* Media pic shows one of the mountain caves Penn found during her winter away from everyone.

Beta Lucas and Jules approached Penn and Alpha Troy when the 10 minutes was up. Lucas cleared his throat a bit loudly since the two were still caught up in an tight embrace. The sight of which made him grin ear to ear at his mate Jules. She returned the happy smile.

But, when Troy growled at him in response, Lucas felt anxious. He just wasn't the least bit use to this moody alpha and it was unnerving. Jules, feeling much the same way, gave his arm an encouraging squeeze all the same.

Lucas took a deep breath and in a subdued but clear voice related the news, "Looks like everyone has made up their minds Alpha Troy about whether to stay or go."

It was Penn who disengaged herself from Troy's hold and faced Lucas. He was still in awe of her beautiful appearance and found it hard to look directly at her without blushing like a school boy. She, entirely oblivious to the effect she was having on him and everyone but the children, gave him a curt nod and then walked straight past him while looking for the Griffin pups.

They had all traded their furs for the skins while the new adoptive families talked about who would go and who would stay. It was not lost on Penn that they appeared completely at ease in their skins despite not having a stitch of clothes on. She might have pointed it out, how much they'd changed since those first few weeks she knew them, but was checked by a desire not to embarrass them. Instead, she just grinned at them and waved them over to her.

"Listen up," she told them as she took them aside privately, "these wolves don't know what it's like to survive in the wilds but you do. So, I'm going to need you all to step up and do your part to show them the ropes. Is that understood?"

"But, but we are just pups," Cassidy protested.

She didn't mind taking charge of the pups from her own pack but she had reservations about telling these adults - these strangers - what to do. The other children looked as unsure as she felt.

Penn smiled at the girl and the others before saying with confidence, "You aren't pups anymore. You are survivors. And the eighteen of you know more about living and surviving in the wilds than all the adults gathered here put together. You are their best chance to live out there away from their comfy homes. Don't you see that?" she asked sincerely.

"Even Mia?" Ace, one of the 14 year old twins, asked. He looked at the little 3 year old and felt doubtful.

Penn laughed and nodded. "She's got more experience eating raw kills and scrounging for grubs and the like than any of these pampered adults do, doesn't she?"

The children's eyes went wide with sudden comprehension. This wasn't just some trek up the mountain. They weren't going for a school trip. They, and the villagers, were going up there to live wild for the next few days or weeks or worse. And Penn was right. The kids, including Mia, knew more about how to forage, how to keep warm, how to spot a safe place to rest, or detect a dangerous sound or scent in the woods, then Orthos adults did. 

"Even Mia will be able to teach her new family how to search for grubs and teach them what water is good to drink and water water is fowl, right?" Penn went on to say even as she saw their eyes brighten with understanding.

The children slowly began to nod their heads and looked at each other with new light. Besides Penn, who was the real expert at wild living, the children really did have more experience living on the run, living in their furs and living off the land than any of the adults they had come to know in the last month since being adopted into their new families.

"You are the ones who will have to teach them how to live and survive in their furs. You'll need to pass on all the lessons you learned when you were with me. I can't possibly teach them all, can I?"

"We can do it," Jackson suddenly piped up. "All of us," he said confidently as he looked around at the other pups. "We wont let you down Alpha Penn."

Penn nodded at him with approval.

Cassidy, still a little less certain, but determined to do her part too, nodded and spoke for the children too saying, "Yes, we can and we will."

"That's the spirit," Penn said as she grinned at the girl and gave her shoulder and encouraging squeeze.

"But," Cassidy continued hesitantly, "will they listen to us?"

Penn chuckled and gave the girl a mischievous grin. "They sure will or they wont be coming."

The children gasped but said nothing more because at this point Penn turned to the waiting crowd of parents, villagers, elders and Troy's leadership team. They had all been keeping an eye on her and the pups and looked to her expectantly when she turned to address them.

"If you are coming with me tonight," Penn began in an assertive and commanding voice, "Then there are two ground rules you must accept now. First, I'll be your alpha in the mountain. And second, the Griffin pups will be my seconds in command."

It was only natural that their was a corporate gasp of surprise at the latter statement. Wolves were very hierarchical - even kind and compassionate wolves like those in the Orthos pack. However, Penn did not give them even a moment to protest her statement. Instead she narrowed her eyes at them and reminded them of the same thing she had just reminded the children. The pups were the only ones present with experience surviving in harsh conditions over several weeks while on the run from a terrifying and very capable enemy.

"The children know more about surviving in their furs than you. If you want to survive. If you want the pack to survive, you will take direction from the pups or stay here and take your chances."

