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My massive wolf body barely fit through the doorway as I stepped

from the blood splattered room out into the wide hallway of the hospital,

and I immediately heard shrieks of terror coming from my right.I

looked to see a female patient who'd been making her way down the hall,

wheeling her IV beside her.  She turned and ran back down the hall

away from me.  She'd left the IV stand behind and as she reached

the limit of the plastic tubing that was feeding her body whatever

fluid it was she needed, it went taught and the IV stand crashed over

just as the needle was ripped from her arm.  She turned as if to

try to pick it up and bring it with her, but when she saw me still

standing there she screamed again, then looked to the side and slipped

into an open room and slammed the door shut.It was not my intent

to scare anyone.  I hoped a nurse would attend to the woman soon.

 It was best to just get out and away from people.  I wasn't

sure how much more time I had before I would change back to a human.I

turned to the left to look down the hall.  I could see the exit at

the far end.  I began to walk towards it, sniffing at the air

briefly to assess my surroundings.Once again I was astonished at

the avalanche of detailed information that seemed like it might bury

me, and I did as the wolf had shown me and tamed it all in an instant.

 Somehow, just by willing it, I was able to bring any information

that might be important to me to the surface while allowing all the

rest to sink under it.As I thought about it more, I realized it would almost make more sense to use the word 'we', not I.  We

tamed the flood of information.  It was like the wolf and I were

working together as a tightly knit team that functioned as one unit.

 He was able to extract every microscopic detail of all of the

information that surrounded me and translate them to something my human

mind could comprehend.  The wolf didn't know exactly what was

important to me until my emotions and thoughts gave him the clues he

needed, and he then presented the details of the important parts for me

to examine and make sense of.  Really, the process was at once

more complex than that, yet at the same time simpler.  It was

difficult to describe, but ultimately it allowed the vastly superior

sensory abilities of the wolf to meld perfectly with the superior

intellectual abilities of the human brain to create something that was

far more than the sum of its parts.I guess in that sense it

really should be 'I', but it was a much broader I than it had ever been

before.  It was an I that was as wide as two whole beings.As I continued down the hall

and passed the front desk, there were a couple of familiar scents that I

locked onto.  I looked over and saw the doctor near the back wall

behind the large 'L' shaped counter that was the front desk of the

hospital.

 He was standing partly in front of the nurse who'd been attending

to me, and he had his arm over her to keep her behind him in an effort

to protect her from me, but both of them seemed

frozen in place by their fear.In the corner, another nurse

cowered.  She was crouched down and covering her eyes with an arm as if hoping

I wouldn't see her if she couldn't see me.  I didn't recognize her

or her scent.  She had probably been the one manning the front

desk.I

turned back to face the doctor and nurse.  I was curious.  I

wanted to test

my new found abilities further, so I took a quick sniff in their

direction and immediately changed the sensory microscope's focus towards

these people.  I quickly dropped the non-pertinent

information,

which in this case was primarily made up of stark terror and thoughts of possibly never seeing their loved ones again.  I

zeroed in

on the nurse who'd been assigned to me and found that she'd been

worried and worn down by a struggle with someone.  Husband?

 I glanced

at her hand and saw her wedding ring.  They'd been having a tough

go of it lately and their marriage was in trouble.  She'd been

cheating on him.  I was sure of it.  I

could smell something dark in her.  Revenge.  She'd done it

for revenge.  He

must have been cheating on her and she was getting even.  I

sniffed

more carefully and smelled something familiar on her.  It was the

doctor!  I could smell him on her face.  To my surprise I

realized it was his crotch sweat

and precum, even tiny molecules of his urine.  She must have had her

face

buried in his crotch recently and everything that had been in his pubic

hair had transferred onto her face.Out

of curiosity, I turned my

attention to the doctor.  He wasn't an exceptionally tall man, so

even on all fours I was at eye level with him.  I gave another

quick sniff.  Yes, there she was.  I

could smell the nurse's sweaty cunt in his goatee.  He'd been

eating her out.

 What were his motives?  Was he cheating on his own wife with

her?  No, he wasn't

married.  I smelled solitude.  Not loneliness, just a

preference to be

alone.  Still, I could see some darkness there, too.  He knew

she was

married, yet he went ahead and did it anyhow.  I could see swirls

and

eddies of darkness in a current that was primarily light and good.

 The

doctor was a good man, but he had his faults.  He knew full well

he

should not be pursuing the nurse.  She was a married woman.

 I moved

toward him and sniffed near his crotch.  She was there too.

 He'd

fucked her without a condom and had cum inside her.  Naughty boy.I

shook my head at him and lifted my massive front paw and moved it side to side

as though wagging my finger in disapproval.  I tried to make a

'tsk

tsk' sound to let him know I knew he'd been bad, but it didn't come out

quite right from the wolf's mouth and almost sounded more like I was

smacking my lips in preparation for a meal.Immediately my senses

picked up the strong odor of urine and I saw the doctor was in the

process of emptying his bladder into his pants.  A dark stain was spreading from his crotch and the hot yellow

liquid ran down his

leg and over his socks and shoes out onto the floor.  He must have

assumed I'd been pointing at him to let him know he was the meal I was

getting ready to lay into.It wasn't my intent to give the man a

heart attack.  I could smell that he really was a decent person,

just a little weak in some areas.  I winked at him to let him know

he was in no danger, and I turned back down the

hall to continue towards the exit.It

was amazing to have seen them so clearly and so easily just by the scent

of the chemical signals they unconsciously gave off that told me so

much about how they were feeling and where they'd been and what

they'd been doing, and I was rocked by

the implications of what this all meant for me.  There was no way

anyone could hide what they truly were from me.  I no longer had

to guess or deduce or try to divine what people thought about me, or

what I should think about them.  Trusts could be formed or broken

in a heartbeat with startling accuracy.  I would know almost in an

instant whether someone was good or bad, or something in between.

 I could see it all in the dense cloud of information that

surrounded them.Why had Elias never told me about all of this?

 Grace and Cole never mentioned anything like this either.

 Were they not as blown away as I was at suddenly being able to

see right into people's souls and learn so much about them in the

short time it takes to run a few breaths of air across their olfactory

systems?  Did they not recognize the power of this ability?As

I walked toward the exit of the hospital I contemplated it more, and

realized I could use this new skill to my advantage right away.I

took another quick sniff at the air in search of something, and I

immediately recognized it and singled it out.  It was Jesse.  The one who'd

saved me from certain death.Not only had he saved me from the spook that tried to kill me with a chemical injection, but if I'd morphed into the wolf while

stuck inside the heavy plaster casts, there was no telling what might

have happened to me.  The band around my head would likely have

been the death of me.  The wolf would have expanded into it and it

would have destroyed its skull.  The pins would have been forced

into the wolf's brain and killed it.  Jesse had saved my life twice in the space of ten minutes and

I was grateful to him for it, yet I still had no idea who he was.He

had run down this hallway just minutes ago.  He'd been a human

then, though he would be a wolf like me now while he waited in my RV

for me to join him.  As he'd run through the hospital, molecules

of pheromones and microscopic droplets of his sweat and tiny scraps of

the dead skin cells and body hair and dust from his clothes that all

humans shed non-stop, all of

these things that carried his scent that contained reams of information

about him, had fallen from him in a steady invisible rain that had

settled onto the floor or clung to the walls as he passed by.

