Ashley Williams's Story

Lyra raised her eyebrow to Tabby's remark about a werewolf. The girl's entire situation was an oxymoron. Now this boy just added to it. She smiled as Gavin came back over, trying to catch his eye. "She's all yours," Lyra said, shifting closer to him slightly as she subtly tapped the back on his hand twice with her fingers. She smiled, meeting his gaze reassuringly. "If you need to talk later, we can do it with inside voices for once. We don't always have to start our venting sessions by yelling at each other," she whispered. Lyra chuckled, nodding to Gavin in her attempt of comfort. This would be good for the boy, but she did not want him to feel alone. She was always there for her packmates.

"Ray, don't you dare lose those tickets. Make sure you put them in your room somewhere safe, I'm not buying you another set!" she joked, waving to the group good-bye as she went to mingle with the remaining crowd. "And Kathy, if you want to come I'm sure we could fit you in the car too," she said, not wanting to leave the girl out. Although Lyra would not admit it vocally, she was hoping that Ray would want Lyra to bring her. The museum seemed very interesting!

Waving, Lyra set off. She chuckled to a joke as she passed by a group, glad to see everyone was having a good time even with all the chaos. Although she attempted to socialize, Lyra found herself in front of Kiyoshi before long, smiling up to him as she passed up an iced tea for him and herself and handed Ares a soda. "How are my boys enjoying themselves?" she asked, her mood as high as the moon. "This are getting quiet, the party will be over soon. It will be sad to see everyone go home." She sighed softly and looked down to Ares. He was still so shy and flinched every time someone accidentally bumped against his small body. With a teasing grin, Lyra placed her cup down and began to tickle the boy, hoping to incite pleasure and distraction from the fact the someone was touching him. "Ares, you are awfully quiet tonight, lighten up!"

---

Ash smiled to the conversation the Lost Boys, as she called them, were having, imagining the feast that Jason had wiggled out at the town. Whatever it was, he probably had more than enough to feed the entire pack in his one meal. She chuckled, her eyes closed as she lounged back in the grass for any attempt of a tan that could strike her pale skin. The sun felt wonderful, a warm blanket that gently kissed her skin as her mind wandered slightly. She wasn't very hungery, having opted out of the sausage and munched on a protein bar earlier in the day. Her own private stash, of course. The boys could keep their meat, even if their chatter of food made her stomach grumble.

Ash grinned to Winter's comment about the boys actually doing work for once. Hell would have to freeze over before that day came around, and even then it was risky. As the only female in the group, Ash felt like the den-mother at times, always needing to nag Craig, Drake, Niko, and Q-Ball to pick up after themselves. They were rogues, not slobs. At least that was what she scolded them.

At Jason's voice, Ash rolled over to her stomach and opened her crystal blue eyes to gaze sleepily into the camp, running her hand through her blonde hair to tussle it away from her face. She was just as surprised to see Jason back as the rest of them were, then again it would not have been a surprise if Jason had just taken off. But these Lost Boys were surprisingly loyal to each other, following Peter's, AKA Winter's, every command. Ash was the newbie to the group, having stumbled upon their little charade not long after abandoning her own pack and. . . others.

With an attention seeking yawn, Ash sat up and stretched her back, not wanting to be forgotten. Then again, in a pack of males a young, blonde, physically fit female was never easy to forget. "Oh Jason, stop teasing them," she moaned, rising as she joined the group and flashed Drake and Nico a smile. "That's my job, remember?" Ash laughed, leaning up against the van casually as she crossed her arms. "I hope you didn't forget to bring me home anything, though," she said coyly, twirling her hair around her slender fingers. "You promised you would, Jassy. And what did you find anyway? I'm just dying with anticipation," she moaned sarcastically.

Jason leered his eyes towards Ash as she got up. That she was a full twenty years his junior didn't really stop him from letting his imagination run wild after her. After all, for the longest time he'd been part of rogue packs without any females in, so he felt that he'd earned the right to look. Besides, it wasn't as though Ash was particular reticent or ignorant about her attractiveness.

"Sorry sugarplum," he said with a sneer, "but there wasn't time for shopping. I was too busy running into old friends."

Winter's face betrayed a moment of alarm. "Nobody recognised you did they?"

"No no, not from the pack." Jason raised a hand to calm Winter, "But I did happen to stumble across none other than Evon and Daniel Argentum."

Winter squinted for a moment, as he strained his memory to put the names to a story, before his eyes widened in realisation. "The two than ran away with the...the 'son'?"

"The very same." Jason said looking pleased with himself.

Winter looked around at the others, then motioned for Jason to follow him into the van. "We'd better talk about this inside for a moment."

Jason nodded, and the two of them stepped into the RV and pulled the door shut behind them. Nico, Drake, Craig and Q ignored them for the most part. Their jaws were too sore from chewing the dried sausage to really voice much complaint about being kept in the dark.

"So," Winter said keenly, "is that why you're back? You think the boy might be a suitable candidate?"

"Not strictly." Jason said, "I've not met Gavin yet, so I don't know where he's at in relation to the pack. But I did meet a young wolf who might just be your boy."

"What's his name?"

"Calvin. He's with the pack house. Unmated. Strong, fit, athletic...has an ego the size of Texas and a real problem with authority."

"Good work." Winter smiled. "And what about the girl?"

"Well there's a problem there," Jason's face fell slightly, "she's run into the pack already, and they've invited her to stay at the house for the night."

Winter cursed and slammed his hand down on the countertop. "Damn! God damnitall...so she's probably going to find out what she is then, right?"

"Is that really a problem?" Jason shrugged, "If she finds out from them then it saves us the problem of having to explain it to her. Let the pack deal with the awkwardness."

"Well we'll just have to hope that works in our favour." Winter grunted, "But...wait...you said this 'Gavin' was living in the pack house?"

"Yes..." Jason said matter-of-factly, before he too realised what that meant. "...oh."

"I think," Winter said firmly, "you'd better tell me the story again, of how Evon and Daniel really came to adopt Gavin..."

