Love and Lycanthropy - Chapter 19
I felt my stomach begin to drop away as the heavy plane
completed its bank and suddenly pitched forward to dive even faster
towards the Earth, while the massive engines spooled down almost
to an idle to ensure we wouldn't power our way right into the ground.I
wished I was facing forward because facing sideways in the jump seat
seemed to increase the nausea-inducing effect of near free fall.We
fell for quite a while before I finally began to feel heavy gravity
reassert itself as the plane began to level off and the engine RPM
increased smoothly again to maintain lift. We slowed more and
more and the nose pitched up a bit to control our altitude as we
descended the rest of the way.The
contact with the ground was not nearly as bad as Ben had made it sound.
We didn't hit very hard at all as he expertly brought us in. The plane suddenly leveled
off and dropped the last few inches and there was somewhat of a jarring
bump as all of the wheels contacted squarly at once to spread the load of impact,
and then we were bouncing along as Ben changed the pitch angle of the
propeller blades to reverse the thrust. There was a deafening
roar as
he fed full power to the four big engines and the wide blades began to
chop up the air as they bit deeply to blast it forward in order to slow
the plane down rapidly.We
were pulled hard sideways in our seats from the rapid deceleration and
I was amazed at just how short the run was before the big plane's momentum was rapidly bled off and we came to
a complete stop. The engines went back to idle as Ben changed the
blade pitch again and then they spooled up smoothly again to pull us as we lumbered forward
and turned a bit to taxi to the final parking spot.Jesse
was unbuckling even as we stopped and he stood and shouted, "Benjamin,
square the plane away. Get her fully refueled and ready.
We'll need her later on. Meet us inside the barracks when
yer done. Greg, unbuckle
the RV and get her fueled up and parked under the netting near the
supply tents. Jake and
his family will likely want to stay in it where they'd be more
comfortable."There
were acknowledgments coming from the cockpit and then Jesse turned to
me and grinned and said, "Get yer ass up, cuz. There are a couple of
people who are anxiously waiting to see you I'm guessin'. Let's
make gettin' you back with them the first order of business." I smiled and unbuckled myself
and stood to follow Jesse as he went around the RV to the back and he turned a lever on the wall of the plane and
punched a fat button that started the big ramp lowering to the ground.We
went down the ramp and I saw several people already unrolling huge sections of camouflage
netting over the plane. Off to the side I saw what looked like several
older Huey helicopters and some troop carrier style trucks also covered
in heavy netting. They must be concerned about hiding from any
possible satellite snooping. They seemed to be incredibly well
organized. I looked around and saw we were in a dense alpine
forest that reminded me a lot of what we'd enjoyed in the Spring
Mountains in Nevada, but it was on a much more massive scale. A big
range of mountains was just behind us and there was a thick forest
of massive pine trees all around. The morning air was crisp and brisk and fresh.I saw that we hadn't really landed
on a runway at all. It was simply a large patch of exposed grass and
tundra. It looked as though the big plane followed a
different path each time it landed or took off, so it wouldn't wear
down any one area too much to show established tracks.I
could
see big military style tents set up here and there in the trees and a
couple of very large, more permanent looking structures further back. All of it
was
nestled inside the forested area wherever possible and it was painted a
mix of deep greens and browns. From a satellite view it would
likely
be very difficult to see unless you knew exactly what you were looking
for and exactly where to find it to begin with. It would all look
like more patches of pine or spruce coverage. With tens of
millions of hectares of forested land to search, there was simply no
way the government could ever possibly hope to find this place, given
the werewolves' camouflage measures, even if they already knew it was out here somewhere.
It was impressive.Jesse led me to
one of the permanent structures and said, "That's our barracks. You'll
find Elias and Grace in there. I gotta go check on some things
regarding Cole and getting his location. I'll meet you in there a bit
later on."He turned to one of two men who were dressed in camo and armed with machine guns
standing guard at the door and said, "Please show Jake to the mess. His family's waiting to see him."The man saluted and Jesse turned and headed off
towards the other large structure that had radio antennas and satellite
dishes on it. It must be their communications area. It likely served
as the command and control center for the compound.The
man Jesse had
asked to escort me opened the door and waved me inside and I entered.
He moved ahead of me and walked down a long hallway. There
were
several doors along the hallway that must lead to rooms with bunks in
them. At the end of the hall was a large open room that looked to
serve as their mess hall. There were several rows of tables with
benches on either side and there were groups of men scattered about
here and there talking to each other while they drank coffee or ate
food. It looked as though it was the tail end of breakfast time.As soon as I went in I heard Elias shout, "Jake! Thank God!"I
turned and saw him grinning from ear to ear as he ran towards me.
He looked worn down, and more tired than I'd ever seen him
before, but he looked about as happy as I'd ever seen him, too. My
heart swelled at the sight of him to the point where it felt as if it would burst.I grinned widely as tears welled in my eyes and I opened my arms and he slipped
right into them. We hugged each other hard and laughed at the
uncontainable joy we felt at being reunited. We alternated between
hugging and kissing and hugging again as we tried to sate our need to
reassure ourselves that we were really in each other's arms again.I
noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was a large group of men
sort of segregated from most of the others. They looked at us
disapprovingly and some turned to mutter things to the others and
looked back at us in disgust. It seemed they weren't comfortable
with two guys kissing, or maybe they just weren't comfortable with the
difference in our ages.I
didn't particularly care. They would just have to get used to us
if we were going to be part of their community now. It seemed the
werewolf world carried along with it the same hangups that the human
world did.Elias finally pulled back from me and said, "I was so fucking scared! I didn't know
what happened to you! We didn't hear anything for a couple of days
before they finally told us they found you in a hospital and someone
was going there to get you. We didn't know if you were dead or what
before that. I was so worried I didn't know what the hell to do with
myself. I'm so glad you're OK! I love you so much, Jake!""I love you, too. It feels so good to finally have you back with me."He grabbed me in a hug one last
time and held tight as if to make sure I wouldn't slip away from him
again.When
he pulled away the second time he looked me over more closely and said,
"Damn! You were hot looking before, but holy shit! You're
so tight and muscular! I love your hair that length, and the full
beard looks amazing on you! It suits you perfectly! I like
it way better than shaved. It's so sexy. Will you keep it
that way now?"I
smiled and said, "If that's how you like it,
that's how I'll keep it. It'll be nice to never have to worry
about shaving again and always have a beard that's just the right
length. I guess I'll never need to bother getting a hair cut ever
again either since it'll always grow back to look exactly like this
every time I change. I never have to look at my own face so I'm
more inclined to keep it looking the way you like it best, especially
if it means I can be lazy and not have to do anything with it."He grinned and said, "We were sent word
that you were OK and that you were turned. I'm so glad you're one
of us now! I cannot freaking wait to see you in wolf form!
I'm so excited! I missed you so much! I can't get
enough of touching you right now!"I laughed as he tickled my
ribs and then he grabbed me in a hug again and started kissing me on
the face and rubbing his lips and nose against my new beard to see how
it felt. He suddenly pulled back again and his eyebrows went up as he looked me in the
eye and said, "You smell awesome. You smell like you've been rubbing
your face on some dude's feet and privates. It smells so good."I
felt myself blushing as I smiled at him. I wasn't quite sure how
best to broach the subject of what had happened with Ben.He took
care of that for me as his face split into a grin and he
asked, "Did you get busy with someone on the plane that brought you in?
Is that why it smells so strong? It must have just
happened!"I grinned back at him and nodded.He smiled and looked around and said, "Where is he? Can I meet him?"I
said, "He's busy with the plane that brought me here. He's the
pilot. I know it's gonna seem a bit sudden, but we sort of fell
in love. He's someone
incredibly special. You're gonna love him. He's gonna blow
your mind.
