•••

Fran shrugged in a very good imitation of Oz. “Sowwy.”

“Let’s go back and find Fred. I’m sure she’s worried about you,” The faun murmured.

“Nah,” Fran disagreed, pulling a licorice candy from his pocket. “Fwed’s got Thawia.”

“And Thalia is worried about you too,” Wesley replied. “Look, see them? Just standing there, looking for you.”

Fran glanced over. “Gwapes. Der wooking at gwapes.”

Wesley winced at Fran’s pronunciation. All of the children, to one degree or another, mangled their l and r sounds. Oh, sometimes they got it right. But the rest of the time… “Let’s make sure they’re getting good grapes, then.”

“What an adorable child.”

Wesley’s head turned slowly. A tall, distinguished-looking older lady was studying him and Fran. “Excuse me?”

“Your child. He is quite beautiful,” The lady said. Wesley noticed Fred and Thalia joining them, bag of grapes in hand.

“Thank you,” Wesley said softly, preparing to turn away. The fact that Fran obviously disliked the woman made the faun wary.

“And this must be…” She continued when she saw Fred. “Your wife. And another lovely child. Twins?”

Fred watched the older lady with suspicious eyes. Thalia was pulling at her hand, trying to get her to move. Fred felt nervous, almost scared. The woman smelled… off. Perhaps that was what was bothering the kids. “Honey? We need to get going. Work, you know.”

“Yes,” Wesley murmured. He nodded to the woman and joined Fred in retreat.

“Is it just me or was that…” Fred began.

“Fran did not like her,” Wesley noted.

“Neither did I,” Fred agreed. “I felt it too.”

“Felt what?” Wesley inquired. He hadn’t particularly liked the woman, but it was only Fran’s odd response that had made him practically run away.

“Something off. It made my hackles… even though I don’t have them right now,” Fred murmured.

Wesley quickly came to the conclusion that the woman wasn’t the least bit humans. No matter how evil, simple human beings didn’t evoke that kind of a response.

•••

“Where is she?” Oz asked flatly. Wes and Fred had just finished describing the eerie woman they’d run across at the market. No one was happy about the incident; they didn’t need any kind of attention, supernatural or otherwise. To everyone’s surprise it was Oz and not Cordelia or Gunn who had the most extreme response to the news. He was obviously furious, something they almost never saw in the placid wolf.

Fred shrugged. “We left her at the market. I mean, were we supposed to ask for her schedule or something?”

Oz growled at his omega. Flip was not the tone of voice to use in this kind of discussion. “You could have followed her.” If Fred had followed the woman, they would know where she was. Now all they had to go on was a stale scent and some scant memories. Such shoddy work on Fred’s part made their job that much more difficult.

“Ah. And who, pray tell, would have cared for Thalia and Fran?” Wesley said sharply.

The alpha wolf glared at Wesley, growling even harder. The faun had only honorary status in the pack; he had no voice in its business. “Fred should have followed her. You could have taken care of both cubs.”

Cordelia stood up, not liking the way her alpha was handling the situation. Yes, they were a pack, but they weren’t just werewolves. Wil, Angel, Xander and Wesley all had a place amongst them, but with the exception of Wesley, they were staying out of the conversation. Oz had made it abundantly clear that he was in charge. “The kids are fine,” She told him bluntly. “And we’ll probably never see her again. I think Fred did the right thing, Oz. She protected my girl and got everyone home safe.”

“She’s still out there,” Oz grumbled. “And could come back.” He began to pace, eyes flashing. His pack was in danger. Someone was targeting the young, the weakest of them. He had a responsibility to protect the little ones, and that couldn’t be accomplished by sitting at home. No, a hunt had to be called. There were…things that hunted werewolves, fed off them. Killed his kind for sport. Such atrocities would not be visited upon Cordelia’s cubs. There was only one way to ensure that, however.

“So we’ll keep our eyes open for the next six months or so, until we leave,” Gunn reasoned. He was worried for his children, probably more so than Oz. But he could find it within himself to tamp down the urge to go after the woman because he knew it wouldn’t help. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to find some inanimate object upon which to vent his rage and fears. He just wasn’t going to go terrorizing all of Syracuse because he felt like he couldn’t protect his kids.

