dodge and crumpled to the floor, crying in pain with a broken leg.

  "Secure them and let me know if any are in danger of dying so I can heal them," the First told the others, hoping no one did need any healing, since Sean was still gathering his wits. Whatever the spell was that had hit him was taking time to wear off.

  "Yes, Sean," Tracer said.

  "And do any of you know how to turn off that alarm?"

  Daelyn and the others jumped out of the van as soon as it stopped, and grabbing their gear, they ran to the back of the barracks-like building that housed most of the magic users who lived in the compound. Mostly young men who were still single, and a couple of the older magic users assigned to supervise the younger men.

  Daelyn immediately set to work on one of the main doors with another dwarf. First they dropped the boards they were carrying to the ground and, ripping open several tubes of a fast-acting epoxy, they covered one side liberally, then slapping the boards against the door, Daelyn pulled the battery-powered drill off her tool belt and quickly screwed the boards to the frame of the doorway.

  Next they each took several large teargas grenades and epoxied them to the door and the doorframe, setting trip wires on all of them.

  "Whoever breaks these down is in for a surprise!" The dwarf helping Daelyn laughed.

  "Come on," Daelyn said and led the way back to the van at a trot, "we still have to breach the wall."

  "Why not just go out through the main gate?"

  "It's always good to have alternatives; plus, fixing this won't be cheap!" Daelyn said with a grin.

  Just then an alarm went off in the main building on the other side of the compound.

  "Damn!" Daelyn swore. "So much for the element of surprise."

  "Oh, I think we still got a lot of surprises left." The other dwarf laughed and, pulling a smoke grenade off his belt, he tossed it back behind them.

  Daelyn added one of her own to the mix. They got the breaching charges out of the back of the van and split up into three teams; two teams ran for different spots along the wall, while the third threw smoke grenades all over the area to obscure what they were up to.

  Peg was going through Tobias' pockets when the alarm went off. She'd already stripped him of all of his rings, necklaces, bracelets, and anything else of magical value she could find.

  Looking around, there was only Chad, two of his men, and her standing by the van.

  "I think we're going to be getting company soon," Chad told her. "The others are almost loaded up and are about to leave."

  Peg looked at Tobias, then looked back at Chad and smiled.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" Chad asked, a little concerned. While he whole-heartedly approved of the streak of larceny that obviously ran through Peg's soul, that was only as long as it wasn't focused on him.

  "You know, you'd make a great Tobias right about now."

  Chad looked at the magic user they now had hog-tied in the back of the van, who was slowly starting to come around, then looked back at Peg and smiled.

  "I think you just might be on to something there, Peg!"

  "Hold still a moment," Peg said and quickly ran through the spell, finishing up just as a couple of magic users came running out of the main building. Spying them, they turned and ran over to them.

  "Tobias!" one of them yelled. "We're under attack!"

  "I can see that!" Chad said to them, walking away from the back of the van as Peg quickly closed the doors. "Go to the armory! I'll be there in a minute, but we can't let them cut us off from our weapons! Understood?"

  "What about the main building?" the man yelled, pointing back at it.

  "I will deal with that, personally." Chad turned to Peg, who was still wearing her illusionary disguise. "You're with me," he said, then he turned back to the other magic user. "Why are you still here? I gave you your orders! Now, go!"

  Two of them took off immediately; the other hesitated a moment then, swearing, followed.

  "Isn't there a team of dwarves over at the armory?" Peg asked Chad.

  "Yep. And they're absolutely littering the ground with all sorts of nasty surprises!"

  Just then two loud explosions went off, and a large cloud of smoke started to drift over from the east side.

  "Guess Daelyn just blew the walls. Walker, what's the status on the kennels?" Chad asked one of his men.

  "They're moving out now, Chad. Everyone is pulling out."

  "Tell Sean it's time to go."

  "What do we do with Tobias?" Peg asked.

  "Eh, dump him by the gate on the way out."

  "Shouldn't we strip him naked first?"

  "I think the man has suffered enough embarrassment for one day," Chad said as the front doors of the main building opened again; this time a lion came padding out, followed by Tracer and his squad of werewolves.

  "Right, new plan, kick him out the back, Sean's gonna be taking up too much room now. Pop smoke, boys!" Chad said, then raised his voice, "Pick it up, Sean, we gotta go!"

  Chad noticed Tobias wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing when Peg dumped his unconscious body on the ground. Obviously she hadn't thought he'd suffered enough.

  Once they got back in the van, Peg dropped both hers and Chad's illusions as they turned the van around and headed for the exit.

  "What's going on?" Peg whispered to Sean, having made sure to sit next to him.

