Redeeming the Lost (A Comforter's Tale)

Chapter 2

As we reached the edge of the playground, I squirmed, wanting to be put down. My unspoken request was honored, and I was placed on the grass.

I ran forward, managing not to trip this time. "Mazie! You're back!" My mindlink seemed faint, and it was a struggle to speak with her since she wasn't part of our pack anymore. It was actually a small miracle that I could mindlink her. Other than her immediate family and mate, anyone else would have to be part of her pack in order to mindlink her. It was another Comforter perk that came from more or less being stuck in wolf form.

"Hey, Julie!" She picked me up and cradled me in her arms. "I missed you so much. How have you been doing?"

I couldn't keep my tail from wagging. "Good! How has your mate been treating you?" I let everyone in the playground hear my mindvoice.

"Like a queen. I couldn't have asked for a better man."

I wolf-grinned at how her eyes travelled to her mate and hazed over with adoration. They were clearly just as in love now as they had been when Mazie left our pack to join his. I didn't need my emotion sensing ability to tell me that.

As a Comforter, I would never have a mate. It was like our potential for a mate had short-circuited and we loved everyone instead. It affected our minds as well – I had no more interest in romance or having kids than the napping puppy on Mary's lap currently did.

The teenager smiled at me and asked the two guys, "Is she one of yours?"

She came to stand beside Mazie as she gazed down at me. The duo blinked at her, surprised by her question and the assumption that I was a puppy. This was also the first time they had ever been mistaken for a father, so it wasn't hard to pinpoint the source of their bewilderment.

"She isn't a puppy," Mary told her kindly. "She's a Comforter."

"A Comforter? Sorry, I was a rogue until recently, and I'm still learning a lot about the packs."

"A Comforter is a rank in the pack, like an Omega or Beta. There aren't many out there. Only about a third of the packs have one."

"Oh." She looked just as confused as she had before.

"A long time ago," Mary began, her voice rising and falling in the paced rhythm of old legends, "back when the packs were always at war, Comforters didn't exist. At one point, all of the fighting was close to wiping out the werewolf race. When all of the Alphas sat down and agreed to stop the wars, a solar eclipse occurred, and the moon literally glowed with a silver light while it completely blocked the sun. At the same time, in every pack – large or small – a Comforter pup wandered out of the forest, lost and alone. Their rank was to help maintain the newly established peace and bring love to any who needed it."

The teenager reached out and gently petted my brown fur. "She's so cute. I just want to pick her up and hug her."

"That is one of the powers of the Comforters," Mary said, grinning at how captivated the teenager was with me. "Something in their aura makes you want to protect them and care for them. Having a puppy-like appearance also encourages the pack to protect them. Their calming ability has a lot in common with the Omegas' skills, but it's much stronger – even their mere presence helps calm people down. The easiest way to tell a Comforter apart from a puppy is their aura – you can sense their presence when you get close enough. They never grow out of their puppy shape, either."

"Why?"

"Because everyone has bad days, and sometimes all you need is to hug and cuddle with a non-judgemental puppy."

"I wish there was one in our pack." She paused with a look of confusion. "If there was a Comforter in every pack, why don't all packs still have one?"

Mary's expression grew sad. "Some packs saw them as weak, just like some packs still consider runts to be too weak to allow in their pack. Some were killed or chased off. Most packs kept their Comforters though, and they became the pack's treasure. Old age comes to everyone, and the Comforters are no exception. Every generation or so, one is born into each pack."