Cassii caught up to Jensen, Kaylee, and Alice still in the mirror world. Jensen looked a bit worried as he said, "This could decimate the pack."
"I don't think it will," Cassii said coming up. "They'll be upset at first but they are wolves now as I am. Wolves are social creatures and live in packs just as lions live in prides each working for the good of the pack. Although naturally there are fights for the position of alpha but since our pack was created with the curse the normal rules may not apply. Alice, may I see what you've written for the transform?" Alice handed Cassii what she wrote and she sighed. After a bit she said, "Mrs. Hardy had the right idea but we need to free their minds."
"I believe I know just the words to use," Alice said nodding.
"We also need to lock our minds against any type of unnatural transformation," Cassii said thinking a bit.
"Unnatural?" Kaylee asked.
"I should be more clear," Cassii said. "Transformations of the mind caused by the curse or any other magic. This will protect us from magical manipulation while still allowing us to grow."
"Cassii you seem to act like a little girl," Jensen said. "Did your transformation include that?"
"It most certainly didn't," Cindii said in outrage.
"I act like it because I want too," Cassii said giggling. "I like to have fun and being a little girl is fun to me." She seemed to think a moment then said, "Our minds need to be able to grow and just locking them as they will be after the transformation won't allow that." Alice nodded and wrote something else down. Cassii watched as Alice wrote down the transform then said, "We should be safe from transformations of the body and mind now. However there's nothing we can do about dares."
"Why can't we do anything about them?" Jensen asked.
"Well I guess you could make us immune to magic but then we wouldn't be able to travel through mirrors," Cassii said.
"On the subject of dares we should dare the mayor and the city council to change Glendale's name," Jensen said.
"No," Cassii and Alice said at the same time.
"Why not?" Jensen asked. "It would eliminate the curse once and for all. I want to get it done sooner rather than later. I don't think the lions will hold to the bet."
"Mr. Hardy will honor the bet he made," Cassii said with all certainty. "Though he may consider you to be separate from the pack Daddy. If he does then the bet doesn't cover you."
"But I'm part of the pack," Jensen growled.
"That's true but he may not see it like that," Cassii said.
"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Jensen sighed. "Now then why can't we dare the mayor and city council into changing the city's name?"
"Imagine that you're the curse and your goal is to spread misery," Cassii began. "In fact it was what you were created for. If someone was dared to change the city's name and it succeeded it would be like committing suicide. Then you wouldn't be able to spread misery around which goes against your very existence."
"Ok so it wouldn't let us do it then," Jensen said shaking his head.
"Oh we could do it," Cassii said. "Although the consequences could be catastrophic. Once you make the dare you'd create a paradox. On the one hand the person would have to follow the dare that would lead to the curse's demise but the curse can't kill itself because it's primary function is to spread misery. It would be like the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object."
"Maybe it would be worth it," Kaylee said. "What could happen?"
"Well everyone that has been affected by the curse could be killed," Cassii said. "That's the best case scenario as I see it. The worst case is that the whole of reality comes unraveled destroying the entire universe and universes close to it."
Jensen and Kaylee looked horrified at that. Slowly Jensen said, "Then we don't do that. We make no mention to anyone that the curse can be destroyed by changing the city's name. It would be too big of a temptation for some to use a turn to get the name changed."
"Lets hope the others don't think of doing that or that they figure out what Cassii told us," Kaylee said looking worried. In truth all four of them looked worried because the lions just might do that without thinking it through.
"I have the transform written down Father," Alice said handing the paper to him.
"I guess it's time we freed the pack's minds," Jensen said looking worried. "Cassii, stay here until I introduce you. After that we'll start on the transforms."
Everyone nodded and Alice led Jensen and Kaylee out of the hand held mirror. Once they were out Julie, Darla, and Fran shouted, "MASTER YOU'RE BACK."
"Indeed," Jensen said. "I need to gather everyone for an announcement."
"Of course Master," all three said at the same time then went off to gather everyone.
"I hope this works," Kaylee said.
