Two Worlds: Land of Ice Ch. 05

Happy New Years!

I finished this chapter a little while ago and decided to put it up. Yet again I have no editor but I am talking to a friend currently, who has offered to do it. So hopefully the next chapter will be edited.

So to make up for any grammar and spelling errors this is the longest chapter I have written! It is just about 14 and a half pages on word. I hope you all enjoy it and as always, please don't forget to comment and vote!

Thank you all for your support!

~Vixen

Nate looked out the window as his private jet began to land in the Richards' small private airfield. He looked towards the Betas and Thetas that were with him and noticed that they were all ready to get in motion as soon as the plane touched down. Nate sighed and hoped that they would be able to get all of the halflings out without any problems. As soon as the plane was ready for them to unload they all quickly grabbed their things and got off.

"Hello Alpha Richards." Nate said with a smile as he saw that he was waiting with a few of his own Betas.

"Welcome Alpha Rutheford." Richards greeted with a smile as well, shaking his friend's hand. "Shall we?"

"Yes. Let's get started on this." They walked further into the Richards' pack land and headed for the Main House. Once they were in they went to a room that already had the other Betas and Thetas that some of the Alphas had sent over.

"Go ahead and have your group sit anywhere they would like." Richards said before leading Nate up to the front of the room. They waited a few more minutes for everyone to settle before Richards cleared his throat.

"We were going to do the transfer operation tomorrow but since your Alphas were so kind as to send you right away I have convinced the appropriate people to let us move it to tonight. We will be in two teams. One will be driving down to pick up the halflings and bringing them back here. I need to most level headed of us there to do it. The humans there haven't treated them very kindly and most likely they will be handcuffed, if not worse." He paused as practically everyone growled at that. He held up his hand and silence quickly fell but it was obvious that no one was happy with that thought.

"I will need those that can stay calm and not shift in front of the humans. I already have a list that your Alphas have all recommended but if you wish to join I will consider it. The rest of you will be staying here and preparing for when they arrive. The Omegas are all setting up rooms for our guests as we speak and you will be over seeing them and when we arrive, making sure that each halfling is well taken care of and put in the appropriate rooms. You will have a bit of help with this from-"

A Theta ran in at that moment and whispered into Alpha Richards' ear before scurrying off again. Alpha Richards smiled and looked back at the others.

"Your help has just arrived apparently. I'm sure you will know them all from the video and news reports." He started to say before we all caught the scents of four unfamiliar humans and another scent we couldn't make out. At that moment five of the six people who were probably the most famous in the world at the time walked in.

"Welcome Miss Baker, Mr. Baker, Mr. Nelson, Miss Smith, and Mr. Wilson." Richards said as he went to shake their hands.

"Please. Just call me Jess." The beautiful brunet said as she shook his hand with the one that wasn't holding her child close.

"Of course."

"Yeah. We kind of don't care for the whole formal name thing anymore." The red-headed lanky, Isaac Wilson commented with a shrug.

"What tends to happen when you spend a few weeks in a village of necos." Erik Nelson chuckled as the rest of the group shared a small smile. The smile quickly faded however and Jess turned to Richards and Nate with a suspicious look. The rest were looking around the room suspiciously.

"Now passing by the rest of the pleasantries, Mr. Richards, why don't you tell us what you want with us and, more importantly, the tribe?" Jess asked, the man who was obviously her brother Kael, coming up and putting his hand on her shoulder. Both had a look of fierce determination on their faces, obviously willing to do anything for this tribe.

"We plan on protecting them," Nate responded. He stepped forward and held out his hand to introduce himself.

"I'm Nathaniel Rutheford but you can just call me Nate." He shook each of the five's hands, with a smile before getting serious again.

"I was asked here to help but Alpha Richards is the one in charge." He explained, slipping up at bit.

"Alpha?" Shelly questioned. Richards sighed and then turned to Nate and pulled him aside.

"We must decide if we want to reveal ourselves to them."

