14 comments/ 43059 views/ 79 favorites The Bachelorette Ch. 01 By: HopelesslyAddicted Sam struggled to hide her excitement as she was led, blindfolded, through a loud smoky room. She could hear her bridesmaids giggling behind her as she was led up some stairs into what she presumed was a private room. "I think it's safe to take the blindfold off now Mels." Sam heard her best friend Halea's voice come from somewhere in front of her. She took a steady breath and closed her eyes in preparation for the removal. "Welcome to your Bachelorette party Sam!" Melinda spoke from behind her as the blindfold was removed. Sam had to blink a few times before the room came into focus. The room itself was painted in a dark shade of purple or blue, and almost all the furniture was black and chrome. There were black lights hanging through the room and everything that was white had an almost eerie glow to it. What really caught her attention was the giant pink penis sitting on the table in the center of the room. "What the hell is that?" Sam asked trying hard not to laugh. "Well since none of us have seen Jake naked, we weren't sure what size to get you, so I guessed." Halea said it with such conviction and with such a straight face that Sam couldn't help but let the out the bubble of nervous laughter. "Oh my god! I cannot believe you just said that, and with a straight face too." Sam laughed as Mel glided her over to a tall chair and plopped her down. "I thought the look on your face was priceless. If Penelope had been here I'm sure she would have labeled it as "Horrified Arousal"." Halea said as she pulled some hot pink drinking cups out of what appeared to be Mary Poppins carpet bag... It was bottomless. "It's just for decoration Sam, come on its your last night of freedom." "I hate that term." Valerie spoke up quietly as she stepped into the room and stepped aside so that three more women could join them. "I agree with Valerie, that term isn't very acceptable anymore. It's not like my brother is going to keep her on some sort of leash." Mary Anne Harper said coldly as she stepped into the darkened room. "Marry Anne, she was just kidding, Calm your self." Sam said shrugging her future sister off. She was used to it by now. "Where is the rest of the gang?" "Most of them were behind us, but they stopped at the bar to order some drinks I think." Alice said as she sat down beside Sam. As the youngest of the three Harper women, she was one of the most fun to be around. "Great. I told the bartender what to look for when it came to our party." Halea glanced over at the steps as she heard some giggles. "Here they come now." ========= Sam looked over at the bright patch of light coming from the window on her left. It has been three months, since the night of her bachelorette party. Three months since she has seen her family or Jake, the man she was supposed to marry. Thinking back to that night she can only remember bits and pieces, she can remember the show the strippers put on, and the assortment of sex toys that were paraded in front of her. She remembers Halea said something about hopping on a bus she rented and going to one of the popular clubs, and that after they got in the bus it wasn't long before the bus crashed, and all the women were taken captive. After the bus crash Sam was hurt and disoriented, she had no clue what was happening. The women were brought back to a large house and all of them were thrown into a basement room and restrained to the walls. They were left alone for what seemed like weeks, but it was only a day or two. A small woman would come in and feed them, and dress their wounds, but that was about it. There was little to no communication with the people that took them captive. Until He came. The day that he showed up there was a tension in the house, Sam could feel it. There were lots of heavy foot steps on the stairs and all the women's eyes went to the door. A tall brooding man stepped into the room. He had a dark green shirt and a pair of tight leather pants on. The room was too dark to get any facial features, but when he smiled Sam could see the glint of his long canines. He didn't speak to the woman, but a few of the men behind him came into the room and took some of the women off the wall, Sam was one of the unlucky few that they picked. She couldn't tell at the time who else they grabbed, but she was pulled up the stairs by her hair and forced into a bedroom. She knew that she started to cry then, knowing that she would be raped by these men, and since now she could see their faces, she wouldn't make it out of here alive. She had seen enough cop shows to know how rapist work, and she knew better than to fight, it would only make things worse for her in the end. Sam was thrown onto the bed face down, she didn't move. She could hear the man behind her rustling through something. "Get up." the gruff voice startled her. It sounded like someone who had smoked too many cigarettes. She obeyed instantly, afraid of what might happen if she didn't. She stood there at the edge of the bed with her eyes downcast to the floor, trying to look as small as possible. "Come on." The voice spoke again as a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her into a small bathroom off of the bedroom. "There is no way out of this room except this door. That window won't break and it doesn't open. Shower and clean yourself up. Here are some towels. When you are done knock on the door. Don't worry about clothes." He pushed her towards the shower and closed the door behind her. Sam slowly stripped off her clothes and looked at herself in the mirror over the sink. She really was filthy, she couldn't remember the last time she bathed. She looked too thin, and she knew it was lack of proper nutrition that did it. She turned the shower on and waited for it to warm up a moment before stepping in under the warm spray. She saw shampoo and conditioner on the side of the tub and grabbed the shampoo and lathered her hair. As she went to rinse, the hopelessness of the situation caught up to her and she cried. She didn't know how long she cried, but the water started to cool down and she hurried her self along. There was a razor on the tub and she shaved her legs and under her arms, and trimmed up her pubic hair to feel a little more like a human being again. Once she stepped out of the tub she dried off and walked over to the sink to see some small toiletries there, a tooth brush, a hair brush, tooth paste, mouthwash, floss, lotion, hand soap, and face soap. She pulled the toothbrush out of the plastic and brushed her teeth, rinsing with the mouthwash. She looked up into the mirror and looked at her now puffy eyes, she decided she didn't want them to see her cry, so she scrubbed her face, then let her self calm down. She ran the brush through her hair, and continued to do so until it seemed like the hair was drying. It didn't take long, since her hair was cut to just above her shoulders and it had cute choppy layers cut into it. She used the toilet and washed her hands before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door. The door opened slowly. "I wasn't sure if you knocked or not. You were quicker than I expected." the man motioned her out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. Sam took in the room and realized it was bigger than it first looked. There was a extra large king size bed that took up most of the room, there was little other furniture except for a small table and two chairs by the window, a giant wooden trunk at the end of the bed, and a large bed side table. The man motioned her to sit at the small table by the window. She sat and looked up at his face for the first time. "Same rules for this window." She watched the man talk and noticed that his face seemed sad, like he didn't want to be doing this. "I'm going to go get you some food. The door locks on the outside, locking you in here. No other exits. Just sit there and I will be back." Sam fiddled with her hands, she hated the nervous habit, as he left. She turned to look out the window and saw that she was at least on the second story of the house, and there was a large oak tree in the yard. She frowned when she noticed that the leaves had started to change colors already. When the door opened again and the man came in, he set down a small tray of food and a glass of juice. "What month is it?" Sam asked, her voice raspy from disuse. "September" came the gruff reply. Sam choked in her sobs, and slumped into the chair. "Why has that made you upset?" The gruff man seemed to be genuinely concerned. "I was supposed to be married in August." Sam was almost positive she spoke so quietly that he didn't hear her, but she was shocked when he squatted on his haunches and put his hand under her chin. "I'm sorry." The soft words coming out of his mouth, with his deep gruff voice somehow gave Sam a bit of comfort. "I don't want to do this, I would never want a woman to be here, like this, and I am sorry that we have pulled you away from your mate. I will try to make this easy for you." He pulled her into his arms and held her as she cried, She didn't understand half the words, from being pressed into his chest, but she could feel that he was indeed sorry. He pulled back and wiped the tears from beneath her eyes before he spoke again. "I'm Jacques, you can call me Jack, Ok?" He asked and she nodded slowly. "I'm Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam." She tried to smile, but she couldn't. "I know you don't know where you are, and I know you have no idea what is going on." She nodded and a shriek was heard from down the hall. Sam tensed, and so did Jack. "This isn't going to be easy but, I'm going to ask you some questions and I want some truthful answers ok?" Again she nodded and he placed her back in the chair. "You need to eat." She picked up the fork and looked at the plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. She really didn't eat yolk, but she was starving, and it looked so delicious. "Do you believe in the paranormal?" She was startled by his question and tilted her head in thought. "Like ghosts?" She asked him. "Ghosts, witches, vampires, werewolves..." He nodded and added onto her list. "I'm not sure. I know that there was some research done on some skulls that people believed were vampires, but all that was found was that they were regular human skulls." She took another fork full of food before continuing. "I know that somewhere in each legend there is a seed of truth, so some where along the line people either really believed in this stuff to think of creating the legends, or that the legends were modeled after some odd traits exhibited by someone a group of people didn't like. Kind of like high school drama." "Would you believe me if I told you that such things exist?" He looked at her with an odd gaze that Sam couldn't place. "Only if you had irrefutable proof." She jabbed her fork in his general direction. "And if you just so happen to have a vampire hidden in your pants, please don't take him out on my account." She rolled her eyes and grabbed up a piece of bacon. Jack chuckled at her sense of humor and stood up. "I have proof, and no there isn't a vampire in my pants, but I am going to need to strip to show you this proof. When I do, I will show you something no human sees, do not scream, do not run. I don't want to hurt you, but doing those things might trigger me to do something ok? Promise me Sam?" She nodded her head and watched him strip out of his jeans and t-shirt. When he went to pull off his jeans her eyes shot to the floor. "I need you to watch this Sam." She gulped and watched him slip the jeans off and blushed when there was nothing underneath them. She took a moment to look at his nude form. He was sculpted and very well built. His muscles were defined, and a light dusting of hair coated his chest that got dramatically darker and thicker as it got to his navel and stretched below to encompass his manhood. His legs were just as muscular as the rest of him, and despite the position she was in, her inner woman was swooning at his tall, muscular looks. Suddenly her gaze shot to his face as the air around him seemed to shimmer. She watched in horrified fascination as his face elongated and hair spread across his body. He crouched down then and let the transformation unfold. The thick black hair formed quickly, and his hands became paws. Almost as suddenly as it started, it was over and before her sat a shaggy black wolf. "Jack?" Sam whispered as she gripped the arm of the chair. The animal in front of her whined and dropped it's head. There was another scream from down the hall and Sam jumped. The wolf's ears flattened against it's head and he growled at the door. The animal laid down on the floor and whined. Sam slowly put both feet on the floor and then knelt down next to the wolf. Her heart thundered in her ears, but she knew that this was something she had to do. She reached out her hand and touched the tips of her fingers to his snout. The wolf looked up at her with Jack's bright blue eyes, and she knew that this animal really was Jack. "This is amazing" she was awed at the feel of Jack's fur. Jack rumbled a low pleasurable growl as her hands caressed his head and shoulders. There was a loud thump in the next room and Jack stood up and licked the side of Sam's face as she jumped. He took a few steps back and she watched the transformation in reverse. In a few moments a very naked Jack was crouched before her. As he stood, he grabbed up his clothes and motioned for her to sit back in her chair and finish eating. He dressed and walked over to the door, and growled again as a scream echoed in the hall. "What's going on out there?" Sam whispered to herself mostly, as she finished the plate in front of her and started to work on the next one. "The other men here are not like me Samantha." Jack stood, still with his shirt off, leaning back against the door with his eyes closed. "They are ruthless and take whatever it is that they want." "What is it they want?" Sam looked up when he said her full name and grabbed up the glass of juice. "Children." when the word came out of Jacks mouth Sam choked on the OJ, and gave him an incredulous look. "They want offspring. They... we are in desperate need." "The others are Werewolves too? Why..." "It's complicated, but I will try to explain. My father was the Alpha, the leader of our pack. My father died very suddenly one night, and my eldest brother took control of the pack. When he did, strange things started to happen. The women would start to disappear, mated or not, and the ones that stuck around couldn't have children. Soon a group of wolves with no home, or rouges, petitioned to join our ranks. My brother quickly agreed, hoping that among them would be women to get our numbers up again." Jack took a pained breath and sat on the edge of the bed. "After these rouges joined us... my brother became deranged, He started enacting new rules, and doing whatever Edward, the rouge leader, wanted him to do. Soon Sebastian, he... set up new rules about mates. Legend has it that there is one mate for every wolf, hand chosen by the fates. Once you have found your mate, that is it. There is no one else for you, and you love that person for the rest of your lives." Jack thought for a moment. "Humans would call it soul mates." Sam nodded and continued to pick at the plate of food in front of her. "If you mate, and your mate dies, there are three options for you, you follow your mate into the afterlife to be reborn, you go crazy, or you continue living but in a severe depression until your mate is reborn." "Werewolves believe in reincarnation I guess." Jack nodded at her statement. "So what rules did your brother enact?" "Well, mates are scared things. They are to only be with their mates, but since we didn't have children the females were all shared to create young. This drove some mates to commit suicide." Sam gasped at the hurt she could read all over Jack's face. "There are hardly any wolves left of the old pack. We have been mostly overrun with rouges, and since then my brother has decided we need to go find human mates and turn them, then turn them into him to be part of the pack harem." "Is that what we were taken for?" Sam was shocked. "Yes. That is what awaits you, I'm afraid. I'm trying to get you and your friends out of here though. There is a pack here that is very close to us, and they have been on our tails for a while. I am trying to leave them clues to intervene. It's time these rouges are dealt with." Jack sighed and looked over at Sam who was studying her toes. "If this pack intervenes, what will happen to you? Or your brother? The members of your original pack?" She looked up at him in confusion. "What happens to us? The women?" "The pack that I am trying to contact is fair, they follow older traditions and will find you women a home and even your real mates. I knew the alpha when he was a pup, but I doubt he would remember us. As for my brother, what ever can be done to save him, but I am sure the outcome would not be pleasant. As for the rest of my pack, they would be placed within this pack, although they would be lower in ranks & forced to earn a new title, if there are any decent ones left." He shook his head. "This is such a mess." "Jack, why... why did you bring me up here?" "I'm to turn you Samantha, each of the men here are to choose a captured girl and turn them, then take them back. The turning can be... painful if it isn't done right." Sam blanched at his words. "There are a few men here that are good men, just following orders, so we prefer to do this with the littlest pain. We have a drug, it was created by one of the original members of my pack, a good doctor. When he found out what the rouges were up to he started to work on something to help the women. This drug works as a powerful aphrodisiac, it increases arousal in women. If the woman is high with pleasure, the turning goes better. Turning would be best if you were with your mate, along with pleasure the love will bind you." "...Ok. So if you are just looking for babies, why do you need to turn us?" "Well, half human babies are considered weaklings, and once turned the human's cycle will change to that of a were. Sometimes, if the female is lucky they go into heat up to three times a year, usually it is once though. Once a heat cycle is established, then the males know when it is best to impregnate the females to create offspring. When a were turns a human a bond is formed, whether it be during mating or not. Through this bond, the male can sense when the female is fertile, and then he can impregnate her. While mating during a heat cycle, the male will pin himself to the female to keep the sperm inside the womb, increasing the chance of fertilization tenfold." "Are you going to turn me then?" her voice seemed so small even to her own ears. "Yes, my wolf knows that you are not it's mate, but he senses something in you that makes us believe that you are the mate of a wolf, somewhere. Once turned you may dream of him, which is common in were culture. Once you have your own wolf, she will let you know." "You speak of the wolf as if it's a separate entity." Sam looked at him confused. Her heart hurt, knowing that if he does this, she will never be with Jake again. She will never be normal or get married like she wanted. Her dreams of a four bedroom house with a two car garage and a beautiful yard surrounded by a white picket fence were thoroughly ruined. "It is and it isn't. My wolf is a part of me and I am a part of it. We are each individuals residing in the same body. While in human form I have the senses and instincts of the wolf, while in wolf form I have the ability to reason of a man. While in wolf form the wolf can talk to the man, and vice versa. We are the same yet we are not. Wolves are in tune with their inner beast, and their primal instincts, where as the man has the ability to reason and the common knowledge of the era." He scrunched his nose and tilted his head, in an almost dog like way. "I don't think I explained that quite right." The Bachelorette Ch. 01 "I understand I think." Sam looked at the now three empty plates of food and took the last of her juice. "When are you going to do this?" "Do you want the drug or no? If you want it, I will give it to you now, and it will take effect anywhere from now to the hour, so I would give it to you and return in an hour." Jack looked at her. "I want it, I think." Sam looked at him and he nodded. He walked over to the table and picked up his jacket on the opposite chair. Inside one of the pockets he pulled a small vial of amber liquid. "Drink this quickly, and chase it with some water." He ran to the bathroom and rinsed and filled her OJ glass with water. "Here. For warned, it doesn't have the best taste, and it works better on full stomach." He kissed the top of her head and exited the door. Sam sat there for a few moments, and then un corked the vial. She downed it fast, like a shot and grimaced as the after taste burned her mouth. She gulped at the water and went to sit on the bed, but the trunk at the end of the bed caught her attention. She opened the lid and gasped at the items inside. It seemed like there was a variety of assorted sexual toys inside the chest. She blushed heartily and closed the lid. She opened the drawer of the nightstand and saw a bunch of bottles of lubricant, and quickly closed the drawer. All of a sudden she got a cramp and ran to use the bathroom. Once finished, she washed her hands and brushed her teeth, and walked back into the bedroom. Once she could see the bed, a strange sensation washed over her. A low pulsing heat started to expand from her stomach. Once the first wave coursed through her body she sat on the bed. The instant her bottom touched the silky soft sheets, a wave of arousal hit her hard. She collapsed onto the bed as wave after wave of arousal made her body clench. She could feet her feminine core weep with her juices, and started to sob. The intense arousal centered at her womb, with smaller epicenters over her nipples. Tentatively she rubbed one sore nipple and gasped at the sensation. Her body arched off the bed as she grasped the tiny nub between her fingers. Her mind swam, trying to come up with a way to help ease her body of the arousal. She thought of the chest , and slithered down to open it. She picked a plain looking toy from inside the box, and immediately wanted to suck on it. She put it in her mouth as she rubbed her nipple and almost came from the pleasurable sensations. She noticed that the toy she chose was a vibrator, so she turned the bottom and ran it slowly along her nipple and moaned aloud. The sound must have alerted Jack because in moments the door was open and he was stepping inside. He looked over to the table first where he last saw her, but then his gaze shifted to the bed and his eyes opened wide taking in the sight of her sprawled across the bed with the purple vibrator teasing her nipple. She moaned deeply and started to slide the toy across to the other nipple. "Sam?" Jack's deep voice stalled her momentarily. She looked up at him, her eyes glazed over with lust. "Oh... god.... Jacques... please." She moaned his name as the toy came in contact with her nipple. She lurched up on the bed and her legs fell open. Jack was hard the moment he heard his name moaned off of her lips, and as the smell of her arousal hit his sensitive nose, his wolf almost surfaced with the need to take her. He disrobed quickly and climbed onto the bed at her feet. She looked down at him in his naked glory and licked her lips. "Jacques, touch me please." Again she moaned his name and arched off the bed as she tweaked her nipple. Jack slid his palms up her leg