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"Hey there freak," Simba responded coldly looking down on me from where he was "About time you woke up, no wonder you are an Omega, so lazy." I growled softly watching him as he walked around my cage and it was quickly brought to my attention that I was nude except for my underwear.

"What do you think your doing Simba!?" I demanded which caused him to chuckled, the sound sinister enough to put concern into my thoughts and I would have backed away if I could.

"What am I doing...?" he muttered out loudly then suddenly turned towards me jabbing something onto the bars of the cage. I shrieked and flailed as the bars were suddenly electrified but there was nothing I could do to get away from the painful shock from what I now realised, was a cattle prod he had probably stolen from a farm "I'M PUTTING YOU BACK IN YOUR PLACE!"

"You pathetic piece of shit Omega! Did you really think that you would get away from my wrath!?" He growled loudly pulling the device away and leaving me panting and crying softly, tears streaming down my face that I didn't know I had shed "I Lost everything because of you! So now I will take the same from you! At the same time I will remind you that you never should have messed with me! Your superior!" I shivered a little still trying to get over the electrical shock. It's charge dancing across my nerves paralysing me as I watched him pull out a knife this time then plunge it into my mating mark . Both Lien and I screamed and flailed in the cage, the pain cutting deeper than it ever had before.

"Lets see him take you back now!" He taunted twisting the knife in my shoulder and laughed "Enjoying the pain? I do hope you are because I'm enjoying the sounds you are making! You'll be feeling this pain a lot!" I grabbed his hand trying to stop his movements however the damage was already done.

"In here is where you will die you piece of trash, like you should have on that day," Simba said with a smile and pulled the knife free "But not yet! Oh no, I have a lot of pain to deal out for you, for each touch of that whip! You shall get the same only ten fold! Trash like you deserves every bit of it and you will learn to love it before I'm through with you!" I whimpered and slumped against the bars of my cage a hand on the latest stab wound trying to sooth the pain.

He turned and walked over to a table picking something up. I recognised a few of the implements, the silver tools that Shelly was missing and I shuddered trying not to think of what he had planned with them. I clenched tighter at my shoulder trying to stem the bleeding, feeling the familiar feeling of warm blood once more flowing between my fingers.

"I'll give you back to your beloved Alpha and your stupid mate," he said then laughed "Oh what a Christmas gift your dead body will make for them! You will even be in festive green and red!" I gave a growl and then screamed as he jabbed the cage with the shock device again, this time holding it till I passed out.

He continued his torture of me for days. He would stab me, usually in my mark or my arms and legs. If he was bored he would shock me, or beat me, always something different, stripping the flesh on my hip nearly to the bone with one of his onslaughts. It was bitterly cold as Simba was always rugged up and I was left in the tiny, cold metal cage. I wasn't even given a blanket to stay warmish at night.

The one time I requested he provide me something to stay warm, he started heating up the cage itself to high temperatures. This in turn inflicted burns everywhere the metal touched me till it cooled down. He had made sure I would get as many burns as possible by shocking me when I stopped moving to focus the burns on one spot which I tried to do to cauterise a wound.

Broken bones, infected wounds... I lost track of time eventually, one abuse filled day to the next seemed to blur together with the freezing pain filled nights of little sleep. What made him more angry was the fact that that every attempt he made to carve the words back onto my torso failed as the words either healed over or changed shape, possibly due to Callens involvement in removing them the first time.

I was in continual pain, bleeding almost all the time and because the cage was too small I was not able to shift, meaning my wounds had not healed the whole time I was here. They festered and became infected after only a few days. Flies had eventually settled on a couple of my wounds, the new infestation bringing me a greater source of pain and continual discomfort.

Both Lien and I started to grow weak, the floor of our cage filled with blood, urine and excrement which I passed involuntary whenever I was shocked. Simba had mentioned he had no intention of cleaning my cage, as I wouldn't be in it for much longer. Lien rarely moved any more except when the lion was torturing our mating mark. Seeing her squirm in agony seemed to bring him the most joy, often using the prod directly on my mark which meant he could make her 'dance' longer.

"Well it's time to have you fixed," he said one day holding up a silver scalpel in front of his face and testing the sharpness "After all, we don't want YOU to be breeding now do we? So lets remove those unnecessary parts, can't have any of your little freak kits running around can we?" I gave a weak growl mixed with a slight whimper and pulled away from him in the cage.

