*Media pic shows what the small basement suite cafeteria might look like.

The following morning the children were sober and subdued. It seemed a good night's rest had not softened their woes. They crowded around Penn every chance they got and touched her, hugged her and talked quietly with her as if she might be whisked away at any moment.

She said very little, as per usual, but she did not turn them away or tell them they were being silly and make light of their feelings. Instead, she smiled at them softly, returned their hugs, squeezed their hands and listened as they talked.

Breakfast was a very quiet affair. The children didn't seem to have much stomach for it. And, even Penn was not overly excited about a cooked meal. It felt so strange to hold a plate in her hand and to pick from such dishes as scrambled eggs, pancakes, porridge, toast, breakfast sausages, bacon and cooked ham.

These things were almost foreign to her now. She could not remember what they tasted like or if she liked their taste. In the end she had to settle on a small dish of cooked meats. At least meat was familiar – cooked or not. But, of course, the meats were too salty or too sugary for her sensitive pallet. She ended up pushing the dish away and concentrating on some fruit. Surely apples and oranges would be a safe bet.

The head cook came out, after 15 minutes and asked the pups, "Whatever is the matter? Don't you like the food?" She sounded surprised and a little distressed or perhaps annoyed might be a better description. The children kept their sad faces down and just mumbled that they weren't hungry.

"Not hungry? You lot?" she demanded half in jest and half in annoyance. The children only responded by putting down their forks and spoons and sniffling.

"There will be no crying at my tables, do you hear?" the woman said in a harsh and cold tone that did not set well with Penn at all. She had been sitting quietly at the far end of one of the long cafeteria tables and had gone unnoticed so far.

"I don't coddle babies," she continued. "I work hard to make you a decent meal and I expect you to eat it. Now, pick up your forks and dig in!" she commanded them. The youngest children, those 10 and under, began to cry openly now.

"If you are going to cry over nothing," she barked, "I'd be happy to give you something to cry about," she said with triumph. As if this threat should scare them straight into eating up.

Penn remembered that phrase 'I'll give you something to cry about' from her childhood. A series of forgotten and unwelcome images marched through her mind – a procession of humiliating moments where her feelings were belittled and her concerns tossed to the side for the sake of conformity. She'd never liked that stupid threat.

In fact, she'd down right resented who ever dared to speak to her in such an insensitive and demeaning manner. She hated it now and it wasn't even directed at her. Penn stood to her feet, her quiet action catching the attention of the cook, and she locked eyes on the woman.

The cook was surprised to see a strange woman among the children and a little alarmed that she had not noticed her until now. What was even more alarming was the truly frightening glare the strange woman now pinned her with.

Something wasn't right, the cook thought. Some instinct was telling her to be very wary of this woman. And then it hit her that she had not seen the children's 'guardian' that morning. Where was the black and grey wolf?

She dragged her eyes from the very intimidating woman at the end of the table, who had yet to speak to her, and looked around. There was no wolf to be seen anywhere. Something was indeed off, the cook thought, and she felt certain she needed to figure it out fast.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the most frigid and icy voice she'd ever heard saying, "I could give you something to cry about."

The cook's eyes shot back to the rather ordinary looking woman with the frightening glare. She had her hands on the table and was leaning over them slightly while looking directly at her. Her eyes, though blue, seemed to flash silver for a moment and that's when the cook's knees began to knock together.

She understood in an instant that this was the rogue - this ordinary looking woman with the stone-cold stare. By now, the cook had heard the stories of how the rogue had taken down the Second Beta with a single bite to the neck. She shivered from head to toe involuntarily and bent her heard to the floor as a sign of submission. She could not afford to piss this woman off.

Suddenly, whether the children ate or not didn't seem so important. She had done her job. She'd provided a wonderful variety of healthy and tasty choices. No one could fault her for that. If they didn't eat it, well, tough for them.

"No, no," the cook said in barely more than a whisper, "that wont be necessary. The children are free to eat as much or as little as they wish." And before the rogue could reach over the table and do her any harm the cook turned on her heel and almost ran back to the relative safety of the kitchen.

Penn sat down and swept her eyes carefully over the pups, who had stopped crying and had fallen silent during her exchange with the cook. She caught many of the children's eyes and grinned at them. They grinned back and suddenly the tension in the room dissipated.

"Come on children," Penn said with a light and gentle voice, "it is time to eat up."

Whatever had held them back 10 minutes ago had passed and they managed to finish off their plates and even find time to talk and smile and laugh with one another while they did it.

The cook and her staff of 3 watched from the kitchen. The staff all chastised the head cook for losing her temper with the kids and speaking to them in that matter. They were afraid of the rogue and even more so when they saw her in human form. It wasn't that she appeared threatening in any way. She was very average in most respects, though perhaps a little on the thin and sinewy side given her many years living in the wild.

