A groggy head and fuzzy vision were soon becoming the norm, thought Hermione upon gaining consciousness. Amidst trying to clear her head and focus on her surrounding, she felt a ripple in her limbs. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. Since the night of her turning, this was the first time she was able to take control of her body and it was only because the humans had drugged her so her wolf was finally asleep.

Looking down at herself, she saw parts of her had transformed. She tried to move, but her body was alien to her. There was so much power rushing through her veins even in her current state it made her dizzy and question if she could wield such power. Maybe her wolf was right; she was weak. She had been armed with a wand and Fenrir still managed to capture and rape her. She only escaped being bonded to him because her wolf had taken over and dealt with him.

Hermione felt an absence within her. Her bond with Draco gone.

Draco.

Merlin! Why had he not come looking for her? Fenrir took her, took their pups, and while she was being raped and abused where was Draco?

The she-wolf was right to focus on vengeance. It was all she had really.

Kill Fenrir. Kill Voldemort. Kill every Death Eater. Kill them all.

With that refrain in her head, Hermione let go.

The she-wolf woke up fuming. They had tricked her and then trapped her. The humans in this land did not use wands and they spoke in a foreign tongue, making it impossible for her to tell when one of them was firing a spell at her.

She looked at her body and was livid to discover that instead of her powerful paws she now possessed delicate hands with blunt fingernails. She could not tell if she was still a little out of it, or immobilised, or if her tail had just disappeared the same way as her paws, but she could no longer feel it when she tried swishing it about.

Her surroundings looked comfortable enough, but it mattered little to her as she was brought there without her consent. She growled and was pleased that at least her vocal chords remained unaffected by whatever they had done to her.

One of the humans, probably hearing her growl, entered through the door at the far corner of the room. The wizard smelled of fear as he cautiously approached her. How the tables had turned. Not so long ago she had been the human who had shuddered in fear when a wolf approached her. That wolf had turned out to be her mate.

Mate.

Bah! Her lip curled in distaste at the word. Where was this mate of hers? Why had he let her be captured? Why had he not come for her? That was no mate. When she was done with her sire and others who had hurt her, she would find her pups and a new mate.

The dark skinned wizard smiled and spoke in a strange language before he fell quiet. For a brief second his face was a mask of concentration before his body changed and in place of the wizard stood a hippopotamus instead.

The she-wolf watched the creature in amusement. Was she supposed to feel afraid of it? It may have been bigger, but she was faster and stronger. Usually anyway, right now she was frozen in place and only able to move her head.

Akiki tiptoed into the room and stood quietly in one corner. He smiled when he noticed her looking at him.

"Hello. I see you have met my colleague. I am sorry. I wanted to come earlier, but I have classes. I came as soon as I am free," he said in his strange accent. His friendly manner appeared genuine but as he was one of the people who had drugged and immobilised her, she wasn't going to be fooled by him again.

"This is Kwame Okereke," he said pointing to the hippo standing there doing nothing. "He is the Transfiguration teacher. He will help you."

At a signal from Akiki, his colleague transformed back into his human self, nodded and bowed to her. She did not care for their friendly overtures. All she needed from them was a way to return home.

The two teachers spoke among themselves before Akiki addressed her again.

"Kwame will now change into his animal and then slowly change back to his human state. He would like you to pay close attention and copy him."

On cue, Akiki's colleague turned himself into a hippo. This time it was her human's turn to be amused. The transformation was done with such flair and drama that had the hippo been a rabbit it would have resembled an act from a Muggle magic show. It was no better than a Muggle magic show. This hippo was not a real creature, only a wizard pretending to be one.

It did not escape her attention that since waking up, her human self was no longer trying to wrestle control from her. Far from it, she was even beginning to come around to her way of thinking. This was good as they were meant to be one, not two. It was good they were finally merging, which of course would be bad for anyone who had ever wronged her.

Neither Akiki's instructions nor the Transfiguration teacher's actions distracted the she-wolf as she and her human focused on her weak hands and imagined them changing back into the strong forelimbs of her wolf form. There was no conflict between the creature and human parts of her, in that moment they were one spirit unified in their desire to change into the more powerful beast.

The she-wolf was pleased to feel her body change. She raised her head, proud of what she and her human had accomplished together.

"This is good. This is very good," said Akiki, grinning at her and excitedly patting Kwame on the back. The silly wizards thought they were somehow responsible for the change. "We will leave now and return later. Give you time to rest. Progress!"