Lyra smiled to a joke as she passed by a group, glad to see everyone was having a good time even with all the chaos. It as nice for her to, for once, let everyone else have the worry. For tonight she would enjoy everything going on. The title of alpha would not be handed over in one night, a sincere smile would do her some good.

Her gaze lingered over Duncan, Adrian, and Anya as the trio grabbed their jackets and raced for the door. She frowned, knowing that few things would cause the alpha to abandon a party in his own house. Duncan's father must have become worse, his illness threatening to take him away faster than first anticipated. She wondered how her own grandfather was doing. She usually went to visit him every other week, hoping that any time spent with him would be a valuable resource from his days and alpha. He kept most of that secret though, sharing few stories unless pestered endlessly by the excited granddaughter. Lyra expected this was due to the fact she was female, unable to judge how the old timer would react to her hidden desire of leading the pack one day. She knew from past experience and taunts that many of the older generation did not approve of her ideas, favoring James for the simple fact he was male and 'the destined heir.'

Although she attempted to socialize, Lyra found herself in front of Kiyoshi before long, smiling up to him as she handed an iced tea to him and kept one herself while passing Ares a soda.

"How are my boys enjoying themselves?" she asked, her mood as high as the moon. "Things are getting quiet, the party will be over soon. It will be sad to see everyone go home." She sighed softly and looked down to Ares, curious as to what they had gotten for the birthday girl. “You two made a gift together?” she questioned, knowing Kiyoshi was never one for commercial items.

---

Ash sighed with boredom, slightly annoyed that Jason hadn't brought anything back for her. She thought of herself a class above the others of the pack, and expected to be treated as one. Well, all expect for Winter. Something about Winter sparked her interest, one of the only reasons she continued to stick around with the Lost Boys. For the life of her, Ash could not figure out what Winter was thinking at any given time. He was like a mystery that needed to be solved. Quite frankly, Drake, Nico, Q-Ball, and Craig bored Ash. They were just like the guys from her old town, dull and had too much energy to do anything productive with themselves. And Jason, well, he was a sleaze, and probably on the borderline of pervert if Ash did not watch herself carefully. Besides Winter being their leader as a driving force for Ash to remain, there was one other factor: they were fun to play with. Ash enjoyed being able to manipulate people, finding pleasure in their efforts to please her constantly, making them work for her attention. With the scattered brains of the younger pack members, this was a fairly easy task as she had never been one to dress conservatively.

Ash leaned up against the car as she found fascination with her nails, her ears wandering to the present conversation. She did not recognize the names and found little interest in people she couldn't criticize openly. "The two that ran away with the...the 'son'?"

Ash glanced up to this, her icy blue gaze resting on Winter. From her stay with the guys, she had known very little to surprise Winter. At last, her interest was sparked. "The very same." Jason said looking pleased with himself.

Winter looked around at the others, then motioned for Jason to follow him into the van. "We'd better talk about this inside for a moment."

Ash remained motionless, her eyes following Winter and Jason as they hid inside the club house. "What was that about?" she asked once they had disappeared from view.

"How the hell should we know?" Drake scowled, falling back into the grass as he rubbed his jaw line. "Man I wish those wolves weren't there. I'd kill for a beer!"

Ash flicked her hair over her shoulder in aggravation , annoyed that she had been ignored. "Well, what about those people? Evon and Daniel? Ever heard of them before?" she asked, hoping since the boys had been around for longer they would know something more than just the names.

"Nope," Craig said, still trying to gnaw on dinner. "What do you care anyway?"

"I don't," Ash growled, her gaze flickering over to Craig venomously. "I'm just curious, that all. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Curiosity killed the cat," Q-Ball remarked, high fiving Nico.

"Well then, it's a damn good thing I'm a wolf," Ash snapped, standing up with a smirk. She stretched her arms and slid around the van, crouching beside the door that never shut properly. Playing with the amber necklace draped around her neck, Ash strained to listen in.

Gavin. . . Now where had she heard that name before? Gavin. . . "You should come to this party with me and meet my buddy, Gavin." Right! That twit from town had mentioned him. Dory, Bory . . . Rory, that had been his name. She met him a while ago upon first scoping out the area. Although he was fun to play with, and she had gotten a free meal out of the deal, Ash had denied the request knowing Winter would have been angered. Ash still smiled at the thought of him, covering her mouth so not to laugh. Even without her wolf, she could tell that his story about being a wolf was complete BS.

The Calvin guy sounded pretty interesting, though. Even if it was mated, she would still be interested in meeting with him. Ash had little-- Absolutely no faith in the mating system that the wolves used. She knew this from experience.

Ash was unsure why Winter was so upset that they were at the pack house. She had lived in one for three years, they weren't that terrible. Hers had been rather friendly actually, it was one factor that she missed about her old town. Well, on to better and bigger. She shifted slightly, hoping that Jason would continue with the story about the Gavin dude. With her weight unevenly distributed, she slipped, landing on her rump as she looked up in horror, hoping that she hadn't been discovered by the conversers.

"There's not a lot more I can add." Jason said with a shrug, "We went out to punish one traitor, and ended up having two more of our number turn on us instead."

"But you killed him though didn't you." Winter frowned, "The father I mean...Danti."

"Oh you bet." Jason nodded, "And Daniel was holding the boy...we thought he would do the job. He could be a nasty piece of work when he wanted to be, ol' Daniel. But then Evon shouted something at him in French, and next thing we knew they had disappeared into the woods with the boy."

Winter shook his head incredulously. "I don't get it. How did they manage to get away from your entire pack with a boy who'd just gone through his first shift."

"Because all the rest of us were busy taking down Danti." Jasons scoffed, "You never saw him so you couldn't know...but that guy was a brute. Biggest wolf you've ever seen. It was because Danti deserted us that we failed to take the pack house the first time we attacked it eighteen years ago."

"I see..." Winter mused, "...and all of a sudden Evon and Daniel are back."