and lifted her foot to his mouth. She moaned at the contact of his calloused hands against her silky flesh, but when he brought her big toe into his mouth, she couldn't stop the shudder of pure ecstasy that wracked her body. Her low throaty moans were stirring him on, and he continued his sexual assault on her foot, licking and nibbling on each toe, then down to the arch and finally the heal and ankle. As he tortured her foot, his hands slowly moved up and down her leg, causing goose bumps to break out on her arms and legs. Sam stared at the top of Jack's head and watched as his kisses started up her leg to her knee. She moaned and jerked as his knuckles brushed her outer lips. "Please Jacques." She moaned wanting him to move faster, to help state the monstrous arousal coursing through her body. She needed release and knew that Jack could help her achieve it if he would only move. His warm hand skipped over her core, and trailed up her stomach to her navel. Sam uttered a deep moan as his fingers came to rest under her breasts. Jack looked p at the woman writhing beneath him. Now the purple toy she pulled out of the box was in her mouth as she stared at him. He gulped some air before lowering his head to her core and brushing a lick across her outer lips. The moan that was ripped fro her throat was deep as she shoved her pelvis up to his face for more contact. Jack obliged and started lapping at her juices with gusto. Sam came when his tongue entered her folds and found her sensitive clit. Her body jerked off the bed and she made a strangled noise. Jack looked up as if he did something wrong to see Sam biting her lip. "Sam?" Sam heard him, but she sat up on her knees and pushed Jack down onto the bed. The arousal in her body was almost painful, and she wanted to get Jack right there with her. She ran her hands down his torso and scraped her nails against his manhood. Jack growled with pleasure as she fondled him, and watched as she lowered her head to his nipple. Jack knew that female nipples were sensitive, and that they liked having them played with, but he never knew that the male nipple could be just as much. Her tongue swirled around it, and she took his nipple into her mouth, gently squeezing it against her teeth. Jack arched his torso off the bed in order to keep his nipple closer to her mouth. Sam smiled at his reaction and let his nipple go. Jack growled at the loss of sensation and opened his eyes only to close them again as she took the tip of his cock into her mouth. Jack knew she was teasing him, and also knew that he might not last very long if she kept that up. He groaned as she took most of him into her mouth and slowly slid back to the tip. "Sam." he grumbled, "If you keep that up, I won't be able to," Jack groaned again as she took him deeper. Sam moaned with him in her mouth, knowing that he was on edge, same as she. The feel of his thick cock pressing into the back of her mouth felt wonderful. She slid him out of her mouth with an audible pop, and kissed the tip before crawling up his body. Her hips now centered over his throbbing flesh, she looked down at him, and held his gaze as she grabbed his cock and aimed it at her entrance. As the tip eased it's way inside both of them sighed with relief. Sam slid down inch by inch, until all of his nine inches was buried deep within her core. Jack knew she needed to let her body adjust to his size before he jerked his hips and pounded into her ruthlessly, but the wait was killing him. Sam could feel his cock pulse in time with his heartbeat, and knew that her waiting was driving him wild. She leaned down and nibbled on his ear, and trailed her nibbles down the side of his neck. He growled then, loving the shivers she was causing through his body. She stopped her torture and looked at his face, seeing the passion swirling inside his eyes. "Take me" she whispered as she bent just a bit further and kissed him. Jack heard her whisper and the wolf inside of him went wild. The wolf knew that this was not their mate, but she was in heat and the wolf wanted her. Jack thrust his hips into her hard, and flipped them over, so that he was on top. His hips hammered into her, causing her to moan into his lips. He wrapped her legs around his hips as his tongue dueled with hers, and set a fast rhythm. Sam came as his pace increased, and she pushed back onto this throbbing erection. Jack released her lips and nibbled on her ear. "Scream for me Samantha." his deep voice resonated in her ear, and she came again, obliging him with a small scream. He chuckled "Good girl" and started to nibble down her neck. She moaned with the contact of his teeth against the flesh of her neck. Jack knew he was close, and that he was going to shift. He pulled out of Sam and she whimpered. He flipped her over onto her hands and knees and pushed her face down into the pillow. Sam arched her back in this new position and slid her arms down to play with her sensitive nipples. Jack took in her sight and smiled a very wolfish grin before plunging his cock back into her sweetness. The new angle made Sam moan with every thrust, and push back against him. As Sam came again, jack knew he couldn't hold off shifting, and allowed his wolf to come forward. The fur broke out across his skin and his cock elongated and widened inside her. Sam felt the shift and moaned deeply, turning her head to see the hybrid wolf towering over her and taking her. Jack saw the hungry look in her eyes and sped up his thrusts, his knot forming at the base of his cock. He knew she could feel it, and smiled as she pressed harder against him trying to lodge it deep within her. He pushed forward more until it was seated. She came then, and he knew he was lost. He pressed as fast and as deep as he could riding the waves of her orgasm until his own surfaced and bubbled over. As he came he bit down on to her shoulder and she came again, milking the cum from his cock. He growled as the taste of her blood coated his tongue and she screamed out his name. Jack let go of her shoulder and laid them down on their sides. He laid his head back on the pillows and pulled her upper body closer to his. "Jacques, I'm still so hot." She whined, and tweaked her nipples again. "Yes, Sam, it will be that way for a bit longer, it helps with the shift." He was trying to regain his breath as she pushed back against him. "You're still hard Jacques." She moaned at the feel of him still inside her and clenched her walls around him. "Ahh, I pinned you Sam. My knot is inside you, and I, ahh, can't pull out until it recedes." Jack grabbed her hips in an attempt to stop her movements, but found himself pulling her onto him. He flipped them again so she was riding him, and let her do with him what she pleased. Sam set a slow pace as she rode him. Jack held onto her hips, and smiled as he noticed small sprouts of light brown fur were breaking out along her back. "Do you feel her Sam?" He whispered, watching the transformation above him. "Close your eyes and see your wolf Sam, she wants to come out and play." He jerked his hips into her and heard her moan. She did as she was told and closed her eyes. She tried to breathe, but the sensations running through her body were making it hard. In her mind's eye she could she a petite brown wolf, sitting there watching her. She walked up to it and patted it's head, and got a lick against her palm. "You want to come out and join us?" Sam asked the wolf, and the wolf tilted it's head and stood and walked forward. Sam could feel it then, the wolf taking over. Under her, she could feel Jack shifting back into his hybrid form, as the fur coated her body. He pushed her back on all fours and slammed into her. Sam came around his cock, again and put her head back and howled her release. Soon Jack's quick thrusts became too much and he came, howling his release also. "Welcome to my world Sam. Sleep now." He murmured against the back of her fur covered neck and settled them, on their sides, under the blankets. Sam wasn't sure how long after that night that the local pack caught up to the rouges. She and Jack were barely apart. Jack explained that because change her sex drive was through the roof, and that it could be that way for up to a month after the first change. Despite the situation, Sam came to enjoy her friendship with Jack, and knew that he wasn't like all the other wolves in the complex. She could hear some of her friends cry as their wolf tormentors came into the room, and she knew that Jack could too. The last night she spent at that place, Jack was worried. He had gotten word that his message had been delivered. His youngest brother came into their room, and let them know that Leon Comeaux and his pack were on their way, and would be there tonight. Sam looked over at Jack and knew that this meant. "Michael, I need you to find clothes for the women, and bring them to this room, we have to be very careful about this. Bring them in small amounts at random times, do you understand. Do not let anyone see you with these things." Michael nodded and headed off. Jack turned to Sam. "I don't know how this is going to play out, I know you want to help your friends, and I do too, but we need to move this along without them knowing." Sam nodded and watch Jack leave the room. Later that evening, Michael had amassed a large quantity of clothes for the women in her room. She had organized them into piles: Underwear, sweat pants, T-shirts, and sweat shirts. Jack returned to her room with a few boxes of food. "I don't know how the others were treated, and decided to make some meals." She nodded and went about creating plates from the boxes he brought. "I'm going to bring a woman up from downstairs one at a time, please get them to wash and get them clothed and fed?" Sam nodded and watched Jack leave. She went into the bathroom and pulled out some fresh towels, and laid clothes out on the sink. As she came back into her room Jack came in with Penelope. "Sam?" She asked weakly. "Come on Pen, Lets get you into the shower and into some fresh clothes ok?" Penelope smiled weakly and was led into the bathroom. "Shower here and put these sweats on, and I will make you a plate of food ok?" Penelope nodded as she stripped out of her grimy clothes and turned on the water. "Be quick about it, I'm not sure who he is bringing up next." "What's going on Sam?" "Jack and I will explain later, but we need to get everyone down stairs up here and ready ok?" Penelope murmured her agreement and Sam left to wait in the bedroom. Moments later Penelope emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her gloriously long amber locks, and looking so out of place in the sweats. "Sit and eat. Jack is coming up with Alice." For the next few hours the scene was routine. Jack would drop off a woman and leave for about twenty minuets and return with another, until the basement room was empty. There were about fifteen women in Sam's room, all huddle led together eating beside her bed. Some were women she recognized as her friends, a few were strangers, but were happy to be out of their dark prison. Jack entered the room and the women went quiet. "The pack is almost here." Sam nodded and looked out at the women. "Ladies, I know that we haven't met under the best of circumstances, and I wish I could rectify that. The men that took you are what you humans call werewolves." There were a few startled gasps. "I know it sounds far fetched, but it is the truth. These men have captured you in the hopes of turning you and using you to breed children." Jack watched the stunned faces around him. "Jack has contacted a local group who is coming to rescue you and hopefully put an end to this madness, so that no one else has to go though what we did." Sam took a deep breath and continued. "Yes these men coming to save us are wolves also, but they follow a strict set of rules which the men here don't." "I understand that this is a lot to take in, but when the Alpha and his men get here, hopefully they could give you some better answers." Jack suddenly looked up at the window and strode to it. "They are here. Stay out of the windows and on the floor. I'm going to lock the door from the outside and keep you safe in here. If anyone other than me tries to com in this door Sam..." "I know what to do. Go." Sam watched him leave and she was put in charge of the women. There were a few that were injured, so she and a few of the stronger women helped these couple into the bathroom, where the windows were much higher, and the chance of being seen was very low. The rest of the women stayed on the one side of the bed, away from the door or the window keeping silent. Sam could hear the howls of unknown wolves and could feel the tension in the house escalate. There were noises coming from the hall, and she knew it wasn't Jack. As the door knob started to turn, she turned to the door and shifted into her hybrid form, growling at the intruder. "Fuck, there is one in here!" A younger man's voice came from the door. Sam snapped her jaws at him and growled, pacing in front of him. "No!" Jack's voice came from the hall, and he stood in front of the younger man. "Sam, calm down it's ok. These people are here to help." Jack walked into the room and touched Sam's face. The wolf instantly recognized Jack and she calmed down and transformed back. "You said if anyone other than you opened the door," "I know. You did ok Sam." He nodded to the younger man and he entered the room. "There are women in most of the rooms on the upper floors, I haven't been able to see the shape that they are in, so I can't guess. However, the women that were down in the dungeon room have been brought up here and they are showered, fed, and dressed." Jack told him as he stepped further into the room and motioned the women to stand. "There are a few women in the bathroom, they were injured and I didn't want them near the door." Sam added as Jack looked her way. "I thought it prudent to keep them as safe as possible." From that moment, things were a blur to Sam. People came and went out of the room, carrying the women that needed it and helping the rest out of the house and into some waiting vehicles. Jack held onto Sam and took her down and placed her in the back of a black SUV and stepped back. After another woman was added to the car, the door closed and the SUV sped off. When the car arrived at the compound, she was escorted into a small house along with a few familiar faces. Halea and Mel were there, as well as Jake's friend Valerie. Three women she didn't know soon joined them: Estelene Pierson, Belle Anderson, and Gina Walton. They were told to pick a room and rest, the following day the Alpha would be by to visit and discuss what happened. Sam couldn't think, and her heart was heavy knowing that Jack wasn't near. She didn't love him, but he had helped her adapt, and was with her for so long, it was like he was her life line. She held in her tears until she made it up to the second floor to choose a room. As soon as her head hit the pillow her tears fell and she had cried herself to sleep. The Bachelorette Ch. 02 The night she was brought here to the Comeaux pack compound seemed like years ago, while it was only about a week. She hadn't seen Jack since she got here, and was pining to see him. There was a pack meeting the day after they were rescued and the Alpha laid down the rules. No human contact until you are deemed a non threat, no contact with your old lives, maintain The Secret at all times, training begins in a week. Of course, they were slightly more detailed than that, but that was the basic concept. Sam hoped that Jack was ok. She tried reaching him through their mental connection, but was unable to reach him, and none of the Pack wolves were too keen on stopping by the house she stayed at. There was a knock on front door, and Sam who seemed to be the only early riser, went down to open the door. "Hello?" She opened it and peaked out to see who was there. An older man stood there. "Hello Dear, my name is Pierre Comeaux. I'm an elder here. I was asked to come and see how things were going and how you are enjoying your stay thus far." The soft, low, melodious voice didn't seem to fit with the man. "Please come in Pierre, the others are still sleeping." She motioned for him to enter and he smiled. He stepped in through the door and followed her into the kitchen. "Coffee?" "Please, thank you. You seem to be adjusting to your wolf well my dear." Pierre looked over the top of his coffee mug at the woman in front of him. "I had help. The man who turned me explained things before hand and helped me work through problems before they got too bad." She sipped from her mug and leveled a look at Pierre. "What happened to Jack?" Even though Pierre was an elder and he had been around a very long time, he could feel the Alpha pull in her voice. He didn't, however, know if she knew she was doing it. "Jack? I suppose you are talking about Jacques Fontenot. He is with the Alpha, my son Leon. They have been discussing what has been happening within his old pack. Is he the one that turned you?" "Yes." She drank from her cup and looked out the window. "My life has been turned upside down. I can never go back to my old life, to my friends or family, or to the man I love." She spoke quietly, but Pierre heard her nonetheless. "You can see Jack if..." "Jack wasn't the man I was referring to. I feel a connection to Jack, because he turned me, but I was referring to my fiancé. We were due to be married in August. The night we were taken, it was my bachelorette party..." A tear slowly rolled down her cheek. "The saddest thing is, now that I have my wolf, I know that Jake wasn't the man for me. My wolf has analyzed him and realized that he just wouldn't do." "Humans are not all the same, child. Wolves can see what they require in a mate, and more often than not, humans are not on that list." Pierre's eyes twinkled wondering which Alpha she belonged to. It was clear to him that she was an Alpha female, no doubt about it. "I seem to have surprised you with that?" When she nodded he continued. "It is true. If you look at it from a wolf standpoint. Females look for strong males, that can protect, feed, and breed strong offspring. Males look for a female that will produce strong stock, and defend them as well. Often Males look for humans, because we need to branch out. When a pack is smaller, there is lots of interaction between it's members and it's a fact of life, that usually the males outnumber the females and look to the humans for mates." He drank the rest of his coffee and let her process the information. "Jack told me that he saw something in me that made him think I would be a wolf's mate." Pierre nodded. "You can see it too?" "Yes child. Although, I doubt that he saw what I can see now. I did not meet you when you were human, but I have heard how you transformed to protect the women back at that place, and I can feel that you would make a fine Alpha Female one day." Pierre nodded at her look and laughed. "No, I think you are just trying to play matchmaker!" Sam set her cup down and motioned to the coffee pot. "No, I could tell that you have Alpha qualities my dear. Yes, please more would be most welcome." Pierre inhaled the bitter coffee scent as it was poured into his cup. "As to whether or not you belong to Leon is unclear. Leon and Jack are formulating a plan to help the women back at Jack's home pack. I'm afraid that he hasn't let up on his need to help his home clan, so that is why you haven't seen much of him." He added a bit of creamer and some sugar before continuing. "Leon believes that with some help they might be able to take the clan by surprise and rescue all the women trapped there. I know that Leon had requested and Alpha meeting to get some help from the neighboring clans." "Alpha Meeting?" Sam took a sip of her fresh cup and sighed, she had sorely missed coffee. "Yes. It's rather hard to get all the Alpha's together, but with the help of the newer technology it has been easier to converse. Having a face to face meeting with the Alpha's is very beneficial. They like to downplay their problems as much as possible, and not having to see the problems makes them seem less worrisome. If they were to come here and see the devastation for themselves it would be something sure to gain their favor in helping us." Pierre took another sip of his coffee. "The only downside is there will be a lot of egos flying around, not to mention the council." "Council? As in a governing body?" Sam didn't seem convinced. "Yes, we have a governing body of sorts. In each pack there are members that are older and they sit on a council. It used to be that when the Alpha had a problem he didn't know how to solve he consulted the elders as a way of gaining an opinion or consulting an advisor, if you will. Once the wars and feuds started, to eliminate as much bloodshed as we could the Alpha's agreed to help form a council that would govern all the packs. The council is made up of two elders from each pack. To be honest the council is almost like your human congress. It helps to create basic laws and keep war between humans and were from happening." Pierre sighed and set down his mug. "Because this predicament that you poor ladies have fallen into, the council has deemed that they need to step in and help as much as possible in aiding and preventing this from happening again. In order to do that they want to bring back an old tradition or two." "What traditions would that be?" "Well, you must remember that a lot of our traditions are from the 18th century, and are quite out of date." The small smile that flitted on Sam's face brought a smile to his own. "Back when I was a lad, it was customary for pack to throw a celebration for the pups that came of age that year. Back in the day, I believe humans would call it a coming out party. Since a lot of the pups were born in litters of two or more and a vast number of them are born within a few months of each other, it was nice to just have one big party for all. At these parties neighboring packs would bring over some of their unmated wolves to see if they could find a match." "For a moment there I thought, you made it sound like some sort of auction." Sam mumbled into her cup and Pierre's laugh lit up the space. "Don't laugh, the way you said it..." "Dear, you are quite enjoyable to talk to. You should meet my Juliette; you two would become great friends. She had quite the same opinion about a coming out party when our daughter became of age...." "What do you mean became of age? There is an age limit?" Sam leveled another one of her hard looks on him over the top of her mug. Pierre couldn't help but smile at the look. "Yes my dear, there is. Between the ages of 16 and 21 wolves become sexually active, but after 21 they become of mating age. At 21 their mating scent is revealed and their mates can sense them. That is what we consider the coming of age, turning 21. Wolves age considerably slower than humans, so it was a safe guard of sorts. Wolves tend to be very sexual creatures, so it is not uncommon for experimentation at a younger age. When a were shifts for the first time it releases a load of hormones into the bloodstream. We always have them, but when we shift for the first time the floodgates open. Sometimes it takes awhile for the hormones to cause sexual frustration, especially now. Before, back in the day," He said with a wiggle of his eyebrows, "it wasn't uncommon for children as young as fourteen in the human world to be married, and as young as 16 to fall in with their mates. The law hasn't been revised in many a year." Sam thought about this and remembered one girl that they had rescued. She was in the SUV with her on the way here. "What about the child that was with us? She was very young?" "Cindy, I believe her name was. She said that she and her twin brother were captured together, but he wasn't found with you. She is only ten and will learn the way that wolf children do until her 16th birthday, at that time she can choose to be turned by a wolf in her age range, or wait until her mate has found her." Pierre looked over at her and smiled that she thought of the child. "So, humans don't have the same limitations?" She looked puzzled. "Age wise, I mean?" "No, wolves that are born are born into our cycle. Human's life cycle is very different. When a human hits puberty, they gain the scent that they will have for the rest of their human lives, and age varies from between 12 to 16. So we still keep to the rule that they have to be at least 16 to turn a human, but we frown upon it. We like them to be at least 21, where they can make an informed decision." Sam nodded her head and thought about the things she learned. "There were quite a few young women who are about 19, they were turned, but are not handling it very well." "I can understand why. I could hear the tortuous sounds from my room. The other wolves weren't as nice about turning their victims as Jack was." She sighed and drained the last bit of her coffee and set the mug into the sink. "Yes, when a wolf is tortured into the change... transition can be very difficult." Pierre nodded. "My dear, did you get clothes?" He asked, suddenly noticing her drab apparel. "What do you mean?" She looked down at the sweats that she had found in the closet. "I suppose one of the females never came by to get measurements to get you real clothes then?" Pierre sighed and thought to his mate 'Juliette, I need you to come over here and get these poor ladies measurements so we can get them some regular clothes.... ' 'You mean to tell me that no one got them clothes? What kind of pack do they think we have here? I will be right down, I am going to string our son out for this, and what of our daughters! Oh!' Juliette sounded exasperated, and Pierre laughed out loud. "My mate will be here momentarily to get your measurements so we can fit you with some normal clothes. If you could go wake the others? I will put on a fresh pot of coffee and start some breakfast." Pierre smiled at Sam as she nodded and headed off and up the stairs. He walked over to the fridge and growled at it's near empty state. 