“We find her now,” Oz demanded. “And we get rid of this threat.” Everyone froze. That was a direct order from the pack’s alpha. Oz was not going to back down; nor would he accept any insubordination. Wesley and Xander shared a look. This was the first time Oz had demanded the obedience of his pack for anything serious. In the past, his orders had been mostly for keeping the peace. This, though, was different. He was ordering Fred, Cordelia and Gunn to join him in a hunt. One with deadly consequences. They had no way to protest this sudden decision; all they could do was watch as their lovers went off into the night.

Wil wanted very badly to stand up, to say something. He didn’t like the idea of the pack going after this woman. After all, there was every possibility she was just another woman, admiring a child. Odd people abounded, and not all of them were evil. The blonde said nothing, however. The pack was part of their larger group, but Oz was unquestionably its alpha. Wil had no say in the group’s leadership, and in Oz’s current state he might just get chewed on for speaking up. A quick glance at Angel told him his Sire was thinking the same thing. It was agonizing.

Gunn and Cordelia shared a look. Their alpha had given a direct order. As one, they stood, followed by Fred. For them, there was no question. They would hunt. Consequences would come later. “Watch them,” Cordelia murmured to Wil as the pack moved towards the back of the house. Moments later, they were gone in one of the cars.

Wil and Angel immediately moved to Wesley and Xander’s sides. The two were catatonic; watching their lovers disappear, knowing that in all likelihood that woman-thing was going to die, was more than they could handle. When Wil reached for Xander, the Raphe let him. The vampire cradled Xander gently, fearing that this incident was going to cause severe damage to the boy and Oz’s relationship. Xander knew who and what Oz was, true. But he’d just watched his lover command three of their friends to ruthlessly hunt down and kill someone. Three friends who didn’t want to go.

“Will they come back?” Wesley asked Angel. The dark vampire simply sat next to the ex-Watcher, knowing that at the moment Wes didn’t need the same kind of physical comfort that Xander did.

“Yes,” Angel murmured. “They’ll all be fine.”

Wesley stared at the floor. Fred had just followed Oz out into the night, practically without question. Once the order had been made, she’d fallen into step. That was part of being in the pack, he supposed. More so for Fred, who was omega. Wesley was furious; mostly at Oz. How dare that skinny young pup order *his* Fred to go off and kill something?

“Xan?”

All four men looked over at the doorway. Siobhan was standing there, thumb poised next to her mouth. In her other hand was a corner of a blanket, the rest of which trailed behind her. Dark, soft curly hair stuck out like a fuzzy halo around the sleepy child’s head. Xander reached out for the little girl, who wiped her eyes and climbed up into the Raphe’s lap. Wil shifted a bit so that Xander could comfortably hold the child.

“Thought you were sleeping,” Xander murmured into Siobhan’s hair. She curled up against him, burying her face in his shirt.

“Thirsty,” She said in a whisper. “An’ Fran’s crying.”

Angel glanced at Wesley, who was already getting up. The dark vampire followed him into the children’s bedroom, where indeed they found Fran weeping in his bed. Wesley gently woke the young boy, who jerked away until he saw who it was. Fran then reached for Wesley, holding up trembling hands. The faun lifted his charge up, cuddling him in a warm blanket and warmer embrace. He walked out quietly, leaving Angel to deal with the other three children, who were by now awake and staring at the vampire with curious, dark eyes.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Wesley asked the little boy as he carried him back to the living room. Fran nodded, wiping his teary face on Wesley’s shirt.

“What did you dream about?” The faun continued as he settled down in a rocking chair. Fran loved being rocked; as soon as Wesley began to move the boy relaxed. He waited patiently; Fran would tell him what had him so scared when he felt ready.

Angel walked in a few minutes later, three werewolf cubs in his arms. Wil grinned as Mischa squirmed and struggled to get down. Eventually Angel let him, just so that he could keep hold of Julian and Thalia. Xander moved slightly away from Wil so that Mischa could take up residence in his usual place—draped over Wil’s legs with his feet propped on the vampire’s chest. Angel settled down in a side chair, bundling Thalia and Julian together. It looked to be a long night for all of them.

•••

Gunn was about to ask Oz what the hell he was thinking when the alpha wolf shot him a look. *The* look, the one that told him to shut up, sit back, and take his orders. So that’s just what Gunn did, joining Fred in the back seat. For the purposes of this hunt, Cordelia was Oz’s hunt-partner, since she had seniority. Oz drove them back to the market, following Fred’s whispered directions. When they got there, the pack filed out of the car and started investigating.