"They were right there in town." Jason chuckled, "Celebrating their anniversary of all things!"

"Interesting. I wonder why Gavin's stayed with them all this time."

"There's a lot of unknowns." Jason agreed.

"Even so, it's good." Winter smiled. "It means we have twice the opportunity to reintroduce Danti's strength into the pack. So now tell me more about this Calvin guy..."

There was a thump outside near the door to the vehicle. Both wolves looked in that direction and noticed that the door wasn't quite closed properly. Winter scowled, anger welling up in his chest. He knew full well that the guys outside weren't intimidated by him...he wasn't a paragon of fighting prowess, nor was he a particularly daunting sight. But sometimes he wished he could get something more than a begrudging obedience from them. It was nothing short of a miracle that his promises of a grand future had given them a reason to follow him for [i]this[/i[] long.

Perhaps it's was time to give them a little something more. Slowly he got up and walked towards the door...

"You know," he called out, "if you wanted to hear a bedtime story you need only have asked. Otherwise it just looks a lot like eavesdropping on a private conversation..."

Lyra smiled to Tai, sensing the approval of her mate. Knowing this, Lyra felt herself relax even more. Of course her parents would accept Kiyoshi with open arms. She only wished that Adrian could be here. Not as alpha, but as Dad. Then it would be perfect. "You see...it's easier for a female to learn to trust her wolf when she sees that the first decision the wolf makes for her is a good one."

Lyra grinned shyly to this, a soft blush painting her cheeks at her mother's nudge. She bit her lip softly, looking to Kiyoshi for his input on the situation. She did not like the trouble expression he wore so subtly that even Lyra almost missed it. She sighed and rested her hand on his arm, nodding unconsciously in agreement to Tai. Yes, it had been a good decision. A very good decision.

However, Kiyoshi did not seem to respond to Lyra's touch, his eyes focused on something behind her. Lyra frowned, unsure what could be wrong and if he was the source of such a low mood for Kiyoshi. She wanted to talk with him privately. Whatever was on his mind he should not be handling alone. Before she could speak, Kiyoshi nudged her gently and nodded off into the distance. Lyra turned her head to follow his direction. She smiled openly to see Calvin, still curious as to his reaction to her mate. Surely as friends he would be happy for her?

Before she spoke, Lyra heisted. Even without her wolf, Lyra could tell that Calvin was drunk. This alarmed her, wondering what could have gone wrong to throw Calvin so deeply away from his motivated path. He was never one that Lyra would have expected this from. With a shared glance to Kiyoshi and Tai, Lyra moved closer to the intoxicated boy. She did not want him to scare Ares any more than he usually did. She went up to Calvin and offered a smile, moving to help him if he stumbled along the way. "You missed the party, Calvin. It must have been a good game, right? Went for a few too many celebration rounds afterwards?" she asked with a chuckle, her eyes warm as she searched his face for clues.

Lyra was confused. This was Calvin, her friend and trusted companion. Why where the hairs on the back of her neck standing upright?

---

Ash released her breath as Winter spoke, glad that he was not upset at her spying in on their little powwow. Sure he was annoyed, but she could distract his mind away from annoyance easily. Not only that, but it would be simple enough to push the blame upon one of the others. In the background, one of the boys meowed to reference their joke. Ash scowled and tossed her hair away from them as she settled down beside Winter. She wanted to be the closest to him, to see the most interested in his words. Even if she wasn't at times. Or at all.

"So, what is so special about this Danti guy? Isn’t he dead, so who cares?” Ash pouted slightly, her tone unmotivated. “And now what, you want his kids and one of their friends to join our little group?" Ash sighed softly, playing with the ends of her hair trying to keep her attention focused. "And why are you so afraid of the pack house? They aren't that scary. I was in one just two years ago and there isn't any big bad wolves chaining us down. If anything, they're kinda fun. A bit strict at times and all "Be with your mate and be good little puppies so you can run with the moon" at times, but I got out. So can they. Why are you so worried about these kids anyway?" she moaned, leaning back to get more comfortable.

Lyra offered Kathy a smile as she past the wolf, although she did not pause to offer idle conversation. She was more concerned about Calvin forgetting where the side tables were and crashing into the ground. The young female was grateful that her mother's attention had turned towards Ares. Perhaps the older female's loving attention would help Ares grow comfortable in his home. She was able to hope, at least.

"Calvin, I know you don't mean any harm, but please try and be calm around Ares. He's a bit timid and has the bravery of a mouse. He just needs to adjust to everyone around here." She smiled, trying hard not to insult her intoxicated friend.

"Yeah I caught Jac and Gavin...they sure seem like they had quite a night. Better late than never huh. What's with you girls huh. So you figured out how you're gonna tell your guy? Happy with who ya got, huh?"

Lyra chuckled softly, her smile pleasant as she considered herself and Jac. "Yes, like I said you missed a lot. It just happened that Jac and I figured everything out on the same night, we didn't plan it like you guys think. It just. . . Happens." Lyra laughed, running her fingers through her thick, black hair. "As for my mate, yes I am happy. It feels weird that it took me this long to figure out who it was, but I guess the wait just makes it better. Now that I'll be getting my wolf, my future may finally be falling into place. And it's even better to know that Kiyoshi will be with me every step of the way."

---

Ash frowned and leaned back on her seat as she crossed her arms in thought. Something about this situation still bothered her. She didn't care much about the results as long as she had fun along the way, but this pack was beginning to feel a bit too much like her old one. And she would be damned before she let that happen. She was not going to get sucked back into all of the crap about mates and heirs. She could go along with Winter's destined leader, but he was suddenly dangerously close to crossing her comfort line.

"This all sounds like a wonderful bedtime story, Winter, but be careful. I left my pack because I was sick of the old standards and systems; so didn't we all. It sounds like to me you are just trying to make a hierarchy from this Danti guy." Ash sighed and looked to him, her eyes challenging this remark. When determined, Ash was not one to let something die easily. She looked to the others, her voice steady. "If this chick goes along with the plan I'm okay with it, but you'll have to kick me out before I let you mate someone with who they don't want." She cast her eyes away, frowning as if a bad taste had suddenly appeared in her mouth. "I know how being forced together with someone feels," she added softly.