I know it. I can't wait for you to meet him."He
grinned and said, "Man, I was worried about you being all alone out
there and you were busy making a new friend without me.""We're
more than friends already, Elias. He's gonna be with us from now
on. I really do love him, and he loves me back.""I can't wait to meet him. He must be pretty special if you fell in love that quick."As
I'd expected, there was not even the slightest hint of jealousy in his
reaction. This was one of the reasons I'd fallen so deeply in
love with him. Nothing is more masculine or attractive to
me than self-assurance, and Elias had it in spades.I smiled
and said, "He's more special than you could possibly imagine. It
won't be long before you see him. He'll come meet us in here when
he's done with the plane. I told him all about you. He's
really anxious to meet you. I think he's gonna love you. I think
he's gonna fit right into our family perfectly. Where's Grace?""She
was up most of the night pacing just like I was. Neither one of us wanted to go to bed until
you were back safe. She couldn't hold out. She finally went off to
the room we've been using to bunk in. She's probably still sleeping
like a rock. She was really beat. I think she was also anxious to see
this Jesse guy she keeps talking about. I never met him, but it sounds
like she has a bit of a thing for him. Isn't he here too? Where is
he?"I said, "He's gone off to get some information about Cole.
He seems to think they might have a location on him or something. I
hope that's the case. They seem so organized here. I wasn't sure if
we'd have much chance of rescuing Cole, but with these people on our
side I really feel hopeful."He
nodded and said, "They've got a
pretty awesome setup here, and according to some guys I've been talking
to, this is one of their smaller compounds and it's just a sort of
staging area. They've got way bigger ones scattered around where
the werewolves actually all live together in big groups."I said, "Let's sit and talk for a bit. I'll tell you all about what happened to me at the hospital."We
sat at a table and I told him all about my ordeal and the fact that I'd
been bitten at Nazas at the end of the eclipse when the sun had come
out, and didn't even know I'd been infected for the three days I'd
been in hospital. I told him about how Jesse saved my life,
twice, by knocking out the government goon and then getting my casts
and brace
off just in time for my first change."That
Jesse guy sounds so cool," Elias said, "I'm glad he came along.
Grace has been going on about him non-stop. I can't wait to
meet him and say thanks for all he's done. I hope he's as into
Grace as she is into him. It would be so cool if they would get
together. She wouldn't have to worry about being lonely any more."I
nodded and said, "He's into her, trust me. I couldn't be happier
about it. He's gonna be perfect for her. He's pretty
amazing. Hell of a nice guy. He's the general that commands
their whole army. He's gonna be the one to get Cole back for us.
I don't doubt it for a second."He smiled and said, "Then I really want to meet him. So what happened after Jesse busted you out of the casts?"I
explained to him how I'd changed right there in the hospital room.
I told him how the wolf had dealt with the government agent that had tried
to kill me, and Elias seemed really happy with that result.He
was thrilled that I was finally a werewolf right along with him and he
peppered me with questions about what it was like for me. I tried
to
explain how powerful the experience was and how I'd had senses
that were even more heightened than Jesse said his were, and I told him
about the fact he thought I was a kindred, and what that meant.
He was surprised as I described the level of detail of
information the wolf's sense of smell fed me. He said he never
got anywhere near that much. He was
excited to see me change into wolf form later when the sun sets.
He
couldn't wait to see me.I asked him what had happened at Nazas
while I was away from them just before the eclipse. I wanted to
know how Cole had been taken."We got separated," he explained, "Cole and Grace and me were walking around the
town square after we had lunch. Cole must have stopped to look at something but we
didn't
notice at first and we must have walked a long way away from him and
lost him in the crowd without knowing it. We didn't even notice
for a few minutes. Grace had started talking to
some people about what was going on. They told us an eclipse was
coming. I suddenly realized why it was getting so dark in the
middle
of the day. I panicked. I was sure we might change right
there. I
turned to grab Cole so the three of us could get the hell out of town
before it hit, but he wasn't there. Me and Grace split up to
start looking for
him. I finally spotted him talking to a man. Cole was
looking sort of relieved, like the man was helping him out. I
called his
name and he looked over to where I was, but the man must have heard me
calling to him, and suddenly he grabbed Cole and dragged him into the
crowd away from me and I lost them.""Shit,"
I said, "That had to be the same goon that tried to kill me in the
hospital. He was the one you Tasered at the front door at our
house, remember? Just before he tried to kill me he told me he was the one that grabbed Cole.""No,"
Elias said,
"It wasn't him that took Cole, I saw that other guy later so I know
it. This guy didn't even look like one of those government guys.
He was just wearing regular looking clothes. I saw
his face, but I didn't recognize it. I don't think he was anyone
I ever saw before. If I ever meet up with him in
my wolf form I'll tear
the bastard to pieces. I followed as fast as I could in the
direction he dragged Cole but it was hard to get through all the
people.
When I finally made it to the end of the crowd at the edge of
town I saw Cole getting
thrown into one of those black SUVs by that government guy you
described from the
hospital, the one who tried to kill you. The one that I Tased before.
I recognized his face. That other guy who grabbed Cole
first wasn't around anymore but obviously he was the one that handed
Cole to them. I don't know why. I screamed for Cole but the
spook must have heard me. I saw him pull a tranq gun and shoot it
into the truck were he'd dumped Cole and I saw Cole slump over on the
seat. The guy slammed the door shut and banged on the SUV's roof
and it took off. He got into another SUV and followed them.
They were gone, and they had Cole. I was so close to him,
Jake! I almost had him back! There was nothing I could do!
Why the hell didn't I watch him closer? Why did I let him
get split from us? It's my fault!""No! Don't beat
yourself up, Elias. How the hell could you know that was gonna
happen? I don't blame you at all. I doubt Grace would,
either. There's no way Cole would. Stop blaming yourself.
It's nobody's fault but that fucking government goon, and he got what was
coming to him.""That
other guy needs to get his, too. The
one that handed Cole to them. He'd better hope we don't cross
paths with him or I'll do him like you did the guy at the hospital if
I'm in wolf form. Anyhow, I knew there was nothing I could do for
Cole by myself. I turned back into the
crowd to try to get back to Grace so we could find you and get back to
the RV and
go after them. I finally caught up to Grace and told her what
happened. We heard you shouting for us and we shouted back.
We tried to make our way over to you through the crowd, but it
was too late. The
eclipse hit and everything went to shit.""'Went
to shit' is a
serious understatement," I said, and I explained what I'd seen during
the eclipse, and everything that Jesse had told me on the plane about
what was still happening out there from the aftershocks of the first
big werewolf outbreak we'd caused. How there were still people
infecting other people and how there would likely be more each night
for the next while when some of the new ones changed for the first time
unexpectedly, while possibly surrounded by other people. There
were even some in other countries now spreading the infection slowly
but surely, far and wide.He went a bit pale as he began to
realize just how badly we'd fucked up. I told him how Jesse
didn't blame us and we shouldn't really blame ourselves either.
We just didn't know about the eclipse. It was all an
accident.While we were talking, I saw Benjamin strolling into the room.I stood and smiled and said, "Come on, Elias. I want you to meet someone."Elias
had been sitting on the other side of the table with his back to the
door and was facing the wrong way to see Ben walk in. He lifted
his legs and turned on the bench to face the other way and he stood up.