  "Tell Jo I need to see her," the First whispered back.

  "Why?"

  "Sean's a bit messed up; he triggered some sort of mind trap back in the building. So I took over until it wears off."

  Peg nodded. "Once we get back, I'll let her know."

  After Action

  "So what's next?" Chad asked as they met in the council room for the Sacramento Sapientia branch. Chad was wondering why Sean was still in his lion form but knew better than to ask about it in front of outsiders. Roxy and Jolene were sitting to either side of him, and the rest of the girls were sitting behind him.

  "Well, we need to build a proper pack down here in the central valley," the First said, looking around the table. This wasn't really a new discussion; he and Sean had been talking about what they were going to do with all the lycans they were going to free.

  "There is a small pack to the north of here, but other than your pack, Chad, there's not much here. If we're going to make sure Walter and the local Sapientia and Eruditio councils have someone to call on when they need help, we'll need to build something."

  Walter Clark nodded in agreement. "I hate to say it, but if you don't set up someone here to police things, they'll start backsliding fairly quickly. The Ascendants have started to replace those they've lost, though so far it seems to only be a few of their 'domestics'. However, I daresay they'll start replacing their troops soon enough. Same for the Vestibulum."

  The First ducked his head in agreement. "We'll need to buy a place down here, something easily defensible, and far enough away from the others that if they try anything, we'll see them coming."

  "That all sounds well and good," Chad agreed, "but who will be in charge of it?"

  The First smiled and turned to look at Art, who had agreed to advise them, due to his extensive knowledge of the area.

  "Oh, it would have to be someone clever enough, and sneaky enough, to pull the wool over the eyes of several powerful and important local magic users. Wouldn't you all agree?"

  Roxy and Jolene snickered, as many of the others at the table turned to look at Art, who was doing his best to portray the total picture of innocence.

  "I have no idea at all what any of you are implying," Art said. "Besides, I don't want the job."

  "Then it's a good thing I'm not asking for volunteers, isn't it?" the First said with a smile. "Start thinking about what you need, Art. You'll be taking all of the people you brought up to Reno, along with many of the ones we've freed tonight, once they've had a chance to get used to their new status. I'm sure Claudia and Chad will be more than happy to advise you and give you any help you need."

  "Because Sean'll smack us upside the head if we don't," Chad said with a smirk.

  "Yes," the First nodded, "very much that."

  Art just scowled at them. "And what about my girlfriend? Do you think she wants to move back here and live near her ex?"

  "I'd think that would just give you even more incentive not to screw up."

  "That's easy for you to say!" Art retorted hotly. "After all we've been through, the last thing I want, now of all times, is to put her in harm's way!"

  "Art?" the First said, locking eyes with Art and staring at him.

  "What?"

  "Calm down. I will deal with it, personally, if it becomes a problem. Okay?"

  Art sighed and nodded. He didn't like backing down on anything, to anyone, but when Sean was like this, it gave him a weird feeling all the way down to his soul. It was like he was talking to a god, not some twenty-one-year-old kid who'd only been a lycan for a few months now.

  And you don't argue with a god. Especially not when he's one of your own.

  The First smiled at him. "Thank you."

  Art smiled back and kept his mouth closed.

  "So what are you doing to do about Gradatim?" Walter asked.

  "That's a discussion I need to have with my general and other advisors," the First said. "For now, we're going to take everyone and go home. I've talked with Chad, and we will leave you a couple of our teams, until we've dealt with Gradatim, so they don't get any ideas."

  "Why thank you, Sean. That was most considerate."

  The First ducked his head again. "I've said it before. We don't want a war, not with us, and not even among the magic users. It would draw too much attention." The First looked around the room. "If there is nothing else?"

  Everyone shook their head.

  "Fine. Chad, Art, get everyone rounded up and headed for home. Girls, let's go, I'm tired."

  Standing up, the First padded out of the room with Roxy, Jolene, and the rest in tow, heading directly for their van.

  "Okay, what's up?" Jolene asked as soon as they'd gotten the engine started and Daelyn put the van in gear.

  "Sean touched a door that had a pretty nasty magical trap on it." the First sighed and lay down on the floor by Jolene's feet in the back of the van. "It scrambled him pretty good. He's still in a complete daze."

  "So you took over from him?" Roxy asked.

  The First gave a small nod of his head. "It wouldn't have looked good if I hadn't, and it would have left us with no one in charge, which could have led to worse troubles."

  Roxy nodded, conceding the point.

  "Well, let me have a look and see what I can do," Jolene said and, straddling the First's back, she put her hands on either side of his head. Sinking down into his consciousness, Jolene could feel the First, the old lion spirit Sean often shared his head with. She'd touched minds with him before, if only lightly, because these days when she touched minds with Sean, he was there in the background.