'Son, when I see you next we are going to have a very long talk about how we treat our guests.' Pierre growled at his son. 'What? What have I done now?' His son's cheeky reply came back. 'When you set up a house for newly turned wolves, you give the wolves clothes and food correct? Especially when those newly turned wolves had been kidnapped and tortured. Where are those manners I taught you?' Pierre grumbled back and pulled some pancake batter out of the cupboard. 'I need food down here at this house NOW. They have nothing here!' It was a moment or two before the reply. 'Maggie and Dayna were in charge of the women. They were supposed to have taken care of that. I will get to the bottom of this. For now, Alana and some of the Omegas are on their way with food. As to the clothes...' 'Dayna let this slip? And Maggie?' Pierre was confused; both of those women took their jobs seriously. 'Don't worry about the clothes. Your mother is on her way down to help me out there.' There was a knock on the door and soon Alana and six Omegas carrying large boxes entered the kitchen. "Morning Da." Alana said as she came over and kissed his cheek. "All right you lot, drop the boxes and go. I will take it from here." If the Omegas seemed confused by the request, they didn't let it show. They promptly set down the boxes and left the house. Alana grabbed the closest box and started to put things away, however she left eggs, bacon, sausage, and some fruit sit out on the island counter. "Making them breakfast?" She nodded to the box of batter on the counter. "Yes, thank you." Pierre got to work, and with Alana's help, the kitchen smelled like breakfast in no time. Soon there were seven curious faces in the hall leading to the kitchen. "Good morning ladies, please come in. My name is Pierre Comeaux, at your service." He gave an intricate bow that elicited seven small smiles and a snort of laughter from his daughter. "I am an elder here in the pack; I used to be Alpha, but allowed my son to take that title. Please, grab up a plate and help yourselves. There is much to discuss." He poured out the coffee into five mugs and started a fresh pot, then poured out seven glasses of Orange Juice. The women slowly made their way into the kitchen and piled items on their plates. Two women waited, Sam was one of them. The other woman was a tall and sleek redhead. Pierre was about to ask them to come into the kitchen again, but there was another knock on the front door. "Ah, that would be my mate." He went to move but Sam headed for the door, the redhead didn't move. "Pierre, it smells wonderful in here. When you told me these poor ladies didn't have clothes, I wondered about food..." Juliette stopped mid sentence as she saw the red head in the doorway. "You look very familiar dear, have we met?" Juliette's senses were reeling. She couldn't place the scent, but she knew the face. It looked like the spitting image of her sister Emilia, the one that was lost to her pack just after she had turned 16. "No Ma'am, I'm Valerie Smith, nice to meet you." Val murmured as she crept into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee off the counter. Sam watched the older woman watch Val until she was inside the kitchen, then she straightened her shoulders and walked over to her mate. "Alright ladies, my name is Juliette Comeaux. I am here to get your measurements and your clothes preference. Alana dear, what are you doing here?" She asked as Sam had also just noticed a very thin brunette over by the refrigerator. "Good morning, Mother. You were right, these poor women were neglected, food was never restocked, so Leon sent me over with some, I was just putting it away and I will be out of your hair." Alana waved her hand at the few boxes she had left to unpack, and continued about her task. Juliette mumbled something about madness before she turned to the rest of the women in the room. "Anyway, eat your fill and then I will get your name and all the proper measurements and we can proceed to get you clothes that you will feel more comfortable in, also I have some news." The women looked up from their plates to stare at the woman. "It has been decided that there will be some festivities in the coming weeks. Many wolves from neighboring packs will be coming down for a visit, along with their Alpha's to discuss what has happened to you women and to make sure it is stopped." She looked over at Alana before continuing. "There used to be a tradition where the unmated from each pack came together to try and seek their mates, but it was discontinued after many of the younger crowd stopped wanted to get mated so early, and the Older crowd became more and more depressed every year that they didn't find a mate. However, due to the vast quantity of women that these monsters have taken, there are a lot of freshly unmated female wolves, as well as all those humans that we have rescued that are in need of a mate." "What if they don't want a mate?" Halea cut in, and Sam rolled her eyes. Halea,ever the loner and combatant. "Those women should be free to go back to their lives." "That is something we cannot do. They know too much and have seen and been through too much to return to their lives." Pierre said gravely. "They would tell people what happened and one of two things would occur. There would be a massive man hunt for wolves, which we cannot allow, or the women would be sent to live in a mental institution, which is simply barbaric. We do not want these women hurt any more than they already are, so we are trying to find them mates." "Who needs a mate?" Halea growled. "Some of us are just fine, alone." "This is true, and some may not find their mate at the gathering, but I don't think you understand how mating works, Halea. Listen to them. They have been around awhile and might know what they are talking about." Sam spoke softly, but she put a reprimand in her voice. "Sam is correct. Not all the females will find mates, and vice versa. Mating is sacred, the ceremony that wolves do to mate is ancient and full of great power. When a wolf recognizes their mate, they are filled with the need to be with that person, to love, protect, and provide for that person, and that person alone. There will never be another for them." Pierre looked out at the women and noticed a few faces that seemed to be interested. "Wolves mate for life, and we live a very long time. Mating is one of the basic instincts of the wolf, they seek their other half." Juliette nodded and slid her arm around her mate's waist. "Let's just say we are looking for our mate, how would we find him?" The woman with wavy black hair looked up at couple. "You will find him by scent. When a wolf reached the age of 21 they have their mating scent established. Between the ages of 16 and 21 wolves go through great hormonal changes, they are almost constantly in the state of arousal, which is due in part because of the shifting. At the age of 16 wolves can shift for the first time. This triggers their hormones, and by the time they reach 21 their hormones have leveled enough for their bonding scent to become clear." Pierre added softly. "So what, you are going to thrust us into a room with a bunch of male wolves and we are supposed to what? Sniff their butts? I don't think so." Halea said with a snort. "Not exactly, the gathering won't be formal and it will be more like a large BBQ, out in the open where we can see how the males react. Many of the wolves coming will be the older wolves that have been searching for their mates for a long time. They will be eager to mingle. Once they scent the woman, they will be unable to keep away from her, and will need to constantly keep her in sight until they are mated." Juliette looked at the young woman and wondered why she was so against finding her mate. "So when will this gathering take place?" Sam asked breaking the uneasy silence. "It will start within the week, and with the added Alpha presence here, there will be plenty of men to help take down these rogues." Juliette nodded at Sam in thanks. "Now, who wants to go first?" She asked holding up a pen and small notepad in one hand and a measuring tape in the other. Sam watched Val load up a plate of food and sit at the very end of the island, watching Alana out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly a pained look crossed her face and she closed her eyes and bit down on her lip. Sam wanted to go over and find out what the problem was, but Juliette has come over to her and said "you first" After her measurements were taken, she grabbed up a plate and began to eat, watching as Juliette and then Alana grabbed the women one by one and dragged them into the living room to get their measurements done. When Alana went to reach for Val, Val actually growled at her. Sam stepped in, "I can get her measurements Alana." The girls eyes widened and she took a step back and handed Sam the measuring tape. Sam dragged Val off to her room to talk. The Bachelorette Ch. 02 "What's gotten into you?" Sam whispered as she closed the door. "She was all over my Mate" Val growled out, then shook her head and sat down on Sam's bed. "Sam, I'm so sorry. My wolf is just very angry right now." Sam sat down and hugged Val to her. "You think Alana was with your mate?" Could there be a reasonable explanation?" Sam wanted to go talk to the woman and see what was going on, but she needed to help her friend first. "It doesn't matter, how she got the scent but she smells like him and my wolf wants blood. I can't..."Val started to tremble and Sam pulled her up off the bed. "Go take a shower, and relax, I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Val nodded and headed into the bathroom and Sam exited her room and went back down stairs. Juliette cornered her in the hall. "Did you get Valerie's measurements?" "No, but I think her mate is here. She almost snapped at Alana." Sam replied calmly giving Juliette a 'help me' look. "Alana, dear come here." Juliette called her daughter over. "What were you doing before Leon sent you over here with food?" Alana thought for a moment. "Well, I was helping Dayna do an inventory in the kitchens and she sent me up to see Leon and ask what would be needed for the gathering. When I got there he was in a meeting with his Beta's. You know how Erik and Ayden love to tease me. I ended up getting a bear hug from Ayden, and Erik gave one of his hugs and ruffled my hair. I can't wait until Uncle Chuck shows me how to fight so I can kick their butts." Juliette nodded and frowned. "Why what's wrong? It has to do with that woman doesn't it? The one that growled at me?" Sam nodded and looked back up the hall at the stairs. "So it could be one of the Alpha's Betas?" "It looks like it's one of the Dawson Brothers.... They are ladykillers, but good men..." Juliette thought, and Sam could see the matchmaking twinkle in her eye. "Oh, it's going to be good seeing even one of those two fall over themselves for their mate. I am thoroughly going to enjoy this." Alana laughed and added, "So how are we going to get them together to see which one it is?" she clearly inherited the matchmaking gene from her mother. "I will have to figure something out... Sam when you do get the measurements, give them to Alana... I'm going to go collect clothes for the rest of you, and see what I can come up with." She wiggled her eyebrows and headed for the door. "Mama is such a matchmaker, she is just loving this." Alana whispered to Sam as they entered the kitchen, to see Pierre washing some pots. "Papa, guess what!" Alana practically yelled as she ran over to him. "Hmm?" He looked over Alana's head to see Sam laughing. "What's going on? Where is your mother?" "She is going to go get some clothes, and to play matchmaker!" Pierre groaned at Alana's statement and rested his hip against the counter. "The redhead, Valerie, Mama thinks she could be one of the Dawson's mates!" "Dawson's? Oh, no.... she has been after them forever, which?" Pierre looked over his youngest daughter. "Either Ayden or Erik. Valerie growled at me when I went to touch her to get her measurements, and they are the only males that have been near enough to get their scent on me recently." Alana shrugged her shoulders at Pierre's low growl. "Stop it Da, they were just teasing me like always. You know how they are." "They are rascals, but they are good Betas." Pierre nodded and hugged his daughter. "I don't like you smelling like any man but one of your brothers or me." He growled as she laughed "Da, Come on let me go! I said I'd take some Tea up to Gina, let me start the water." Pierre let Alana go and head over to the sink to fill the tea kettle. "Oh, Alana. I should have told Juliette before she left; I know Valerie's measurements already, well before we went to that place. I needed to as part of the wedding." She rattled off some numbers and walked over to the island to have a seat. "How are the other women?" Sam looked over at Pierre. "There were a few more of you that were turned, they are in the house next door, the rest of the human women are being treated in our medical facility for malnutrition and some injuries." Pierre got a distant look on his face, like he was concentrating. "Devlin Lucas, our head healer, says most of the women should be fine by the end of the week. There are a few however, that are going to take much longer. Some have some extensive injuries, and it's not clear whether they suffered at the hands of the rogues or before that." "When I was taken, I was with a large group of friends. I was wondering if I could check in on them. Halea is here, as is Valerie." Sam thought back to her wedding party and the women at the party. "Penelope and Patty Valentino, Caitlin Hopewell, Cindy Houser, Melinda Worthington, Abigail Wooten, Jennae Roberts, Alice, Elizabeth, and Mary Anne Harper. Oh, and Brittany Wheeler... she was our bus driver." "Bus driver?" Pierre asked. "Melinda, Halea, and Valerie set up a bachelorette party for me, before my wedding. We were celebrating at a male strip club, and then we were to take a bus to a popular night club for a few hours. We had just finished up at the strip club and got onto the bus. Somewhere between the strip club and the nightclub the bus was crashed and we were taken by those rogues." Sam spoke softly, and kept her eyes on the countertop. "Sam, I," Pierre floundered and wished that his mate was here to tell him what to say. He could tell by the sound of Sam's voice that she was upset, and he had no idea how to comfort her. She knew that she could never see Jacob again, he was human. "Please, don't." Sam replied softly as she closed her eyes. "I know that I will never be able to see him again. He will never be able to see his sisters either, or Val, and Val was his best friend in college. Not only that but poor Drew, his only sister is here too. These rogues make me angry, ruining people's lives like this." Tears started to slowly to run down her cheeks. "How many other families have they destroyed? How is it that humans haven't caught on to what the hell is going on? How many people have gone missing, and are bound to these rouges, or worse, have been killed by the attempted change?" "Too many." A loud voice came from behind her and Sam sat up, her eyes opening wide. "I'm sorry to startle you, but I was looking for my father and sister." Leon Comeaux stood in the doorway to the kitchen. "We are running through drills for a while, and then I will have a meeting. I need you to stay here tonight with Adam and Alana, we are going to do another raid, and I need someone here to prepare." "I'd like to help." Sam wiped her eyes and looked up at her new Alpha. She could feel her wolf stir under his commanding presence. He was tall and broad, as she had come to expect most male wolves to be. His tawny looked ruffled, like he just rolled out of bed, and soft to the touch. His featured were strong and manly, and exceedingly handsome. She was annoyed to find that she couldn't smell him, and her wolf very much wanted to smell him. The Bachelorette Ch. 03 Thanks to everyone for all the feedback and comments. Some things had come up and I was unable to type for q while. Here is the next installment. Hope you enjoy. HA "Please, I know that I haven't earned my place in your pack, but I do have basic medical training. I was a OR nurse, I have seen a lot of damage and I can help. I can't just sit here and do nothing as those rogues destroy more life." Leon looked at the woman in front of him. Her eyes were puffy and her face was red from holding in her emotions. Her sweat suit looked ragged, and thoroughly slept in, and he seriously needed to know why these women were neglected. The woman in front of him was Alpha female material, and his wolf knew it. He couldn't get a scent from her, but as a man he really liked what he saw, and what he had heard. He knew from Jack, that she was strong and a fierce protector. She would make a great Alpha Bitch for his pack. He had heard her conviction, and her honesty in her voice. He nodded slowly. "I know that you and some of the others would like to assist, and it would be good for the incoming women to have someone here they can relate to." He saw her slight smile and something in his chest shifted. "After lunch, I will call a meeting of all the newly turned females and see if you can help Devlin and Adam divide up the women and delegate, deal?" Sam nodded at him. He looked at his father. "A few of the Alphas might be arriving tonight with their hordes. Dayna and Sam have erected some temporary housing along the south edge of the forest." "I will go see where I can be of assistance. I will grab my brothers and work in the East." Pierre got up and headed for the entryway. "Sam, I know that I'm not the best with sweet things, and Juliette would say the same. Things are tough now, and I know you feel for your friends. Things do get better." He touched the top of her head, and smiled at her. Leon nodded at him and walked out of the house with his father. Sam sat there for a few moments, listening to Alana prepare Gina's tea. "Hello there!" Juliette said brightly as she walked into the kitchen followed by eight women, each carrying a large box. "I come baring gifts! Well, clothes anyway." She said nodding to the women, who promptly set the boxes down and exited. "Well, who killed the mood in here? It was sunny when I left, who let the clouds roll in. Wait, where is my mate? What did he say to you?" Juliette looked like a mother hen ready to baby her chick. "No, really Juliette, he just asked a question. I answered and got a bit emotional. " Sam grabbed one of the boxes and looked at the name and carried it upstairs. She didn't want Juliette's pity; she had enough of her own. She knocked on Gina's door, which was right across from Val's. "Enter." She heard, although it was very soft. "Hey there Gina. These are those clothes Juliette sent over." Sam said as she entered the room. It was done in a pale lavender, as opposed to her bright yellow. Gina was curled up on the window seat looking out at wilderness below. "Gina?" She turned and Sam saw the tears in her eyes. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Sam felt her maternal instincts kick in at the shattered look on Gina's face. "I can feel him inside me." She sobbed as Sam wrapped her body around the smaller woman. "He's in my head telling me horrible things, I can't," The tears were falling steady now soaking through Sam's sweatshirt. "Gina, did you tell anyone else?" Sam asked softly as she stroked Gina's head. She could feel Gina shake her head no. "I know Alana's coming up with some tea, and I talked to the Alpha, he said he was going to need our help later today. He mentioned a healer by the name of Devlin. Maybe I can ask someone to help you." Gina quietly mumbled a reply into Sam's shirt. "I'm going to go down and talk to Juliette and see if she can get someone out here for you ok?" Gina nodded and sobbed quietly. "I will be right back." Sam untangled herself and headed for the door. As she opened it, she slammed into Alana, causing her to drop the tray with the tea on it. The tray clamored to the ground and the cup of hot tea smashed on the floor. "I'm so sorry Alana, did you get scalded?" Alana laughed lightly and started to collect the tea cup pieces and place them on the tray. "What the hell happened out here?" Val asked as she opened the door. "I bumped into Alana as she was carrying some tea up to Gina. Your box of clothes is down stairs." Sam inclined her head to the stairs. "Can we go for a run? My wolf really needs to run right now." Val looked over at Alana. "I don't think there would be a problem. Come on, if you come out the back door you can run in the woods behind the house, in front of the house is the training fields, and they are chalk full of Zetas right now." Alana gestured to the steps and Val and Sam followed. "How old are you?" Val suddenly asked. "I turn eighteen in a month, but everyone treats me like I'm ten... I'm the youngest of the Comeaux line, and so I'm like everyone's little sister." Alana sighed and headed to the back door, while Sam headed into the kitchen to speak with Juliette. "Sam, what's all over your shirt?" Juliette looked up from the mug of tea she was preparing for herself. "Gina is going to need some help. I think the man who changed her mated with her and was one of the rogues that got away." Juliette raised her eyebrow. "She claims she can hear him inside her head, telling her things." "Hmm... We had a case similar a few years ago. Though, the females mate had passed she could hear him and felt like she was going crazy. Devlin knew someone who was able to help the poor dear. I will go see if he can contact her again." Juliette got that far off look that meant she was speaking to someone in her head. "Devlin will contact her tonight." Juliette nodded and set about taking boxes up to the other women. ~~~~~~~~~~ Leon scanned the area Jacques had told him about. Not long before he started receiving cryptic messages, he had heard of the collapse of one of the neighboring packs. The pack had at one time been a part of his grandfather's pack many years ago. He had heard the story as a pup. His grandfather's head beta had been a latent Alpha, and when he had met his mate he knew he needed to branch out. Leon's grandfather had sold them a piece of his land at a low price for his friend and allowed him to take a few craftsmen and such to create his own pack. There had been a quiet understanding between the larger Comeaux pack and the smaller pack, and when the communications became less and less, no one seemed to notice. About six months ago, a pack to the north told him that a smaller pack had disbanded and a few refugees had come to join their pack. At the time Leon had thought nothing of it and assumed that the wolves had just joined another pack. Now, it was obvious that the refugees that had clamored to the new pack had been the ones that were able to escape before the madness took over the Alpha. "This was the main building a long time ago. My brother thought it better to vacate and move his living quarters to the hills a mile or so back. That happened before the takeover. When the rogues came, he lent them use of this house, as it was no longer the center point to our day to day operations. The leader took the old Alpha quarters for his own and went about ordering things about. It should have been the first sign..." Jacques looked defeated. "It is often hard to see what is going on when you are so close to the situation. You did what you could do when the situation was clear to you. Do not fault yourself for that." Leon looked over at his beta Dominick and nodded. The first round of Zetas entered the building flanked by a Gamma and an two Delta's. The taking of the house was quick and effective. In total six men were captured with evidence of many more living in the house. "You know for an operation of this magnitude, you could have called in some re-enforcements Leon..." A lusty voice sounded over to his left. "If I thought that I would need your unique services Petra, I would have called." He rolled his shoulders and didn't even acknowledge his old friend as his teams moved forward with the raid into a few of the outbuildings he could see in the clearing. "You and I both know that there is some unwanted and unsanctioned mating here Leon. On top of that you are dealing with some old were's. You could use my help." Leon could almost hear the pout in her voice. "We didn't know we were working against old ones Petra, I'm thankful for your assistance, but I do have one question for you." Leon turned to face her fully and gave himself a second to look at her. She was striking in anything she wore, and no matter how close they had been as he was growing up, it still affected him, and seeing her in her fighting leathers almost made him drool. Her eyebrow was raised in question waiting for his question. "What did you know about this situation?" "If you're asking did I know exactly what was going on? No, I had caught wind that the small pack here was disbanding. Never thought to look into it.." She put her arms behind her back and cocked her hip inadvertently emphasizing her curves. "From what I recall this pack had, at one time, been apart of your own Leon. I assumed that you had heard about it and took in the stragglers. Besides the last time i thought to look into one of pack matters i was led to believe that there was a system in place to take care of things like this. The disbandment I mean." She looked out over the empty expanse of land in front of her. "I came here to help. This situation needs to be taken care of before it gets anymore out of control than it already is." "Alright." Leon nodded at her and focused his attention back into the clearing. Now a total of eighteen men have been rounded up and knocked out in a pile in the center of the clearing. So far no sign of the women being held. "We need to move further in." Jacques nodded and signaled to move forward. Leon was entering the clearing with Petra hot on his heels. "I've done some digging and came up with a few names. One jumped to my attention. Edward Renaldo. Edward was once a nobleman with a wife and four sons. His wife was attacked one night and beheaded because the people feared she was a witch. Her son's one by one were poisoned as Edward was off in London doing his duties to the king." She moved to her left and squatted as she caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. "Are those our men Leon?" Leon looked over and saw what she had seen. A group of men were approaching in the shadows. "No" He contacted his Beta's and had a few Zeta's circle back and surround the would be attackers. "Wait!" Jacques looked over at the approaching men. He stood from his crouch and approached them . "Jacques." One of the men spoke in a deep voice. "We knew you would come back to help the women, we wanted to do what we can. We may not have been able to help all the women before. But we want to do what we can now." The other three men nodded and looked over to Leon. "Sebastian needs help, he needs to get away from those evil bastards." "As we were helping the women some of Edward's men spoke to us, bragged really. They were working on a project for Edward, and human women were the key. They wouldn't tell us much, but they noted that something in the nearby lands was another crucial piece of the puzzle." The middle man spoke. "The first was to get rid of the one who was standing in their way." The deep voiced one spoke again. "Jacques, they brought about the death of your father. I don't know how, but I know that this man Edward was involved. It's just not right how they just happened to be in the area at the time that things were going so awry. "I agree with you Simon, I believe that they had something to do everything. Roland, where is everyone? Why are all the houses vacant?" "They have been moved closer to the Alpha's den. A few tried to stand up to Edward's cronies and they were severely beaten. So Edward thought it a good idea to have everyone somewhere that he could keep an eye on them." Roland growled. "Edward has taken over Sebastian's home hasn't he?" Jacques looked over at his childhood friends who hung their heads in shame. "Jacques, Sebastian hasn't been seen in awhile. Edward has been commanding everyone telling them that the Alpha has been sick, and most just agree with him so they aren't beaten. I don't even know if he is on this earth with us anymore my friend."Simon put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "He needs stopped." Leon approached the group of men. "I am Alpha Leon Comeaux. I am here to help you stop this madman. Where are they holding the women? We have some people here to take care of them, they are a priority." "They are kept in the prisoner barracks about sixty yards that way." One of the men turned around and pointed to the right. "Only a few men guard them, maybe ten at the most for the whole building. Edward looks down on them and sees women as nothing but a means to an end." The big man shuddered. "There are very few of our original kinswoman left. The few that are have been trying to keep the humans safe." Leon nodded and sent the message across to his men as to where the women are. "I'm going to have a look around." Petra spoke from behind him. All the men turned to look at her, and were just as blown back by her appearance as he always was. 'I'm going to circle around and check the building before you send your men over. Something just doesn't feel right about all this." She looked pointedly at Leon. "I will be fine, just like a ghost." With that she smiled and sped off into the foliage. "Who was that?" Simon gawked at the spot where Petra once stood. "That was someone that no words can describe." Leon smiled and shook his head. One of the Sigmas approached and he shifted attention. Leon alerted the others to the slight change in plan and shifted gears back into rescue mode. 'This place is like a ghost town. Leon could hear Petra's voice inside his head. 'There are so very few people here, and to be honest, the rogues seem to have been dispersing from this place. It almost looks as if Edward has moved on and left some men here to maintain order." "Who is in charge?" Leon looked out at his twelve man team that was about to take the outbuilding with the women in it. Before anyone could speak a word he heard Petra's voice inside his head. 'Looks like the man you are looking for is currently inside the building in front of you. Tall and bulky, you won't miss him. He's about to walk through the door.' Leon tensed as the door to the building opened and a brute of a man stepped into the night. The smell of fear and sex permeated the air. The man rolled his head back on his shoulders and leveled his gaze to the tree line. "So, the Alpha's brother decided to get help for his wayward pack? Doesn't look like it will do you much good here." The man was searching for Jacques, who stepped out of the bushes to confront the man. "There you are whelp. When that house over by the river was taken, we knew something was wrong." The man grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Those women we captured from town were in there, the ones from that bus. We kept them as far from civilization because the pathetic human police were looking for them. We knew that the raid was were." "Those women you stole had lives, families. You destroyed them." Jacques spoke calmly, but there was a quiet conviction in his voice. "Just like you destroyed my pack." "Destroyed is such a hard word. We gave them an opportunity. We took them from their meager existence and threw them a bone. Besides, we needed the women to re-populate the pack and our species." The man laughed. "Where is my brother? What have you done with the rest of my pack?" Jacques was barely holding his wolf in check, Leon knew that there would be a fight on their hands for this house. "You have taken our pack down the road of ruin. Our women are scarred and our men have gone mad. You have imposed evil on a once close knit pack. Nothing will ever be the same, you have destroyed us. You have exposed our secret to the humans, they will come looking for answers, and when they do they will be led straight into the belly of our world. Is that what you want? Is that what Edward wanted when he took over this pack? As he raged a sickness over our land and destroyed everything my family has worked so hard to build? You have led us to utter ruin." "You can think what you want brat. We got what we came here for. It doesn't matter if you kill me, or you wipe out Edward's influence here. Truth is, he has influence everywhere, and it won't matter in the end. He always gets what he wants." The man smiled and cocked his head to the side. "It was easy taking over this pack. The weak Alpha was so easy to dispatch and your brother was no better. His mind was so easily manipulated, he was blinded by greed." "My brother was not blinded by greed. He wanted to help his people and you dangled salvation in his face then snatched it away as he reached for it. You are a pathetic waste of were blood." Jacques lunged at the big man and slammed him back into the wall of the outbuilding. His nails lengthened into vicious talons around the man's neck rivulets of blood were dripping from the wounds. "You can say what you want brat. Luna favors all her children. You can kill me, but I will be reborn and I will come after you." "There is no favor in mother Luna's eyes for one such as you." Petra chose that moment to stand beside Jacques. She reached out her hand and touched him on the shoulder. "You can let him go. He is no threat to you and yours, not anymore." Jacques released the man and took a step back, but the brute never left the wall. "Byron Foist, you have joined into the company of someone doing evil, and for that you will not be reborn unto this earth. There is a special seat in hell with your name on it. Justice in your case will not be swift and merciful as many others will be. You take great pride and honor in what you do. The kidnapping and rape of human women to support your twisted fantasies does not sit well with mother Luna." The big man's eyes shot wide with the use of his name, and the more Petra spoke the more the color drained out of his hulking face. "What you have done with your time on earth does not show me that you are worthy of the gift of reincarnation. You will die, not tonight, and not by my hands, but you will die for what you have done and you will suffer greatly." With that she paced her palm to Byron's shoulder and he slumped forward in unconsciousness. "What did you do to him?" "Nothing that will kill him. We need him alive for now; I just did something that will make his transport much easier." Petra looked over the building and sighed. "You're going to want to send the women you brought with you in there. They are not going to want male attention, especially that of males that they don't know." Leon nodded and called to Dayna to bring the women forward. A loose ring of male protection was erected around the building as the women went in. Leon headed over to where Petra stood. "What is it you know that you aren't telling me?" "There are things in this world that are supposed to be a mystery, Leon, even to me." Her shoulders slumped. "I might only be able to help you so much in this one old friend. I am not sure how deep this goes, and if it as deep as I think..." "What are you talking about?" Leon turned her so he could see her face. "Who do you think is behind this?" Her voice is so low that even his advanced hearing had a hard time catching it. "Petra?" "My instincts are screaming at me but I have no proof. What I do know is that the man behind the take over here, this Edward that took over here, was once a human man. He was turned sometime in the 1800's and is looking for revenge against the one who turned him and also against the world that turned their back on him and his family. He is searching for something. What I am not sure, but he seems to think that these human women are key to something." The Bachelorette Ch. 03 "The key to war." A gruff male voice came from behind Leon, and he turned to face the voice and couldn't hold back the small smile that tugged at his lips. "Well, isn't it?" "It would appear so Blake. It's good to see you old friend." The man nodded his head and looked over Petra. "You look very familiar. Have we met?" "Keep your eyes inside your head wolf boy. First thing, if we met," Petra stepped in very close. "You'd remember." Her head tilted to the side and she smiled. "Second, you will make your mate very jealous if you keep this up." She touched the tip of her finger to his nose and laughed. "I'm headed inside. This is going to be so much fun!" Leon looked over at his flabbergasted friend. "She's something else." he murmured as he slapped Blake on the back. "Who did you bring with you?" "A few of my Beta's and a Delta or two. I kept most of the unmated back at your compound, but wanted to give a hand during the beat down. I will keep my men away from the women until we are safely back at your pack." Leon nodded and walked over to Dayna. "Blake is here to help with a few of his Betas. We are headed over to the house in the hill. Keep me updated. You are in charge here, but Petra is around, so if she mentions something... keep me in the loop." Dayna nodded and gave Blake a funny look. "Something wrong Blake?" Blake shook his head and turned to speak to his men. "When we get the women out of the building, Sam wants us to get them to the cars and warm. This building isn't all that cozy. I'm really glad she took the incentive to change up the medical ward." Leon smiled and nodded. "The men in the woods will listen to you. They are just precaution and are all mated, assure the women they are just there for their protection. None of the men are to approach them. Clear?" Leon got the affirmative nod and walked over to Blake. "Lets get this show on the road." Leon and Blake led their men through the dense woods. They came across a clearing that stretched out before the edge of the hillside manor. "Where is everyone?" Blake asked. "I was here once as a child. My father thought is best to meet all the Alphas and their sons to gain knowledge and experience from each of the packs. When I was here many years ago, this place was a thriving little village." "This pack was like yours in some ways. This was once a little common ground where tradesmen bartered and the townsfolk got their goods. Beyond the clearing was the brook where they would wash clothes and hold their ceremonies. The circle was over to the left beside their sacred stones. Now this place is a barren ghost town. What happened here Leon?" "What are you mutts doing on our land?" A voice came from just beyond the tee line. Leon looked over and saw three of his Zetas being dragged into the clearing. The male in front of them was the one talking. "Well, mutts? What have you to say for yourselves?" One of the other men stepped forward and brought the butt of his rifle down on the back of one of a Zeta's head. Leon circled around and came at the group of wolves from down wind. They seemed either particularly young or very untried. Jack took up Leon's right flank and Blake took up the left. The wolves never saw them coming. "Luna, if this is what they have as a patrol party, I can't wait to beat the snot out of the rest of them." Blake looked over at Leon and smiled. "Anyone else think that this was just way too easy." Leon looked over the young wolves now sprawled across the ground. "These men; they are turned wolves look." Upon closer inspection he could see the tell tale bite marks on the necks of two of the three men. "What in the name of Luna is going on here?" "When I was sent off into the 'Scout parties', as Edward called them, we didn't have turned male wolves in our midst. Not to my knowledge anyway." Jack shook his head as he looked over the grounds that once were his native lands. "Edward wants something, I'm just not sure what. I don't get any of this, Leon it doesn't make any sense. What is it Edward is after?" "I don't know Jack, lets go figure it out." Leon looked over to the Zetas that were caught and sent them back into the woods to patrol for any more small outbuildings. "Where would the main building be?" Jack took a deep breath and nodded forward towards the mountain side. "Then thats the way we go." Sam stepped closer to the outbuilding that was housing the women. "Sam, I want you to lead the group into the basement of the structure." Startled, she turned to see Dayna, one of Leon's Betas. "Yes Sam, you can take Halea and Val with you. I'm going in first and taking some women up to the second floor. Peg, you Lydia and Kelly got the first floor. Start at the back of the level and work your way forward. Let's get them out of there as fast as possible. We are going to get them out here into this clearing. Once out here we can assess their wounds. " Dayna looked over at the small group of women holding medical bags. "After the women are finished with their check up we are going to escort them to the SUVs." Around her the women nodded and slowly approached the building. The others approached the house first, and Sam was glad to let them have that honor. The scene before her played out like one of those swat teams invading a house on some crime drama. The door was kicked open and three people rushed in. Sam was sure if they had tear gas they would have dropped it in before continuing in. Bodies pressed forward into the house. 'Sam's team' took up the rear and headed into the house with the same caution as those before them. The door to the cellar was easily found, and the smell of fear and blood slid through the crack under the door. Sam took a deep breath and kicked in the door. The lock buckled under the pressure and she wrenched it open. From below the stairs she could hear whimpers and whining, and knew that she was going to need a medic or two for most of these women. She nodded to her team and headed down the dank stairs. The pungent odor of fear grew with each step downwards. "My name is Samantha Jones. I have come from the Comeaux pack to help you. I know you don't know me, but I am not here to hurt you. I have some medics outside that want to make sure there are no serious physical injuries among you. We are going to be taking you out of this building and back to our pack so you can heal and rest." More murmurs and whimpers accompanied the words that she spoke. They started in the back most cells according to plan. "This is Melinda, Halea, and Estelene they are going to help me open the doors and get you up the stairs." She kicked open the first cell and could see the three women behind it cower in fear. She stepped into the room and held out her hand to the first woman. "Come on. We really are not here to hurt you. We want to help. We were humans that were kidnapped by those monsters and turned against our will. We were held just like you, and the Comeaux pack rescued us. We are here to help." The small woman in front of her looked her over and tentatively reached out her hand. "There are going to be many here who do not want to believe you. Things here have gotten bad. The women upstairs are new. They like to break them in for a while. The ones down here, we are used and broken." Her voice was quiet and raspy from disuse. "You are only as broken as you let them make you." Melinda's soft voice came from the hall "If it only were as simple as that for some of us child. If only..." another soft voice came from the back of the room where an older woman sat hunched over. " the state that this pack has gotten into since my beloved past.... are Pierre and Juliette still there?" "Yes ma'am." Sam answered with a smile. "That's a man who raised his son from day one to be a strong leader. You're with them then I will go with you. Pierre knew what was right and what was wrong. He led a fair and honest pack when I belonged to it under my father. He allowed us to branch out on our own. I trust him." After getting that woman up off of the cold ground and wrapped up in a blanket, the other women slowly opened up and allowed themselves to be taken upstairs and into the arms of the healers and then into the SUV's . It took some time with a few, but in the end every woman was taken out of the building. Sam stood with her back against one of the SUV's and sipped on a water bottle as Dayna took charge of all the women. A few of the wolves went back inside to search for any that were left behind. Sam stood as Dayna started to walk back over to her. "It looks like everyone is out. I'm sending the first few SUV's on their way back to the compound. Devlin has a team in place there to escort them to the medical wing without a fuss. I just want you to wait here with this last SUV incase they do find anyone else." Sam nodded and looked over to the first couple of SUV's that were starting their engines. As the SUV's quietly left Sam looked out over the landscape. If you looked hard enough you could see the traces of a civilization that lived here, but now it was empty. The trees even looked gnarled and old, like something in a picture at a museum. The two search wolves came out and shook their head; there was no one else. Sam nodded to them and looked to the larger almost mountian like structure in the distance and knew that the men were over there. As the wolves jumped into the truck Sam took one last look around and spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at it fully and saw a small child limping slowly towards her. Sam rushed forward to pick the small thing up. "Come on little one, lets get you into the truck." She grabbed one of the blankets that Adam, one of the trackers had handed her. "What's wrong little one, we aren't here to hurt you." "He's coming after me." Sam heard the soft, yet roughly spoken words and her wolf was instantly on alert. She didn't hear anything but she wanted to be cautious. She cuddled the little boy into the SUV and closed the door. She quickly shed her clothes and shifted. The wolf's senses were much keener and she needed them. Her face lifted to the wind and caught a scent, it was male and probably the one after the boy. She crouched low and waited, she knew that this man was coming for them. The male got closer to the SUV and she could see him now, but he couldn't see her. The man was almost on top of her and at the car door before he realized that she was there.She lunged at him and he fell backwards startled. This gave her the advantage and she took it, throwing her weight on him and using her claws to tear into his flesh. He screamed in pain and tried to scoot out from under her but it was little use, the wolf had him pinned. He went still and closed his eyes, waiting for death, but it didn't come. He opened his eyes to see the she wolf staring back. 