Oh, this is different.

Only Kwame and Akiki entered her gilded cage but, with the door left open, the she-wolf had already caught the scent of the ones standing outside—her little saviours.

Over the course of the past couple of days, the Potions and Transfiguration teachers, along with other members of the Uagadou school staff, paid her several visits. Despite their best efforts, they failed to get her to transform any part of her body. From their expressions, as well as Akiki's exclamations, it was apparent that the lack of progress had caused their enthusiasm to quickly run out. However, their interactions had not been a complete waste of time. Through a series of tedious questions, they had gleaned she was from Britain. They were ignorant of the war waging there and spoke of Voldemort as if he was the saviour of wizarding Britain.

Increasingly, everyone's frustrations began to mount; the humans, over their continued failure to solve the mystery of why she was unable to return to her human state, while the she-wolf was tired of being confined by four walls. She wished to flex her muscles and run wild, fight with other wild animals and feed on them. The ignorant humans were unwittingly torturing her by failing to cater to her needs as a creature.

"We had an interesting talk with three of our students," said Akiki after both wizards had greeted her. "They said they found you injured and treated you. We looked at their memories. We saw your injuries. Something terrible happened to you. We don't understand how you are alive... Our Headmaster thinks that you cannot change because you may be frightened. We want to show you, you have no need to fear us."

Akiki turned towards the door and in an authoritative tone, called out, "Watoto? Ingia."

As if summoned by Akiki, the three children entered. The little girl's eyes sparkled and she began to move faster when she spotted the she-wolf. She looked like she would have hugged the she-wolf, if not for the presence of her teachers. The two boys were more restrained, but their smiles went all the way to their eyes; they were also happy to see her. She had evaded the children every time they came looking for her, so this was the first time the three were setting eyes on her since saving her.

"Let me introduce you to your little healers. Kalisha Jakande, Bokamoso Falana and Mpho Saro-Wiwa," he said, pointing first to the little girl, then her friend and finally the little animagus. "Instead of practicing with Kwame and myself in this room, we thought you may feel more comfortable practicing with the children. You will be free to roam the school grounds—"

The she-wolf found Akiki's line of reasoning faulty. How could a bunch of children help her transform when their teachers had failed? However, her own teachers had thought nothing of exposing their young charges to hippogriffs, blast-ended skrewts, and even the occasional duel with a Dark wizard. To their credit, the staff at Uagadou had seen it fit to let her roam their school grounds because they believed she was a harmless animagus.

"—Kalisha and Bokamoso have yet to learn how to change into an animal but young Mpho, he is very talented, as you have seen. He could change into his animal even before he came to school," explained Akiki. Next, he addressed the children, his tone conveying he was most likely instructing them on how he expected them to behave.

This new arrangement would work in her favour, thought the she-wolf. The children especially should be easier to manipulate into providing her the help she actually needed.

"The rumblings have quietened in the days since Greyback's return."

"Do you think it has anything to do with him returning injured?" Draco asked his sire.

"Indirectly, perhaps. I suspect Greyback ending up injured has, either altered or delayed their plans. His mutts aren't quite as gleeful as they were during the first couple of days you were gone."

"How many of them are there anyway? Surely we can—"

"Do you think you're ready to fight Greyback?"

Draco did not need time to ponder. His wolf had been saying he was ready since ages now. However, Oskar was not done.

"I'm not just asking if you're ready to exchange blows with him. I'm asking if you're ready to kill him and take over as alpha of the pack."

Suddenly Draco understood Oskar's hesitation. Oskar did not doubt his ability to defeat the alpha; Oskar doubted if he could bring himself to deliver the deathblow.

Draco, Draco, you are not a killer.

Dumbledore was right about that. Over the years, he discovered he did not have the stomach to kill anyone. How was he to bring himself to kill his own alpha? And what if he succeeded in killing Fenrir but failed as a leader? Without an alpha to bond with, would he not be condemning the pack to a life of madness and savagery?

Oskar placed a hand on Draco's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "It is a lot, I know. We will wait till you're ready."

Draco did not feel so sure and said as much. "What if I'm never ready? It's one thing to cause someone's death while defending myself in battle, but to carry out an execution... I couldn't—I mean, I don't think I could..."

He did not know how to express all the things that had led to him being labelled as a coward.

"You're over-thinking this, my son. Give it time; instinct will govern your actions when you're ready. We don't need to get rid of Greyback yet as we first need to secure the pack against any external threats that may arise once he falls. For now, we continue to co-exist with Greyback and his lackeys and you continue to exercise your control over pack members that have bonded with you."

