Chapter Sixteen, Ep. 23 (Season Finale) – "Never Cry Wolf"

Brief Author's Note – First off, I want to thank each and every one of you that reviewed my last episode… My confidence in my storyline was definitely restored, thanks to you! (hugs)

Also, a HUGE thank you for those of you that nominated Wolf Lake for the almost a dozen award categories that my series falls into… Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! My series is now officially in the running for eleven awards… And it proves once and for all that the fan-base and desire for this story to continue is alive and howlin! Again, thank you so much…

To chase another rabbit, I have a "Complete Soundtrack Listing and Lyric Book" created for this season, and it will be posted as the following chapter… It will also be posted at my official site, once my series finishes re-airing at PVT, and eventually at my Yahoo! Group, in "Files" (you may have to become a member to get to it… and heaven knows I'd love for more members to join!)

I hope you enjoy the finale… You have no idea what a monster it was to write… all 27,000 words of it… I must be as crazy as a loon… But I'll admit, it was fun. In a highly torturous sense. (grimacing)

But I hope you will ALL tell me what you think. As this will be your last chance to review on one of my episodes until later in the year, when the new Virtual Season Two will kick off its premiere…

A few days after this is posted and the larger portion of the reviews get a chance to come in, I will post a final Author's Note, that will include credits, acknowledgments, overall and personal thank-yous to my reviewers… including answers to some questions I have been unable to answer until now…As well as hints as to what the Virtual Second Season will be about, as well as some more solid information on some of my

other projects that I will be working on until then. So if you have anything you want me to give you an answer or comment on in return, then now would be the time for you to mention it.

Everyone who has reviewed will be mentioned, so make sure you drop by to read what I have to say! *g*

OK, Wolf Pack, this is it! The finale to my Virtual Season One Continuation… I hope when you have finished reading it, you will have enjoyed the ride!

~~~~~~

Summary – An ancient evil will be fought as a century old war will come to its terrifying end, altering the very fabric of history. Mysteries will come to life, horrors will unfold, and myths will become reality, as the Skinwalkers pull together in a way they never imagined…

~~~~~~

"I'm a scorpion. It is my nature."

Presley heard those words. Felt them sink their down deep into her aching heart. Leaving a tainted path of bruised flesh in their wake as her mind rebelled against what she was currently experiencing. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be real.

But despite the ache in her chest, she held her ground. Eyes hard and shuttered as she stood within the fold of her group. Memories of all the times she had scoffed at those of her species that had trusted humans.

And even after all those years of doing that, she was a complete and utter fool to have become one of them.

How fitting.

Feeling a cold fire begin to spread through her veins, she stared back into Damien's mocking eyes. Swearing to herself that before this night was over, she would feel his throat between her jaws.

Sophia just braced herself. Looking at the others. Knowing that they were all trying to figure a way out of the mess they had found themselves in. She could see the cop in John rise to the occasion as his dark eyes shifted from side to side. Mentally calculating how many enemies were surrounding them.

Relaying information was an interesting experience, though. Because Tyler was present, it left only the private pathways available for use. What John said to Ruby, Ruby relayed to Sophia, who merged with Luke, who in turn, merged with his mother on a pathway he hadn't used in ten years. Creating a private network of communication, that, although taxing, did the trick. Even if it left Presley completely out of the loop.

'I count six to the left, five to the right, and seven behind. Damien, Tyler and this David character are the only ones in front. That and that damned floodlight. They are aware of the fact that our human eyes are more sensitive to bright light then their own.'

Luke's voice was grim, even over the mental wave. 'And every last one of them is armed. I don't know about you, but these odds are not to my liking.'

'We can't remain here. We can't let them relocate them to wherever it is they're planning to take us.' Ruby commented. 'I don't think they mean to kill all of us just yet. See those nets?'

'Death is preferable to what they might have in store.' Vivian agreed. A feral edge to her smooth voice.

'We don't exactly have a bunch of options here, though.' That came from John. 'We're surrounded. They have us drugged and quite effectively snared.'

Sophia remained silent. Eyes watchful as David started to laugh. Drawing all of their attention and silence fell across the communication web.

David patted Damien's shoulder from where they both stood in front of the very large construction grade floodlight, the almost blinding glow at their backs.

"A very fitting analogy, my son."

Damien held Presley's gaze.

Damien's mocking smile deepened, as if amused by her expression, as if he dared her to continue to question his purposes. And Presley saw red.

"You have no idea just how fitting, father." Damien drawled out, turning towards David. Accent suddenly thicker than it had been earlier.

And his smile fell away.

In one smooth motion, Damien turned away, pirouetted, and put his foot forcefully through the lens of the floodlight. At the same time, he bent at the waist, slipping something free from his boot. The blade reflecting silver in the suddenly exploding light, as the Hunters closest dove out of the way instinctively. Tyler leaping a safe distance away as well. Completely satisfied to let this Father/Son moment play out on its own without any interference.

The shattering light-bulb seemed to grow fiercer as it burnt out. Surges rippling through the frying wires.

And as the bulb finally did explode outward, raining a never ending supply of bright orange and yellow sparks over the two figures standing in front of it and sending the acrid smell of smoke into the air, the small group of dumbfounded Skinwalkers who watched in disbelief as Damien's knife plunged upwards. Deftly slipping between David's ribs and burying its way into his chest cavity. The vengeful expression of his son's face visible only in the small spurts of lights and sparks, falling deeper and deeper into shadows, and the last thing to fill David's vision as he fell to his knees. Unable to suppress his small victorious smile, as the darkness swelled up to swallow him from within. Severing his blackened soul from his dying body and escorting him straight to hell where he belonged. A smile of admiration and fatherly pride on just how well his own flesh and blood had played him.

That's my boy.

******

When the floodlight died, first blinding all the Hunters, and then plunging the valley into complete and total darkness – the clouds overhead blocking out all light from the demonic moon and the surrounding stars – they didn't hesitate. Immediately linking back up to form the communication web again, the group dove away from the center of the valley, as a few of the Hunters began to reflexively spray their location. Bullets zinging past to bury into the subtle resistance of the earthen floor. Some ricocheting off of slabs of ground rocks. Whipping back up through the air. Desperately seeking purchase in unprotected skin, as they ducked out of the way. Cutting through the underbrush, going purely on their joined mental map of what their surroundings looked like, and unfettered instincts.

'Everyone spilt! Go separate directions. We can't afford to have all of us caught!" Vivian's order was hard and rang with authority, her alpha inclinations rising to the surface once more.

None of them even thought about it as they fell apart. John and Ruby heading in one direction, Luke and Sophia another, and Vivian dragging a shell-shocked and very numb Presley in yet another. All focused on one thing. Surviving.

"What about Damien?" Presley hissed. Eyes haunted at she looked behind her. Hearing the rifles still firing off their rounds.

She imagined those rounds emptying into him, and she shuddered at the visual that supplied.

She should have trusted him. Should have believed in him. He was quite possibly paying for their freedom with his life.

She had thought he was betraying her, when in actuality, he was trying to save them all.

And the last vision he had of her, was her looking back at him in hatred and disgust.

In that moment, she had never felt more self-loathing.

"We can't think about that right now." Vivian muttered. More than a little exasperated when Presley pulled to a stop stubbornly. Shaking her head violently, tangled mass of blond hair flying out, and eyes frantic as she tried to turn back towards the valley.

"No, I can't! I can't leave him back there with them!"

"Damn it, Presley! Do you want his sacrifice to be for nothing? He wanted you most of all to live. Are you going to throw that back in his face, after what he gave up for your freedom?"

Hearing those words echo deep in her mind almost as if Damien himself was speaking them, Presley looked over at the Pack's Alpha female, and nodded. Feeling something splinter apart from within her. Feeling almost like she was bleeding outward, but yet there was no physical wound.

Starting to run again, they picked up the pace as they made their way deeper into the forest. Its unfamiliar but nonetheless welcoming embrace enfolding the two women in its protection.

Presley kept up with the breakneck speed right along with Vivian, ducking out of the way of trees and their bare feet automatically finding the correct pathways, despite how dark it was, and despite the drugs in their systems.

There were just some things that could never be taken away from them.

But she couldn't stop the tears of regret that blazed a path down the sides of her cheeks, pooling in the hollows of her neck, and cooling against the burning heat of her flushed skin.

******

They had been running for almost fifteen minutes, when Sophia and Luke came across a small creek nestled into the sharp careening upward side of a jagged, snow capped mountain.

Coming to a stop in order to catch their breaths, they quickly took a drink of water, and surveyed their options. Very little light piercing the almost complete blackness of their surroundings.

"What now?" Sophia asked. Looking up at Luke. He shook his head. Eyes dark as he dragged deep breaths into his lungs.

"I don't know. Do you think the others got away safely?"

Sophia concentrated for a moment. Brushing upon the private mental path that her and Ruby shared, just long enough to gather the answer to that question.

"John and Ruby are fine." Sophia breathed out. "What about your mother and Presley?"

Luke pressed his lips together into a thin line. "My private mental pathway with my mom works only over a short range. We're too far apart, and that pathway is very rusty. I can't pick anything up."

"And we can't use the public mental pathway, because – "

"It would give away our position to Tyler." Luke finished. Voice rasping slightly from his exhaustion. "The son of a bitch."

Sophia's brow quirked in an attempt to lighten the mood of the situation. "Literally."

Luke didn't answer. Looking down at her, he quickly ducked his head down to press a kiss of possession against her lips. Thankful that they were still together. Still alive.

Sophia sighed into his mouth, and reached her arms up to wrap them around the back of his neck. Pulling him closer. It was the type of kiss that wasn't so much a passionate, arousing one, but of relief and gratification towards their escape.

The snapping of a twig nearby broke them apart sharply. They jerked to attention, muscles coiling defensively as they turned towards their intruder. Luke subtly placing his body in front of hers.

Their eyes swept over him, taking in his tightly drawn expression and his bright, glittering black eyes. Mouth setting firmly as he straightened, looking back. Facing them off.

"Damien." Sophia whispered under her breath. Keeping a hand tightly on Luke's arm in restraint as she felt the muscles beneath his skin begin to bunch together.

******

Eric coolly observed the body of his dead boss and leader of their Cause, as he flipped open his cell-phone. Pressing in a number to the glowing pad, he placed it at his ear, and waited for the party on the other end to pick up.

When they did, his order was brief and to the point. "David Van Halen is dead. Damien is compromised. I am in control of the Mission now. Bring the command codes online, and uplink into the Vega Satellite immediately. Contact me when it's ready."

Snapping the cell closed, he hooked it back to his belt. Still studying the body in front of him. A small smile turning up the corners of his thin mouth cruelly, as he turned away. Leaving Van Halen to rot. Glorying in the sensation of finally being in control, and setting up the final stage of this conflict that would wipe out the Skinwalkers permanently. Starting with the wayward group that had just escaped their clutches.

Turning to look disdainfully over at the traitorous member of that filthy species, he snarled out a warning.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Hunt them down."

Tyler inclined his head, a small taunting smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he watched Eric walk past.

Eyeing the fallen body of his previous employer with distaste, he turned to face the portion of the forest that John and Ruby had disappeared into.

All humor fled as his eyes flared up. Muscles and bone popping and shifting as his body prepared for the Change.

******

"I know I'm not exactly your favorite person right now." Damien began, his velvet-lined voice almost harsh in the cold night air. "But it is imperative that you trust me now if you want to make it out of this alive."

"You killed your father." Sophia pointed out simply.

Damien's lips twisted sardonically. "I do not consider that man to be anything more to me than a donor of genetic material. But yes, I did. In order to provide a distraction so all of you could escape."

"Was that planned?" Luke bit out. Still distrustful after having seen how efficient an actor Damien was.

Damien cocked his head to the side. Observing him through hooded eyes. "I guess you'll never know, will you?" he taunted softly.

Ignoring the aggression emitting from Luke, he turned his gaze back to Sophia.

She studied him for a moment, remembering the sight of him kicking in that floodlight and turning on David Van Halen.

"How bad is it?" She suddenly asked. Remembering earlier in the evening when he had been so obviously struggling with internal demons. Her concern now was whether or not everything that happened back there had been a facade, or reality wrapped up in momentary surrender to the darkness inside him.

Damien swallowed reflexively. Not even bothering to pretend that he didn't know what she was referring to. Thinking of.

"I can handle it."

"Can you?" Sophia prodded. "Because for a few moments back there, I wasn't too sure you could."

Damien's lips twisted up into the semblance of a humorless smile. "If there is one thing you should never forget about me, Sophia, is that I never do anything unless it is exactly what I had planned to do all along. Regardless of how my internal demons may be faring, my will is stronger than the purpose of my birth. And I won't lose sight of my goal to be free from it once and for all. Especially now, when I can finally see it becoming a possibility."

"What do you mean?"

Damien took a few steps closer. Careful to keep an ear out for any pursuers.

"It will be best if we keep moving." he pointed out. "It won't be long before this entire area for a hundred-mile radius is swarming with Hunters."

'Are you just going to conveniently forget about what he just did back there in the valley?' Luke hissed over their private mental path as they began to walk beside the creek, heading upstream.

'Oh, you mean besides saving our lives? We wouldn't have made it out of there in one piece if it wasn't for what he did.'

'I don't trust him.'

'I do.' Sophia replied. Putting an end to their mental argument.

"The Hunters have far more resources at their disposal than you realize." Damien began, "By now, they'll be working on activating a certain program run by the satellite that we refer to as "Vega". One of its uses has been to track the microchip that was implanted into Presley's arm. And I can pretty much guarantee that the darts you were all shot with carry transmitters as well."

"Oh, wonderful." Luke lips curled up into a snarl. "How the hell are we supposed to escape with those things buried underneath our skin?"

"That isn't our primary concern at the moment. It won't take much for me to locate a device that will interfere with the signal, and break down the stability of the chip. What does have me worried though is that they will be bringing the second program on-line."

"Which is?" Sophia prompted.

 "Picking up and zooming in on the bio signs of any wolves in any portion of the world they so choose. Including around the Canadian border."

Sophia pulled to a stop. Pressing a trembling hand to her forehead as those words and their implications sunk in.

 "Shit." Luke hissed out between his teeth. "How long before this function is operational?"

Damien sighed. "It depends on when the activation sequence began, but not long. Twenty minutes at the most. Reason why this has to go through any time lapse at all, is because it's still a fairly new and untried program. Still at the drawing boards when we began to infiltrate the surrounding area of Wolf Lake."

Sophia let out a groan. "How the hell were they able to come up with a satellite specially programmed to lock onto a wolf's body heat?"

"Sophia…" Damien cautioned. "You have no idea just how much wealth and power my brethren have at their disposal. This isn't some group of backyard thugs. It's organized fantantisim at its strongest. Don't ever forget that. Besides, the technology of this day and age is already there. To science, this isn't anything new or cutting edge." He took a breath before continuing. "I also believe that there will be a team presently infiltrating Wolf Lake, to see if we left anything or anyone behind, before moving on to other locations."

"How do we stop it?" Luke broke in. Interrupting whatever it was that Sophia was going to say in response to Damien's words. Whatever else might be happening with the rest of the Pack mattered little at this moment, because worrying about friends or family wasn't going to accomplish anything. They had to stay focused on the here and now, if they were going to come up with anything that could be used to save their species.