I saw him suddenly wobble like he'd lost his
balance when he saw the big, beautiful,
chocolate colored, furry lupine walking towards us.I was tempted
to guffaw and slap at my thigh just as Jesse had done to me earlier
when I saw the color draining from Elias's face and his eyes opening
wide and his jaw nearly dropping to the floor.Ben
walked right up, grinning, and he extended his big, clawed hand
and said, "You've got to be Elias. I've been looking forward to
meeting you."While Elias tentatively reached out and took Ben's hand, the lupine turned to me and said, "Holy geez, Jake, he's gorgeous!"I
grinned and nodded as I said, "Elias, this is Benjamin. Ben's the
newest member of our family now. I love him and he loves me. He's a
lupine. He's what happens when two werewolves get frisky and make a
baby.""My God, you're so fucking beautiful!" Elias blurted.Ben smiled at him and said, "Thank you, I'm glad you think so. The feeling's mutual."I
smiled as I watched Elias's reaction and waited for him to regain his
composure and find his words. After his one brief outburst, he was
totally speechless. He was looking Ben over from head to toe. I could
already see his pants tenting a bit as he thought about the fact that
he might get to lay down with this incredibly sexy tower of muscle and fur
eventually.He looked over at me and said, "You two...this is who you got busy with, Jake?"I
grinned and nodded and said, "I hope it doesn't bother you that I did
it without you knowing. We were seriously caught up in a moment and we
did what came naturally.""Bother me? Are you nuts? I would have kicked your
ass if you told me you had the chance but didn't because you were
worried about me. He's so amazing!"He looked back at Ben, then
back at me and asked, "Could we...could we go someplace private maybe?
This place is a bunkhouse. It's full of beds. Could we maybe, just
for a bit..."Ben
chuckled and said, "You don't look like a lupine, but you sure
sound like one. I like the way you think, Elias We need to
check each other out and see if we're compatible. So far I'm
thinking we are. I just need to see your aura."Elias's eyebrows went up. "Aura?""Remember
what I was telling you about how I could suddenly read what people were
like from the chemical signals in their scents that hover around them when I was the wolf?
Turns out lupines have a refined version of that that somehow
taps into the human side's powerful color vision. They can
actually see a person's qualities in a colored sort of glow around
them. They can only see it in the dark or a really dim room or
their normal vision overrides it," I explained."That's so cool!" Elias exclaimed.He looked Ben over more carefully and even walked around him, looking down
at his tail and back up at his wolf head. He checked over every
inch of him and said, "You're the most amazing looking guy I've ever
seen in my life. I don't think I could have ever even imagined
anyone so incredible! I'm so excited right now! I
wish we could go somewhere private. Jake, could we? Please?"I smiled and said, "In a little while. We should sit and talk a bit first."Elias turned back to Ben and said, "You're a member of the family now. Could I at least get a hug?"Ben grinned and said, "Hell yes."He
opened his muscular arms and scooped Elias into them and they hugged warmly for
a good long while. When they split apart they quickly kissed and
then smiled at each other."You
seem like a really sweet guy, Elias. I'm thrilled at the idea of
getting to know you better. I hope you'll like me as much as I
know I'm gonna like you," Ben said.Elias grinned and kissed Ben
again and slid into another hug and said, "I'm more excited about this
than you are. If Jake loves you then I know I will too."I
saw his hands begin to wander up and down Ben's furry back, then he
pulled back a bit and put his hand on the lupine's muscular chest as he
gazed over Ben's beautifully furred body. His hand moved over to
Ben's big bicep muscles and he felt the power in them. I could
see the tent in Elias's pants growing fast and Ben's shorts were
getting a bit more crowded looking too. It was fairly obvious
that from a physical perspective the two would most definitely hit it
off.I heard mutterings and looked over to
the group of men who were once again casting disapproving stares in our
direction. Most of the other men in other groups at other tables
were either minding their own business and talking to each other, or
watching what was going on between Ben and Elias with smiles on their
faces.I said, "Let's sit and talk for a while. I want to
wait for Jesse. He said he'd meet us here. I want to know
where he's at with finding
Cole. I'm not sure how the hell they're gonna do it. He's
supposedly
being held at some super secret facility they haven't been able to find
yet, so I'm not sure how he suddenly expects to be able to get to him,
but he seemed confident."Elias
couldn't peel his eyes away from Ben as we went to a table to sit down.
Benjamin and Elias sat across from each other so Elias could
continue to stare raptly at him, and I sat next to Ben to face Elias.Ben said, "If Jesse's confident, then you know it will happen. He'll get Cole away from them and back to us.""Why are they holding him?" Elias asked, "What are they planning do with him?"I
didn't want to tell him any details about what the agent had told me in the
hospital room before he tried to kill me, or what Jesse had said later
in the plane about the tests. I simply said, "They're doing tests to
learn more about werewolves. I think they want to make some more, too. Jesse says they're looking for a cure."Elias's eyes went wide. "A cure? They want to stop it?"I
nodded, "Not just stop it from happening to anyone else, but to cure
the ones who already have it. They want to try to control it for
themselves and only let the people they want become werewolves.
They want to build an unstoppable army."Elias shook his
head and said, "Trust the government to pervert the most amazing thing
in the world. We need to get Cole back from them."Ben
said, "Don't worry, Elias. Jesse won't let you down. I
promise you. If he really does know where Cole is, then Jesse
will have him back to you by this time tomorrow."Elias smiled at
him and Ben smiled back. Ben had put his hand on Elias's arm reassuringly from
across the table, and now he was gently rubbing his hand up and
down Elias's forearm. Elias gazed back at the beautiful lupine
with almost glazed eyes. I could tell he was smitten already.
I smiled as I watched the two of them gazing into each other's eyes while Ben stroked Elias's arm.Suddenly I heard Jesse's voice yell, "Howdy, folks!"He
saw Elias facing us and talking to me and Ben so he must have guessed
who he was and he said, "Look at this beautiful reunion! Ain't it
grand?"I grinned and waved at him and said, "Hey, Jesse. Come over and meet Elias."We
all got up from the table and Elias smiled at the thought of finally
getting to meet Jesse. He
turned to look over at him and I suddenly saw his smile fade, then he
frowned angrily. His face went dark, his jaw got tight, and his
hands clenched into white-knuckled fists as he shouted in sudden fury,
"You! You fucking son of a bitch! What the fuck are
you doing
here? What the fuck is your game?! I'm gonna kill you you
piece of
shit!"He suddenly bumped past me and ran towards Jesse. Ben
flew past him and got in front of Elias to block him and asked, "What
the hell is this? What's wrong, Elias?"I saw Jesse's face start to go beet red and his shoulders slumped as he said, "Oh, shit."I
was confused as hell. I couldn't figure out how the hell Elias
could
possibly know Jesse. They'd never met. Then I remembered
the light
scent of Elias I'd smelled in the hospital hallway when I was delving
into Jesse's scent. It was too faint to get any details from, but
it was there. They had come near each other somehow. What
was
this all about?Elias struggled against Ben, but the muscular
lupine held him back as Elias yelled, "Let me go! This is the guy that
took Cole! He's the one that handed him to those government assholes!
He's the reason Cole's not with us!"My heart started racing. What was he talking about? Jesse took Cole? It didn't make sense.Elias wouldn't lie, though.I felt sudden rage building inside me as I advance towards Jesse.Ben saw the rage on my face and said, "Jake, wait! It can't be true! Jesse wouldn't do that!"I
ignored him and walked up to Jesse and grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him close.
There was shouting from the other men in the mess hall as they jumped from
their benches and moved to protect their general.Jesse looked towards them and raised a hand to stop them while I still had his shirt in my fist and he
shouted, "Stand down! All of you! That's an order! Stay out of this!"The
men stopped their advance, but several of them looked at me with
unbridled menace in their eyes, making it clear if I tried anything I
would not make it out of the room in once piece.Jesse turned back to me and said more quietly, "Let me explain, Jake. There was a reason for it."Ben
suddenly let Elias go and turned on Jesse and in surprised anger he
shouted, "You mean it's true!? What the fuck is going on? How could
you do that, Jesse?"My
heart started pounding as my rage continued to build. Jesse
had taken Cole! It was true! He admitted it!I
lost it and began to shout in his face, "You fucking piece of shit!
You'd better explain yourself, and it had better be good or I swear...
When I'm a wolf again later it will be the end of you.
