Six hours later I woke up with Kat snuggled in between myself and Anna, before we'd fallen asleep she'd cried her fears about the battle out to me and Anna and we'd found ourselves comforting the young pup until she managed to fall asleep.

I smiled at her as her eyes were closed and her face was calm and relaxed it reminded me just how young my fourteen-year-old cub was. I gently stroked her smooth forehead before looking over to my mate, who was also still fast asleep.

After looking at two of the most important females in my life so far, I sat up and climbed from the bed, as much as I wanted to lay there relaxing and enjoying my time with my family I knew there was still a lot that I had to do. We'd won the first battle, but I was no fool and I knew that the war, so to speak, was far from over. Without the assistance of our allies I'd probably mourning the death of more than the twelve cats that I'd felt die in the Pride Bonds in the past thirty-six hours.

I quickly dressed, grabbing my weapons belt and strapped it on without a second thought, since our Pride was effectively at war I would continue wearing it for the time being, until we were no longer under any threat.

After having a quick meal down in the dining hall, I headed up to medical, with a tray of food for both Zane, when he woke up, and Simone. They'd both done so much for the Pride that the least I could do for them was to bring them something to eat. When I walked in Simone was there and she turned her head and glared at me for a moment before she realized that I was carrying a heavy tray of food.

"Sorry, right now I'm a bit grouchy since my team leader is hurt." She told me, quickly coming over to relieve me of my heavy burden.

"That's okay Simone, I understand. Hell, I half expected you to growl at me." I told her before looking over to where Zane still slept in the bed, his chest wrapped in heavy white bandages. "He doesn't look to terrible, though he had help..." I said.

She nodded. "I hate seeing him down like this, but I understand that it comes with the territory." She told me as she set the tray down on a table and pulled one of the lids off. "Oh... this smells fabulous." She smiled picking up the provided utensils and began eating.

"Yes, our chef is rather skilled," I said with a smile, "I hope that with good food and plenty of rest Zane will heal quickly."

Simone nodded, though I could tell that she was currently mainly concerned with filling her growling stomach. "Mark, this should help, though don't be surprised if he's a complete grouch and a real pain in the ass for the next few days."

I nodded knowing what she was talking about. At the best of times my friend was... a bit prickly, but now that he was hurt I fully expected him to fit all of the stereotypes of a complete ass. "I can handle it Simone, I also know that since he's hurt most of the Enforcers in you team that are here are going to be a bit hard to handle, for the time being, so please, keep them in line."

Simone growled, and I could see that she was feeling pretty much as I'd expected. "Duh... two years at the Academy and we don't know how to handle being at a strange Pride... you think we are..."

"Simone!" I growled, putting a touch of my command presence into my growl, "I am merely saying that while Zane is down you are in charge..." I told her before I turned. "You will let me know when he wakes up?"

I could see the fire of her wolf in her eye but she bowed her head slightly, acceding to my dominance. "Yes, Pride Lord I will." She said before I left the room and closed the door behind me. Until Zane woke up I knew that she'd be as touchy as a she-bear with a bee-stung nose.

Since I knew that she was liable to stay that way for the next little while I headed down to security where my father, who'd also recently woken up from his own nap, Alexander, and Jerome were sitting around the table that we used to map our movements. It wasn't anything like that which was used by Wild Valley, but it had to do. We'd made it here by simply placing a highly-detailed map of our territory underneath a glass surface which we could mark on with erasable markers.

"Afternoon, so what's the damage Alex?" I asked, knowing that for every battle there was always a cost in both personal, equipment, and physical property.

He looked at me and glanced down at a crinkled and worn piece of paper that looked like he'd had to put it in and out of his pocket more than a few times. "For Blackwater and our allies, it is relatively light, 15 KiA and 24 injured, of those injured 6 are critical." He said, "Ice Lake and their allies suffered far worse. Ice Lake got off relatively lightly with only 22 killed in action with unknown numbers of injured, Forest Depths lost 18 killed, though we did manage to take six of them prisoners, and lastly Midnight Forest. With the number of killed I don't expect they will continue attacking us because they took the lion's share of those either killed or injured in action at 41."