"We can't stop the satellite…" Damien hesitated slightly. "But we might be able to stop the Hunters."

Sophia felt as if everything had gone to slow-motion, as her mind literally reacted to the insinuation to Damien's voice.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Gaze searching his. Almost too afraid to hope. She knew that whatever he was about to say was going to change everything from here on out. And it just might hopefully give them the edge they needed right now to make it out of this alive.

"There is one way that I read about, a long time ago, in a confiscated text from one of the manuals that had been stolen back during the last battle of the Dark Age. Stolen from one of your Packs from back then. I don't know how much of it is based in fact, but I think it might be worth looking into now."

"The lost documents." Sophia whispered, remembering back on what Sherman had told her about them. "All this time that we thought they were lost, and the Hunters had them."

"Well," Damien conceded. "More accurately the Leaders of the Cause. They didn't want anyone else in the Group to read them, in case it would spark sympathy for the Skinwalkers."

"What way?" Luke persisted. Refusing to get off track. "What did you read?"

Damien's expression darkened slightly as he quickly pulled the black almost metallic colored disk out from underneath his shirt. Catching up the leather rope holding it around his neck between his leather encased fingers.

The stone glittered mutely in the shadows. Gathering and reflecting what little amount of light there was.

Catching sight of it, Sophia stumbled, as words spoken to her from the dream hit her hard. Taking the breath from her lungs, and reverberating in both her mind and Luke's when he touched her mind instinctively to discover what was wrong. Wrapping an arm around her to keep her dizziness from sending her to the ground.

"Remember this, Sophia. There is a link running through the fabric of all the Hunters. A common thread tying each and every one of them together. Bound by blood and tradition. Sever that thread, and you destroy the Hunters."

Still leaning her body heavily into Luke's, Sophia looked up into his eyes in shock, she turned her gaze back to the disc shaped stone hanging from around Damien's neck. The symbol of what they stood for. The alien mineral that was like a cloak of invisibility over the one who wore it, towards the wolven senses. The primary weapon of the Hunters, and what was responsible for the countless slaughters of her people a few hundred years ago… the reason why the Skinwalkers didn't understand why they couldn't sense the evil enemies until they were right on top of them.

And a link that ran through their ranks like a river through the desert. Like blood through the veins. Something that tied them all together in a common, united thread.

"Why do you now think that it's worth pursuing this ancient belief? What changed your mind?" Luke asked quietly. Sophia felt the vibrations of his words running through his upper chest as she pressed the side of her face against the warm expanse of bare skin. Listening to the fast-pace of his heart. That had been the first time he had even gotten so much as in inkling to what the dreams had been like for her. She could feel his apologetic thoughts for ever doubting her running over into their mind link, and she smiled weakly.

Damien suddenly pointed at Sophia. He smile turned to a frown as she pulled her head away. Suddenly feeling a little paranoid as to why his finger was aimed at her.

It wasn't. At least, not her specifically. He was pointing at her strange crystal pendant.

"That." He emphasized. "There was a drawing of that crystal in the text. I don't know how or why, but somewhere, that crystal will have something to do with the turning of the tide to our favor."

Sophia's fingers cam up to brush over her pendant, as her gaze remained locked on Damien's. A hated vessel for the Hunters' past, and what they stood for. So innocent in it inconspicuous size, shape and design. No one would believe that it contained so much power.

The power of destruction. In more ways then one.

Sophia let out a breath as the first tickling of hope coursed through her body. Lifting her spirits, and helping her regain her desire to begin to fight back for what was truthfully their right to live. To exist. To be free.

She knew she didn't have all the answers just yet, but she had just taken the first big step in understanding it all. Nothing happened without a reason, and everything had come about this way for one, and one reason only.

"That's it." She shook her head in disbelief, letting out a breathless laugh as all the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. "That is how the Hunters will be destroyed. By their own tokens from hell."

******

It was nearing two in the morning in the small town of Wolf Lake, and not a single human made sound could be heard anywhere. Without the rowdy presence of the Pack's youth spicing things up, the streets and sidewalks were empty. Shops and restaurants were shut down. The lights in houses were turned off. A couple of dogs could be heard barking a few miles away, but other than that, all the humans were safely tucked in their beds. Almost as if they sensed that the dangers of the unbelievable that had lurked outside their homes for years had been chased away by an even greater nightmare, and one that no one wanted to acknowledge existed.

So long as they stayed inside their walls, and safely under their covers asleep, they could believe that everything was right in their world.

It wasn't.

Picking up speed as he made his way through town, he looked up at the night sky as the clouds blew in ominously. Shoving his hands deeper into his pockets, he crossed over from the pavement to a sidewalk shadowed by a line of trees. Mentally checking off each block as he made his way to the couple's house. Keeping his eyes open for any signs of life. Human, Hunter, or otherwise.

And although he never saw any of the three, he had a gut feeling he was being watched covertly.

And when he had a gut feeling, it wasn't from indigestion. 

Seeing the house up ahead, he looped around. Coming up on the building from behind. Dark eyes scanning the area, trying to locate the source of his unease.

Unable to do that, he stepped up to the back door, and the knob turned easily under his palm.

Giving one final look around, he stepped inside, and gently closed the door behind him.

******

Five minutes later he exited the house with a young boy of about eight years of age grasped tightly in his arms. The child had his head leaning into Sherman's shoulder trustingly, skinny little arms and legs wrapped around in a death grip, as Sherman walked quickly back the way he had come, seemingly unencumbered by the weight of the frightened pup.

He had found him curled up in a corner of the living room. Damp tracks from tears still visible on his cheeks as he had tried to put on a brave face. Believing that his family wouldn't leave him behind, despite his fear of being abandoned in Wolf Lake.

Sherman had always had a good rep with the children of the Clan. They trusted him instinctively, just as their parents did. That had been the relationship between Keepers and their Packs for thousands of years, and a fact that stood him in good stead tonight.

A human child would have been screaming body murder right about now, with a virtual stranger carrying him away from his home, in the middle of the night, and no presence from their parents to be found. But a member of the Pack's young knew instinctively that he must be completely still and quiet, and that this strange but familiar man would die first before letting any harm befall him.

Soon, both Sherman and his young charge were out of the town, but, despite the relief from the boy at the sight of the nearing forest tree-line, and the relaxation of his tight grip, Sherman already knew what was about to happen, long before it did. He had known all along that he was being followed, and it that it wouldn't be long before his stalkers made their presence known.

Pulling to a stop, remaining completely unruffled as he heard the fast approach of steps coming up from behind him and to his side. He leaned his lips over to the young boy's ear and murmured a brief but firm command. A command that sent the young one into an un-compromised deep sleep. One that he could only be awakened from by Sherman himself.

He thought it best to save the boy from having to experience the next few moments.

Wrapping one arm tightly around the boy's limp waist and shifting him over to his right hip, leaving his other arm free, Sherman turned to face the two Hunters coming up from behind him. Dressed in their traditional garb of black clothes, swathed in shadow and both carrying automatics. The expression on his face was vaguely curious, as he looked over at the third Hunter running up from the side to join his companions. Also carrying a weapon.

"Are you gentlemen lost?" Sherman asked innocently. Looking back and forth between the three.

"Put the boy down and step away, old man!" one of them barked harshly.

"His ancient hide isn't even worth the trouble." another one growled-. "But the young one might interest Van Halen. He's been wanting to get his hands on one of the children for some time now."

Sherman's arm tightened instinctively on the boy, even while his expression remained neutral. "I'm sorry, but you must have mistaken me for someone else. I don't see how I can be of any interest to you, or deserving of this treatment."

His answer to that comment was a barrel shoved in his face. Sherman frowned slightly. Not even blinking as he looked at the weapon distastefully.

"Oh, something tells me we haven't made any mistakes, old one. If you were human, you'd be begging for mercy right about now."

Sherman shrugged. "It's such a humiliating process, I'd rather not, if it is all the same."

They were losing patience, and the weapon pointed at Sherman's face vibrated with the rage at the other end. "Drop him, now!!"

Sherman shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I can't do that. You see, his family has been waiting for him long enough."

The Hunter's finger began to tighten on the trigger. "Fine, then you'll both drop together."

Sherman just stared back, completely calm. Unflinching in the sight of his aggressor's anger, as he called upon an ancient gift, that rose up warmly from within him like an old friend. Coming to his aid once more.

Passing completely unnoticed by the three enemies surrounding him, Sherman's free left hand, hanging down and loose at his side, began to glow steadily.

******

On the other side of the town, a lone dark gray wolf sliced through the heavy shadows and blackness of the night. Skimming past house by house, senses stretched to the breaking point as he searched for any stragglers left in the town. Uncovering none.

His time here was almost up, and he was pleased to acknowledge that he had not come upon any remaining members of his Pack.

Swiftly running back the way he had come, he quickly crossed to an overhanging edge, which led back towards the upper ranges, and beyond that, the valley.

He turned one last time to look at the sleeping town. A town that was going to be noticeably smaller in the morning. 

Looking up at the clouds as they started to come in to shadow the night sky, he lifted his dark muzzle to the crimson moon and let out a brief, mournful song, reaching up towards the heavens, and echoing around the mountains. His final goodbye to his home, and the life they had known for the last few hundred years.

His cry was cut off as he suddenly heard a couple of gunshots going off. Uncertain, he listened for a few more minutes, and not hearing anything else except complete silence, he turned back to the forest. Sliding between the tall trees as he made his way deeper into the shadows.

Whatever it had been, it wasn't his business anymore, despite his desire to check into it. He wasn't the Sheriff anymore. He had a greater calling; a mate and a future waiting for him. He couldn't concern himself anymore with human problems and human crimes. No matter how much it might have eaten him up to ignore it.

No member of the Pack had been left behind, and his work here was done.

It was time to find his family.

~

(A/N – If you want to see the image that inspired that scene, go to , and scroll down.)

******

Hand still crackling subtly with withdrawn force, Sherman calmly stepped past the three fallen Hunters staring up at the night sky with open and unfixed, dead eyes. Faces frozen in expressions of shock and fear, and the bullets that had been reflected back on them, had entry wounds that leaked blood outward into still steadily growing black puddles.

Shifting the child to his other hip, Sherman walked into the forest. Heading along the path that would take him back to the valley. The young boy still sound asleep, and completely unaware of anything that had happened.

Once Sherman was sure they were out of sight from the bodies, he whispered the gentle command that pulled him out of the almost drugged deep sleep into a lighter, more natural one. Content to let the exhausted pup continue to just dream carelessly away on his Keeper's shoulder.

Any moment he could spare the boy from experiencing from this night of horrors, was the greatest gift Sherman could give him.

******

Cutting through the dark foliage, the lone gray wolf steadily made his way back to his original destination. Aware of the passing of the time, and doing his best to keep the pace strong.

His heart lightened as he recognized a rock formation up ahead that marked just how close he was to the valley, and to the slight scent trails that would lead him to his family's side. Suddenly energetic, he bounded towards the formation.

They were upon him before he even knew it. A black, thick net swooping down on top of him so quickly, he didn't even have a chance to so much as flinch as it swallowed him up. Wrapping around his face and legs, tangling itself around his body as he fought to get out from underneath it. Growling and snarling as he snapped at the thick filaments that took him to the ground in a helpless heap.

Through his wolven infrared sight, he picked up the four Hunters converging on his position.

One immediately pointed his automatic at the captured wolf, and prepared to fire. One of his comrades stopped him.

"No, back off. If this is the Alpha, then Eric will want to interrogate him before we kill him."

The one pointing the weapon at Matt, slowly turned the barrel away. Beckoning at the other two to pick the heavy male wolf up, still securely captured in the net.

Matt fought and writhed. Struggling to get free and gain purchase in his captors' flesh to no avail. With every movement he made, the net only became tighter. Squeezing his lean, furry body into odd contortions.

Panting with exhaustion, eyes wide, he stopped struggling, and fell limp. Conserving whatever strength he had left for a better time and better place, as the four Hunters carried him down a different path, through the thickness of the black forest, to whatever destination awaited him.

******

By the time Sherman made it back to the valley, the best he could tell was that it was around three in the morning. Just a few hours away from the coming dawn.

A dawn he still wasn't too sure they would all live to see. The conflict he had just experienced with those three Hunters back in town had bothered him on so many different levels. And none he wanted to admit to presently.

When he stepped out of the shadows of the tree-line – the boy in his arms just beginning to stir – They were greeted by his parents, who had separated themselves away from their group upon hearing his return.

Scooping up their son and relieving Sherman from having to carry him any further, they could barely suppress their relief over their family being reunited. Sherman flexed his strained muscles, wincing, and beckoned them back over to the group.

"There's no time for reunions. You need to get moving. You all have a long road ahead."

They nodded mutely. Whispering their thanks, as they carried their son back to where their group waited.

Sherman smiled faintly in response when the boy waved to him gently in goodbye over his father's broad and heavily tanned shoulder.

Seeing them begin to exit the valley on their own individual route, Sherman turned back to sit down on a rock outcropping to wait for Matt. Knowing that he would come back through the valley in one final check, before moving on. Sherman couldn't help but smirk at the idea of what Matt's response to his presence was going to be.

Over the centuries, the Keepers of the Packs had all delighted in tormenting their Alphas in one way or another. But none had ever enjoyed it as much as Sherman. He had even turned it into an art-form over the years, and it was a favorite pastime that he had no intention of giving up anytime soon.

Besides, the last thing those males (and on the rare occasion, females) needed was yet another who feared them. Their Keepers were a sure-fire way to keep their heads on straight.

Sherman's backside had no sooner made contact with his improvised seat of rock, when he heard a feminine cry let loose from the shadows of the forest where the group had just disappeared into. It was a cry of surprise and shock. And a whole lot of fear. A cry that had been cut off almost as quickly as it had been issued.

He didn't even bother guessing as to the cause. On this night, it could only be one thing.

Sherman swallowed the hard lump that had suddenly formed in his throat, and quickly stood. Eyes darting around nervously.

Making his own way over to the path that the last group of Skinwalkers had exited from the valley by wasn't easy. He stuck to the tree-line and did his best not to make a sound. Constantly searching for any signs of the Hunters around him that would be searching out any stragglers from the Pack.

But he didn't see anyone. He figured that that party was up ahead. Focused on their latest capture.

Sherman didn't dwell on how they had discovered the valley, and the small group leaving. Something told him that he didn't want to know. Not if he had any hope of focusing on the problem at hand.

Picking up speed as he entered the forest once more, following the path he knew would lead to the captured group of Skinwalkers, his primary focus was finding out what was about to happen to them, and then figuring out a way to put a stop to it.

******

Ruby had known in her heart that there was no way their escape was going to go as smoothly as it had so far. But, if she had realized just how prophetic that feeling was going to be, maybe she would have figured out a different plan of escape.

But destiny had an interesting way of playing out regardless of what you did to try and escape it.

They had stopped in a tiny clearing to catch their breath and regroup. Both exhausted, they wanted nothing more than to stop running permanently.

But they couldn't ignore the fact that the Hunters would be searching for them. Chasing them. They had to keep moving.

Do you think the others got away safely?" John puffed out slightly. Leaning over slightly to brace his palms against his thighs as he took advantage of the brief respite.

Ruby shook her head wearily. "Sophia and Luke are okay, I think. But I don't know about Vivian or Presley. I have no options available on communicating with them."

