As we reached the edge of the playground, I squirmed, wanting to be put down. My unspoken request was honored, and I was placed on the grass.

I ran forward, managing not to trip this time. "Mazie! You're back!" My mindlink seemed faint, and it was a struggle to speak with her since she wasn't part of our pack anymore. It was actually a small miracle that I could mindlink her. Other than her immediate family and mate, anyone else would have to be part of her pack in order to mindlink her. It was another Comforter perk that came from more or less being stuck in wolf form.

"Hey, Julie!" She picked me up and cradled me in her arms. "I missed you so much. How have you been doing?"

I couldn't keep my tail from wagging. "Good! How has your mate been treating you?" I let everyone in the playground hear my mindvoice.

"Like a queen. I couldn't have asked for a better man."

I wolf-grinned at how her eyes travelled to her mate and hazed over with adoration. They were clearly just as in love now as they had been when Mazie left our pack to join his. I didn't need my emotion sensing ability to tell me that.

As a Comforter, I would never have a mate. It was like our potential for a mate had short-circuited and we loved everyone instead. It affected our minds as well – I had no more interest in romance or having kids than the napping puppy on Mary's lap currently did.

The teenager smiled at me and asked the two guys, "Is she one of yours?"

She came to stand beside Mazie as she gazed down at me. The duo blinked at her, surprised by her question and the assumption that I was a puppy. This was also the first time they had ever been mistaken for a father, so it was hard to pinpoint the source of their bewilderment.

"She isn't a puppy," Mary told her kindly. "She's a Comforter."

"A Comforter? Sorry, I was a rogue until recently, and I'm still learning a lot about the packs."

"A Comforter is a rank in the pack, like an Omega or Beta. There aren't many out there. Only about a third of the packs have one."

"Oh." She looked just as confused as she had before.

"A long time ago," Mary began, her voice rising and falling in the paced rhythm of old legends, "back when the packs were always at war, Comforters didn't exist. At one point, all of the fighting was close to wiping out the werewolf race. When all of the Alphas sat down and agreed to stop the wars, a solar eclipse occurred, and the moon literally glowed with a silver light while it completely blocked the sun. At the same time, in every pack – large or small – a Comforter pup wandered out of the forest, lost and alone. Their rank was to help maintain the newly established peace and bring love to any who needed it."

The teenager reached out and gently petted my brown fur. "She's so cute. I just want to pick her up and hug her."

"That is one of the powers of the Comforters," Mary said, grinning at how captivated the teenager was with me. "Something in their aura makes you want to protect them and care for them. Having a puppy-like appearance also encourages the pack to protect them. Their calming ability has a lot in common with the Omegas' skills, but it's much stronger – even their mere presence helps calm people down. The easiest way to tell a Comforter apart from a puppy is their aura – you can sense their presence when you get close enough. They never grow out of their puppy shape, either."

"Why?"

"Because everyone has bad days, and sometimes all you need is to hug and cuddle with a non-judgemental puppy."

"I wish there was one in our pack." She paused with a look of confusion. "If there was a Comforter in every pack, why don't all packs still have one?"

Mary's expression grew sad. "Some packs saw them as weak, just like some packs still consider runts to be too weak to allow in their pack. Some were killed or chased off. Most packs kept their Comforters though, and they became the pack's treasure. Old age comes to everyone, and the Comforters are no exception. Every generation or so, one is born into each pack."

She perked up and asked Mazie, "Do you think one will appear in our pack soon?"

Mazie shrugged, clearly out of her depth. Her mate replied, "It's hard to say. Maybe. Back when I was a toddler, there was an old Comforter in our pack. I remember how comical he looked with his grey muzzle. I've never heard of two Comforters being in a pack at the same time, so they aren't that common, but it has been a while since our pack had one."

"I hope one appears soon. Can I please hold her?"

"You'll have to ask Julie. Believe it or not, she's actually an adult, even if she doesn't look or act like it."

She blushed at her mistake. "Sorry, I didn't realize that." She asked me, "May I please hold you? I just can't get over how much I want to hug you."

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Anabel."

Mazie carefully passed me to Anabel, who also cradled me in her arms and stroked my fur. I hummed in contentment and extended my senses. The way she was drawn to me was actually a warning sign of deeper trauma or anguish – my Comforter aura had a habit of pulling people closer when they needed emotional support.