'You surrender? You wish for death? What is it you want with the youngling?' He could hear the voice of the she wolf in his head. His eyes opened wider, this was an Alpha bitch. "I was supposed to watch the children, and I saw the boy run for it. I was just trying to take him back to the other boys, I wasn't here to hurt him I swear." The wolf didn't look like she liked what he had to say. "There are seven more boys just through the trees to the left, I'm one of the only guards that takes them outside. I really don't want to hurt them. I will bring them to you... or you to them." he added hastily as she growled deeply at him. She snapped her jaws then slowly let him up. "This way." he walked slowly back the way he came and led her to the boys. ' Samantha, what is wrong? I felt your anger. Where are you?' She heard Jack's voice in her head and relief swamped her body at the connection. ' Jacques? Is that really you? I've been trying to reach you for days." She hated the whine in her voice. "I'm sorry Samantha. Where are you? I can feel your anger and it worries me. I know that you came here with Leon to help the women.' Sam could feel his unease. 'I was waiting for the trackers to finish up in the women's building when I saw a little boy running towards us.' Sam could almost feel Jacques stiffen. She let him see the scene through her eyes and She let him see where she was being led. 'I don't like this Sam. Wait for one of us. I am coming back for you.' Sam heard him, but couldn't help but snort in her wolf form. The woods were becoming thicker and her apprehension grew. The man looked back at her, making sure she was still with him. "I know you have come to liberate this pack, well, what's left of it. There are so few of the original pack left to help. It's a shame really, this pack was once very strong. The women and children have it the worst." He ducked under some branches and stopped near the base of a large tree. He whistled and seven small wolf pups came out from the roots. "They are not born wolves, they are turned." He said it sadly and sat down with his back against the tree. The pups gathered close to him. One of the larger ones came forward and tentatively sniffed at her paws. She could feel Jacques getting closer, but she felt no threat from this man. "You can tell your mate that I am not here to hurt you. I just recently turned 21 and it is my job to watch and protect the turned younglings. I will not harm you." He looked up at her. "I was born into this pack as the son of a beta, before the rogues came. My father taught me the way things should be and he was one of the few that stood up to the new laws being enacted." Three wolves had showed up at the base of the tree off to the left of the scene. The boy paused and acknowledged them before continuing. "He was one of the first to be severely punished for his belief in the traditions of the wolf pack, and he died while being held by Edward and his men. He told me to help protect the children and thats what I have done since I became of age. The few original members left have been trying to get posted inside the women's quarters to help them, but Edward doesn't want us near them. Even the few that have mates have not been able to go near the building, and only his henchmen have mated with the women." The pups were now wrestling with each other under Sam's front paws. The unease radiating off of the three male wolves hit both her and the pups in waves. She dropped her head down to nuzzle at the pups to comfort them. 'Can you please stop projecting? You're hurting the pups.' She growled back at the men and curled her body around the three pups nearest to her. The wolf she followed slowly got to his knees and growling from one of the three wolves stopped him. Sam rolled her eyes and looked over to glare at the three men. She recognised one as Leon and another as Jacques, but the other one, the one that was growling she did not recognise. He looked to be as big, if not bigger than Leon. His silver grey fur rippled with his growls, hackles raised high. She chuffed at him and turned to face the younger wolf again. The young wolf looked back and forth between the female and male wolves. "My name is Ian, and I mean your mate no harm." He raised his arms, palms open in a show of submission and tucked his chin into his chest. "I brought her to the pups just as I said I would." "You did well Ian." Jacque's voice seemed almost too loud. Sam turned to look at him crouching on the grass. "We know that you mean her no harm. What I want you to do is to take the pups back to the SUV where you chased the other youngling. We will be right behind you." Ian nodded and rounded up the pups hesitating when he had to reach towards Sam and the large grey wolf's growls became more menacing. Sam saved him the trouble by nudging the pups in Ian's direction. Once the pups were on the move towards the car Sam was right behind them, not caring about the growling male or Leon and Jack. Her first priority was the pups. She sped ahead and shifted at the side of the car, throwing on her clothes and opening the door to allow the pups to filter into the SUV. Jacques arrived behind the young wolf and nodded for him to get into the SUV despite the growls from behind him. As Sam got into the car she looked over the wolf again and turned to Jack. "What is his problem?" Jack just smiled and shook his head closing the door and motioning for the driver to take off. She watched out the window as the wolf grew smaller and sadder the farther she drove away. 'I wonder who that was?' The Bachelorette Ch. 04 Sorry for the mishap on chapter 2, I had an editor look over it and we both agreed I had somethings to fix and when I submitted the edit I submitted chapter 1 over again. It is however fixed now. Thanks again for all the feedback. (HA) Blake was situating his men into Leon's teams when the third man, Jacques, came up to Leon and said that something was wrong with Sam. He saw Leon stiffen and offered to come with him for some extra back up. They shifted almost as one and headed off into the dense foliage. They came to a building with an SUV parked in front of it. He could smell the foul stench of death and decay slithering out of the grubby building. He could tell that there had been a large quantity of women led out of the house, but nothing in the stale smells intrigued him until they moved forward and into the brush. They were trailing a scent that made his wolf shiver, it was a female scent. It was rich and heady, almost like patchouli, and hints of warm vanilla and cinimon His wolf sucked in as much of the faint trail as it could, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to smell it from the source. The group rounded some trees and came across quite a scene. A female wolf surrounded by cubs and a man that was entirely too close to the female for his liking. "He was one of the first to be severely punished for his belief in the traditions of the wolf pack, and he died while being held by Edward and his men. He told me to help protect the children and thats what I have done since I became of age. The few original members left have been trying to get posted inside the women's quarters to help them, but Edward doesn't want us near them. Even the few that have mates have not been able to go near the building, and only his henchmen have mated with the women." He watched the scene with menace, he did not want this male near this female. His wolf did not like it at all. The pups were attempting to wrestle each other under the female's paws, but they kept stopping and staring at the men. The female dropped her head down to nuzzle at the pups to comfort them. 'Can you please stop projecting? You're hurting the pups.' The female voice flitted into his head and his wolf was dumbstruck. He could hear her voice even though they had no Alpha bond or any blood ties whatsoever. The man slowly got to his knees but his wolf saw it as a threat, a big one. He couldn't help the loud snarls that sprouted forth and he watched as the female's ears twitched. She turned her muzzle to look at them and Blake had to admire the beautiful female wolf. Her muzzle was black with sproutings of beautiful tan fur that spread out trailed along the back of her head. Her hackles were the same tan coloring but near her belly and paws was thick luxurious white fur. The tip of her tail was black, like her muzzle. She chuffed at him and turned to face the younger wolf again. Blake did not like her easy dismissal of him as she turned to listen to the male. "My name is Ian, and I mean your mate no harm." He raised his arms, palms open in a show of submission and tucked his chin into his chest. "I brought her to the pups just as I said I would." His wolf still didn't like it, and liked the situation less as he watched Jack transform back to human form and address the female. "You did well Ian." Jacque's voice seemed almost too loud. The female turned to look at him crouching on the grass. "We know that you mean her no harm. What I want you to do is to take the pups back to the SUV where you chased the other youngling. We will be right behind you." Ian nodded and rounded up the pups hesitating when he had to reach towards the female and Blake's growls became more menacing. She saved him the trouble by nudging the pups in Ian's direction. Once the pups were on the move towards the car the female was right behind them. Blake was disappointed as she sped up ahead of them and closer to the car. Once he entered the clearing she was back in human form and helping the pups into the car. He was pleased to see that she was dressed so that the male didn't see her naked form, but he had wanted to see it for himself. He sat beside Leon and observed the loading of the pups. Once Jack had allowed the young male to get closer to the female the growls rumbled out of Blake once again. Ian clambered into the SUV behind the woman and she stuck her head out to speak to Jack. He saw him shake his head and close the door motioning for the car to go. As the car sped off, Blake watched it go, his heart heavy. "You sure were displeased with Ian." Leon's rumbled laughter came from his right. Blake stood and shook out his fur before leveling Leon with a look. The deep hearty laughter vibrated through the air, and made Jack laugh off to his left. His wolf growled low and he put a paw over his eyes causing the laugher to become louder in volume. "Did you see something you liked, Blake?" Leon watched as his old friend hid his embarrassment under his wolf's skin. "She's smarter and feistier than she looks. She will give you one hell of a chase." Jack looked down at Blake and saw his eyes flash in his direction. "I'm the one who turned her Blake." The wolf was on him in a second, and Jack knew it was coming and didn't try to stop it. "She didn't suffer, of that I promise."He whispered softly so that the wolf could hear it. The growls didn't stop, but they did lessen. "One of the potion makers in my clan worked with one of the few good doctors left working on creating something to lessen the pain for the female as they are forcibly turned." The wolf let go of Jack's shoulder and sat back on his haunches. "They looked at what occurred during a true mating, there is the love bond that binds and there is also an attraction, true?" Leon nodded his head and watched as the hackles once again started to raise on the back of his friend. "Let him finish Blake." The wolf's muzzle shot in his direction and he couldn't help but grin. "It's easier if you know the truth. You will find out no matter what, and to be honest I would rather hear it from him than to find out later after you already like the guy." Jack laughed and Blake snorted agreement. "In order to fake the attraction that occurs between mates they were able to concoct a potion that boosts all sexual receptors in the brain, causing the female to feel as if they are in heat. They are not forced into heat, but their brain thinks that they are." Jack took a breath and continued. "Their brains register every sense with sex, and so in essence their brain is overloaded with hormones. Once bitten, the wolf gene is able to take over with no serious pain because the genes are receptive to the wolf. Once the genes attach the women can almost immediately feel the wolf and embrace her. The transition is seamless because the drug is still in the system taking anything that would be perceived as pain and morphing it into pleasure." Jack lowered his head, "Most of the wolves don't use the potion, they are sadists. Sadly most of the women you have found were turned that way." Blake shifted back into his human form and looked down at Jack, still laying on the ground. "In order for the potion to work at it's maximum and for your wolf to fully transfer the bite, you had sex with her didn't you." "Yes." Jack spoke quietly, his eyes closed and his arm on his forehead. "I told her the truth and told her the options. She voted for the potion, I never forced it on her. Nor, did I force myself on her. I did not take into account how fast it would work. I heard a gasp, and I thought maybe she was having some adverse effect that we didn't know about and almost as soon as I walked in all you could smell was sex." Jack didn't look up to see if his death was coming, he was sure it was there hovering over him. "I had never used the potion, some of my men had and they told me their tales, but it never seemed to affect a woman the way that it did Sam. I think it's because she was destined to be a wolf's mate. Not mine, obviously, and we both knew that. My wolf could sense the qualities inside her that would make a good mate, and knew that she could be turned without problems. That is why I plucked her from the dungeon, something told me that she would be important and that I needed to protect her as much as I could. "I got to know her the few days that we were waiting for Comeaux assistance, and I got a peek inside her mind. She is a strong woman. She is impassioned about her friends and family and has the courage to stand up for what she believes in. Not only that but she knows when to honorably take defeat if necessary. I will fully admit to admiring the woman, she has many qualities in which I envy." Jack finally looked up at Blake. "You're mate is a great woman, and an even better wolf. Congratulations, I just wish I didn't have to be the one to turn her. That should have been your honor." Blake thought over the man's words and even as his wolf was crying out for the blood of the man that had forcibly turned his mate, he knew that Jack was honorable. He was facing up to his demons and not begging forgiveness, but being insightful and trying to make amends. "I understand, even if my wolf doesn't. I am not going to take your life Jack. You have redeemed yourself in my eyes with the way you are trying to take care of your people. The thought and effort that your clan has come up with ways to try and lessen the pain shows that there is some decency left within this compound, you just have to be able to use a microscope to see it. The rogues have taken much from this pack, and I will not take their leader." "I am no Alpha Blake." Jack looked up at the larger man stunned that he wasn't going to lose his life. The fact that this man even thought that he was a leader was beyond his comprehension. "You are here now, trying to save your people from an evil that invaded. You have fought against all odds to help your people come back from this disaster. How does that not make you a leader Jack? We are no longer talking about Alpha's and Beta's order. There is none of that here. The pack that once was, no longer stands. Your name has been demolished to rubble, yet you still are trying to look after your people. In my eyes Jack, that makes you an Alpha. Despite everything that has happened to you, you are still looking at what is best for your pack. Not you, your pack." Blake looked down on the obviously younger man and put out his hand to help him up off the ground. "Politics and muscle are only part of what makes a man an alpha, the rest comes from inside you. You've got the inside part down pat, the rest will come with time. Let's take back your pack." Jack looked up into the wise eyes in front of him and latched onto his hand. Things were far from over, but he knew that it only went up from here. There was no more blame to be placed. His pack needed him to lead them and he was going to do it. The pack deserved a leader that could focus on them and that was what he was going to do. "Let's do this then." Leon rubbed his eyes and laid his head back on the head rest. Tonight had gone well, not a good as he had hoped, but they did get all the women and children out. The alpha and the mysterious Edward were nowhere to be found. "I have something for that headache if you want it?" Petra's soft voice was very close to him. He opened his eyes to see her sitting there beside him. In her hand she held a mug of what appeared to be tea. He accepted the mug and sniffed at it's contents. "It's all natural tea with some spearmint leaves. Nothing that will kill you." He lifted his eyebrow and took a sip, it was sweeter than he thought it was going to be. "I added sugar Leon, I always do." She smiled at him and looked out the window. "This is a mess Leon." "Tell me about it, that's why I have the headache." Leon drained half of the tea and leaned his head back on the seat. "So, what really are your interests here?" "It's not enough for me to want to help others of my race with the gifts that I have?" She looked over at him with a slight smile on his face. "I guess not." She chuckled softly. "To be honest with you I was pulled into this by your medic, and once I found out what was really going on here I just knew I needed to help." She looked back out the window. "Fate dictates all of us, and we are useless against them. Something had been drawing me closer to your compound for months, and when I got the call from Devlin it solidified my need to be here." "You always speak of the fates as if they are more than one being? Isn't Fate singular?" Leon looked over at her serene facade. "No. The fates are sisters three, each one controls a different part of life. Each one has a hand in our design." She chuckled once again. "A bunch of fickle bitches if there ever were. They are completely vague and love to watch people fret out the meaning of their riddles. They were not raised with human compassion, they are a creation of the gods. Even the gods have nothing on them, they just wish they did." She sighed. "Finding out information on our boy Edward was simpler than you'd think." "How was finding information on him simple? I've never heard about him" Leon sat up a little straighter. "He made quite a stink a decade or so back at a local council meeting. As soon as he was on council radar for his outlandish behavior it was easier to gather information on him. Before the council was tougher however. That's were a lot of my contact from across the pond came in handy." Leon chuckled and she continued. "Edward caused quite a mess over there before he was exiled here. He tried a hostile takeover of a larger pack with one of his own making. The plan was stopped in it's infancy and he was banished from England. However, this did not stop him from attacking English soil. It was rumored that he was working with some kind of witch to concoct a poison that attacked the females eggs. It was mildly successful but the effect didn't have quite the life that he wanted." "He's attacking the reproductive organs of the females?" Leon wanted to smash something. The ability to have young was a vital part of pack life. "Not that I have seen here, but at one time he was. It's not out of the question that he may try something in the future. Seems that the person he was working with was not a witch. Infact it was another were. A potion's master whose services were on the market and, as it turns out had a vendetta of his own. Seems the British council tend to piss off the wrong people and then exile them from their shores as if that can stop the rage and rampage." Petra sighed once again and rubbed at her own eyes. "The Brits also like to not inform the other councils of their exiled until it's too late." Leon looked over at her and pondered what he had heard. "You said that Edward was looking for vengeance, true?" "Yes, at one point he was bent on killing and torturing the ones that stole his wife and children." Petra nodded slowly. "Who killed them?" Leon asked. "Well to be honest, no one. It's difficult to believe but the poison that supposedly killed his family was not a poison.His wife found a mate in an elder vampire, and converted her children to take with her so that they didn't have to suffer the abuse of her husband any longer." She rolled her eyes and ran her hand through her hair. "As it turns out I know her and her children. I was making inquiries to the elders of some of the others to make sure his name didn't pop up on any of their circuits and Gwen informed me of her ex-husband's tirade." "You are chummy with Vampires? Wait I thought you said that his wife was beheaded." "I am cordial with a lot of Elders. With age comes a certain understanding of other cultures and how to handle them. When something could threaten the existence of more than one race, then all should be informed. Desarius was shocked to find out that the vampires were not the only ones dealing with unwarranted attacks on their females. " Petra looked over at Leon to see him contemplating her. "There was a body found in the home and it was assumed that it was Gwendolyn Renaldo because it fit her description. Her head was missing however, so that took away a bit of the identity. Desarius told me that it was a ruse to keep Edward off their tail. Soon after the kids had been getting blood slipped to them to begin the transformation process, once their bodies were dead and buried, they were dug up and the rest of the blood needed for transformation was given to them." "The vampires