I'll tear your fucking guts out! I'll tear this whole fucking place
apart! Where the hell is Cole!? Why did you give him to them?"Jesse
shouted, "Please, Jake, think about it. You smelled me. You
know me! You're a kindred! You're all black! The
strongest kindred there ever was! You know the truth about who I am and what
I'm like! The wolf showed you!"I
heard gasps and muttering all around the room from the other men at the mention of me
being an all black kindred, and he continued,
"You know I wouldn't do anything I didn't think was right!
Please,
think about it for a bit before you rip my head off! I had to do
it!
I was under Samuel's orders! That ain't the only reason,
though. I really felt it was the right thing,
the only thing we could do! I didn't know Grace then. I
didn't know
you were all such good folks! I ain't tryin' to weasel out of
anything. I take responsibility for what I done. I wish I'd
done things different now. I planned on telling you. I
planned to tell Grace the truth. I own up to the things I do.
I just thought it was better if we focused on getting Cole back
first. I didn't want you wasting any of your anger at me.
We need it all focused on the job of getting him back.
Please, let me explain everything! Can we just sit down and
talk?"I thought
about what he'd said about me being a kindred. I remembered what I'd
smelled of him as the wolf. He was right. The wolf showed me irrefutably that
this man was exceptionally good. He wouldn't do anything evil
intentionally. If he took Cole, it was because he felt it was the
right thing to do. The good thing to do. I couldn't understand how
that could be.I
remembered the shade of grey I'd seen when I thought
about him back in the hospital. The fact that Jesse felt conflicted
about
something and was changing his mind about something that was important to him. Was this it?
I remembered the sense of his loyalty being strong, but shifting.
Was it shifting from his duty to Samuel, over to Grace and Cole? Was
that what I'd sensed? He said he hadn't known that Cole was
connected to Grace until later and that things would have been
different if he'd known. He still seemed to think his actions
were justified somehow, though. He said so. I needed to
hear it all. I needed to know why he'd done it.I
began to calm
down a bit as I realized no matter what had happened, whatever he'd done, the wolf would
not have been confused about the signals it got from Jesse. He
was a
good man. There had to be some sort of reasonable explanation.
I
should hear him out. We needed him and his army desperately now
if we wanted to get Cole back and we should give him a chance.I let go of his shirt and stepped back.He relaxed and
sighed, and he turned to Ben and said, "Round up the men. Give us the
room. I need to talk to Jake and Elias in private."Ben nodded and he turned to face the other men and shouted, "Everyone out! Give the general the room!"He
started to move to the doors along with the other men and I said, "No,
Ben, please stay. You belong here. You're with me and Elias now."He turned and smiled gratefully as though he was hoping I'd say just that, and he came back to join us.Jesse got a look of dismay on his face. I think he might not have
wanted Ben to hear what he was going to say. He was ashamed of it and
didn't want his friend to know what he'd done. I didn't care. He
needed to own up to whatever it was. It had better be good."Let's sit," Jesse said.We
all took a seat at one of the tables and Jesse cleared his throat and
began, "You remember I told you about the facility we busted up a while
back and the fact that we knew they had another one, Jake?"I nodded."We'll,
like I told you, after we took that first one out, they started being a lot more
careful. They've kept it so hidden we couldn't find it, no matter how
hard we tried. Samuel's got people who tap some of the electronic
messages going around, but they're always encoded and stripped of all
traceable information. We can't tell where they're coming from. We've
got the power to decipher the messages, but even then they use code
phrases for everything and we've never got any detail on a location.
We
know how far they've gotten. We know they're finished with the
virus
delivery system. We know they were just waiting on a test subject
so they could get back
to work on the cure. Samuel was getting desperate. He knew
that every day that passed increased the odds of them finding out about
the lupines. He knew that if they got hold of one of them they
would have the cure in no time. Even if they didn't, he knew that
eventually we would slip up, or someone would, and they'd have a
werewolf they could work with again. He desperately wanted to
find
that facility and destroy it before it was too late and they got what
they needed."Samuel
saw those government goons suddenly becoming more
active over a week ago. He saw messages go back and forth that indicated
they were on the
trail of a possible subject and to get the facility ready. He used his resources to follow them
into
Mexico. He realized they were getting close to whatever werewolf
they were on the trail of. He decided to take a calculated risk.
To let them get what
they were after, but to arrange it so we could follow them to wherever
they would take the one they grabbed. The conditions were right and he felt this was our best possible chance to do it.""You mean he decided to use Cole to try to find the facility?" I asked, "He risked an innocent kid to solve his problem?"Jesse
nodded and said, "We were gonna hit the facility and get the werewolf
back out right away anyhow so it seemed worth it. We didn't know
he was a kid at the time or I probably wouldn't have gone along if I'd
had time to think it through in advance. We had no idea who he
was
until we followed them right into Nazas. I tried to get Samuel to
change
his
mind when we found out from the pictures they were circulating that it
was just a boy, but he was adamant. They needed to get
the boy and we needed to make sure they did. We needed to let
them get away with him so we could
finally track them to the facility. Samuel's the alpha, Jake.
I had to follow his orders. To be honest, I still sort of
agreed with them even if I was hesitant. It was just that
important."I
realized the reason why there'd been a touch of grey in Jesse's
character instead of actual darkness. He knew it wasn't quite
right, but he felt it was the best thing to do. The good of the
many was more than enough to offset the fact that he was putting a boy
at risk. His confidence in the fact that they would get Cole back
gave him the push to proceed. How could they be so sure they
would be able to track Cole to the facility?"How would you use Cole to track them?" I asked, "Tell me exactly how it went down.""Well,
we knew they were tracking a werewolf. Several of us were in the
crowd
at Nazas and we saw them circulating pictures of Cole, so we finally knew
who they were looking for exactly. We spread out to find him.
To get to him first and then make sure they got him.""To make sure? So you really handed him to them yourself?" I asked.He
turned red again and nodded and said, "It's just like Elias said.
He's telling you the truth. I was the one that handed Cole
to them myself. I didn't know Elias got a good look at my face.
I didn't even know about Elias at the time. I heard someone
shout Cole's name so I knew I had to get moving fast. Cole was
scared of me at first when I found him and I started talking to him.
He was trying to find his family. I told him I'd take him
somewhere safe. I told him I'd help him. I feel like shit
for lying to him, but I had to. I was trying to let him know that
everything would be OK in the end. To try to make him feel safe.
When I heard someone yell his name I just grabbed him and pulled
him away into the crowd. The plan was fairly simple. We
wanted to plant a tracking device on him.""A
tracking device? How the hell could you plant anything on him and
expect it to stay with him if you knew the eclipse would change him?
He'd be naked and anything he was wearing would be gone.
Where the hell would you hide it?" Elias asked.Jesse said,
"We'd hide it inside him. The device is a modified version of a
medical diagnostic tool called a capsule endoscope. They use it
to take pictures and videos of someones gastrointestinal system and
transmit them out to a receiver. We modified it to send a GPS
ping of its location using ultra-wideband radio. The capsule is
small enough to swallow. It would take a day or two to get
through his system since they'd be keeping him sedated the whole time,
and we'd be able to track him right to his final destination. We
knew we couldn't give it to him right then. We
knew the eclipse was minutes away and we knew he would change.
When you change, any foreign object migrates out of your body as
you regrow. Fillings in your teeth, pins in bones, bullets even,
and the capsule, anything that's inorganic and doesn't belong falls out
during the
change. We needed to put the tracker into him after the eclipse
changed him, then we would make sure he got into the government's hands
so they would bring him straight to the facility and we could track him
all the way there. That's why I pulled him away into the crowd
when I heard someone call his name. I needed to get him back to
my team to wait out the change so we could plant the device on him
after and then make sure he got into the government's hands.""But you got in a fire fight!" I said, "I know
you did. The wolf smelled it all! I was sure you'd tried to
rescue Cole from them, not hand him to them! If you just gave him to them, then why did I smell combat?"He
nodded his head
and said, "We did get in a fight with them. See, there was a
complication. When I pulled Cole away to bring him back to my
team, I ran smack into the government men and they recognized him right
away. It was just bad luck. I couldn't turn away or whoever
had called Cole's name
would catch up to me, and I couldn't get past the goons with him, so I
made a snap decision to give him to them right then and there. I
knew we'd never get the perfect conditions to do it ever again.
