A week and a half after my conversation with Brook, Anna and I were just coming from the dining hall with Tanya holding my hand. Earlier in the morning I'd received a rather worrying email and it had put a bit of a damper on my mood, which was something that my adopted daughter could pick up on. The email looked to be from the Hammers, though I had no real way of tracing it's route through the Dark Net. In it there were threats as well as an ultimatum, either we return their territory, their people, their money, and their devices... or we would pay the price in blood.

When I showed the message to my mate she growled and I could see her cat in her eyes as she fumed. We'd taken this place from a rogue member of our Pride. It had been our duty, and our responsibility to eliminate him and his followers, lest they become a greater threat to Were secrecy than they already were.

*Lord Mark, your guests have arrived at the front gate. We've already let them through, they should be at the front door in fifteen to twenty minutes sir.* I received from the senior guard at the front gates.

"Come on Anna, let's go greet Adam, Brook, and our son." I said before I crouched down and scooped Tanya into my arms before heading across the plaza towards the foyer and the entrance. Today my youngest child was wearing a knee length dress, which didn't really help since it could leave her underwear on full display if she wasn't careful

Anna laughed slightly as she paced me on my left side. "You really do want to show that old friend of yours our massive home, don't you?"

I had to laugh with her, "Of course I do love." I told her while I bounced Tanya lightly in my arms. "I want to show him what we've build here." I continued as we stepped out of the front doors and onto the small patio in front of the house.

"Well I guess I do to," Anna conceded before hugging me from the side while we waited for the large SUV from Wild Valley came up the road. The fall breeze coming up the valley was cool and both Anna and I knew that soon winter would be here. Already we'd received some short snow showers that had dusted the ground in the white stuff, though it really wasn't enough to please our cats

A few minutes later the large Suburban appeared at the edge of the clearing and drove up to the steps before it rolled to a stop and the engine was shut off. When the driver's side door opened, I stepped down from the steps and smiles seeing that it was Brook who'd been doing the driving. "Welcome to Silver Peak." I said with a smile as Adam came around the front of the vehicle, with one of his cameras hanging from his neck on it's strap.

Adam smiled, having heard my welcome and replied, "Thanks!" He looked up at the façade that extended 50ft over our heads. "This is a massive building." He said looking at the façade and I could see his eyes roaming over some of the more recently added details. Brook walked around the back and opened the rear hatch, letting Charlie, and Sampson out. At the same time, Jess and Beth climbed out of the vehicle and were followed by Adam and Brook's ravens, Apollo and Athena.

I had to chuckle at Adam as Brook went to release Tala from her seat in the middle of the second row. "Yes, it is we've introduced some details in the Façade, but Vladimir was a bit of an egotist when he built this thing. The core structure was good, it exceeded code by a fair margin, but we had to rebuild almost everything else." I smiled while letting Tanya down, though she did still cling to my side. "That necklace looks nice on you my friend." I said before I crouched down slightly, just in time to catch the hug of a very happy and enthusiastic young cub.

"Dad!" He shouted happily as he hugged me tightly.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of my son as I hugged him back. "Thank you for bringing him with you Adam." I said, I could feel my cat reacting happily to the closeness of our cub. "I hope he hasn't caused too many issues at Wild Valley." I knew that sometimes children being what they were, could get themselves into trouble just by being what they were.

Adam smiled, "We were coming to see you, there was no way that we were going to leave him behind." He smiled tolerantly at my cub, and I could see that he had been looking out for Shawn's welfare personally. "He's been better than many pups his age, even those that he looks to have cause more trouble than he has." Brook came beside her mate before Adam carried on. "We plan on leaving Beth and Shawn here while we continue to Ice Lake, so you have more time with your cub."