Draco nodded in agreement, though he doubted he could ever do away with Fenrir in the manner needed to succeed him as alpha of the pack.

"Have you received any news from your mother about the mysterious Malfoy elf?"

"No," said Draco, thankful for the change of subject, "but I haven't spoken with Theo again. He's concerned we may be drawing attention to ourselves with the frequency of our calls and meetings."

"His concern is warranted. More than a few in the pack have taken note of your recently renewed friendship with the Death Eater, no knowing who else has noticed. Too bad your friend didn't have another set of mirrors to spare."

"It's probably hard for you to imagine, but two-way communication mirrors are a rare commodity these days. The Dark Lord made sure to have them destroyed and banned early on. He then added a Ministry trace to the magic that creates a new set... It could not have been easy for Theo to acquire that pair given that even possession of communication mirrors is now taken as intent to commit treason which carries an automatic lifetime sentence in Azkaban."

He was grateful for the pair Theo had given him; it meant they had a secure means to communicate directly with the Order.

"Every time you tell me about the world outside I'm glad to be an old werewolf with no dealings outside the pack," said Oskar letting out a long-suffering sigh.

"According to Theo, many are beginning to share that sentiment; they're not happy with the way the Death Eaters have been running things. With any luck, there are just enough disgruntled individuals in influential positions to pull off a coup."

"While I pray for the success of your plans, I don't imagine any change coming without an all out war."

"We don't have the numbers for an all out war. Apart from the pack itself, and hopefully some support from the Order, I don't see anyone joining our side should we engage in conventional warfare with the Death Eaters. Other wizarding communities have long been aware of the civil war going on in Britain, but to them it's nothing more than a local conflict. Even when the Death Eaters launched attacks in the Americas and Bulgaria, their governments downplayed the events as random acts of terrorism by individual groups with no connection to each other. They don't even recognise the Death Eaters as a group, let alone consider them a threat! Foreigners will not join us and the magical folk in Britain have been worn out by the events of the past five years. In bits and pieces, they surrendered control to the Death Eaters, but even though they're suffering the consequences for not having acted in the past, they lack the energy needed to fight back and regain their previous way of life. They do not want a war."

"Only a fool ever really wants war, but wise men accept that sometimes war is unavoidable."

Oskar's simple words carried the weight of truth. Theo and he had taken a page out of the Death Eaters' book on how to overthrow a government. They planned to work from the shadows to infiltrate and regain control of the wizarding institutions. However, they had made one gross miscalculation. With years of being in power, the Death Eaters and now even the Black Cloaks were emboldened and brash in their actions. They would not simply go away this time and wait quietly in the shadows for their next opportunity to rise to power. They would put up a fight.

"We need to start preparing for a total war," said Oskar in a matter-of-fact tone.

Draco began to feel overwhelmed. It was all too much to think about. He wished Hermione were there with him. He would have liked to talk to her and hear her thoughts on the subject. After all, she had maintained her will to fight the Dark Lord and his forces under bleaker and far more hopeless conditions. Thinking of her made his heart ache. Instead of the sharp pain he had felt the day she left, he just felt hollow and empty, like a part of him that used to be there had gone missing without him realising it.

Draco sighed, his shoulders drooping.

"One thing at a time, Oskar. For now, I need to locate my mate, take care of my pack and figure out what Fenrir's been up to... Speaking of which, we may soon have some answers about his trip to Uganda. I believe Theo's going there today. "

Oskar gave him a questioning look.

Draco explained, "Fenrir ordered Gunnolf to report to Death Eater Headquarters, his presence was demanded for an overseas mission."

"As shameful as I find Greyback's dependence on Gunnolf, it's a greater shame that he would allow someone else to command his head beta," said Oskar with a shake of his head.

Draco shrugged it off. Fenrir had always shown zero qualms about letting the Death Eaters abuse his pack. Compared to some of his past transgressions, Fenrir lending his head beta as a tracker did not strike him as anything terrible.

"What do you expect to find there anyway? Your pups were brought back unharmed. The pack will ensure they never leave without your consent again. Why pursue this?"

Oskar was right, whether or not Fenrir took his sons to Uganda and what he did there was not an actual priority, and yet...

"I don't know what I expect to find, I just have this hunch that this is something I need to pursue."

Oskar nodded, of course.