 There was so little of it that the most sensitive electronic

equipment in the world would likely never be able to pick it out, yet

somehow, to the wolf, it was an embarrassment of riches.  I

thought back about something I'd thought about long ago, that

scientists couldn't be certain but they estimated that a canine's sense

of smell was anywhere from two thousand to two million times more

sensitive than a human's.  My own opinion was now leaning strongly

towards the latter possibility.There

was so much of Jesse in the complex conglomeration of scents that he'd

left behind that the wolf and I could see every detail of the man's

most recent past quite

easily.  I wanted to know more about him so I brought the

sensory microscope to bear on the details of the information presented

by the pheromones that had been twisted and tweaked by his emotions and

actions to show who he really was.  I was impressed by what I

found.  This man was good.  Very good.  Probably better

than me, even.  He was capable, confident, determined, courageous,

intelligent, kind, selfless and many other things, all of them

positive.  Under it all rode a current that held it all together

and colored every aspect of who he was.  No, two things.  I

hadn't recognized them as two because they were so tightly entwined

that they seemed as one.  It was honesty and loyalty.  It

defined him more than any other of his many positive traits.  He

would never lie to anyone he cared about.  He would never betray

anyone who had not earned it.  He could be trusted.I

couldn't help but smile internally at who he was.  I liked him a

great deal immediately, and I could sense the wolf's agreement.

 The wolf's instinct was indisputable, and it impressed upon me the

fact that this man could be an invaluable friend and pack mate,

and those were rare and important.In the flow of information the

air fed me about Jesse I could sense none of the dark currents I'd

picked up in the doctor and nurse before.  He seemed almost pure

and without fault.  No, wait, there was something.  As I'd

thought of the concept of 'fault' something suddenly rose up to the top

of the flow of data.  It wasn't dark, but sort of grey.  It

was difficult to pinpoint and too complex to easily make sense of.

 He had reached a nexus of decision about something that was

important to him.  His loyalty remained strong, but it was

shifting.  He'd come to some conclusion that required him to

change his direction.  Something had been eating at him, and

something in his very recent past had brought it to a head and forced

him to make a decision.  I followed the trail of it back to

the source of his sudden change of direction and I found something that surprised me.  It was Grace!  I could smell

her on him.  He'd been near her.  I could sense his emotions

for her.  They were strong.  They were positive.  He'd

become enamored of her on their first meeting.  I liked what I

smelled.  He was right for her.  I was sure of it.  His

intentions for her were clear and they were positive.

 They were protective.  It felt good.I dug deeper,

focusing more on the scent of Grace that had transferred itself to

Jesse to be included in the information he'd left behind in the

hall.  It was weak, but I could just make out a few details.

 She had been worried, but he had alleviated most of that for

her.  She was grateful to him.  I could sense something more.

 Signals from her body that she might not even be aware of herself

yet.  She found him extremely attractive and her body had reacted,

generating subtle sexual pheromones as it became aroused by his

presence.  She felt drawn to him.I

smiled again.

 There was no doubt in my mind that there were going to be some

serious fireworks between

those two.  It seemed Grace's worry about never finding the sort

of intimacy with someone special that she'd been craving might soon

come to an end.  I felt happy for them both.A

thought crossed my mind and I changed the focus a

little to search for someone else.  There he was.  Elias.

 Jesse had been somewhere near him.  The scent was very weak

though, and mixed with too many other weak scents of other people to

truly zero in on it.

 Their meeting must have been very fleeting and they hadn't even

been in direct contact.  There wasn't enough there to get a feel

for Elias's mood during the encounter.The wolf and I then bent

our wills back to the stream of scents in search of another, and

ultimately

found him.  It was Cole.  The scent was much stronger than

Elias's.  What did it mean?  Jesse had come in direct contact

with Cole.  The scent was almost as strong as it had been on the

man who was now in shreds back in the room.  Jesse had been

holding Cole at some point.  If that was the case, why was Cole

not safe?  I couldn't understand it.  The powerful sense of

smell of the wolf dove deeper into the scent of Cole and it found

confusion.  Cole had been scared of Jesse, then grateful, then

surprised, then angry, then disappointed.  It was a strange jumble

of pheromone signals.  What the fuck did it all mean?

 What the hell had happened?I remembered the look of guilt

that had passed over Jesse's face when he'd mentioned Cole back in the

room.  Had he done something to Cole?No, it wasn't

possible.  I saw the man in the intricate pattern of scents he'd

left right here in the hall and I knew him intimately already.  He

couldn't hide who he was from me.  He was an exceptionally good man.My

rational brain took over and worked harder to process the possibilities

and it came up with the logical conclusion.  Jesse must have tried

to rescue Cole and had failed.  He must have come very close.

 He'd had Cole in his hands at some point, but the spook must have

won out in the end and got away with Cole.  That had to be the

source of the guilt.  Jesse had failed and it must have really

bothered him a lot.  It had affected him deeply and I liked the man even more for it.He'd

said he would bring me back to Grace and then we'd work on getting Cole

back and he would need my help for that.  He must have some clue

how to proceed.I

felt uplifted as I thought of how lucky I was that Jesse had come

along.  I had an ally who must know more of what the hell was

going on, and I could sense his concern for Cole's well-being.  He

would help me.  I could sense from his character that whatever

might be required of him, he would do it without hesitation, no matter

the risk to himself.I

suddenly realized I was wasting time and I could begin to change back to human at any moment.  I increased my

pace and headed out the automatic doors to the sidewalk beyond.  I

looked around and saw the massive Fleetwood RV parked way off to the

side of a large parking area and I turned and began to lope towards it.There was a grassy area just beyond the parking lot with several trees and shrubs

planted along it.  It would be as good a place as any to go

through the change back to human form.  I wasn't looking forward

to it, but not because of the impending pain.  It was because of the fact

that this new shape was so much better, and I was not yet ready to give

it up.  It was so much

more powerful and capable and effective.  I'd had so little time to learn what

it was capable of, but I realized there would be all the time in the

world to get to know it.  For now I just needed to get back in the

RV so we could hit the road and get started on our quest to rescue Cole.I

was suddenly hit with a powerful spasm that caused my muscles to lock

up and I stumbled and crashed to the hard pavement.  As soon as the spasm

passed I quickly got up and ran past the RV to the grassy area beyond

and leaped across a line of shrubs to the open dirt beyond were

there were larger trees.  I found an open space large enough to

accommodate my body and I lay down on my side to wait for the firestorm

of pain that was about to inundate me.The process was much the same

as it had been in the hospital room, but it was much easier to take

this time, simply because I now had a notion of just how bad it would

get and I knew I could withstand it.  Knowing it would be short,

and knowing that it would get to a certain intensity, but not beyond,

helped to make it simply an unpleasant reality that had to be endured.I stayed fairly calm internally, though I convulsed and

jerked and grunted and groaned with some of the worst of the volleys of

pain.I began to feel myself fading again as I approached the

point of unconsciousness, and I felt the wolf fading along with me, but

also away from me.Our bond to each other had been so tight that it almost felt like my soul was being torn in half.I

could sense the wolf's regret that it was losing something that had

allowed it to see the world in a completely different light, and I

suddenly realized that it had been a two-way street all along.