No, it wasn't her appearance that made her frightening but her eyes and her voice when she spoke. The cook agreed. The rogue's eyes had a paralyzing affect. Cook said over and over to her staff that the moment they locked eyes she could not move a muscle. And, the rogue's voice froze the blood in her veins.

The staff all nodded their heads in agreement because the moment they heard the rogue speak, even though they could not hear what she said from the kitchen, they had felt the hairs stand up on the backs of their necks and on their arms. Her voice chilled them with a deep sense of foreboding that they had never encountered before. It was truly frightening. She was frightening.

And yet, all four watched as she smiled and interacted with the pups so easily and effortlessly. The pups were not afraid. They were not intimidated. Instead, they genuinely seemed to love her. This did not make any sense. The head cook and her staff talked about nothing else all day long and the story of the cook's encounter got larger and wilder and farther from the truth with each retelling. By mid-afternoon there were all kinds of strange and terrifying stories being told about the cook's run-in with the she-devil.

Alpha Troy had been informed of the incident and was certain that the truth of the story had probably been lost somewhere in all the re-telling. He did not dismiss everyone's concerns about having a rogue on pack land. He did however repeat over and over again that he would judge the situation for himself. And so, he put and end to speculations and the re-telling of an event only the cook, the rogue and the pups had been privy too.

He promised to get to the bottom of things that night and ensured everyone who called or visited his office that afternoon that the safety of the pack was his top priority.

So much of the story did not ring true. Had she really shown her teeth and claws? Had she really crawled over the table and threatened the cook within an inch of her life? He could not imagine it.

This was a woman who exercised incredible control in the most difficult of situations. He'd seen this with his own eyes when she killed his Second Beta, but did not go on a rampage then and there killing everyone who was a potential threat. No, she'd demonstrated power and control beyond what most wolves mastered in a lifetime at that precise moment when it mattered most. He was sure that something had occurred, but he was doubtful it was anything violent.

His First Beta, Lucas, walked into the office and interrupted his thoughts.

"Well, the whole village is stirred up now. I don't imagine she will be able to stay much longer," Lucas said with a discontented sigh. "I promised the pups she'd stay until they got settled in, but I wasn't thinking when I said it."

Lucas flopped himself down on a wide, plush leather chair in front of Troy's desk. "I just didn't think about the consequences." He groaned with frustration and looked over at his Alpha who was leaning back in his office chair and watching the man thoughtfully.

"I'm too impulsive Troy. I don't know why you made me First Beta."

"So, you don't think the story is true then? You aren't worried about the safety of the pups or the staff here?" Troy asked as he watched Lucas' face.

Lucas sat up straight and leaned forward. "No, not at all. I would never have invited her to stay if I had any reservations about her that day."

He stood up and paced back and forth in front of Troy's desk for a moment before adding, "In fact, I am quite certain that she would never lay a finger on anyone here for any reason except self-defence and to protect the pups."

"Then, the cook is at fault? Is that what you think?" Troy pushed, trying to see where Lucas' thoughts were going.

"Well, how do we know, without talking to them and finding out directly from them. So, no, I'm not accusing either of them of anything. I'm just saying that if something happened, it might be that the cook provoked Penn." He looked at his Alpha and saw the man had a curious look on his face. He was looking at him strangely.

"What is it? What did I say?" Lucas asked, suddenly feeling nervous but not sure why.

"You called her by her name," Troy replied. "Everyone else calls her 'the rogue'. It makes things  very impersonal."

"Perhaps that is half the problem," Lucas said with a nervous laugh and he sat back down. "No one knows her."

"It's hard to know her when she's always in wolf-form," Troy said as an after-thought.

"Well, that's all changed Troy. I heard today from my niece and nephew that she's promised the children she will remain in human form until she has to leave." Here he looked at his Alpha and grinned. "So, now is our chance to get to know her."

Troy smiled and then pushed his chair away from the desk and rose to his feet. "Lets have dinner with our guest and our new pack members, shall we?"

He recognized that Lucas was right. They needed to stop calling her the rogue and get to know her on a personal level. Then, they would be able to judge for themselves what sort of risk, if any, she posed to the pack.

"Call your mate and let her know she's invited to dine with her niece and nephew," Troy instructed Lucas.

Troy picked up the landline and punched in the extension for the kitchen. He knew the cook would be shocked and perhaps a bit terrified when she saw she was getting a call directly from his office. However, he wanted to personally inform her to expect three more for dinner.

He and Lucas waited 15 minutes for Jules to arrive at the office and then the three of them made their way downstairs to the basement suite. They came unannounced, as Alpha Troy had done just the night before. Only this time, he was bringing friends and they were coming before dinner and not afterwards. This would certainly create some anxiety for the children but he doubted the rogue ... Penn, he corrected himself, would be at all concerned. He couldn't say why but he just felt that she was the epitome of calm.