"Now now, you know that we can't allow you to breed! You're a mutant, so we can't have your freaky genes passing onwards," he reached into the cage to grab me "So come here! It's time to operate! Your best hope for getting out of here with them intact is if you die before I pull them off!" I gave a scream as he grabbed me by the throat and pulled me close. Suddenly there was a loud bang and what I had guessed to be the main doors erupted inwards with such force one even embedded into the cement floor like it was a knife into butter.

Simba suddenly flew away from me, forced against the wall behind me with a loud crash, the scalpel falling against my arm and clattering to the filthy floor of the cage after giving a short cut on my arm. I whimpered loudly watching him struggle against the invisible force then turned to look towards the door, a large familiar form walking in.

"Well well, why am I not surprised to find out you're the one? Just couldn't take your punishment gracefully could we?" Came the loud, very angry and for me, comforting voice of Luce. The air and ground seemed to vibrate and rumble with his anger and the control he was exerting over himself was showing on his face. He clearly was trying not to let his anger get full control of him and unleash his full power on the lion, something that would possibly decimate the building if it happened. "I would say 'typical lion' but normally lions take their beatings with such grace and pride."

"How did you..." Simba growled back angrily.

"Find you? Did you honestly think we wouldn't look for them? If so you really are stupid, I thought I put you through school," I heard Alpha Leo call out and my eyes widened as he appeared next to Luce "It wasn't easy I will admit, you managed to hide all of the scents well but we simply sent up a surveillance web. The whole community took part under council orders which ironically you never heard despite us making the announcement as public as could be. It was a Werecat that found you, the smell of blood, no matter how well you hide the other scents, can't be mistaken or hidden. The council is more powerful than you think, we can do more than just enact laws to the community and now, you've pissed off all of us. Simba... you disgust me and have disgraced our pride."

"NEIL!" Xanders voice rang out and I gave a whimper as I saw him run past them towards me but I stopped him before he could place his hands on the cage.

"S...stop, it's silver..." I told him with a whimper, I noticed that he had bags under his eyes and his face seemed sunken and pale. He also favoured his left arm, obviously he had been suffering the onslaught from Simba on our mating mark as well. He did stop before he touched the cage and took a careful step back and was clearly distressed at my current state, Randy by his side whimpering loudly.

"Betas! Take him away!" Alpha Callen called motioning towards Simba, I looked up to watch as Betas Anders, Daivat, Leon and Kendo stepped forward and grabbed him, of course he started struggling and spewing insults but was quickly gagged by Leon.

"You are lucky I am not allowed to kill you!" Luce said snarling deeply as they passed with him, the building shaking a little more. I whimpered softly seeing Luce so angry and looked up to see Alpha Callen, Alpha Leo, Alpha Isto and Alpha Ramside walk over to my cage.

"Gloves!" Callen called and they pulled gloved out of their pockets and put them on in an almost practised unison.

"Check!" All four of them said then they placed their feet between the rungs of my cage and gripped the top plate "PULL!" They all said in unison. Their muscled bulged and they all pulled in one movement. The top popped free as if it had been the easiest thing in the world for them and as one, threw it to one side with a loud clang as it bounced on the floor a short distance away.

"Neil?" Xander asked watching me as I looked up at them all still in disbelief that they were really here, hoping that this wasn't some cruel nightmare that I would snap out of and wake up with Simba holding my balls in his palm. Callen reached in, gently placed his arms under me and pulled me out helping me to stand carefully in front of him. Free of the the cage I wobbled a little due to my muscles being weak from being couped in the cramped cage as well as the damage from the abuse.

"Neil? My Neil..." Xander asked once more and Callen turned me around to face him. I looked into his eyes fearfully thinking he would reject me now of all times. Even if I did smell of my own piss, blood and more, there, in his grey pools I saw love, worry and a smile on his lips, all of it for me and Lien. Here was my mate, who clearly loved me more than just surface deep and with that thought I suddenly burst into tears then fell against him wailing loudly and uncontrollably.

He simply held me, slowly lowering to the floor with me held tightly in his arms. Everyone watched us except for Alpha Leo who lifted Lien from the cage. She was limp and motionless, seeming to be barely registering anything around her.

"You got them!?" Came Shelly's voice and she approached quickly with a stretcher and medical bag dressed in her doctors scrubs. She passed a space blanket to Xander then stood to one side and watched as he wrapped it around me and continued to try to console me, my head on his shoulder and a hand on my back rubbing circles under the blanket. He lifted me slowly and gently before he sat me on the stretcher, Leo carefully placing Lien onto it next to me and Shelly looked her over.