It would be rude to ask her with others around, so I altered my aura from its usual calming into something that would comfort and help ease painful memories, going slowly so those around us wouldn't notice. Much like time usually dulled the anxiety and distress from an old event, my aura sped that process up and removed the sting. This visit wouldn't be long enough to do much, but it would take the edge off.

I didn't extend my senses into her mind, but judging by what I was feeling, her time as a rogue hadn't been easy. Rogues weren't part of a pack, and they remained in the unclaimed area between pack borders. While the majority were average people, there were unlawful rogues who caused problems, and I suspected that Anabel might have had an unfortunate run-in with such lowlifes.

Those around us kept talking and catching up on the gossip. Most of my attention remained on Anabel, who now sat on the bench beside Mary. Her muscles had relaxed by a fraction as some deep tension eased under my abilities. Peace and calm dominated her surface emotions as if she were in a trance, courtesy of my aura.

"Did you encounter any trouble on the way here?" Mary asked.

"No," Mazie replied, "Anabel is very good at spotting potential danger and picking out quiet places to camp. Two rogues stopped to visit for a few hours one night, but that was it. We didn't see any signs of ferals, which I'm thankful for."

Anabel smiled at the praise, proud that she had valuable skills despite her youthful appearance and slender frame. She was probably travelling with this group as a guide since she had been a rogue in the past. Supposedly, a rogue's survival skills in the forest were excellent. They had to be if they wanted to survive.

"You didn't see any signs of ferals?" Zack asked Mazie in surprise.

"Nothing. Why?"

"Two ferals keep trying to catch our border guards by surprise, so I'm surprised you didn't see any tracks or scat."

Anabel frowned at the news. "Are you sure they were ferals and not rogues playing pranks?"

"They had red eyes, kept trying to attack, and were far too persistent."

I perked my ears and listened intently; this was the first time someone had mentioned that ferals were testing our borders. Those creatures were the things of horror stories. Ferals were werewolves who had been driven to madness and would attack anything in a mindless rage – even their former friends and family.

"I didn't see or smell anything unusual," Anabel said, looking troubled, "but some ferals smell like wet leaves and forest plants. Those ones are usually more dangerous."

"The border guards killed a few deer yesterday to lure them down south since you were coming, although I'm surprised you didn't see any tracks."

"There weren't any signs, and I was watching closely since I didn't know where your sentries were. Are the doors on the packhouse strong enough to keep a feral out?"

"They'd probably stop anything other than an infuriated Alpha. So far, no feral has made it close to the packhouse."

Ferals weren't smart enough to try targeting those sleeping inside if the border patrols were easy for them to find. They didn't really care what they focused on, as long as something was tempting or holding their attention.

Anabel relaxed at his words, although the way her fingers ran through my fluffy fur betrayed her lingering nerves. I twisted and rolled upside down in her arms. The distraction worked, and Anabel smiled and lightly tickled the paler brown fur on my stomach.

Her fingers found my sensitive ribs, and I started squirming. She moved her fingers to scratch under my chin instead. The feeling made me close my eyes in bliss.

Mazie chuckled. "I remember doing that. It was the surest way to keep her out of mischief."

"What mischief?" I asked.

Mazie snorted. "The list is so long I'm not sure where the top or bottom are."

"I believe you are exaggerating. I'm far too small to accomplish anything."

"What about the Halloween night when all the lights in the main rooms kept flickering on and off?"

"You should be more impressed that I could reach the breaker box."

"Or when Zack arrived for his first fighting class with the visiting fighting trainer and opened his bag to discover his gear had been replaced with his sister's scarves and hair accessories?"

"You have to admit that his expression was priceless. Besides, the trainer went really easy on him after laughing so hard."

Zack grumbled under his breath, possibly because the same trainer had stopped by a couple of years ago and had still remembered that event.

"And what about-"

"Shall I start on some of your tricks?" I interrupted, with a sly grin. "I somehow doubt your mate has heard about all of them. Did you ever tell him about the time you visited the Rainier Pack's midsummer festival?"

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "Call it a draw?"

"That might save both of our reputations."

Mary murmured, "That is also about the only way we'll leave this playground before sundown."

Still upside-down, I yipped a quiet agreement and wagged my tail while Mazie rolled her eyes at her mother. Mary's memory was probably better than ours when it came to recalling our games.