 The wolf was gaining as much in all of this from me as I had been

gaining from it.  The wolf was suddenly able to examine the world

using the powerful reasoning abilities of the human mind that a normal

wolf would never have access to, and it had liked that new power.It

had seemed to me as though I was getting everything from the wolf with

all of its strength and size and its amazing sensory abilities, but it

had been gaining something too.  It suddenly had access to

language and reasoning and intellectual capability it had never dreamed

existed before and it had been able to make logical sense of

information that previously had been nothing more than ephemeral

feelings guiding its actions.There was much more to the world

than the wolf could possibly have imagined existed, and through me it

had gained access to all of that knowledge and the ability to process

it in completely new ways.We had been a perfect team in tight symbiosis, and we were now being pulled apart again to each of our detriments.My

final act as I drifted away into oblivion was to send a feeling of

gratitude to the wolf and the thought that I would be looking forward

to his return.I sensed something simpler, yet more important,

coming back from him.  Something that meant a great deal to wolves

and, in their world, ultimately helped to determine who would be leader and

who would be follower.  I sensed deep and abiding respect....I heard myself cry out in pain as I came back to consciousness.I

felt more than just physical pain, though.  I felt an incredible

sense of loss, of loneliness.  I felt as though I was half of what

I should be.  I desperately wanted to go back to what I'd been

moments before.  I was confused and angry about what was happening

to me.In time, as the change progressed, I became less confused

and I settled into the realization that I was simply back to being

myself.  It would have to do for now.I was lying on my back

by the time the change was complete and I was suddenly feeling

incredibly good.  I felt strong and healthy and alive.  I

felt fantastic.I

sat up and looked down at my body to make sure

everything was in the right place.  I was amazingly muscular.

 Not in the way of a heavy duty body builder, more like someone

who'd been practicing martial arts day and night for his entire life.

 My muscles were larger than they'd been and far more defined and

they were dense and powerful and efficient looking.  My skin was

snapped tight against the rippling muscles along my abdomen with not

even the smallest amount of subcutaneous fat obscuring the details.Just

like

Elias, I now had perfect

skin.  My fingernails and toenails looked like they were perfectly

cared for, but it was simply because they hadn't had time to grow much

yet.  I felt my head to make sure my scalp had reattached

properly, and I found I had a thick, soft head of hair that hung to

almost shoulder length.  I felt my face and found a growth of

beard there.  I realized I'd never seen that on Elias

because, even though he was seventeen, his body was still thirteen and

too young to produce a beard.  Like Grace's armpit

and leg hair, my beard had come out during my 'regrowth'.At the thought

of regrowth my heart skipped a beat and I looked down at my penis.

 Sure enough, it now sported a generous amount of foreskin

covering the head.  I was absolutely thrilled.  I'd never

been happy with the fact that I'd been robbed of it when I was a

helpless baby, and now I had it back.  I grinned as I examined

myself more closely and saw that even though I'd had fairly good sized

furry balls before, they were now even larger.  My penis was thick

and long and impressive.  I wished I had time to play with it a

bit, but I was completely naked outside a hospital and it seemed as

though being caught hiding in the bushes, naked and playing with myself

might not be the best thing ever.  I felt it would

probably be best to get inside the RV and get dressed.  Jesse

would

be waiting for me in there and I had a great many questions I needed

him to answer about many things.I got up and made my way through

the bushes and out onto the parking lot and I heard gasps.  I

looked over and saw the doctor and nurse near the entrance to the

hospital.  They must have followed the massive wolf out, and now

in its place they saw the man that had previously been broken into

pieces and lying in bed being cared for by them.  Only now he was naked,

in perfect physical condition, and moving under his own power.  It

had to be a bit of a surprise, especially considering the shape I'd been in in the hospital bed.I smiled and waved at them, then I turned to the RV and pulled the door open and stepped inside.Jesse

was standing there waiting for me, and before I knew what was happening

he grabbed me into a tight hug and held on for a while.  I

reflexively hugged him back, then as I thought of what I'd determined

about him back in the hallway of the hospital, I increased the force of

the hug.We pulled apart and he looked at me and put his hand on my shoulder and said, "You're a good man, Jake.""What

did I do?" I asked, but even as I said it, I realized he had been a

wolf

in here.  He must have smelled me and determined I was OK, just as

I'd learned so much about him by sniffing the scent of him in the

hospital.He

smiled at me and said, "All I could smell in here as a wolf was 'good'.

 It's everywhere.  I smelled you and your family.

 You're good folks.  There's no doubt in my mind.  This

was my first time as a wolf since the shit that went down at Nazas so

it was my first chance to get a real good feel of what you all are

like.  I like it, Jake."I

grinned back at him and said, "It's

amazing, isn't it?  I couldn't believe how much detail was in the

scents that surround us all the time.  When I was walking down the

hall of the hospital as a wolf I could see everything that had happened

there.  It was incredible.  So much detail.  I even knew

the doctor and nurse had been screwing around with each other.

 The nurse is married, but it's on the rocks.  The doctor

knew he was taking advantage, but he went ahead and did it anyway.

 I could see it all clearly.  I

smelled everything about you, too.  You're a better man than me,

Jesse.  I could smell it.  You're honest and loyal and

selfless and courageous.  You impressed the hell out of me.

 Grace really likes you, too.  I could tell she was grateful

to you from the bit of her scent that you left behind.  She likes

you a lot, even if she doesn't really know it yet.  And

Cole,

I know you tried to rescue him from that spook.  I know you

failed, but try not to let it get you down so much.  We'll work

together to get him back.  We won't fail next time.  I

smelled so much about that guy back in the room too.  I could tell

he'd been with a hooker a couple days ago.  I could tell

everything he'd done and eaten for days.  I smelled cordite, too.

 I smelled combat.  You got in a fire fight with them didn't

you?  When you tried to get Cole?  I could smell how Cole was

afraid of that guy, and how he was afraid of you, too.  Then

grateful to you, then disappointed.  That's how I knew you'd tried

to save him but it didn't work out.  There's so much information

in the scents that were all around me, I couldn't believe it!"While I was speaking his eyes began to widen more and more and now he stood slack-jawed and just stared at me."Something wrong, Jesse?"He

shook his head and sounded a bit in awe as he said, "How in the great

goddamn did you get all of that?  It takes time for people to

adjust to what the wolf can do, Jake, but most of us normally never get

to the level of detail it sounds like you did on your first try!

 You're a kindred, cuz!  That's gotta be it!  I can't

believe it!""Huh?  What's a kindred?"He seemed really excited and he ignored my question and asked, "What color were you?  Was there a lot of black?"I said, "I couldn't see my head but the rest of my body that I could see was all black.  Even my underside.""All black?  All the way to the tail?"I nodded and asked, "Why is that important?""It's

one of the weird things about werewolves that we can't really explain.

 We come out all sorts of colors in our wolf forms and the color

is sort of locked in the first time you change.  Most of us

have some black mixed in.  Thing is, some of us are more closely

bonded to the wolves inside us than others.  For some strange

reason, the color you become is determined by the closeness of that

bond.  You and your wolf must have been right

on the same wavelength almost like you were twin brothers when you

changed in there for the first time.