We needed the new moon and it had just started. We needed
them to be grabbing a werewolf they had already been searching for so
they wouldn't be suspicious of anything. I realized I had to act
or we'd lose our only chance. It
was a risk, but it seemed the best way to go. We already had a
contingency plan in place in case they got to the werewolf they were
after before we could, so I decided we would just go ahead with that.
Anyhow, when they saw me with him they asked if I was
Cole's dad and I said I didn't even know him. I found him lost in
the crowd and I was trying to help him find his family. They told
me they'd handle it from there. I handed him over to
them, but Cole was freaking out. I think he knew they were bad, I
guess because of the run-ins you had with them before, and he was
pissed at me for giving him to them. He swore at me and
threatened what would happen to me if his family caught up to me.
I've never felt more like a complete dick in my life, but I had
to do it. I melted into the
crowd and went back to join my team."I
thought back to the confusing jumble of pheromone messages I'd gotten
when I was
sniffing the air back in the hospital. They must have all been
coming off of Cole when Jesse grabbed him. Suddenly it all
made sense. He'd been scared of him at first,
then grateful for the help he offered, then
obviously angry and disappointed when Jesse just handed him to the
government men and walked away. It wasn't an attempted rescue and
failure that made Cole go through those emotions. It was his
abduction by Jesse! It wasn't Jesse's failure at a rescue attempt
that made him feel guilty, it was what he'd done intentionally to Cole!"So
you let them have him even though the tracker wasn't in him yet?
That was a bit risky, don't you think? How did you plan to get the tracking device on him? What if they got
away clean with him? Why couldn't you guys have just used one of your own as bait for the government?"Jesse
said, "It's like I said, the conditions were perfect. Samuel had
concieved of the plan a while ago. That's why we already had the
tracking device ready. It really was his plan to do just like you
said and use one of us as bait for them. The problem was they'd
be suspicious if everything wasn't just right. They had to
somehow discover the werewolf on their own and then go after him.
They had to capture him during a new moon cycle so the capsule
would stay inside long enough for the complete trip. We weren't
sure how we would arrange all of that, but we had some ideas.
Before we could even begin to work at it though, we found out
about them tracking Cole into Mexico. Samuel made the decision to
act. It was the eclipse that made him realize we had no choice.
He knew there was a good chance the eclipse might turn into what
it did, a sort of small scale werewolf apocalypse. He figured if
it did,
they'd have access to so many werewolves they could succeed with their
plans easily. He knew our shot with Cole would be our only chance
to get them to quickly ship one of us to their facility. He knew
that even if the werewolf infection started to spread, they wouldn't
know about it until later because they'd be busy rushing Cole to the
site as fast as they could before we could interfere. We'd
never get another chance, so I had to take the risk. I knew
they'd want to get him out quick. I knew where the nearest
airfield they could use was. I knew where they'd be heading."We
setup an ambush. We knew they'd dart Cole because the
eclipse would change him, so it would make it
even easier for us to put the tracker in him and even Cole wouldn't
know about it, but we had to stage an attempt to rescue him in order to
get access to him after the change. They
know we're never far behind them so they would know we might make a
grab for Cole to stop them getting one of us. We did what they
expected. In the confusion of the ambush while some of us were
laying down fire to keep the people in the trailing SUV from getting to
the lead one where Cole was, one of my men got to Cole and stuffed the
tracking device down his throat. He had to kill the men in the
front SUV to do it. He went in and out fast so the others
wouldn't know he'd even been there and we started to let the others get
the upper hand and drive us off. Several of my men were shot and
wounded to make it look convincing, but we got them all out of there.
We knew it would all get
repaired with the next change anyhow. We let them get the upper
hand so they could take off with Cole again and feel they'd gotten away
from us clean."And there it all was, the
last pieces of the puzzle that the wolf had handed to me, but that I'd
assembled into the incorrect order. Cole had met Jesse before the
'rescue'. There really never was a rescue attempt at all.
Jesse wasn't rescuer, he was abductor. He obviously in his
heart truly believed he was doing right in the long run. I
realized I would have to be a bit more careful with the information the
wolf presented to me in future and not just take it at face value.
Maybe if I sniffed a crazed serial killing lunatic he might have
a white aura simply because he fully believed everything he was doing
was absolutely right and good, because the voices in his head told him
so and he believed them. It appeared context was everything, and
without knowing the context it was still mostly guess work.I still couldn't believe Jesse would be willing to take that sort of risk with a boy, though."Fuck, Jesse! Cole could have got killed!""No,
Jake, that was the last thing we wanted and the last thing the
government men wanted. Everyone was trying to make sure he was
OK. We knew we'd get him back eventually. We always plan
strikes
around a change, so even if he somehow got hurt in the process of
trying to get him back later on, the next change would fix it all.
They
bought the whole thing, luckily. The goon who tried to kill you
later in the hospital got in the
first truck with Cole still sedated in the back seat from the
tranquilizer, and they all took off again. We chased them for a
bit to try to make it as convincing as possible and then we fell back
and let them get away. It would take up to a
day or two for the tracking capsule to move through his system and we
were fairly certain that with the added pressure from the ambush, they
would rush the process of shipping him to the facility. The
capsule would just come out mixed into Cole's shit later on so they
would never even know it had been there. By then he'd be at the
new location and we'd finally know where it was. It was the only
way we could think of to locate that place, and Samuel was absolutely
desperate to do it." "That's why you needed the new moon?" I asked, "You needed to make sure it would stay in his body long enough?"Jesse
nodded and said, "That's right. That's why I said the conditions
were perfect. We needed it to last long enough
for them to transport him there and they'd likely take the usual round
about means of getting him there. They'd fly him out, drive him
to another airstrip after they arrived at the next one, take another
flight, drive some more, and so on.
They even routinely use decoys to send us off chasing the wrong
transports entirely. They do everything they can to stop us from
following them to the final location and we were never successful in
the past when we tried to do that. Their primary defense for that
site is simply making sure nobody would ever know where it is so they
do everything in their power to make it impossible to follow them to
it. We knew it was in an extremely remote location in case any of
the dangerous things they were working on got loose. We even had
a rough idea where it might be based on some vague clues in their coded
messages. But we were never able to pinpoint its location.
We
knew that if we could give them what they wanted, and make sure we
could track their new subject, we could finally find the facility."I
shook my head in disgust. I couldn't believe they would use a kid
that way. I suddenly wasn't so thrilled we'd found this community
of werewolves. I wasn't so sure it was a good thing.Jesse
saw my disappointment and he
said, "I'm so sorry, Jake. I had to do it. It was the only
way to
find them. To stop them from succeeding with what they're trying
to do. Don't you see? If they ever
succeed with their plans, it's all over. The whole fucking world
would
be theirs! We had to do it! We needed to do it to save the
world from them. To
save all of us, the werewolves. To save the lupine race from
stagnation and eventual extinction from lack of genetic diversity.
I was thinking of Benjamin when I did it, of his people.
They're our children, Jake! We have to do whatever it takes
to keep them safe!
We were
desperate, and this was the only solution we could see."It was
later
when I talked to Grace and realized it was her kid that I did that to,
that's what finally made me realize how fucked up it was.
It's what brought it all home to me. I did it to protect
our children, but I ended up putting her child at risk. He wasn't
just a test
subject we'd helped them get their hands on, he was someone's son.
He had a mom and she was beside herself with worry. He was
her scared little boy. I felt like shit.
