The artreans that had accompanied Meredith and Elder Talon were all warriors, of a sort. We had prepared until late into the night, discussing strategies and tactics, but mostly defensive moves that would be effective against the children's powers.

The problem was, we wouldn't really know what we were up against until we were in the thick of it. The overall strategy remained the same: capture Earnest Wamp, get the children out safely.

The artreans declined our offer of a place to rest, disappearing back into the woods. Our plan was to attack the following night, in the dark, as everyone was asleep or falling asleep. Sleep was difficult to come by for ourselves, and I lay until sunrise with Ben in my arms, sleep eluding me. With the soft warm light filling the bedroom, and the nervous tension vibrating in my bones, I couldn't stay in bed any longer.

I padded downstairs as silently as I could, hoping that the others in the house were able to get their sleep, but I was not the first one up.

Jesse, of course, was making tea.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jesse smile was knowing.

I sat at the kitchen table. "Yeah. You too?"

He caressed his stomach. "I don't sleep for long right now. My bladder wakes me up if this little one doesn't kick me awake."

"Can't say I have that excuse."

"You do need to rest." Jesse's voice was firm, but gentle in his authority as the Alpha's mate.

"I don't dare take any medicine. I don't want it to interfere with my reactions tomorrow."

Jesse pulled two mugs out of the cupboard and placed a teabag in one, and then reach for another box and placed a different teabag in the other. He filled both up with water and handed me the second mug.

"This is an herbal blend that Meredith made. It will make it easy for you to fall asleep, but it won't force you to sleep"

I eyed the mug for a moment, skeptical. But he was right. I needed sleep, or I would be more of a danger to my pack than an asset. I'd try the fancy tea.

I expected something bitter, but the tea reminded me of warm winter nights, and hot chocolate, and holiday spices.

"Not too bad, hmmm?" Jesse sat across from me with his mug. "You finish that, and then crawl into bed with your mate, and I promise you you'll be asleep in five minutes, with no residual effects when you wake. And as a bonus, it's safe for pregnant people."

I drank the mug quickly and placed it in the sink. "Thank you," I said simply.

"Anytime." Jesse's mug was only halfway empty, but he seemed content to enjoy his remaining tea alone.

I did as he suggested and crept back into bed with my mate. The same thoughts that had pestered me in the hours previous had not gone away, but they did fade into the background, leaving enough space in my mind to rest.

* * *

Of the seven artreans who had come the night before, only the five fighters would be joining us. They didn't volunteer much information on their social structure, though I suppose that if anyone knew much about it, it would be Ryan currently. Or Caspar. But pulling words out of him was like yanking toenails. But that was a curiosity for another day. They appeared at Asher's house at the agreed on hour. It would take us at least two hours to drive up to Smith County, and we wanted time to stretch and mentally prepare ourselves before starting our attack.

Talon had introduced them all last night, but my mind had been too occupied to remember their real names, and instead I had given them all labels, based on their specialties. Blade was the most stereotypical fighter among them. He favored two katanas strapped to his back, and had a muscular body that rivaled our alphas. Gadget provided us with bracelets that he said would function as shields against any powers that originated in psychic energy. He went into a long explanation about what that would look like, but what I got out of it was it would protect us from pretty much anything, unless someone picked up a log with their mind and hurled at us. The only qualification to that was that we had to be prepared. The shield wasn't a passive protection. We had to place it between us and our attacker, which meant it wouldn't be very good if a group of them ganged up on us. It was better than nothing.

Element's nickname was perhaps the least inventive of my uncreative names, as she was, in their words, an elementalist. She could control wind, earth, air, and fire, and had left all of us reeling with a series of "simple" demonstrations where she tossed fire back and forth between her hands, generated a small whirlwind that nearly tore our clothes off us, made water flow upward from a spigot instead of to the ground, and caused a minor earthquake.

X-ray had crazy vision. He could see through just about any material, the effects of any power, and apparently any lie, though I didn't see how that was connected to the other two.

The last was Zeus. I suppose I could have called him something weird like Electro, but that sounded really cheesy. He could apparently send out bolts of lightning from his fingers.

Talon and Meredith swore up and down that none of these abilities were gifts like the children had, but learned powers, that took years and years of training to master. All I could say was that I didn't know of any humans or shifters running around sending water swirling through the sky shooting lightning bolts, but I wasn't entirely sure the artreans were human either.

