Silver Moon: Bk. 02 Ch. 08

The first thing Dan was going to need to do was to take control of her and her wolf and that was going to be difficult. In the state she was in if he did it wrong he might have to completely shut her down mentally. If he was forced to do that the Mistress only knew how long if ever before she recovered. Right off the top he could tell that she was mainly fighting the restraining wards. The more she resisted the more they restrained and no wolf would willingly stand for that. "Everyone out of the room now, cast a ward on all exits from this room and stay out till I say otherwise." His voice was quiet and even since the more calm he could remain the more her wolf would pick that up.

Xipil frowned. *Are you sure Dan? In the state she is in I honestly don't know how much damage she could do before she is subdued again.* They were backing away from the trapped woman as he was talking to Dan.

*I know what I am doing. I can protect myself and as long as I can keep her focus on me I should be able to help her. Now get out and release the wards on her.* His voice was still quiet but it carried an overtone of command in it.

Xipil bowed slightly and was the last out. The moment they had the wards placed over every exist and then released the restraining wards on her. When they did that she leapt away from the corner and moved to another. As she was moving the markings covering most of her body could be seen. The spiritual stench of evil flowed off them and made many of the Kitsunes gag.

Dan looked at her and made note of the markings but kept his main focus on the woman. Looking at her she was definitely of a Native Indian descent and had been a striking woman. Now her body was disfigured by the markings as well as signs of deliberate disfigurement. Whoever had done the work had spared her face and only her face. While he was examining her he was carefully touching her with his pack magic and specifically the magic from his world and not this one. His spirit was getting a feel for what was going on with her as well.

The staring contest lasted for some time since she didn't take her eyes off his at all. The only noises she was making were guttural animalistic sounds. They were mixed in with barks and growls as well. Her body was tense and quivering with the need to do something. Eventually she did move and it was all attack. She was swinging, clawing, kicking, and biting for all she was worth. When she did it was in and out attacks. She would attack, launch a few blows and leap away.

Dan didn't strike back at all but he did block the worst of the blows. The longer she attacked the more tired she would become and eventually easier to deal with. If he could get her to wear herself out and then feed her it would definitely be a step forward. As much as he hated the thought he had to treat her like an injured and scared animal. Let her wear herself out and then feed her and try and win her over. Once she was feed and asleep he could try asking the spirits for help on how to deal with her.

Outside Xipil sent all but his most powerful spirit users away to reduce the woman's discomfort. He reasoned the fewer people around the less she would stress. He stayed there though just in case she did something Dan wasn't expecting or couldn't handle. As he was watching her attack Dan he could see trickles of blood from where she had clawed him or bit him and had to wince. Those had to hurt but Dan wasn't showing any reaction other than to keep her to the front of him.

Inside Dan could tell she was starting to get tired finally and he had been there for several hours letting her wear herself out. By now he had a number of injuries scattered across his body though they were healing as she inflicted them. The longer she attacked him the more confused she seemed to become since he wasn't attacking and hadn't laid a finger on her. Her wolf was starting to take notice of his wolf as well though there wasn't any trust as of yet.

Now that she was starting to slow down he started using his pack magic to send out soothing feelings. They weren't aimed at her since that would probably set her off. Instead he simply let them flow out of his spirit and go where they wanted to. Since they weren't focused on her hopefully her wolf wouldn't take it as an attack and better yet she wouldn't notice. If every time he walked in she calmed down she would eventually come to associate him with peace or so he hoped. "Xipil get a large tray of fresh meat and a bowl of water. I can feel her hunger and it has been a while. Now that she is calming down it would be a good time to feed her."

Xipil did just that before frowning when Amariah and Amarish appeared next to him. Amarish contacted Dan. *Alpha Danny I has some mousys for you to gives her. Theys are very fresh.* Hose toddled up with his little bag and handed it to Amarish.