Winter paused to take a breath after Ash's interruption. He had very little patience for objections or people questioning his vision, but he didn't quite have the intimidation factor to bark it down, and in any case he knew Ash was cut from a slightly different cloth from the other rogues. And not just for being female.

"The reason we are doing this," he said, "is because we are all losing patience with old standards that have caved in on themselves and failed. Strength in our gene pool is simply something that we cannot afford to be without. But from the very outset I promised I'd lead you to an alpha, and now I believe we've found one, I think we can be equally confident everything else will fall into place."

He threw a stone towards the burning brazier, causing it to momentarily flare and kicking up some sparks and ashes.

"This Calvin wasn't coerced, he came obligingly to speak with Jason and from what I hear he's likely to be more than willing to accept our offer. If it is fate's design, I daresay it will be the same with the offspring the Danti."

He noticed that some of the other males we shuffling uneasily. Perhaps, he thought, they were uncomfortable with all these references to strength...as though their own strength wasn't sufficient. Winter grinned to himself. Let them squirm. The more they would worry, the less he personally had to worry about.

Lyra has drifted of to sleep waiting for Kiyoshi, her dreams pleasantly interrupted as he called out to her. She smiled and sat up slowly, her muscling aching from not having stretched as she usually did before the night's rest. But tonight it could be put off. She doubted that she would be able to remain conscious through most of the activity anyway. Perhaps she could begin tomorrow with yoga to make up for the lost time.

"Long day," Kiyoshi whispered, as though an explanation were necessary.

Lyra smiled to this, tossing her head with a slight chuckle as she looked down to him. He appeared to be all ready asleep with his eyes closed. "I just wanted to say goodnight to you again. It seems the closer we get the less time we have to spend together," she sighed softly, laying down and resting her head against his chest. She smiled as her eyes drifted closed, feeling like she should be remembering something but the thought slipping from her mind. "Go, I know you want to pray for your parents," Lyra mumbled, her voice growing softer with each word. "I just came to say good night and that I . . . love. . . you." Lyra sighed softly with the lest few words, spoken from the heart as her eyes slid closed and her consciousness drifted away after the long and tiresome day.

---

Ash watched Winter carefully, her arms crossed as she leaned back in her seat. She could tell that everyone there was uncomfortable with Winter's bringing up the flash from their past. Ash was just the only one man enough to say anything, as ironic as that could be. She sighed dramatically and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Whatever. You know where I stand in this. I'll just be a good little pup and do as I'm told for now. Besides, I'm just curious to see where it gets me in the end," she said with a snicker, purposely stabbing Winter's plan.

She yawned loudly and stretched, her eyes looking longingly up into the night sky. "Well, this wolf needs her beauty sleep. You don't get this good looking from telling camp fire tales all night. Just wake me up in the morning when you need something from me. Or better yet, just let me sleep," she moaned, stretching up and walking away from the group to find a soft spot somewhere. That was the one thing she missed from pack life: a bed.

The sounds of heavy boots landing on stony ground reverberated cleanly around the small camp, as did the clap of Jason's hands as he hopped down from the RV where he'd spent a considerably more comfortable night than most of the other rogues.

"Up'n'attem ladies." he said, "It's another wonderful day on the road to glory."

The others stirred slightly, creaking themselves out of whatever awkward positions they'd worked themselves into overnight. Jason was already throwing a few items into a bag and hauling it over his shoulder.

"The hell...you Winter's prophet now are you?" Drake grumbled, picking up a stone and tossing it into the woods in frustration, not much caring if there happened to be anyone taking a piss out there who might get hit.

"There's work to do." Jason said breezily, ignoring the remark.

"Pah!" Nico scoffed, "There's always work to do, and never any damn results."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Q-Ball piped up, suddenly getting a bee in his bonnet, "we've been here a week now, nothing's happened. What are we doing?"

Jason put his hand to his chin and looked around them all one at a time. "Hmm, well I need to make a good first impression on someone today, so I'm not sure any of you ugly mutts is really gonna be up to the job. Where's Ash?"

The guys growled in annoyance.

"Fuck you Jason!" Drake barked, "If you don't need us then let us sleep."

Lyra smiled as they began their way back to the house. For once, she did not attempt to run or quicken her pace towards a destination. She wanted to enjoy their time together alone. In the pack house, that would be almost impossible to accomplish. No one would mind if they took the long route back home. Especially not the pair walking hand in hand.

Lyra was amused by the sudden mates that were found in the pack. Although she could not speak for all of the females, if someone had suggested Kiyoshi as her mate prior to this, Lyra would have thought them insane. She always loved Kiyoshi. It was just now that she came to realize how deep the love inside her ran.

"Combat would be useful," Lyra mused, her thoughts traveling her mind to recall her faults from their last practice. It seemed to be ages ago. "I need to work on transitions between movements and setting up for attacks. I haven't quite mastered my punching either." Lyra sighed, knowing that she was being picky. Her skills, although not good enough to beat Kiyoshi, would be impressive to anyone. Lyra paused slightly and looked up to him, releasing his grasp and crossing her arms to strengthen her next words. "Kiyoshi-[/san], I want you to remember. Just because we are mates does not give you permission to go easy on me. That will not help me in any way, okay? I don't want things to change between us," she admitted shyly, lowering her eyes from his.

---

Ash yawned as she floated in the small body of water, dunking her head under the cool, mountain water to wake herself up fully. She had slipped away from the pack early in the morning to avoid running into one of the guys as she came down here to bath. The last thing she needed was for one of them to get the bright idea of running away with her clothes while her back was turned. And she would never live it down if she was caught by any officials and arrested for nudity. That would just make their day, the jack-asses. It wasn't like Ash and never seen any of them before, but she knew the power a woman could have by letting a guy's creativity take the best of them.