"It has to," Jensen replied a worried look on his face. A few moments later once everyone was assembled he spoke, "I have some good news. We will be able to return to the manor shortly." A cheer went up and after it died down he continued, "We also have a new addition to the pack. She was transformed four years ago into her present state. Even though she was transformed before any of us she is still a part of this pack and I expect everyone to treat her as such. Now let me introduce you to my daughter with Darla, CASSII."
As Cassii heard her name she squeezed through the handheld mirror. It was a strange feeling having parts of your body shrink to fit through the mirror before other parts and once on the other side having those same parts return to normal. She didn't like the constricting feeling it gave her. She much preferred having a mirror that didn't constrict her. There were a couple of gasps as she came out of the mirror. She thought that this was mostly due to the fact that she had hair, glass hair but still hair. Or maybe it was the fact that she was transformed before them but Jensen had called her his daughter. Whatever it was it wasn't a big concern so she just stepped forward and said, "Hi everyone, I'm Cassii."
Everyone said, "Welcome Cassii."
No sooner had the welcomes died down then a shot was fired. The bullet shattered Cassii and lodged in Jensen's leg. Jensen let out a howl of pain and rage but it was drowned out by Mr. P's howl as he took off after the man who fired the gun. One of the pups he was charged with protecting was dead now and the man who did it was going to pay. The man tried shooting Mr. P but his hands were shaking so badly that his shots went wild. A couple more of the wolves were injured before Mr. P bit down on the man's arm tearing it off. The man screamed and tried to run away but Mr. P bit his leg and tore that off too. He tore the other arm and leg off before moving on to the man's head. With slow deliberate force he began crushing the man's head until finally the man's screams were no more. As he went back with his head down and his tail between his legs he thought of how the master was going to be mad at him for letting his newest pup be killed. She wasn't indestructible like Alice, Abby, and Samantha were apparently. His head came up though as he heard Cassii ask, "Are you alright Daddy?"
"I'll be fine," Jensen said looking at Mr. P as he came back.
Mr. P was surprised to say the least. Here he saw Cassii get shattered by the bullet but she was whole now. "I... I... I though... I thought you were... you were..." he stuttered.
"Dead," Cassii supplied. "You weren't the only one to think that. I mean my body did shatter and it was natural to assume that I was dead. But as you can see I'm not. I don't think any of the other pups were harmed but I think some of the other wolves were."
"If there are more Julie will be able to take care of them," Jensen said. "What happened to the one who was firing the gun?"
"He's dead," Mr. P said. "It looks like he was ship-wreaked."
Jensen sighed and said, "I wish that we could have talked to him."
"Forgive me but I thought he had killed Cassii and my duty is to protect the pups," Mr. P said.
"I don't blame you," Jensen said kindly. "You did what you thought you had to do. You were protecting the pups from danger. Though I'd prefer it that in the future if something like this happens again that you keep them alive. He was probably afraid of what he found here and didn't think anything through."
After a bit Jensen continued his meeting. Martha had ushered the pups into the mirror fearing that there might be someone else coming to the island and she wasn't going to have the pups in danger. Everyone was watching out for any more surprise guests. After taking a deep breath Jensen said, "I want you all to know that I don't want anyone killed unless it's absolutely necessary. If someone threatens us do what you need to do to disarm them short of killing them and bring them before me, my mate, or the betas. Now we've recently found out that while we're locked into our wolf forms our minds are vulnerable to transformation." There was a collective gasp from everyone there and they wondered how they found out. "Alice has written a transform that will take care of this though," Jensen continued. "I also had her include a change so that you're not blindly loyal to me or blindly love me. I can assure you that this is for the good of the pack. If we don't do this the pack is likely to be destroyed. There may be some pain involved in the transformation but I know you're strong enough to handle it. After this I want to know how many times you've been asked the question and how many times you've asked it. Any questions?" Since there was only silence they began to go back to the manor where the curse would work.
Once back at the manor Jensen, Kaylee, and Alice divided up those they would ask. Alice was going the pups while Kaylee and Jensen did those they felt would most likely continue to be part of the pack. Alice had written a different transform for Cassii since her mind hadn't been transformed. All through the manor you could hear howls of pain as the wolves faced what they had done. There were angry cries of why coming from different wolves. Cassii looked at Martha and Mr. P. They didn't seem to be in as much pain. Cassii decided to ask, "Are you mad that you're that way Miss Martha?"
