Sam:

The screen door shuts noisily and I pay it little heed as I watch Terry learning to write his name. There is an intense look of concentration on his face, the tip of his tongue poking out from the right-hand corner of his mouth as he slowly draws the letters. Footsteps make their way to the lounge room doorway and stop as I lift my head and glance that way. Malcolm is standing in the doorway, his left hand braced on the frame as he looks around the room.

"Sam, that tom who used to work for Alan Cummings wants to talk to you," Malcolm says with a trace of annoyance. "He won't talk to Mitchell about whatever he has on his mind,says it has to be you."

I glance around to see whom I can get to take over with Terry. Lilly comes in from the kitchen with Wynn on one hip and I give her a silent nod, it annoys me that Lilly who is the only human here actually has more to do with my nephews than anyone other than Micah and myself.

"I'll be back in a little while guys," I say to Terry and Dacey who are seated at their small table in the lounge room. Paper and pencils litter the top of the table and two little heads – one dark, one fair – nod without looking up from the paper in front of them. I get up out of the chair I was using and head outside behind Malcolm only pausing long enough to pull on a pair of work boots.

Outside we head for the brick shed that has been converted into a kind of business office. There are two doors on the front of the shed, one opens into an office complete with a work desk, filing cabinets and chairs. The other door opens into a large open room where things can be stored or hung on the wall as needed, a second smaller room opens off the back of this room. It is divided in half by steel bars forming a cage against the back of the room.

I follow Malcolm into the large, open plan room and glance around at those who are gathered here. Micah and Steven are standing just inside the doorway and Mitchell a few steps further in. My gaze quickly moves to the other figure in the room and I feel my top lip curl with disgust.

"Andrew Dorrington," I sneer. "The coward who left his boss's sons to be murdered." The guy has the audacity to look ashamed as he meets my eyes.

"Sam, you're the older brother right," Dorrington says and his eyes flick away from mine. "I came to talk to you about your sister Rosy, she ..."

"You don't get to talk to her so that you can crawl begging to see those boys," I hiss angrily.

Surely this guy has heard the news that Rosy has vanished, she had disappeared 5 months, 1 week and 3 days ago! Even an outcast must have heard rumours. Micah and I had spent most of that first month out searching for her, Micah relentlessly combing a small area he believed she had been in. Even now Micah would suddenly vanish only to come home five, six, even seven days later exhausted and worn out both mentally and emotionally from searching without rest.

"I know that," Dorrington says very quietly. "Fact is ... I came to let you know ..." His voice trails off and he stares at the wall beside the door avoiding meeting anyone's eyes.

"Get on ..." Steven snarls and Dorrington looks his way, it is nearly a minute before he resumes talking.

"Some months back I was up on that edge of No-Mans-Land near the Border Rail tracks and Running Creek road. It was the night of the full moon and I came across this guy checking the edge of the narrow road. He was sure he'd hit someone's Angus yearling, I wanted a lift so I helped him look. He didn't want to leave the beast suffer if it was still alive. We didn't find anything but I went ba... I went back the next day ... I'd caught her scent the night before ..."

I hear Micah growl as Dorrington's voice breaks and he stops to swallow. I know the area he is talking about, it's part of the area Micah concentrated on.

"I found her ... her body the next day. Cold, motionless, she'd been a cat and the guy had been driving a small cattle truck ..."

"No!" The word is torn from Mitchell in a pained scream and I can hear a low moan coming from Micah while Steven hisses in pain. My own chest feels tight, my throat thick and blocked as my mouth opens and closes wordlessly.

"You will take us to her body," Malcolm grits tightly and I glance his way wondering how he can sound so normal until I see the tears streaming down his face.

"The ground was all rocky. I couldn't ... I put her in a deadfall and cremated her, I couldn't ..." Dorrington stumbles over his words.

"She was one of ours!" Malcolm snarls as the horror strikes me.

I will never get to say goodbye to my sister...

Micah stumbles past me, his face a raw mask of pain. Steven is glancing between Mitchell our Alpha, and Dorrington who has brought us this chilling news. I myself want to yell, want to scream, want to curse and deny this pain that is burning inside of me.

