Speaking of soaking in lukewarm pools, that was where Lene and a nearly 1 year old Calcifer were bathing and playing with bubbles. Moonshines comment about the Wolf bloodline being a magnet for trouble proved correct. As Lene lathered up Cal's bright blue fur and bright orange scales her mind wandered over the past few months. This was first time in a long time she was at home with her son and at peace.

The war came and went. Mom was captured by General Igneous along with two new additions to their family, Mirius and Rawsha. Lene now had an adopted sister, though currently, three more siblings were on the way.

Cal giggled and splashed the water. "Bu..bu...bubble!"

"Good job, Cal. That's my bright boy." Lene smiled. Calcifer was just starting to speak real words. He could say Momma, Poppa, Fiwe, Dwagon, and now Bubble. R's were a hard thing for him still.

Lene made more bubbles as her mind went back to the sidetracked thought. The war ended. We got mom and the others back through sheer luck and me being dumb enough to infiltrate General Igneous' army. By the end, I wound up shot in the leg by a Den Soldier and mom and Rawsha still bear the marks and I swear occasional nightmares from the enslavement. Mom's the worst so far. She still has days where she wigs out and turns into someone else mentally.

Calcifer was splashing more and Lene just grinned. "Okay, you're clean enough now kiddo. Let's get you dried and clothed, then you get a cookie while read the paper." She lifted him out of the water and soon the two of them were dry, warm, by a roaring fire and Cal munched a sugar cookie while Lene read the Daily Howl.

Not much was in the news these days. Guess when strife and crime in the Den was happening so much, nothing was really new. At one point in her life she'd read the paper and cringe thinking of how many arrests she'd have to make, but that was no longer the case. The war was over yes, but then something else hit. Nasty magic in the form a Necromancer named Artisia. That bitch managed to kidnap Rawsha, mulch Iimiidiina, my adopted brother, and then captured me and mom.

"D..Dw...Dwink!" Cal said exuberantly. Yay, one more word added to the list. Lene left the table and grabbed a sippy cup filled with grape juice and left Calcifer to vanquish his new liquidy foe.

Sitting down again, Lene pushed the paper aside and rubbed her furred arms feeling cold even in the hot lair. Artisia was a Lupe she never wanted to meet ever again. Lene had met evil once before and was even trained by it in the form and guise of Takhasis. Aunt Tacky though was merely a thing of the past now. What Artisia did and tried to do rivaled Aunt Tacky's insanity. From what the others finally were willing to tell her, Aritisia was trying to make Rawsha into a vampire.

That thought sent a shiver down her spine and into her tail. She flexed her wings for a moment to sooth her nerves. Rawsha was quite broken from that. Oh, as usual, in the nick of time we were all rescued by dad, Igneous which was ironic, and big brother Vuusoolta. Rescued, but not spared disaster. Dad was paralyzed by Amaretto, mom's vile twin that mom made herself, Vuu's pretty much lost his voice permanently from a shard of glass slicing his throat. Rawsha still bears several grafts and mutilations and then there is mom.

Mom's magical powers fizzled out during the war when her mind splintered but something Artisia did brought it all back. So mom had magic once more yet Amaretto petrified mom's right paw just for the hell of it, Lene supposed. Mom rarely talks about what happened between her and Artisia much. This left Lene wondering if Ammy was somehow friendly towards that vile bitch.

Though the worst event is the one I still wake up in panic from. The even that leaves me fighting for breath, feeling trapped in a tomb and cutoff from life. Amaretto had turned me into stone statue, a gift for Artisia. The thought made Lene shiver more, her fur raised and she started to sob.

Calcifer stopped giggling and sipping and looked at momma. "Momma? Momma c..cwy?"

Lene was jerked from her thought to her sons words. Stepped away and kneeling before him, Lene forced a smile. "It's okay Cal. Momma was just sad for a bit. I'll be fine." She lifted him up and hugged him close.

She walked them over to the entry of the cave. Moonshine will be home soon. The thought of her mate warmed the chill in her soul the memories dredged up. After the rescue, Moonshine put his massive foot down and demanded Lene set her priorities as a mother and that was it. No more jobs, no more adventures that kept getting her hurt, kidnapped, and nearly killed. And with out a hesitation, Lene had walked away from everything to be with her family.