"What's wrong with her?" Alpha Ramside asked worriedly seeing the fox was virtually catatonic. Shelly held her finger up looking her over then grabbed a wash cloth and rubbed it over my shoulder where the mating mark was after coating it with sterile water. I hissed deeply as she exposed the deep stab wounds and the fact the mark, hell most of the skin in that area was now nearly gone with maggots in it as well.

"Damn it," she mumbled "He did a huge amount of damage to the mark... the mating mark is special, it connects us to our Animals and our mates on a level we can't fully explain... Each time he stabbed this it wasn't just torture to her. This was on a level, mental and physical, we can't begin to fathom and I can't begin to explain right now. Her mind seems to have shut down in an attempt to protect itself I'd guess." I whimpered looking down at her and reached out and pet her gently.

The mark was indeed special to us. The location on the body, in Were medical books, was refereed to as the 'Anchor'. Through it we were connected to our other side, like I was with Lien and Mufasa was to Sama. When we mated and made the mating mark we added our loved ones into that connection, joining our souls as one. Whenever it's injured all four in the relationship, Humans and Animals, share the pain, although it is dulled somewhat to the other mate. When I suffered pain or damage to the mark, Xander and Randy felt it even if it was to a lesser degree.

"There anything we can do?" Xander asked worriedly looking to Shelly "Please... we need her."

"There is something we can try...Neil can you shift for me?" Shelly asked and I did try but gave a soft sigh when I wasn't able to connect with her to request the shift, it was like she wasn't there or she was blocking me out.

"I... I can't" I responded softly and shakily.

"What was that? Neil I need you to shift." She urged having not heard me and I snapped a little in irritation at having been ignored on unheard the first time.

"I said I CAN'T!" I yelled back at her then my eyes went wide as I realised that I had snapped at her in anger. Instantly I started crying again planting my face in Xander's chest "I CAN'T SHIFT! I Can't connect to her at all! I..I..." at this point, I had another breakdown, unable to stop crying into my mates chest and all he could do is hold me. It took me a few minutes before my brain started working again, enough for me to turn to Lien and grab her face in my hands to pull her to be nose to nose with me.

"PLEASE LIEN! TALK TO ME!!" I wailed at her still in tears "Please... Lien...we...I need you... Please...Lien... my Lien...come back to me..." I pulled her close against my chest and continued to cry with her in my arms just saying 'please Lien' over and over again as I rocked a little letting Xander try his best to keep me covered with the space blanket.

"We need to get them back to the pack house..." Callen said "I may have an idea... but we can't do it till we get him cleaned up..."

"Callen, he has heavily infected wounds!" Shelly protested "There are even maggots in several of them! Some of those are close to stage three! We can't just take him to the pack house! I need to operate!" He gave her an angry look and sighed.

"We can do our best back at the pack house... Lien is of bigger importance right now. If we lose her it's game over for not just Neil but Xander and Randy as well!" he responded angrily and started pushing the stretcher out to a waiting van. By time they had me to the open door I had stopped crying as loudly but still had tears streaking down my face and a heavy case of sobs, hiccups and sniffling.

There was a large group of wolves around, seemingly most of the high level war wolves. They all watched as we passed and it surprised me how most of them whimpered along with my crying, concerned at my condition.

"Surprised?" Callen asked with a slight smile as he helped me into the van "They were all concerned, some even saying 'he may only be an omega but he is our omega! Only we get to pick on him!' When I told them you had been kidnapped. While I wasn't overly happy with their choice of words, they all jumped to your rescue."

"You may be a Fox," Anders said from the front passenger seat "But a pack watches over and protects their own. You are our Omega and while that means are the weakest member of our pack, that just means WE need to work twice as hard to protect you." Callen nodded and I noticed that several of the other wolves nodded too.

"You are valuable to our pack Neil, even if the others don't show it or you notice it," Callen said as he closed the door to the van "So we will do everything to keep you in our pack, as our precious Omega." I started to smile a little and nodded, giving a fresh sob over Lien.

The van was a special one, usually only used during war times. It was a former ambulance and they had kept the internal set-up exactly the same. I was laid on the stretcher bed inside, a strap over my chest and legs to keep me secured while, the one at my waist not in place due to my damaged hip. Shelly and Beta Olivia worked around me with Xander and Callen sitting in the seats located at my head while Luce drove. It was marked and painted in a special pattern so anyone who saw it coming gave it right of way like it was a standard ambulance although it wouldn't be recognised outside of the Were community.

Shelly worked diligently, inspecting my wounds, trying to clean up the worse ones, drenching them in antiseptic or saline and so on to try to drown the parasites and kick start the healing process. I was numb to almost everyone around me, only Xander, Luce and Callen seemed to be able to break through to me whenever I needed to answer a question Shelly or Olivia asked me.