 Samuel, our leader, is all black too, but he has a tiny white

patch at his chest and the tip of his tail is white.  His paws

have some lighter grey in them, too.  The stronger your bond with

the wolf, the more black you have.  Someone who's all black like

you or Samuel sort of had a wolf's soul to begin with, even before you

became a werewolf, so you bond with the wolf almost like you were two

sides of the same coin.  If someone has a weak bond, or resists

the change, they usually turn out to be mostly white.""That sort

of makes sense from my experience.  Elias and Cole have a lot of

black in their coats.  They make awesome wolves.  Grace is

almost all white, except for some light grey on top of her back and

along her tail.  She never wanted to be a wolf and didn't think

she'd make a good one.  She had a bit of trouble controlling hers at the start.  She turned away from it."He nodded, "She wasn't into it.  It

wasn't in her soul.  Even folks like that still get by just fine,

but they have to let the wolf do all the wolf stuff and they're never

very tuned in to the whole thing.  If she wants to track a scent or make a kill,

she has to let the wolf loose so he can do it for her.  She has to

sort of hang back to let it do its thing or she'll just get in the way

of the process.  She wouldn't understand what the wolf is smelling

or how to pick out any detail from it, but the wolf can still handle it

for her, so she gets by just fine with a little practice.  It's more than that for someone

like me, or Elias or Cole by the sound of it.  We're a bit more in

tune with it all and it helps us do a bit better in wolf shape.

 For someone like you, or Samuel, it's completely different.

 When you do something wolf-like you're doing it right along with

them and helping them with the process as much as they're helping you.

 It's a closer sort of teamwork.  The result is something

beyond what most of us can accomplish.  We call it being kindred with the wolf.  It's sort of why Samuel

became our leader.  He's the best example of us, he's the strongest kindred we had, so he floated to

the top as alpha of us all.""So you don't get all of those details like I did from the scents you pick up?" I asked.He

shook his head.  "No, not that much.  When I was in here

sniffing around as the wolf, I sort of got the feeling of good and of

love, and I

couldn't pick up any feeling of 'bad'.  That's how I knew you were

good folks.  I can sort of understand how love smells, or hate,

but there's no way I could figure out who had the love for who else, or

why, or any of that.  I can easily pick out tons of normal scents

of course and I can understand what they are.

 In here I could smell your foot odor even though it's too weak

for me to smell as a human.  I smelled the incredible scents from

Grace's body, the stuff you guys ate in here, your dirty laundry in a

hamper somewhere, simple physical things

like that.  There's no way on God's green Earth I could ever hope

to get as much detail as you could out of that mess of smells in the

hospital, though.  It sounds like you almost get a whole detailed

story out of it.  You're obviously completely in tune with the

wolf.  You two are a perfect match.  It's fantastic!

 Strong kindreds are a rare thing.  Even

among the kindred, there's different levels.  Samuel was the

strongest kindred I ever knew, but it seems like you might be just a

bit stronger than him.  The all black color gives it away.

 I'm guessing Samuel ain't gonna be too happy when he sees you in

wolf form.  He'll see you as competition for position of alpha.

 He's only around six foot one, so you'd be a hell of a lot bigger

and stronger than him, too.""He's

got nothing to worry about from me.  I have no interest in being

alpha of all the werewolves.  I have no reason to go against him,

unless he tries to get in my way I guess."Jesse chuckled and said, "Don't

you get it?  That's exactly how alphas are made.  You'll

follow the leader, unless the leader does something you don't like,

then you take him down a peg, which makes you the new leader.  It's the

way of the wolves, Jake.  Nobody's ever challenged Samuel before,

though.  There's never been any need.  He's been a terrific

leader up until now.  He's done so much to get us organized and stronger.""I can't wait to meet him.  So just how big is the werewolf population anyhow?""I'll

tell you all about it when we're on the road," he said, "We're both as

naked as jay birds and we need to get dressed and get going."He

turned and started gathering up his clothes from the table where he'd

put them when he stripped down, and he started getting dressed.I

couldn't resist looking him over now that his back was turned and he

wouldn't see me doing it.  He was incredibly hot looking.  He

was muscular and shapely and tight.  His butt was a beautiful

muscular bubble and I could see his big furry balls hanging between his

legs as he lifted one up to step into his underwear.  He was

incredibly attractive.I supposed I would have to get used to

this.  By the sound of it there was a whole society of werewolves out

there.  All of them would be in perfect physical condition,

just like Jesse.  Just like me now, too, and Grace and Elias, and even

Cole.  I wondered how many there might be of these supernaturally

perfect humans running around out there.Jesse

would be able to

tell me that and a lot more.  I needed to get dressed so we could

get on the road and I could hit him with the ton of questions that have

been on my mind.I turned and went to one of the closets near the back of the RV where I kept my clothes and I began to get dressed.By

the time I was fully clothed the motorhome was already started up and

moving out of the parking lot and onto the street.  I slid into

the passenger seat and buckled up."Hope you don't mind me drivin', cuz.  It's quicker.  I know the way.""Where are we going?""There's

an airfield just outside of town.  It's pretty close.  Won't

be a very long drive at all.  I love this beast of yours.

 She's got power to spare."I smiled and said, "Yeah, it'll be a shame to leave it behind.  I assume we're getting on a plane?""Yep, we are.  Don't worry though.  We ain't leavin' this beauty behind.  There'll be plenty of room.""Room? For the RV?  On the plane?"He grinned and nodded and said, "Yup.  You'll see.""So where are we headed?" I asked."I'm taking you to Grace, like I promised.""OK, but where is Grace?""She's at our compound.  Well, one of our compounds."I sighed and asked, "OK, so where is this compound?"Jesse

chuckled and said, "Sorry, Jake.  I guess I'm so used to keepin'

secrets it's become a habit.  You're one of us now, so no need to

keep secrets from you.  We're going to Alaska.""Grace is in Alaska?" I asked.He

nodded again and said, "Yup.  Elias should be there with her too

by now.  They got split up when they were picked up by two

different groups of ours after Nazas.  I was with the group that

got Grace.""How did you know to pick them up?""Samuel

knew there was a solid chance that something bad would go down at

Nazas.  He's got a lot of resources at hand and he likes to look

out for anything that might affect werewolves.  He'd been tracking

those government asshats like he likes to do and he knew they

were headed that way.  Wherever they go, there are werewolves

somewhere close by that those fuckers are trying to catch.  Samuel

had an idea what would happen if a werewolf were out in a crowd when

the eclipse happened and didn't know that they would change, so he got

nervous.  He sent a bunch of us out

there to stay out on the fringes of town so we would be ready for

anything."We had no idea how crazy it was gonna get.  We

spread out after the disaster and tried to get as many people as we

could who were running around naked.  We knew those would be the

ones that had changed and they would need our help.  There were a

hell of a lot of them.  Almost more than we could handle, so

things got real busy.  I wasn't

there helping right at first, but after a bunch had been rounded up I

helped transport them, and Grace was in that group.

 On the trip to the airfield we were shipping them out

from, Grace and I talked a lot.  She told me

about you and that she'd lost Cole and Elias.  Once we got to the

airfield she started freaking out and said there was no way she was

leaving without you.  I promised her I'd get Elias, then I'd get

you, then you and I would go after Cole.  She gave me her set of

keys for your RV and I headed back to

Nazas to start searching for you."I found out Elias had already

been picked up by another group so I contacted Grace and told her.

  She told me to keep looking for you and to let you know she and

Elias would be fine so you could focus on Cole.  By the time I

finally found out where you

were from one of the other hospitals, I contacted someone to come pick

us up at the airfield and I drove

the RV to come get you.  I made it just in the nick of time.""What about Cole?  Did Grace ask you to try to rescue him?  Is that how you ended up in the fight with the spooks?"He

got a look of pained guilt on his face again and said, "No, that

happened before I met her.  That's sort of why I wasn't in Nazas

right after the event, rounding up people.  I was with a different

group that was going after Cole.  We know those men who took him,

see.  We've been getting in scrapes with them off and on for

years, so Samuel set things up so we could sometimes track them.