She washed slowly, not wanting to leave the calm of the forest and return to the mutts. At least she had the decency to bath when water could be found. If Ash did have her wolf and sharpened senses by now, she would have died from scent pollution.

Satisfied with herself, Ash dried and slipped into a new change of clothes. It was a smile outfit of jeans and a slightly more modest shirt than she was accustomed to; she had managed to lift this from a boutique in the past town. It did the job, at least.

She forgot her brush back at camp, so with everything fling over her shoulder Ash began her trek back while combing through her hair with her fingers. Proper facilities was the only thing Ash resented about her decision to join Winter's group.

"Hmm, well I need to make a good first impression on someone today, so I'm not sure any of you ugly mutts is really gonna be up to the job. Where's Ash?"

Ash chuckled to the explosion of disagreements. Even she knew better than to wake anyone up. Let dead dogs lie, they said. Oh wait, maybe that was the wrong context. . .

"What do ya need me for, Jassy?" Ash, purred. She clambered up onto the hood of a car and laid back, enjoying the warmth of the metal as she continued to fix her hair. She had become surprisingly good at such tasks without a mirror. "I just got clean for you all, so you might as well make it worth my while," Ash cooed, watching them with a smile. She tied her hair into a knot and gave her head a small tussle to test if it would fall out or not. "And you know what they say, if you need something done, don't give it to the dogs. Let the Queen Bitch handle it."

"What do you need from me Jassy." Q-Ball mimmicked Ash in a falsetto voice and snickered, before getting up and taking wobbly steps towards the woods, scarcely even reaching the treeline before he started to unfasten his jeans ready to take a leak.

Craig glowered at Ash reclining on the car hood. If he'd known she'd been bathing in the woods he might have made the effort to get up a little earlier. Sure, she'd have fought him and hand tooth if he'd caught her naked, but even an aggressive roll in the grass would have been more of a sniff than he'd had in over a year. Damn tease...there was a reason most rogue packs didn't put females in their forwards patrols...

Jason smirked and smoothed back his hair which was also washed, since he'd been able to use the RVs shower. One of the perks of being Winter's guest of honour for his efforts. "We need to snare ourselves an idiot." he said cheerily, "And snaring an idiot isn't a fighting-fire-with-fire affair, so I need something with a shred of sense. And that killer smile of yours won't hurt either."

"Hey Ash," Drake hollered from his spot where he had settled back down again, "let me put a killer smile on your face some time, I promise it won't hurt."

Jason rolled his eyes and continued, "We're gonna go into town..."

At that point thre was another chorus of protests.

"The fuck??" Nico yelled, "When do we get to go into town?"

"When you look less like something the cat coughed up." Jason hissed. "Like Winter said, we're not here to advance on the town or the territory. This is more subtle."

"Yo ho where is the big guy anyway?" Craig sneered.

"He left hours ago." Jason said with a smirk. The other guys looked at each other in confusion. Jason went on, "Yeah, he's taking care of things. You guys should have more faith in out illustrious leader."

"Leader my ass." Nico grunted, "Nobody's ever called him alpha."

"He's never asked you to call him alpha." Jason said bluntly. "But you ladies better start practicing your curtsy, because by the end of next week, it may well be that we have an alpha and some new members who will whip your bitch asses into shape."

Lyra yipped with pleasure as Kiyoshi wrapped his arms around her. She felt herself meld with content into his frame as they shared this moment. Nothing could be more perfect than this. Nothing would ever compare. Her arms wrapped tenderly around his shoulders in response, never wanting to let go.

With a low growl of excitement, Lyra smiled as she felt the electricity pass between their lips that only parted for rugged gasps of air. They rolled again so that they were on their side, panting and gazing into the other's eyes. Lyra did not know what to say. Perhaps there was nothing to be said after the kisses; it was as if he had managed to steal all her words through their lip embrace.

"Perhaps you can be a wolf," she said with a teasing smile, rolling on her back to gaze into the sky once she needed to regain her breath.

---

Ash flickered her gaze towards Drake, annoyed by his attitude. Still, anger was not how Ash worked around here. She had to keep cool to remain at the top rank. She a grinned and pulled herself up, smiling briskly to Drake. "Maybe when Ah'm done with this guy, you can gets' round two," Ash purred, resting her head on her chin. "That is, if Ah'm not staying at the pack house tonight because of all the fun Ah'm havin'."

Ash grinned to Drake's scowl. Although has had remained conservative to the guys of her pack, they were all well aware of her habits once in town. Ash always got what she wanted, and she had no resistance of having a little fun along the way. As long as she was young and pretty, Ash would be Queen-B for awhile."So, what do you need me to do, Jassy? Seduce this guy into joining out merry group? Who's my target? That Calvin boy? Or Gavin? I suppose I could try my hand at that Tabby girl if that's what's she into." Ash shrugged, barely able to contain her bursts of laughter as she teased the guys. Her sly eyes lingered up them before hopping off the car to get down to business. "But really, do you want me to bring 'em back here or stay at the house for 'while? Ah'd be happy with the extra food at the house," she said, licking her lips.

Jason chortled to himself at the aggravation in the camp. Ash was such a useful member of the pack...thanks to her the boys could be made to jump through unreasonable hoops and outright insulted and humiliated, but would still stick around for more. Nobody wanted to be driven out of the pack on account of a female.

"All good guesses Ash," he said, "and all of which I'm sure you'd be capable of. But we need to set a few more pieces into place before we can go for checkmate, and as much as I'm sure it will be an insult to your abilities, the fella we're gonna honeytrap is a simple human. But, believe it or not, he'd our way into the house."

He pulled his pack further up his shoulder and tapped his forehead to the others. "Adios boys, we'll see you later on."

With that he turned and struck out into the woods, heading towards town with Ash close behind.

Ash felt her jaw drop to Jason's words. A human? He had to be joking with her. As he walked away from the group, Ash could quickly tell that this was not a joke. How. . . wonderful. "Have fun with the meat sack," Drake sneered behind her, setting off a ripple of laughter. All the boys knew that Ash felt wolves were superior to humans. Or at least smarter.