They rushed me into the pack house and into my own bathroom, although to this day I still don't know why. I was mildly aware that my room was being guarded by Beta's Leon and Kendo who were outside the door to my room standing watch. I was left in the bathroom with just Shelly and Callen while barely able to stand. I was stripped of my ruined underwear with a skilled slice of a blade by Shelly and placed in the shower with Callen acting as support to keep me standing.

The water was going at a lukewarm temperature already to prevent any shock and to stabilise my low body temperature as gently as they could. They focused mainly on my shoulder and hip where I was wounded the worse but did go over all the other cuts and injuries I had.

"Its a good thing we got to you as quick as we did," Shelly said as she flushed my shoulder out more, a few more maggots washing out of it and down the drain "Eww... Any longer and we wouldn't be able to do this. Sorry I don't have any locals at the moment... I'm surprised your not in any pain." I simply gave a look to her meeting her gaze, my eyes still full of tears and that one look said it all thankfully. I was in pain, a terrible amount of it but I was feeling worse in my heart than she was doing to me with the treatment. She froze, eyes widening in shock before continuing to clean me.

"Ok... I think that's all of him washed," Callen said with a sigh and turned off the shower and stepped me out and wrapped me in a black towel snugly trying to trap in any warmth it could "Shelly... this next bit will be... unconventional... however just keep working on him ok? He shouldn't need any anaesthetic, Anders and Olivia will get you anything you need." She nodded and followed us out to the bedroom and he sat me on the bed gently. As he covered my crotch to help maintain some level of modesty or dignity I still had, I noticed Anders was with Luce comforting Randy while Ruban was comforting Xander with Yelas, Barrun and Culem. The room was pleasingly warm, the fire blazing away in its place filling the room with its heat and Olivia was adjusting it with the metal poker so it would give off more.

There was a metal cart next to the bed piled high with antiseptics, Gloves, gauze, bandages, syringes, bottles of saline, kidney bowels, a few bags of blood in what I could only guess was my type and more that I didn't recognise. Clearly Shelly was ready for almost any condition I would be in when I had gotten here.

"Ok, Luce, Xander, Randy come here," Callen said as he placed Lien on my lap "Anders, Olivia, If Shelly asks for it, get it, you're her assistants. Shelly, do what you need to to medicate him as much as you can, Luce... we're going to... perform a commune."

"Callen, I must protest!" Luce warned with mild anger and alarm "A Commune hasn't been done in years! And even then only Alphas are supposed to do them! With Neil in his condition..."

"What choice do we have?" He asked turning to regard the Sigma with an irritated growl "It's this or lose her!"

"Neil deserves to know at least what your planning, this is dangerous! The bodily energy requirements needed alone could kill them, especially right now." Luce finally said and Callen gave a defeated sigh and nodded turning back to me.

"Ok Neil, here is what's going to happen, we are going to do a commune," he started slowly "A commune is where a Were goes the other way with their shift."

"What do you mean?" I asked more than a little confused.

"Instead of Lien going into your mind when you shift, this is you going into hers thankfully no shifting is needed," he said and chuckled when he saw my tired confusion "Trust me, it isn't something that I can explain with ease. All you need to know is it should help you get her back, hopefully. It can be dangerous, very dangerous but that is why we have Luce here, he can hopefully mediate the connection and help keep it stable. We will be giving you a drop of his blood as well, that will allow him to feed you energy if needed because you are so weak." I nodded and Luce gave a huff.

"Be aware, I can not influence this in anyway, even though Culem will be there all we can do is communicate with you and guide you, understand? Culem and I can only act as your guide through this. Our role is simply to provide the energy needed to do the commune. However some of her 'demons' may try to turn on you." He said and I nodded slowly.

"What is Xander needed for?" I asked looking to my mate and he smiled and kissed my hand gently but was lightly smacked away by Shelly playfully.

"He is your 'anchor'," Callen said with a smile and pet the top of my head "You need him to find your way back out if you get lost. He is also your defence, think of him as your shining light and that will fend off her inner demons and mental defences... for a while at least. To come out, for any reason other than you found her, just think back to the love you share with Xander and Randy, and that will guide you back to us ok?" I nodded and gave Xander a kiss before flinching as Shelly fished an embedded maggot out of my shoulder and she mouthed 'sorry' before flushing the wound with more saline and wiped it down with a gauze sponge.