John nodded his head grimly. Not replying. He tilted his head up to watch the fast movement of the clouds moving through the night sky. Still obliterating any helpful light source.

Letting out a breath, he slowly pulled himself upright once more, turning in a semi-circle. Trying to figure out where they needed to go next.

He picked a deer trail he saw leading off a little ways to their right. Ruby nodded a silent agreement, to his questioning gaze, and they started off once more. Bare feet stepping over the layer of leaves and twigs and rocks.

But before they even made it to the path, something suddenly blocked it. Less than fifteen feet away.

Drawing quickly to a stop, John instinctively brought his left arm up to pull Ruby into the moderate safeness of his bare side. Fingers clenching on her hip protectively. He felt Ruby take in sudden breath, feeling it leave her almost as quickly as it entered, even though he didn't take his eyes off the male standing in front of him.

Tyler just stared back. Gaze intense and dark, as his eyes glittered subtly. Skin bare in the night air, and still very fresh from the Change.

Bruises along his neck and reaching up towards his ear were still apparent. Still healing from the last time all three of them had been alone together.

"Did you honestly think that I wouldn't be able to track you two down? That you could escape me?" He didn't look at Ruby, but John and her both could tell that that last question had been pointed at her.

She swallowed reflexively, and tilted her chin up. Bracing herself for whatever would come next. Both her and John were defenseless. Neither one of them had the primary bulk of their wolven senses and strengths. But they weren't going down without a fight.

But when Tyler was joined by two Hunters, John and Ruby's options suddenly narrowed.

As if sensing their thoughts, Tyler suddenly smiled. A small twisting of the lips, but a smile nonetheless.

"What? No warm welcome?"

"What did you expect? Flowers?" Ruby shot back. Silver eyes glittering in the darkness.

Tyler laughed. "At the very least."

"Sorry to disappoint." John muttered. Muscles tightening as he continued to shield Ruby's smaller body with his own. Refusing to think about how badly they were out-numbered and out-gunned at the moment.

Tyler quirked his brow and looked over at his two companions. "No, I would hardly call this a disappointment." he turned his gaze back to the couple, and then locked onto Ruby for the first time. All amusement fleeing. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time. It's about time that justice was delivered accordingly in this Pack, and I find it quite exhilarating to be the one to bring about the first well-deserved round of executions."

Ruby felt as if someone had punched her deep in the gut. No matter the situation she had found herself in with Tyler, she never would have believed it of him to kill her. To turn on the Pack so viciously as he had.

But the proof of just how much he had was staring her right in the face. She couldn't ignore its presence anymore.

Ruby hid her betrayal well, and tilted her head to the side, studying him coolly.  "You never did see me as anything more than a means to an end, did you? Just another sure thing for your position within the Pack. A Pack that you are now going to assist in destroying."

Tyler shrugged. Eyes hardening subtly, as he mocked her. "Oh, that's where you're wrong, Ruby. Everything I did, I did for you. Including this. Never forget that."

He then looked over at the Hunters flanking him. Taking in the weapons held in their hands. Ready to fire.

He smiled faintly, as if he knew a secret no one else did. John arms tightened securely around Ruby, as Tyler turned that strange gaze back to them. Eyes glittering oddly. The smirk still present.

It was the symbol of a man who knew he had finally won. And his eyes… his eyes were soulless.

At first, Tyler's last two words didn't compute with Ruby. But when the Hunters swung their automatics up and located them down the point of the barrel, they finally sunk in. Ringing painfully through her mind, as she turned to John. Instinctively wanting him to be the last thing she saw, and nothing else.

Her hand came up to cover her womb protectively. Sending a silent apology to the fragile lives within her, heart breaking to think that they had never even been given a chance in this world. Her ears echoed painfully with Tyler's order, as her world suddenly narrowed down to the sound of the three heart-beats pulsing within her, and the faint echo of the one within the man beside her that was linked so closely to her own.

"Kill them."

Ruby's lashes fluttered shut, as the world around her literally exploded.

******

The last few moments had not been very pleasant for Matt.

Injected with one of the drugs developed to harm his species, his body had been forced back into its human form against his will. It had been a painful experience, and the loss of a portion of his abilities and strengths had been very uncomfortable. But nothing like what he was going through now.

Now, he felt like he was in hell. Not that he would ever show it.

He had been restrained and chained up against a tree, in the middle of an unfamiliar portion of the forest. The bark bit painfully into his bare back, and the muscles in his arms cramped from being fixed so tightly at such an awkward angle around the back of the trunk.

Bruises and cuts were already starting to appear, as one of the Hunters named Eric continued with his interrogation.

"Where is your species heading?"

He had only asked that question a dozen times now. He was foolish to think that it would be met with anything other than stony-edged silence from Matthew's end.

A fist struck its way across the already swelling cheekbone and flesh of the right side of his face. Causing Matt to accidentally bite down of the tip of his tongue. Filling his mouth with the metallic flavor of blood, which he spat out at Eric's feet pointedly.

"What is their destination?!" Eric yelled once more. Furious at Matt's silence, and becoming even further incensed when Matt began to laugh almost chokingly.

"I'll never tell you a damn thing." he sputtered out. Wincing when Eric drove another fist into his solar plexus.

"Oh, come on." Matt mocked, around his gasps for air. Purposely taunting his captor. Getting a strange sense of enjoyment out of knowing he could push his torturer's buttons so easily. "Is that the best you can do?"

Eric pulled away. Reevaluating him thoughtfully. Eyes darkening with twisted sarcasm. "No. It isn't actually. Tell me, I wonder how you would feel, watching me do this to that precious daughter of yours. Do you think her body could withstand this type of abuse?" he started to chuckle. "Or maybe I should just toss her to some of my men. How would you like to see her scream and cry and beg for mercy at their hands? That can be quite convincing at times, you know. They've had a lifetime of practice."

A muscle jumped in the side of Matt's cheek as he looked up through eyes filling with suppressed rage. But his voice didn't waver as he calmly issued his statement.

"Before this night is up, you will die. I'll make sure of that."

Eric nodded, almost as if he was taking into consideration the sincerity of Matt's words. Right before he snapped up and out with a sharp kick to the side of his head. Boot heel connecting with the side of Matt's jaw, and causing the back of his head to smack painfully into the hard surface of the tree behind him. Ringing from the pain as he fought to stay conscious. Weight sagging limply at his bonds.

Eric tilted his head to the side. Lips curving mockingly as he studied Matt struggling against the agony radiating through his throbbing skull.

"I don't think you are in any position to be making those kinds of promises. Do you?"

******

From Ruby's perspective, several things happened almost immediately.

One, was the sensation of John knocking her down and away from the threat. Quickly following her to the ground. The length of his body dropping over hers like a shield. Protecting her if need be in what might have possibly been their last moments of life.

Second, was the sound of gunshots swinging wide. Bullets missing them by mere inches to imbed their way into the dirt surrounding their heads. Sending small vibrations through the earthen floor, that could be easily felt through the sensitivity of Ruby's pale, bare skin.

And third, was the sight of Tyler viciously turning on the two unsuspecting Hunters.

She watched in stunned response as he literally morphed from one type of person… 

Cold, aloof, traitorous… like the man that had taken her from Seattle, and had proceeded to use and abuse her for his own benefits…

To another…. The man that, once upon a time, she had thought she would love forever. Before she had met John and had discovered what it really meant to be the other portion of one's soul.

His arm suddenly snapped up from where it had been hanging loosely at his side. His fingers wrapping around the back of the neck that belonged to the Hunter on his left. She heard the crunching sound it made as Tyler snapped it with the pressure applied under just one palm. The tendons in his forearm and tattooed bicep standing out in sharp relief under his skin as his Skinwalker strength rose greedily to the surface.

But even then, he didn't miss a beat. The body of the first having not even hit the ground, before the force from his lashed-out kick made contact with the second Hunter. Hitting him right behind the legs, and knocking him painfully to his knees.

Ruby turned away for a brief second. Hearing what could have only been the spinal cord being ripped out, and the second body flopping lifeless into the dirt.

Looking back, she found that Tyler had locked his eyes knowingly onto hers. Having suffered no exertion whatsoever from his planned and well-executed attacks.

…It's about time that justice was delivered accordingly in this Pack, and I find it quite exhilarating to be the one to bring about the first well-deserved round of executions…

John slowly pushed his way up to a sitting position, taking his protective weight off of Ruby – his shock and disbelief evident – while Ruby braced herself up on her palms. Heart rate starting to slow down, as she carefully read Tyler's expression.

Tyler didn't even spare John a second glance. The slight snarl to his lips was evident when he glanced at him initially, but then he only allowed his focus to remain on Ruby. Eyes wandering informally over her body, resting briefly on her abdomen, and causing Ruby to question her belief on whether or not he could sense the presence of her twins growing there. Sired not by him, but by the one he had despised above all others.

Gaze pulling back upwards almost clinically, he met her glittering silver eyes in one final moment. Darkness gathering behind that heavily veiled expression.

No words were spoken out loud, as he slowly began to turn away. But the memory of what he had said earlier, echoed between them silently. Words she had thought spoken in some sort of twisted jest – how could trying to kill her and her chosen mate be for her own benefit? – but in actuality, had been his way of saying goodbye.

…Everything I did, I did for you. Including this…

Ruby watched him turn his back to her without a sound and walk back into the heavy shadows of the forest. It's blackness drawing him within its heart once more. Swallowing him, pulling him from view.

…Never forget that…

She watched him go passively. Leaning sub-consciously into John for support, as his palm came to rest on her stomach. The heat of it warming her flesh comfortingly.

As suddenly as Tyler had appeared, he was gone. And the night-time sounds of the forest began their chorus once more. Oblivious to the lovers clinging tightly to one another, still nestled into the carpeting of the crushed leaves and rich earth.

******

"Your silence isn't going to change anything that will happen here tonight, you know." Eric commented almost conversationally. Cleaning off the blade of a knife with a white hand cloth. The stain of Matt's blood leaving a wet, vivid, crimson smear across the fabric.

"It's ending, Donner. Your species. This war. Our cause. After hundreds of years, it's finally come down to these final hours. We already have our technology running at its full capacity. Within hours, we will have located every one of your pathetic members, via satellite. The dawn of a new age without the presence of your kind is upon us."

"Then why do you need me?" Matt bit out sarcastically. Refusing to believe Eric's words. Blood dripped steadily down his chest and arms from the shallow as well as the deep cuts inflicted upon his unprotected flesh. The salt from his sweat – despite the night's chill – trickled into the wounds and caused him to flinch occasionally against his bonds.

Eric shrugged. "I'm nothing if not thorough. If one of your members happened by chance to avoid our satellite, I would like to know where they were planning on heading. It will eliminate the whole encumbrance of having to conduct a search of the entire continent, and those can be so tedious."

Matt shook his head is disbelief at the man's audacity. Refusing to answer. There was no way in hell he was going to give in to Eric's sadistic inquisition. It was going to take a hell of a lot more than what he had at his dispersal to get him to speak.

Leaning his bruised head back against the tree trunk, Matt braced himself for whatever would come next…

And waited.

It didn't take long, before Eric opened up his mouth again, and let the other shoe drop.

"We've already located your daughter and her group once." he mentioned, almost like an afterthought. Stepping closer in the hopes of seeing some sort of reaction.

Matt's lids cracked open a bit, but he didn't reply.

"Granted, they managed to escape with some rather pesky interference of one of our own, who was supposed to betray you… not us. But nonetheless, my men are already zooming back in on them with a little help from the satellite. It won't be long before they are all dead. Including Damien, and your pretty little daughter. I wouldn't worry about it too much, though, if I were you. I'm sure it'll be quick. Not like what I would have done to the white Bitch."

Eric pulled closer. His eyes gleaming, and a smile of enjoyment tugging at the corners of his thin lips as he continued. Voice dropping an octave. Almost as if he was sharing a secret of vast importance.

"You, on the other hand, will suffer a long time before leaving this existence. Taking with you to hell the very sensation of each and every one of your species slowly being killed, one by one, and separating permanently from your collective mental pathway… Till there is nothing left but the dark echoes of their pain and fear and betrayal being swallowed up in the final moments of their deaths. Until there is nothing left in the black empty recesses of your mind. And with that, the knowledge that you were the last to go, the last one left of your kind, and that you were unable to do anything to stop it, to save what was left of your unholy kind…  It will haunt you till the end of eternity."

Eric watched Matt's unemotional mask for a few minutes almost hungrily, before letting out a hiss of frustration. Having never experiencing this much trouble – or this much resistance – in breaking a prisoner before.

He turned away for a moment and placed his knife back down beside the others in his collection. Contemplating which one to use next.

Never knowing how much his comment had cut right through Matt's soul to slice into his heart more efficiently than any of Eric's favorite toys ever could.

****** 

When Sherman finally located the small group of Skinwalkers, captured and penned in by about twenty Hunters, all armed to the teeth, preparing to begin the first round of mass executions, Sherman's options suddenly narrowed. He had less than a minute to make a decision, and save his prayers for later that he had done the right thing.

Quickly looking over the group of about fifteen Skinwalkers, his gaze locked on to the small group of five or six children that had been pressed into the protective inner circle of their parents and their fellow Pack mates. The adult bodies hiding and protecting them from view of the Hunters.

Sherman hid his body quietly behind a tree. Kneeling down, almost level with the ground, as he called forth the ancient force that flowed through his body. Energy crackling once more around his fingertips.

He couldn't afford to think about the loss of life that was about to happen. His ability wasn't strong enough protect the entire group, but he could at least do this much.

One of the females caught his slight movements out of the corner of her eye, and she covertly turned her panicked gaze towards him beseechingly.

Sherman recognized her as the mother of the boy he had just brought back from Wolf Lake. She studied him for a brief moment, no more than a few seconds, but a span of time that Sherman would remember for the rest of his existence in perfect detail.

Her eyes dropped to see the blatant bluish white energy flowing down his arms and pooling around his hands. Energy he had never revealed to any in the Pack. Energy that none could ever see, unless their memory of the event was removed.

Or they themselves were killed.

Sherman could tell how the woman drew upon the vague remembrance of her early childhood to understand what she was seeing. The myths and stories told to little children at bedtime about how the Pack's Keeper would always guard and protect them. Them, the assured future generation of the Skinwalker species. The hushed speculations of the Keeper's powers. And her sudden acknowledgment of just how potently real that mysterious ability was now that she was witnessing it for the first and last time.

Meeting Sherman's gaze with her crystalline one, she smiled faintly. Acceptingly. A simple unspoken plea echoing between them. And with it, her acceptance of her and the rest of her adult group's fast approaching deaths at the hands of their enemies. Her hand instinctively searching out her mate's, even thought her eyes didn't leave Sherman.

Save them…

Sherman inclined his head slightly. The movement binding him to his silent promise to her.

He watched as the mother turned to look at her frightened son almost in slow motion, revealing the pale curve her slender neck. Whispering something soothingly to him that couldn't be heard outside of that ring of Skinwalkers. But lips caressing a familiar phrase that all knew by heart and sight alone.