"They seem trustworthy enough. And obviously they will guard the tribe with their lives. I doubt they would reveal our secret for it may jeopardize the ones they are trying to protect." Nate stated.

"Indeed. I think it is the only way that we will truly gain their trust as well." Richards agreed before they heard a gasp from behind them and saw the others humans all trying to hide Jess behind them. Nate and Richards looked at each other before going over to them.

"Is something wrong?" Richards asked the group.

"Nope. Nothing at all!" Isaac answered a little quickly. They all looked at each other worriedly before there was a few mewing noises and both Richards' and Nate's eyebrows went up. They gently pushed pass the others and were met with a very determined and fierce looking mother, who was holding a squirming bundle of blankets tightly to her chest.

"She may be too warm." Nate suggested, backing up a bit at Jess' fierce expression.

"She's find thank you," she snapped before there was the sound of clothing tearing and a little paw stuck out of the blanket.

"Is that?" one of the Betas that had crept closer suddenly asked.

"May I please?" Richards asked. Jess looked terrified but slowly unwrapped the blanket and showed them the small little panther cub inside. Nate and Richards smiled widely at that before Richards nodded at Nate.

"That is a big secret you hold. How about a secret for a secret?" Nate offered with a smirk before he started to pull off his clothes. The five humans barely bated an eye at his nakedness but were obviously confused on what he meant. He smiled and waved at them before howling and quickly shifting into his wolf form. The rest of his pack answered his howl playfully but remained in their human forms.

"Oh my god!" Shelly was the only one to exclaim as she clung to Erik. The other's all looked shocked but after a moment they seemed to snap out of it.

"Werewolves?" Jess asked suspiciously.

"Indeed. Everyone in this room is a werewolf my dear. Now when you asked what our intention was with your tribe Nate gave you the correct answer. We simply wish to protect them. The reason is however that we believe that they are just like our ancestors were. And your little girl there just proved it to be true." Richards explained as Nate shifted back and slipped his clothes back on.

"Are you saying that my child is a... a werepanther or something?"

"That is what we believe." He answered truthfully. Jess nodded, looking thoughtful before looking up at the two Alphas.

"So you won't hurt the tribe? You won't test on them or anything? You will make sure they are safe?" She looked down for a second before looking back up at them with tears in her eyes.

"Will you bring our mates back to us? Will you bring my son back to me?"

"We will do everything we can," both Alphas agreed.

"Then we will help you in any way we can." Jess declared, speaking for all five humans there. Richards nodded before turning back to the room full of Betas and Thetas and continued preparing for the mission that night.

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"Everything looks good so far," Nate noted to Richards as the trucks waited for the halflings to be escorted out for transport.

"Yes. They are just bringing them out now. Should be here in just a few minutes." The whole group waited in silence for what seemed like a very long time before the first group of the halflings finally arrived. They were all handcuffed with their hands behind their backs and they had bars between their feet to prevent them from running away. Some of them looked like they had been abused or starved and Nate was glad he had such good control over his wolf. He helped load the first truck before going onto the next one. Men, women and children were all shackled and it broke Nate's heart to see the sad looks in their eyes.

After the first few trucks were loaded there came a few that the humans had dubbed dangerous and had been tranquilized for the move. Finally after probably about 200 of the Halflings had been put in the trucks there was only one group left. This group consisted of all female and three of them would not get in the truck and kept crying out. They broke free for a moment and each of them tried to run, but not away from the humans, the vans and the facility they were in but towards three different guards that were standing there. All the guards were looking slightly annoyed and flabbergasted as the three Halfling women tried to cling to them somehow. Almost all of Nate and Richards' team had to hold back laughter as they all realized what was going on.

"Would you men mind coming with us?" Richards asked the three of them. "We may be a few men short and it seems that you might be able to keep these three calm."

"Um. Sure. I guess." One of them responded with a blush.

"It's not really appropriate sir. We would need to do all the right paper work and all." One of the others said.

"Well we can do it in the morning. Really I insist." Richards pressed.