Martha smiled and said, "While I wouldn't have exactly chosen this I'm happy. I had always wanted a couple extra hands."
"How about you Mr. P?" Cassii asked.
"Well it's something different that's for sure," Mr. P said and laughed.
"Ok Bart, Jenny, Marcy, Kevin, Abby, Samantha, Zelipe, Ammy," Cassii began. "What about you? Are you angry?"
"Of course we're angry," Bart said fuming. "Our daughter turned us into wolf pups." Jenny, Kevin, and Marcy nodded their agreement looking pretty well angry.
"We're not angry," Abby and Samantha said together. Samantha continued, "We chose this and we're happy."
"Well even though we were forced into it I'm happy," Ammy said. "We don't have the stress as children as we did when we were adults. I have always been into the Japanese culture and I really like how I look. Being a girl has given me another perspective I hadn't considered before. I think I might have taken this if Daddy had just asked me instead of forcing it on me."
"I feel the same," Zelipe said nodding.
Cassii took a breath and said, "Well now we have come to a question. It's important that you all answer it honestly. Do you wish to stay as part of the pack? You are free to leave if that's what you desire."
"I'm going to stay with you pups," Martha said. "If you leave the pack then I'll just leave too and take you in."
"The same goes for me," Mr. P said nodding. "I went into the services to help protect people and now I'm protecting you pups."
Bart, Jenny, Kevin, and Marcy looked at each other and Jenny spoke for them saying, "I guess we don't have a choice..."
"You do have a choice," Cassii interrupted. "If you don't want to be part of the pack then you don't have to be. It's your choice."
"Well then I'll only speak for myself and I'm staying," Jenny said.
"I'll stay too," Bart said nodding.
"Stay," Kevin said.
"Stay," Marcy said nodding.
Abby and Samantha looked at each other and Samantha said, "We want to stay with our mommies so we can't say if we'll stay or not."
"Fair enough," Cassii said. "How about you two Zelipe and Ammy?"
"I'm going to stay," Ammy said. "I like it better."
"As do I so I'll stay too," Zelipe said. "What about you two though?"
"We're staying," Cassii said. "I wasn't transformed to be a part of this pack like you were. I'm here by choice."
"I guess that means I'm staying here too," Cindii said with a giggle.
Everyone except Alice and Cassii looked shocked when they heard Cindii talk. Alice giggled and said, "It should come as no surprise. There are talking grotesques outside after all."
"So now that we know where we stand we need to inform Daddy," Cassii said and started marching off to find him. When they found him Cassii said, "The pups, Miss Martha, and Mr. P have reached their decisions. All of us, with the exception of Abby and Samantha, have decided to stay in the pack."
"Oh," Jensen said looking a little sad at the thought of losing two pups.
"Abby and Samantha have decided to stay with their mommies," Cassii said smiling.
Jensen smiled as he said, "Well that's great because they have decided to stay with the pack too. Now I need to make a little announcement." He turned around to address all the other wolves. Many of them looked very angry. after looking at the m for a second Jensen said, "I know that you're all angry to one degree or another. I can only say that I'm sorry for what I did. I wish I could blame it all on the curse but I can't. The truth is that it was me that did them. I was a spoiled brat before who thought of herself as a high and mighty princess. I didn't care about any of you then. I didn't even know most of your names. Some of you I hadn't even met before this started. But over the past few days I've undergone a transformation. A transformation from a spoiled brat to someone who cares about those in the pack. And thanks to this final transformation I can care about others not of the pack. It's too late for you to return to being human but I give you the choice of remaining with me and the pack or leaving. Those that wish to leave may do so now. If you decide to stay I want you to be sure that it's for the right reasons. I don't want you to be miserable staying here if you'd rather be with your families no matter how you look. If you do stay we can bring your families in if that's what they wish. No longer will we bring people into the pack who aren't willing. I'll wait for you to decide. If you're going to leave please do so now. You know where the doors are." Jensen had become a little emotional toward the end. It was clear that he didn't want to see any of them leave as he considered them to be his family. At the same time he knew that if you loved something you had to let it go. After fifteen minutes and no one had made a move for the door Jensen asked, "Are all of you staying with the pack then?"