Sherman closed his eyes against the heart-breaking scene resolutely, as the force of the power within him began to build. Increasing to its full, maximum capacity. Until finally, like a brilliant tidal wave of pure, white blue energy, exploding outward in torrent of lightening like tendrils. Streaking across the forest floor with a strength that was blinding in its dangerous beauty. Forming a pulsing shield and wrapping its way protectively around the half-dozen screaming children in a impenetrable bubble-like cloak. Crackling and buzzing with bright intensity that mercifully blocked the children's sight and sound of the world beyond that bubble, as everything violently exploded in a continuous outpouring of bullets emptying from the Hunter's automatics. The echoes of the sound heard for miles around in the dark, pristine forest that had just been turned into a living hell.

******

It hit Sophia with a force that literally knocked the breath out of her body. Her legs literally gave out from under her, as the public mental pathway reverberated with the sensations of death and pain and carnage. Ripping through the slender filaments that tied the Pack together with an insidiously evil malice.

Landing weakly on her knees, fingers buried themselves into the rich, black dirt to balance herself. A small cry of agony ripping its way free from Sophia's tightening throat.

"It's happening," she breathed out with frightening intensity, as she felt Luke kneel down beside her. His expression drawn and pale, having felt the same disturbance she had. "It's begun. Just like she said it would."

"Who?" Luke asked hoarsely.

Sophia shook her head. Not answering. Her mind became flooded with memories from the dreams sent by the living heart of the white wolf. Memories of the death and mayhem reflecting upon both time lines. She began to shudder.

She remembered the words spoken to her by the entity that had worn Rianna's face. Desperately trying to show her the way to a revelation that Sophia had to discover on her own.

She had spent the last hour trying to figure out what that revelation was, but so far, had had no success. She thought she would have had more time…

But now…Now, time had run out. For her, for the Pack, and for her to discover what needed to be done to save their species.

With this certainty, rose the fear. And with the fear, rose the panic. An all-consuming emotion, that caused her mind to dance franticly blank.

But a distant but powerfully firm memory broke through that instant reaction. Replaying itself pointedly.

…don't be afraid. This is what you were born for…

Fingers clenching even tighter in the dirt, Sophia felt the panic within her start to slowly ease away, as she forced herself to begin to replay things that had been happening ever since her Flip. A mosaic of random memories and thoughts. She felt the way she suddenly distanced herself. Aware on some level that Luke was trying to talk to her. His hand resting on her arm. Damien's concerned questioning as he sought to understand what was happening.

It all faded away to nothing. A distant part of her life that meant nothing. Was nothing.

Centering herself, she let that mosaic play out, seeing in her mind's eye the visuals connected to them. Knowing that somewhere in all these twisted bits and cryptic pieces lay the answer to her questions. Her searching… and the Pack's future.

…There is a link running through the fabric of all the Hunters. A common thread tying each and every one of them together. Bound by blood and tradition. Sever that thread, and you destroy the Hunters…

In the age of the Blood Moon…

…You will have to face them. Fight them. Your people escaped your destiny once before, when you could no longer handle it… you will not be able to do so again…

When its light will glow red from the spilled blood of the Ancestors…

…You will fight them. And you will lose…

And the crimson of their Descendants will flow to stain the forest floor…

…It is you that brings your line of ancestry to the forefront of this challenge. You are the descendent of Rianna and her mate. And it is you that wears the crystallized flame around your neck. Make no mistake, you were chosen for a reason, Sophia…

The form of the white wolf will appear once again…

…You know what is happening…

…I am the past. I am a part of you…

…Just realize that the gem you wear around your neck is not just an ornament. It is a symbol of the white wolf, and has been worn by the white female down through the ages of your species. Rianna was not the first, and you will not be the last. And as such, it is more precious than you could possibly imagine, and in more ways than one…

…Some of the past Keepers thought it might have been forged out of a volcano. Others thought it might have come from a meteor, while others thought it was created by supernatural forces. That knowledge was lost a long time ago. And maybe it's better that way. The important thing is that you realize just how precious that rock is, Sophia. Don't ever take it off. For any reason…

Is it magical?

It's only as magical as you want it to be…

…Your gifts are only just starting to come to life within you. Nonetheless, they will show you the way...

…You will learn, Sophia. As those before you had to learn…

But to battle the oncoming Darkness…

 You can't choose what destiny you will be given. You can only fulfill it. This is something that your mother understood...

its soul will reside…

Abilities you never could have dreamed of will rise to the surface to aid you, and powers that your Clan have believed dead ever since the migration to the New World, will also become known. The Hunters are not the only dangers that you are faced with, they are not the only "Darkness" shadowing your people…A mystery of the Pack's past will be revealed and answered, and all of this will happen through you, Sophia… So do not forget…

not in the shell of One…

…Remember, these are the gifts that I gave you, because I knew you were the stronger one to handle them. Just like I gave certain gifts over to Ruby's possession, because she would be better suited to them than you would yourself. You two truly are two parts of the same whole, but yet, at the same time, so completely separate from one another…

But in that of Two…

Sophia frowned to herself. She had always thought the prophecy was pretty specific, but now she wasn't too sure. Why was it that it was only her that had had the dreams? Why was it, that everything had fallen into place around her? Bringing her into the heart of the struggle?

All of this will happen through you, Sophia…

Sophia felt a tremor race up her spin as the meaning behind those words began to sink in. Her and Ruby may have been two parts from the same whole, but it was Sophia's destiny to deal with the threat that the Hunter posed.

But then why did the Prophecy make it seem as though, only together, they could bring them to justice?

…they are not the only "Darkness" shadowing your people…

So that was it. Two white females… Two crisis… Two changing of the tides in the history within the Pack… Could it be then, that even if they survived the night, their struggle would still be far from over?

What else would the shift in the winds of time blow into their lives that would require both of their strengths combined?

…And it is these qualities that you both will bring to this time in your Pack's history, that will save them…

Sophia pulled away from that line of thought. She couldn't go there. Not now. Not when she needed to focus on the present, and the answer quickly beginning to form within her mind as she drew on all of the events surrounding those moments from the past.

And, as suddenly as everything else had happened tonight, those little pieces began to suddenly connect, falling all perfectly into place. The meaning behind "Rianna's" cryptic remarks in regards to a mystic ability that were believed long gone… The special strengths that had been gifted to Sophia primarily... The ones that had already awakened from within her… All involving some sort of strong mental capability.

And, most importantly, the mysterious connection between the Hunters' pendants and her crystal.

She blinked reflexively, slowly trying to clear her slightly glazed, unfixed expression. Her dirt-covered fingers released their anchor and came up to caress the faceted edges of the six-sided crystal drop in revelation. Now as familiar to her as her own skin.

If the Hunters' cloaking pendants were the link that needed to be severed in order to bring about the destruction of their society – and it was Sophia's primary mental abilities that would be the knife used to cut that thread – then it needed a link – no, a mirror – to reflect that energy. A connection that would merge two minerals most likely taken from the same location so long ago. Split apart to form two completely separate identities.

And that mirror was currently dangling from around her neck.

******

Luke's heart pounded out a fast rhythm deep in his chest. Pulsing against his ribcage achingly heavy. He kneeled protectively over Sophia's smaller frame, his hand on her naked skin, but he knew she was beyond sensing him there. Beyond hearing his words, and feeling his touch. She had been sucked back into whatever world it was that kept dragging her suddenly into its embrace.

"What's wrong with her?" Damien asked. His calm, unemotional voice changing only slightly to communicate his concern. He stepped closer, but paused in his movement when he detected that sudden tenseness in the muscles of Luke's back. A primal protectiveness rising as he subtly shifted his body so Damien could not see that of Sophia's. Suddenly aware of her state of undress. A factor that Luke had not been concerned with until now.

Knowing that Luke still didn't trust him, Damien respected the unspoken warning to back off, and he took one step back unobtrusively.

"I'm not too sure if I understand it myself." Luke muttered. Still watching Sophia's face attentively. He reached out instinctively along their mental path, but sensed before he made contact that distracting her like that would only make matters worse. Possibly even harmful.

Later he would wonder if that certainty had come from his own mind or not.

"Then I take it this is something that has happened before?" Damien's tone was even. Inquisitive. Giving no hint to the turmoil within. He knew in his soul that Sophia was the key to all this madness. The hand that would press the lid down firmly on this opened Pandora's box of madness, once and for all.

And in doing so, rescue him from his inner demons that were still secretively tearing consistently at his sanity, even at this very moment.

Although one wouldn't know it to look at him, Damien was fighting for his soul…

And his strength was beginning to ebb.

"Yes." Luke growled under his breath. His tone putting an end to their tense conversation. He turned his focus back to Sophia, and waited for her to come back to reality, like she always had before.

And praying desperately that that facture wouldn't be changed.

And that was when Sophia's lids began to flutter open.

******

One part of Sophia knew that she had no evidence to back up this kind of speculation. The second part of her didn't care. She knew in her gut that this was it. The answer. It couldn't be any other. All she had heard and experienced and felt up until this very moment had occurred in order to guide her to the correct path. And that path was now stretched out in front of her with glaring intensity. Daring her to finally admit to its existence and begin her journey to wherever it would lead.

In a way, she felt like she was standing on a cliff. Balanced carefully on the brink. Behind her was the end of her logical existence, coupled with the death of her family... her love… her Pack. Her life.

And below her dwelt the possibility of freedom and passion and safety. And the only acceptance that had ever really mattered. Acceptance from herself.

But to get there, she would have to allow herself to fall. To believe in herself and her still growing strengths. To not doubt her purpose or her power.

To get there, she would have to believe.

As her gaze cleared, and she began to remember where she was, she turned bright, glittering, dark eyes to Luke's still kneeling form, just a few inches away from hers.

She studied the familiar lines and contours of his inhumanly beautiful face. Knowing then what her decision was going to have to be.

 "Hey there," he whispered. Unable to disguise his relief over her return to awareness. He reached out a hand to gently touch her cheek. "What happened to you?"

Sophia's lips curved slightly, and she leaned the side of her face into his hand. Body relaxing.

Sniffing slightly, she tilted her face back up reluctantly, and swallowed in an attempt to steady her emotions. Throat and mouth suddenly dry. "Everything."

Luke frowned slightly in confusion.

Sophia reached up a hand to lay over his, still cupping her cheek. Wanting to erase those frown lines from her smooth forehead. "I know now what I must do. I know how to stop it. Stop them."

She sensed the way his pulse picked up speed alertly, and she listened, almost hypnotized by its steady but fast beat. The sound becoming the center of her world for a brief moment in time.

"How?"

Pulling herself reluctantly from her daze, Sophia removed her hand regretfully from his. Reaching it out to feather the tips of her fingers over his jaw-line. Feeling the slight coarseness of the shadow of stubble stretching out across it.

His frown just deepened. Luke could sense that things weren't right. There was a change that was starting to take place from within her. Something that was rising to the surface. Along with his fear of losing her to something neither one of them could control.

Sophia smiled again reassuringly. Still touching his face. Unable to answer his question. How could she explain something that she herself didn't fully understand, and probably never would? But it didn't matter. He would know what she had meant soon enough. They all would. This was something that was going to require the combined abilities of the entire Pack.

It would require unlimited and raw power flowing from the hundreds of bodies that made up the Pack… into just one.

Hers.

Sophia wasn't stupid. She wasn't blind. The odds of her living through something so powerful, so intense, when just her abilities alone sometimes overwhelmed her, weren't very good. She had no idea whether or not she was going to survive it. But she knew now that this was her destiny. Just as her mother's had been to give birth to a despised and ridiculed half-breed daughter, before her own sudden and mysterious death. Probably at the very hands of one of the Pack members that Sophia was going to save tonight.

And she would have liked to believe that it was because of her sense of loyalty to the Pack that was pushing her to accept the possibility of her own death. To place her very mind and soul into the grip of an overwhelming strength that was more of a curse than a gift.

But the truth of it was, she was doing it for one, and one only. No one else was playing into her decision.

She would do whatever it took to keep him alive. Even if it meant sacrificing herself.

And if it came down to that, then she would accept her fate willingly, and without reservation.

In that moment she understood more than she ever had, what the last minutes of life for her mother must have been like.

And just like her, if given the chance, Sophia would change nothing.

"I love you... Don't ever forget that."

Luke flinched against the finality of those words. Heart nearly coming to a halt as he felt her pulling away from him. In more ways than one.

"Sophia…" he called out desperately. Knowing it was too late. He couldn't stop her. Couldn't stop whatever it was that was taking her from him, and placing her directly in the heart of the flames.

And that something was even stronger than his connection to her. Greater.

And he had to let her go. And risk the chance of losing her forever. He had never even had a choice in the matter. He couldn't fool himself into believing he did.

Lids fluttering closed with the image of his face still firmly locked within her heart, Sophia's fingers slid from Luke's cheek to fall limply in her lap.

He felt as if his soul was being torn in half.

In her mind's eye, she was back up upon that cliff of uncertainty, looking down into a dark void with no bottom. No safety net. No security. No promises. No sure things. Only the yawning weight of the terror pressing at her from behind, and the cool, welcoming haven of the open air in front. Coupled with the calming image of a pair of peridot colored eyes, and the soothing memory of the feel of his fur brushing up against her skin… A night spent in the shelter of the forest's protective embrace, the scent of pine and rich earth… the joining of two bodies, as the black velvet heavens above them danced in a never-ending shower of miraculous light and magic.

It was a memory that eased the way for her. Reminding of her why she was here. And what was at stake.

Knowing the path that had to be taken, the power that had to be loosened, and the doubt that needed to be laid to rest, Sophia made her final decision… Her final acceptance…

You're stronger than you think.

… And chose to believe.

Reveling in the sensation of knowing that the moment of her destiny was at hand, she finally stepped off that cliff, letting go of the doubt and reluctance towards what she had thought she was, and who she was steadily becoming.

And simply allowed herself to fall…

****** 

Damien observed Luke and Sophia closely. The only presence of his unease was in the single muscle clenching tightly in his pale jaw-line. He had heard everything that Sophia had just said to Luke, and was probably reading it just as Luke was.

Concern glittered hesitantly in his black gaze, as he started to speak. Wanting to bring to light his uncertainty of whether or not what Sophia was doing was the right thing for everyone involved, But his words were cut off when his gaze suddenly narrowed and his ears picked up the faint sound of something not quite right in.

Black eyes shot off to the side and into the alien forest surrounding them, as his highly toned body began to tense up instinctively in preparation. Knowing all to well what was currently stalking them from the shadows.

For in this night, it was only going to be one thing.

And if they had located them this quickly, then it only meant one thing.

Vega's experimental program was running at full capacity.

"Luke," Damien growled out under his breath. Barely stronger than a whisper, but the words rang through the cold night air like the sharp sound of a gunshot. Luke's head whipped around to follow Damien's gaze into the inky depths of the surrounding trees. Picking up on the cautioning edge to Damien's tone.

"We've got company." Damien finished.

Luke didn't answer. But his eyes began to glow intensely with golden fire, even as he moved in closer to protect Sophia's unflinching and unaware crumpled form. Lost once more in the grip of her destiny. He could feel the change that had begun to happen in her mind. The way she had separated herself from the rest of the Pack… and from him.

But at the same time, he could sense something else was growing from within her. Something strange. Something new. And something infinitely more dangerous and raw than he believed her capable of controlling. He could sense the embers stirring to life, fluttering determinedly just underneath the shivering calmness of the surface, and he knew that the resulting flames would very quickly begin to blaze out of control. Sweeping up everything in its path.