Steven stumbles past following Micah and I feel the sudden need to get out of here, away from Dorrington and the news he carried. There is a shrill whistle outside, Steven has signalled for warriors to come immediately. I glance at my brother and see him shaking uncontrollably, both hands tunnelled into his hair and pulling at it as if to negate the pain. I glance at Malcolm. He glances my way as if he feels my look before he turns his attention back to Dorrington.

"Why didn't you contact us? Why did you wait all this time?" I demand with cold fury.

"She was gone ... " Dorrington's voice trails off sadly and he sighs deeply. "All that was left was an empty shell,"

"She was our sister! She was never just an empty shell!" Mitchell yells and whirls away to punch the wall. I watch my brother pound the wall in a fury of pain and long to join him but my hurt is too deep, instead it burns like acid in the pit of my stomach making me feel as if I am going to vomit.

"I kept these, I thought someone might like them," Dorrington says in a quiet strained voice.

I glance at him and feel my stomach churn, in the palm of the hand he is holding out is a necklace and a ring. The necklace is extra long and the word "family" formed in delicate filigree work of vines and roses. It is the gift both Mitchell and I had picked out for Rosy individually. Both of us had turned up at the jewellers on the same day to buy it so we had both given it to her as a combined present on her birthday. It had been the only birthday we had gotten the chance to celebrate with her. The ring I recognised as well, it was the plain band Micah had placed on her finger at their wedding. Later Micah had it inscribed 'Two lives – One Heartbeat' at Rosy's insistence. I know they are tokens she would have wanted to take with her to her grave and this bastard had robbed her of that!

"You robbed her dead body!" Malcolm accuses with a roar. We all knew part of the reason Mitchell and I had picked the necklace was that the length allowed Rosy to wear it in both human and cat forms. She could even change shapes while wearing it, often threading her wedding ring onto the strong chain so she had it with her in both forms.

"No I found it near her body," Dorrington denies as he shakes his head.

"You should have let us know straight away!" I growl hoarsely. Outside I can hear Micah has given in to his heartache, loud broken sounding sobs that can be heard inside. I glance towards the doorway, I long to be able to give in to my own sorrow but not at the moment. I want to know the exact location of my sister's ashes. I try to speak but my chest is impossibly tight and it is all I can do to breath in hitching gasps.

"You can spend a few hours in the cage here," Malcolm announces tightly.

"What the hell for!" Dorrington exclaims startled. "All I am doing is coming here, out of my way may I add, to let you lot know she is gone!" There is a worried tone to his voice now and he takes several shuffling steps towards the doorway but Malcolm moves to block his way.

"You are going to take us to her ashes," Malcolm growls deep in his throat.

"I'd never be able to find the spot again," Dorrington shouts. "There's been burn offs all through the area, several heavy rain falls as well as seasonal falls. All traces of her are gone!"

The pain caused by his words has me turning away and I stumble outside as the contents of my stomach threaten to come back up.

Malcolm:

I watch the flicker in Dorrington's eyes as he watches Sam stumble past me, his eyes flick to my face before he looks away. He runs a shaky hand through his hair and hunches his shoulders slightly. I am loath to take my eyes off him as a feeling of unease prickles up my spine. I go to turn away and almost miss the sly glance Dorrington slants towards the doorway, I feel my cat push to the front of my mind in rage as I see his pleasure at the pain he has caused.

I am on him in an instant, I grab two hands full of his shirt as I slam him back against the wall. His wide startled eyes look into mine for a moment and I see the insanity burning deep within.

"They all caused her so much grief, do you think I would tell them were she was?" Dorrington hisses under his breath. His eyes once again stray towards the doorway and I see his pleasure at their pain.

"You will tell her family where her ashes are," I growl tightly as I twist my fists in the material making him gasp for breath.

"If she wanted to be with them why did she run away?" Dorrington grunts breathlessly.