Dan almost growled at him but decided not to. They had definitely gotten her attention and he could feel a war inside. Part of her wanted to attack anything near her but her wolf knew they were pups and had to be protected. She started growling and while facing him slowly moved so she was between him and the pups. "Good girl, protect the pups and kits. See you are still somewhere inside." *Amarish toss a few mice through the ward and see what she does. Amariah call her to get her attention. See if she notices the mice and takes them.*

Dan slowly moved away from her and held his hands up. As he moved she made a few dashes towards him as if to chase him away. Each time she would crouch back in front of the three and growl at him. When Amarish took a few mice from the little pouch Hose was carrying and tossed them in Dan had to grin. The little pup looked extremely happy that he could help.

Amariah scooted as close to the ward as was safe and called out. "We has mousys for you. Eat mousys while keeping we's safe." She was trying really hard not to stutter and was mostly successful. One or two had slipped out but other than that she did fine. "Comes eat mousys. Keeps yous going."

The female finally noticed the mice lying next to her and she carefully lifted one up and sniffed it from head to tail before eating it. She did this with the other mice that were near her and she looked pleased. Why Dan wasn't sure but he had a feeling whatever food she had been given had been corrupted or gone bad.

A few minutes later the meat and water Xipil had ordered arrived though he had kept the man out of sight. *Put the tray down. Amarish and Amariah pick the tray up and bring it to the warding and push it through. She might trust the meat better coming from you. Do the same with the water bowl.*

Hose helped as well by pushing the bowl of water towards the door. He did spill some of the water but most was still in the bowl. By now most of the other pups were gathered out of sight and watching. When Gianni noticed Hose having some problems she hurried over and gave him a hand.

The female twitched when Gianni came into view and made a querying sound at her. Gianni glanced at Dan and then the woman. "I's Gianni and this Hose, Amarish, and Amariah." Once the bowl was inside she looked at the woman. "Alpha Danny is the wolfs over there and he's good alpha. He's take cares of you." She was solemn as she spoke.

The four of them watched as the female wolf started to sniff the meat once piece at a time before eating it. *Danny what's wrong with her?* Gianni was rather upset by what she was smelling and seeing. *Can yous help hers?*

Dan gave her a slight shrug. *I don't know Gianni, I simply don't know. She is further gone than any wolf I have ever seen and I can't tell how far she will come back from what was done. I want the four of you to say where she can see you since you aren't a threat. It will hopefully give her something to focus on and draw her wolf forward. Are the other pups with you?*

Gianni nodded and gulped as he talked. *Theys over theres out of sight. Does you want them to does something?*

He contemplated it. *Maybe, I might have them replace each of you periodically so you can relax and eat. Why don't you change and make a small puppy pile and take a nap. It will make her feel like she has accomplished something.* As he watched the two Kitsunes changed to their fox forms and Hose and Gianni stripped and changed to their puppy forms and curled up with Amarish and Amariah.

Dan almost had to smile since her eyes got large when the Kitsunes changed. Since he was feeling tired he shifted to his wolf form and mentally grumbled at his tails. He settled down and curled up as well and closed his eyes.

When he changed he could feel the female staring at him now and just for good measure he twitched his tails at her. Once he was curled up he fanned them out so they all showed. Just for good measure he twitched his ears a few times as well.

He didn't realize it at first but the other pups started changing forms and eventually the pile of pups filled the doorway. The female simply sat there and stared at all the pups. Her eyes would flash between them and the weird looking wolf. Why did it have colorful tails and why did they remind her of something? What she couldn't bring forward, or her mind wouldn't let her bring forward which irritated her.