He may not have been able to stop her from initiating whatever it was she had just begun, and in the end, he may have been facing the possibility of losing her completely, but the protectiveness that welled up inside of him was powerful. Inhuman. His instincts were fast becoming more animal than man, when a male was faced with a defenseless and weak mate in need of protection.

And even if the desire to protect her stemmed from wanting to keep her safe from herself, more so than from the enemies so close to discovering them, hell would freeze before anyone would touch her.

Damien didn't flinch, even the as hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he heard the hoarse rumbling exit Luke's throat from behind him.

He had the sudden inclination to feel a twinge of pity towards those unsuspecting Hunters searching through the underbrush. Pulling closer and closer with every charged second that went by to where all three of them were hidden. Soon to be in plain view.

Rolling his back shoulder muscles reflexively to loosen them, Damien smirked a little as he squelched the ridiculous response, as he and Luke – enemies as of just a few minutes ago – prepared to protect Sophia… and their last chance of survival.

******

Sophia felt like she had been cast out into the middle of a symbolic wind-storm. Being bombarded and struck and pressed from all sides at the same time as her soul was being channeled up and sent rushing down a yawning and dark tunnel. Gathering up an intense speed with every passing moment, until she could feel that imaginary wind slicing against her skin. Ripping at her mind in ways she never could have imagined. Tearing at her insides. Sending her neural pathways up in flames. Burning brightly with aftereffects that she could only imagine was leaving burnt ash in their wake.

She could feel her indecision mounting. Her fear. But it was too late to back down now. She had to see this through. She had to finish what she had begun.

Even if all she could hear was the mental echoes of her agonizing screams hitting the interior of her bombarded and chaotic mind.

But it didn't matter, for she couldn't believe anymore that she was still even in control of her own body or mind… or her soul. Something else had taken over. Using her as its chosen vessel and nothing more in pursuit of its goal and purpose.

As she shot down further and further into the depths of her own mind, she became aware of a strange sensation of something starting to flicker to life. Bringing with it an intensity and urgency that could only mean one thing.

This was what she was looking for. What had drawn her to it at such a break neck pace. Damning all consequences to a furious hell in an almost mindless pursuit of the only weapon that could destroy the enemy that currently threatened the survival of her kind.

A weapon that was stirring restlessly from unconsciousness. Unwinding itself from its dormant state of rest and hiding, like a cobra from its hibernation. Hissing and growing in strength at an alarming rate. Evaluating the situation at hand, and compensating for what was going to need to be done to remedy it.

And removing once and for all any say that Sophia had in this frightening ability.

It was building. Becoming stronger. More powerful. She could feel it gathering up all of her mental and wolven abilities into its grip as it spun faster and faster. A brilliant blurs of sphere-like hues indescribable to the human eye.

And then, all of a sudden, the world surrounding her shifted, rippling out from under her, and everything around and within exploded in a continuous outpouring that shook the foundations of the entire Pack.

She could feel it gathering the strengths and powers of every member of the Pack. Moving with a speed that was shocking. She could sense dozens of unique mental powers merging with hers whether their owners wanted them to or not. Building. Gathering. Seeking. Merging.

Soon it was hundreds… soon it was half the Pack, and then most of the Pack…

And then all.

Sophia's wind-storm had turned into a tornado, and she was in the heart of it. Desperately clinging to her sanity by the tips of her fingernails. Shattering and breaking away from the very seams that held her together.

She could never have imagined this much power. This much force. It flowed through her veins with crackling and fizzing intensity. Burning in her lungs. Screaming down her throat, and shattering in her mind.

No one was meant to experience this much strength. This much belief. She didn't know whether to consider herself in agony or ecstasy. Heaven or hell. Salvation or damnation. Somewhere along the line, they had all melted into one. 

And it had become her world.

And she embraced it.

******

Luke crouched down lower in the underbrush patiently, as he watched the steady approach of the two oblivious Hunters.

They stepped cautiously through the underbrush, nervous gazes searching out the hidden depths of the world around them. Maybe because some recess of their mind informed them that they were being watched. Or maybe because of the way the shadows surrounding them began to shift ominously in the almost pitch blackness of their surroundings. The thick cloud cover still coating the night sky up above.

Maybe some instinctive survival trait was sending off little warning bells in their heads. Or maybe, their paranoia stemmed from their lack of experience with the hunt.

It didn't matter. They had dared to threaten his female. To seek her out, and put an end to her life.

But in the end, it would be their blood that would be spilt. Not hers.

When the two enemies suddenly stepped into the clearing, they realized their fatal mistake all too late, when the formidable night around them exploded furiously into the brutal violence of the tables being turned. The hunters becoming the prey.

They were attacked from both sides. One, by a naked Skinwalker male with eyes glowing in feral intensity, and the other swathed in black clothes. His face familiar to theirs as one of their brothers. A comrade. A leader.

They never even saw the small crumpled form of the naked girl nestled in the ground, as still as death. Their last emotions were that of the feelings of betrayal and hatred. Their deaths coming quickly, even as their curses spilt the very heavens.

And the black shadows in the forest continued to dance in their macabre fashion as the tree limbs swayed in tune. Branches creaking and leaves rustling, as blood sprayed out to lay its blackish mark across a broad trunk, droplets falling into the dark green moss and ferns nestled at its base.

When Luke finally turned away from the remains of the battle in front of him, he couldn't help but acknowledge the extent of what he had just done, and the effects it would have on him from that point on.

This night had become the night of his first kill.

Shaking away his reaction, he refocused on Sophia. Coming back to kneel beside her.

Her skin was cold to the touch. Her lips almost blue. She shuddered occasionally, like she was trying to throw something off of her very skin that clung to her with its chilling tentacles.

Suddenly he felt a pressure begin to build in his mind. At first, he thought he was sensing something that was happening to her. Thought that he was receiving an echo of what she was already being put through by whatever force that had taken over.

It didn't take long though, for him to realize that that wasn't the case. Whatever it was, it had suddenly drained him of his mental strength and wolven abilities as cleanly as if someone had pulled the plug in a large bathtub filled with water. Leaving him bewildered and confused as he tried to blink away the slightly dazed expression he knew he had plastered on his face, and tried to focus. Wanting to understand what was happening.  To her. To him… And currently spreading throughout the rest of the Pack like a wildfire.

Letting out a breath, he pushed away his instinctive fears over losing his abilities once more, his unsettling emotions concerning his first kill, and the mass confusion swelling along the faint presence of the public mental pathway that was quickly fading, and closed his eyes tightly. His hand unconsciously coming out to grasp her chilled, lifeless one. Wanting to relay warmth into her any way he could, as he desperately sought out some way to help her. An insistent murmuring voice in the back of his mind suddenly alerting him of her desperate need of his help and their connection. Something that was vital to her survival

******

Damien watched from the shadows. Chest heaving gently from exertion, and a cut visible against the drawn paleness of the side of his face. Black eyes flaming with life and aggression as he suddenly reached up and snatched off his pendant harshly. Leather cord snapping against the pressure, and leaving an imprinted red line against his nape. He tossed it unceremoniously into the blood-splattered ground at his feet, and turned his face up to the night sky as the wind began to pick up speed. Rustling against his cloths and further loosening the leather tie's hold on his thick mane.

The look on the Hunters' faces before the moment of their deaths ate away at him more than anything else had all night. The images emblazoned strongly upon his mind, and mocking him with his betrayal.

Images tempered mercifully only with those of a certain female, who had dared to see past the icy demeanor, and drag his hardened heart back out into the warmth of the sun.

Looking back down at his palms, he idly wondered if she would consider him to be worth it, after he came to her with blood on his hands.

******

When Luke slowly began to open his eyes, he knew that he wasn't really seeing anything. Knew that where he was standing, wasn't really where his actual body was. Knew that the sensations he was feeling, weren't actually happening to him at all.

He was standing in a fog-filled valley. A milky white and brilliant, pure moon shone victoriously up above. Its light magical and peaceful. Soothing after the alien night sky he had been under for the last few nights.

But even that, he knew, wasn't real.

He was in a dream. A vision.

And he wasn't alone.

He placed his focus upon the female standing a few feet away. An Old World simply styled dress of velvet sapphire clung to her body. Dark curls cascaded down her back to her waist. Falling loose and free in the night's breeze. Tendrils of fog were wrapped around her lower legs. Moisture particles clinging to the rasping silkiness of the luxurious fabric.

And a familiar crystal the color of fire hung from her neck. Encircling a throat and laying against an upper chest in which pale, silvery lines of old scar tissue were visible. A similar line shimmering against the curve of her cheek in the caress of the moonlight.

Her dark colored eyes were serene and peaceful. And she was studying him as closely as he was her. Maybe closer.

His first response was that this must be Rianna, the spirit of the woman that had been plaguing Sophia for the last couple of days. But then that response was replaced with another one. This one the impression of ancient power and unlimited strength that far surpassed just the life of one woman or even two.

But of dozens. From the past, the present, and the future. All of them destined. All of them special.

All of them with pelts the color of the light currently shinning down from above.

And somehow he knew she was sizing him up. Testing him. Seeking out the answer to whether or not he could be considered worthy.

She must have received the answer she was looking for, because she finally began to speak. And her message was clear and to the point.

"Sophia is strong. But she is only one, trying to draw upon and contain the strengths of hundreds. She needs you now, more than ever. Or she will die." The woman quirked her brow at him. Tone becoming slightly mocking. "Do you care for her as you claim to do so, young one? Or is your love doubtful?"

"I would die for her." he replied simply. Truthfully. Not blinking as she weighed the value of his words.

Slowly, she began to nod. "Good. For if you doubt, know this… she will die, and all will be lost. Forever."

With that, the woman began to disappear. Fading away. Molecules glittering in the night air like miniature diamonds, as everything around Luke went up in a blaze of white light, and he could feel his consciousness being propelled determinedly towards an untold destination by an unrevealed force, but one he knew would bring him to Sophia… And in that moment, that was all that mattered.

******

It wasn't enough.

She currently had all the power and the strength of the entire Pack contained within her. Rattling the foundations of her very mind. Singeing her soul, and the pressure of it was desperately seeking a way out. A release. An opening that refused to give, simply because it wasn't enough.

She could feel herself beginning to fall apart, and it wasn't enough.

What had she done wrong? Had she chosen the wrong course? The wrong path? Had this been a test? One that she had failed miserably, and would now pay for that failure with her life?

Had she lost? What would happen to the Pack? Would they now pay for her ignorance with their lives?

She would have screamed out her frustration and agony if she could have found her vocal cords, but she was no longer even a part of her own body. She was separate and lost. No way of finding her way back. No way of ridding her mind of the power that was demanding an exit that she couldn't give it, and promising to claim her life in retaliation of her inability to finish what she had begun.

She could sense the end close at hand. The fire that had raged into an inferno and was preparing to destroy the one who had created it.

And then something happened. Something she hadn't expected. A second force, a second but familiar consciousness coming up alongside hers. Brushing her tortured and raw mind with the memory of silken fur upon skin. The cool kiss of a dawn spent together in a time that seemed so long ago, but in actuality, had only been a few days past.

Sophia felt as if her soul was literally breaking into a million pieces as Luke wrapped her up tightly in the soothing embrace of his mind. Easing her burden, by taking some of it upon himself.

She couldn't even begin to imagine the strength and determination it must have taken for him to do that. To sacrifice so much. He hadn't been chosen to shoulder such a burden. Didn't possess the ability to deal with it. But despite all of that, he was with her now.

Simply because, somehow, someway, he had known she was in trouble. And he had entered the very fires of hell to come in after her.

Even if in doing so, he knew he would be committing suicide if she didn't find the answer that they all sought to the question as to whether or not they would live to see the morning.

That was how much faith he had placed in her.

Sophia felt a rise of her own determination as she began to struggle to hold on. Casting away her own sense of hopelessness, in an attempt to understand what had went wrong. She couldn't let herself doubt like that again. This was the right path, and like all true paths, there was a way through it… she just had to discover it.

By throwing his strength in behind hers, Luke had provided her with enough relief to begin to think clearly. But with every moment that passed, it was one less than what her and Luke could afford.

Giving up, she finally quit trying to figure it out on her own, knowing she would never find the answer to it in time, and reached out to that other aspect of her soul. The part of her that was wolven, and to something else that had told her in a dream that she would always be with her.

And she felt that something reciprocate. Reaching out to touch her briefly with a memory and a sense of what she was looking for. Leaving behind a feeling of calm and peacefulness and strength. Allowing her to push away into a distant recess of her mind the ecstasy and agony beating at her soul. The knowledge that only she could complete the circle begun, and pressing her to finish it. Once and for all.

…Abilities you never could have dreamed of will rise to the surface to aid you, and powers that your Clan have believed dead ever since the migration to the New World, will also become known…

…A mystery of the Pack's past will be revealed and answered, and all of this will happen through you…

And that was when Sophia felt it. Sensed it. Sensed them. Their power swelling, merging, joining. Called by hers in desperation, even across the borders of isolation and disbelief and the span of time.

…A mystery…

And it came. A constant outpouring of hundreds across a new and foreign mind-merge from thousands of miles away. Forming a separate and distinct sphere core, and then intermingling with the one already pulsing with life and raw intensity from within her. Doubling the strength of her Pack… with the merging of theirs.

…believed dead…

Sophia couldn't stop to think about the ramifications of this revelation, for her path's opening had just been revealed to her.

Gathering up all the strength that flowed within her, she mentally knocked Luke's presence aside. Knowing that if she didn't, the increase in wolven power would crush his mind instantaneously.

She shot away from him. From her own mind. Surrounded with the force of not one but two different Packs. Both believers that they were the last of their kind. Alone in the world. Brought together finally by circumstances that would reveal their presence to the other, with the death of an ancient enemy that had spilt them apart to begin with, hundreds of years ago.

She couldn't help but think how fitting that was. How… predictable.

Sophia felt their combined force swirl up from within her. Pressure mounting. Power increasing. Emotion rising. All striving towards their goal.

And finally, when it reached the peak of its strength, it stilled. Falling silent. Going dark.

Waiting...

******

Back in Sophia's human form, her lids flickered open. Eyes focusing with a brilliant clarity as they burned like liquid molten. A golden light that pierced the surrounding darkness, but paled in comparison to the crystal hanging from around her neck that was literally blazing out of control.

Drawing back up to her knees, she sat up and looked over at Luke, who was crumpled at her side. Unconscious but still breathing.

She reached out a slender hand, and gently touched his cheek. Her fingers cold against the warmth of his skin.

She seemed unaware of Damien standing nearby. Hand braced up on the trunk of a tree as he watched her with a mixture of disbelief, fear, hope, and awe present in his dark gaze.

Sophia tilted her head up to the night sky. Watching as the thick muting clouds up above raced by angrily. Wind around her picking up speed almost in defiance. Or maybe it was encouraging her. Symbolic of what burned restlessly beneath the surface of her flesh.

Her jaw clenched resolutely, and her fingers unconsciously tightened on Luke's arm. Knuckles going white. Anchoring herself to him in those last few moments.

Images of her dream of the village flashed by. The memory and sensation of the carnage that had surrounded her filling her mind with its gut-wrenching presence.

She wasn't going to let that happen again.

"It ends here."

With those words pushed past her dry lips, the stilled, waiting power came roaring back to life from inside her. Exploding outward. The pendant from around her neck flaring up as bright as a sun. Making visual sight impossible.

