April had been surprised when Julie came out of the kitchen to serve her and her family. She figured she would be upstairs with the girl, but after she asked her mentally what was going on, she understood. After dinner, she had checked on the girl and notice she was sound asleep. April figures this must be the first time; she has had a chance to rest peacefully.

After checking on the girl and telling Jose that he would be relieved by Adam around midnight. She heads to her suite to get some sleep as well. Tomorrow should prove to be interesting to say the least.

The morning light filters in through the window near the bed Agent 345 was sleeping in. She slowly opens her eyes and look around. Someone had been in earlier and left some clothes for her to wear. She slowly gets out of bed and takes the bandages off her leg. She notices the pink skin where her body was still healing the opening of the wound. She moves carefully to the bathroom and takes a nice hot shower and scabs herself with the scented shampoo and soap. She knew it would cling to her body, but she didn’t care. If she was going out on a mission, she would have just used the water to clean her body by itself.

After finishing her shower, she moves back into the bedroom and starts getting dress. Someone had left her everything she needed to wear a dress, which was fine. She would rather wear a dress, instead of pants and shirt. She slips the flats on her feet and went to the door to see if it was lock. As she turns the handle it opens for her. She steps out and she knew as she did, that there was a guard by her door. She looks up at him and wonders if he would understand her.

Adam looks down at this little girl before him. He couldn’t believe she was the feared Shadow, which everyone was concern about. He watched her as she stood next to him.

She looks at him and motions with her hand that she wanted food.

Adam watched as she brought her hand to her mouth like she was using a spoon and motion with it. He had been told she was mute.

“Are you trying to tell me you are hungry?”

“Yes! I was wondering where your kitchen was.” Agent 345 wasn’t startled like she had been yesterday when she heard April’s voice in her head.

“Lady April has instructed me to follow you, since you can’t speak. I’ll translate for you. Follow me.” He leads her down towards the dining room where everyone had gathered for breakfast.

The place was huge, compare to what she was used to. She walks with Adam, as he escorts her up to where Lady April was sitting. He pulls the chair out for her to sit and then pushes it back towards the table.

April looks at their young visitor “what would you like to eat this morning?”

“I don’t know. I was always given a protein shakes and a few bananas for breakfast.”

A smile forms on April’s face “Here, why don’t I ask Marge to make you some pancakes. I think you’ll enjoy them.” April concentrates and sends a mental request to their cook Marge.

Agent 345 looks around the table. Everyone seemed to be either waking up still or have been awake for a while yet. She picks up a glass of orange juice April had poured for her. Agent 345 picks the glass up and gives it a quick sniff, before drinking it. She had something like it back at the HSL compound before.

She sits there and watches everyone as they eat or drink their coffee or juice. She does notice occasionally, one or two of the people at the table would glance over towards. It makes her squirm some, when they glance her way.

April notices it “Is there something wrong?”

“No, not really it’s just that I’m not use to the attention, I’m getting. It feels strange to me and I don’t know how to handle it.” Agent 345 was feeling a little nervous.

“Would you rather eat in your room?” April was thinking it might help her.

“No, I’ll be okay.” Just as Agent 345 sent that thought to April. Marge comes walking in with a large plate of hot, streaming stack of pancakes.

“Here you go.” April puts a stack on Agent 345 plate.

Agent 345 looks at the stack of pancakes. She never had any and wonders how you’re supposed to eat them.

April pours some maple syrup over them and then cut them into small bite size piece for Agent 345.

“Go ahead and try them now.” April gives Agent 345 a smile.

Agent 345 picks her fork up and takes a bite. She loved the sugary taste of the maple syrup as it goes down her throat. She digs in and starts eating them like they were going out of style. April kept adding more to the girls’ plate, whenever her plate got low. She would add some more syrup. She had notice that Agent 345 was additive to the sweetness of the syrup. Agent 345 holds her hand up to let April know she was full. She sits back against the chair sighing. She had never eaten so much food at once.

April just smiles as she notices how content the girl was.

“You seem to have enjoyed the pancakes.”

“Yes, they were very good and I have never had syrup like that before. I was normally kept on a strict diet and wasn’t allowed to deviate from it. The head trainer that monitored me said my diet needed to be balance because how much energy I burn during my exercises.”
April thought about what Agent 345 just said. She wonders what the girl’s life was like every day.