 They keep trying to capture one of us, but we're careful

and we've managed to stay out of their clutches.  They started

gettin' really active so we followed them into Mexico.  They were

walking around Nazas with pictures of a kid named Cole that they were

looking for, showing it to folks in case anyone recognized him.

 We knew if they were there, and they wanted Cole, it had to be

because he was a werewolf, so when we realized they'd caught him, we

went after him.  I didn't know then that he was attached to Grace

in any way because I hadn't met her yet.  I was upset when I found

out.  When she told me

later.  Things would have gone different if I'd known.  I

could have got him back to her but I didn't.  I'll never forgive

myself for that."I could see how upset he was by it and I was reminded about what a good man the wolf had revealed him to be.He

was gripping the wheel so tightly as he drove that I could see his

knuckles turning white, and he got a determined look on his face as he

turned to look me in the eye and said, "I swear to

you, Jake, no matter what it takes we're gonna get that little guy back

to her.  It might take my whole army, but if that's what it takes,

that's what we'll do.""Army?"He turned back to look at

the road and he nodded and said, "Army.  I guess maybe I should

explain some things to you.  It would help.  There's a

lot of shit goin' on out there in the world concerning werewolves,

Jake, and now that you're one of us you should know all about it.""I

was starting to get a glimpse of it already," I said, "We had a couple

of run-ins ourselves.  There was a hunter that tried to shoot and

kill Elias and Cole.  That was the first time I found out

something bigger was going on out there.  I tried to get

information out of him, but he died.  Cole killed him."Jesse got an angry look on

his face and grunted and said, "I like that little guy more already.  Fuckin' werewolf hunters.  Pieces

of shit is what they are.  Don't worry too much about them.

 They're survivors of the first facility that was holding

werewolves and studying them.  Those guys think the best thing to

do with us is just kill us all 'till there ain't a werewolf left alive

anywhere.  They see us as a threat to all humanity.""What

do you mean by 'survivors'.  What's this facility you're talking

about?  He did say something about not letting those government

spooks get their hands on another one.  Did he mean another

werewolf?""Yup, he did.  The government was doing tests on us.""For what purpose?""Think

about it for a minute, Jake.  Imagine if you had an army of

physically perfect soldiers.  Soldiers who could be torn to shreds

and be at death's door one minute, then completely regenerated and

ready to fight again the next minute when the sun goes down or comes

up.  When they're in human form your soldiers could handle all of

the equipment you throw at them.  When they're in wolf form they

can track anything or anyone.  They'd be the perfect covert strike

team.  They're deadly killing machines even without any weapons in

that shape.  Need more perfect soldiers?  Infect more men.

 If they're lucky or skilled they live forever and gain all of

those years of experience getting to be better and better soldiers.

 A country with that sort of army would be hard to stop."I

couldn't believe what I was hearing, but I should have seen the

possibilities myself.  Of course the government would take an

interest in werewolves if they knew they existed, and of course it

would be primarily a military interest."So what were the experiments about then?  Were they just trying to see how much damage these soldiers could take?"He

nodded and said, "That's a big part of it, yes.  They wanted to

know how much would regenerate.  If I cut off your arms and legs,

would you grow them back?  Turns out you would.  Almost

anything I could do to you that doesn't kill you gets wiped out on the

next change.  Anyhow, they

wanted to know just how reliably the werewolves would grow back if they

were busted up badly.  They wanted to learn exactly what the limits

were, and a lot of werewolves were killed, but there was a lot more than

just that.  The

biggest thing they wanted was control, and that's the biggest reason

why they kept it all tightly under wraps.  It wouldn't do them no

good to have a werewolf army if the other side could have one just as

easily.  They needed to keep it secret from the rest of the world until

they could control it.  It's not just soldiers they wanted,

either.  Imagine if you could make your best and brightest leaders

and your smartest scientists live forever?  They

could give anyone they wanted to immortality, but they wanted to be

able to withhold it from everyone else."The

implications of what he was saying sunk in quickly and I realized what

they were really after.  "You're saying they wanted to be able to

block it!  They wanted a cure!  They desperately need a werewolf to work on a way to stop the infection!"He nodded and said, "You

guessed it, cuz.  They wanted to be able to pick and choose who

could be a werewolf, and block anyone else from it.  If they

managed to develop that control and they found a way to spread it all over the world, it would be the end of us.

 They could easily 'cure' us and we wouldn't be werewolves

anymore.  They wanted to be the only ones who could make

werewolves, and they got real close before things went south for them

and we managed to find their facility in Colorado and we attacked it with everything we had.

 We already have the sort of army they were hoping to build, see?

 Though it ain't real big yet.  Samuel likes to tightly

control who gets to be a progenitor, so we were building our numbers

slowly.  We managed to free all the ones they were

experimenting on that they hadn't killed, but we learned that they were getting close to the cure.""What do you mean by 'progenitor'?" I asked.He shook his head and said, "I'll get to that in a bit.  Anyhow, once Samuel found

out exactly what had been going on in that facility and how close

they'd got to finding the cure that would give them complete control

over us, he made it our priority to make sure they could never get

their hands on another werewolf again, no matter what.  When we

attacked that lab we got most of their work, but we don't have the

expertise to do much of anything with it.  There was one thing,

though, that scared the bejesus out of us.  They were working on

the perfect delivery vehicle for their cure and it was nearly done, and

when Samuel realized what it was, he wanted every trace of it

destroyed.""How were they gonna do it?  How could they be sure it would reach everyone in the world?""I

ain't no scientist, but what he called it was a 'viral vector'.

 They were building a virus that would infect and spread to

everyone in the world.  Samuel says it would be a perfect virus

according to their data.  They just had a few more mutations to go

to get there.  It would be one hundred percent effective.  If

you were exposed to it, you would get sick immediately and there was no

way to stop it.  If anyone was exposed to you while you were sick, they would catch

it, and so on.  Thing is, the virus ain't deadly.  The government ain't quite that crazy.  It's

nothing more than a bad flu.  Lots of people all over the world

would die, but only if they were sick already or really old or

vulnerable for some reason, just like the normal flu.  Healthy

people would beat it no problem in time.  The virus is just a tool

though.  A way to deliver a package.  It would carry a genetic

bomb that would go off in each person's system and modify their genes in some of their cells

to include whatever change was necessary to block the werewolf

infection from taking hold in them.  Because it used genes, the 'cure'

would be passed on to everyone's kids, and their kids, and so on, so

nobody could ever become a werewolf again."I

thought about Cole and his ALS.  Grace had asked me if a genetic

problem would be wiped out by the change and I told her it didn't seem

like there was any way it could.  It makes sense.  If

anything at all about his genes had changed he just wouldn't look like

Cole anymore.  The genes stay exactly the same and rebuild his

body from scratch following the pattern they contain.  If the

genes the government introduced through the viral vector survived the

change, then a person bit by a werewolf or who already was a werewolf

might change to a wolf because only some of their cells would have the

blocking gene, but when they changed back to human and were completely

regrown, their body would follow their new genetic pattern and the

blocking gene would be added to every single cell in their body!

 It would completely stop the change from that point forward and

they could never be a wolf again!  Obviously any children they had

would inherit the gene, too, so they would only have to deliver the

package once.  It was an effective approach, but what if something

went wrong with the virus?"Holy fuck!