A haunting scream exited from the curved expanse of Sophia's throat as she tossed her head back against the shockwaves ripping through her… as the loosened power coursing from her body set upon the night purposely, after so many centuries of being restrained, with a vengeance that would not be denied.

******

I have to admit, I'm surprised." Eric stated calmly as he stood over the crumpled form of Matthew Donner. Hanging limply from his torn and still heavily bound wrists.

Despite his quick healing reflexes, blood coursed in rivulets down his naked body. Face a mass of cuts and bruises.

He had lost count of how many times he had felt the cut of a blade, or the black agony of his body being beaten yet again. As soon as one wound healed, another three replaced it in a never-ending hell of painful sensation.

But it had all faded away into nothingness. Telling Eric where he could locate the Pack was never even a consideration in his mind, and he held to that belief even in these final moments. He had sensed Eric's increasing boredom, and knew that the human male was preparing to make his last and fatal strike.

"I never expected you to take it this well. Part of me is starting to wonder if you really know anything at all." His smirk grew. "But that is a suspicion that will just have to remain between the two of us."

Matt didn't even try to answer. His head hung down low limply. Chin pressed into his chest, as his lids flickered shut. Waiting calmly for death to claim him with oblivion.

Which is why he didn't see the sudden flash of light that struck soundlessly at the base of Eric's neck, and the necks of the other Hunters with him. But he did pull his pain clouded gaze back up in time to watch Eric's body suddenly collapse in front of him. Following the sound of the others dropping as well.

Confused, he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He looked around, half expecting to see some of his own kind come slipping out from the tree line. Carrying some form of weapon or other that could have dropped the enemy so efficiently silent.

But no such event presented itself.

Looking back at Eric's limp body, slightly dumb-struck, his eyes widened subtly as he saw the gaping hole the size of one's fist that had been ripped out of his throat. The wound giving off the appearance and smell of having been cauterized from the inside out. Burning the exposed tissue before it ever even had a chance to bleed openly.

But that wasn't what captured his attention. What did was the presence of a strange metallic colored, disc shaped mineral the size of one's thumb, buried directly in the center of the wound. Smoke trailing up from its suddenly flickering core, as thin filaments of what looked like reddish black energy chased across the smooth surface. Dancing and hissing as the pulses began to slow down, and then finally come to a stop.

But with the sudden normalcy of the unobtrusive looking stone, he watched as it suddenly began to disintegrate. The hard material breaking apart to suddenly transform into gray dust.

Finally the strange performance ended. Leaving Matt to wonder whether or not he may have imagined it in his body's pain-racked state.

But the presence of the charred and broken leather strips that the cloaking stones had been threaded upon, that still clung to what was left of their necks was more than enough proof to show him that he was most definitely still in possession of his right mind.

******

Sherman still had the small group of children clustered around him. Still had the protective shield covering them all. Not only keeping them safe from the weapons of the Hunters surrounding them, but also hiding them from view.

But Sherman wasn't too sure how much longer he could hold out.

Sweat beaded its way across his forehead. Dripping down the sides of his face, and into his eyes. Burning persistently. He held as long as he could. Sending silent prayers upwards in the hopes that it would be enough. Enough time for the tides to turn. Enough time for the enemy to fall, and the moon to set.

The shield stuttered, causing the children to whimper in fear. Not fully understanding what was happening, but knowing that their Keeper was fighting to keep them safe from the enemy.

The shield stuttered again, and Sherman clenched his jaw. Throwing everything he had left in behind it. Draining what remained of his strength for a few more precious minutes.

Then it flickered, stuttered again, and then died all together. Leaving them all vulnerable to the night.

Sherman accepted the inevitable and prepared to be met with the sounds of yet more gun fire as the Hunters finished them all off.

But instead, he was met with the scenes of surrounding carnage. Both Skinwalker and Hunter.

Observing the sight of the burnt out holes in the necks of the deceased Hunters, he also took in the bullet ridden bodies of the dozen so Pack members strewn out across the blood soaked ground. Swallowing painfully as he heard the children behind him start to cry hysterically.

He didn't move to comfort them. Instead, he turned his focus back to the dead Hunters, and then up to the night sky grimly, as the thick clouds suddenly began to part.

******

Almost as soon as it had begun, it ended.

Sophia's head fell back forward limply. The echoes of her scream still sounding in the forest surrounding her.

As soon as the joined power had accomplished its job, it began to split apart all on its own. Returning to its individual owner. Leaving Sophia with a yawning dark cavern in her mind. Mysteriously devoid of all pain or blinding light. Leaving her in darkness.

It was over. The link had been severed.

The Hunters were dead.

Forcing herself to look up at the night sky, she watched with a sense of euphoria as the clouds up above finally parted. Revealing the night sky to her eyes once more.

But instead of the view of the crimson colored moon from the Prophecy meeting her gaze, she was met with the sight of a brilliant white moon that shone down upon the forest with a familiar glowing brilliance that had never been more precious to her than in that moment.

Smiling faintly, she allowed herself to succumb to the sudden exhaustion beating at her. Secure in the knowledge that everything was going to be okay now.

Body crumpling once more as blessed unconsciousness claimed her, she landed on her side. One slender palm turning up, fingers gently curved inwards, towards the moonbeams shining down through the tree limbs, as it fell limply into the crushed brown leaves underneath her. Dark hair fanning out around her head, as the moonlight caressed the line of her cheek.

And the crystal from around her neck ceased it subtle flickers of light from within, and returned back to its normal appearance. Polished, faceted sides naturally reflecting the soft glow from above.

******

When Luke finally stirred awake, it was to a skull-shattering headache that would put any hang-over to shame, and only vague memories of what had happened after his encounter with 'Rianna'.

Remaining on his back, he slowly opened his eyes, and his pain was momentarily forgotten as he was met with the vision of the revealed night sky above. Complete with a natural white moon, with no unnatural discoloration at all.

The ramifications of this struck him quickly, and he turned his head to look at Sophia. Still lying where she had fallen just moments ago.

And she didn't appear to be breathing.

His heart literally ceased to beat for several seconds, and when it finally did start up again, it was accompanied with a growing sense of panic.

Later he wouldn't even remember moving. One minute he was a few feet away from her, still laying on his back. The next he was kneeling in the dirt and cradling her in his arms. Ear pressed to her chest in desperation. His lips chanting her name in soft, pleading litany, as he tucked her freezing, unresponsive body into the warmth of his own.

He was breathing so heavily, it took him a moment to realize that, although she was not moving, he could discern the subtle but steady beat of her heart, the shallow breaths that she drew, and the life that he could still feel pulsing through their restored mental link.

Heart beat slowing down from it frantic pace, Luke took in a deep, calming breath, and forced the muscles of his body to relax. Ignoring Damien – who was currently squatting down a few feet away, resting on the balls of his feet as he continued to watch them – and still clinging tightly to the woman cradled across his lap and in his arms.

"Is she alive?" There was no hint of emotion whatsoever in Damien's softly spoken words.

Luke nodded grimly, and looked back up at the night sky visible through the towering treetops. Seeing that the now-normal moon was beginning to set, and the dawn of a new day was beginning to lighten the midnight colored horizon.

He held Sophia's unconscious body to him in complete silence. Refusing to believe in any other possibility, than that of her awakening and returning to him.

He watched as the dawn began to chase away the shadows of the night. Bringing with it the sound of the daytime creatures of the forest awakening and the birds beginning to sing out their songs.

He watched as Damien quietly slipped away. Giving them the privacy and space that they needed as he went off on his own.

He watched as the moon disappeared, and the sun rose. Heralding the beginning of a new day.

And he watched as Sophia's eyes finally began to flutter open groggily. The light of awareness that came to those eyes when she remembered where she was, and what had happened.

He watched the welcoming smile that came into that honey-brown gaze, glimmering up at him in the purity of the early morning light. And the way that his name was the first word formed by that petal soft mouth.

And he submersed himself in the sensation of bringing those lips to his in a kiss that tasted of his relief and desire and the promise of a new beginning for them all.

******

Dr. Steven Harris's mouth thinned slightly as he listened to what was being said on the other line of his cell, before slowly pulling it away from his ear, and snapping it closed.

Turning around, he whispered something silently to one of his men, who nodded in consent and turned away. Giving the order to evacuate the woods surrounding the town.

But before Steven slid into the back seat of his own personal vehicle, he took one last moment to look out over the quickly awakening town. The sun's rising casting light across the houses and streets and buildings. Catching in the ripples upon the lake in blinding defiant flashes of light.

He remembered back on just how close he had been a few days ago to having all the information that he needed from his examination of that white wolf, before that strange human male, who was more than just a mere man, had managed to escape with his strongest piece of captured live evidence yet.

Nevertheless, he had gathered enough to begin his work, but in order to pursue his answers, he would have to leave Wolf Lake for the time being… But he would be back, once everything was ready.

And he wouldn't need the blood thirsty and fanatical Hunters to provide the way for him.

Soon, he silently swore to himself, all his hard work would pay off. Soon, the human Society that he was working for would have the proof that they needed. Soon the Skinwalkers would no longer be able to hide beyond the cloak of their mysterious town.

Soon, the rest of the world would know their secrets. Their gifts and their abilities.

And their personal demons he would know intimately. And in so doing, reveal the ultimate truth.

It was just a matter of waiting for the right moment. The correct leverage…

And the perfect weapon.

His lips twisted up slightly at the corners humorlessly as he slid into the waiting car. Careful not to jostle his bandaged shoulder and accompanying sling. Compliments of the bullet hole that that man/wolf thing protecting the white Skinwalker female had pumped into him.

He had spent almost his entire life, in restless search of the truth. But, when it came right down to it, Dr. Steven Harris was nothing if not capable of being a very patient man.

******

(Soundtrack Suggestion – "Everything" by Lifehouse on the albums "No Name Face" and the "Smallville Soundtrack"  It took me a long time to figure out which song I wanted to use for this following scene… I bounced back and forth between several for a LONG time, before finally coming across this piece… and it just fit it perfectly. Lyrics, vocals, and the slow beat that can almost disappear into the background, that suddenly picks up at the very end with a climatic sounding finale that sends a shiver down one's spine, without being too overpowering or too fast… Love it, just love it…)

//Find me here… speak to me...//

He had found her. Of course, she acknowledged silently to herself, if he was still alive, she had known he would.

//I want to feel you… I need to hear you…//

Presley took in a breath as she beat back the intense wave of relief that she felt flow through her body and tremble in her already exhausted muscles upon the sight of him. Slowly slipping away from the surrounding trees and into the opening to meet her. Dark eyes shadowed in his pale face, even in the early morning light.

//You are the light… that is leading me…//

Presley and Vivian had answered the private mental call for assistance from Matt, and had made their way back to his location in a very short amount of time.

The memory of the determination and strength in Vivian's human form as they both had maintained a break-neck pace the entire way, leaping over brush and collapsed trees, ducking under branches and following almost nonexistent deer trails, was something that would be with her for a long time to come.

She could still hear them a little ways behind her. Talking softly with one another as Vivian managed to release him from his bonds, and tended to the most severe aspects of his wounds.

Although she was baffled by the deaths of the Hunters, she wasn't really ready to focus on figuring it out just yet. She was just relieved that it was finally over. Matt had already called the entire Pack back to Wolf Lake. They would all be back home by late afternoon. And then, everything would go back to normal.

If there was such a thing.

Presley had stepped away to give Matt and Vivian their privacy. Knowing that this was a moment between them that needed to be kept personal.

And that was when he came to her.

//…to the place where, I find peace again…//

Squeezing her glittering eyes closed against the burning relief she felt under her lids, she reopened them as she sensed him stop a few feet away from her.

//You are the strength… that keeps me walking...//

"You're alive." she whispered in awe. Stepping closer to reach out a trembling hand to touch his cheek in disbelief. Her fingertips moved of their own violation to caress the line of his mouth. Feeling the velvet firmness of his lips beneath her touch.

//You are the hope… that keeps me trusting…//

He let her touch him, but made no move to reciprocate.

Presley's hand dropped away, and her eyes wandered over his form. Taking in his free-flowing mass of hair, dusty clothing, and what smelled faintly of blood. But not his. None of it his.

//You are the life to my soul... You are my purpose…//

And most importantly, the lack of that damning pendant from around his neck.

//You are everything…//

She brought her eyes back up meet his. Heart aching at the cold bleakness she saw reflected there… and she knew. She knew then that he had come to say goodbye.

He was leaving her.

//And how can I stand here with you…//

In a way, he was already gone.

//…and not be moved by you…?//

Damien barely managed to keep from flinching from the pained awareness he suddenly saw blazing in her eyes, and he knew then that she understood what he had sought her out to do. Knew why he had come to her this one last time.

//Would you tell me, how could it be any better than this?//

"Why?"

Damien swallowed reflexively when he heard the pain in her one word question, but his gaze never wavered.

//You calm the storms…//

"You don't want me, Presley. You have no idea what I'm capable of doing. What I've done. Although the struggle within my mind and heart has died, there is a darkness present in my soul that will never leave me. There will always be a piece of what I used to be residing there. Haunting me."

//You give me rest…//

Presley started to shake her head in denial, but Damien stopped her from trying to respond. His accent thickening till it carried that strange quality of velvet rasping over stone. "I am the last of my brethren, Presley. The only survivor left of hundreds. There is much I have to atone for, and I cannot do so if I remain here. If I did, you would always be at risk. There is much still left of my father's influence in this world, that has to be dealt with. There are documents that need to be destroyed. Paper trails that need to be eliminated. I can't just walk away from all that."

//You hold me in your hands…//

"But you'll come back, right? When you've done what you need to do, you'll come back to me?" Presley couldn't hide the slight tremor to her words, as she stood in front of him. Heart exposed. Hands fisted at her sides. Nails biting into her palms.

//You won't let me fall…//

Damien was silent for a moment. Searching for the right words, and at the same time, battling his own desires.

//You still my heart…//

"I don't know how long it will take," he admitted. "Or if it will ever even be enough."

Presley's eyes suddenly flared up challengingly.

//And you take my breath away...//

"Enough for what, Damien? For you to stop blaming yourself? Or to stop running from whatever demons you believe to be in your past?"

His dark eyes narrowed. "You don't know what you're talking about, Presley. What you are risking by wanting to be with me."

"Oh, don't I?" she shot back. "You're a liar, Damien. You're lying to me, which is bad enough, but most importantly you're lying to yourself!"

Damien moved so quickly, she didn't even have a chance to react. One minute they were facing each other off, and the next he had hauled her up against him. Body pressing aggressively, possessively into hers, as his gaze burned down at her in suppressed fury and passion.

Presley didn't even wince at the strength he exhibited, but glared up into his eyes angrily. Trying to ignore the sudden flames of desire licking at her skin from the feeling of his body against hers. She couldn't believe he was doing this. Not after everything that they had been through. And she hated him for it. But more than anything, she hated the way her heart was breaking. Betraying her in a way she had never thought possible.

//Would you take me in…?//

"What do you want from me, Presley?" His black eyes simmered down at her. The coolness of his gaze had been chased away by the flames she saw burning there now.