“What was a normal day for you?”

“I was normally up by 0500hrs and did a twenty-mile jog., Then after that I would have hand-to-hand training for at least two hours., When I got back, I would be allowed to take a twenty minute breakfast break and go over what assignment I had that day. It was either spying on you guys or honing my skills against the ones we capture. My brother and sisters would have class afterwards. While they were in class, I would be taught some more in my martial arts or intense gymnastics training.

“What did you do with the ones you capture, before you came here?”

“I free the ones that were able to move on their own and the others I help load into a truck and sent them on their way. I would never do something to harm them, when I trained against them. My instructors got mad at me and said I shouldn’t care about your kind.”

“Why did you care so much?” April was watching Agent 345 as well as everyone else at the table.

Agent 345 takes a deep breath and tries to look for the words to explain her how she felt. Then an idea hits her. She would allow April to probe deeper into her.

Agent 345 drops all her shields and mental barriers and to let April probe deeper into her.

April felt Agent 345 open herself up to her. April reaches further into her mind and could feel that she didn’t have what it took to be mean or cruel in her nature. All she could feel was peacefulness and serenity in her. There were black spots on her soul and April knew it was hurting
Agent 345. She could feel how it clawed at her to go against her nature. She looks at the girl and then wraps her up in her arms and pulls her on to her lap.

Agent 345 didn’t know what to make of this, but something inside of her opened and tears started falling from her. She buries her head against April’s shoulder and sobs. She wants to scream, but nothing comes out as her hand glitches into a fist of frustration and just cries.
All the emotions she had buried deep inside of her came surging forward.

April just held Agent 345 against her body and rubbed her back as she cried against her. She could feel the lonely little girl at her core, which wanted so much to be held and loved by a mother who cared. She held Agent 345 against her protectively. She may have lost her other daughter, but she was not going to let anything happen to this poor girl any more.

Cain had come in quietly into the dining room and notice Agent 345 crying her head out against his sister-in-laws shoulder. He sends a mental message towards April to find out what was going on. He sits down as she explains to him mentally what had happened. She even shares what she has learned with him and a low growl rumbles in his chest. He now knew that it wasn’t Agent 345’s fault for her actions against his and other Packs and Pride’s. He’ll have to call an emergency meeting with the rest of the Alpha’s and share what he has learned about the HSL with them. The only two groups that weren’t affected by the HSL were the Hipamika pack and the Chattan pride. The leader of both those groups took care of their problems, before it became too much. It also helps that the surviving mates of the Hipamika pack former Alpha was a powerful witch. He knew she had a twin brother in the Chattan Pride, but nothing had been heard from him. Cain had heard a rumor that he had die awhile back. He’ll have to ask Neil about that when he calls him later today. He also needed to inform other Alpha’s of the updated listings of his pride membership. His territory was one of the biggest one’s around. All of Montana was his territory.

Territory wise it was like the others, but membership wise, it had the most people. The Chattan Pride was considered the smallest Pride, but they had the most powerful members among them. He knew Neil and his Queen were the only ones capable of handling the most powerful among their kind.

Cain smirks at how hard Neil must have keeping them in-line. He and Neil had been pride mates when they were younger and even then, he had a certain aura about him. Neil had married his cousin Clair. She was just like Neil; both had an air about them that made others around them give them respect. The difference between Neil’s pride and his own was that Neil took everyone into his pride. He was the only pride composed of different species of were-cats. Sure, he had a few among his pride, but Neil’s was composed of nothing, but different species.
No one species was big enough to claim the pride as theirs.

Cain looks back over towards April “Have you decided on a name you like to call her?”

“Yes! We both agree on the name of Amy Elizabeth Ale for her. We’ll keep her birthday as it is. That way it will be easier to remember for her.”

“Why is she in your lap?”

“She totally opened herself to my mental probes and it caused everything she had been holding back since she was little to surface. You wouldn’t believe what they put her through.” April shares a little bit of Amy’s memory with her alpha.

Cain couldn’t believe it. They started training her when she was just a toddler. He felt her isolation as they kept her separated from everyone. Even her instructors weren’t nice to her. All of them, except her third Martial Arts instructor. He was the only one to show her any kindness, until one day he didn’t show up.