I was glad Simon had managed to distract my family. I hadn’t asked how, I was simply grateful they weren’t present to upset my equilibrium. I couldn’t afford that today.

Once gathered, we all had a chance to say goodbye to those who were staying behind. Ben held Evan in his arms, and I wrapped the two of them in a giant hug. "I will be back, and when I return, I will have Liam. I promise you."

Ben nodded, tears in his eyes, but the worries did not threaten to overtake the way they had the night before. Maybe it was my reassurances, or maybe it was finally being able to fly free once more last night, but in the end, all that mattered was that he was here safe, and that I was coming home to him.

* * *

We stood in a circle around the old well. It was covered with one of those metal ground basement doors.

"So, this is it?" Asher looked to Caspar for confirmation.

Casper nodded his head, his long hair shaking over his shoulders.

I took a deep breath and looked around at the men and woman gathered in the circle. Everyone wore similar masks of determination. With a nod from Asher, Dallas and Ryan stepped forward and pulled open the metal doors.

Even though they looked old, they opened smoothly and silently, indicating well used and well-oiled hinges. There were three steps leading down but they simply ended in a black hole.

"So… Do we just jump in?" Simon asked the question we had all been wondering.

"Yes." Casper's answer left no room for argument.

Asher stepped up to the edge of the doors. "Well, here we go. We won't be any more prepared by standing around and waiting." He stepped over the edge down the three steps and then stepped once more and fell into darkness.

One by one, we followed, giving the person in front of us enough time to get out of the way of wherever we landed. I followed Dallas, and as I jumped through the whole, the familiar slimy ooze of a portal washed over me, trickling into my nose. But the sensation didn’t last long, just like the other portal. Within moments my center of gravity had shifted, and I landed on my back. I rolled out of the way and shook myself like, well, a cat. A few minutes later, and the rest of our party was through.

"That was absolutely disgusting." Simon. the last through, stuck out his tongue as if trying to scrape off a bad taste.

"You're not supposed to like it," I said with a straight face.

"Okay Casper, now that we’re in, can you sense Wamp?"

Casper pointed to a path to our immediate right.

"How far?"

"Maybe five minutes," Casper answered. "But they are already aware of our arrival."

We spread out in groups of three into the forest, avoiding the trail, except for Caspar and Asher, who walked it, exposed, as if they didn't have a care in the world. Asher's hope was that Caspar's foresight would give them enough of a warning to avoid a sneak attack, but I thought that was being optimistic. Their goal was to keep Wamp's attention on them, and hopefully the children's, while we circled around. It would have been nice if Gavin knew what his own power was, so that we could count on him for a little backup, but he was one of a handful who had not discovered what their gift was.

We already knew to be wary of the phoenix, though I had proven that we could survive a hit from him. Multiple hits, however... We just had to be careful. The other powers Gavin had called out that gave me concern were the mindweaver, who could make us see things that didn't exist, a reality builder, who could build temporary items—like walls or cages—out of nothing, and a sleeper, who could drop someone into a coma just by touching them. Honestly, all of the powers could be dangerous in the right or wrong conditions, but those were the three I was most concerned about. They could cause us the most trouble and Gavin was certain they would fight in Wamp's defense.

The woods were strangely serene. Birds still chirped, as if they didn't notice or care about our presence. 

I was paired with Element and Simon. Element surprised me at how quietly she could move through the forest, almost as quiet as Simon and me. Or maybe just me. I winced as Simon stepped on a twig. The snap seemed to echo through the forest. As we stood there, we heard a loud voice, so loud, it seemed as if it came from a speaker system.

"Asher Lambert."

The voice came from the road, and wasn’t directed at us. I signaled the team to start moving with more speed, though I kept my eyes scanning the trees above as well as the ground in front of us. We had no idea how these children were trained to attack. A least one of them was able to fly, but Gavin hadn't marked them as a sure Wamp defender. 

"Did your pet seer bring you here?"

I could hear the sneer in his voice. If Asher responded, I didn't hear it.

"I knew once you attacked my place that it wouldn't be long before we met in battle, either here or out in the prime."

This guy was a talker. He just loved to hear himself speak. That would be useful, if Caspar and Asher could keep him distracted talking about himself.