"I want the man that stood with me on that cliff overlooking that forsaken town." she shot back. "I want the man that risked his life to save all of us. I want the man that I walked with and bared my soul to! I want you, Damien!" She fell silent for a moment. Eyes shifting over his face as she watched his reaction to her words. She swallowed nervously, before dropping the tone of her voice down an octave.

"And I know, without a doubt, that you want me, too."

//Would you take me deeper now…?//

His grip tightened to the point of pain. As he subtly inhaled her scent. The chemistry arching between them like a living thing, even as he sought to deny it. "Oh really? You seem to forget how easy it is for me to pretend, Presley. To be what I am not. To feel what I don't."

Presley shook her head vigorously. Throat constricting. "Not with me."

"Yes, with you!" Damien hissed. Almost shaking her to drive his point home. "Especially with you! Damn it, did you think that everything that came about, happened by chance? I allowed Eric to torture you. I made you think that I had rescued you, when in fact, all I was doing was following my father's orders. I played you, just as I played everyone else in my scheme to be free of my father's legacy! I implanted a microchip in you, Presley, so my father could track you and fall right into my hands. Why the hell would you think that any of the rest of what happened between us would be real?"

"You weren't responsible for my capture–" Presley started to deny hoarsely.

"That's just it, I was. I knew about the Meeting that your Pack was having that night. I even pointed you out to Eric. He originally was gunning for Sophia, but I ordered him to select you instead for capture, before going back to the Warehouse and preparing for your arrival." His words fell like gunshots. Dashing all her hopes and emotions away harshly, like a cold, unfeeling sea against the rocks.

Presley's face paled significantly, and Damien's grip gentled as he realized that she was finally starting to hear him. "Yes. Now you're finally beginning to understand. I chose you, to be victimized and played. I planned it all, Presley. Everything from your kidnapping to killing my father. Right down to every single moment. And I did a damn good job of it, too."

He didn't tell her though, that falling in love with her had never been a part of his plan. That his heart, did, indeed, belong to her. But that was something he wouldn't even admit to himself.

Presley didn't respond. But Damien watched as a single tear began its descent down the side of her silken cheek. And he felt it like a blow to the gut.

But there was no other choice. He couldn't stay with her. He felt too much when in her presence. And it hurt to greatly to be reminded of what he could never have.

Slowly, his fingers began to loosen on their grip. Stepping away, he turned his face from her.

"So you see, Presley… things are never what they seem."

//Would you take me in…?//

Presley felt as if someone had ripped her soul out.

"I am the last person you should ever trust." He continued hoarsely. Eyes burning into hers as he turned back. Feeling a part of him that had come back to life when he had first touched her, beginning to die once more.

"Fine." Presley suddenly spat out. Eyes going blank as the lines of her face suddenly hardened. "You want me to believe you are a monster, Damien, fine. Then tell me once and for all… when we kissed yesterday afternoon, out on that cliff… was that all part of your plan? Your act? Did you feel nothing? Do you feel nothing when you are with me?"

//Would you take me deeper now…?//

He just stood there. Watching her helplessly. Not moving. Not speaking.

But his silence gave her the answer she sought, and she knew understood more than he wanted her to, what he was trying to accomplish by speaking to her thus.

Presley nodded in dawning awareness. Lips twisting up mockingly. "You see? Now you're beginning to understand me. You can say whatever you want. Do whatever you want. You can try to push me away by revealing to me everything that you just did, but in the end, it doesn't matter. You need me, Damien. Because I'm the only one that has ever seen who you really are... And that scares the hell out of you."

'Cause you're all I want!!

Damien visibly flinched. Breath coming raggedly as the impact of her words cut him right to the core. Leaving him defenseless.

Not trusting himself to respond, he took a step back. Black, haunting eyes tracing over her features one last time, before he turned around and walked away.

You are all I need!!

Presley watched the lines of his retreating back. The suppressed tears finally beginning to slide down her face. A small hand pressing against her chest almost in an attempt to keep the sensation of her heart being ripped out at bay, as a silent sob caught in her throat as she watched him disappear into the shadows of the forest, and out of her life.

You are everything!! Everything!!

Damien didn't look back. He didn't falter. Didn't pause. Didn't allow himself to feel the pain leaving her provoked. He had always been efficient at blocking out unwanted emotions, and this time was no different.

But he couldn't stop her last spoken words from echoing permanently in his head. The scent of her that lingered in his mind, or the havoc that had been inflicted upon his body from the feel of the warmth of her skin pressed to his.

Or the sight of that solitary tear lingering on the smooth expanse of her cheek, or the brand of her fingertips as they had traced a path over his lips.

Or the fact that he was suddenly finding it more and more difficult to draw breath, the further and further the distance between them grew.

But he never turned back.

'Cause you're all I want!!

You are all I need!!

You are everything!!

Everything…

You are all I want!

You are all I need!!

You are everything!!

Everything…

******  

(One Week Later…)

Sophia frowned softly to herself from where she was perched on a barstool in the Diner, as she read an article published on the front cover of the "Wolf Lake Post". The afternoon sun's golden light filtering through the old blinds to cast a play of striped shadows and light across the interior of the deserted restaurant.

Mass Suicides Continue to Baffle the Police

In a report released just yesterday, an FBI official stated

that the recent outbreak of mass suicides in the woods surrounding

the small, quiet  town of Wolf Lake appear to be the

workings of a fanatical cult.

They are 'unofficially' connecting the suicides with the strange

occurrence of the moon appearing to be tinted red that shone

for several nights over the town, and will continue to do so unless

new evidence is provided.

Local Astronomers state that the unpredicted

night view was caused by an unusual high level of natural pollution

and haze in the earth's atmosphere, and does not appear

to have been witnessed by anyone

else in the world.

Police are refusing to say just how exactly the suicides were

carried out, but some local eye witnesses say that it appeared as

if they had strapped some sort of small explosive device

to the base of their necks.

Police are also refusing to release an exact number of bodies still

in the process of being recovered, but they estimate

that it will be in the hundreds.

Further updates will be made available to the public as

they happen…

Sophia sighed as she dropped the paper back onto the counter, and massaged the muscles in the back of her neck tiredly. Turning just in time to watch Luke as he strolled in through the door. Bell above jingling with his entrance.

Spotting her, he smiled slightly and turned to walk towards her. Chiseled face incredibly intense, as he literally seemed to stalk towards her. Dressed simply in black jeans and a white t-shirt that clung to the hard planes of his chest like a second skin.

Sophia couldn't help but feel her heart flutter in her breast at the sight of him. Sometimes, it felt as if the last few weeks hadn't been real. That none of it had actually happened. That all the surrounding events had been a dream. Everything from her Flip, to the Hunters, to her and Luke having gotten together.

But the continuing flood of Media that had infiltrated Wolf Lake in the last week, was all the reminder she needed to know that it all had very much occurred.

The large bunch of Reporters were all here to get the scoop on one of the largest mass suicides ever reported, and Matt had ordered everyone in the Pack to lay low. He had forbidden any Changing or runs till after the vultures were through circling. And it was a situation that none of them were pleased about, but weren't about to disobey. Not after the close call that they had all experienced.

"Hey," Luke greeted as he slinked up to her barstool. An almost devilish glint came to his eyes, even as the hard planes of his face softened in welcome relief.

Sophia smiled back almost shyly, heart still fluttering strangely. A smile that morphed into a gentle gasp, as he suddenly pressed his lips to hers. Tongue skillfully slipping through her parting lips to mate with her own hungrily. His taste was dark and sensual and everything right in the world, and one she just wanted to drown into forever.

At the same time, his hands came down securely on the gentle curve of her hips as he hoisted her up. Waiting patiently as her arms looped automatically around his neck, before taking a few steps with her in his arms. Her feet dangling a few inches off the ground.

Sophia grinned a little wickedly against their still joined lips, getting past her initial shyness, as she felt the muscles of his shoulders clench under her slender palms as he lifted her higher, setting her derriere down gently on the counter, as his body pressed in aggressively against hers. Kiss deepening seductively, as his palms slid down her thighs, grasping her knees, and gently urging them to part for him. He stepped into the enticing vee that they created, and brought their bodies flush up against each other. Eyes burning gold fire down intently at her.

Breaking the kiss a little breathlessly, Sophia tossed her head back and laughed softly at his version of a greeting. Knowing that her eyes were glowing faintly in response. He gently nipped the curve of her exposed throat in mock retaliation… A grin spreading across his face as well, as the almost predatory set to his mouth and glint to his eyes slipped away, but still present in the hardness of his body against hers.

"Good evening to you, too." Sophia chuckled. Relaxing in his arms as she leaned her cheek against his chest. Listening to the steady rhythm of his heart beat. Something told her that being with him would always make for an interesting day… and night.

"So far this is the only good thing about it." he groused darkly.

"Uh, oh." Sophia replied teasingly. "What happened this time?"

"Oh, just those damn reporters." He growled. "If they don't learn to start minding their own business, I think I'm going to be rather inclined to give them something to really write about."

Sophia chuckled at his expression of distaste. "They'll go away eventually. They always do."

He grunted. "Not soon enough." Hands slid back up her thighs to press gently into her back.

Sophia didn't answer. She just snuggled closer. Pressing her lips against the pulse beating in the hollow of his throat, right below his Adam's apple. She felt more than saw him smile at the ticklish sensation.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked gently. Large hands stroking the small of her back in a sensual, relaxing movement he knew she loved.

"Better." she admitted. "I still don't remember much about that night. It's still kinda hazy, but my strength is starting to return."

Sophia's mind and body had been in desperate need of rest, and she had been in and out of consciousness for several days following that fateful night.

And it was really only in the last couple of days that she had been out and about. As long as she took breaks once in a while for short naps, and didn't participate in any strenuous activity, she did fine.

"Good." Luke teased good-naturedly. "Because I've really missed being with you."

Sophia shivered as she felt his teeth suddenly rasp over the tiny shell of her ear. "You have been with me." She reminded him pointedly. "You never even left my side most of this week."

"You know what I mean." he whispered. Tongue flicking out to stroke the tender area over her pulse.

"Do I?" Sophia asked innocently. Purposely baiting him, even though she knew exactly what he had meant. She had missed being joined with him as well, and the lack of that recently had been beating at her all day. Aching deep in her soul.

Luke stroked her pulse again with his tongue in answer, before suddenly biting down. Testing her flesh. Hard enough to sting, but without breaking the tender skin.

Sophia gasped sharply, as she arched into him instinctively. Pressing closer to him as he grinded his lower body against hers. Sending darts of desire through her body like liquid lightening. The sensation of the hardness of his desire against her core, and the hardness of the bar underneath her providing her with a completely different meaning to the phrase, 'Caught between a Rock and a Hard Place.'

She couldn't help but grin secretively at her own private joke. She could already tell that he was beginning to have a bad influence on her.

After a moment, Luke reluctantly pulled away, putting a few inches between them. Sensing that, although her desire was as strong as his, she was still incredibly weak, and not up to the 'strenuous activity' that would most definitely ensue if this game of truth or dare continued to play out much further.

Sophia growled softly in frustration, but allowed him to pull away nonetheless. She wouldn't let him escape entirely, though. She kept her face tucked into the curve of his throat. Closing her eyes in relaxation as she listened to him breath in and out.

"There's something I've been wanting to discuss with you." Luke said slowly. Arms wrapping themselves loosely around her waist.

"Hmm." Sophia grunted, still keeping her eyes closed. Damn, he smelled so good. She could just stay like this forever.

"I was thinking, what with the mating ceremony coming up for Ruby and John, if maybe we shouldn't be planning something similar for ourselves."

Sophia's lids cracked open slightly.

Luke continued. Voice nonchalant. "I mean, we're already mated in the eyes of the Pack anyway. It would only make sense for us to complete the ceremony."

Sophia picked up her head and looked at him warily. "What are you trying to say, Luke?"

He gazed back at her far too innocently for his own good. "I'm saying that you're the only one I want to be with, Soph. The only one that I want to have as my mate. And I want it to be understood that I won't let anyone come between us. Ever."

Luke still remembered all too well what he had done to Alex. In fact, most of the Pack knew now of what had happened. But he didn't want to take the chance that history might repeat itself, and that is exactly what would happen if he allowed Sophia to run around unmated officially.

Sophia swallowed nervously. Still looking up at him with those wide brown eyes.

Luke suppressed a sigh as he looked back down at her with something akin to amusement. Even after everything they had been through, and everything she had done, the idea of publicly committing herself to him in front of the entire Pack was currently making her turn an interesting shade of green.

"Wh -why?" she stuttered slightly. "I mean, we're still pretty young, Luke. And we've only been together for a short time. Shouldn't we just take it easy for a bit? Let things settle down first?"

"Baby, you're trying to place it in the same category as a human wedding. It's nothing like that. All it is, is a public ceremony in front of the entire Pack, announcing the bond that has already been created between us."

Sophia didn't respond. And the Diner fell quiet for a moment.

Luke suddenly blinked. "Is there someone else in the Pack you would prefer to mate with?"

"No! Or course not!"

"Then is it possible that you're already becoming bored with me?"

"No, Luke. That's not it at all! You are the only one that I want to be with." Sophia groaned inwardly. She didn't want him think she didn't care for him. Truth was, she was frightened by the intensity of her feelings for him sometimes. She had never known that loving someone like this would be like this. This…overwhelming.

Luke's tone softened slightly, as he hugged her closer. "Then what is it that bothers you about making our relationship official by the Pack's laws? We've already made the commitment to each other."

Sophia hesitated. How could she put this, without him taking it the wrong way?

"It's just been a very hectic couple of weeks, Luke. I need time to think. To recover. Can't we just take things slow for a while, before we go and make such big decisions that will effect the rest of our lives?"

Sophia saw a muscle jump in his cheek, and suppressed a wince. Afraid that he would be upset with her.

"You're right." He agreed suddenly. Surprising her. "It has been a rather messed up time, hasn't it? If it is what you want, then we can take things slower."

Sophia almost sagged with relief, and quickly hugged him to her. Suddenly able to breath easier.

Luke held her for a moment, before pulling away. His fingers coming up to gently grasp her chin, as he peered into her face intently. Pale green eyes glittering faintly. "But not too slow, Sophia. I'm willing to provide you with enough time to let all of this sink in, and for you to make up your mind about what you want to do. But I will ask you again one day soon. And I'll expect you to say yes."

Sophia blinked at the frankness of his words, and then nodded solemnly. Knowing that he had never been more serious about something that he was in that moment.

The corners of Luke's lips curled upwards in a small smile of satisfaction as he softly pressed his lips to hers in an almost chaste kiss, before letting his fingers fall away from her chin. Still observing her as closely as she was him.

******

"So you're saying that Tyler really was working for the Hunters?" Ruby asked Sherman, as her, Sherman, and John walked down the street that cut through the heart of the town.

"Yes, he was. Just not in the way you're thinking."

"Then what way?" John asked. Arm wrapped around Ruby's shoulders securely.

"He was pretending to work for David Van Halen, but, in actuality, he was in league with Damien. Everything that he did, from capturing Sophia, to 'helping' David locate your group that night, was all with the purpose of deceiving the Hunters and the Pack long enough for everything to fall into place."

"So he never really did turn against us." Ruby mused softly.

"No, he didn't. Although I suspect that the number he did on John outside your cabin was personal, even if everything else was not."

John grimaced at the memory, but didn't say anything.

Ruby shook her head. "I didn't even realize it."