Anna and I nodded our thanks before I released Shawn from my hug, to give him a chance to hug Anna while I picked up Tanya and turned to face Adam, "Adam I would like you to meet Tanya Yashekov. She is one of the cubs who survived the horrors that were inflicted on the people who were here when we took it from Vladimir." I said softly rubbing her back. I hoped that she wasn't feeling too nervous at meeting Adam and his family, though she could probably tell that he was an Alpha. "All of the orphans that Vlad, his mate, and his cronies created have homes now among members of the Pride. The main issue is that, as I've already informed Brook, they're having a tough time getting over the abuse that was inflicted upon them by those monsters."

Adam came over to me and gave me a good hug, being careful of my daughter, though I knew that he was taking a moment to get a good sniff to let his wolf catch a whiff of her scent. Both Beth, and Brook did the same thing.

I smiled at Beth, I was glad to see her, though I knew that the next little while wouldn't be easy on her. "Beth, it has been a while, I hope that we don't overwork you too much here, but we have a definite need of your skills." I said as we hugged.

Beth smiled stepping back while looking at me, "I can feel it already with her," She indicated Tanya, "I will do my best to help deal with your problems, which I can tell are multitude. While it won't fix it, hopefully it will give those who've suffered so much, the tools they need to deal with the aftereffects of the abuse and, eventually, heal from it." She closed her eyes. "I think the loss of so many of their Pridemates hurt everyone, even you and your mate are still hurting from those losses. You've buried your grief in work, but you need to let yourself grieve properly." She told me.

That much was true, both Anna and I could still feel the grief at the loss of so many of our fellow cats in the Pride Bonds. What made those losses all that much worse was the fact that among the dead were all of the Elders that had followed Vladimir when he left the Pride eleven years ago. He'd somehow managed to get six of the Pride's eight Elders to follow him and the fact that they'd all died under his leadership had been especially hard on those of us who'd come to Silver Peak from Blackwater. "Yes, we are still hurting." I confirmed, "What hurt us the most was the loss of so many of our Elders." Currently the Pride only has three, and two of those only recently retired."

Beth could only nod as Tanya shivered when she touched her back and I felt the tell-tall warmth on my hand from my daughter's pull-up. "I think that loss hurt you guys more than the rest of those losses combined. I've spoken with others in my line of work, and often the loss of that many Elders in a short period of time really hurts the Pack or Pride that they are part of." She stated removing her hand from Tanya's back.

"Thank you, I am sorry for her reaction Beth, but almost all of the cubs who survived have a deep distrust of females due to the one who was their supervisor." I said sadly while hugging my cub gently while her older brother looked up at her. "Yasmira was a horrible cat, she did awful things to the cubs, and it will take time for them to recover."

"I can try and do my best Mark, but I know that it won't be easy." She told me as one of the Pride's Juniors walked over to Adam and bowed his head in submission.

"Sir we can take care of your vehicle for you. It will be ready to go in the morning."

For his part, Adam nodded to the cat and handed him the remote to his vehicle after grabbing a pair of overnight bags for Brook, Tala, and himself. Jess had made a grab for the bags, and had glared softly at her Alpha, as she grabbed a bag for herself and two larger bags for Shawn and Beth.

I turned slightly and nodded to my mate at the interplay between the wolves in Adam's family, because essentially that was what it was. It was at that point that Sergey stepped forwards and offered to take Adam's bag.

"Sir I can take those for you and take them to Wild Valley Suite." He said with a smile, he was comfortable around Adam and I knew that for the most part, he'd enjoyed his stay at Wild Valley.

Adam grinned at my eldest son, "Hi Sergey. How have you been?" He asked before giving him a hug, "I can carry a bag. It's mostly what Brook, my daughter, and I need for the night, as tomorrow all of us other than Beth and Shawn are headed up to the Pack."

Sergey nodded and then turned and nodded to Jess before offering to take his younger brother's bag.

At the same time Anna and I were talking to Beth about what damage had been wrought on the Pride by the one who'd done his best to destroy those that had followed him. "When Vladimir and his followers broke their bonds to the Pride elven years ago, that hurt all of us." Anna said looking at Beth hugging her gently.

"Then three months ago," I began, "When we found out that they'd mostly all died..."