are having a similar problem? And they discussed this openly with you?" Leon was shocked. Vampires were more tight lipped about their problems than any of the Other species. "Desarius and I go back farther than I care to admit, and we discuss much. He is interested in knowledge and believes that in order to gain he has to give as freely. He does not speak to everyone only those he can trust and I know that he has my back if I should have need, same as I would have his. He has helped me out of a few scrapes here and there. I am glad to have such a friend even if he is a blood sucker." She smiled and looked back to the scenery floating past the SUV. "Back to the potion master, he is still in the wind. Many believe that both he and Edward are still working together." "Who is this potion's master?" "Ruslan Kuznetsov." "Shit, are we sure it's Kuznetsov?" Leon looked at Petra. "Shit. This is bad." "Yes, which is why I think now more than ever we need to get the Alpha's together to stop this madness." "You want the Vampire to come too don't you?" Leon waited for her answer and when it wasn't forthcoming he removed the hand from his eyes and looked at her. "Shit Petra, do you know how much shit this is going to cause? Kuznetsov almost wiped out all of Russia with his last known attack. We need to get our shit together and bringing in an outsider will only complicate things, you know that." "Yes Leon, I know that bringing in Desarius could cause quite a stir, but he may be able to shed some light on what happened in Russia, and also what is going on here." She sounded exasperated and she took a deep breath before continuing. "I know that he knows more than he lets on and wants an opportunity to help other species, not just his own. He has assembled a vast library containing histories from all the others. He knows more than any other I have come across. He genuinely wants to help and isn't too high and mighty to bow to the wishes of another in order to aid. Plus, his own potions masters have created synthetics that he takes to lessen his need for feeding in large populations. He barely needs to feed once every year or so. He will be no harm to your people and he can be of aid." "I don't know. Let us get back and I will think over broaching the subject with the Alphas as they all arrive." Leon let his head rest back on the seat and thought back to before all this mess. Back when things were simple... and he wished that he was still there. The Bachelorette Ch. 05 As the SUV's entered the compound they were ushered off to their appropriate destinations. Leon met up with the men escorting the prisoners into the barracks. He left the women to the capable hands of his mother, Samantha, and Dayna. "Sir, The Halley, Walker, Valdez, and Alexander Alpha's are here with their troops, but the Halley Alpha has seemed to wandered off." Leo Davies reported to him as he exited his car. "Yes, I know Leo, he was out there with me. You can't get anything past that man, ever. How are things going here?" Leon looked over the transport and could mostly see for himself that the transition was going fairly well. He looked over at the younger Delta and waited for his report. "Well sir, since you left we have finished erecting the tenth great house for our guests and we only have one more, and since we still have time things are on schedule. Other than that, the booths have been set up according to your specifications and the fire pits have been dug. Also, your mother and Devlin Lucas were looking for you." Leon nodded and waited to see if there was anything else pertinent. "The Alpha's weren't thrilled that you weren't here to greet them, but your father assured them the reason would become clear soon enough." "Thanks Leo, I know you and your litter have been working on some safeguards for the building, I want them triple enforced if possible, even more so." Leo nodded and went in search of his siblings to give them an update. "Oh, there you are Alpha, I wanted to inform you that I requested the help of Petra for a few of the women." Devlin Lucas called out to him as he made his way over to Leon. "Aren't you supposed to be in the medical wing right now?" Leon chuckled as Devlin shook his head. "Got your self kicked out did you?" "Petra and Dayna ganged up on me and tossed me out more like it. No males allowed. End of story no excuses." Devlin shrugged. "I figured I'd set up a triage over here if any of our men needed it, but it looks like things are taken care of." "There is something I would like you to look at. Hold on." 'Jack, I want you to have Sam bring those pups to me. I want Devlin to take a look at them please. Better yet, just have Sam take them to her house and I will have Devlin meet them there.' Leon heard Jack's reply and looked back to Devlin. "Go over to the houses we set up for the women. We found some pups there and I would like you to take a look at them. Something felt off." Devlin nodded and was about to turn around. "Oh, and Devlin, I appreciate your concern for the women but I would like to be told in advance that you are calling in outside help." "I am sorry my Alpha, but it was your mother that insisted I got ahold of her right away. She said that Samantha had talked to one of the girls in her home and she needed some assistance getting rid of a mating bond. It appears that the male that mated with her was constantly in her head and telling her horrible things. Juliette thought it was very important to take care of it right away before he tried to find out anything about the pack that helped her." Devlin looked sheepishly at his feet and knew better than to raise his eyes. "I was unaware that the situation was so severe. Samantha's house is the one where the pups will be. Go over and see what information you can find?" Leon watched the Dr retreat and walked over to his Betas. "Erik. Ayden." They nodded as a unit and watched as more men were taken out of the last SUV. He looked over at his men watching the operation, still in battle mode. Erik however seemed more tense than normal. "Everything alright Erik?" "He's just tense because his mate is avoiding him Alpha." Ayden chuckled and ducked to miss the fist that came at his head. "Your mate is here Erik?" Leon was taken aback by the news. "Who?" "The thing is Alpha, I don't know. I've seen her, and she has seen me in an awkward situation..." "Let me guess, Danni?" Leon looked on amused as Erik's face turned red. "Ah... Continue." "I ran after her and Danni ran after me.... anyway she put Danni in her place, but I still never got her name. She disappeared on me before I could." Erik hung his head. "I believe she is one of the women we rescued when we found Jack. Other than that I'm not sure on anything." Leon thought about it for a moment, "Well, what does she look like?" Erik and Ayden were both excellent Betas and had been two of his friends since he could remember. They both deserved to find their mates, just as much as anyone else in his pack. "She's a redhead Alpha." Ayden added before Erik could even speak. Leon thought about the women that he had brought back from the house where he had found Jack. He didn't remember a redhead but at the time they had all been filthy and in need of proper clothes. He did recall that his mother and father were talking about a redhead. His mother had seemed to think that she might somehow be related to her lost sister... "Valerie Smith?" Erik's head whipped up at the sound of his Alpha's voice and let the name roll through his mind. Valerie sounded right but somehow Smith.... it just didn't fit. "Perhaps. She never indicated to me what her name was." "We will find out tomorrow after the women have had some rest. See that these creatures are locked up in the bunker I want a few men to stand watch tonight. At least two men a wing and at least four on each floor. Set up shifts of no more than six hours so everyone gets some sleep." Leon stretched out the muscles in his back and looked at the men. "Right away. These can be any males Alpha?" Ayden looked over at the medical wing and then back to his Alpha. "Lets stick to night time we have any males here and during the day we keep to the mated ones on the outside? You can position anyone you want on the inside." Ayden nodded and went in search of Samuel to give him the news. "We are going to have a gathering tomorrow with everyone from our pack, without the women. I need to explain a few things better and map out the next month. Everyone needs to know why we are having the council brought down on our land and go over some security measures that need to be in place." Erik watched his Alpha run a hand through his hair "Then we are going to have to talk to the women. I know they are not going to like seeing me nor are they going to want to join in the fun but they need to hear from us. Lets rest for the evening and I want all the Betas, Gammas, and Deltas in my office bright and early." "Yes Alpha." Erik nodded and headed off to find his brother and delegate his Alpha's orders. Leon watched him leave and looked back over the last few SUV's waiting to unload. Once this was done he was going to go to bed. He earned it. Sam sat on the couch with the cubs at her feet. Valerie and Halea had returned and were watching from the entryway. Sam heard the knock on the door and watched out of the corner of her eye as Halea went to answer it. An older man walked in and stopped in the doorway beside Valerie to watch the cubs play. "My name is Devlin Lucas. I am the head pack doctor." He cleared his throat and looked over at the pups. "Leon asked if I could examine the pups to make sure there was nothing wrong with them. May I?" He motioned into the room and Sam nodded. She shifted her body off of the couch and down onto the floor so that Devlin could sit on the couch and she could watch him. Halea grumbled something and headed into the kitchen area. Sam shook her head at her and watched Val roll her eyes then quickly refocused on Devlin. Devlin picked up the pup closest to him as he sat down and opened his medical bag pulling out his stethoscope. He listened for a few moments and pulled out a small pad and pencil to record his data. He pulled out a measuring tape and took some measurements and was astounded at what he saw. "These are turned pups." Sam glanced up at the astonishment in his voice. "When Leon asked me to come over and look at some pups, I believed that they either were older or actual wolf pups. These are neither, these are small human children that have been bitten and turned into wolves too young. They have reverted to the wolf state for comfort and protection. Astonishing." Quickly he relayed the information to Leon and began to search for anything to tell this pup apart from the rest. There was another knock on the door and this time it was a lot harder than Devlin's. Val went to answer it and three men walked into the house. Sam recognised Leon but she didn't recognise the other two. "Good Evening Ladies, this is one of my Betas Ayden Dawson," He motioned to the man on the right, "and this is is one of my Gammas Charles Comeaux, my uncle." Sam nodded and looked at Val who seemed really tense, but then the name clicked. Ayden was one of the twins that Juliette thought might be Val's mate. "What are you saying Devlin? These pups are human children?" Charles entered the room and knelt down near the foot of the couch watching the pups. Sam could barely believe that the big man was being so gentle with the pups. A few had attacked him and he was playfully flipping them over and mock wrestling. "Yes Charles, you can tell by the size. When our pups change for the first time they are all generally larger than this, and their bone structure is that of a wolf in it's late adolescence to early adulthood. These pups however, are that of a wolf cub, but slightly larger. My assumption is that they have been bitten and transformed into the wolf to protect themselves. It's obvious from the condition of the women that I have seen, that the living conditions there were poor. The wolf saw this and thought that it would have a better chance than a human child and asserted itself early." Devlin shook his head. "Until I can clearly identify these pups by some physical features we may have to get some morphing collars. That way if they decide to shift back they wouldn't be a hinderance." "Morphing collars? I don't like the sound of that." Sam frowned and looked up at Leon for clarification. "It's not as bad as it sounds. In our history some mated pairs buy each other matching collars for mating gifts. In order for those collars not to break when we shift they are enhanced with some magic and some kind of enchantment to make them morph with the wearer. They will never get too big, nor will they be too tight. In this case we can get some of varying colors to tell each of the pup apart until we can get them to become comfortable enough to shift back. Once we learn their names the collars won't be necessary any more." Leon explained and Sam slowly nodded in understanding. "Couldn't you command them to shift back as their new Alpha?" Charles added as he stood and turned to Leon. "There is no telling if they have formed an Alpha bond with me. We have never had a case like this, I do not know what to expect and I don't want to push anyone or be a bully. The children will come to know that they are safe and loved here and that is what will bring them out of their shells. Not force, they have seen enough of that in their young age." Leon knelt down next to the pups and let them sniff him. "No one here will harm you little ones, you are safe. That is a promise." He looked up at Sam and smiled. "I know I should not ask it of you, but can they stay here with you? I don't want to make them uncomfortable and I am sure that the company of women is much preferred over the men here." "Aye, the men can be a very rowdy bunch, not harmful but loud." Charles added at the last and leaned back against the doorjamb. "I know it is probably not needed but I will make sure to keep an eye on the house tonight as I am making my rounds. Just to be sure that they stay inside." Leon nodded and Charles exited the house. "Why is there a need to watch the house?" "It's nothing against you or the pups," Ayden answered instead of Leon. "During the raid we did not find the ones responsible for the whole plot. We found the puppets but not the puppeteers. We have doubled patrols around the land in general just to make sure no one followed us back and to protect everyone incase someone or something did. At this point in time, nothing can be ruled out and seeing as how we are having a large gathering we are a much more appealing target then we were just rescuing the women from their clutches." Leon nodded at his Beta and stood. "Ayden go see if you can rouse Wendy, she would be the one to make the collars." Ayden nodded and exited the house. "Since at least Sam and Val know who you are Charles, I'd like for you to be the one outside their door tonight. Once the collars are on, we can lax security at night slightly. I will have another wolf take your spot on rounds." Charles nodded and went out into the night air. "You ladies did an excellent job tonight helping us. I know that without your group the ladies would not have wanted to come out of that building and into our cars. Tomorrow there is going to be a meeting for all of you ladies where I formally introduce myself to the new arrivals and let them in on all the commotion going around at the present time. Even though you and the other ladies here have gone through the speech with me before, all females are supposed to be in attendance." "I will make sure to inform everyone about the meeting. What time?" Sam stood and streched out her back. "The final time hasn't been determined as of this moment. I have a meeting with my Beta's early and then with the Alpha's that have been gathering since early this morning. After that, I'm hoping to take some time and eat and take a breath before speaking with you ladies." He smiled and leaned against one of the walls. "I know that Halea had requested a punching bag and some other boxing equipment. The bag was installed while we were out and the other equipment she was looking for is in the gym on the far side of the complex. Seeing as how she was oh so vocal about having some of the equipment within arms reach, was there anything else that you ladies needed?" "I was unaware that Halea requested that, but it doesn't surprise me. She was very good at boxing before all this started. It was her outlet, that and photography. She has a hard time interacting with people without a buffer. She holds her emotions in check around people, she is very secretive about them. The only time you will see her emotions is in her art or when she is boxing." "Well, be sure to let her know that the bag is downstairs and if there is anything else you ladies need my betas can help if i'm not around." Sam nodded and stood. "I guess then I shall see you tomorrow?" She smiled and motioned for the pups to follow her as she led them upstairs. She knew that Leon could find his own way out. Once the pups were in her room she wasn't sure what to do with them. She went into the hall and grabbed some blankets and pillows. She made them a small nest at the side of her bed. She knew that they would more than likely curl up with her in the night, but she wanted them to have their own space just incase. They immediately took advantage of the blankets and jumped into find their own spots. Sam got up and paced over to her window. She could see Charles out by the front of the house pacing. A yip startled her and she whipped around to see the pups pawing at the door. "Oh!" She ran to the door and flung it open, the pups fell over themselves trying to get down the stairs. She led them to the back door and opened it, then the screen. She pushed the stopper into the screen and watched as the pups found their spots to relieve themselves. Charles head poked around the side of the house and she smiled at him. He kept an eye on the pups as they finished their business and jumped around Sam's feet. She smiled and waved to him as she counted the pups and led them back inside. Once they were back, safely in her room, they curled themselves into each other on the blankets. She could tell when the dogpile finally fell asleep, it took them awhile though. She had changed into some comfy clothes and laid on the edge of her bed staring out at the stars. When the whimpering and soft noises started to come from the pups she laughed and relaxed. She didn't think she would be able to sleep with all the tension flooding her body, but she did. Tonight she dreamt, she saw people she knew from her old life. She saw things that could never be, but she felt secure with herself now to know that eventually she could have found this life. She may not like it, but she knew now that her wolf had always been a part of her. It wasn't a manifestation in her life, but she felt that she was the instinct that led her through her life. This time the memories and the faces didn't make her hurt like they normally did, they made her smile. She hoped that Jake had found his way through life, and that he found happiness wherever he could. Her dreams brought her to her present, she saw the ones that she became closer to. The ladies in her life that she now thought of as sisters, and in a way they were. They were sisters of circumstance. She saw the pups that she had rescued and as she moved closer to them she saw the wolf, the one that kept growling when she found them. Throughout the dream no one seemed to notice her, but this wolf did. He was staring straight at her, his head was tilted to the side and his ears cocked in her direction, in the wolfish version of confusion. She looked him over and tried to figure out who this wolf was. Her wolf sensed that she knew him and wanted to go to him, but Sam was a little hesitant to embrace a random wolf. She circled him, giving him plenty of room, and he watched her slow movements. When she got downwind of him, his head snapped up and his ears lurched forward. She caught the movement and stared at him, her gaze fixated on his eyes. The intensity increased threefold, and he took his first step towards her. Instinctively she took a step back. He growled a warning, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She could feel butterfly wings against the side of her stomach, she knew that she was ill equipped as a human to handle the wolf, but she didn't know if she trust her wolf not to stand up to him. She stood her ground and squared her shoulders, this pup was not going to push her around. He chuffed at her actions but she paid no heed. She flared out her senses behind her and heard the slow gurgle of water. She slyly looked over her shoulder and saw the pond and stream not four feet away. She positioned herself solidly and feigned running to the right. The wolf took the bait and he rushed at the spot he figured he would go, but instead of hitting her, he fell into the pond. Sam couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the wolf in the pond. As his head broke the water, bits of vegetation from the bottom clung to his fur and snout. He chuffed and rolled his eyes, the situation so comical that Sam fell to her knees laughing, throwing in a snort or two of pure delight. He used her laughter to his advantage and lept from the water and pinned her with his wet body to the ground. Sam froze, unsure of what exactly to do. Other than pinning her to the ground, he was not being overly aggressive. A cold, wet, nose touched the side of her neck. She jerked away with a gasp out of instinct. He let out a low rumble as he breathed deeply the scent at the juncture of her neck. She felt his raspy tongue slither across her skin. Gooseflesh spread across her body and she sighed in response. The wolf lifted his head back and looked down at her face. She watched as his face started to shimmer between that of a wolf and that of a man. His human features never became crystal clear but she heard a word rumble from his chest. "Mine." The Bachelorette Ch. 06 Blake jolted out of his sleep. It had been bothering him, his reaction to the woman he saw earlier. Now he knew why. She was his mate. Leon knew, that louse! He wanted to smack his head, but instead he wiped the beads of sweat off of his face. He thought back for a moment, and remembered that Jaques had called her his mate, but he hadn't listened. Blake removed himself from the tangle of covers and walked into his bathroom. His lack of clothes may have bothered any normal human, but Blake Halley was anything but a normal human. The wolf ran deep in his bloodline. He looked at himself in the mirror and noticed the bags under his eyes. When he got Leon's message that he was trying to host a gathering of the Alphas he had seen it as a great thing. Time for him to take a step away from the nonsense of his pack. He needed a breather from the women who were vying for his attention. His father was on his back to go out and find his mate, and pushing all the eligible females in the compound at him. He had to check his room every night because his father would hide a female in there to seduce him as he tried to sleep. Blake wished that his father was just worried about him being alone, but he wasn't sure anymore what his motivations were. His father wasn't that much older than Pierre Comeaux, but lately his father's usually spry and youthful countenance was gone. If Blake didn't know better he would think that his father was very sick. He splashed some water on his face and patted it dry with a hand towel. Nothing in the last few months had been as expected. With the realizations of just how bad things had gotten in other parts of the