 They designed a disease with perfect transmissibility and they

planned on unleashing it on the world?  Did they not see how

fucking dangerous that would be?""They almost

built it.  We

destroyed it before they could finish.  Samuel thinks they're

repeating their work in a new location though, and he's been desperate

to find it.  It's been our highest priority.  They've been keeping the new location so secret we haven't been able to find it.  I don't think

the scientists are too concerned about what they're doing,

mainly because the disease they're creating isn't meant to kill

anyone, so they don't see it as dangerous.  It was the only way they

could

do it.  They needed a perfect way to spread the cure once they had

it ready, and the virus would be it."They were the ones building

the virus, so they would easily be able to build a vaccine for it too

before they launched the disease.

 They would add it to one of the normal vaccinations that are part

of the standard American vaccination program so that nobody in the

country would get sick.  They would want to be sure everyone in

the US could still

be made into werewolves if

they wanted to, so they would have an endless source of material for

soldiers, but the rest of the world would be cut off forever from

it.  As soon as they got the genetic payload ready and saw that

everything would work right, they would put it all out there.  It

was a race, but we reached them before they could finish their first attempt.

 We

stopped them just in time."Samuel destroyed all of their data,

but most likely they had backups of it off-site.  He had the whole

place firebombed to make sure nothing was left behind that they could

ever use.  We became way more vigilant after that.  If they

get their hands on another one of us they would be able to finish their

work and that wouldn't be a good thing at all, for anyone.  We're

certain they have another lab up and running.  Samuel has reason

to believe they've already finished their work on the virus delivery

system and it's ready to go.  They just need a payload now.

 Cole might be the one to help them get that, so that's another

reason why we have to get him back."I couldn't believe what I

was hearing.  Just days ago, as far as I knew, I had the only

three

werewolves in existence and we were headed towards a nice, quiet,

anonymous life.  Now I find out that not only was there a whole

organized society of werewolves out there all this time,

they had an army and they were at war with their own country and trying

to save the whole world from

them, and we somehow managed to get sucked right into the heart of it

all!"So how many werewolves are there?" I asked."There were

hundreds by the time we destroyed their lab that last time.  We don't know for

sure when the whole werewolf thing started but it was really slow to get off the ground

and we tightly controlled our numbers.  Samuel figures around

thirty-five or forty years ago something happened that started it all,

but we have no idea what.  After Samuel realized what the

government was up to he started pushing to create more of us faster.

 We need a bigger army to defend ourselves.  There are closer

to a thousand now, but you almost doubled that number by what you

unintentionally did at Nazas.""Was this Samuel guy pissed at that?  You said he likes to control the process."Jesse

shrugged and said, "He wasn't happy, but he wasn't too pissed off

either.  He knows we need a lot of progenitors to make the gene

pool as diverse as possible so it's not that big a deal that you

accelerated that process and made a whole bunch more.  It

stretched our resources thin trying to round as many up as we could,

though.  It exposed the fact that we exist to the rest of the

world, too.  But he didn't seem too concerned about that.

 I've been trying to figure out why.  I would have thought

he'd go ballistic."There was that word 'progenitors' again.  Why did he call werewolves that?Before I could ask, he pulled off the highway we'd got onto and he said, "Here we are."I

looked ahead down the dusty dirt road we'd turned onto and I could see

a small airstrip ahead.  At one end of it was a massive airplane.

 I remembered it from when I was a kid and had built a plastic

model of one.  It was a C-130 Hercules.  A big, four-engine

turbo-prop transport plane designed for short takeoff and landing on

rough dirt strips.  It could load men, tanks, tractors or troop

vehicles up a ramp and into its belly and deliver them almost anywhere.

 The engines had already been started up and the big props were

spinning.Jesse drove around to the back of the plane and I saw

its ramp was already down.  He drove the RV right up inside of it

and stopped.He turned to me and said, "Let's get out and get strapped in.  We'll be taking off pronto."We

got out of the RV and moved around in front of it.  There were

several jump seats that fold up against the wall along the sides of the

plane and he pointed me to one.  I pulled it down and sat in it

and pulled the belt around me and snapped it in place.A

man who'd been waiting by the side of

the ramp entrance as we drove in punched a control and the ramp started

to rise back up.  He quickly went around to each wheel of the RV

and pulled up heavy straps from the floor and cinched the vehicle into

place so it couldn't roll.  He then moved forward to where we were

and

saluted Jesse.  Jesse returned the salute and turned to me and

said, "This is Greg.  He's our copilot and coordinates all the

ground work so nobody has to see our pilot."I wondered why the

pilot needed to stay out of sight.  Was he a known criminal or

something?  Was he someone people would recognize?I smiled at the copilot and nodded, and he nodded

back, then he moved further up and went through a small open doorway to the

cockpit at the front of the plane.  I could see that he was just

as muscular and perfect as Jesse and myself.  He was obviously a

werewolf, too.It suddenly occurred to me that the man had saluted, so Jesse must be high up in the ranks of their army.Before

I could ask him about it, Jesse shouted, "Benjamin!  Is this piece of

shit ready to go or not?  How come we ain't movin' yet?  You

just sittin' around strokin' yerself up there again?!"I

smiled.  It seemed like any time Jesse got animated or excited

about anything his heavy Texas accent would really assert itself.A

voice from the cockpit area that seemed almost to be mockingly mimicking Jesse's accent shouted, "Keep yer shirt on, ya prick!

 Of course I'm strokin' myself, and I ain't done yet!  You

know how big this thing is.  It takes me twice as long to stroke

it as it takes you to stroke yours!"Jesse

snickered and said, "I love that guy!  That's our pilot, Benjamin.

 I want you to meet him as soon as he gets us in the air.  I

think you'll be a bit surprised."He strapped himself into the

seat next to me and in moments we began to move slowly forward and the

plane turned to face down the runway, then there was a deep roar as the

engines spooled up to maximum and the lumbering beast began to bump and

bounce as it made its way down the dirt runway faster and faster.

 Just as the ride was starting to become almost unbearably

bone-jarring, it suddenly smoothed out and we were climbing at a steep rate into the sky.Nothing

was said for a while as we continued to climb, and after a while we

tilted as the aircraft turned towards it's final heading.Jesse

unstrapped himself and shouted, "Benji, as soon as you get this bucket

of bolts pointed in the right direction, hand over the controls to Greg

and get yer ass back here.  I want to introduce you to someone.""Yeah,

yeah," Benjamin said, "And I told you never to call me Benji, you ass!

 I wasn't named after that stupid little dog in the movies!

 Don't make me kick your ass when I come back there!""Fine, whatever, you're Benjamin, I get it!" Jesse shouted back, then he

smiled at me and said, "He's one of my favorite people in the world.

 I can't wait to see the look on your face when you meet him."I

began to wonder what the hell the big deal could be.  I unbuckled my seat belt as I waited to find out.The plane

leveled off and after a short time I saw a shadow at the entrance to

the cockpit.  The pilot was coming out to be introduced.

 What I saw when he came through the doorway nearly stopped my

heart.  I couldn't believe my eyes at first.  I briefly wondered if

this was some sort of elaborate joke.Jesse began to guffaw and slap at his

thigh and I looked over at him as he said through tears of laughter,

"You oughta see yer face, Jake!  You're white as a ghost!  I

knew you'd be surprised!"He laughed until he got most of it out of his system, and when he finally got himself under control, he stood up and said, "Jake, this is

Benjamin.  Benjamin, meet Jake, our newest progenitor and all

around great guy."I

stood up to face the pilot and he grinned at me warmly, exposing his

brilliant white canine teeth.  He held out his hand and said,

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Jake.  You can call me Ben."I shook the proffered hand while simply staring at him, slack-jawed.Ben was about six foot two or so in height and was extremely well built.  He had wonderfully broad shoulders, big arms, narrow firm hips, and a rippling washboard abdomen.  He had a rounded, muscular butt with thick, powerful, muscular thighs, and big, manly feet.  He

had a strong and confident grip, too.What was most surprising about

him, though, was that he was an upright, walking, talking wolf.He

was dressed only in a heavy pair of black, military style boots with

thick wool socks, and athletic shorts with a very full crotch.