There might have been some hesitation among the crowd. It was possible. But, it wasn't evident. The crowd fell quiet and contemplative for a few minutes. Penn waited patiently staring every face down that looked questioningly at the pups who flanked her on the right and left. The children were tense. Penn could feel that they were holding their breath.

It was the elders who came forward with their calm and placid faces. They bowed their silvery heads in unison before Ruuni spoke and said simply, "It must be this way if we are to survive in the wild. We accept your terms Alpha Penn. The children will lead us and we will follow their example."

At the end of her little speech, Elder Ruuni stepped toward Penn and pressed her right cheek to Penn's. It was a sign to the crowd that the elders were submitting to Penn and to the children. And that was all it took. The majority of those present were willing to submit, even to the pups, if the elders were okay with it. They demonstrated their faith in Penn's leadership the very next moment by stripping down and transforming into their furs right then and there. The elders gave up their skins for their furs right along with all the villagers.

Penn hadn't seen this many wolves in there furs since she was a small child. It gave her a proud feeling and she nodded at them with approval.

She turned back to the children and said, "Stick with your new families, teach them what I taught you and then they can teach their families and their neighbours what they learn from you. Remember, remaining in your furs and keeping silent are the keys to survival in the wild. If that's all you get to teach them, it'll be enough to help them keep alive out there. Understood?"

The children nodded though they still seemed to be a little apprehensive.

Sensing their reluctance, Penn suddenly grinned wickedly at them and in a menacing voice promised them,"If anyone disrespects you and doesn't obey you, you tell Cassidy and she'll inform me. I'll take care of it. I wont let anyone, old or young, disrespect my leadership team. It's a promise."

The fierce loyalty in her eyes and the total conviction she showed them in her pale but piercing eyes finally had them convinced. She was the alpha now. The pups were her pack and these people were under her pack's guidance and authority. A thrill of adrenaline shot through the pups old enough to understand the enormous power exchange that had just taken place. She was no longer an outcast and they weren't just some orphaned pups hoping to find a home. She was an alpha and they, despite their young age, were in a position to teach these adults how to survive when the odds were totally stacked against them.

Mia, though the youngest, seemed to intuitively understand. She was the first to transform back into her furs and trot over to her new family. She took up her place in front of her new dad and sat and waited for Penn's next command. The other pups, understanding their roles now more than ever, followed her lead.

However, Cassidy and Jackson remained at Penn's side. Their new parents, Beta Lucas and Jules would be staying behind with Alpha Troy, so they didn't have a family to lead out of the valley like the other pups did. They waited on Penn for more specific instructions, which they knew were coming.

"Jackson, I'll leave you in charge of the pack's elders. Though I don't doubt they can protect themselves," she said with a small smile while eyeing the older wolves sitting patiently near by, "I'll feel better if they have someone young and strong at their side."

Jackson, proud to be nominated as a protector, nodded and then transformed to his furs before trotting off to stand with the Orthos Elders.

"What about me?" Cassidy asked with some reservation. She wasn't sure what she could do or what she should do.

"You stick with me," Penn told her. And, without any hesitation, she confided, "I need a First Beta."

Cassidy's eyes went huge. Not only was it an enormous honour to be selected as an alpha's right hand, but, it was practically unheard of for a woman, let alone a teenager, to fulfill that role. If Penn had picked her brother Jackson over her, Cassidy would not have begrudged him the opportunity at all because she never would have thought of it for herself. So, to be picked was just too amazing, too wonderful, and just like Penn to do something so out of the box. Cassidy burst into tears as she flung her arms around Penn's neck.

Penn laughed whole-heartedly as she affectionately hugged and petted Cassidy on the back. She let the girl have a moment. It wasn't unexpected. In fact, Penn sort of missed this spontaneous hugging she so often got from Cassidy. But, it couldn't go on too long. They needed to get going. So, Penn shrugged the girl off with a little laugh in another minute and grinned at her First Beta.

"Come on, we got places to go and not much time to get there."

Cassidy grinned back excitedly just before swapping her skin for her furs so she could run along side Penn up the mountainside. 

That night, two-thirds of the Orthos pack voluntarily shed their skins for their furs, and followed Penn and the pups up into the neutral territory north of the village. It was like a great migration. There was no way to hide their tracks because hundreds of wolves followed her in rows five wolves wide or more. But it didn't matter. Once they broke the treeline, their tracks would disappear on the stony mountain side. And Penn had plans in place to erase all signs and scents of them on the windswept granite and igneous rocks before Codax could even hope to track them.