country, Blake knew that this meeting was going to be a real eye opener. Hopefully, it was what the alpha's needed to kick start a new time where the communication between themselves increased and they helped each other more. When he arrived here, he didn't realize the severity of the situation outside his pack. Things like that needed to change. There needed to be a better system for Alphas to contact one another and seek help where needed. Most old school Alphas would have a problem with this, he knew, but things needed to move forward and change for the better. Now with the severity weighing down on him, and the thought that his mate had suffered at the hands of such atrocities, he knew this was something that needed stopped. Before he realized that his mate was among those abused, he was willing to help put an end to this, but now his need to help bordered on vengeance. Those monsters must pay for what they have done to his mate. His mate, just thinking about her made him want to find her. He needed to know what cruelties she suffered, he needed to be sure she was ok. First thing he wanted to do tomorrow morning was find Leon and learn what he could from him before he approached his mate. She had fire in her, and he knew she was going to be a hard one to tame, but in the end things normally went Blake Halley's way. Leon rubbed his temples for what seemed like the millionth time this morning. It seemed as if his pack had decided that they were going to voice every little concern they could this morning. "Alpha, we need to increase our food stores if we are going to continue to feed this large amount of people. We simply do not have enough of anything." "Alpha, the recruits are too busy staring over at the women's quarters to pay attention." "The construction of the great houses are behind schedule Alpha." "ENOUGH!" Leon sent the command mentally as well as verbally to those in the room and to all in his pack. "I will deal with things one at a time. There are more pressing matters that need to be addressed. Take the recruits to the southernmost field, they won't have a vantage point of the females to bother them, and next time please use your head or ask one of the Betas for advice before coming to me for something so trivial. I was updated on the construction last night and I am aware of it's progress or lack thereof. The food storage issue will be resolved. I will discuss with my Betas and get back to you in the kitchens. For now, work with what we have and I will have a solution for you by the end of the day. Now, everyone leave my office before I kill you all." he leveled a look and everyone scattered. He needed a few moments peace before he went head first into a meeting with the Alphas that had already arrived. He collected his thoughts and straightened his papers before standing and walking to his conference room. There wasn't a soul in there yet, besides Jack, which was a great thing. "Jack." "Leon." Jack nodded his head but remained back against the wall near the podium. "Blake has figured out that Sam is his mate and I know he's going to want some answers this morning as we are talking to the Alphas. Doubtless he is not going to like everything that we say, just be forewarned." "I knew from the moment that I saw Samantha that she was a wolf's mate. There was no doubt in my mind that she was, and seeing her now, she is an Alpha. No question. I knew that when the time came and she found her mate questions would be asked and I would provide the answers to the best of my ability. Blake isn't just not going to like it, he's going to want my hide. You and I both know that." Jack looked down at the floor. "True, he may want a piece of you, but I have always considered Blake to be a level headed person and in time, things may become ok." Leon set down his stack of papers and patted Jack on the shoulder. "Give it time, my friend, and perhaps you can even forgive yourself." Sam heard Halea wake up; it was hard not to. It seemed as if she had a bad dream and fell out of bed, then stumbled through her room and went for the bathroom. She sighed when she heard the toilet flush and Halea stumble back along the hall. So much for sleeping in. Sam though back to the strange dream she had the previous night. Her thoughts drifted back to the wolf in her dream. She wondered who the man behind the wolf was, she knew he was a were like she now was, but she didn't think that she had met him face to face as of yet. She was curious and would have to talk to Jack or Leon to figure it out, he was with those two last night. Surely they knew who he was. She rolled over in her bed and looked down at the pups still asleep in their nest of blankets. She wanted to go make coffee, so she crept out of her room and remembered to leave the door cracked open so the pups could find their way down to her. As she entered the kitchen she started a pot of coffee and opened the fridge to look over it's contents. She heard someone enter the kitchen and peaked around the door to see Halea standing there in the doorway in some sweats. "Hey Halea, good morning! I was making coffee and about to make breakfast if you are interested. Oh! And Leon told me last night that the punching bag you requested is in the basement." Halea perked up and nodded. "Is there yogurt in there?" Sam nodded and tossed her one as she sat down at the island. "Can I ask you a random question?" Sam pulled out the eggs and turned to face Halea. She seemed to be searching for the right words. "Have, have you been hearing voices?" "What do you mean?" "Its stupid... nevermind." Halea busied herself with her yogurt. "Sometimes if I try hard enough I can talk to Jack and I can hear him in my head, is that what you mean?" Sam pulled out a pan and then some oil. "Maybe, maybe I am just delusional." She ate a scoop and then looked deep in thought. "Its not the voice of the man that turned me, and I know it's not Leon. I'm not sure who it is, or if it's even a real person." she scooped the last of the yogurt out of the container and looked down at the empty cup. "Maybe it's just my imagination..." "I don't think that's it... Maybe it's a wolf here that you have a strong connection with." Sam busied herself at the stove making eggs. "Like we have had the opportunity to meet anyone. The only ones we have met have been females and Leon and his father. That is such a big pool of male voices to choose from." She scoffed and walked her spoon over to the sink. Sam startled her with a small plate of eggs. "Well, there were three men here last night that I didn't know until then. Maybe one of them was your mystery voice. When did it start?" "Last night while I was in the tub. It wasn't the doctor, his voice just didn't fit. Why were there two other men here? Assuming of course that the Doctor was the third." She grabbed a fork from the drawer and leaned her hip back against the counter as she nibbled at the eggs. "They showed up with Leon last night after you went up stairs. Ayden Dawson and Charles Comeaux, I believe their names were. Juliette seems to think that Ayden or his twin are Valerie's mate!" "Hmpf, like I said before who needs a mate? I have been single for my entire adult life and I see no need to change that now that I have become a wolf creature." "Well, from what I understand wolves don't want to be solitary creatures, so they look for mates whether they be pack mates or soul mates. " Sam gathered her plate of eggs and sat next to her. "Please tell me that you are not falling for that bullshit. Sam, I love you like a sister, we have been through so much together, but please tell me you are not falling for this crap? We were perfectly normal and rational people before this, now we turn into a wolf at the full moon and I freaking hear voices! This is so not right! They are just forcing one thing after another down our throats until we get with their program, but I can't follow that. Yes I believe in love and that one day I will find someone to complete me, but it's not going to be a hybrid of a man and a wolf. I was born human, not a wolf. I wasn't supposed to be a wolf." As Halea stood up from the stool her face was red and blotchy. She slammed her plate and fork into the sink. "I will be damned if some mongrel is going to tell me how to live my life. I have worked hard to be where I was, I had a job, a life! Just so some mutt can take it away from me? I was this close to being signed by the magazine I have wanted to work at since I became a writer and they used my photography more than once! It's all gone now! I have nothing! I don't have my camera or my laptop, hell I don't even have my apartment with built in gym. I can't go anywhere or do anything, and everyone is just going to lie down and take it? Take the fact that they can do nothing about the situation that we are in? Screw that!" "Halea, we have a network here. I'm sure if you talked to Leon about work he might be able to find a place within..." "Don't Sam. Don't talk to me about working in this pack. We are their prisoners here just like at that other place, this is just slightly more accommodating and has less chains. It's still a prison. I don't get how you can't see that. You lost more than I did, hell you were going to get married! You were about to start a beautiful new journey with the man you loved and now you are stuck here. Your life had no strings, you could go where you wanted and do what you wanted, here there are so many limitations! How is it you can sit there and be okay with this situation? How can you be okay with never seeing civilization again! No more malls or getting your nails done. No more sitting in a food court and rating the boys as they walk by. No more music stores or lingerie shopping. What is there to do here that you are okay with?" Halea was frustrated and Sam knew that, but she also did raise some odd but valid points. "I can understand your frustration and anger, but you have to understand I have focused on the positive that can come out of this situation. My time for mourning my old life has passed, I have been there. I cried when I realized that I will never live the life I had always thought and dreamed of, but I understand now that this is a chance for me to make the best of my situation. I have always wanted to help people and I am a hard worker. I can put my skills to use here, not in the way I had originally envisioned, but still. I know that it's rough, but I know you Halea. We have been through alot together and I know, just as well as you, that you are a strong person. Your mind just needs to catch up to the rest of you. I have come to terms with my demons, and you will too. You need to give it time and let people help you through this. It seems difficult now, and even coming and talking to me, I know how difficult it was for you to do." Sam stood and put her hand on Halea's shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. "I have faith in you, even if you have lost faith in yourself. You can do this kiddo. You may not believe it now, but you will come to love the life you have been dragged kicking and screaming into. It might just surprise you." Sam left Halea in the kitchen with her thoughts. She needed time, it wasn't going to happen overnight, but it would happen. Blake had sat through the Alpha's meeting in stony silence. He watched the faces of disbelief, none could have expected this. For all the hiding that the weres as a species did, they were a very arrogant people. No one wanted to believe that something this atrocious could happen in such a powerful race. Blake was disgusted with those that refused to believe that this was happening. "I was THERE. I helped bring those women out of that mess. You can be arrogant assholes all you want. I WAS THERE. Stop this petty squabbling and help each other! We as a race need to make a stand and work together on this. It needs to stop, these monsters need to know that we will not stand for this! Why are you arguing that this isn't a problem?" He slammed his hands down onto the tabletop and silence ran through the room. "I think that it is time to let Jack do some talking." Leon spoke as he stood and Blake sat back down. He didn't miss the look of appreciation that came about on Leon's face that was followed by a slight grimace. "Jack was closer to the situation than any of us, his pack was the one that was overtaken in the first place." "Thank you Leon, Alpha's, My name is Jacques Fontenot. At one time the Fontenot clan was part of the Comeaux line, when my clan broke off from the Comeaux pack it was amicable. We were granted a nice size plot of land on the very outskirts of their land. We worked up enough to purchase another plot off of the neighboring clan as well and had a beautiful sprawling landscape for our people. We were able to move our main house from deep in the mountains and our people as well. We thrived for a long time, and when my father took over the reign of Alpha, things went about as normal. About two years ago, a band of weres asked permission to stay on the edges of our land. My father was always one to help anyone in need and agreed. Soon enough the band of 5 grew to almost 20, and they petitioned to become part of our pack. The dwindling number of female weres within our own pack made the decision to bring a few more into our own numbers made sense. There was only one woman among them at the time, and she seemed to be an Omega. "The leader of the band, Edward, became a consultant for my father; he had plenty of Beta's but wanted insight of someone who had lived outside of a pack. Edward was able to tell him things that no other were could due to his experience in the human world. My father became close to the man, and in doing so it... lead to his death. My father had always been a sturdy and healthy man, but within three months of Edward becoming his new right hand man, his health started to decline. When my father mysteriously passed, my brother took up the mantle, but as much as I love my brother he was not yet ready to take up the responsibility. He allowed Edward to influence his decisions until our pack didn't see him anymore. Edward became the face of our pack, and we took orders from him. At frist, his orders were small and normal, like a beta would give in his Alpha's steed, but then the requests became more twisted. "Some of those loyal to my father tried to stand up to him and were either silenced or thrown in a dungeon of Edward's design. Those he could manipulate, he did. He twisted realities in the minds of our young, changing our beliefs and our rules. Soon there was no stopping what was happening. I had been away from the pack for a few months, and during that time Edward took complete control. When I came back I was appalled at what I saw, but I had no support left to do anything at that time. I knew I needed to reach out for help. I bided my time, and tried to help as many women as I could, until help arrived." "You mean to tell me that this wasn't a hostile take over?" "No, not as many people believe a hostile takeover to be. Many of my pack have been killed and twisted, so in some ways I believe this to be a hostile takeover. The way that the women were abused is not something that I would wish on my worst enemy. Some kept in cages, others starved to within an inch of their lives. Used as livestock to some cause that was unknown to me. Just because my pack wasn't attacked head on and our buildings burned to the ground does not mean that this wasn't a hostile takeover." Jack looked over the Alpha's and saw compassion in some, but in others there was contempt. "You may not wish to believe that something like this could happen but the truth is there. The reality of the situation has not hit you, but it will." "How can we just take the word of you that this is how it happened? What if you are just making excuses for the mistreatment of your pack by your fool hearted brother?" One Alpha down the line yelled out. "I can answer that." Petra's voice came from nowhere and everywhere. The hair on the back of each Alpha's neck was standing on end. "Jacques Fontenot has not lied to you this day. He comes bearing the truth and you crush his words beneath your boots. You have been brought here to discuss the terrible events that have befallen a group of women. Not just humans that have been pulled off of the streets, and out of their lives, to be dumped in a hell of a life that they had no knowledge of, but were women as well. Our own women were being mistreated, and you sit here and bicker back and forth betwixt each other about nothing. Have you grown so comfortable in your own position that you have become blind to the rest of the world and it's predicament? " Slowly her figure emerged from the shadows in the back of the room. Dressed in her cloak, she looked a menace. Power radiated from each word she spoke, and in that moment, Blake, Leon, and Jack were all happy to know that this powerful woman had their back. "Laws were created and enacted to protect not only ourselves as weres but also the others that live around us. The council still keeps those rules and all their records. If the Alpha's of this land cannot come together as a people and re-enact the power of the council to aid it's people than perhaps they should not be Alpha's any longer. The three men before you, Alpha Comeaux, Alpha Halley, and Alpha Fontenot have spoken truth. They have come to you asking you to help the women battered by this band of miscreants and you dismiss all their concerns as if they are nothing. Those of you that do are not fit to lead your people." "Who are you to tell me how to be a proper Alpha? You are no Alpha, and you are a woman! How dare you talk to your superior in such a manner!" The Alpha who had been bursting out the entire session rose from his chair and Leon could get a good look at him. Igor Elkin, his line had come to the America's at the turn of the century and set up shop in Canada. They have long been quarrelsome with the other packs. "Who are you Igor Elkin, son of Romanov Elkin, to tell me where my place is? Where is your place? You were banished from your homeland for the mistreatment of women after the rules and regulations were set in place. You came to a land where the same rules were enacted yet you still go against the rules and codes we practice here. I was content to sit in the back of the room and listen to you all talk this over, but you have disregarded everything that has been said. I had my doubts about the truth behind what was going on here until I did some research. Your countryman is behind this Elkin. What say you to that?" Her voice never seemed to raise above a quiet whisper, but could be felt as if they were shouted. The Bachelorette Ch. 06 "You accuse my countryman yet, your own Alpha's have said that a man named Edward is behind this!" You all are liars and-" "You will hold your tongue Elkin. Edward Renaldo is behind the takeover of the Fontenot pack, true. However one of your countrymen is at his back. Ruslan Kuznetsov is the potion's maker at his beck and call. You may have heard of him and his exploits into the dark magics and vile potions. Now do you see what this country is up against? The European council is not going to act on this until an attack comes on their soil. I have already been to see them and have alerted them to the situation here because it needed done. Unlike them, I believe in sharing information before it becomes critical. They have opened up their library's for our use however and allowed me to do some research on the two men who have come to this land to hurt our people and those who don't acknowledge our existence." She walked closer to Elkin. "You know of Kuznetsov, you were old friends were you not?" "I will admit in my youth I knew him, but he was not the monster that you call him. He was a simple child living in the harsh winters of Russia. His father was a brute of a man who treated people worse than any I have seen. I knew him as an innocent youth, I know not of the man he came to be." Elkin stiffened as she got closer. "Be that as it may Igor, you did once know of him. You know of his exploits with his father and the lives he ruined with the touch of his deadly magicks. Do not dismiss what we have to say so easily. You have no thought for anyone but yourself, you barely care about your own pack, perhaps this is the reason the fates have not blessed you with a mate." "How dare you speak to me that way! I am an Alpha and as such I demand your respect or you will force me to teach you a lesson!" Igor's face was red with rage. "I suggest you keep your saliva to yourself sir, I don't appreciate the shower. I'd like to see you try and teach me a lesson Igor. You have no idea who you are talking to, I have more power in my pinky than you have in your entire pack. Before you pick fights, you should know your opponent. That is the basic rule of fighting isn't it? I thought all wolves were taught this.... I guess since you were so privileged and the Alpha's son, you didn't have to go through training just like everyone else." Petra's body never shuttered as Igor's hand smashed into the table, splintering the top. She didn't move as he lunged at her, but she was gone from that spot before he crashed to the floor. There were soft snickers from all over the room, which only enraged Igor more. "Come now Igor, this is not the best you can do is it?" Petra was clearly enjoying the game at this point. Blake hoped that she knew what she was doing. He had felt her power once, but hoped that it was enough to take on the enraged wolf before her. "Are you challenging me woman?" Igor was standing and adjusting his suit now, smiling. As he stood tall, he spat his words at her again. "If that is a challenge than I accept, you will learn your place." "What a pity that we have come down to this. You challenging a woman, just for spite. I accept your challenge sir, I will see you in the circle. " Petra bowed her head and stood up tall. "Just remember Igor, it will be you and you alone in that circle. There will be no others to interfere, if any should the penalty will be death." Igor nodded stiffly and walked back to his chair, and grabbed his glass of water. Petra looked up at Leon and Blake, "I will be outside with Dayna at the circle. Have him meet me there when he is ready to meet his fate." She seemed to float over to the door and exit the room. With her disappearance, the room seemed empty and eerily silent. All eyes turned to Igor, and then to Leon. "Igor, are you sure you want to do this?" One of the other Alpha's asked quietly. "You doubt me? I can put that woman in her place. Who does she think she is? Talking down to me? Me of all people!" Igor adjusted his collar once again and shrugged his shoulders mumbling the last to himself. "It is true that your reputation precedes you, but so does hers. Petra is not a force to be reckoned with. Her age is undetermined and she has great power, surely you felt that." Blake stood and looked down at the fool. "Petra? I have never heard of-" Igor was interrupted by another Alpha. "I have heard of Petra, there were rumors of her passed down through my line. Stories told of a beautiful maiden of great power that defended our people from a vampire slaughter. It was said that she single handedly cut down a coven." Alexi Alexander spoke softly, his deep voice reverberating through the silent room. "The story has been passed down from generation to generation, the story is centuries old. There is no way that this could be the same woman can it?" the Alexander Alpha looked up at Leon and then back to Elkin. "Impossible, she would have died between then and now, look at how insolent she is." Igor snapped, but the rage behind his words had dwindled. "Either way, you have a challenge to meet Igor