I don't have the answer to why Rosy left that day, I don't know what was going through her mind for her to make the decision to go alone. I loosen my grip on his shirt and hesitate for a moment before stepping back from him, I want to pound my fists into his face until he tells me where her final resting place is. A low moan of pain escapes me and I shut my eyes tightly even though I know it is not a smart move.

"I found her before she was hit by the truck and let me tell you, she was so hot for some action..." Dorrington taunts and chuckles. It only takes me a split second for what he means to hit me and then I am on him in a fury. I feel skin split beneath my fists, bones crack beneath skin and flesh as I release my fury on him.

How dare he gloat about abusing her!

I become aware of hands grabbing at me, bodies getting between us as Dorrington lays crumpled on the floor unconcious. I am dragged outside the building and the haze of rage clears as Sam gets in my face. I can smell his grief and anger as he glares into my eyes, his breath hot as he puffs in my face.

"How the hell are we going to find my sister's last resting place now!" Sam demands in a pain laced voice.

Slowly my mind is becoming rational once again and I realise that I can't do it, after all the pain and grief everyone in the clan has gone through I can't reveal what Dorrington taunted me with. I look away from Sam's pain filled face and shake my head wordlessly. To even insinuate a male werecat may have abused Rosy in that way would only be rubbing salt into a raw gaping wound that reached to the very bone.

Suddenly I am slammed against the wall of the building as Mitchell moves to stand in front of me, he glares into my face. I drop my gaze as I turn my head away in submission to my Alpha. A hard blow to the side of the head has me staggering on my feet and I stumble away.

"You fucking mongrel Cunt!" Mitchell roars at me. "Get out of my sight!"

I stumble away from everyone and head back towards the quarters, I don't turn my head as Jazzy stops me with a light hand on my arm just below my elbow. I can feel her fingernails dig in as she tightens her grip when I refuse to lift my blurred gaze from the ground.

"What's going on?" Jazzy asks.

I catch sight of her other hand fluttering in the air before her for a moment, I know it will come to rest on the swell of her advancing pregnancy. Suddenly I can't bear to be near her, as much as I love and desire Jazzy the need to be able to see Rosy one last time is greater. I pull away and somehow manage to walk to the quarters. I don't look at Lilly and Rosy's boys as I stumble through the room on my way to the kitchen. It runs through my mind that those three boys will never see their mother again, they will not grow up knowing the remarkable person she is ...was. I don't really see the contents of the cupboard as I open it and blindly reach for a bottle of whisky. The liquor burns as I drink it straight from the bottle, I gasp and cough before lifting the bottle to my lips for another drink.

"The bastard won't tell us where she is," I mumble under my breath and take another deep drink as tears from the burn of the alcohol run from my eyes.

Lilly:

I turn my head and listen to the distant but audible sudden rise of voices, I glance back at the three boys who are curled up asleep on a mattress after their lunch before heading outside to see what is going on. Everyone seems to be gathered around the shed they use as a gym arguing and I walk up to them unobserved. I manage to catch the low sounds as several of them growl deep in their throats. Most of them only wear shorts and the sheen of sweat across their shoulders and chest from making use of the gym.

As I glance around I notice that most of them have red-rimmed eyes and I can only wonder at the cause. Mitchell is holding Jazzy who has both arms wrapped around him and I can hear the faint sound of her crying. Micah is sitting inside the gym on a low bench, four empty bourbon bottles at his feet and a fifth one in his hand already nearly empty. His face is a mask of helplessness and defeat, his entire body trembling as he wipes the back of a hand across both eyes.

"What's happened?" I ask. "What's wrong?"

Most of them look at me before looking away uneasily. It's Dwayne who finally walks over to me, he takes hold of both of my hands and looks into my eyes silently for a few moments. He opens his mouth then closes it without saying a word, he closes his eyes as he bows his head for a few moments before lifting his chin once again. When he opens his eyes again they are swimming in tears.

"There's a tom ..." Dwayne sucks in a deep breath. "Rosy's dead he found her body he cremated her he won't he can't show us where ..."