Anna carried on, "It tore our hearts out. I think that most of us were prepared, to some extent, for this, but we weren't prepared for the full horror of what Vlad and those like him did." She said gently as she stepped over to me and rested a hand on Tanya's back. "Almost every cub that survived Yasmira's torments has had some problems... they are all regressing emotionally to some extent or other, though I am hoping we can do something for them. If we let it go on for too long it may impact their emotional development.

Beth nodded slightly and I could see the concern for our cubs on her face, "I will be here, and I know a few others that I have made contact with that will be able to give me some assistance as well to help, but this won't be an easy task."

Both Anna and I nodded at that as a man limped out of the Pride House, followed by a woman and two children. "Alpha," He said nodded to Adam, before turning to me. "Sir..."

"Roger," I began smiling slightly, "two days ago, he showed up at our gates with his family, telling me that they'd been kicked out of Midnight Forest for his injuries. That had incensed me since he'd sacrificed much for his pack, only to be ejected due to an injury sustained in their service."

Adam growled, "I hate it when so-called Alphas do that to members. They fought and were injured for the pack, and when they need the pack, they are kicked out. I have seen several, and when I can, I offer them refuge."

I nodded and I could see that Roger was looking hopefully at Adam, "Sir, I mean I fought against Mark and his Pride... lost my foot from that damned machine gun that we didn't know about. The reason I am here is because he saved my life after the battle." He said looking down at the metal foot that I'd had provided him with, "I don't really fit in here, I'm a wolf but I have nowhere else to go, and I know that Mark is a good sort and would help."

Adam nodded, "Since Mark is vouching for you, why don't we sit down and talk at lunch?"

I smiled when Roger nodded, "Yes sir, in the main plaza? Or in my guest room with my family?" He asked.

I stepped over to Adam and smiled, "Thank you Adam, now how about we go inside and take a look at our oversized Pride House?" I gave my friend a grin as I said that, I knew that he would appreciate some of the details that we'd added when we rebuilt the place. "Vladimir wanted to impress any visitors with this place, though we did take out his centerpiece." I said as we headed into the foyer, followed by Anna and the rest of the wolves, with Shawn and Roger taking up the rear.

Happily I pointed out several features before I said, "I am thinking that Anna and I would like to steal your idea with those paw-print Plaques, if you are okay with it."

Adam laughed and nodded, "Feel free to do it, it makes a nice way of showing the legacy of for our Pack and I don't doubt that it would do the same for your Pride. Eventually they will also serve as a great learning tool for your descendants." He stopped as we reached the plaza and looked up at the massive polished red trunk in the middle and gasped, "Well, it certainly is impressive!"

I nodded with a smile, "Yes it definitely is nicer than what was here before, Vladimir had a massive carving of himself in this place."

I could see him trying to frame his thoughts into words before Brook laughed, "This seems to be something that you and Anna would do, it looks impressive and at the same time almost elegant."

Anna laughed, "We used Vladimir's oversized statue to fuel the bier for his victims." She stated with a slight growl.

Jess was also looking up and she shook her head slightly, "I would hate to have to clean up there," She indicated the upper areas of the plaza, which even I admitted were a pain to clean.

Sergey, who was still following us, gave a rueful laugh at Jess's comment, "You've got that right. I mean that we may be cats, but us Siberians are no more comfortable with all that empty space under our paws than you guys are. Falling from the upper levels is dangerous, thank goodness nobody has." He finished as I headed for one of the four sets of stairs around the perimeter of the plaza, though we could also have ridden in one of the three elevators. I swiftly guided Adam and his family to the suite that we'd reserved for Wild Valley and paused when we reached the door, "Be glad you don't have to see what this place was like before we renovated, though you probably know about it from talking with Zane."

"Yes, he told us about it." Brook replied, "From his descriptions, to how it looks now I think it really is a massive improvement."

I smiled and nodded pointing to the door in front of me that was marked with the sigil of Wild Valley. "Here we go, Wild Valley Suite, as long as we are friends and you or members of your pack are passing through this will be your suite." I stepped back and smiled, letting Adam, Jess, and Beth step into the large living area of the suite, "If you would like I can give you some time to get settled in and sorted out after being stuck in the vehicle for so long." I didn't say it but I suspected that they wanted to use the washroom, and possibly get Tala into something a bit fresher than what she was wearing, though in truth I had to do the same for Tanya.

