“How did this happen?” Fiona asked.


    “How much of our data has been stolen?” Galen asked.


    “I don’t know,” ra said.


    Nessa continued to type away at herputer, alternating between herptop and the PC’s keyboard beside her.


    It had been an hour since they had found the files disappearing from before their eyes. Once it was clear that it wasn’t a glitch but an active attack, ra reached out to Galen and Fiona.


    “It’s a worm,” Nessa said. “It’s burrowed deep in the system.”


    “Can you remove it?” Galen asked.


    “Working on it,” Nessa replied.


    “She’s got this,” ra nodded.


    “What about the files that are already gone?” Fiona asked. “Were those the only copies? Do we have backups?”


    ra hesitated to respond.


    “ra?” Galen called to her.


    “No,” ra shook her head. “I found the files on Alpha Cain’sputer. I made copies on a sh drive. But unfortunately, the worm seems to have wiped the files on hisputer. And my sh drive was connected to Nessa’sptop. So that’s where we saw it disappear from.”


    “Could this have originated from theptop?” Fiona asked._.


    “No,” Nessa replied, still focusing on delivering line after line of code tobat the worm that continued to destroy data. “Myptop has multipleyers of protection and security scans throughout the day.”


    “That doesn’t mean you couldn’t have missed something,” Fiona countered. “This thing just started when you connected yourptop. It stands to reason that–”


    “All due respect, Luna Fiona, but no. My system is a fortress,” Nessa stated.


    “Then how were the files on the sh drive removed from your fortress?”


    “Because I let down my drawbridge to allow the sick and the weak inside. But they spread the gue,” Nessa said, her eyes darting around the screen as she typed even faster.


    Fiona furrowed her brows.


    “What the hell did she just say?” Fiona growled to Galen.


    “She said that when she connected to Alpha Cain’s PC to try and remove his firewall, she lowered the defenses of herptop. Meaning that the worm entered her system through the connection to the PC,” ra replied.


    “But why did it suddenly happen?” Fiona demanded.


    “The files on the PC went missing first,” Nessa replied. “My security likely sent the worm on a speed run. It had probably been moving slowly in the background programs munching away at little bits and bytes for a long time. But toplete its mission before my defenses could kill it, it went to hyper speed and started gobbling away at all the data it was searching for.”


    “What exactly is it searching for?” Galen asked.


    “I don’t have time to figure that out right now,” Nessa said. “I am gonna kill this thing before he finds a way into your main system.”


    “I’m confused. I thought it was already in our systems?” Fiona asked.


    “We don’t actually know,” ra replied. “All the files that have been removed or essed are specifically on Cain’s desktop or the sh drive. So it looks like it’s searching for files rted to Alpha Cain.”


    “We don’t know that for sure,” Nessa said.


    “Why don’t we know that for sure?” Galen asked.


    “Because we don’t know where it has been. This worm didn’t just appear from out of nowhere. We don’t know how long it’s been here or if it’s essed anything else,” ra said. “Honestly, for all we know, it’s already gotten into the other systems.”


    “He’s not a replicator, this is a hungry worm gobbling up data, but he isn’t dropping little babies to munch it up faster,” Nessa said. “He’s smart and has a goal.”


    Galen pulled out his phone and stepped aside to order aplete lockdown of theirputer systems.


    “Gotcha!” Nessa shouted. She bit her lower lip and squinted her eyes as she typed thest few lines of code. “And now…. You’re mine!”


    She smiled to herself and leaned back in her chair as the worm was entirely blocked from both systems.


    “Did you stop it?” Galen asked. Leaning forward to look at her screen.


    “The worm is trapped,” Nessa said. “I’m grabbing a little piece of his code before I smoosh him. But I’ve locked it down, so it won’t go anywhere.”


    “Why would you save a piece of it?” Fiona asked.


    “To run a digital autopsy,” Nessa replied. “If I can pull it apart and analyze the code, I can give you a better answer on the how and why of his creation and purpose.”


    “It makes sense, but are you sure you can keep it from infecting the system again?”