Both dad and I gasped in shock at the numbers, especially with the severity of the numbers for Midnight Forest. "Good fucking grief." Dad gasped, "I knew that truck that we killed belonged to them, but I wasn't aware of how heavily they engaged us."

I nodded. "The Dashka was a nasty surprise for them, that's for sure, otherwise they probably would have brought up something with a bit more armour that a truck covered in half an inch of steel plate."

Alex shook his head, "That was probably the most heavily armoured vehicle they had. They aren't like some Prides and Packs that possess heavier armour." He stated while my dad and I traded glances. Since both of us were well aware that we did indeed possess heavier armour, though it was hidden in the back of the Pride garage.

"Wonder what they would have though had they come up against a Grizzly." I asked while winking at dad.

"What the heck is a Grizzly?" Alex asked, his expression looking rather mystified.

Dad shook his head for a moment and then decided that the mystified expression on my cousin's face needed to change so he answered Alex, "The Grizzly was a Canadian variant of the M4A1 Medium Tank."

"You have a damned Tank?!" Alex almost shouted, the look of disbelief on his face was almost comical and both my father and I burst out laughing.

After we both got control of our rather wild laughter I blinked at Alex with tear filled eyes. "Yes Alex, we have a tank, though I'm not sure how much use it would have been... that armour that was fitted to that truck wouldn't have even slowed down a shell from it... and it would have kept going for another few hundred meters." I told him, trying not to chuckle.

Alex shook his head and massaged the bridge of his nose lightly. "Wish we'd known this before... would have made this whole yard clearing exercise rather unnecessary."

Dad spoke up, though he tried to keep his voice at least reasonable, as he was still getting over his laughing fit, "Alex the reason we didn't tell anybody about it is, like Mark said, against what we were facing it would have been both massive overkill, and actually in danger of getting overrun and destroyed."

Alex closed his eyes for a second and nodded before he looked down and I could tell that he was focusing his thoughts before he picked up a marker and drew a red line around the Pride Compound. "I've established a perimeter here around the compound, and I've had some of your people join in with our wolves. Your cats know this terrain and they know where best to place our defenses."

I looked at the map and then nodded, "Have you established a fall-back line Alex? So, that there's something for the defenders to fall back to should they need to?"

Alex nodded grabbing a green marker and marking out a series of positions behind his red line. "I've had these positions established as fall-back positions, though they don't form a complete line. Instead I'd rather consider them positions to counter-attack from."

I nodded, looking at the positions, "Very good, that looks like you've at least done your homework." I told him before I turned to Jerome, "Jerome I hope that you realize that you are in one of the most secure locations in the Pride, anything you hear or see in this room doesn't go beyond those doors" I said pointing to the doors that lead out into the hallway giving him a slight mental push that made it a Lord's Order.

"Yes, Pride Lord." He answered automatically before he pointed to the satellite map that I had brought up on the big 42' TV on the wall that we used for secondary briefings. This is Shadow Valley, and it is nothing like what there is here."

I tried to make out something on the satellite view, "It looks as though Vladimir has at least done a good job of concealing the place from satellite observation."

"Yes, though that's not really what makes the place remarkable sir. What truly sets Shadow Valley apart from any other Pride or Pack House in the world is the sheer size." He said, and I could sense that he truly believed what he was saying. "I've never seen of, nor heard any other Were structure in the new, or old world being even half as large." He then picked a rather damaged looking phone from his pocket and pried the CDC from it and handed it to me. "Take a look sir and you'll see what I mean."