Adam placed his bag down on the living room table and shook his head, wrapping an arm around his mate, "Don't need any time. I'm sure that you have some things that you'd like to discuss."

I looked at Anna and nodded, "Yes Adam, I have much to discuss with you and Brook, and I felt that some of the things I wanted to tell you would be better if I told you them in person." I said as we turned around and headed back to the plaza where we made our way up the stairs. I was happy that Brook had handed their daughter to Jess, what we were going to be discussing weren't topics for children, so when we reached the Plaza I gently handed Tanya to her older brother before we headed to the office.

When we reached the office, I gestured to the credenza, which I kept stocked with a healthy variety liquid refreshments. "You must be thirsty after your long drive; can we get you something to drink?"

Adam and Brook both nodded and thanked us before they grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the mini-fridge. "Had a water bottle, but ran out about an hour ago." Adam said.

As he sat down Brook made herself, and her mate a cup of coffee.

I sat down behind my desk and took a moment to pop the hidden drawer before pulling out the notebook, pictures, and medals."These belonged to Vladimir, Tanya helped me find them the day we took this place." I told them as I handed them the contents of the desk, though I didn't show them the handgun. "This desk, as well as his closet each contained some secret compartments. The one in his closet contained his uniforms, NKVD and KGB."

Adam and Brook nodded, surprised, and flipped through the notebook, "That shows that not only was he rogue, he was also a traitor before he decided to leave. Do we know if they were just using Cats, or were there other Weres that were part of the groups?" Adam asked.

I reached over to the printer and grabbed a sheet of paper and handed them the sheet of paper with the names and locations of the known Hammers. "If you will take a look at that you can see that the Crimson Hammers are made up of both wolves and cats." I said grimly, "It details where they are from and what species they are."

Adam sighed, "We are going to need to keep an eye out for them, then. It looks like they were all from communist-block countries, and while I have a few that were, I think part of how we are structured, the fascist ways Russian Communist Party and those that supported it, wouldn't survive in the way I have it set up.

I nodded my head, "I feel pretty much the same way Adam, Anna and I have worked hard to remove any sign of the former organization that we used to have and instead offer a current system that is more equitable." I told him leaning back in my chair. "However, the risk is still there, and I don't want to underestimate what they can do. I'd rather overestimate and find that I took too many precautions rather than underestimate and find out afterwards that I should have done more to guard against them." I told him, "Shanna, Olaf, and Vladimir's younger sister Vera all felt that the Crimson Hammers presented a clear and present danger that wasn't to be scoffed at." I finished.

"We're going to keep an eye out, but not let it be suspicious of our packmates. Doing so would just lay into their hands." Brook stated, "There is nothing more than watch for unusual behaviour to be dealt with."

I nodded, "That is probably for the best, we can't let ourselves be pushed into doing something that we wouldn't normally do." I sighed for a moment as Anna came in and said down in her own chair before sliding it over to mine. "We're also working with Vera to move some of her most vulnerable young people here in order to escape the threat, though we've yet to receive word from her as to how many will accept our solution." I stated while I caught Anna's hand in mine and I couldn't help but smile.

"Gah, Mark can be such a stubborn cat sometimes, but I do love him." She said, "He also thinks too much about the threat posed by those old radicals. While we have more pressing concerns, such as restarting our income and getting the help our cats need."

Adam smiled and nodded, "I know Mark can be, but he's been getting better." Giving a sigh, "Well, I think we've thrashed that topic; have anything else, something happy?"

Anna smiled, "Well we could show you the entire Pride house but first," She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a decently sized box and handed it to Brook. "For all you've done for us I commissioned our Master Jeweller to construct this. He had a hand in the originals that were made more than a hundred and thirty years ago."

Brook grinned, "It's lovely. You