"What do I need to do?" I asked and Callen moved so Luce could sit in front of me on the bed. He placed my hands crossed on Liens back and closed my eyes then placed one hand on my hands and the other on my fore head. I hadn't seen him take a sample of Luce's blood but with the aid of Shelly, it was injected painlessly into my own bloodstream.

"Just relax, and think of her, think of what she is like, happy, bubbly and adventurous. Of how it feels to be in full form, just think of how happy she was when you both found Xander and I'll do the rest." I nodded slowly listening to Luce.

It took only a few minutes then for a minute I could feel myself falling till suddenly I was standing... in the middle of a field. It was quite empty with a few trees dotted around the edges. Past that was a grey fog that seemed to be so thick it was like a curtain that cut everything else past that out. Bellow my bare feet was thick lush flower filled grass and while there was no sun in the sky, I could feel a warmth radiating down onto me from above. I had no injuries any more, my skin smooth and untarnished although I was left in only a loincloth.

It was then I noticed Luce or more so, Culem was sitting not too far away watching me. His tail wagging slightly and the 'wind' gently blowing through his fur and over a pair of black wings on his back which surprised me a little. However as he sat there and purred softly, his presence calmed me more than his appearance disturbed me.

"Culem?" I asked turning to look at him "Where are we?"

"Why are you asking me?" He asked with a chuckle "This is Liens inner world, her mind scape if you will. If I had to guess however, I would say this is where she keeps her thoughts of you."

"Really?" I asked looking around for a moment "Kinda roomy ain’t it?" he chuckled and shook his head.

"Take a closer look kit, it's full to bursting! The warm light of love radiating down, lush and full of life, the gentle cooling breeze to make it all move and shine. If anything she thinks extremely highly of you, just as I do of Luce and Lacen thinks of Callen but this is not where she is keeping herself couped up sadly... I can just barely sense that she is much deeper, down where she keeps her... darker and deeper thoughts and secrets. Down bellow where she keeps Randy and Xander."

"Really? She keeps them deeper than me?" I asked mildly insulted that my own animal side is keeping me on the surface and not down closer to her heart.

"Don't think of it that way," he said with a purr and chuckle "For you to be at the surface, means she keeps her love for you exposed for all to see. She loves you just as much but is more willing, or is trying desperately, to show it right now, to show you that she still loves you and is thinking of you. The Commune thankfully filters out unnecessary information and translates it all into a way you can understand. It will however reflect a lot of what has been on your and her mind lately as well, so consider this a forewarning. You may encounter painful things to see." I nodded and slowly turned around.

"Well I guess any direction is a step forward" I mumbled and started walking in a random direction, Culem following me like Lien did when I would walk to school. As I walked I took in everything realising just how much she loved me. The field was full of bright flowers and bees buzzing from place to place. It was like I was really outside walking through a flower field that was so well maintained. I hesitated by the trees once I got to the edge of the field, peeking into the thick fog that seemed to mist around them and it all looked dark and imposing.

"Be not afraid," The leopard called from behind me "Nothing here can hurt you as long as you remember you have Randy and Xander. Frighten you? Yes. Disturb or upset you? Absolutely. However you have your love to protect you. Everything you see will help you understand what is troubling her more and help you understand your own animal on a more personal level that other Weres could only imagine even if this is only a quick trip. Only a few Alpha's in my time have ever done this and it has made them better people for it... you even know one of them, Mufasa." I nodded still eyeing the fog although I wasn't surprised that Alpha Leo had gone through this once. He was so in touch with his animal, with his pride and other Weres around the community.

"I guess its just a curtain to hide her deeper thoughts, like the mask of smiles I once wore to hide my own pain." I mumbled as I waved my hand through the mist before I made my way into it. It was indeed thick and I quickly loss sight of anything in front of me or Culem behind me but his almost continuous soft purring let me know he was there. I tried to not wave my hands in front of me as I continued, thinking it was a bit too stereotypical. I managed to stumble through to a sight I didn't want to see really and it brought back pained memories.

It was in a school room and I was was in a cage although all the details of the room were fuzzy. A monstrous Simba was over me torturing me and he was surrounded by the others of the Leo pride cubs. I quickly noticed something that was slightly off though, he was dumping dirt onto me, something he hadn't done, well... not since my third year of schooling and the others were pointing and laughing.

I passed by quickly getting the idea of what this was about, Simba had been my tormentor for years and the cage, to her, represented the fact I had been trapped in that position for the whole time. Stuck somewhere I couldn't get out of because of Alpha Smith's terrible treatment towards me. The rest of the community following their leaders example. Opening the door on the other side of the room I was blinded by a bright light which was omnipresent and continued for as long as the fog had. As I finally passed through it. I was blinded for a bit before I was greeted by a new sight which actually filled my heart with warmth and made me smile.