"It will be nice to see someone with manners," Ash short back, shooting a glare to him. "And someone with less hair." With that, Ash flicked her hair and quickly followed Jason, her face still growling with annoyance. "Awe Jason, ya better make this worth it for me," she mumbled, head low. "Once we get this new pack started, I better get a good role for all the pain I've suffered with you boys."



Ash felt like mentally face palm herself as she sat in the corner of the cafe. Wait, no. She actually did it.

The blonde rolled her eyes and sighed heavily as she watched the greasy man walk into the cafe and peer at the menu board. This was her cue. Trying to ignore the hairs bristling on the back of her neck, Ash slipped into line just before the old timer. Jeeze. He was as old as Jason. And he wasn't even old in that adorable way. Ash sighed and looked away with annoyance, wrinkling her nose slightly. He also smelled. Just great. She would have enjoyed the Lost Boys's company more than this guys. Winter better appreciate this. . . .

Ash stepped up to the counter and placed her order of a hot breakfast sandwich and a black coffee. When the cashier gave her the bill, it was time for her to being her game.

Ash slipped her hand to her pocket and froze, an innocent and terrified expression crossing her face. "I, uh, I forgot my wallet," she said clumsily, glancing back to the line. She frowned, noticing the sleaze was ignoring her. Of all times for a guy not to be checking her out! "I'm so sorry. Can I make a tab or something?" she pleaded softly. "I'm starving."

"Hey, I'll pay for her."

Ash glanced to her side and smiled shyly to the man. Finally... She twisted her golden hair around a slender finger and grinned, "Thank you so much. I promise I can repay you," she cooed.

"No worries, I would have been paying for two anyway, but my travel mate found a friend to stay with." The man smiled to Ash as they sat down at a table together. "I'm Lance, by the way."

"Ash," she said with a smile, attempting not to reach as she shook his hand. Ash couldn't remember the last time she introduced herself and Ashley. That didn't matter now anyway. "So Lance, you were traveling with someone? A wife perhaps?"

"God no," Lance said, shaking his head with a chuckle. "Just my... erm, niece. Tabby. Hey, you haven't heard of a production studio in the area, have you?"

Ash took a bite of breakfast to prevent a smirk from streaking across her face. Jason had fooled this guy well. She almost felt bad for him. Almost. "No, I haven't," she said, watching his face fall instantly. "But you're with Tabby? I know her. She's staying with my friends. She was looking for you, I think. Want me to show you how to get to the house?" Ash offered kindly with her good- samaritan -of-the-year smile. "Come on, I'll bring you to her." She rose gracefully from her seat and smiled, waiting for Lance to follow her. This was almost too easy.

Craig splashed a double-handful of water up onto his face and shook his head, burbling noisily. Drake, Nico and Q-Ball were all nearby, using the cool water to wake themselves up and fooling around boyishly in the surprisingly lush surroundings of the mountain spring. The mountain itself was what seperated the rogue camp from the town, and most importantly of all stopped any scent from drifting in that direction.

Craig, more than any of the other boys, was feeling get up to the eyeballs. It had been days since they'd been called upon to do anything except wait on the 'promised alpha' to be delivered. And then what? A lifetime of being ordered about by someone else other than Winter? This whole deal was starting to seem less attractive by the day.

Grumbling to himself, he advanced a little further towards the back of the spring. There was something that struck him about the cliff face in front of him. The vegetation was different...the whole rock-face was extraordinarily verdant. Like you'd normally expect behind or alongside a waterfall.

And then something else caught his eye. It was a small entrance - only large enough to crawl into - near the bottom of the rock face, that seemed to go quite deep in.

"Hey guys..." he called back, a grin forming on his face, "...we're not supposed to leave the mountain right? Well, I think I may have just found a little adventure that doesn't involve breaking the rules..."

---

Jason was pacing back and forth with a smug grin on his face. To think that today could be the day all the plans finally come together. He knew what Ash was off doing. Her job wasn't a pleasant one - to charm a dishevelled ape of a human - but there was an even more unpleasant task awaiting the both of them when she arrived with the man.

He was deep in the woods on the Khöller territory. It was all too familiar to him; this was exactly where they had set up camp eighteen years ago when good ol' Farrell had brought them here. Not the best of memories to be sure. But in a way, today would make amends for everything that went wrong back then too.

Voices. One famiar female voice, and one confused, completely forgetable male voice. Good work Ash. He stood himself in the middle of the clearing and turned to face the directiion of the voices, waiting for them to emerge from the foliage. And before long, they did. Jason smiled as Lance and Ash emerged into the copse.

"Good to see you again friend." Jason said smoothly.

Immediately Lance's face dropped in quizzical amazement. "You!" he exclaimed, "Ash...are you in on this? What the hell has your game been? Nobody's heard of this studio of yours..."

"I know I'm really sorry." Jason said calmly, holding an apparently apologetic hand up. "This hasn't gone to plan at all. Terrible misunderstanding. See, I had hoped all along that you'd entrust Tabitha to me to bring her back here at the time I originally offered."

"I don't get it." Lance frowned. "What did you want with us if there was no studio?"

"Buddy there's nothing I wanted you for at all." Jason sneered, "I was only interested in the girl. Which is why I'd hoped you'd just let me take her away to 'send her on her ascent to fame and glory'."

"You bastard." Lance growled, "You were playing on her hopes and dreams? Where is she now? What are you going to do with her?"

"Oh we haven't got her yet." Jason said.

"And you think I'm going to help you?" Lance scoffed.

"Nope." Jason shook his head. "And as to your question, we already know full well what we're going to do with her. It's what we are going to do with you that I'm having to make up as I go along."

"I'm not going to let you get your hands on her. You'll have to kill me if that's what you're threatening me with."