Simon suddenly signaled for us to stop. I had been paying too much attention to Wamp. Simon gestured before us. I hear something. 

We couldn't mindspeak to Element, but she caught the gist of it, and we melted behind trees. No one in the pack was in their animal forms. Our hope was that we would be less intimidating to the children as humans, but we all wore loose clothing in case we needed to shift quickly.

My ears perked as I caught the rustle that had drawn Simon's attention. I dared a peek from behind some ferns, but I didn't see any movement.

"Why have you been kidnapping children, Wamp?" Asher's voice was faint, but it was loud enough to cover up any sounds of movement around us. Damn it. But we needed to keep Wamp talking.

"Kidnapping?" Even I, who was notoriously bad at interpreting emotions, could hear the false surprise in his voice. "I've been saving these kids. It's you and others like you who are trying to take them, to twist them."

"You murdered their families, Wamp." Asher's voice was louder. Hopefully the discussion was able to deter some of the kids from following Wamp blindly. 

As his words faded, I caught the tail end of another rustle, and was able to connect it with a shift of a sapling at the far edge of my vision.

The phoenix is with Wamp, Asher broadcast as Wamp started in on another lie about his benevolence. Anyone else see anything?

We've got something over here, Simon responded to his brother, including me in the conversation. Engage or hold?

Hold. See if there's anyone else waiting.

The tree moved again, and a dark heard of curly hair peeked through the trees before falling low to the ground. There was something about the movements that made me uneasy. Asher—can Caspar contact Gavin?

There were several moments of silence before Asher responded. No.

"Cover me," I mouthed to Simon and Element, and then I broke cover, running quickly from one tree to the next, hoping to draw out any hidden attack. But none came. With growing dread, I headed directly for the thatch of curly hair I'd seen fall to the ground. The young man lay still in a natural ditch and I slid to a stop beside him, flipping him over gently. Gavin's eyes blinked slowly.

"Gavin? Gavin, are you okay? Answer me!"

"It's... a... trap..." he managed to get out. "They're... gone."

"What do you mean, gone? Where did they go? Come on, Gavin, you've gotta help me out here."

"Gonna... trap us... forever."

Ice trickled through my veins. 

"Is everyone gone?"

Gavin's eyes fluttered closed and I slapped his cheeks lightly.

"Gavin. Gavin, wake up! What did they do to you?"

"Sleep... made me... sleep..."

I wasn't sure whether my nephew was drugged or dying, and his words weren't helping to alleviate either fear. "Come on, buddy. We gotta get you outta here."

I slung Gavin over my shoulder in a fireman's carry. Asher, Simon, Gavin says it's a trap. He's really out of it, but if he's not talking nonsense, no one is here.

What about Wamp? He's right here in front of me.

I don't know, but figure it out. I think a tactical retreat is in order.

Suddenly, a bone shaking roar shook the forest, and I felt Asher's shock and surprise wash over us, fragments of his thoughts echoing down our open connection. Shit—Caspar—what the fuck! And then moments later, Fuck! He wasn't real. Kurt's right, everyone out, now, now, now!

Simon was running back to the portal with Element as I caught up with them, explaining what he could through panting breaths. We had abandoned all pretense of stealth. Ryan, Gadget and X-ray were the first to arrive, and Ryan yelled back to us, "The portal is gone!"

“No,” X-ray corrected him. “It is simply blocked.” The cave that had been the opening to the portal previously seemed like it was covered in natural rock now.

Element suddenly sped past me, and I nearly lost my feet as the earth shifted in her wake. She seemed to be riding a wave of earth and it deposited her in front of the portal. She began blasting streams of powered water at the rock, and it crumbled under her force. She cleared a hole big enough for even Caspar to fit through and climbed up the pile of rubble.

“It’s shrinking!” she yelled, sticking her hand in. With a scream, a torrent of wind rose behind her and plunged into the portal. "I need Gaston!”

I had no idea who she meant until Zeus skidded to a stop beside her, his hands sparking with blue electricity as he plunged his hands in next to hers. "We don't have much time! We need to go through, now!"

There was a moment of hesitation. If someone on the opposite side was actively trying to close the portal, they would surely be waiting to attack any stragglers.

"I'll go." Blade stepped up, unsheathing his swords. "Someone give me a boost; I'll need to come out of the portal flying."

