Once she was sure her niece would be all right, Night Sky had one more thing to do before they left. While Order agents were packing up their wounded and fresh agents were driving in for the clean-up work, as well as bringing a mobile shower unit so the werewolves could shower and shift, she tore herself away from her brand-new grandchild to have a word with his mother.

She had been fighting back the urge to go wolfside since driving into this battlefield, and now she welcomed the change, barely breaking stride towards the van to pull off her shoes. She loomed over the two armed agents standing guard.

"I'd like a moment alone with one of the prisoners," she said. "Please."

They glanced at each other. Her request was unusual, but also within one of her rights as an alpha of the aggrieved pack that had called them in. They stepped aside.

Night Sky opened the doors, reached in, and pulled the woman out, throwing her into the bloody mud where her packmate had been mauled. She fell limply in front of her, stinking of marijuana and other substances. But she was coming down from her high, as she yelped and struggled to get up.

"Is that your baby?" she demanded. With all the smoke and the drugs, it was impossible to be certain. But the way the woman's eyes shot up and looked at her, one mother to another, told Night Sky all she needed to know.

Night Sky rose her hand in the air and slammed it down into the woman's face, knocking her back down into the mud. "You selfish, stupid bitch!" she snarled.

The woman kept her eyes cast down, in full submission, but Night Sky's anger didn't abate. She grabbed the druggie by the hair and yanked her up onto her feet. She screamed, and a few Order agents stopped what they were doing to watch nervously. Odysseus' scent betrayed his presence too, but even he knew better than to interfere.

"It's one thing to flush your own life down a toilet. I don't want no sob story about how your life is full of pain. But because of your selfishness, that baby's whole life is gonna be nothin' [i]but[/i] suffering. Soon as you found out you were pregnant, you shoulda either gone clean or terminated the pregnancy."

Talking it out didn't dissipate her rage at this injustice. It just sharpened it. With a roar, she swung about, slamming the woman into the side of the vehicle. She looked dazed, and with all the crap in her system Night Sky couldn't be sure how much pain she could feel. Hopefully enough to make sure she remembered. Night Sky dug her claws into the woman's arm, shredding thin, yellowed, wrinkly skin easily. Thick, dark blood oozed out, dripping down her arm and over Night Sky's hand. She would heal, but not quickly, thanks to the poison in her system.

"But since that baby's here, someone's gotta take care of him. Someone's gotta show that beautiful, scared baby boy some lovin' while he grows up trapped in a body full of pain. Lucky for him, my Phoenix is up to the task. He'll be a parent to your flesh and blood while you're detoxin' in a rehab center. And I don't care what you do with your life once you're clean, but if you come anywhere near me and mine, I'll spill out the [i]rest[/i] of your blood, you got that?"

The woman whimpered and sagged her head, but gave her a short nod. Night Sky dropped her, and she fell like a rag doll at her feet.

"Pick her up and lock her away," she ordered the agents, and walked off to clean up.

***

"Yello, boss-lady," Donnie's voice leapt from Night Sky's phone on speaker mode. Odysseus sat shotgun, holding the phone over his shoulder for Sammy in the back seat. Sammy's arms were too full to hold a phone. They had discarded the filthy rag that he had found Jonathan in and had wrapped him up in a torn quarter of an emergency blanket someone in the Order had provided.

"Hey Donnie, it's me. You still in town?"

"Yeah, but I'll be heading home soon. You need me to pick up something?"

"Yes I do!" Sammy smirked. "I'm gonna need some baby formula and a big pack of diapers."

"Extra-small," Night Sky interjected.

"Oh, right, I hadn't thought about sizes. Extra small."

"Uh... diapers?"

"Yeah." Sammy chuckled. "Long story short, we found a baby in Marley's pack, the mom's not fit, and... I called dibs."

"You called dibs... on a baby?"

"Yeah!" Sammy looked down into Jonathan's peaceful face as he continued speaking. "Someone in the pack was gonna wind up with him, and I figured... why not me?"

"Because you're... I mean, this is a big... oh, hell, why not you." Donnie spoke with an audible shrug. "Merry Christmas, Sammy."

"Thanks, Uncle Donnie."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that."

Odysseus pulled the phone back. "There's a few other things we'll need, and a message for you to pass along to the rest of the pack."

"Sure thing, boss."

"Fortune was injured in the line of duty. Doctors were able to save her knee, but just barely. She'll be staying with us indefinitely while she rehabilitates."

"Oh, geez."

"Yes. Call Patience and inform her we won't be able to babysit tonight. Too much else going on at the House, now. Then call Pegasus and have her start spreading the news through the chain."

"Yessir."

"We'll see you soon, 'Uncle' Donnie."

"Okay it just sounds weird when you say it," Donnie said, and then hung up.