There we were, Xander and I on the bed, both in mid form, naked and laying on top of the sheets with Xander pressed up against my side. The room was as beautiful here as it was in the outside world, a fire burning merrily and warmly in the fireplace. Upon the bed, my belly was large and domed, rounded healthily with growing life. My two breasts swollen with milk which only made me seem to appreciate them more than I ever had before although I also had more smaller ones dotted down my torso and belly. Both forms were lovingly rubbing that bulging belly staring lovingly at each other as they or rather, we, caressed the dome.

"I see she wants pups at some stage." Culem said walking up behind me and sat down, watching as I approached the bed seeing the two of us snuggling so closely together. Nuzzling, licking and kissing while lovingly rubbing my bulging belly, the two forms on the bed took notice of us yet continued their happy beaming smiles and attention to each other. I nodded to Culem and gave a soft sigh as I watched the scene of pure love.

"Yeah, she has been pushing for them since we met Xander but... I’m just not ready for them yet," I answered slowly with a frown "I want them just as much as she does and can't wait to have them and have them curled up against my chest but..."

"Just not yet." Culem finished nodding. I stayed and watched for some time, even reaching out and rubbing my mirrors belly, feeling my own soft fur and the occasional kick or movement from bellow the taught skin and fur. My copy even looked to me and mouthed 'don't know what your missing' as I rubbed. I wanted kits so bad... but with the treatment that I was still getting from the pack, I didn't want to put my own kits through it till it had all been stopped. If they went through that torment because they were my kits, it would break my heart.

"We should move on," Culem said with a mild warning in his voice "If we linger we may get stuck." I sighed and nodded turning and walking to the stairs and walked out of the room after giving one last look back. It took some time to get down the seemingly continuous stairs to the next door. The stairs even turning and almost becoming maze like with corners and dead ends as I descended. Once I was in the next room though, I understood perfectly why it took so long.

Again I was in a cage, this time it all looked like a super hero movie, with so many people around tormenting me, and there was Lien, trying to break through the crowd in our hybrid form. I knew this wasn't the deepest part, that there was more to come but still this part almost broke my heart.

"I don't understand." Culem said looking around seeing the almost dancing, taunting forms which kept the vixen at bay.

"It's quite simple," I said wiping a slowly developing tear from my eye "All these years I have been tormented and she has been screaming and yelling at me to stay positive and that no matter what, I always had her. She was always with me, even when everyone else was against me. We always had each other... this is her fight against the times I've ignored her in the darkest of times..." He nodded slowly and we continued on, neither of us missing that at the front of the angry mob, was the long time tormentors, Simba and the late Alpha Smith.

Several of the forms, the black featureless shadows that they looked like to me, with bright red eyes full of malice. Turned and saw me then charged, it was almost instinct for me to think of Xander and Randy to save me, even Callen and Lacen and there was a bright flash and cheesily, a ray from above, cutting through the gloom and they vanished as it touched them.

"Well executed," Culem said with a smile and his tail wagged "Better than I've seen any alpha who I have assisted with their communes... even Alpha Leo was mobbed and had to retreat on his first time." I blushed and nodded not wanting to admit that it was a reflex and unintentional before heading towards the, once again, black fog that encircled the area quickly. I didn't want to stop now, even if we had nearly been attacked. I had to keep going... for Lien.

The black fog blinded me as it had the last time as I stumbled through it into a deep pit of mud which was up to my knees, Culem walking atop it like it was solid floor. The mud had started while we were in the mist but I pushed on regardless. It would take more than mud and shadowy nightmare creatures to stop me.

The next room was basically our idolisation of Culem and Lacen. How we put them on a plinth and held them aloft out of the mud and even though we were covered in mud from keeping him clean, we were happy. In the centre of the room was a pillar with Lacen atop, myself and Lien down in the mud in hybrid form, holding the pillar up high and Culem seemed a little upset he wasn't up there too.

"He has what we've always wanted," I told him with a smile looking up to them "Respect and love from all, strength, intelligence... everything I don't have. He has always been there for me even if I never noticed... I guess Lien did. In a way, we always tried to keep him and you out of our mess of a life."

“I see... but you do have respect from him, and intelligence that matches his own.” Culem said with a smile and I sighed.

“Explain why I fail every test then?” I said looking back at the feline “Every report, every exam, every quiz... even if I know it is the correct answer... apparently I fail every time.”