"I have to get home to my wife sir." The third responded, trying to gently push the girl away. Richards and Nate shared and slightly pained look at that before they turned back to the three.

"I absolutely insist. I am trying to make this as quick and painless as possible and I would really hate to have to monitor these three on tranquilizers as well as the seven others." Richards explained, doing his best to convince them.

"Well if you are positive sir," the first responded. Finally after a bit more insisting they managed to convince the other two to come along as well and everyone was packed up in the trucks. They quickly left and made their way to the Richards pack lands.

"That went a lot smoother than I thought." Richards commented once they finally arrived. Jess and the other humans were there at the door, waiting for them. Jess handed her baby off to Shelly and ran to the trucks, Isaac and Kael right behind her. Before any of the wolves could do anything she threw open the doors to the first truck and exclaimed something in the halflings language.

"Jess!" They all exclaimed back, the truck filling with cries of surprise and relief. Jess helped every single one of them out as she talked to them in her language and explained what was going on. The Betas quickly unlocked their handcuffs and the bars on their legs to let them free before one of the other team of Betas and Thetas helped them to their rooms where they could rest. This happened with every single truck, Isaac and Kael helping as well.

"Isaac!" came a cry from one of the halflings a few trucks into it.

"Opy!" Isaac cried out as he pulled her into his arms and they both wept in joy. All the mated werewolves smiled weakly at that, understanding the emotions they were going through and hoping to get back to their mates as well. Opy stayed by his side through the rest of the night as they continued unloading the trucks.

A little over halfway through Jess started to escort one of the older females towards the Main House. They were both crying together and Jess was talking very gently to her. Nate watched them and went to offer them help before he heard a slight growl behind him. Jereth suddenly sped beside him and was standing right in front of the two woman.

"Ju?" the woman suddenly gasped in surprise, looking around as if expecting someone before starting to cry again. Jereth smiled at Jess, who was looking at him suspiciously before giving the woman a gentle look.

"Hello. My name is Jereth. What is your name beautiful?" He asked as he offered his hand. Jess blinked and gave him a dirty look but translated for the woman. The woman seemed to finally notice that Jereth was there and looked up at him in confusion before taking his hand. Jereth suddenly pulled the woman close and sniffed along her neck. Nate almost grabbed him and beat the crap out of him because of the way he handled it but he knew he wouldn't be able to pull Jereth away from the woman now. He only hoped that the woman, who was obviously dealing with loss, didn't reject him.

"What are you doing?" Jess demanded of Jereth.

"I am comforting my mate," He stated surely, as if it was obvious.

"Excuse me? You aren't her mate! Her mate was killed! How dare you say that!" Jess practically screamed in his face, trying to pull the halfling woman away.

"Ju?" the woman asked again, looking up at Jereth in confusion before leaning over and sniffing at Jereth.

"He smell Ju..." She seemed to try to explain to Jess.

"But... How is that possible?" Jess asked in surprise, stopping in her attempts to pull the two apart.

"May I?" Nate stepped in. "It doesn't happen often but because how long us werewolves tend to live we sometimes are able to find more than one mate. If a mate dies when we are young we can sometimes find one when we are older. We believe that it is due to reincarnation and that the souls stay the same and will forever be mates but the bodies will change." He explained the best he could.

"So... You are saying that this is like Ju reincarnated or something?" Jess asked in confusion.

"That is the best I can do for you." He answered with a slight shrug. He looked at Jereth and the halfling woman and chuckled. "I think they may understand though."

Jess frowned but then nodded as she saw that they were both looking at each other like they were the only two there. The halfling woman burst into tears again and clung to Jereth. Jereth held her close as she cried and Jess sighed.

"Her name is Mana. She is the queen of the tribe so treat her well. Her mate died when the humans destroyed the village." She explained to Jereth. He nodded and then turned to Mana with a smile, whispering to her gently even though he knew she couldn't understand him.

"Kael!" came a cry that pulled Jess' attention back to the trucks. Nate turned to see her brother embracing a pure white halfling happily.