That's when I realized we'd gone too far. I realized
we should never have done it to a kid. We should have tried to
find another way. Samuel had ordered me to come back immediately to get ready for a
strike on the installation, but I ignored his orders. I had to
try to start making things right. That's when I swore to Grace
that I would find Elias and you, and then we'd get Cole back to her."Samuel
is getting too
desperate and too hasty. He's too willing to do whatever it takes
to keep the lupines safe. He's become fanatical about
protecting his children and I think it's starting to push him over the
edge. He's doing crazy things. He's come to the point where
he seems to hate humans now, all humans, and he doesn't care who he
rolls over in his attempt to wreck their plans. I think that's
part of the reason he wasn't pissed off in the end by the mess at
Nazas. I think he's starting to get the idea that maybe we should
create as many werewolves as we can, everywhere. Maybe he thinks
we need a real, full blown werewolf apocalypse. He knows even for
that to work we have to shut down their research again so they have no
way to stop it. He's been shutting himself away recently with men
who he sees as more loyal to him than even me. They're cooking up
plans of their own. I'm starting to get the impression that he's
not too far from being just like those government people now. He wants
to build a
werewolf army so big that they could never stop us. He'll do
anything to protect the lupines even if it means tearing down the rest
of the world to do it. I just can't see myself following him
anymore. He's starting to get a little too extreme for me.
I signed up to be his general because we were doing good.
We were going to defend ourselves and keep everyone safe. I
didn't sign on to go to war with the humans. To go on the offensive
against them. I don't see them all as the enemy, but Samuel does. I
think he's starting to
realize I might not be on board so much anymore. He's getting more
involved in
commanding the army himself now. He realizes the importance of
this next
mission, too, shutting down the new facility, and he wants to take a
hand in it himself.""So it worked, then?" Elias asked, "The tracker?"Jesse
nodded and said, "That's what I was checking when we landed. It
worked
perfectly. We were able to track the signal until it finally
stopped.
It's here in Alaska, just as we'd assumed. We setup this
particular compound because even though we weren't able to find the
facility before, there were a lot of clues that pointed to Alaska and
we needed a forward staging area setup and ready for when we would need
it.
The new lab is further north of here. Actually, it's really sort of
an old facility it turns out.. Samuel sent a small team to
surveil it already and they've reported back. It's underground. It
looks like an old listening post or something from back in the cold war
days. They wanted it hidden from the Russians. Looks as though they
just re-purposed it. It was carved out of the permafrost up there.
It's so well
hidden, we know for sure now we would never have found it. We
know where Cole is now, and we're
preparing to take the facility. Samuel's out for blood. He
wants to
come along himself. He says this is more important than anything
else we've ever done. He says the whole future depends on our
success. We'll get Cole out, Jake. I swear it!"I
sighed and said, "I have to trust in you, Jesse. I need you.
You're the reason Cole's not with us right now, but you're our
only hope of getting him back. I don't know if I can ever forgive
you for this."He looked anguished as he said, "Don't say
that, please! I know you're a good man. I care what you
think. I'm not a bad person, Jake! I'm really not! I
was gonna tell you everything, I swear it! I'll tell Grace the
truth as soon as we see her, just to show you I'm honorable and I had
no intention of keeping it from any of you. I own up to shit I
done. I just thought it was best to wait until it was over so
everyone could focus hard on the mission first.""No," I said, "I don't
think you should tell Grace yet. She likes you, Jesse, a lot.
She needs that right now. She's hurting enough as it is
worrying about Cole. She needs a champion, and for now you're it.
She needs that hope. She needs to believe you're the man
she thought you were and you'll give anything, even your own life, to
get her son back to her.""I am that man, Jake! I swear it! I am the
man she thought I was! Give me a chance! There's so much on
the line, Jake! I had to do what I did! I did it for Ben!
For all of his kind!"Ben became angry and said, "Don't use
me as an excuse! You stole someone's kid and put him in harm's
way! I never would have thought you could do anything like that,
Jesse."Jesse looked as though he was about to break down as he
said, "Ben, please, you have to understand. I didn't have time to
think it through. It was a mistake. A bad decision.
I've been wracked with guilt about it. I've been doing what
I can to make it right and I'm gonna keep on doing it. We'll get
Cole back. I swear it!"Elias said, "I doubt I could ever believe anything you ever say from now on."Elias
was angry, and what he said seemed a bit harsh, as did what I'd said, as I thought more about
it. Jesse was right. It was a mistake. A one time
lapse in judgment. Could we really doubt the man's whole
character because of it? Ben seemed to be reaching the same
conclusion as he turned to Elias and
said, "You're angry, Elias. You have a right to be. But
I've known Jesse my whole life. He's a great man. I know
you don't know me yet but you need to believe me. Jesse can be
trusted. He just made a mistake. It was a bad one, but it
was a mistake. He's not a bad person. He was the best man I
knew until Jake came into my life."Elias shrugged and said, "If you say so. I have no reason to doubt you."Ben turned to me and said, "Jake, the lie detector sees all. You know that. You
said you had the skill as a wolf, the same as I do, so you must know
the truth about Jesse from what you smelled of him back at the hospital. I've seen his aura more times than I can count
while we've talked in the dark guts of that plane on countless night
flights. He couldn't hide anything bad from me. He's never
even tried to hide anything from me. There's nothing bad in him that he needs to hide.
He just made a mistake."He turned back to Elias again and said, "Maybe in time you'll learn to
forgive him, but it's not important right now. Let's not make it about Jesse for now. Let's
just make it about Cole. Let's do like Jesse said and focus
everything on getting Cole back to his family."Elias
shrugged and nodded and said, "I'm willing to forget about it for now.
We're counting on Jesse now, we have no choice, but I still don't
know if I can trust him. Trust is earned where I come from.
He'll have to do something to earn it. Until I see that, my
feelings aren't gonna change."Jesse finally spoke up again and said, "Fair enough. I
can't blame you for feeling the way you do. I'm sorry for what I
did, Elias. Know that. I've been wracked with guilt about
it since the day it happened."I
sighed and said, "I can attest
to that. I've seen it. I told you about the way things are
for my wolf, Elias. Jesse can't hide from him anymore than he can
hide from Ben's senses. He really is a good man. He bucked his
alpha's orders to come and rescue me at the hospital. I'd be dead if
it wasn't for him. He probably won't be general much longer because of
that choice. He made that sacrifice for me. To start to make things
right. I'm grateful to him for it. I choose
to trust him. A whole lifetime of good thoughts and deeds can't
be wiped out by one mistake in judgment. It can't change who he
is. I'm not happy about what he's done, but I have to try to
forgive him for it. I'm gonna try, just maybe later. He'll
need to earn back my trust, like you said. Getting Cole back safe
will be a good start."Ben smiled and nodded his agreement and Elias nodded too.Jesse
seemed to relax more and he sighed heavily as he said, "I'll earn your
trust back. You'll see. We're hitting the facility tonight.
