Wolf Lake Ch. 09

The men muttered their agreement.

Sam stiffened, "They're on the move."

Nafarius shot her a quick look. "How can you tell?"

She looked up at him, a distant look in her eyes. "I can feel their animals and something...else. Not lycan but not human either." She tilted her head as if listening for something.

"Witches," Dresden said. "Storm utilizes all manner of supernaturals in his unit.

"Sam, can you keep the lycans from changing and give the pack time to take them down?" Nafarius asked. It would give them a distinct advantage if the enemy was forced to fight in human form.

Sam smiled, it wasn't a nice smile. "I can do better then that," she said.

Nafarius didn't ask what she meant. It was time.

Giving the signal, the men dropped to the ground and started to change. Nafarius was half way through his change when he realized that Sam remained in human form. He knew that she didn't require the same amount of time as the rest of the pack to complete her shift. Still, he didn't like her remaining in a human form with the enemy so close at hand.

Sam smiled down at Nafarius as he nuzzled at her hand. She knew what he wanted. "Not yet," she said and started into the forest.

Nafarius followed her growling low in his throat. His growls turned to gentle nips at her heels as she kept walking and a foreign scent filled the air. Lifting his head, Nafarius turned into the wind, his heart pounding at the scent of gun oil drifting on the breeze.

Sam took another several steps before the first of the lycan stepped out of the trees. A large lion, obviously male with muscles that rippled in the sunlight. Sam stopped. He seemed surprised to have found her so easily and still in human form. For a moment he hesitated and it cost him his life.

Sam didn't think, didn't need time to gather herself. She simply reached out with her power, grabbed hold of the human that lurked beneath the animal's surface and pulled.

Nafarius crouched, ready to lung when suddenly the man exploded - from the inside out.

Turning to look he watched as his mate stepped around the man's remains and moved further into the trees. He watched her go, not believing what his eyes had seen, until the sound of movement off to his left reached him. Turning he went after whatever was out there.

Sam walked through the woods, a strange sense of calm coming over her. She steer clear of the humans. She had no idea if her abilities would work on something like a witch. She would leave those men to the rest of the pack. She sensed three other lycan moving through the forest. All of them headed towards her pack, towards her young.

The sounds of fighting filtered through the forest. Animal growls mixed with human screams and gun fire. Despite their greater numbers she had no doubt that there would be casualties on both sides. Lycan couldn't survive a bullet wound to a vital organ.

"Stop!"

Sam turned at the order and found herself face to face with the barrel of a gun. An automatic, if she had to guess though she knew very little about guns. A quick check told her that the man was human. She hadn't sensed him, he approached from down wind and the noise of nearby fighting covering the sounds of his movements.

Realizing that she had only one option, Sam shifted, hissing as pain sliced through her right flank. Not bothering to stop and check, Sam, now in panther form, launch herself at the soldier taking him down between her paws and tearing out his throat before they hit the forest floor.

Sam left the soldier lying on the ground and slipped in between the trees. Shifting from panther to wolf, she sensed the pack moving up ahead and hurried to join them. By the time she'd caught up with them Nafarius, Roland, Dresden and the men of the pack had located Storm and had him surrounded.

Sam stepped into a small clearing that had obviously been used as a makeshift base. A tent had been set up along with a folding table and several open crates that once held weapons. From her view point Sam could see a map of the surrounding area. Several sections were marked off, each one corresponding to a known pack territory. Realizing that Storm knew more then they had thought, Sam growled and stepped forward.

Storm stood surrounded, he counted seven wolves and one panther. Turning, he addressed the panther. "Hello Dresden, I wondered where you had gotten yourself off to. It appears you've made some new friends." Storm smirked with a confidence that seemed strangely out of place given his current situation. "Do they have any idea who you really are? Where you come from?"

Dresden's hiss turned into a growl of warning as he took a step forward.

Nafarius growled, effectively ordering Dresden back into his place. He was tempted to draw this out, to take his time tearing into the man that had threatened his mate and young and effectively held his pack immobile for so long. But that wasn't why he held the pack back. They were waiting for something, for someone.

Sam slipped in between Roland and Nafarius and stared at Storm. The old soldier stood, his uniform tattered and blood dripping from his hand. Sam suspected the wound was inflicted in a struggle for the man's weapon.

Storm caught sight of the newest wolf and smiled. "Samantha," he said in satisfaction. The man still believed that he would walk out of here. "So nice of you to join us."

Nafarius nuzzled his mate in greeting. Earlier she'd asked if at all possible for these few moments.

Storm stared in wonder as Sam shifted from wolf to woman. He had several lycan in his unit and had studied them for years but never had he seen anything like it. "You're even more powerful then I had imagined," he whispered in awe.

Sam stepped forward stopping only when Nafarius growled in warning. He would allow her these few minutes but wouldn't see her closer to their enemy the necessary. Sam rested her hand on the top of Nafarius' head and considered the man before him. "I find myself curious, just what did you think would happen when you came here?" she asked.

Storm stood proud and tall. Across from him Sam stood naked, surrounded by wolves and forest. "Look at yourselves, living like animals. I come offering you a place where you can be yourselves and enjoy a better way of life."

"At what price?" Sam asked. She had no doubt that whatever Storm came selling came with a price.

Storm gave a casual shrug. "All I ask in return is that you use your unique abilities to serve your country."

"You mean serve you," Sam said. She wasn't fooled. She had no doubt exactly what type of man Storm was.

"You would be serving your country," he insisted. "But you would report to me."

"And the testing?" Sam asked. She wanted to hear it all, wanted him to answer to all he would have done had he been successful.

Again that same shrug. "I admit that we want to study you. With all supernaturals we look to learn, to understand what makes you different."

"Why?" she asked.