 The shorts had been modified to allow him to stick his thickly

furred tail through the back.  Other than that, the only other

accessory he was wearing was a military looking watch on his left

wrist.He

was covered in thick fur that looked exactly like a

wolf's.  He was a wonderful chocolate brown from head to toe

highlighted here and there with lighter shades of brown and tan, and

there was a patch covering a good part of his chest of slightly longer

fur that was

a rich cream color.  There was a light trail of the same cream

colored fur leading down his hard, furry belly to the line of his

over-stuffed shorts.  He had a patch of slightly longer cream

colored fur right under his chin, too.

 His armpits had a longer bit of fur that was also much lighter,

almost the same cream color as the fur on his chest.I briefly

wondered if he had 'pubic fur' and if it would be the same rich, cream

color.He

had the muzzle of a wolf and a wolf's ears.  He had deep brown

eyes that shone with intelligence and a mischievous looking grin on his

wolfish face.It

was literally as though someone had taken a muscular human male, cut

off his head and replaced it with that of a wolf, and then covered him

from head to toe with wolf fur and added a long, bushy tail.The hand I was still holding was shaped

like an extra thick and heavy version of a human hand.  It was

furry on the back but in the palm and the inside of the fingers it was

like the pads of a paw.  Instead of fingernails he had short,

stubby claws that grew out of the ends of his fingers.He

was truly stunning to behold.  I couldn't believe my eyes.

 He was all wolf, and all man at the same time.  He was

amazingly attractive."Excuse

the lack of professional attire on him, Jake.  Ben and his kind

get a bit warm in climates like this so they don't like to wear much."Ben said,

"Yeah, I'd wear nothing if I could get away with it.  I have to

wear shorts to cover up my junk, or I know for sure its

magnificence would eventually turn Jesse gay, and he wouldn't like

that."Jesse laughed and Ben continued, "I wear socks and boots to lock away my rich foot odor so it won't offend anyone."My

eyes immediately and involuntarily went straight down to his big feet,

covered in his thick wool socks and big, black leather boots, and my

mind wandered to how wonderful they would probably smell to me.  I

started to feel my new, fleshier penis begin to wake up and pay attention.I looked back up at Ben's face and I saw he was smiling like he might have guessed what I'd

been thinking.Jesse grimaced and said, "Yeah, after the amount of time I've spent cooped up with this guy, I can attest to the fact that one

thing Ben's kind inherited from humans is the huge number of sweat

glands in their feet, pits and groin.  I think they even have double

what we do, poor SOBs."I said, "I don't see that as anything but a bonus.  It so happens I really like that sort of thing.  I'm sure it's not as bad as you make it out, Jesse."Benjamin chuckled and said, "You'll have to get a bit closer to the right spots on me to really find out

for yourself, Jake," and I noticed he was checking me out now from head to

toe.He looked back into my face, increased the grip on my hand, and he winked suggestively.Jesse

chuckled and said, "You'll want to watch out for Benjamin, Jake.  He

likes guys, and the lupines have sort of a thing for the progenitors.

 I can see he's developing a crush on you already."The beautiful looking creature turned to Jesse and while once again mimicking his accent, he

said, "Shut yer hole, you!  Mind yer own business!"  Then he

looked back at me and winked again and he grinned at me.I smiled back and said, "It really is a pleasure to meet you, Ben.  Can I ask, um, where you come from?""Benjamin

is one of the first of the new breed, Jake.  There's only a few

older than him, and not by much.  Samuel calls them canis sapiens

idaltu.  I'm sure you can figure out what canis

sapiens means, but in case your wondering, idaltu means 'first born'.

 We just call them lupines.  You're what, now, Ben,

twenty-eight years old?"Ben nodded, but he just kept staring at me and smiling."How did this happen?" I asked, "How many more like Ben are there?""There

are well over a hundred by now I think.  We've been keeping them a

secret.  I don't think even the spooks from the government know

they exist yet.  I'm guessing if they did it would be quite a big

deal for them.  Ben doesn't normally come along on missions to

populated areas, but he was the only pilot available and I had to get

someone over here in a hurry to come get you.  Benjamin is my

favorite and most trusted pilot.  Anywhere I go I like to have him take me there.""But, how?" I asked, "How did he end up like he is?  He looks incredible!"Ben smiled at me and said, "So do you, Jake."Jesse

laughed and said, "Uh oh.  I hope I ain't started something that

might get me into trouble.  I just remembered Grace told me you

like guys, too, Jake."Ben's face suddenly lit up and he was grinning from ear to ear.I grinned back at him and said, "Yeah, I do.  Has Elias met Ben yet?  I think he might like him a lot.""No,

Jake, none of the new progenitors from Nazas have as far as I know.

 Grace hasn't met Ben yet either.  There aren't any other

lupines at the Alaska compound.  We keep them all at a different

location that's more secret and safe.  Ben is one of the few

who were trained as pilots and I love to work with him so he's never far from me.

 Anyhow, let's sit back down and I'll explain a bit about Ben

and his kind."The three of us each took a jump seat and Jesse continued,

"Have you ever wondered what might happen if you were straight and you

got busy with Grace?"I

honestly never had, but I was beginning to get an idea of just what

might result.  "I suppose she might eventually get pregnant.

 But I can't even imagine what might happen when she changes to a

wolf while she is.""You're

getting warm, but it's

not quite as straightforward as you might think," Jesse said, "See, a

human

woman's estrus period is on a timed cycle.  You could say that

roughly one month from when her timer starts up, her body will

drop an egg into place and she'll be ready to get pregnant."Thing

is, once a woman

becomes a werewolf, something interesting happens.  Every time she

changes back to a human, her timer starts up, so that it will be a

month before she goes into estrus.  That means she basically never

will again.  Not for the rest of her life.  A human shaped

werewolf can never get pregnant because each time they change to wolf,

and then back to human, the timer resets and starts over again, so it

will never tick all the way down."It

made sense.  If the timer is always just starting up, the most it

could ever run is four days at the phase of the new moon and then it

would be reset again.  A female werewolf would never have a period again."On the other hand," he continued, "it's a bit different

for a wolf.  The wolf side of werewolves seems to follow most

closely to the gray wolf.  I don't know how much you know about

them, but a female gray wolf goes into estrus only once each year.

 The most important thing is that it ain't on a timed cycle.

 It's driven by the seasons.  Gray wolves come into estrus at a certain time in

the winter months and will stay in 'heat' for seven days.  That

means that when the right time of year comes, as soon as the female werewolf changes

into wolf

form at the right part of winter, she will be in estrus and ready to

get pregnant.  Because it lasts for seven days, even the new moon

phase can't block it completely.  She'll still have a few nights

of estrus left."Bottom line is, once a female becomes a werewolf,

she can only get pregnant while she's in wolf form and has sex with a

male werewolf at the right time of the winter season, when she's in

heat.  She won't have a litter like wolves do.  She'll normally only have one baby at a time which, it turns out, is an equal mix of human and

wolf, creating a beautiful person just like Benjamin here."Ben smiled and said, "Aww, shucks, General.  I knew you really loved me even though you're always such an asshole."General?