Jake, I know you'll want to come along. I'd like you to, if
you're willing."Ben said, "Jake's not trained, Jesse. I don't think he should be taking that sort of risk."Jesse
said, "It won't be a huge risk, and I need him. From what the
surveillance team has told us, the only real defense that site has is
it's secrecy. There's absolutely no evidence that it exists other
than a hidden set of doors in a hillside and camouflaged guards hidden
in the trees around it. They didn't want anyone to ever see it
from any satellite or aerial photography so there are no walls or
fences, no watch towers, no turrets, no external lights, nothing. There aren't even
any vehicles whatsoever around it so likely any coming and going is by a
helicopter that flies in and then right back out. There can't be
a lot of men inside there. That's why they were so careful about
never letting us find it. There's likely a guard presence inside,
but I'm guessing the vast majority of people in there will be
scientists. We'll hit them hard and we'll hit them fast. It
won't be much of a fight. I think Jake will do fine if he wants
to tag along. I think his size as a wolf will help bring everyone
at the site to heel. They won't want to cross him. I know
after what he described about what his wolf did to the government man
in his hospital room, I sure as hell wouldn't want to cross him.""But you have enough men, Jesse," Ben insisted, "Why do you need Jake? You've got a whole army!"Jesse
said, "It's like I was saying before. I get the feeling Samuel is
already losing faith in my loyalty to him. He didn't like me
questioning his decision to go ahead and take the boy back at Nazas,
even though I eventually agreed to it. I found out when we got
back here that he was really pissed that I ignored his order to return
and went off to find Elias and to rescue Jake, too. He didn't
like me using our resources and calling you out there with the herc,
either, Jesse. He barely said two words to me earlier when I went
to talk to him in the comms building. Like Jake said, I get the
feeling Samuel will be
looking for a new general to command his army soon. He's huddled
with other men all the time now and he's not really including me in
those conversations. It makes me uneasy. We need to look after our
own interests for this mission tonight I think. I don't trust Samuel
to keep the right priorities. His
primary goal is going to be to destroy all of their
research. Something tells me none of the scientists will survive
our attack, either. There won't be any survivors this time. I need
Jake there so I'll know I have at
least one man with me who's primary interest will be getting Cole back
out above all else. I have a few men that are completely loyal to me
above even
Samuel, but one more man, especially one who's the biggest damn wolf
that ever existed, will help. I want you there with me if you'll
come, Jake.""I plan on going along. Thanks, Jesse."Elias said, "Me too. I'm not gonna sit around on my ass while you go after Cole, Jake.""No!" Ben protested, "You can't take that kind of risk, Elias. Jake's
huge, but you're pretty small for a werewolf. I don't want to see
you get hurt. It's too dangerous."Jesse said, "I'm really
sorry, Elias, but Benjamin's right. I can't let you come along.
We're not setup for anyone as small as you. We have no gear
that would work for you. It would be too dangerous without proper
protection. Besides, Grace is gonna need someone to stay with her
during all of this. She's gonna be out of her mind with worry.
You need to try to keep her from going crazy.""Jesse's right, Elias," I said, "Grace will need you to be with her.
I know you want to come and help Cole, but if Jesse says
it's not safe for you then I think it's better if you stay."Elias looked disappointed, but he nodded his agreement.Jesse
said, "All right, then. We're agreed. Jake, I gotta go talk
to some folks. I need to assess how many are still more loyal to
me than to Samuel. There's a lot of bad eggs around here that
I've never got along with. They'll be going with Samuel I'm sure.
I need to gather as many as I can that will stick with us and
focus on getting Cole out. We'll be heading out an hour or so
before sunset. We'll want to be on the ground and ready to hit
the facility when the change happens tonight. We'll be going in
as wolves. Get some more rest, Jake. You gotta be pretty
bushed too, Ben, since you flew out to get us and then flew us back
without a break. Elias looks like he hasn't slept in a long time,
too. You all get rested up and I'll come back to find
you later on when the time is getting closer."I nodded, and Jesse stood and turned and left the room.Benjamin
shook his head and said, "I can't believe he did that, Jake. I
never would have thought he could steal someone's kid like that.""He
loves you, Ben. He was thinking of you and the lupines. I
could sense from the way he was talking that he was almost as
desperate as he made Samuel out to be. Everything's at stake as
far as they're concerned. They had to do it to protect the
werewolves and especially the lupines. The more I think of it the
more I'm ready to forgive him for it. He's a good man and we both
know it. We need to let him know we know it so his confidence is
never shaken. He made a mistake and we need to let it go."Ben
smiled and said, "You're a good man too, Jake. I've known Jesse
my whole life so it's easy for me to forgive him, but you've known him
for less than a day.""It's
like you said, the lie detector sees
all. My wolf told me what a good man he is. He risked everything he's
built here to come after me and get me out of that hospital. I owe him
my life. I'll be a wolf
right next to him later tonight, too. He can't hide anything from
me. I'm sure I'll see him as just as good a man as I saw before.
As good a man as you've seen."Elias said, "I wish I had that skill. It would sure make some things easier."I
nodded and said, "I sure thought so. Now I realize it's just a
tool. The user needs to understand how to use it right, or it
might assign the wrong meaning to things. I still need some
practice using it I guess."Ben said, "I'm beat. I haven't
slept in quite a while. I say we do like Elias suggested and find
someplace private. I want to get to know both of you some more.
A lot more. Let's burn up whatever energy we have left,
then get some rest."Elias grinned and said, "Finally! Let's go!"I smiled and said, "The RV's setup and waiting for us outside by now. If we go there we'll have privacy."Elias jumped up excitedly and said, "Well, come on then! I get to climb mount lupine! Let's go!"He
turned and ran out the door and down the hall and I smiled as I watched
him go. I usually thought about how much of Elias I saw in Cole,
but Elias acted and sounded exactly like Cole just then. Seems
they both have a lot of each other in them. I guess that's why I
love them both so much. They're so alike.Ben chuckled and got up and chased Elias out the door and I got up and followed.By
the time I got outside and found the RV and went in, Ben was already in
the process of stripping Elias down. He was standing at the end
of the bed and Elias was sitting up on it, smiling and watching the
beautiful furry lupine work. Ben had pulled off Elias's hiking
boots and shucked off his jeans already, leaving him with only
underwear and socks. Now Ben was inhaling the scent of his feet
deeply through his dirty socks. Elias had been up and pacing all
through the night and he'd likely only been wearing whatever clothes
they'd given him when they first picked him up, so there was a few days
of unwashed wear in them. There was likely a fair bit there for
Ben to enjoy.I smiled and watched while I began to undress.
Ben pulled off Elias's socks and sniffed them again with closed
eyes and a smile before tossing them aside, then he turned to Elias's
feet and began to lick them from heel to toe. Elias giggled from
the sensation of the tongue tickling the sole of his foot, then he
sighed as Benjamin switched to running his long tongue between Elias's
toes to taste the sweat there. Elias wasn't quite as heavily into
feet as I was, though he did like them. He most definitely liked
having others enjoy his feet, though, and Ben was doing a good job of washing them thoroughly with his long canine tongue.I
quickly finished undressing and then I got down on my knees next to Ben
and started to work the laces on his big army boots. I patted the
lupine's ass and asked him to get his knees up on the bed. He
stopped what he was doing and looked up at Elias, then he reached to
his waist and lifted his shirt up and over his head and tossed it
aside. He pushed Elias over on his back and then reached in and
grabbed his underwear by the waistband and yanked them down and off,
exposing Elias's incredibly rigid tool and his nice fat balls. Ben groaned at the sight and simply said, "Beautiful."He
then pushed Elias further up the bed as he got his own knees onto the
bed as I'd asked him to, and he went to work snuffling and licking and
cleaning Elias's crotch.I pulled Ben's army boots off and then
enjoyed his socked feet again for a bit before I removed the socks and
threw them to the floor. I then grabbed the back of his shorts
and underwear and began to pull them down. I reached into the
back and pulled his bushy tail out through the hole and hooked his
shorts and underwear under his big glutes. I knew he'd be getting
pretty aroused by what he was doing to Elias so I reached around to
feel for his cock. Sure enough, it was already at full mast and
incredibly hard inside his underwear. I slipped my hand down the
front and grabbed the big, hot tool and pulled it up past the waistband
so I could then safely yank his shorts and underwear down to his knees.
He lifted one knee to allow me to work them down, then lifted the
other so I could pull them right off of him.He must have known
what I would want to do next because he spread his knees a bit on the
bed and suddenly his tail went right up in the air, showing me is hot
and ready hole. I was already so turned on I just wanted to get
on him and fuck him again. I grabbed his tail and lifted it the
rest of the way up so I could plunge my face in and enjoy the taste of
him for just a bit by way of loosening him up and getting him ready.