"I don't need you to help us get to her." Jason said, matter-of-factly, "You weren't meant to be here in the first place. However..." he took a few steps forward with a nasty smile, "...I do think there's merit to your suggestion."

For the next few minutes the silence of the wood was broken by the sounds of an inhuman transformation, cries of terror, growls, screams of agony...and then finally silence once again.

Ash smiled to Lance as they neared the appointed meeting spot. He wasn't quite as loathsome as his grungy exterior would cause one to think. He liked kids but didn't have a family of his own yet. He seemed to have forgotten about his claimed kinship to Tabby because not once did he refer to her as his niece. Ash laughed playfully to a joke he cracked, twisting her hair in her fingers as she led him deeper into the woods in a 'short cut' to the house. As was fully aware of her role in this. She had all ready sung her Siren's song. Nature would now take its course.

"Good to see you again friend." Jason said smoothly.

Ash stepped back and chose to remain silent for the duration of the exchange. She had not been told what would happen to Lance once she brought him here, but Ash had not survived on her own for more than a year by being a fool. And Jason was not the most creative of creatures. Ash leaned against a tree and watched the horizon boredly. She almost felt bad for the human. But it was his fault, really. He had gotten in Winter's way. No one could survive that. Even Ash knew her limits when playing with his master plan.

Ash felt a shiver run up her spin to the crunch of bone. It was a sound she would never get used to, even if my some miracle Winter could find away to unlock her own wolf. Ash was surprised by how much the fact she may never shift did not bother it. It was disappointing, but not the end of the world. No, her world would have ended if she was tied down by her suppose mate from her home town. The thought sent another shiver down her spine as Lance called out, his fear drowned by Jason's inhuman growl.

Ash did not watch as the murder was committed, her head only turned as the stench of iron wafted in the air. She coughed into her fist and approached slowly, her sharp eyes surveying the corpse. "How much longer can we hide from them now?" Ash asked, her hand resting on Jason's wolfed head. Her eyes tilted back to the tree line casually, not wanting Jason to sense her uncomfort. She was grateful that she only had a mortal's scent. She did not want to smell the death any more than she all ready could. "They will scent him before the forest gets his body. What are you going to do now? Leave him here? They will find him. What else does Winter want from me? I did not just led a man to death to sit around like a pretty bird afterward."

Ash looked down to his wet muzzle and turned with disgust, tossing his clothes at him as she passed. "Just tell me you aren't going to eat him. That is below even you, Jason."

Jason shook himself as though wet, trying to get the unpleasantness of the scenario off himself, paying no heed to Ash's reaction to it. She'd done her job, and as far as he was concerned she could just stand aside and brighten up the woods until he was done. Being in wolf form he didn't even need to pretend to be listening to her as she spoke, but he batted her leg with his tail when she made the remark about eating the body. Of course he wasn't going to eat it. However the swipe of his tail caused him to growl in discomfort, and the twisting of his body aggravated his old back wound. Damn pack...

With another deep growl his initiated his shift back into human form; the first throes of it would have been Ash's cue to look away unless she wished to observe him getting dressed. The shift left him exhausted. Wolves weren't meant to shift both ways in such a short space of time, but time was something they didn't have an unlimited supply of.

"Yeah there's more." he grizzled between gasps and pants as he pulled his clothes back on. "But we need to wait for the right time. Gotta wait for the signal from our inside boy before going ahead. Hopefully he won't take too long...he seems pretty keen alright."

"Inside boy?" Ash mused softly, tussling her hair free from her ponytail to give herself a distraction from Jason's shift. "Oh, right. That Cally kid or whoever. You ain't afraid that he was just pull'in your leg to get the old man at the bar to shut up?" Ash said, squeezing her eyes together in a teasing gesture.

"How old is he anyway? My age or younger? I ain't taking any bs from some little kid now, no matter how much Winter says I gotta." Ash shivered slightly, her stomach turning from the scent of blood. "If you don't need me for anything, I'm gonna take another bath. I think that Lance guy touched my arm or something. I just feel grimy standing here with what used to be him."

Ash shivered again and scratched her arm with disgust. Rouge or not, she was not accustomed to witnessing murders. Even she had to draw the line somewhere. It made her feel better that he didn't have any kids. "Need anything else or am I dismissed, Sir."

Tabby felt her skin practically crawl as Lyra remained on the subject of 'mates'. It sounded incredibly primitive, yet at the same time she was providing a visual example in the way of herself and Kiyoshi. And they certainly seemed happy enough. Like they'd been a couple for years. It hadn't seemed quite the same with Gavin and that 'Jac' girl the previous night, but...well, Tabby was already realising that Gavin was a rather full-on personality and that could have something to do with it.

Besides, she could see everyone around her was more relaxed now that she'd put her defences down - except perhaps Aziel who was still looking rather defeated - and it seemed like it was as well to let it go. Especially as the subject of Lance came up and she realised she'd been about to call him.

"Oh boy, yeah." she muttered, "I was just gonna call him, he never did show. He probably met some people somewhere, got talked into something stupid."

She smiled awkwardly, slightly apologetic that she'd lied to everyone about him being her uncle. That said, it wasn't as though the truth was any weirder than anything she'd had to get her head around since walking into the house! She picked up the phone which she had dropped near her chair, and without looking started dialing. The tactic worked; thinking about it less helped her memory recover Lance's cell number, and she put the handset to her ear.

---

Jason smoothed down his clothes and snorted in contempt, hoping that it would disguise the discomfort in his back which he always felt after shifting. It was a demeaning reminder that he would never again be fit for combat. Butchering an unarmed human was one thing...

"Calvin." he corrected, "Yeah he must be about your age, I dunno you kids all look the same to me."

Ash made her excuses to go and take a bath, and Jason huffed and spat on the ground. Even back in human form there was still the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

"Sure thing," he said, "for now you can..."

He was interrupted by a frenetic, tinny musical tone emanating from the deceased human's jacket pocket. Jason pursed his mouth and stared at the corpse for a moment, wondering what to do. After a few moments of indecision he quickly retried the cell phone and looked at the display. The name which appeared there made him panic.