Sherman shrugged. "Don't feel too badly about it, Ruby. I doubt anyone could ever conceive entirely of what goes on in Creed's mind. He's a law onto himself, always has been. Always will."

"Does anyone have any idea where he's gone off to?" John asked. Looking over at Sherman.

"No. He's left Wolf Lake… that much is certain. I don't know where he might have disappeared to. Or if he'll ever even come back."

"He will. Tyler was never one to just simply run away." Ruby assured. Mouth thinning at the idea of the tension that his return would cause. She was sure that the only reason why John was even still alive was because Tyler had sensed that she was pregnant. That would have been the only thing that would have stopped him from killing his rival, and claiming her once more as his mate.

She was still surprised that he had been that decent to begin with. She never would have thought him capable of it. Maybe it had more to do with the fact that he wouldn't want to raise another man's young as his own, as he would be forced to do if he killed John. Or maybe… maybe he had finally made up his mind to let her go.

She sub-consciously pressed a palm to her still flat stomach. Wondering for the hundredth time if the twins were boys or girls.

They walked in silence for a while, before John brought up another subject he had been wondering about.

"When was it that you heard from Damien?"

"A couple of days ago. He sent me a packet, post-marked from Russia, that had some of the ancient Skinwalker documents that have been lost to us till now. Part of his father's personal collection, from what I gathered. It's made for some very interesting reading material. Did you know that – "

Ruby groaned. "Oh, don't you even dare get started, Blackstone! I've had enough of prophecies, and destinies, and all the rest of that stuff to last me for this month, thank you very much. Just… keep it to yourself. Please."

Sherman smirked. "Very well. But you don't know what you're missing."

"That's kinda the point." Ruby growled back at him darkly.

"That reminds me. How are the preparations coming for the mating ceremony for you two?"

Ruby sighed. Giving up on trying to understand his sudden shifts in a conversation. "Matt wants us to wait till things settle down around here first, before it is performed. And as there really isn't much to do by way of getting ready, we really haven't concerned ourselves with it just yet."

John leaned over to nuzzle the side of her cheek. "At least you can get to wear your mother's dress finally."

Ruby smiled. And then looked back over to Sherman. Thinking of something. Mood growing serious for a brief moment.

"How are the children doing?"

Sherman became serious. "As well as can be expected, I guess. They've been adopted into other, familiar homes within the Pack. But it's still hard. They have a lot that they're going to have to work through when the time comes."

John frowned slightly. "I'm still confused as to just how you managed to save them."

Sherman didn't respond. He acted as if John had said nothing at all. Even ignoring him when the younger man growled in frustration. Even though Sherman did smile secretively to himself upon hearing the familiar sound. He had heard it enough times over the last few months since the beginning of John's frustrating quest for Ruby in Wolf Lake.

"You're not ever going to say what it was that you did, are you?" John finally asked bluntly. Glowering at his soon-to-be-wife as she snickered shamelessly at his aggravation. Knowing all too well how horrible Sherman could be about keeping secrets.

"That's right." Sherman finally replied simply.

John muttered something under his breath that made Ruby break out laughing. Sherman's eyes widened in mock surprise.

"My dear John. I assure you, I may consider myself to be many things, but an old man is not one of them."

John just shook his head. Pulling Ruby with him as he turned down another road. This one heading to the Sheriff's Department. The sound of Ruby's laughter trailing behind them.

Sherman turned his head to watch them go, chuckling to himself, but still walking resolutely towards his original destination.

The Diner.

******

Sophia and Luke both looked towards the entrance of the Diner as Sherman came in. Smirking as he took in the view.

"Did I interrupt something?"

Blushing, Sophia pushed herself off the counter, as Luke stepped back a few inches. Meeting the Keeper's gaze frankly. Not inclined to feel that least bit embarrassed, about their insinuatingly compromised position.

Looking back down at Sophia's gently flushed face, he suppressed a grin of amusement, as he leaned closer to speak softly in her ear.

"I'll see you later. Remember to think about what about what I said, okay?"

Sophia nodded, still a little embarrassed to have been seen with him like that. She pressed a brief kiss to the corner of that intriguing mouth of his, as he began to walk away.

She watched him walk past Sherman, nodding once, before disappearing through the door.

Her line if sight then shifted to Sherman. Grinning openly at her.

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't start."

Sherman's eyes widened innocently. "I didn't say anything. I have nothing to say."

Sophia straightened her blouse, and ran her palms down her thighs self-consciously. "That would be a first."

"Yes, it would."

Sophia glared at him. But her lips couldn't help but twist up into a smile of their own violation.

Sherman smiled back. Still standing by the door. "Walk with me?"

Sophia looked around the Diner, and then nodded in agreement.

Exiting the Diner, they walked across the gravel parking lot in companionable silence. Sounds of the day coming to an end as the sun began its decent surrounded them. Mingling with the crunching of the gray and white rocks beneath their feet.

"How are you feeling?" Sherman asked curiously. Briefly studying her face in the light from the setting sun. She looked better than she had a few days back. The dark shadows under her eyes were finally fading, and she didn't look quite as pale. Quite as fragile, or as tired. He could see the spark of life coming back into her eyes, but he figured that had more to do with her private moment with Luke than anything else.

Still, she looked quite different. And the difference wasn't so much in her physical form, but in the way she carried herself. And what lay just beneath the surface.

She had made the transition from the uncertain girl to that of a strong young woman. And that certainty clung to her like frost to a leaf. Changing something considered ordinary by others, into something extraordinary to all who witnessed it. Subtle but nonetheless incredibly moving.

She was fulfilling her destiny, and her gentle strength was slowly flowing, unnoticed, through the Pack like a living, breathing thread. Finally beginning to stir in the light of revelation after an eternity in winter.

Yes, Sherman acknowledged. This young one's journey had just begun.

"Better. Still a little tired, though."

"That is to be expected, after what you accomplished.

Sophia was quiet for a moment, shielding her eyes with her hand against the bright yellow glow of the sun. Finally she asked a question that had been lingering with her for a few days.

"How is Presley doing?"

Sherman pressed his lips together grimly. "I don't know. She really isn't a mood to talk to anyone right now." he glanced back over to Sophia. "Maybe you cou–"

"No." Sophia cut him off firmly. Shooting him a subtle warning glance. "Presley and I may have come to a truce, but we are far from friends. I would only make her situation worse. She'll be okay. In time."

Sherman let out a breath in exasperation but didn't respond. Deciding to leave the still present tension between Sophia and Presley alone for the time being.

"Have you been able to do any research on what we talked about?" she suddenly asked nonchalantly, as they stepped over from the parking lot, and onto the concrete sidewalk. Going to no particular location as they walked through the town.

She listened as cars went by, horns beeping at each other. The sound of children running in and out of shops. Playing a game of tag as the various shop owners and workers chased them out. And heard various couples and families – Skinwalker and human – talking and laughing with one another. Greeting each other with friendly smiles and courteous waves.

Everything had resumed a normal pace for Wolf Lake. And so far, hardly any of them knew that the reason why it had, was because of the young woman currently walking through their mists with the town's local high school teacher at her side.

And they never would. The Pack knew something had happened. They had felt it when their mental abilities had been taken and combined and funneled into an unknown source. But it had been Sophia's wish that no one outside her immediate circle knew of the incidents of that night. Only Matt, Vivian, John and Ruby, Luke and Sherman knew the truth. And they had agreed to her wishes that it remain thus.

But only Sherman knew her other secret. The one that had revealed itself to her in the midst of that night's events. The one she had yet to reveal even to her father. Something told her that it was best not to just yet.

"Yes, I have. I've found a few references, but nothing solid just yet. Are you sure, Sophia, that it was a second Pack?"

"I'm positive. They're real, Sherman. I felt them. I connected with them." She grimaced suddenly. "If they're anything like this Pack, then there going to be searching for some answers as to what happened."

He took in a breath. "Well, there are a couple of journal entries in the some of the old texts recording the crossing to the New World back in the 1600s. Apparently, there were two ships, not one, that contained the last remnants of your species, under Rianna and her mate's rule. During a particularly nasty typhoon, one of the ships didn't make it. The other just assumed they were lost forever, and kept going till they reached the mainland. You know the rest."

Sophia mulled it over. "That's it, then. They didn't die… they lived. And somehow, they managed to make it to land. They probably thought that they were the last. Just like we did."

"I guess so."

Sophia turned to look at him. A frown of confusion suddenly forming between her brows. "Why aren't you more pleased about this? They're out there, Sherman! Another Pack. I would have thought you would have been ecstatic."

Sherman sighed. "I am happy that they survived, Sophia. But do you realize what kind of repercussions this will carry? Let's say that they are out there. First off, we have no way of getting in touch with them, no way of finding them. Second, even if we did, what is that going to do to the social structure of both of our Clans? We would have to come together, Sophia. And if that happens, you know as well as I, that it will be a blood bath! Hundreds of years have passed since both groups were separated. It isn't going to be pretty. Not on either side."

Sophia groaned. "I know it's going to be hard, but we don't have a choice. If you haven't noticed, the gene pool is getting kinda shallow around here, Sherman. I'm positive that is why we are losing so many of our youth to the Flip… It's the only thing that makes sense. We didn't always have this problem with the initial Change. And I'm willing to lay odds that they are dealing with the same problem too."

She stopped. Pulling Sherman to a halt beside her. "Don't you see? That's it. That's the answer to our survival. We've been isolated from each other for so long… if we come together now, it will save the future generations of our species."

Sherman quirked his brow. "Even if it means having to leave Wolf Lake to meet them half way?"

Sophia didn't even blink. "Some sacrifices might have to be made… It won't be easy, I know that. Change never is. But we're dying out, Sherman. If we are not willing to accept changes, then we'll be accomplishing the Hunters' work for them."

Sherman studied her for a moment, and then his eyes widened a fraction as something had finally just occurred to him.

"That's it." he whispered. Almost to himself.

"What? What's it?" Sophia frowned again.  "Sherman, what are you talking about?"

Sherman shook his head a bit before answering her. Humored disbelief present in his eyes. "That is why there are two of you, Sophia. You and Ruby. Not because of the Hunters, but because of this."

Sophia stilled. Listening to his words as other, more familiar ones echoed in her mind.

You two truly are two parts of the same whole, but yet, at the same time, so completely separate from one another. Diverse and unique. And it is these qualities that you both will bring to this time in your Pack's history, that will save them.

The Hunters are not the only dangers that you are faced with, they are not the only "Darkness" shadowing your people…

And then it finally clicked with her, what Sherman was getting at.

Swallowing nervously, she looked back up at Sherman. "And you think that there were two white females chosen for this… because…?"

"It makes perfect sense. The Prophecy wasn't specific enough for us to truly believe that the Hunters were the Darkness foretold. The whole thing about the Blood Moon and the deaths of some of our own, was just the turning point. The foretelling of what was to come. To show us when the real Darkness would begin to threaten... And to prepare the two of you for your combined destiny."

Sophia rubbed her forehead. Already feeling the headache beginning to form. But Sherman wasn't done. Not by a long shot.

 "You two were not chosen because of the struggle with the Hunters. As we've already seen, that would have been overkill. You handled that one all on your own, Sophia, without any help from Ruby's end. The real reason why two white female wolves were born instead of one, was because of this. Don't you see? You weren't both chosen to beat that faction of human butchers... You were chosen to battle the greatest threat of all to the Skinwalkers."

(Soundtrack Suggestion and Closing Theme – "Sunlight" by Natalie Imbruglia from the Album "White Lilies Island")

Today, we don't know who we are… Ashamed, hiding behind the scars…

Sophia eyed him cautiously. "Which is?"

And Sherman's answer was simple. Frank.

"Themselves."

Sophia blinked.

Sherman watched her for a moment, and then nodded satisfactory. Sensing that this was one of those moments where it was necessary for him to now leave her to think things through.

Before slinking off, though, he touched a finger to his temple in a mock salute.

"Boy, I'd hate to have your job. You've both got you're work cut out for you."

Too many times we let the things we feel, get in the way of letting us heal the wounds…

Sophia watched him walk away and disappear into the crowd. Her feet still rooted to the same spot he had left her in.

Running her hands helplessly through her long thick, dark mane, she finally forced herself to take a few steps in desperation. Trying to figure out in her chaotic mind what she needed to do next. Where she needed to go. She couldn't very well stay here… Standing out in the opening like an idiot. Staring at nothing.

That open in the dark…

And then that answer came to her.

Taking that idea and running with it, she turned away from the sidewalk and walked into the woods bordering the town. Knowing exactly where she needed to go in order to absorb what Sherman had just told her.

Coming upon her destination, she pushed aside some of the over-hanging tree limbs as she slid past them, and stepped up to the edge of the large expanse of the lake's waters. Looking out over the glittering depths as small waves gently slapped against the banks. Enticing her to step into their embrace.

Did you ever feel sunlight on your face…?

Did you ever taste clouds…?

Did you ever touch space…?

Did you ever feel sunlight on your face…?

Did you ever truly live…?

Kicking off her shoes, she did just that.

So walk, in time to life's refrain…

She didn't stop until the water was up to her waist. Gently caressing and lapping at her abdomen like the touch of a lover. Welcoming her home. Her feet sunk into the sandy bottom, like silt from an ocean.

And it was only then that she felt like she was finally able to breath. Free from the old concerns and the fears that Sherman's words had sparked within her.

Relax, don't do it to yourself again…

Arms fanning out to swirl in the water around her, she closed her eyes in rising contentment. Relaxing against the gentle pulse of the water against her lower body. Causing her to sway slightly in tune.

Decaying yourself with all the love you won't give… Killing yourself about the way you don't live now…

She knew in her heart that the words that Sherman had just spoken to her were correct. Knew that it was the truth. He was right… Everything that had happened over the last month, had been with the intent of preparing her and Ruby both for the trial ahead. And the Darkness that would never truly go away, for it was inherent in every one of them. Always would be.

Cause you're not gonna live forever…

Sophia suddenly smiled secretively, as she turned her head up to the sky. Feeling the warmth of the sun's caress upon her features, as her soul suddenly began to feel more at peace now, than it had this entire week.

Did you ever feel sunlight on your face…?

But that didn't mean that they couldn't find a way around it. After all, that was what hope was for. Hope for love… Hope for safety... Hope for freedom. The future presented so many different possibilities for every single one of them.

Did you ever taste clouds?

Did you ever touch space…?

And that future was finally theirs.

Did you ever feel sunlight on your face…?

And for her, for today, and for this moment… that was all that mattered in the world to Sophia Donner.

Did you ever just live?!!

And it was enough.

Did you ever feel sunlight on your face?

Did you ever breathe hope?

Did you ever dance with grace?

Did you ever feel sunlight on your face?

Did you ever truly live?

Did you ever touch the sky…?

Did you ever just feel so alive…?

Did you ever just live?

******

In the age of the Blood Moon, when its light will glow red from the spilled blood of the Ancestors, and the crimson of their Descendants will flow to stain the forest floor… the form of the white wolf will appear once again… But to battle the oncoming Darkness, it's soul will reside… not in the shell of One… but in that of Two…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

End of Season One

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well… (Sapphira drawls out dramatically) Second Season, anyone??? (wicked grin) No really, I want to know… should I continue with it…??? (Sapphira pondering her own question closely…)

~'~{*}~'~