When you read the first paragraph of this chapter, please take note that Chandria and Gildren are still technically mates; Gildren didn't inflict Charlotte yet.

'Oh, Gildren; oh, you, naughty, naughty man!' Chandria likes it when I flirt with her, when I assert my power as the Alpha male. 'I didn't think you'd want to make love right now, darling.' I shrug. 'It's not that I want to make love, Chandria; I just wanted to see how you'd react if I did this.'

I place my hand in the air and spank her bum playfully; she responds by... sniffing the air? This is a cause for worry in me.  'Chandria; what's wrong, my love? Are you hurt?'

She shakes her head, her beautiful brown ringlets swaying this way and that. 'No, love; I'm fine... I just smelled danger. Go get the cubs into their beds, and I'll meet with you shortly.' 

She pecks my cheek before pushing me backwards. Tobias looks up from his sketchbook and asks 'Daddy, what's going on; why's Ma look scared?' I scoop him up in my arms and whisper in his ear 'Ma's scared because your brother could very well be in danger.'  

'No, Gildren; I'm scared because... Chas spoke to me... through thought...'  

'What did he say, love?'  

'He said... he said he had a Vision; that we weren't safe here. He told me to come to Berlin, and bring the others.' I scrunch my nose. 'We'll be even less safe in Berlin, love; Strikers frequent a bar there, I hear.'  

'He said he knows a place where we'll be safe, darling-'  

'You'd trust him to keep us safe after abandoning us, love?'  

'He's my baby, Gildren... Remember what you used to say: Family is family, no matter what?' I shake my head. Hadn't I ruled out that belief a few hundred years ago? But, ah, what the hell; what could be the harm in trusting my eldest child with our safety?  

An hour later, we are standing in the middle of Alexanderplatz, a famous square in Berlin. A young man wearing a black hooded cloak is standing about three meters away; he's just standing there, not doing anything. We walk up to him and he turns around slightly, whispering 'Follow me, the six of you.'

We follow the young man and he knocks on a brick wall, which opens as soon as he raises his fist from the concrete space. 'I'll be back; he whispers, and as he rounds the corner of the open space, which closes as soon as he enters; more whispering ensues, this time with the added voice of a girl.

'Who was that, sweetheart?' He answers 'No one; just some people who, uh, need shelter...' I can hear the wet sounds of lip touching lip, and assume the boy and the girl are kissing. 'You said we had guests, sweetheart?' the girl coos.  

'Yes, my dear; we do.' He knocks and the wall opens again. Of course, his hood is up, so his identity remains a mystery. Then Tobias pulls on my shirt-sleeve and whispers 'Look at his wrist, Dad...' When I look at the wrong wrist, Tobias turns my head so it is adjacent to the left wrist, which bears the Greek letter Alpha. 'Chas... why didn't you tell is it was you?' 

Chas pulls down his hood and replies 'I was going to, as soon as we were safe behind this wall. Behind it, there is a tunnel that leads to an underground refuge that I built... with some help, of course.' Tobias asks 'So now what; you're an abolitionist?'

Summer looks up at me with a face that pleads to know the meaning of the word. Then she vocalizes her query and asks 'What's an abol...lition...dist, Daddy?' I sigh and reply 'An abolitionist is someone who wants something... removed, for lack of a better word. for example, some people feel that slavery needs to be dealt with and... abolished.' 

Summer nods, taking in every word of my teaching. Sage rests her head on Asher's shoulder, who mutters 'You tired, Sage? Here, I'll help you to your bedroom.' Then he stops and gasps 'Oh, that's right... We don't have bedrooms assigned yet...'

All of a sudden, a man walks up to me and says 'Gildren Longclaw; I haven't seen you in years! When was the last time you bothered to visit your grandparents, hmmm?' I cannot help but feel sorry that I haven't seen my grandparents in a few hundred years.

Grandfather Theron is a great leader in my world. To some, he's known as the Greater Wolf or Great Alpha. To others, he is a traitor, though no one knows why. He has his own way of doing things, as well. For example, when Grandmother Skye wants to stay home on a cold night, Grandfather will go out, with or without her.

His vision of the world is, you're either in, or you're out,  which is why many wolves will oftentimes follow him. 'Who is that; Skye, do you know him? You must, if you'd told me he visited.' Knowing her husband to be an impatient man, Grandmother swallows hard and replies 'Yes, darling; he's the eldest of our great-grandchildren.'

'By Gildren? I know for a fact that both we and our children had more than one cub.' Grandmother runs a frightened and shaky hand through her hair and replies, her voice equally as tremorous. 'Yes, darling.'