When they stepped through the doors they found the place empty. There wasn't a soul around. They walked down the hallway to the bedrooms and found them all empty. Then they walked to the kitchen, which caused a stir among the kitchen staff, but found no one. Finally, Alpha Troy pushed open the door to the side yard and as soon as he did his ears were assaulted with the sounds of children laughing, shouting and generally playing.

Silence fell the moment the pups realized the Alpha had returned. However, some of their anxiety abated when they saw the familiar face of Beta Lucas and his mate Jules, who'd come to greet them when they first crossed into Orthos territory and had been by several times in the past week to see the pups and talk with their niece and nephew.

Troy hung back a little and watched the happy reunion. He was not the only one to hang back. There, standing in a summer dress not fit for this cold afternoon and bare feet was a rather striking looking woman. It was Penn.

He remember her pale face, soft blue eyes and pitch-black hair from that first encounter in front of the pack house. He'd only seen her briefly and didn't remember that she was quite so striking. Perhaps it was the dress or the way the sun lit her face and illuminated her eyes right then that made her so captivating. He couldn't be sure, but he now saw she was beautiful. And when the breeze shifted he caught her scent – it was like the smell of snow in the air.

He took in a few deep breaths through his nostrils. It was an intoxicating scent, he thought while  a bit amused by how distracted he was. Then their eyes met and she dipped her chin ever so slightly to acknowledge him. He smiled kindly at her and returned the gesture. This woman was no threat. He knew it in his gut.

The children, Troy found, were much more at ease with him during this second encounter. They looked at him with curiosity this time around instead of keeping their eyes on the floor. They sometimes touched him as they walked past him or sat within arms length of him. And on occasion one or two of them would try and ask him something.

The youngest children still seemed to be the most reserved. They spent much of their time clinging to either Penn, he noticed, or to the girl Cassidy. Troy was not himself a very outgoing person unless pressed by necessity, like the night before when he came to visit the pups by himself. So, he sat back a lot and observed as his very charming and easy going First Beta made the children feel quite at home. Jules was also a very cheerful sort of person and the pups seemed to feel very comfortable with her too.

All in all, Troy felt the evening was a success and though he did not speak much or have many opportunities to address Penn he did make a conscious effort to call her by her name and to use her name in conversation with the children instead of calling her "your guardian". He hoped to be setting a better example for his staff, who doubtless were watching his, or perhaps her, every move that evening.

However, since Penn spoke so little herself, it was hard to get a sense of who she was. Troy realized he would have to speak directly to her at some point that night. So, as the first wave of children got up to get ready for bed, he came over to her.

She was sitting on the arm of one of the couches. All the teens except Cassidy, who was helping the little ones, were sitting on that same couch playing a video game. They hadn't been paying any particular attention to Penn until he approached her. Then all eyes turned to him, hers included. Only, while she looked up at him with curiosity he saw that the teens looked at him with concern. Whether they were concerned for him or for her he did not know.

"Could I have a word with you in private?" he asked.

A hush fell over those left in the room and even his own Beta shot him a surprised look. He waved off the man's concern with a slight smile.

"Perhaps we can talk in the cafeteria?" He suggested to her.

Penn looked at him for a long moment and he waited wondering what her response would be. What was she looking for when she searched his face?

She took so long to assess him that he was almost convinced she was going to say no. Of course, she was well within her rights to refuse a private meeting with him. It's not like he gave her any notice and he was already aware that she did not feel safe in his home.

He felt awful. He couldn't explain it to himself or anyone else, but he really wanted her to trust him, to feel at ease in his home, and to feel welcome. If she didn't, and it seemed clear she didn't, he knew it was his fault somehow. He just wasn't any good at communicating. If he was, he would have put her at ease that first day, after the attack. He could just kick himself for not making more of an effort.

While he was mentally beating himself up she gave him a little nod and  said, "Yes, that will be fine."

He watched as she rose from her seat on the arm of the couch and stepped aside waiting for him to lead the way to the cafeteria. For a moment he was stuck in place. He blinked a few times and told himself not to panic. He was not going to blow it. He was going to have a simple conversation with her and everything was going to be fine. He just had to start moving.

He might have been mistaken but he thought he heard his Beta laugh behind him and suddenly the spell over his limbs was broken. He found he could move. He smiled politely at Penn and led her directly to the cafeteria without glancing at Lucas even once. He was sure the man was in hysterics over his rather stiff and down right awkward behaviour.

Troy avoided frowning as he and Penn walked in silence to the cafeteria. He didn't want her to think even for a minute that he was frowning at her. He just hoped he could recover long enough from his social ineptitude to have a meaningful conversation with her.

He sent up a prayer to the Moon goddess for help as he pushed open the double doors to the dimly lit cafeteria.