Cain looks over towards Amy as she is held by April. He could now understand why she chooses to join his pride. It was the only kindness she had ever seen in her life. He could see that for someone who had never had any sense of life, would want what they had been denied. He gets up out of his chair and walks over towards her and places his hand on her shoulder.

“You’ll never be treated like that ever again Amy. You’ll know what it is to be loved and treated with kindness.” He gives her shoulder a little squeeze before heading back over towards his chair.

Amy watches him and April. She figures she must have shared her memories with him. She takes a deep breath and just lays there on April’s lap with her head resting on her shoulder. It was childish, but after letting April pass all her internal blocks and into why she did what she did and how her childhood was, it releases some of the emotions she had bottled up inside of her.

April tightens her hold on Amy and vows to protect Amy. She promises to show this girl what a family is about. After a little while, she motions for Amy to get off her lap and follow her towards her alpha’s office.

As the both walk in, Joyce was already in there, doing some paper work. She looks up as her sister, Amy and her husband walk in. Her husband motions for Amy and April to take a seat. He goes and stands near his wife.

Joyce looks at April “I’ve gone ahead and had the papers drawn up with Amy’s new name on it. She’s register as being born here. Which, she really was born here after all and isn’t a lie. I’ve also had Troy go through that information you gave us Amy.” Joyce looks over towards Amy.

“It would seem, to be that the Human Supreme League and the Hunter Organizations are both connected to each other. After what happened a couple of months ago with the Hunter organization area leader being arrested for murder and drug trafficking. They left most of their dirty work up to the HSL. If the leaders of the Hunter Organization had found out about you Amy, I doubt you would be here right now talking to us.”

Amy was confused, because she didn’t know why the Hunter Organization wouldn’t want her working for them. She personally met four of their district leaders when she was first put in the combat arena with six capture supers.

She sees if Joyce could receive her thoughts “Why wouldn’t the Hunter Organization want me to work for them? I met four of their district managers personally, on my first combat test. They had come to watch me fight six Were-wolves they had captured.”

Cain was surprise at this omission. “Do you remember what they looked like Amy?”

“Yes sir.” She closes her eyes and digs in her memory for the four she met and the six Were-wolves she fought. She brings the images to the surface and let’s April transmits the images to Cain and Joyce.

Joyce looks towards her husband and April “I know at least two of the wolves. They’re members of the Bloody Moon Claw Pack. Their mainly made-up of gator swamp hunters from Louisiana. They are a small group, maybe fifty member’s total. Their leader answers to Troy White. He is the Alpha of that region.”

“I don’t recall Troy ever mentioning, that he lost any members at any of the meetings.” Cain was wondering if he should investigate this matter a little closely.

Joyce looks at her husband and could tell he was thinking about something. She knew him and Troy went way back. They served in the army together and served over-seas together as well.

April looks towards Amy “How many times did the site you were operating out of test you?”

Amy thought about it for a minute “I was normally tested four times a year. They wanted to make sure each year that I was still operating at my peak condition. The rest of my team was only tested twice a year. They got shots three times a year.”

Amy knew what the shots were. They were the special combination of drugs used to boost her team mate’s physical bodies. She didn’t need them, because her body already operated at peak performance.

Cain just shakes his head. He knew the HSL and The Hunter’s experimented with different type of drugs and genetic manipulation to engineer some of their people to be able to fight his kind. The meeting with the Alpha’s was going to be a heated one when he shows the information Amy gave him. It might be best for him to keep her out of the reports for a while.

Cain looks towards his sister-in-law “So what are your plans for today?”

“I thought I would take Amy shopping today. It will be something new for her and let her observe how normal girls her age socializes with others.” April thought it might be nice for Amy to see how to be a normal teenage girl.

Amy looks over towards April and wonders if this would be wise. She had watched how girls her age had acted, when she came into their territory to scout out routes and their weak points. She directs her thoughts towards April.

“Mom, wouldn’t it be best if I showed you where your weaknesses are in your defenses and how you could improve them?”

“No young lady. You’re going to take the day and see what a young girl your age does and to get you some more clothes. You need a set of clothes, books and personal items that are yours.” April lets a smile appears on her face.