"It benefits us all," Storm said.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "You want to weaponize us, use us in your wars."

"They're your wars too," Storm insisted.

"Perhaps," Sam said, "but it should be our choice how and when we serve, not yours. You came here today with plans to take me from my family, killing anyone that got in your way. That's not the kind of man I would serve."

"How does that make me any different from you?" Storm asked. "Your pack," he sneered, "cut through my men with total disregard for life. That makes you no different from me."

Sam shook her head. "We defended what is ours, there's a big difference. Agree to leave now and never come back and you can walk out of here."

"Come with me and I promise you're pack will remain safe," Storm countered.

"I'll never go with you," Sam said.

"And I'll never stop coming for you," Storm promised.

That seemed to be the signal that Nafarius was waiting for. All at once Nafarius, Dresden and the rest of the pack launched themselves taking Storm down to the forest floor.

Sam stood back and watched. She had no desire to get in on the kill. The only thing that mattered to her was that Storm no longer threatened her or her family.

It didn't take long, seven wolves and a panther made short work of a single man. When it was done and each man had stepped back Sam stepped forward. All that was left of the man that had caused her such trouble was his uniform. "It's done," she said and turned towards home.

"Excuse me, sir."

"What is it?"

"Major Storm and his unit are overdue to report in."

"By how much?"

"They never reported in yesterday and they were due back this morning."

"Why am I just now hearing of this?" General Miller asked, his tone deceptively mild.

"Major Storm's orders, sir. He ordered 24 hours pass before being considered overdue."

"Get a group together, I want a team dispatched to his last known location." General Miller ordered.

"Yes, sir."

General Jack Miller led a team of men into the wilderness around Wolf Lake. Storm had been out on what should have been a simple locate and retrieve and it was unlike the man to fail to report in. Storm was a royal pain in the ass, overzealous to the point of near fanatsism, he was nevertheless an excellent solider and could be counted on to succeed. Whatever the cost.

They arrived at the last known coordinates, a small clearing halfway between the lake and the pack's home. The clearing was clean, no sign of Storm or any of his men.

"Spread out," he ordered. "I want a sweep of the entire area."

Miller waited, his aid at his side, while the men swept through the area. Two hours later everyone had reported back - all with the same report.

"The area is clean, sir."

"The pack?" he asked.

"Gone," the man reported. "We found their living quarters, there's no sign of them. The entire area is clean, nothing and no one was left behind." He didn't bother adding that the place made the men nervous. There was a other worldliness about the area that skittered across their skin like fire ants.

"Thank you, Sgt. Have the men move out, we're returning to the base," Miller ordered. He had no doubt that Storm and his unit were gone, never to be heard from again. Storm, in his enthusiasm, had run up against the pack and lost.

Somewhere in Montana

Sam stepped out onto the porch and looked out over the valley surrounding the pack's new home. Located along the western part of Montana, the pack was surrounded by deep valleys and high mountains.

Nafarius joined his mate from inside handing her a steaming mug of coffee. "Happy?"

Sam turned to stare up at her mate. "It's beautiful here."

Nafarius nodded. "The land has belonged to the pack for generations. A few years back I had the main house built. I guess I knew that we wouldn't be able to stay at Wolf Lake forever. Sooner or later the surrounding civilization was bound to intrude."

Sam nodded. She'd been surprised when Nafarius made the decision to relocate the pack even though it made sense. Storm wasn't the only one that knew who and what they were or where to find them. Eventually, someone else was going to come looking.

"When did you start adding the smaller buildings?" Sam asked. The valley was dotted with smaller, single family homes as well as a barn, a dorm for the single young men and several storage sheds.

"Two years ago," Nafarius admitted. "Right after we were mated."

Sam raised her brow in question.

Nafarius shrugged looking slightly embarrassed. "I wasn't sure how long you would want to stay at the lake, if you could really be happy there. I knew that I could never leave the pack and that many of them would refuse to move into the city."

"So you started adding the smaller houses so that the pack could move with us?" she asked touched that he would go to such lengths.

"Not all of the pack will move inside," Nafarius said. "Some of them will wander the surrounding area and find places to settle. But everyone will be welcome here and we're close enough to take care of each other."

Sam nodded and turned back to the valley. They'd arrived a few days ago and everyone was working to get settled in. Sam, Nafarius and the twins had moved into what was already coming to be called the Big House. Roland, Tasha and Payton had taken up residence in the house closest to the Big House while the rest of the pack families were spread out throughout the valley. It would take some time to adjust, especially for those families that knew nothing beyond Wolf Lake, but in the end it was the right thing to do.

"Will you miss them?" Sam asked.

Nafarius turned so that his back rested against the porch railing, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I'm not sure I'll have a chance to," he said as two more pack members climbed up the porch steps and let themselves into the house.

Sam laughed and knew that he wouldn't have it any other way. "Come on," she said. "I hear there's going to be lasagna for dinner tonight."

"Seriously?" Nafarius asked. "I can't remember the last time we had lasagna."

"It what happens when you give a girl a kitchen," Sam said. Linking their arms she walked with her mate back into the Big House where pack members mixed with the smells coming from the kitchen.

The End

Author's note: First, I want to thank all of you that made Wolf Lake such a pleasure to write. It's incredibly satisfying as a writer to have people enjoy your work and come to care for your characters as much as you do. Second, I'm sure some of you have noticed one or two story lines that were left unfinished. Unfortunately, that is a risk when writing one chapter at a time. Sometimes, a story goes where you plan and sometimes it takes it's own direction. I hope you'll forgive the few inconsistencies this created. Finally, please excuse any remaining typos, spelling errors and/or grammar/punctuation problems. Editing is *not* my thing, I've done the best I can and can only hope that any issues don't take away from your reading pleasure.