What we think of as instinct, is only the goddess' way of nudging her favourite creatures on to the right path.

After all the times his sire had said those words to him, it came as no surprise that he would so easily accept Draco's reasons.

"I think Zoey is finally ready," said Oskar, moving on.

"She better be," rejoined Draco. "Cora will be leaving in a few days."

"Zoey's young and has a nervous disposition, but she is loyal to Cora."

"We both know I wouldn't have picked her if we had any other choice. Unfortunately, she's the only one who could play Ginny Weasley without the pack noticing her absence."

"I would've preferred someone not sired by Greyback, but Zoey is not a bad choice. The witch does not feel threatened by Zoey, so Zoey has been able to spend time with her, study her mannerisms..."

"I'm more concerned that the foolish girl will unwittingly get within scenting range of Fenrir's followers while she's polyjuiced as Ginny. It is a legitimate concern, considering she'll need to put on this act more than a couple of times every week."

"Cora is confident that Zoey will do just fine. You know Zoey has been under her care since she was turned; she knows her best."

"Doesn't change the fact that she's so young, a single slip up on her part would leave all of us exposed."

"I heard you were far younger when you were planning the assassination of one of the greatest wizards of our lifetimes."

Draco would have taken offence at Oskar's words if not for the compassionate tone of Oskar's delivery.

"Don't hold her age against her. She may appear incompetent around you because you unnerve her. You should get used to having that kind of effect on omegas."

It took Draco a moment, and he felt rather foolish when he realised what Oskar meant. Knowing the way the pack's social hierarchy worked, he should've been more conscious of how members of his pack would respond to the changes in him. If the pack's bitches had been eager to rut with him before, they would now engage in all sorts of seemingly odd behaviours to win his attention for as long as he was unmated. It would be worse during the full moon when they would most likely fight each other to be the one to receive his seed. He groaned at the thought.

"I really need my mate back."

"You should never have let her go. We tried to make both of you understand." There was no smugness to Oskar's words, just grim resignation.

"She wouldn't have been happy. She believes her place is beside her friends." Admitting it to someone else was more painful than he thought it would be.

"Once you were mated it wouldn't have mattered. Her place would be with you and the pack, for eternity."

"I wanted her to stay by choice," he said.

...and she did not choose me.

Instead of the children, Akiki entered the room. The she-wolf had spent the last few days with her little healers roaming the school grounds as they urged her, through gestures, to imitate their little friend who could switch between his human and bird forms as quickly as he could flap his wings. While free to roam anywhere she pleased, she was still unable to cross the magical barrier and leave the school grounds; she noticed the children did not have the same restrictions.

Interacting with the children was a strange experience for her. For some unfathomable reason they accepted her and did not fear her, not even after watching the grisly display of her feeding. The little girl in particular did not shy away from showing her affection, going as far as wrapping her arms around her neck in a hug when she wished her goodnight. Even stranger, was how she felt around Kalisha, Mpho and Bokamoso, their mere presence was enough to make her feel and act less irrationally than when they weren't around. Nevertheless, as much as she was enjoying the company of the kids, she was tired of being stuck at Uagadou with no means to return home.

Well, if she could not return to the pack she may as well start building a new pack for herself. Isn't that how her sire had started out anyway, by biting random strangers? If he could do it, surely she could too. So what if she did not understand a word of any of the local languages? As their alpha, she would still be able to command them as she wished.

Yes, thought the she-wolf and her human agreed, that is exactly what she would do should the locals continue to prove useless.

The Potions teacher started speaking with a level of excitement not displayed since their first meeting.

"We have good news. We have an important visitor we believe can help you. He speaks English very well and he is a man of great influence. Even if he cannot help you change back he will be able to send you home."

AN: A helpful quote from chp 8 on the subject of lone wolves.

["Being an outcast is the worst punishment for one of our kind, pup. Doesn't matter if you leave, get kicked out, or are simply lost, once out of the pack you become a lone wolf, an outcast. As social creatures our minds cannot cope with the loss of the bonds- we slowly go mad.
"Our nature compels us to seek others, to create a substitute for what we would have naturally found with the pack. But this is impossible to do as humans do not accept our kind. A wolf who has lost his mind grows more feral, he envies pack members for having what he cannot. In his jealous rage the mad wolf will lash out and attack our weakest members, thus making him a threat- a threat we then bear the responsibility to eliminate."]
Hermione comes across as OOC because she's a lone werewolf with no pack or bonds.