“That's because the teachers are ass holes, we are fixing that,” Culem answered with a soft growl and flick of his tail “We have been going over the last ten years of your schooling... you should have been a straight-A student so far. Even when you gave answers that looked like you had given up trying.”

“So basically,” I said slowly looking back at him “They have had it in for me for years?... like I had always suspected and tried to point out to those around me...” He nodded and I gave a sigh then started towards the other side of the room. He followed me although begrudgingly through the mud and up a drain pipe towards the next scene. It was slippery, difficult going as it was constantly running with mud that flowed back towards the previous place and I slipped several times because I was starting to feel my exhaustion feeding through from my body.

The next room was where I found her, I knew she was the real one, subtle hints around the room told me I had reached the deepest part of the mind scape. There was no border, it seemed to just cut to black around the edges. She sat in the middle of the room, Simba and former Alpha Smith was above pouring mud onto her that then flowed down the drain we had just come up and randy sitting in front of her and wouldn't look at her. Facing away, the other fox had his nose raised almost snobbishly. As we entered Randy took one look at us then looked at Lien who looked up to him hopefully.

"No...no... I don't want you any more, You're dirty! You let that lion taint and torture you and Neil! You're revolting, your pathetic, how can I ever trust you to take care of us or our kits?!" Was all Randy said before turning away from her again. In a heartbeat I had rushed forward and grabbed her in my arms and held her close. There was another flash of light as I thought of the real Randy and Xander, who would NEVER say such things. The illusions vanished just as before but the light never faded as if I was trying to bathe her in it.

"No matter what," I said slowly holding her head against my neck tears and sobs starting to come from me "You will never be too dirty for me, for Randy or Xander, Callen or Lacen, Luce and Culem." I smiled and kissed the top of her head as tears came down my face.

"We are here risking everything to get you back Lien," I added and brushed at her fur, now clear of mud and then looked into her blue and orange eyes "Lien... I need you...I can't live without you... and neither can Randy and Xander. We will fix everything that is wrong in our lives... with how the community treats us. Yes we will have kits one day soon, do not fret about that... till then, we have all the time in the world to find out just how much he loves us and to find out more about him, we still only just met remember?...so please, come back to us... to me."

"But I..." she started and I shook my head and hugged her a bit tighter.

"You don't have anything to apologise for," I said firmly stopping what would have been a self depreciating statement "You couldn't have saved us from Simba this time but if you hadn't been there, I would have succumbed to it all long ago regardless of the abuse they dealt me... I love you Lien, your the only family I have." I smiled and gave her a kiss and she chuckled softly.

"You know that means you love yourself by extension... " she said starting to show her true self again and Culem chuckled.

"It is not wrong to love ones self, it is wrong to love yourself more than anything else however like a certain lion does," Culem said with a smile and walked over "Please come back with us Lien... I miss your smile and the pranks we pull on Callen aren't the same without you there to laugh with me."

"You need to come out of your room to see them first!" She protested and he rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"True... please?" He pleaded and she hesitated.

"Randy misses you... and is worried about you." I said and she frowned

"I'll need to think about it." she said sadly showing she clearly didn't want to think about it and stay couped up in here and I nodded.

"Ok... we will let you do that," I said and looked at an imaginary watch on my wrist then back to her only pausing for a second "So thought about it? Lacen wants to use you as a pillow."

"He What!? I'm gonna gnaw his legs off!" She said irritably and jumped up. As she finished speaking everything started to fade to black "Neil... Thank you." was the last thing I heard before I was numb to everything.

I woke up to feel Liens paws on my chest and my body aching as it usually seemed to do for most of my life. I was warm and comfortable at least, a welcome change to how it had been in the cage.

"Open your eyes Neil." I heard Lien say and then felt her lick at my face. I gave a slow, drawn out groan in response.

"Randy, can you go out and tell Alpha and Shelly that Neil is awake please?" I heard Xander say. The weight lifted off of my chest then sensed Xander over me "Hey love, think you can open your eyes for me?" I tried a nod, cracking my eyes a little but was immediately blinded gave a groan and shook my head slowly.

"T...too bright..." I groaned slowly when I did manage to crack my eye open a little bit.

"Ah ok sorry... Lets try this," I heard the 'shink' of Xander closing the curtains then he came back over and I felt his hand gently rub on my forehead and through my hair "Try now, nice and slow love" I groaned again and yet again tried to open my eyes. It was darker than I expected but I was still sensitive to the light, dim though it may have been it still brought me some discomfort. The fire was the only thing lighting the room, the curtains drawn over the window and hovering over me was the almost angelic face of my mate.