 It seemed my guess was right.  Jesse is high up in the ranks indeed.

 It seemed they had a fairly relaxed army though, judging by the way

they jab at each other in fun.Jesse

chuckled and added, "There's something really special about Ben and

his kind, and it's the biggest reason why we've kept them secret.

 They're immune to the change, and they can't be made into

werewolves.  Something in their genes blocks it."My eyes opened wide as I realized the implication of that, "That means, if the spooks got hold of them..."Jesse

nodded and said, "They're the missing piece they need to more easily

get the result they're after.  Up till now their work at coming up

with a cure was mostly trial and error based on educated guesses.

 They're gettin' closer, but it ain't easy.  They're trying

to build something from nothing.  The lupines are just what

those bastards need in order to develop the cure.  If they

could get hold of a lupine's genes and figure out which part blocks the

werewolf infection, they'd have their cure and they could deliver it

through the viral vector to the whole world and they'd control it all.""I

don't get it though," I said, "If they're immune to the change, then

what's happening to them while they're in the womb and their mother is

changing back and forth almost every night?""They're

safe inside the

womb, not changing.  That's what happens.  They come out as

tiny babies, Jake, just like humans.  Cutest damn things I ever

seen.  Honestly, we don't

quite understand the whole thing.  When werewolves are in wolf

form, we're just really gigantic wolves.  It should follow that

their babies should be pure wolves too.  Samuel figures it's the

fact that the mother is changing back and forth that pushes the fetus

into this in-between state while the cells are first dividing in the

early stages.  It somehow bends itself to accommodate both forms the

mother will switch between, so that it can survive her change back and

forth while in her womb even though it's not a werewolf.  It's

both

human and wolf, so the mother can take either form and the baby

continues to grow inside her.""Can lupines breed and make babies?" I asked.Benjamin shook his head and said, "I sure as hell can't, no."Jesse laughed and said, "You mean you don't want to, dummy, and that's just because you're gay."Ben chuckled and I laughed.Jesse

continued, "They can breed.  They're a completely viable species,

even if the progenitors stopped making them.  We need more genetic

diversity though, for the species to stay viable.  We need more

progenitors making babies to add variety to the gene pool.  I

guess by now you figured out why we call ourselves progenitors.

 It means ancestor or parent.  We, the werewolves, created

this incredible new species from ourselves.  They descended from

us.  We love them fiercely and we'll do anything to keep them

safe.""So,

if you can't change or be a werewolf, Ben, does that mean you're

physically aging?  You must be if you were born as a baby and grew

up to be this incredible manly male before me."Ben smiled and nodded and said, "Yeah, that's right.  We

won't live forever.  We don't know for sure how long we'll live

yet.  I'm one of the oldest.  Samuel figures we'll live to be

at least a hundred or so based on how we've developed from babies till

now.  Can't be sure, though.""This is incredible!"  I said, "A whole new intelligent species!  It's fantastic!"Jesse

said, "Yup, it is.  They've got the best of both human and wolf.

 Super sharp senses, incredible speed and strength, intelligence,

language, and the sexiness of both species combined.  We think of

them as the next stage in evolution.  They've got humans beat by a

country mile as far as I'm concerned.  That's another reason why

we keep them so secret.  The world would see them as a threat to

human existence.  They'd see lupines as competition for humans and

when they find out how superior they are, the human governments would

likely want to wipe them out eventually.""This is a hell of a lot of information to take in.  It's mind-boggling," I said.Jesse smiled and said, "Yeah, I'll bet it's all a bit of a shocker.

 Listen, I'm getting a bit beat.  I was driving for a long

time to get to you in the hospital and I ain't rested in a while.

 I think I'll take a bit of a snooze while we fly to Alaska.

 You should do the same, Jake.  We're gonna be busy when we

get there.  The clock's ticking on Cole, and we'll need to get

organized."I nodded and said, "There's plenty of room in the RV.  I can set the beds up for us.""That

would be real sweet of you, cuz.  I was just gonna nod off right

here in the jump seat, but I always get a sore neck when I do that.

 It never even occurred to me we got a luxury hotel back here with

us," Jesse said.Ben smiled at me and said, "Could I join you,

Jake?  I could use a bit of sack time too.  If we're quiet we

won't disturb the general here."Jesse rolled his eyes and said,

"You've got a job to do, pooch.  You need to get back up there and

keep Glenn from falling asleep at the stick.  You're the pilot,

remember?"Benjamin looked disappointed and said, "Well, I hope

to see a lot more of you, Jake."  He turned to Jesse and asked,

"Is Jake gonna be taking his orders from you from now on?  Will he

be with us all the time now?"Jesse chuckled and said, "I think I might be taking my orders from him before too long, my furry friend.  Jake's a kindred.  A real strong one."Ben's

eyes went wide and he said, "No way!  Big as he is, and a kindred,

too?  Holy shit!  Did you get a look at him, Jesse?

 Does he have a lot of black?"Jesse said, "I didn't see him

for myself, but Jake says the parts he could see were all black.

 Not a trace of any other color."Ben said, "Holy geez!

 He's blacker than Samuel, then!  I can't wait to see you

with my own eyes, Jake.  You look so hot right now, but when

you're a wolf...  Hot damn!  I think I need to get back to

the pilot's seat so I can get back to strokin' for a bit while I think about it."Jesse

laughed and said, "You do that.  We gotta get some rest.  And

about Samuel, let's just keep Jake's color to ourselves for now, OK?

 Samuel's got enough on his plate without starting to worry about

any competition."Ben nodded and said, "Yeah, that's probably a

good idea.  He's been in a real mood, lately.  I doubt we'd

bump into him any time soon anyhow.  He's been busy with something

lately and hasn't shown his face.  Anyhow, I guess I'll get back

to work then, Generalissimo."  He saluted Jesse, then turned to me

and said, "I'll see you when we land, Jake, OK?  Please don't let

this punk drag you off someplace without me."I smiled and nodded and said, "You bet.  We won't take off without you.  There's someone I really want you to meet."He grinned and nodded, then he turned and went back through the doorway into the cockpit.Jesse

turned to me and said, "He's a real sweet guy, Jake.  He gets real

lonely though.  None of the other lupines have turned out to be

gay so far.  Not many of the werewolves are either and he's fairly

particular anyhow.  I can tell he's head over heels for you

already.  You should try to get to know him better.  I think

you'd be great for him.""I think he'd be pretty great for me.  I can't wait to introduce him to Elias.  He's gonna flip."Jesse smiled and nodded.I

led the way into the RV and pulled out the two large beds.  Jesse

was so tired he didn't bother undressing.  He just crashed on top

of the blankets and he was snoring loudly within minutes.I lay

down on the other bed, thinking there was no way I could possibly get any

sleep after spending so much time unconscious over the last three days.

 Not to mention the information that was now zipping around in my

brain.I couldn't believe so much was going on that we hadn't

been aware of.  We thought our werewolf lives would be so secret

and quiet.  Now, we would be part of a large and growing

community.  It felt good to know we were not going to be outsiders

after all.  We would be part of society again and we would be as

normal as all the other werewolves.Elias and Grace were safe and

I would be with them in several hours.  The only thing I had to

worry about now was getting Cole back.  With luck, the general's

army would make that possible.As I contemplated the new reality

we were facing, the heavy thrum of the plane's engines and the gentle

bobbing and rocking on the air currents eventually lulled me off to

sleep.