I plugged the card into the TV and scanned it before, one by one I brought up the photos that had been contained on the phone, some of them I couldn't bear to look at. Obviously, the previous owner of the device had been Ivan and his insanity had turned him into a truly awful sort of person. The images that I was interested in detailed some of the defenses that were available to Shadow Valley. What most impressed me wasn't how large the Pride House was, and it truly was massive, built on a scale that almost boggled the imagination, but how flimsy the defenses looked. The structures of the defenses and the positions themselves were decently arranged and built, but they look grossly undermanned. "It doesn't look like Vladimir has the manpower to properly defend Shadow Valley." I commented.

"Not really Fedor, is always stressing over that fact and keeps calling for more positions." He said shaking his head.

"You're telling me that Fedor is the one in charge of their security there?" I asked, rather surprised at that fact.

"Yes, though, for the most part, I was under the direct command of Ivan, though I spent most of my time jumping whenever Pietor gave me an order." He told me

"What about remote monitoring and surveillance?" I asked, I really needed to know what they had in terms of modern technology.

To that question, Jerome shook his head, "You know how those cats feel about technology, they feel that it can't be trusted. Fedor, once told another cat that had asked that we didn't need fancy toys, our eyes, ears, nose and whiskers were far better than any sensor net ever built."

I growled and shook my head, "Stupid, stuck-up, ignorant, fossilized, old fool. His thinking is still stuck in the Nineteenth Century." I muttered before I spoke out more clearly, "Well that should make things a whole lot easier for us, since patrols can be ambushed, guards can be subdued through silent stealth and if we're careful we should be able to reach the Pride House without being detected." I stated, "How are the gates defended?"

Jerome smiled grimly, "There are four cats in the guard house, they are armed with rifles and an RPG-7." He replied "The phone there doesn't always work either, Vlad cheaped out on almost everything there, though I have heard that the structure of all of the defenses and the Pride House are built properly, everything else is the cheapest that he can possibly get.

I saw my father nod, "That must make your jobs as Protectors all that much harder eh Jerome?"

"You got that right sir, the only reason I've stayed, beside those bomb collars was to help guard my mom and my sister from the depredations of Vlad and his cronies. Recently Vlad had her killed because he asked her to do something, I don't know what it was, and when she refused he used his remote to kill her... in the main plaza."

"With her dead, I take it that you're responsible for your younger sister, since you haven't mentioned your father to me." I said softly, I suspected that his father had probably suffered a similar fate.

Jerome nodded and I could see that he was holding on by a thread so I gently hugged him. "Ivan used him as a living sparring dummy, he didn't have a chance. My father was a Third Ranked Craftsman, he was a jeweler, not a trained protector but when he refused to work on that piece of steel that Ivan carries around..." He broke off, no longer able to continue and began crying brokenly in my arms, finally able to release the pent-up grief that he'd not been able to safely release until now.

"From everything that I've seen today, and from what I've heard here, I don't think we really have much choice in one particular matter on Vladimir and his status among the greater Were community." I said before I reached out and contacted Anna, *Anna if you are anywhere near the office can I get you to check in our records and see if your parents ever made a Rogue report concerning Vladimir and those cats that he's leading.*

After a few minutes, Anna replied. *Yes, Mark, I am at the office and I'm taking a look, but I don't think it should take me that long since we've both learned how my parent's cataloged their information... Ah here it is, there's a full report here on what happened eleven years ago, though they never did submit it. I don't think that they wanted to hurt those innocents that went with Vladimir.*

I nodded and I could understand why Shanna and Olaf hadn't logged the report, though Vladimir and his followers probably did deserve the title of Rogue, there were probably a goodly number of innocent cat's who'd be caught up in the middle. They were people who, through no fault of their own had gotten caught up in Vladimir's politics and would get tagged with his title of Rogue as well.

*I've done it Mark, the notice has been posted and I've also made sure to add Fedor, Ivan, Rolf to the list of Rogues, though I've also made a note that Ivan has been dealt with.* She told me as the phone at my hip dinged at the reception of the Rogue warning.

