"Well," I said, "since that pack wasn't interested in adopting us, which pack is next on our list?"

"Those were the only five Alpha Bennet gave me," Conrad replied, his voice downcast with disappointment at being turned away again. It seemed that no pack wanted to bring in so many people at once.

"There has to be more than five packs in no man's land."

"There are, but not all of them are approachable."

"Why don't we track down some rogues and ask them which ones don't mind rogues, then approach those groups? No harm in trying, right?"

He was silent, although the other twenty-one wolves were listening.

I glanced at our growing group and grinned at him. "If we keep finding ferals at this rate, we'll be able to start our own pack soon."

Andrew murmured, "You need an Alpha with a mate, a Beta with their mate, and at least thirty wolves to erect pack boundaries. Once a pack is established, you only need one descendant in the Alpha line to maintain the borders. It's part of the Alpha's abilities, and without an Alpha, the borders dissipate."

I sat up straighter in my basket, suddenly intent on this conversation. "What are the odds of us finding a shrinking pack? They might accept us if it keeps their pack from collapsing. So far, every pack we've approached has had several hundred members – they weren't lacking the sheer manpower needed to maintain a pack. I know how hard it was for Alpha Nix with just forty-three pack members. It was why we occasionally hired outsiders to come in for various tasks or during the harvest."

"That actually might work," Andrew slowly replied. "Most people don't try to join a dying pack because they will be right back out in no man's land with others trying to find a place to join. Then again, most rogues only travel in tiny groups, and they don't want to have to do the extra work that comes with being in a small pack."

"I don't think we're scared of a bit of hard work, are we?"

Howls rose from my packmates, ringing with their power and strength. As if a bit of work was going to deter a former feral. Part of my mind wondered how badly the chorus was alarming the pack we had left ten minutes ago.

Anabel barked a laugh. "I can tell you from experience that being a rogue is far more work and danger than being in a small pack!"

"How hard can it be to find a small pack?" I asked eagerly.

"That depends on how quickly we can find a friendly rogue who likes to trade and is willing to talk. The biggest question is if the pack will be willing to take the risk of accepting us. If they are that small, they'll be worried about us taking over."

"Well, we won't know until we try, will we?"

Howls rang through the air once more, and we picked up our pace now that we had a goal and a plan.

"Amber, Daryl, and myself will see if this group of rogues is willing to talk," Conrad said. "If too many of us go in, they'll think they're under attack."

Vera yawned lazily and rolled on the grass. "Sounds good. Keep us updated."

Josh and Anabel wandered in the other direction, hand-in-hand, and I knew better than to bother them during their first chance at alone time. They had done very well with the constant travelling and press of unmated comrades while their matebond was so new. Josh had marked Anabel two days after meeting her, and the scar on her collarbone was like an engagement ring, which helped level out the matebond somewhat.

I meandered to the side and reached up to tug at the tip of Andrew's tail, which just so happened to hang low enough for me to reach.

"Andy," I said, with each word being accompanied by a tug, "how will a new pack view your Beta blood?"

He turned his head so he could see me. "At my age, it won't really impact anything since I have no desire to take over the Beta position. The rank may be in my blood, but if I'm not declared as the official Beta, my aura will remain muted. People will still be able to sense it, and it might create some confusion with visitors, but it is easy enough to tell that I'm not the true Beta. I'll just be a pack member with an unusual set of diplomatic skills and a few extra abilities."

I continued tugging on the tip of his tawny tail. "In other words, you'll be the perfect person to greet visitors at the border if the Alpha is away."

"Once they trust me enough to act in their best interest, then yes. I'll probably end up helping the Luna and Beta female a lot since my skills are so similar to theirs. The only real difference is that I won't have a lot of the other obligations and duties that come with the true Beta's rank, although I might help out from time to time."

"Do packs ever have two acting Betas?"

"It's seen in the larger packs occasionally, usually ones with over five hundred members, although that's where you start seeing people being assigned Gamma positions, which is like being third in charge. That's an assigned rank, not a born one."

"Cool." I kept tugging on his tail.

In a teasing voice, he asked Vera, "Why are you letting your charge bother a Beta like this?"

She didn't even twitch an ear, still sprawled out in the grass. "I carried her in the basket all day. It's someone else's turn to babysit her."

"You were the one who insisted on carrying her," he reminded her.

"I know. That was so I didn't nip Steven for his eight million pointless questions."

"They weren't pointless!" Steven protested, joining in our conversation. "Each one was an opportunity to gain knowledge!"

"You wondered why leaves were green when bark was brown," she replied, twitching an ear in his direction.

"And I'd still like to know."

"Well," she began, "I don't know why the leaves are green, but I do know that if I pin someone in green grass, they get these nice grass stains on their fur. I wonder if that is repeatable on a whim?"

She started to sit up, and Steven quickly backtracked. "Ah, no need to test that theory! I'll go hunting to pass the time."

He bounded into the bushes and disappeared from sight.

Andrew chuckled. "Wise man."

"My grandfather always did say I was the feisty one in the family. He was an Enforcer, so I guess he would know."

"That explains a lot," Andrew muttered.

I grinned and continued my game of tug-of-war with his tail.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"It means you are more likely to solve problems using your fighting skills," he replied vaguely.

"It seems to work pretty well in no man's land."

"And if we find a pack?"

"Then I guess I'll have to figure out what that thing called tact is. My mother mentioned it once or twice."

I piped up, "Tact is when you try to get along or compromise with others, even if you don't agree with them. Many people also think it means not annoying the higher-ranking wolves unnecessarily."

She snorted. "So says the one pulling a Beta's tail."

"I'm a Comforter. I get away with a lot of things other people wouldn't. It's part of my charm."

Andrew shook his head and began walking towards her. I refused to relinquish my hold and tried to brace my feet, although I just skidded over the grass. He flipped his tail to the side and sent me tumbling between Vera's front paws as I lost my grip.

"Here's some charm to get you started," he told her before walking away with a grin.

I shook my head and scampered after him. He wasn't going to get out of babysitting duty that easily...