Fred was the only one of them who’d actually seen the woman, or smelt her, so she was at least temporarily in charge. “Do you sense her?” Oz asked the young woman.

She frowned and expanded her sense of smell. If she concentrated really hard, she could *almost* pick up that odd, cold sensation. The one that wasn’t a smell so much as a feeling. “Maybe,” She murmured, taking a few steps forward. The others followed her closely, watching her every move.

Fred ignored them as the tracked the scent. If she blocked out everything else, it was a lot easier. Within a few minutes she had led them out of the marketplace and towards a residential street. Gunn walked just behind her and to the side. Oz and Cordelia watched from farther back.

“Wait,” Fred said suddenly. They halted in front of a rather average-looking white clapboard house.

“What?” Gunn asked.

Fred shivered. The smell/feeling was strong here, almost enough to make her skin crawl. “Here.”

Oz frowned and inhaled deeply. He just didn’t detect anything, and that worried him. “Are you sure?”

The young woman turned furious, indignant eyes on him. She didn’t want to be here, doing this, but she was. How dare he question her? “Yes,” She spat, nearly growling.

“Ah, you. From the market.”

The werewolves spun around. A stately woman, silver hair glinting in the light of the half moon, stood before them, just inside the property line. Oz looked at her briefly. Then it hit him, and he knew why only Fred had been able to follow the scent. She was a witch. A very specific kind of witch, one who used the energies and bodies of were-creatures in her work. He’d heard of them, even run into one before. Fred could track her because the woman had marked her. Had she marked the children? If so, she could do great damage to them, even from afar.

Oz growled and stepped forward, although he remained out of reach of the witch. “You marked her.”

The woman smiled. “Perhaps.”

“You can’t have my pack,” Oz grated out.

A silvery laugh answered him. “Oh, can’t I? And what will you do, young man? The moon, she is only half yours tonight.”

Oz’s grin was malicious. This witch was a very powerful one, but it was obvious she’d not used any of his kind of werewolves. Ones who’d worked to change their relationship with the moon, who were no longer tied to it as others were. Or perhaps she preferred other were-creatures, but had found his pack convenient. Either way, she’d just exposed a fatal weakness. She thought that they couldn’t change, couldn’t tap into the bulk of their strength. His kind was also easier to control in human form. If they shifted, she’d be hard pressed to try to control them all, although by now she’d marked all four of them. All it took was eye contact.

Oz felt the first tendril of cold power try to wrap around his mind and gave the subvocal signal to the pack. It was time to deal with this thing. As one, they shifted, heedless of their destroyed clothing. The change gave Oz a reprieve from the witch’s machinations, and a glance at Fred told him that she too was relieved. The witch, however, was not so happy. She’d begun to back up towards her house, chanting all the while.

Gunn leapt forward, catching the hem of her dress before a spell knocked him away. He succeeded in dragging her back with him, keeping her from gaining her porch. Cordelia came from the side, ignoring a blinding flash of light to bite down on the witch’s arm. The elderly lady fell hard and was immediately covered by Oz and Fred. Gunn, too, had recovered and joined the others.

The witch never stood a chance. She managed to gain control of Fred once, turning the smallest werewolf against Gunn. But she couldn’t control all four of them, not when they were all determined to hurt her. When Oz broke her right arm, tearing off a huge chunk of flesh, she lost control of Fred. The young woman blinked, wondering why she was trying to snap Gunn’s neck. Then she shrugged and returned to the lady. The witch was their primary concern; she’d threatened them so her life was forfeit.

Cordelia and Gunn made very sure the woman wouldn’t be able to hurt any of them, ever. Her eyes were quickly mutilated by them as Oz and Fred rent her flesh. Blood pooled thickly on the ground as bit by bit the witch disappeared completely. Scarcely ten minutes after they first encountered the witch, the only thing left of her was a single black leather shoe.

Oz howled softly, calling the others back to him. They quickly shifted back and pulled on their ragged garments before loping down the street, hoping no police drove by. They were barely decent.

The drive back to their house was strained and quiet. What they’d done weighed heavily on their minds and no one knew what to say. When they got home, Oz led the pack back into the house. They found Xander, Wil, Angel and Wesley in the living room, all curled around the children. None of the adults were asleep, but all the children were.

Angel shot a questioning glance at Oz. The green-haired werewolf nodded once.

It was done.