"Yes," they all said at the same time.
Jensen smiled and said, "Well then we have some work to do. Those wolves that are injured need to get some rest, and that includes me. Our island retreat still needs to be finished so Abby, please take the gems there."
"Yes Daddy," Abby said with a smile.
"Now this place could use a little cleaning I think," Jensen said. "Nichole, please organize everyone that is not injured or in a meeting with me to clean the manor. I don't think it needs that much and with everyone that can helping it shouldn't take long."
"Yes Master," Nichole said bowing.
"If you prefer you can drop the master bit," Jensen said. "I'll be happy with being called Jensen."
"We work for you do we not?" Nichole asked confused.
"This is a family," Jensen said with a smile. "I really don't want to be referred to as master anymore. I would prefer to be called Jensen or if you want Alpha Jensen."
"And you can call me Alpha Kaylee or just Kaylee," Kaylee said.
"You can call us Beta Darla, Beta Fran, Beta Julie or just Darla, Fran, and Julie," the triplets said at the same time.
"I think that will be followed by everyone hear," Nichole said with a smile.
"Now I want to see June, Pearl, Zach, the pups, betas, Martha, and Mr. P," Jensen said. "We have some things we need to discuss. So everyone go about what you're going to be doing for the day."
They all dispersed to do their jobs. Abby took the gems to the island. the injured wolves went to go rest. Jensen took his group to the den. And the rest organized to clean the manor. Once Abby was back Jensen said, "We need to make some decisions. Alice, Abby, Samantha, Zelipe, Ammy. I don't want any of you making any wolves unless you clear it through me or Kaylee and only if they're willing. Also make sure to tell them exactly what they'll be. Cassii, can you make anyone into someone like you?"
"Cindii didn't give me that ability," Cassii said shaking her head.
"Well I just didn't think about doing that," Cindii said.
Jensen looked at Cindii and said, "I'm sorry Cindii. I forgot to introduce you too."
"They'll get to know me soon enough," Cindii said. "Cassii is almost always carrying me around with her."
Cassii smiled and said, "Like I'd leave my sister just laying around."
"I can move you know," Cindii said.
"But it's much faster if I carry you," Cassii said. "Besides you like it. Especially when I give you a hug." And she did give Cindii a hug right there.
"Only because you like it," Cindii said with a smile and everyone knew that she was kidding.
"Ok now we have to decide on what to do with Marcine, Jack, the grotesques, the shadows, and the statues," Jensen said. "I'd like to turn them all back but we do need security for the manor and I'm not sure if the statues can be asked and answer. Same goes for Marcine and Jack. The shadows I don't think have any sense of self left in order to answer."
"Well I think you should give the grotesques the chance to leave," Cassii said. "Maybe we could work up a contract that will allow them to be grotesques while they're working but change back to human when they're not."
"That's an idea," Jensen said. "In fact we'll make up contracts for those we hire to work who don't really join the pack. I think that will mostly be security for the manor. Though I think we'll need to hire another nanny or two to help out with the pups."
"Are you going to make them like me?" Martha asked.
"Only if they're willing to be like you," Jensen said. "They'll have the option of joining the pack or just working as nannies. Now on to other matters. I think I need to talk with Ulysses. He seems to know Mary pretty well."
"Well so do I," Cassii said. "She use to baby-sit for my mommy Candii. In fact at times she babysat Abby and Samantha while she was babysitting us."
"Then I guess you three will be there when I talk with Ulysses," Jensen said. "But for now let's enjoy today. You pups go show Cassii your room."
As they left Jensen couldn't help but feel that he was going to die. It made sense in a way. The curse wanted to spread misery and the pack would be miserable if he should die. The agents that looked the most likely to kill him were the Hardys. He had to wonder how much of their minds the curse was affecting.