    Nessa reached into the bag at her feet and pulled out a brand new USB.


    “Here’s his travel kennel. I will put him inside and move him to a new home on my air-gappedputer. No risk of him digging his way out.”


    Galen looked at theptop attached to the PC.


    “This is not an air-gapped system,” hemented.


    “No, but I have one in my room,” Nessa smiled. “I have two, actually.”


    “Alright, as long as you keep it out of our systems, I guess there is no issue with that n,” Galen said. “What about the damage already done?”


    “After a system reboot, I’ll see what I can do about file restoration, but it’s unlikely we’ll be able to recover anything,” Nessa said. “I’ll hook up with your system analysts, and we can work up a n to check every nook and cranny, but it’s going to take most of the day to check for any baby worms.”


    ***


    Once Nessa had given them her n, Fiona decided to temporarily hold off any further exploration of Alpha Cain’sputer. Of course, ra was wee to continue searching the paper documents. But the risk of losing what little of his data they had left was one she was unwilling to take lightly.


    Nessa joined the system’s analysts in cleaning up the entire Summer Network. At the same time, ra remained and sorted through her stacks of files.


    Galen and Fiona returned to Caleb’s office to continue reviewing the reports they had received from Jonas and his pack.


    “There are six packs, including Eclipsed and with thisst report, Blue Reef, all confirmed dead,” Galen sighed. “ording to Jonas, there were signs of struggle in Blue Reef, not as bad as Eclipsed, but the pack is gone.”


    “The missing numbers aren’t any better,” Fiona said, throwing down her notebook on the table. “Dark Maw, Stone Garden, Riptide, Grimhide, and at least five others!”


    “Well, we know Frostbite is in talks with Winter. Axel says they are close to securing a truce.”


    “Bustling Bush and Sky Valley have both run from their homes. They im monsters and rogues have invaded theirnds,” Fiona said. “Jonas sent men to investigate, but it seems he found no trace of either.”


    “The Sky Valley wolves will arrive tomorrow; Bustling Bush will go to Broken Crag,” Galen said. “Burning Ember and Moonguard have refused any meeting with us, but at least we know they are alive?”


    Galen sighed and sat back on the couch.


    “Actually, we got word from Burning Ember this morning. They are willing to meet with Caleb only,” Fiona said.


    “Progress, I guess.”


    A knock at the door drew Galen’s attention. He answered and received a brand-new report.


    “Looks like Grey Paw and Misty River are confirmed alive and well. Jonas says they have been made aware of what is happening but at this point wish to stay out of it.”


    “Of course, they do,” Fiona rolled her eyes. “And they’re surprised that we call them lesser.”


    “Can you me them for not wanting to join a war if they can help it?” Galen asked.


    “No, but for now, I can use them as something to focus my irritation on,” Fiona sighed. “Soon enough, no one will have a choice.”


    Galen nodded and looked back to the report.


    “Jonas says that Autumn has been quiet. They have even stopped sending scouts beyond their own territories.”


    “Why?” Fiona asked, sitting forward.


    “He doesn’t know.”


    “Well, that can’t be good,” Fiona sighed. “What has Spring been up totely?”


    Galen searched through the stack of reports. Finally, he found the one he was looking for.


    “Nothing notable.”


    Fiona thought for a moment before saying anything.


    “What do you think?” Galen asked.


    “They should have reacted to Caleb and Ashleigh getting married,” she said. “There is no way they don’t already know about it. The fact that they haven’t reacted at all… that’s concerning.”


    “In what way?” Galen asked.


    “Spring is filled with kiss asses and information gatherers. The wedding of an Alpha is big news. They should have sent flowers, gifts, at minimum messages before you and I ever got back to Summer.”


    “Maybe they know he isn’t here and are waiting for his return?” Galen offered.


    “Maybe, we’ll see when he gets back, I guess,” she continued. “The real problem is Autumn.”


    “Why?”


    “Autumn is closing ranks. Either that means they are strengthening their defenses, or there is trouble in the house,” she said. “Thest thing we need is a sudden change in leadership within Autumn.”