*Thank you love. I'd like for you to convene an emergency meeting of the council tomorrow morning, we need to solve this situation, and get our other issues sorted out as well.* I told her as Jerome began to calm down in my arms.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon the next morning when I walked into the council chamber and took my seat at the head of the table beside Anna before she slammed the round stone that we used as a gavel onto the hollow wooden base.

"I will have order!" She shouted, her voice, both vocal and mental compelled obedience from all that were assembled. "Two days ago, all of you insisted on wasting time and doing a whole lot of nothing while our enemies prepared for what happened yesterday. So, now you will listen while my mate tells us of the truth of our situation." She nodded to me, I bowed my head slightly to her, and I stood up, looking over the table and the assembled members of the Council.

"Now I think you all understand the gravity of the situation that we face. I was wanting to mention this two days ago, during the Full Moon Council but this council was so enamoured of making speeches and praising the outgoing administration that they didn't give any time for real business." I said before walking over the large TV that was mounted to the wall of the room where everyone could see it. I turned it on and plugged in my phone to control it before I began running through the current situation.

"Pride Lord," One of the Elders who'd remained with the Pride after the split said, "You bring this information to our knowledge to what end?"

"Elder Varnistov, our options are rather limited in the face of what I've shown you. Though I can tell you that the most promising is already being investigated." I replied to the Elder as I made my way back to my seat. "The biggest problem that we face is that our current position isn't sustainable under current circumstances. The only reason that any member of this council is still breathing is because of the efforts of our allies, and even then, we can't ask them to stay here and fight a war for us."

One of the other councillors stood with a growl. "This is our home, we aren't going to give it up without a damned fight. You see what we did to those who tried to take it from us."

"Yes, we did damned well yesterday, but without the intervention of our allies it would have been for nought as they would have broken through the front doors and slaughtered every single cat in this house." I stated, looking over at him. "Oh, sure you and the other cats would have made them pay for it dearly, but in the end, they would have won." I took a long hard look around the table, letting each cat know, with my eyes that I meant every single word that I said.

When nobody said anything, I used the remote connection on my phone to change the image on the TV to the satellite image of Shadow Valley. "As you all know, eleven years ago, Vladimir Berekov split the Pride and took 66 cats with him to an unknown location. Just recently Anna and I have declared him, and several of those close to him as Rogues."

"What does this have to do with our current situation?" Yet another councillor asked loudly, "You just told us that we're in an impossible position so how in the hell can we even thing about that... that... traitor?"

I looked at the councillor before I replied slowly, "Because though our situation is not in the least bit stable there is one way that we can get out of it, and that is there." I pointed to the picture on the TV before I pressed a control and the huge cross shape appeared, this wasn't a false colour image, but rather a rough guess of how the Pride House there looked. "The people that surrendered to us and asked to join the Pride told us a great deal of things about this place and the surrounding defenses."

"You're thinking of attacking that Rogue Pride when we are in danger of being buried in wolves?" Elder Varnistov growled, "Have you lost your mind?"

"The reason I am thinking of attacking them is because they are weak and they posses a territory that is much superior to our current location. They have three times as much land, and they only have one Wolf Pack anywhere near them." I answered, "Furthermore, Anna and I have already opened a dialog with Alpha Conrad of Dome Creek Pack, the pack the is closest to Shadow Valley, and he would welcome us up there instead of it's current tenants."

"But with our current allies we could squash the three Packs that attacked us!" One of the other members suggested.

"Yes, we probably could, but how many more needless deaths would there be before that came about? You've felt the Pride Bonds recently, you can feel how each death impacts us all." I stated, giving him a second before I continued, "Do you really enjoy inflicting that kind of pain on others? Oh, sure they attacked us, but the simple fact is either we move due to the neighbouring Packs, or we get squeezed in this territories as the human presence increases."

"Pride Lord, what you are talking about is moving from a territory that we've controlled for over a hundred years, that shouldn't even be something