Dallas and Ryan stepped forward, using their hands as stirrups. Element and Zeus stepped to either side of the portal, looking as though they were trying to physically stretch it open. On the count of three, Dallas and Ryan boosted Blade through.

"Next," Element commanded. "We can't wait for him to get clear. We may not have enough time for everyone as it is."

One by one, Dallas and Ryan boosted everyone through until it was just them, Zeus and Element, and me and Gavin, who was completely unconscious at this point.

"Go," Element growled. 

"How are we going to get you through?" I asked.

"Let us worry about that." The portal was still growing smaller despite the power they were pouring into it. "Go."

I stepped into Dallas and Ryan's hands. "You assholes better make it through next, or else you have me to answer."

In reply, they grunted and lifted, throwing me through the portal. The ooze of the passage barely registered before I was scrambling for a grip on the short set of stairs back in the real world. Someone dragged Gavin off my back and then returned to hoist me the rest of the way out with hands gripping my armpits. Chaos swirled around us. I caught a glimpse of Asher diving out of the way of a teenage girl wielding flaming whips. Gadget knelt before the doors, holding a physical shield that sparked and cracked as power-driven blows glanced off it.

Find Wamp, Asher's voice bellowed in my mind. Our only hope of ending this is incapacitating him. I saw Simon wince. He must have broadcast to all of us. I whirled at a crash behind me and turned to see X-ray pull him up the stairs. Ryan followed shortly after, with Element and Zeus clinging to his ankles. I set Gavin down behind Gadget and went to help. 

"Asher says we need to find Wamp. But how do we even know if he's here in this craziness?" I said, the reality of our situation finally settling in. It had always seemed like a crazy idea, going up against a mad man and his horde of power wielding kids, but I'd assumed we'd be able to convince the kids, or control them. I clearly had a lot to learn about kids.

"There," X-ray said, pointing to a small rise in the ground overlooking the battle ground. "He's there."

"Beyond the hill?"

"No." X-ray gave me a frustrated look. "On the hill. He's cloaked."

Great. Now we had an invisible mad man and a horde of power wielding kids. Awesome. 

"Gadget, how are you holding up?"

"My reserves are strong."

So, good? "Can you guard Gavin until we get back?"

He nodded. 

"Element, Zeus—"

"If we had more time, I'd educate you on the proper respect of names," Element said with a tired but bemused smile. 

"Feel free. Later. If X-ray can get me up to Wamp without alerting him and losing him, can you do something to control the fight down here?"

They looked at each other and nodded.

"Good. Don't do it until we give the signal that we've got Wamp, though."

"We'll just cause a little extra chaos until then," Zeus said, pulling his hands apart, tiny lightning bolts jumping across the space."

"Fine, just remember—"

"Try not to hurt anyone." He nodded and jumped past Gadget's barrier, Element on his heels. Ryan and Dallas had already tumbled into the fray.

"Okay, X-ray, since you can see him, you can tell where his attention is. Who does he have with him?"

"The phoenix and a small girl I assume is the one who is hiding them."

"Good. Can you guide me up there?"

The distance wasn't far, but there was no way I would be able to find Wamp without X-ray's help, and if Wamp took off, we'd really be screwed, trying to chase an invisible man with only one set of eyes. I let the battle fade to the background, focused only on following X-ray's lead, responding to his gestures.

And then suddenly, I could see him. We had circled to the back of the small hill, and Wamp stood just fifteen feet away with his back to us, a small girl on his left, and the phoenix on his right. "Can you take the phoenix?" I whispered to X-ray. He tilted his head in thought and then nodded yes. "I'll take Wamp, then. We let the girl go. On the count of three... one... two... three..."

We leaped from our positions. The noise of the battle struck me like a bullet but I kept pushing forward. The phoenix spun suddenly, startling Wamp, but X-ray was on him in a moment. He clunked him on the head, and the boy fell to the ground. I didn't have time to feel sorry for him because I was on Wamp. I tackled him to the ground, but he wasn't going down without a fight. He kicked out, flipping us over, and we were tumbling down the hill as he screamed for reinforcements. 

"NOW, ELEMENT!"