"It's her." he said, "The girl we came for."

He pressed the button to answer the call, but then immediately flipped it over, prized the back off and removed the battery, slipping it into his pocket and the phone into another pocket. It might come in useful later, but for now he would prefer Tabitha to simply think that he friend's phone had run out of charge whilst answering the call.

"Well," he went on, "for now you can take your pretty self off to do whatever you feel like. After a good morning's work why don't you head into town and treat yourself to something nice? I'm gonna go to the camp and tell Winter that the plan is back on track."

---

"God damn it's tight!" Nico cursed, as the four boys wriggle their way down the narrow passageway. Normally he would have the confidence to suppose that they would have turned back if the crevice didn't get wider up ahead, but unfortunately he knew that Q-Ball was in the lead, so there was no confidence at all that common sense would prevail.

"I dunno," Drake sneered, "I've had tighter."

"Sure you have hot-shot." Craig grizzled, looking back contemptuously. "Keep telling yourself that stud."

"Let the baby have his bottle." Nico chuckled, "He can say what he wants when there's probably no female within a mile to say to the contrary."

Nico and Craig laughed between themselves. Up ahead the sound of running water rose up again, confirming that they were heading towards an underwater spring. Unfortunately, it was also getting gradually darker. Nico found himself wanting to suggest shifting, but at this stage the ability to communicate orally probably outweighed the size and agility advantage of being in wolf form.

"You see anything Q?" Nico called forward.

"Yeah, yeah." Q-Ball chattered, "Looks like it opens up a little bit, maybe inclines upwa-ARGH!"

There was a squeal and a splosh, and the other three boys fell to their knees laughing as it became apparent that Q-Ball had fallen straight into a rock pool.

"Nice navigating dipshit." Craig chorlted.

"What's that?" Q-Ball spluttered.

"I said...nice navigating shit-for-brains."

"No," Q-Ball said, shushing the others. "I can hear voices...further up ahead...."

---

Tabby sighed resignantly and placed the phone back down on the table.

"Sounds like he's out of battery, wherever he is." she said with a weak smile and a shrug.

"Not a problem." Adrian spoke up after remaining quiet against the wall allowing Lyra and the other to deal with the situation. "I've got an idea. Mr Dean - aka Jeff - was telling me there's a fete on in the square down in town. It's a human shindig, so you know the score. But it could be fun, the weather's right for it, and it's in the middle of town so if Lance is down there we may well run into him."

He looked over at Lyra, taking a moment to give her a warm smile of approval as he took in, for the first time, the sight of her and Kiyoshi together. It wasn't difficult to see an alpha-pair in the making...but he had to refrain from the temptation to presume how things would work out. He still dearly wished the decision didn't ultimately rest on his shoulders.

"Besides," he went on, "it's a big night tomorrow. Best make sure that we're all stocked up for the celebration. So waddya'll say - penny-stalls and bouncy castles in the sun sound like a day out?"

---

Calvin snorted to himself. Scared of wolves is she? Well good luck with that. Maybe when 'it' happened it would be as well to leave Gavin behind to look after his car-crash of a sister. Especially now that his crazy mother had shown up and muddied the waters even more. He'd hoped he might be able to win over a few others - Gavin would have been a good candidate, Aziel too - but really the only person he needed to talk to an persuade was Lyra. Lyra was everything. And she was the most urgent too. Every second she spent getting comfortable around Kiyoshi was gonna make it harder for her to see the light when the time came.

"You hear that Gav?" he said, "I think the boss said there's a fete in town. Maybe there's be the opportunity to throw things at other things...maybe even shoot stuff with airguns if we're lucky. And if it's lame we can always bail and find something else to do."

Lyra frowned as Tabby's call did not connect, but she did not allow the inconvenience to dampen her mood. Traveling for so, it was not unreasonable that Lance could have just forgotten to charge his phone. Although, it did worry Lyra for some reason. If something were to happen to Lance, he would not be able to call for help. That's a strange thought, Lyra scolded herself with a shake of her head. It was Connorsford. Nothing ever happened here.... Even if the sudden appearance of Tabby under a false presumption still tingled Lyra's hairs, it did not mean either of them were in danger. Besides, for the few moments Lyra had met Lance, he seemed to be one that allowed mediocre tasks to slip his mind easily. Part of Lyra was impressed that the two had even made it here.

Lyra's golden eyes flickered toward Adrian, smiling to his suggestion. For a moment, she caught his gaze. Warmth spread through her body to see the pleasure brushed across his face. He approved.

Lyra grinned and looked up to Kiyoshi, wondering if he saw the same look that she had. She squeezed against him, a feeling that everything would be okay settling across her. "A fete sounds fun. A few people missed Ray's birthday last night, so it would be good to have everyone together for once. As we get older, it seems almost impossible for the pack to be in one place, even if we do live in the same house!" Lyra laughed to her comment, although a pang of sorrow ran through its center. Eventually, everyone would move out of the pack house. Even she would, unless she was named Adrian's successor before she was old enough to move. But then again, Kiyoshi was all ready twenty. Had he started looking for apartments? Lyra shivered, the only sign that the happy front held a deeper secret. That was something to discuss later and without an audience.

---

Ash remained mute to Jason's display, her hazel eyes criticizing as he removed the battery from the phone and slipped it into his pocket. It would be just like him to take a trophy, even if the phone probably had some practical use behind it. "I think I have some pocket change around, so maybe I will take up your offer," she said, eyes wandering the forest. "There's a few tasks I wanted to catch up on. And there must be something to do in this pathetic town on a Saturday night. Maybe I can get into a movie or something." Ash shrugged, turning to walk down the path. "Cya Jassy. And you might want some Advil for that back problem of yours," she smirked with amusement.

Ash walked quietly towards the town, enjoying the time to think away from the boys. She did not care what Jason did with the body, but Ash was careful. Slipping off her shoes, she walked in the river to hide her scent from any snooping noses.