"What of your mate?" Nate asked Jess as he watched the reunion. She turned away for a moment before giving a determined look and then going to the next truck. Nate sighed and went on to help her.

The ones that had been tranquilized were still out and they were taken into the hospital wing of the Main House. There were only two trucks left and Jess was beginning to look desperate as she opened the last one that had any males in it.

"Eene!!!" a young boy called out before Jess practically dove into the truck.

"Zeezu!" she cried as she pulled him to her and burst into tears. Her son was safe but her mate was not among them. Nate looked down as he felt his heart break a bit for her. He let her sit there as they helped the rest of the Halflings out of that truck and went to the last one that was all females. The men that they had asked to come with were also in the truck with them and Nate almost fell on the floor laughing at what he saw.

One of the three men had apparently just given into his mate and they were frantically making out as best as they could with her in cuffs. One of them was just holding his mate close but resisting anything else she tried to do and the third was desperately trying to keep his halfling mate away from him.

"Welcome men. Once we get these ladies all freed up we will gladly explain everything and how things work around here. For now you will have to bear with us." Nate explained as the Betas began to release the halfling women. When they got to the last three women they unchained the first tried desperately to grab at her mate but he dodged and quickly climbed out of the truck.

"I would like to return now, sir." He stated to Nate. Nate sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Gives us a bit of time to explain first please." He asked. The man gave a very short nod and then walked off to wait inside, the woman trying to follow him. The second pair was headed there as well but they were holding hands and obviously on much better terms. The third couple however was still plastered to each other in the truck.

"Should we break them up?" one of the Betas asked.

"Hey!" Nate suddenly yelled out, startling the couple enough to break them apart for a moment. "Give us a moment to untie the lady and explain what is going on before you go at it again, alright?" He asked with a slight smirk. The guy looked slightly sheepish but then nodded and helped the girl out of the truck.

"Alright. Go ahead inside. We will be there soon." Nate sighed as they headed off and then walked back to the other truck where Jess was still sitting with her son, both of them crying.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He told them gently. "We need your help now though Jess. You need to explain everything to them. If I could do it I would but you are the only one that is fluent in their language and English."

"I... I understand. Give me a few moments." She sniffed finally. Nate nodded and went to go gather all the halflings into the dining area where they would all fit. Finally he got all but the ones in the hospital wing there and Jess calmed down enough to address them all.

"Should I tell them what you guys are?" She asked Richards.

"Yes. They should know everything they can. I don't want them to be kept in the dark any more. Tell them as much as you like." He answered with a nod. Jess smiled weakly and then turned to address the crowd of halflings, her son, Mana and Jereth at her side. She had insisted that Mana be up there with her and Jereth wouldn't let Mana go so he ended up being with them as well.

Jess managed to get the group to quiet down and then began to talk to them. Nate assumed that she was explaining where they were, why they were brought there, how the people there meant them no harm and what the people there were.

"Would you mind demonstrating what you are to them?" she asked Nate. Nate nodded and then shifted into his wolf form in front of the halflings. They all looked at him in shock and were obviously confused and slightly scared by the creature he was. He quickly shifted back and then Richards stepped forward and asked if she could translate for him while he explained the rules of the pack lands. Finally when that was all done Richards' pack was let in to introduce themselves to the halflings and to have dinner with them. Jess and the other humans did the best they could to translate amongst the tribe and the pack and the pack was very gentle and understanding with the tribe thankfully.

"Sir. The other halflings are beginning to wake up." One of the Omegas came in to tell Richards and Nate.

"We will be there in a moment," Richards replied before motioning at Jess. She came over quickly and then followed them out of the dining hall.

"The others are beginning to wake." Richards explained to her as he led them towards the hospital wing.

As they entered they heard quite a bit of hissing and growling and were surprised to find that one of the halflings managed to break out of his bonds. Jess called out something to all of the struggling halflings and they all seemed to calm down almost instantly, calling out her name and shouting out in joy. The only one that didn't calm down was the one that broke out. Jess quickly went to him and put her hand on his cheek and spoke softly to him.