  This was the first time she'd ever touched him directly, because Sean was very much in the background.

  'How is he?' the First said to her, surprising her, as it was rare for people to be able to talk to her mentally when she was doing this.

  "He's in shock," Jolene said out loud. "A good night's sleep, and he'll be back to normal."

  "Damn, a whole night?" Daelyn bitched from the driver's seat.

  "Oh, I'm sure I can fill in for him while he's recovering." The First chuckled.

  "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't ya?" Daelyn teased.

  "Well, yeah, who wouldn't?"

  "Not us!" Roxy laughed.

  On The Home Front

  Yawning, Sean walked into the dining room. Roberta, Daelyn, and Peg were already sitting at the table as he took a seat.

  "How're ya feeling?" Daelyn asked, getting up from her seat.

  "Better," Sean said, "at least mentally. Physically, for some reason, I'm still pretty tired," Sean said. "You three wouldn't know anything about that, now, would you?"

  All three of them blushed, and Sean laughed at them.

  "For all that I may have been 'out of it' last night, I was still there."

  "Just how does that work?" Roberta asked as Daelyn went into the kitchen.

  "It's my mind actually, so everything he does when he's in control, I still experience."

  "Sounds freaky."

  Sean shrugged and smiled as Daelyn quickly came back and put a couple of plates of food in front of him. "Neither one of us can change it, so there's no point in getting upset about it. Besides," Sean smiled at the three of them, "I didn't hear any complaints last night!"

  Sean snickered as the three of them looked embarrassed once again.

  "Honestly though, he's really like a part of me now. We share almost everything, and I'm happy he's there. I don't know if I could have done any of this without him. He's saved my ass more than once already."

  'Why, thank you, Son,' the First said in his head.

  'Oh don't worry; next time around I'm going to see if I can get all the lions to put me in your head!' Sean teased.

  Roxy showed up then, looking a little queasy.

  "You okay, Hon?" Sean asked, getting up and going over to her.

  "Morning sickness," Roxy sighed. "I just need something to settle my stomach."

  "Are Cali and Jo still in the bathroom?" Roberta asked.

  Roxy nodded. "Cali doesn't have it that bad, but she's helping Jo, who seems to be having a bad case of it this morning."

  "Think a healing spell would help?" Sean asked Roberta, who shook her head no.

  "It's just part of the process, there's nothing really to heal."

  "How come you didn't get it?" Roxy asked as Sean steered her over to a seat at the table. She went to the kitchen to fetch her a cup of the tea Sean's mother had started making last week, when Roxy had started showing signs of morning sickness.

  Roberta shrugged. "Just lucky, I guess. I didn't get it with Sarah, either. But if you look in the freezer, you'll see there's eight gallons of vanilla ice cream, and about a dozen large jars of pickles in the pantry!"

  "You don't eat those together, I hope!" Daelyn said with a snicker.

  "Not usually," Jolene grinned, "but don't let me run out of hot sauce!"

  Roxy took the cup of tea from Sean and smiled as he pushed his plate of scrambled eggs over to her and went back to the kitchen to grab some more food.

  "My mom told me she used to get terrible cravings for coyote when she was pregnant," Roxy said, shaking her head. "Dad said she put a serious dent in the local population."

  "Cooked or raw?" Peg asked.

  "Raw of course!" Roxy said and laughed, then added a muttered "oops" as Jolene, who had just entered the dinning room, turned around and ran back out of it.

  "I'll get it, Cali, you sit and eat," Peg said, jumping up and chasing after Jolene.

  Sean came in, steered Cali to a seat, and gave her a cup of tea.

  "How are you feeling, Cali?"

  Cali smiled up at him. "Can I have some bacon? Lots of it?"

  Sean laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "Sure, gimme a minute."

  "Who's got kitchen duty?" Roberta asked, looking back towards the kitchen.

  "The twins, Dania and Rania. Sean's mom is supervising them," Roxy said and took a sip of her tea. "Deidre, Cali, and I thought it would be best to keep them living and working in the main house. They're both only sixteen, and Deidre and Cali tell me that's pretty immature for an elf, so we all figured it would be better to keep an eye on 'em."

  "Worried they'll cause trouble?"

  "Yup!" Cali said with a nod, setting her tea down on the table. "Young dark elves can be terribly precocious, sexually, and neither of them are virgins."

  "And we have a surplus of males running around right now," Roxy said. "So until things settle down, we figured it would be better to keep an eye on 'em."

  "Yet ya still let them hang around Sean," Daelyn said with a grin.