Streams of water sprouted from the ground in sudden geysers, arcing over the field, weaving together in a cage. Someone started screaming in fear instead of in battle anger, and a couple kids slipped free before Zeus added his strength, blue lighting sparking up and down the water lines. After a few sharp yelps of pain, the noise subsided and I was able to focus on Wamp. As soon as he realized what the others had done, he continued to roll us over until he pressed me against the electrified water fence. I screamed as it touched my arm and reflexively dropped my hold. Wamp scrambled to his feet, but Dallas tackled him to the ground, and there was no chance he was getting up from that. I took a moment to recover from the shock of the water cage before pushing to my feet. Asher was stuck on the inside of the cage, and came up to its wall. The children were huddled in the center, staying as far away from it as they could.

"Is he secure?"

I whipped out a pair of cuffs and Dallas pushed far enough away from Wamp that I could secure him. "Done," I informed Asher. As the adrenaline faded, I realized that my connection to Ben was tight with tension. He'd probably sensed the swing of my emotions when we came out of the portal. I needed to call him as soon as possible.

He turned to address the children.

"We are not here to hurt you," he said. "My name is Asher Lambert, and I am the Alpha of a pack of shifters who have been looking for this man for—"

Asher was interrupted by a cracking sound. He looked around in confusion, and a small voice said, "The water!"

We all looked up to see the spread of white down the water spouts, dimming the blue arcs of electricity. The water was turning to ice. Before Element could adjust her strategy, there was a sonic boom that knocked us all off our feet, completely destroying the cage. Kids scattered everywhere. I snagged the ankles of two who tried to run by me, and saw the others do the same. Just catch who you can, Asher ordered. 

By the time things settled down, we had only half the kids we'd started with. They were suddenly less terrifying than they'd been a few minutes ago. Instead of miniature warriors, they were just kids. Tired, wet, and scared.

First things, first, I needed to find Ben’s son.

“Liam?” I called over the crowd. “Liam! Has anyone seen Liam?” What would I tell Ben if I had lost his son? Had he been one of the group to escape and run?

The crowd of children rippled as a young boy pushed his way to the front, his hair sandy and his nose long, just like his dad’s. He shook in front of me and I dropped to my knees in front of him. “Liam?”

He nodded.

“My name is Kurt. Your dad sent me to save you.”

“My… dad?” The disbelief in his voice nearly broke my heart. What had he been thinking this whole time? That his dad didn’t care? More likely, that both his parents were dead.

“Your dad, Ben, is alive. As is your little brother Evan… Do you know about the fire?”

Liam nodded, tears brimming in his eyes. “I thought they were all dead! The Master said they were all dead.”

The Master. Is that what he had made the children call him? I wanted to punch his self-righteous face in. But that wouldn’t do Liam any good.

“He is alive, and he has a surprise for you. You’ll see him soon.”

We gathered the rest of the children into a group and herded them into the van we'd brought for this purpose. There were more of them than we had expected, so we weren't able to fit them all. While Asher figured out how to manage that, I called Ben, keeping Liam close by my side.

Instead of answering, Ben initiated a video call. I fumbled with my phone a bit, having never used that feature before, but when I finally got it up, it wasn't Ben's face, but Kit's.

"Hi, Kurt," she said lightly, though I could tell she was covering up something.

"Kit. Where is Ben?"

"Well, funny thing, he's a little busy. Don't freak out; he's fine, but the baby decided to come a little soon."

My world narrowed to the small screen in front of me. "Say what?"

She finally turned the camera so that I could see a pale Ben, who waved at the camera before wincing. "Anyway, Meredith is prepping him for surgery. His body is a little confused as to whether it wants this baby to come right now or not, so we have to help him along a little. He wanted us to wait for you, but we ran out of waiting time."

In the background, I heard Meredith say, "Okay, Ben, we need to administer your anesthesia."

The view of the camera blurred, and I yelled, "Kit, do not hang up on me, do you hear? Do not hang up on me!"

Simon was by my side. "What's going on?"

"Ben's having the baby now. I gotta go." I was already moving to the cars, one hand dragging Liam with me. I hadn’t driven, so I wasn't sure if I planned on hot wiring one or what, but the only thing on my mind was to get to the car.

"Shit. Dallas! Keys!" Simon caught up to me seconds later. "I'm driving."

"Fine." I didn't think to tell Asher or anyone where I was going, my only thought was I had to get back to Ben as soon as possible.