"Thirsty..." I groaned out next and Xander disappeared for a moment. Lien was laying next to me and her tail started wagging as I managed to look over at her. I noticed I was in the middle of the bed and was curious where Xander had been sleeping. My answer was presented when I noticed my basket had been moved to a chair to face the bed.

"Here love, Small sips." Xander said returning and offered me a glass of water. I took small sips of it before trying to sit up as the door opened.

"Don't get up yet." Came Shelly's voice from the doorway and I gave another groan in reply and dropped back to the pillows to which Xander chuckled. Callen was with her and they approached slowly. Shelly was all over me as soon as she was next to the bed, checking over my bandages with a torch trying to keep the lighting dim because my eyes were sensitive to it still.

"Your shoulder was in really bad condition," she warned "As well as your hip I had to use stitches on them, Simba did a really bad number on them, seems he took out all his anger on your shoulder more than the rest of you. The commune also took a lot out of you... you've been unconscious for three days."

"He was about to make me into a eunuch before you guys showed up," I said with a mild yelp as she was a little rougher with my shoulder possibly out of mild irritation or shock at the statement "oww... gentle please."

"We are still working on how he got his paws on the tools," Callen said grumpily "Sadly even his own father cant get the info out of him"

"Luce is on that now," came Alpha Leos voice from the doorway "We have gained council consent to break D-17 under the clause of Community security."

"Urgh, more paperwork," Callen said rolling his eyes "I cant believe he is able to resist you of all people."

"Well he won't be able to resist Luce no matter how hard he tries. We are still deliberating the punishment," Alpha Leo said walking towards me and looked to Callen "We understand why you aren't in on council meetings as well at the moment, Neil is more important but we will need you for this soon." I felt myself blush as I looked at the large male who looked back down at me with a smile on his face. He reached down and gently rubbed at my cheek before being shooed by Shelly.

"Hey there puppy, how you feeling?" Alpha Leo asked looking into my eyes and continued to smile warmly almost fatherly, something I had not gotten from anyone else before.

"About as good as can be expected," I answered weakly with a soft chuckle "All things considered... your son really..." Alpha Leo stopped me by raising his hand.

"He nearly killed you and I am ashamed I never saw it coming," he said frowning "And while it may not help any, please accept my deepest apologies for his actions." I gave a nod and slight smile in his direction trying to tell him I accepted his apology but wasn't able to do much else as Shelly was inspecting my jaw.

"Ok, I think we are all set," Shelly said before I could tell him he had nothing to be sorry for "Neil, Lien, you need to shift to full form, hold it for ten seconds, then shift back to human. It will make you tired again but it should close most of these wounds. I will give you a shot of adrenaline once your done, extreme yes but you will need to stay awake, you need to eat something, a drip can't substitute food forever." I nodded and shifted to lay my hand out on the bed, Lien quickly laying over my arm.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, feeling the pull quickly and felt my body change almost gracefully from human, to mid, to full form in only a few seconds and counted to ten.

The change back was just as easy and smooth but when we finally separated we were left panting from the exertion feeling tired and weak even more than when I had woken up. Shelly checked me over again, inspecting the wounds closely and with her expert eye. Most had closed, including the wound on my shoulder but both she and I could tell there was still a lot of damage under the skin.

"Ok, from what I can tell..." she said softly "You are good to go however a few rules for now. One, No mating bite till after Christmas, I know you want to restore it but the area is still badly damaged. Two, I can't stop you and Randy from being Ruban's personal guards during the next hunt, which is coming up soon but in regards to what you did last time... don't. Your body couldn't handle another assault like that so soon. Lastly, don't do a large amount of shifting, stay in one form or another for a whole day, again till after Christmas. This is to give Lien a rest, the last weeks events and the commune took an insane amount out of you two. I had to put you on a drip to get your fluids up and added a large amount of vitamins and minerals because of it." I nodded and she smiled as she stood up before pulling out an injection and injected it into my arm.

“If it comes to it, Randy can do the fighting,” Calen said with a smile “I've been training him personally while you've been missing seeing as he wasn't sleeping.” Xander nodded and smiled flexing one of his arms making everyone chuckle.

"For today, rest here, don't go out and if you leave the bed you don't go any further than this floor, meaning the top floor of the pack house ok?" I nodded again before she turned to look at Xander "Keep an eye on them, remember what we talked about, you have my number if anything comes up, no sex for two days!" Xander nodded and she walked out, spouting something about needing to keep the prisoner alive, I didn't really catch it as I fell back into a light slumber not long after with Lien and Randy resting their heads on my chest as Xander went to get me food.