“But I already know how girls my age interacts with others. How they socialize and flirt and with the boys younger and older than them.” Amy figures it would be a waste of time for her to try and act normal.

“Amy, you need to learn how to be a young girl. You may know how girls your age socializes, but you have never done it yourself. Also, you need to learn how to relax more. Your stance is like that of a cat ready to pounce on something. You can see the military style training in your body language. To help undo what was taught to you, you’ll need to change some of your habits and unlearned what you have learned. Remember, you agree to follow my rules, when you accepted me as your mother. So, as your mother, we are going to go out and have a daughter, mother day.” April had made that last sentence an order.

Amy just looks at April and smiles.

Cain looks at both “Do I want to know what you two were talking about?”

“Not unless you want to go shopping with me, my daughter and your wife.” A teasing smile appears on her face. She knew Cain hated shopping.

“No thank you. You girls have fun.” Cain watches as all three women leave his office.

Amy held April’s hand as they walked towards the front door along with Joyce. They had three guards with them.

Amy looks at them and then to her mother “I guess people still don’t trust me.”

April just smirks “They aren’t for you dear, but for Joyce. The mate of the Pride never goes anywhere without a guard. Just as you will not be allowed to go anywhere without a guard either. I’m a member of the family and therefore important. Since you are my adopted daughter, you won’t be permitted to go anywhere without a guard. I know you can defend yourself, but it is better if you don’t reveal who you are too much my daughter. You are feared and wanted among my kind and if people knew who you were things could get complicated. Plus, I don’t want to hear about you being force to kill someone.”

“I don’t need to kill them mother. I do know ways of paralyzing them and making them regret messing with me. I dislike killing people.” Amy leans in close to April.

April gives her adopted daughter hand a little squeeze “I know sweetie. I felt it inside of you. I know how much you hate it.”
Joyce, April and Amy spend the day shopping and bonding. By the time, they got back to the Manor house, Amy was happy and felt like a normal teenage girl. They went shopping, movies and beauty parlor. The beauty parlor was the scariest part for Amy, but Joyce and April held her hand and helped her deal with it. She had her ears pierce and her hair trimmed and shaped for her.

April had gotten Amy a nice short hair style. Something she could take care of herself with very little effort. Her hair felt extremely soft to the touch. The beautician commented about it to Joyce and April. She said that she had never felt hair so naturally soft before. April and Amy head towards the main dinner room and take their place at the table. Marge had cooked up a Mexican style dinner tonight. Amy was amazed, because she had never had anything like it before.

April shows Amy how to make the tacos and burritos. Troy challenges her to try some extremely hot peppers. She eats them with no problem. It burned her slightly, but it wasn’t as bad as Troy said they would be.

Troy couldn’t believe it. He had watched Amy eat as many as he did and wasn’t even fazed by the hot peppers.
Amy looks towards April while they were still sitting at the table “Mother, would it be okay for me to train for awhile?”

“Okay, but only for a short time sweetie.” April didn’t mind her adopted daughter to work out for awhile, since she knew it was part of her routine.

Amy excuses herself from the dinner table and is escorted down to the training room. One of the trainers down stairs shows her where she can change into an exercise suit. The suit they have for her is leotard style suit. Amy does a few stretches and goes through a few warm-up exercises to loosen her muscles up. She starts off easy and then makes them a little harder each time.

Some of the men that had family killed by members of her unit were down there and there wasn’t anyone watching over her. They approach Amy and surround her.

“We know who you are. We also know what you use to do. You and your kind killed some friends of mine. You have a lot of balls coming here and asking our leader to take you in for what you did. I think you should die for what you did to my friends.” With that he strikes out at her and hits her right in her face, breaking her nose.

Amy doesn’t do anything to stop him. She doesn’t protect herself in any way as she lets the six guys that surrounded her punch, kick, claw and bite on her. She lets them, because she feels that she deserves it. She was tired of fighting and just wanted a normal life. She hears three of her ribs crack as someone kicks her extremely hard in her chest. She tries to scream out in pain, but nothing comes out of her mouth. She feels another kick as it strikes her right in her private area and she feels something inside of her rupture. She felt something cut across her throat and then wetness. Amy screams out mentally for her adopted mother, before she passes out.