She finally changed forms as well and curled up in front of the doorway between the other wolf and the pups. Between the full belly and attacking the other she was exhausted and quickly passed out.

~~~

Once she was asleep Dan contemplated what to do with her. He wasn't going to leave her in this room since there was that secret room and heaven only knew what else hiding away. They needed to move her to a different room and one that was setup for a wolf on the edge. He finally contacted Maric. *Maric get with Pam and Xipil to find a room for this wolf. It needs to be wolf proof yet comfortable. A source of water, somewhere for bodily wastes, and a heavy canvas mattress. Maybe a few blankets as well. Take care of it and let me know when you are done.*

*Yes boss, consider it taken care of and I will let you know.* He was still on light duty from his poisoning and it felt good to have something to do. It was mostly going to be supervising but still it was something Nara wouldn't feel the need to nag him about.

"Nara Dan gave me some very light work to do. Do you want to come along and make sure I am not overworking myself?" There was a slight grin on his face when he said that. Yes they were mates but they were still feeling their way into it. They were both from totally different backgrounds so that was something they were working on. There were compromises they had to make as well.

She gave him a hug and leaned against him. "I am glad that Dan is back. All of you have been off center since he has been gone and I would love to come with you. It will be nice to get out of the rooms and wander around." She didn't feel comfortable simply wandering around unless it was with the local pack or Maric's pack. There were still some of the officials who were rather upset by the former emperor being killed. She was sure they would take pleasure in managing to do something to hurt the pack and that included something aimed at her.

Maric returned the hug and gave her a good kiss. "I am pleased as well since he does provide a sense of stability for the pack and the Kitsunes that now look to him." He held her for a few minutes and felt the babies moving and smiled. "Shouldn't be too much longer now should it. A month or so?" She had been five or so months pregnant when Dan went north when Mari delivered and it had been about two months since then. Realistically she could deliver almost any time now.

She grinned. "Could be but you just want to know so you can try and get in all the sex you want before I am too far along." He had most definitely been active since they had discovered each other. That wasn't a complaint in anyway but sometimes he tended to wear her out.

"Well of course silly woman." He wrapped an arm around her as they walked out of the room they were assigned. As they were walking he was contemplating what Dan had wanted for the room. The only one he could really think of in the Imperial quarters was a storage room. It would be easy to secure but it would have to be cleaned out. He sent a call out to the local pack for some people to come and help clean it out.

It didn't really take all that long to get the room emptied and cleaned. The mattress was a bit harder to come up with but they had finally found something that would work. The other items Dan had asked for had been taken care of as well. It had required some modification but eventually it was done. *Okay Dan the room has been taken care of and is ready.*

~~~

Now that she was asleep Dan carefully insinuated his mind into hers and deepened the sleep. This way they could move her to the other room with minimal hassle. He was going to need to talk to the pups parents to see about letting them play and sleep outside the room. He was hoping it would help her keep calm and recover sooner. Tonight he was going to try and talk to one of the spirits about the markings on her body. If they could even get rid of the poisons it would help. He wasn't going to hold out any hopes of removing the actual marks. If she survived time would take care of that hopefully.

He finally stood up and waited to see if she reacted. When she didn't he shifted forms and waited a while longer. He finally approached her and squatted down next to her and gently moved her to get a better look at the markings. They were going to need to either make sketches or have one of the spirits take a look. *Xipil she is out of it for the moment so adjust the wards so that as I move her to the other room they will follow.*

The Kitsunes and wolves chased the kids out of the hall for the moment as Dan picked her up. He held her close as he stepped out of the room and felt the wards adjusting for his movement. Eventually he was at the room and gave it a good look and was satisfied. In one corner was a large box of dirt she could use in either form for bodily functions. The mattress looked like two old horse blankets that had been quickly stitched around a padded mattress from one of the soldier's beds.

After laying her down he moved out of the room and released the sleep compulsion he had placed on her. She would wake up eventually and since he wanted to talk to the mother's of some of the pups he could do that here. Amariah and Amarish weren't a problem. He contacted some of the mothers and had them meet him there. He explained what he was doing and what he wanted. While they were discussing it the woman woke up and snarled at all of them for several minutes.

Since they were completely ignoring her it threw her wolf for a loop and she simply didn't know what to do. Eventually Dan and the parents came to a satisfactory solution. The pups could sleep and play there but there would be guards just in case. Dan readily agreed to that and after thanking them stood. "Well I am going to go and see how the troops are doing after getting something to eat." He headed towards Pam's room to see what was available.