Galsek was eager to take Meesei's excuse as a sign of weakness and threw some discouraging words in her direction, but this was to be expected.

The rest of the hunt's planning was just a matter of communication now that the hunting grounds were allocated. Although on the surface it was hard to fathom all the details of such planning, all of the clan's alphas knew exactly what they needed to do with the limited information. This was such as the plan was similar to how they had always done it. Even Meesei missed out on unspoken details until she inquired further. By the end of it all, the entire clan was in the main chamber and were walking out of the gate in an orderly line. Each individual had a fur cloak set over their shoulders and were advised to take as little else as possible.

Meesei's pack were somewhat bewildered by all of the activity, but they followed along as best as they could. Ahnasha and Fendros were at first advised to leave Rhazii in the care of the young children who were staying behind, but Fendros would have none of it. Given the last time they left their child in the hands of a stranger, Fendros would settle for nothing short of Meesei promising to take care of the cub for them during the night.

The weather was slightly windy outside, though it was not snowing. It was cold enough to be uncomfortable, but not unbearable. Under Lorag's direction, the pack navigated their way to their allocated hunting ground for the night. At first, they were surrounded by many people descending the mountain, but as more and more packs broke off into the wilderness, they were soon left on their own. They came upon their grounds with roughly half an hour until the moons rose, so they decided to start early. Their furs, as they were advised, were to be hidden and found later so they wouldn't freeze on their way back. They were promptly stuffed into a hole beneath a tree that Ahnasha could mark with her claws before they began. Even in unfamiliar territory, the pack felt a sense of satisfaction at being able to hunt again. Fendros didn't have to worry about anything except the next quarry, Sabine had been lacking in exercise and was glad to be moving around, and Janius was just glad to get out from under the ground.

The soul gems that Meesei requested were waiting for her in a small sack when she returned to her pack's chamber. Without the bustle of the clan from over the balcony and through the doorway, there was a certain serenity that was conducive to weaving her enchantments. That was, when Leaps wasn't nudging her for attention or Rhazii wasn't crying for whatever reason. Whatever noise the children or pregnant women were making from their chambers didn't carry this far except in tiny echoes. In the middle of the night, there was some loud howling through the halls as Galsek and Harriet's beast forms struggled against their fetters. Thankfully their beastly howling was their only method of communication.

Between the silence and the distractions, Meesei was eventually able to get her enchantments done. It was only once the last one was finalised that she noticed a small boy, no older than eight, watching silently through a hole in the door. Once he was noticed, he gasped and ran off. An older child calling for a name seemed to resolve the situation without Meesei's input.

The next morning, there were already some returned packs by the time Meesei woke up. Most appeared to be going about their duties as before, save for skipping breakfast and looking tired from the night's activity. Others were either napping or finding a place to nap. The lieutenants returned with their packs, one by one. Some packs returned with kills that still had enough meat to salvage. By about three hours after sunrise, Meesei's pack returned in one piece. All seemed to be freezing cold under their cloaks, but a bath in the now crowded and tepid pool chambers later and they gained a spring to their steps.

Meesei's pack and the lieutenants caught up and were all pleased to report a lack of incidents during the night. Darahil made particular note to mention how anarchic the whole affair would have been had the unrest not been resolved.

Once a sufficient majority of the packs had safely returned, Meesei returned once more to Harriet to hear out her answer. A simple, terse 'I agree' was all she gave, and she did not speak further until brought before those gathered in the dining room to hear her confession. By her expression, Harriet did not enjoy the experience, but she remained stoic. Her confession was similarly terse, if slightly flippant despite her stern face. "I poisoned Jerrick to try and become leader," she said, "it turned out to do more harm than good. I wouldn't recommend it. I'll see you on the hunting grounds." And with that she turned and stepped away with no effort made to defend herself.

The audience's reaction was somewhere between indifferent and quietly contemplative. Either way, it seemed that everyone was too tired to kick up a fuss. Most had accepted that Harriet was guilty anyway. Afterward, some of Harriet's alphas came to her and asked if it was really true. A number of them felt that they would sooner blame Galsek for misleading her. Harriet responded by conceding that she trusted Galsek too much and shouldn't have taken his advice, but that it also doesn't excuse her actions. Other questions came about succession, to which Harriet directed all to the lieutenants and Meesei.

The next order of business was to enact the plan to track down the hideout of Galsek's associates. It would be a fight, so Sabine and Kaleeth were urged to stay behind with Rhazii and Leaps. There was some small protest from Sabine, but she did not force the issue. 

Oswall, Vera, and Darahil had a short discussion about what the clan would provide. They came up with two skilled warrior packs lead by Oswall, and some mages lead by one of Darahil's alphas. Oswall was too old to be the strongest fighter of them all, but he had an air of respect for his leadership and tactical skills. Darahil's mages were not exactly Imperial battlemages, but they had skill in magical combat enough to assist with protecting against Vile's mages where Meesei would not suffice as an individual. Darahil and Vera proclaimed priority in leading the clan while the others would be away. Fendros, Lorag, Ahnasha, and Janius donned their armour and readied their weapons with the rest. In all they numbered twenty-five fighting lycans. If the collective measure of power across the small warband was not enough on its own, the planned time of attack would be just far enough from the previous night that most could transform and ravage anything that stood in their way. As least, whatever Harriet would leave behind for them after her last stand.

Before they would set out, there was another important matter to take care of. The first was Galsek. The warband would prepare in the main chamber while Meesei took care of him. He looked up from his now stressed looking bindings at Meesei as she entered. The corners of his mouth curled into a malicious grin before he spoke. "Have I finally outstayed my welcome, dear hostess?" he asked in sarcastic innocence.