He moaned as I drove my tongue into him to get more of his
incredible taste. I was surprised by how quickly my level of
arousal rocketed up again. I'd only just fucked him not much more than an hour ago, but I had to take him again, right now.I
spat at his hole and worked it in with a finger and he moaned some more
at the action. I then spat at my fingers and worked it onto my
cock head and shaft. I patted Ben's furry butt and asked him to
move forward a bit so I could get on the bed behind him. He groaned and he lifted
his head off of Elias's crotch and worked his knees forward.
Elias gasped and said, "Holy fuck!" when he saw the size of Ben's
impressive cock suddenly bobbing up in front of his face. He
immediately went to work playing with it with one hand, while he
reached up to caress Ben's huge balls.I got up onto the bed
behind Ben and put my cock up against his tight, hot sphincter and I
began to apply pressure. Ben immediately pushed back at me and moaned as I
smoothly entered him again. I was going to cum very quickly so I
wasted no time and began to build a rhythm, moaning and groaning at
the pleasurable feeling of pumping my fat cock in and out of Ben's snug
rectum as his anus squeezed at my shaft.The sensation of my cock
gliding against his sensitive anus combined with Elias licking and
playing with Ben's cock while he fondled his big balls was sending Ben
close to the peak."Fuck! That feels so good! I can't hold it. Elias, I want to shoot on your face, OK?"Elias nodded his enthusiasm at that idea and wiggled up between Ben's legs a bit to put his face in a better position."Play with my nuts while Jake fucks me," Ben said.Elias
grinned and reached out with both hands to really start to rub and
gently squeeze at the beautifully shaped grapefruits enclosed in Ben's
warm, furry sack. I stepped up the pace a bit and lifted his tail
right up and started grunting as I fucked him harder and he really started to
moan loudly now.Ben grabbed his own cock with his big hand and
began to work it as he looked down at Elias's beautiful face. The
lights were dim and all the shades were pulled down around the RV so
clearly Ben was getting a good look at Elias's aura now."Fuck, you're perfect!" he exclaimed as he began to moan louder and he started to pant as he worked his cock faster and faster.I
felt Ben's anus suddenly begin to pulse. It squeezed at my cock
harder and harder as his orgasm rapidly built, and that sent me sailing
over the edge. I grunted and moaned loudly as I slammed myself up
against him and shot my load deep into his bowels. Ben groaned
loudly and desperately said, "I'm gonna cum! Open your mouth!"Elias
opened wide and the sight of him greedily anticipating the treat that
was coming was all it took to push Ben the rest of the way. He
grunted loudly and tensed right up and suddenly a massive blast of
thick, hot cum shot in a long stream and hit Elias
right on the side of his mouth. Another grunt, and another blast
sent a volley right into his mouth. Elias closed his mouth to
enjoy it but Ben was nowhere near done yet. I continued to slam
myself against him and shoot the last of my load into him while the
tight ring of muscle at his hole kept spasming and trying to strangle
my cock. Ben groaned and grunted again and another blast hit
Elias's closed mouth. Again and again long squirts of Ben's thick
seed shot out and he painted Elias's face with it. Elias was in
heaven. He took his hands off Ben's balls and reached up
to grab onto the back of Ben's big knot that was now nearly at full
size, and he used it to pull the tip of the lupine's massive dick right
up to his open mouth. It was too big to fit right inside Elias's
mouth, but he wanted every last bit of the beautiful furry creature's
seed to shoot right onto his tongue.Ben moaned as he continued to stroke his cock, pumping the rest of his huge load right into Elias's mouth.Finally
I had reached the end of my orgasm and I could feel Ben's anus begin to
settle down as he reached the end of his. I pulled out and moved
around to the side of the bed to get a good look. Ben was smiling
down at Elias, who's face was absolutely coated with his thick seed,
and he was gently stroking himself to coax every last drop into his
mouth. His other hand was stroking Elias's soft hair as Ben
smiled at him and watched him enjoying the treat he was feeding him.
Elias was hanging on tight to Ben's big knot and slurping down
everything he was offered.The look of the massively muscular,
dark brown, furry beast straddling the boy's face and jacking himself
into the his mouth was one of the most erotic things I'd ever seen in
my life.Finally Ben sighed and pulled his cock away from Elias's
face. He worked his way back on the bed and then leaned in and
began to lick his own cum off Elias's face. Elias grinned and sat
still while he was being cleaned. Ben licked up every last
dropped and then he kissed Elias on the mouth and stared right into his
eyes and said, "Your soul is as beautiful as Jakes. I love you,
Elias."Elias grinned back up at him and kissed him back then
said, "I've never been so turned on in my life. Could I put my
cock in you?"Ben grinned and nodded and said, "Let me get you ready."He
moved backwards off the bed and leaned in to slurp in Elias's cock.
He sucked it a bit and drooled all over it, getting it good and
wet, then he worked his way back up on the bed with his feet on either
side of Elias and then he grabbed his tail and pulled it up as he
lowered himself down onto Elias's rigid tool. I moaned at the
sight of it. This massive, muscular, furry god was impaling
himself on the boy and moaning as he began to ride Elias's cock up and
down. I could see Elias's toes curling up, he was so turned on.
He looked down and watched as the furry lupine grinned at him and
began to bounce faster and faster up and down. Just as Elias
seemed to be getting close he suddenly stopped, then he grabbed Elias
and held him as he rolled over onto his back, pulling Elias around to
that he was suddenly on top of Ben, facing him, with his cock still
buried in his tight ass.Elias groaned and immediately began to
lift his hips and thrust them forward as he worked towards his orgasm
again. I quickly moved behind him and moved my face into position
and began to match Elias's thrusting motion while I worked his tasty
hole with my tongue. Elias began to moan more urgently as he
said, "That feels so good!"I moved my hand up and started playing with his balls while I tongued him, and he groaned and began to buck harder against Ben.In
moments I felt his sphincter begin to pulse against my tongue and his
sack started to tighten up in my hand as his orgasm slammed into him
and he yelled from the pleasurable release as he shot into his new
lover for the first time. Once again I moved off to the side to
get a better view. It was wonderful to see. The huge lupine
was on his back with his muscular legs hooked up on Elias's shoulders.
Elias's hands were on the backs of Ben's massive thighs and his
head was back as he lost himself in the pleasure of humping at him and
shooting everything he had into him. Ben's cock had not gone down
yet. His knot was still big like he was still tied, and his cock
was still leaking and making a puddle of cum on his belly. I moved in
and began to lick it up until there was none left, then I moved to the
side and lay down on the bed to wait for them to finish.Finally
Elias pulled out and sighed his contentment as Ben lowered his legs to
either side of him and Elias crawled up onto him and wrapped his arms
around Ben's neck and said, "That was amazing. Thank you."Ben
rubbed his naked back and said, "You two are so beautiful to me.
It's gonna be so great doing this over and over again."I
smiled and moved in closer to join them and said, "Yes, it will.
I can't wait until Cole joins us. He's gonna be crazy about
you, too."Ben smiled and said, "You're both perfect matches for
me. I bet Cole will be exactly the same. You guys knew what
you were doing when you fell in love with each other, obviously.
You didn't even need to see any aura to find the right match.
It must take a lot of faith to do that."Elias said, "Not really. I just had a feeling with Jake, right when I first saw him.""Tell me what it was like when you two met," Ben said.And
for the next while we talked softly to each other. Elias and I
each told our side of how we'd met and fell in love while Ben smiled
and listened. Ben told us some of his experiences and how hard it
had been being the only gay lupine in existence.For quite a
while we got to know each other better until finally Elias's exhaustion
got the better of him and he drifted off while still lying on top of
the furry lupine. Ben held him close and smiled as he allowed
himself to drift away to sleep as well.I stayed awake for a
while longer, enjoying the sight of them holding each other and
thinking about how good it was going to be when Cole could finally join
us to make our family complete again.I began to feel drowsy, and with thoughts of Cole in my head and warming my heart, I nodded off for a short nap.