The words rush from him and he sucks in a deep breath as if he is having trouble breathing. The words echo around in my head and at first they don't make sense, my chest gets tight and a ringing starts in my ears. It hurts to breathe, I can't bring myself to believe what I heard but suddenly it makes sense. Rosy would never be away from her boys or Micah this long, not if she could help it, not if she had a breath left in her body. Not if her heart was beating. I go to speak but all that emerges is a strangled sob. I jerk my hands out of Dwaynes grip and try to speak but this time a scream escapes and I clap both hands over my mouth. I scream into my hands until strong hands grasp my upper arms and I am given a sharp shake. I open my eyes as I gasp and find myself looking into Malcolms bloodshot eyes.

"She's gone, our Stray is gone," Malcolm says in a painfilled voice. His lips tremble and he rests his forehead against mine.

"If I had the chance to choose, she would have been the sister I had. Not Lotty but the Stray," Malcolm says in a broken voice.

"THAT ... IS ... IT!"

I am jerked from Malcolms arms or is he jerked away from me? I'm not sure I only know I end up stumbling backwards until I end up tripping to fall in a heap on the ground. I look up in time to see Malcolm push Mitchell backwards as he snarls something at him in a low voice. A hand grasps me under the arm and I am pulled to my feet quickly, I glance back at Mitchell and Malcolm to see everyone moving well back as Mitchell unfastens his jeans and pushes them from his hips.

I have seen everyone here change forms but never have I felt the hostility that sizzles in the air. I watch stunned as both change with stunning speed, but it is Mitchell who completes his change first and leaps at Malcolm who is still in the final stages of his change. Yowls and roars fill the air as both big black cats bite and claw at each other. I am pulled well back from the action and turn my head as Micah stumbles to the doorway beside me.

"Separate 'em! Separate em before one of em kills the other!" Micah yells slurring his words slightly.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Jazzy is screaming as Timny and Donny hold her back away from the fighting cats.

The two tom cats roll over and over as they sink claws in deeply and angle for bites. A couple of the men try to force a piece of thick ply wood between the two antagonists but one of the cats send it flying with a swat of a huge forepaw. I can only watch helplessly as other attempts are made to stop the fight but there was little success. The concrete was becoming covered in blood splatter and tufts of black fur. It crossed my mind how they would be thankful for the high pressure cleaner to wash the blood off the concrete and building wall.

"The hose! The hose!" I scream as I struggle from Dwayne's arms and stumble against the wall as I rushed to get past where the two cats fought dangerously close to me. My hands were shaking as I grasped the hose, suddenly there where large hands pushing mine aside as Justine grabbed the hose and Dwayne turned the tap on. Someone turned the pressure cleaner on and a strong stream of water was directed at the two cats. The fight stopped for a moment before one of them sprang at the other once again.

As I stand and watch the cats fighting it strikes me this is the last thing Tawny would have wanted, her brother and her friend fighting, seemingly bent on killing each other. It's too much and I look away with a sob. Anger fills me at the unjustness of it all. My hand closes around the handle of the straw broom and I don't hesitate as I pick it up and step towards the two cats. I only know Tawny would have done whatever necessary to stop the fight.

The first swing of the broom catches one of them behind the ear, the next swing hits one square in the face. I scream in anger at the unfairness of it all as I swing the broom again and again and again.

"SHE WOULDN'T HAVE WANTED THIS! SHE WOULDN'T HAVE WANTED THIS! SHE WOULDN'T HAVE WANTED THIS!" I scream it over and over again as I take my rage and pain out on the two cats. I am shaking with exhaustion, tears and water from the hose clouding my vision when I finally drop the broom and step back. I can hear myself sobbing for breath as I look down at my hands shocked by my own behaviour. I become aware of the two cats being kept away from each other, both bloody and torn. I meet Sam's gaze as he stands glancing between Mitchell, Malcolm and myself.

"She wouldn't have wanted this," I say hoarsely. "Your sister loved all you guys, this would have torn her up."

"We can't bring her home, we don't have her ashes," Chris says as he squats beside Mitchell now both Mitchell and Malcolm are back in human form. "But we can honour her memory,"