Elkin, and I will not have you dawdle. I expect you to be at the circle within the hour. Until then, I'm going to dismiss this little meeting and we will pick up after this .... match." The simultaneous sound of chairs being pushed back and the Alpha's standing filled the room. Each filed out until none but Igor Elkin stood inside. The Bachelorette Ch. 07 Leon walked over to the circle, noticing that a crowd had started to gather. Very few women came out from their new homes, but that was to be expected. What he didn't expect was to see Sam there. He walked over to where she was standing on the edge of the circle looking out onto the grounds. "Sam, I'm surprised to see you out here, I thought you would be inside with the pups." Sam looked over at Leon and smiled, "I was, but when Valerie woke up, she had a few ideas to maybe help the pups break out of their shell, she was working with them and I seemed to be a third wheel. I had some questions for you though, and I was coming out of the house to find Dayna when I heard you." Sam gestured to the circle and Leon nodded. "What kind of questions?" "Well, there were just a few but now that I'm out here and have been pondering for a moment there seem to be a lot more." Leon laughed and gestured for her to continue. "Well, first the wolf that you were with last night, the one that growled a lot and scared the pups. Who was he?" "That would be a old friend of mine and another Alpha, Blake Halley. He has a pack a few hundred miles west of here." "He's an Alpha? Oh, well then maybe that explains it." Sam seemed to look crestfallen. "That explains what Sam? There was no real question there." "Well, last night, in my dreams I had a vision of my life before I was turned and then as the dream morphed into what I guess would be present time, I saw him and he talked to me. It was strange, because I didn't really know him. Since he's an alpha though it explains how he can get into my head." "Sam, that's not the reason that he can get inside your head." Sam looked confused, Leon looked about and saw that Elkin had not yet showed his face so he had time to explain a few things. "Just because someone is an Alpha does not mean that they can get into just anyone's head. Each Alpha is the leader of a specific pack of wolves, true?" Sam nodded, she knew that. "Alright, let's just say that Ayden here," Leon grabbed onto Ayden's shoulder and pulled him into the conversation, "is the Alpha of his own pack. I cannot get into the minds of his pack, the same way that he cannot get into the minds of my pack." "However, If I were an Alpha and Leon and I shared a blood bond, we could speak to each other mentally. A blood bond is as simple as it sounds. I would take some of his blood and he some of mine to form the bond. Quite similar to what mates do at a mating ceremony." Ayden added and looked over at his brother as he approached. "That still doesn't explain why I can communicate with him." Sam's head tilted to the side in a very canine manner. "The fact that he is an Alpha has nothing to do with it, yes, but maybe there is another reason? When one wolf recognizes their mate, they can often speak to each other through dreams and sometimes even through a bond that neither knew existed. Kind of like the Alpha bond." Leon let her ponder his words before he let his attention focus more on the crowd gathering. "So, you are saying that this Blake guy is my mate?" A few emotions crossed her face before she settled on a blank look. "Does he know?" "I believe he figured it out sometime last night. I knew right away from the way he was acting, as did Jack. Evidently our blunt observation was lost on him and he only gleaned the information from our conversation in the wee hours of the morning. I know that after the meeting he wanted to have a few words with me, no doubt about you and how to approach you." Leon scanned the crowd and noticed that a few of Elkin's men had wormed their way up to the front of the circle on one side. An uneasy feeling tingled down his spine. "I haven't exactly let the single males meet any of you unmated ladies yet, and I am sure he was going to ask when and if I was willing to do so. After the episode inside its more a matter of if then when." "What happened inside?" Sam looked curiously at the men that had joined the circle and studied their odd behavior. "Those men don't feel right." "They are the underlings of Igor Elkin, the man who has challenged Petra. His views and her views of the world differ quite greatly, and he decided she was wrong to insinuate that she was correct. Ego really, but he took it to this level and he is the one that is going to pay the price. Ayden, make sure we have some of our men surrounding them. I don't like the look of them bunched over there. None of our men will initiate in any action against them until they make a move to enter the ring during the fight. There will be no disrupting this fight if it starts to turn in Petra's favor. She has told him as much but I want to make sure his men know." Leon looked from Sam to Ayden and then to Petra. "They will not do anything until the match is almost won Leon. Elkin may have rocks rattling around inside his head but he is smart enough to realize that I will back up my threats." Petra smiled at Sam. "I do not think we have had the pleasure of meeting one on one have we dear? Petra Whitewolf at your service dear. " Petra bowed low in a very gracious and dignified manner. "Samantha Jones." Sam bowed her head, " you went into that house with us the other night didn't you? I thought I glimpsed you as we were about to go in." "Yes, I was there. I was told by Devlin that there were a few women who could use some of my more unique healing skills. I came over as soon as I could and saw the mess that Leon and his men were walking into and I had to help where I could." "Your accent is strange, may I ask where it is from?" Sam looked at the strange woman. She had beautiful silvery purple hair, and the most crystal clear grey eyes she had ever seen. She was tall towering over her own five foot six frame. Her body was well rounded and ultra feminine with a hint of warrior under the surface. "I didn't even realize I had an accent anymore. When I was young, so was the world child. I am much older than I appear, and I have lived through so much that it is often hard to remember where I gained this accent. It's old world, I guess you would say." Petra smiled and her whole face lit with the smile. A hiss suddenly settled over the crowd and a small gap parted to reveal Igor Elkin stepping into the circle. "it's about time you joined us Elkin. I was wondering if perhaps you realized your mistake in insulting me and backed out." Petra spoke without a hint of malice and the smile remained on her face. "I was not the one who foolishly insinuated themselves in an Alpha's meeting when they are clearly not an Alpha. I also was not the one who did the insulting, so why should I back out of a fight that I know I can win against a bitch who does not know her place?" Elkin spat the last and removed his clothes standing naked on one side of the circle. Petra then removed her robe and handed it to Dayna. Sam looked over Petra's form in awe. There was no doubt that she was a strong woman. She had curves and wore them proudly, there was not an inch of flab to be found, but there was a softness about her. Her body was toned, and around each of her wrists and ankles was some sort of tattoo. A few strange symbols were etched down her back, they rippled with magic and Sam wished to reach out and touch them. "I may not have my own pack Igor, but I have been on this earth long enough to know my place, and it is well above yours." She flashed a smile and rolled her head around on her neck. "I have nothing to prove. You on the other hand, you have a lot to prove to me and the other Alpha's that heard the pitiful tirade you put on back there. How about we cut the chatter and let this match begin." She bowed low with the flourish of her arm and waited in the bowed position for Elkin's first move. The anger flowing from the scrawny Alpha was palpable, it radiated off of him in waves and his men growled on the sideline. Elkin lunged at Petra's bowed head. She used his own momentum against him and tossed him with her shoulder. He hit the dirt hard and snarled and shifted as he got up. A lean grey wolf snarled and growled where he hit the dirt. Instead of shifting Petra smiled and watched as he began to circle her. She moved with him slowly, and watched. Elkin lunged again, this time biting at her limbs looking to draw first blood. Petra easily danced away from his lunge and countered with a swift punch to the back of the wolf's skull. Dazed he fell to the ground, it took him a moment to recover and stood shaking his head and growling. He barked at her, his intent clear, he wanted her to shift. "You don't deserve to see my wolf form Igor, you can't even beat my human form." Elkin barked and snarled as he shifted into his hybrid form. Sam looked on in horror as the wolf shifted. Its limbs elongated and bulged, it's torso doubled if not quadrupled in size and looked more like the male torso she knew than that of the wolf. He stood on his two back feet and snarled as his muzzle elongated and his head swelled to match the rest of his body. "Shift you insolent bitch!" The words were growled out of his muzzle, and behind him his men growled with him. Petra shook her head and looked up at the wolf man. "If you think your little display will get me to shift, you are wrong Igor. There is no need for me to shift when my human form is taking care of you just fine." She laughed as he snarled and swiped his massive paw in her direction. "You call that a swing Igor? How pathetic." With each move Elkin made, Petra danced around him and avoided each blow. She landed a few punches of her own and knocked him on his ass. "Submit to your superior Igor." "I will never submit to you bitch. I am an Alpha!" He shrieked and lunged at her throat. This time, Petra didn't move. She stood her ground and swatted at him with a massive paw of her own, slicing into his flesh and drawing blood. Sam looked at the woman that stood before her and watched as Petra's human body shimmered. Her hand was no longer that of a human, but that of a wolf with silver white fur, the rest of her looked as human as she did before. "Is that all you can do? Maybe you don't have a wolf form, that's why you don't shift." "I have a wolf form Igor. The last man to see it did not leave the circle alive. I do not want to kill you, I just want to teach you a lesson." She watched as Igor stood and touched his face. The blood trickled down his fur to drip on the ground. The tangy, pungent scent of blood floated on the gentle breeze. He snarled at her and lunged yet again snapping his massive jaws looking to bite into anything. His aim was way off, and Petra easily side stepped him and brought her knee up to meet his jaw. He flew back hitting the dirt with a thud. The only movement coming from him was the easy rhythm of breathing. His body shimmered with power and his human form was where the hybrid had been. Petra locked eyes with Leon and he entered the circle, he stepped over to examine Igor and found him to be alive, but out cold. "Elkin has been knocked out, Petra is the winner of this fight." Those around the circle who knew her and those who disliked Elkin cheered and Elkin's men snarled. "Remove him from the circle and take him to the infirmary, our doctor will see to his injuries." He watched as three of Elkin's men entered the circle and lifted him from the dirt. The other five growled at Petra. As she turned to retrieve her robe from Dayna, all five lunged at her, shifting in mid air and landing on her ripping at her flesh with their teeth. Sam felt the blood hit her face and watched as Petra's body shimmered silver and then were she once stood with five wolves latched onto her back a massive white wolf stood. The wolf snarled and ripped the much smaller wolves off of her with a twist of her head. Three of them rolled over and showed their stomachs to her, but two continued to growl and snarl. She barked at the ones on the ground and they scattered, and she shifted focus to the two remaining. They lunged at her going for the kill, she dodged one but the other latched onto the back of her neck as she moved. Deftly she rolled her body, slamming him into the ground crushing his bones with her lofty weight. The other snarled and snapped still aiming to kill her as she was on the ground. As he got too close she snapped at him with her massive jaws. One instant the much smaller black wolf was snarling there and then next he was in her jaws whimpering and yelping to no avail. The time for mercy had come and gone and she was no longer in the merciful mood. She shook the wolf in her jaws back and forth. Bones snapped and blood spattered across the earth, and at last the yelps ceased. The bloody carcass dropped to the ground and the white wolf howled her victory to the sky. Sam watched transfixed as blood dribbled down the near perfect white of the wolf's maw as she howled. She could feel the stares from the people around her, all of them focused on the gigantic white wolf. As the wolf finished her serenade she turned her massive head their way. Her eyes landed on Leon and she let out a sorrowful whimper. "Petra?" Leon's voice was almost shaky, he had never seen her shift before. He knew that she held great power, but he had never seen her wolf. She was without a doubt the biggest wolf he had ever seen. Just the sheer size of her wolf was more than five of his own, and he knew his wolf to be larger than most. Alpha's normally were the biggest wolf in the pack because their size and agility meant protection, but even he felt dwarfed in comparison to Petra's size. "You can shift back now Petra, the match has been won." The wolf sat with it's head cocked to the side and it's ears twitching. It could understand his words, of that he was sure, but she did nothing to act on them. Her tail twitched slightly, and her head snapped in the opposite direction. A white mist had started to gather inside the circle. Petra's ears dropped back on her head, and her whining began again, this time more urgently. As the mist began to solidify, her tail thumped the ground, and she looked almost playful. The mist now took on the shape of two barely distinguishable figures. The wolf laid down, with her head on her paws, ears pressed forward and her tail thumping. Two men walked forward from the mist, both wearing cloaks of what looked like green silver. "My dear, you are in a predicament. The runes were meant to keep you in your human form, how is it that you have shifted?" The first man spoke, his voice seemed deep and musical. He had an air of wisdom and age bout him that seemed to conflict with his appearance. Although his hair was long and white, his face looked free of age. His features sharp and pointed, but young none the less. Petra whined and yipped and the strange man nodded his head. "I see, but it does not explain how the wolf was able to overcome the runes. You underwent immense pain to have them etched into your skin until they stuck. How this is possible, I know not, but I do know we have to get you back don't we?" The second man looked very similar to the first, with the exception of his hair. Of what could be seen, his hair was a dark brown and just about along as the other's. His hood was drawn up and his features barely visible. "Elric," The first man's voice drifted on the wind it seemed, "I will need your help with this." The second man bowed his head, glided closer to the first. With his approach Petra raised her head. Her tail no longer wagged, and her body seemed tight with tension. Her nose twitched, the only real movement from her. The second man came to a halt and watched the large wolf asses him. Her eyes flashed as she scented him. If this man feared the wolf, he did not show it, in fact he moved closer and the older man moved back. Elric, the dark haired man, began to sing. The words were soft and melodious, and not in any kind of language that Sam had ever heard. Elric moved forward more and lifted his hand to touch some of the fur. As his hand made contact, his singing steadily grew louder and the wolf closed her eyes. Once again, power shimmered in the circle. It thrummed with every sound that the strange man made, it pulsed and danced on the very air. Sam could feel the words in her heart, and in her blood. Her wolf was there in her mind sitting up and paying attention, completely at ease with the power, it knew it was safe and felt comforted by the strange sounds. The melody heated her blood, and made her want to move. Everyone around her seemed to be feeling similar effects, softly swaying in time with the chanting. More and more people started to gather around the circle. The rescued women stood as close as their fears would allow, letting their bodies be moved by the power and sound emanating from this strange man. Sam felt something brush her leg, and looked down to see the pups pushing their way forward, seeking the comfort of the song. She wanted to stop their forward progress, they were too far from her reach now and almost at the man's feet. Petra dropped her head to the ground and whimpered as the power engulfed her. Light shimmered and covered her fur, and slowly her form shifted back to that of a human. She sat kneeling on the ground, tears in her eyes as the light around her faded. The chanting continued as the man knelt down and turned his powerful voice on the pups. Soon they too were surrounded by the power and their bodies engulfed in the healing light. Seven small bodies lay hunched together as the chanting stopped. The wind seemed to die out with the chanting and the power level dropped from the circle. Elric removed his cloak and wrapped it around Petra's naked shoulders. The other man removed his cloak as well and draped it over the younger ones. "It would seem these younglings are going to need some clothes." He turned to face Sam & Leon. "I am sorry to intrude on your territory young Alpha, but I felt that our presence was needed. When she shifted, I could feel the shift in the balance of power and knew that she would need our assistance." Leon nodded mutely at the old man, and scented the air himself. The man smelled strange, but it was unlike anything he had scented before. Mentally he sent for someone to find clothes for the youngsters, at least some robes until they could be sized. "What are you?" Sam voiced her question before he could even speak. "My dear lady," He bowed with an old and other worldly grace, "My name is Lasvitar and I am an elf." Laughter sparkled in his eyes. Leon took in the strange clothes and as the man turned to look back at Elric, he noticed that he did indeed have pointed ears. "I thought that the elves had died out long ago." Leon seemed to find his voice. "No, we just moved to a different realm, we were no longer needed here. The time for our magicks had passed, and belief in such things no longer existed. We live on a realm similar to this one, but where we are free to do our magicks and we live in peace. Rarely do we venture back here, but I knew our presence was needed today." He turned back to look at Petra as she was shaking in Elric's arms. "I have been keeping an eye on you Leon Comeaux. I know that you have called a meeting of your Alpha's and I know the problems that you face. I have come to offer my aid, and that of my son's. The problems you face here have dipped their hands into our realm. Some of our old artifacts have been stolen, and I fear that the ones behind your problems are the same that are behind ours. If it is as I fear, then this has become more complicated than anyone could ever dream." "What? If you live on another realm, how could our problem's be yours? Elves have had nothing to do with earth in a long time." Leon felt a the pulse in his neck kick up a few notches. "What do you mean you have been keeping an eye on us?" The Bachelorette Ch. 07 "We have ways in which we can see into other realms, it makes keeping an eye on things much easier. Just because we no longer live in this realm does not mean that we care not for the inhabitants. There are gateways to travel in between the realms, and there are those of us that don't need them. Someone has traveled to our realm and stolen several of our ancient tomes and some dark magick artifacts, which does not bode well. " "What do you mean?" Petra stood on shaky legs, her voice quivering. It seemed all her weight now rested on the other elf. "When were these items stolen? Why was I not informed Lasvitar?" "Alpha, is there a place we could all talk in private. There are some things that need to be said that not all should be privy to." The older elf dipped his head in the direction of what was left of the pack Petra had decimated. "Aye, we can use my study. We can gather a robe for Petra on the way." He added noticing the way Petra was curled into the younger elf. He led them into the main house of the complex and left the bloody circle behind. His betas would know what to do from there. BIake had watched the fight and the cowardice that ensued. The two wolves that had lost their lives deserved what they got. When Leon, Petra, and the two men disappeared into the manor house, Blake saw his mate staring wide eyed at the leftover carnage. Devlin, the pack doctor approached and she smiled at him and helped him gather up the seven children in the circle. Jealousy blossomed in him at her smiling at another male. He couldn't suppress the growl that was issued from deep within.He took a step forward but his progress was stopped by Jacques . "Now is not the time for possessiveness. Samantha has been watching over the pups since last night. Devlin is more concerned about them than your mate." Blake looked up at the man's face and saw the sincerity there. His wolf growled knowing that this was the man that had turned his mate. He nodded stiffly and turned surveying the crowd once more before returning his gaze to his mate. his mate He could barely believe she was his. Ever since the dream of her last night her face was in his head. His wolf pressed his need to meet and mate her. The man in him yearned to run his fingers through the tangle of loose brown curls. He wanted to see excitement for him burning deep in her bright hazel eyes. He watched the way she bent close to talk to the children huddled under the cloak. The way it pulled the denim of her jeans tight across the expanse of her derrière. His wolf growled with appreciation and he could feel him moving beneath his skin. The doctor returned with a handful of blankets and placed his hand on her back. His wolf tensed and pushed so hard at his mind that he almost shifted right there. As it was he took a step towards her and barely caught himself doing so. There was no reason for him to rush over there like a possessive neanderthal... yet. Sam could feel eyes boring a hole into the butt of her jeans. When Devlin returned from fetching some blankets, tension shot down her spine. The force of it was so strong she nearly leapt away from Devlin and turned. The only thing that kept her there was the children. She made herself a promise to look after them & that was what she was going to do. She stood and grabbed one of the blankets off of his stack and wrapped it around one of the children. The uncomplicated task kept her mind off the wolf from her dream. "Blake, right? Blake Halley is what Leon called him." her wolf reminded her. She rolled her eyes and continued to swath the kids in blankets and ushered them single file in a line back to her home. Blake was disappointed that she hadn't turned and looked at him.